Cast Out

We crashed to the ground, wings hitting each other's in an attempt to be the first to stand up. I was first, shoving an elbow into Raphael's face as I vaulted up. I stomped on his ribs as I pulled my Sword out of the sheath, breaking several under my boot.

"Do this and you're dead Kerubiel!" He was angry, but I could also see the fear behind his eyes.

"I know." Raising my Sword high, I plunged it into his chest, so hard she stuck into the ground, and stood back as his body disintegrated. I'd won. I'd beaten him. And now it wouldn't be long before the Archangels appeared. For my punishment.

The first warning I got was the interruption of the astral flows. I'd lived here my entire life, and I didn't want to leave it. But I stood straight and still as they came. Eight. Moments ago they had numbered ten. They had been my family, and only two months ago I had been happy. And yet, here we stood. Or rather, here they stood, and I sank to my knees.

"Kerubiel, you are to be held responsible for the death of the Archangel Raphael. Is there anything you offer in return for leniency?" Ceremony. Gabriel never offered leniency, and he wasn't about to start for me.

"Answer the question Kerubiel." Sariel. If I had had enough time he would have shared the same fate as Raphael.

"By my Sword, I do not." Selaphiel was holding back Annael, who was angrier than I'd ever seen her. My eyes flicked to my right, where Katzki, my Sword, was still stuck in the ground. She emitted a faint humming, which I felt in my bones. The others would be unaware of it, bonded solely to their own Swords.

"Then you accept your punishment?" It shouldn't have been this way. Gabriel knew why I had had to kill him, knew exactly why he had to die. Yet to other angels, Raphael was one of the Guardians' Line. They would never believe what he had done to them, to us. So here I was, taking the blame. I wasn't old enough for them to determine my Line, but Katzki had already told me. Warned me, two months ago.

"I, former Archangel Kerubiel, accept that I will Fall as punishment for killing Archangel Raphael. By my Sword, I will not fight this punishment." Sariel was grinning with Jophiel, who was eyeing Katzki. They had an idea of which Line I came from, and they were determined to stamp it out. And to get there hands on Katzki. Idiots, the both of them. They knew very well a Sword chooses their partner, and they already had their own. Katzki and their Swords would never allow it.

"Kerubiel, you are Fallen. You may never return." I spread my wings out behind me, all six, and waited for the blade that would bring pain. But instead I felt a crash in my bones, then heard the clang of metal colliding. Katzki was defending me.

"Your Sword does not consent to your Fall. And an angel must always trust a Sword's judgment.  Do you not agree, Sariel?" Impossible. No one got a choice. But would I even have the strength to take it? All the Archangels' eyes were on Sariel, whose glee was rapidly failing as it dawned on him what Gabriel was offering me.

"Sariel?" Gabriel had turned away from me, facing the taller angel. Gnashing his teeth together, Sariel spit out one word.

"Yes."

"Kerubiel, choose." I looked straight into Selaphiel's eyes. We both recognized it. Gabriel wasn't saying choose which punishment. He knew what I was going to do. All that was left was choosing them. Choosing the Archangels who would burn the wings from my back.

"Archangels Selaphiel, Thrones, Arariel, Puriel, Gabriel, and..." I trailed off as I caught Annael's eyes. She was preparing herself to be one of them. I would never do that to her. I would die before I made her live with hurting me. "Jophiel." Annael's eyes shot wide with surprise, and she opened her mouth, but Selaphiel stopped her from speaking.

Thrones and Arariel were the first to step forward, taking hold of the bottom set of wings. I barely felt them burn, those being the ones typically used for interdimensional travel. Puriel and Jophiel stepped up as the first two went back, and I focused on Selaphiel's eyes as they burned the top pair. Tears flowed freely, but I kept from making a sound. And then it was Selaphiel and Sariel.

No amount of preparation saved me from the pain. I don't know how long it took my primary wings to burn. Don't know how long I screamed. I do know how Annael cried. How Sariel laughed low in my ear. How Selaphiel used the hand not on my burning wing to smooth my hair down. When it finally ended I found myself almost completely folded over, only Selaphiel keeping me from falling through this realm.

"You have been cast out. You know the consequence of returning." The Archangels began to leave, all except Annael and Selaphiel. Annael began to approach, but I shook my head. Her eyes tightened, and with a flap of her wings she was gone.

"Kerubiel, what have you done?" He lifted me into a hug, careful of the place my wings used to be.

"It was necessary. I cannot tell you why I killed him, but it was necessary."

"I meant to Annael. To yourself. She won't forgive you for not telling her. For picking Jophiel over her. You hurt her, and you know she doesn't forgive easily. And now you won't be able to make it up to her." With that he released me, and I fell out of the realm of angels.