Before the Angels Fall

Chapter 9~ The Announcement

They just stared. Nanae was the first one to break the silence. "So.............why did you bring us here?" They were all gathered in the shoddy barn, Ariana and Nanae just staring at the halflings.

"I need to tell you something." Cassandra spoke. "Something all of you were not expecting. Something quite.....unconventional."

Ariana glanced at her. Something was different about her tone and way of speaking. She spoke more fluidly and with a sense of control.

They all stared at Cassandra. A bright light erupted from her body and enveloped her. The three other girls had to shield their eyes during this spectacle. What they saw next was quite unconventional. An Angel?!

Her white wings unfurled. It was true. She really was an Angel. Gone was the innocent look and her blond hair that glinted in the sunlight and the body of a teenager and complexion of a child. Here, in their midst, stood an Angel.

"My name is Luna. I have been sent by the Goddess of the Heavens to save this world of yours, Earth. You three"-here she pointed at Stephanie, Ariana and Nanae-"as well as you two"-she pointed at Isabella and Alex-" are destined to save the world."

There was a pause. Ariana looked bored while both Stephanie and Nanae looked confused. The halflings said nothing, although Alex's eyes had widened when he realized that she was an Angel.

"Let me amend my previous statement. Only those humans, Stephanie, Nanae, and Ariana, will be 'saving the world'. To me, it seems like a load of nonsense but I will explain the situation."

"Wait, wait WHAT?" Stephanie was the first one to burst out. "SAVING THE WORLD?!"

"Yes, yes. Calm down. I'm completely serious."

They just stared. 

"This is probably the worst introduction ever to some grand idea like this. Anyways, I have to go, so process this information. Next time we might, angel to human, I expect all of you to believe everything I just told you. Besides, none of you are allowed to quit. Is that clear?"

"Um...............yeah," replied Stephanie, her face contorting into one of confusion.

The rest just nodded slowly. There was another flash of blinding light, and Luna had disappeared completely. The only things that were left were pure white feathers drifting down slowly from the air. It looked like early sakura blossoms, pale and fragile.

Unconsciously, Ariana took one and hid it in her pocket. No one had noticed, as they were all gazing at the unnatural phenomenon. Feathers floating down from the sky, indeed. Strange. And yet, all of this was happening in one shoddy barn.

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Ariana opened her eyes. Was yesterday just a dream? Or was it reality? She took out the feather that she had been keeping beside her bed from yesterday. It seemed too strange for something as outlandish as an Angel to come from "heaven" down to Earth. That couldn't have happened. Of course not. No one has ever met an Angel in real life. She sighed quietly. It was no use thinking about it. It seemed too good to be true.

This happened all the time. She would go somewhere amazing, somewhere that was a rare occasion to go to. The next day, she wouldn't know for sure if it actually happened. Ariana hated that. She abhorred it. That feeling of uncertainty, that feeling of just not knowing. Not knowing? Yes. Knowledge was power, and with that power anything can happen. So, to make sure it happened, she would take a souvenir of some sort as a memory, something to jot down. It was the evidence of the previous day's travels and marvels. Yet, she still would be full of doubt.

Ariana became so unsure of everything. And it was quite irritating. She knew that any one could probably implant memories into someone's head, to create false memories. Anyone could erase memories.

Feeling the feather, Ariana stroked it gently, but enough to feel its softness under her fingertips. She picked it up and turned it over. It was completely white, with no hints of black or gray. Just pure white. Her dark blue fingernails contrasted greatly with the white.

She set the feather down next to her bed and prepared for school.

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Nanae settled down in the bath, the warm water soothing her muscles after a long day at school. She watched as the water rippled whenever she moved even a finger the slightest bit. Getting out, Nanae wrapped a towel over herself and studied her nails. It became a habit, studying her nails, as she always seemed to find imperfections with them. The sides being too long, the middle part too short, etc..., so she took out a nail cutter and filer and started cutting her nails to a perfect, round shape.

While she was doing so, her mind started wandering, thinking about the previous day's events. The whiteness of the Angel made Nanae shudder from the moment she had spoke. It pained her to even look at Luna, as everything seemed so pure and just.......so sharp and startling. It wasn't as though Nanae was impure, yet the Angel was so bright and shining, she felt like an ant compared to Luna.

Not noticing her surroundings, she felt a slight prick of pain on the palm of her hand and looked up. Some of the blood from the wound was tainting the still-flowing water in the bath. Hurriedly, Nanae turned off the water and dried herself with a towel.

She watched the water drain out of the tub before gabbing her clothes and tugging them on.

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{FLASHBACK TIME}

She had obtained the human children. Finally. Now, they would be experimented on to save the world. If the the experiment worked, the devils would be erased. But, there was always that risk of dying. Of course.

Taking the first baby in her arms, she set her down on the white table set nearby. The baby had black hair, with a caring face, smooth and soft. "Let's see how resilient she is."

She first stirred the white substance inside a black pot she carried in before. "Hm......let's see. Humans can be categorized into sixteen categories. She could be The Protector. Let's add in a few drops of Introvertedness."

The Angel reached for a crystal bottle. Opening it, she poured the blue substance into the white murky liquid. It was a deep blue but light as the color of the sky. The pot's contents instantly turned sky blue.

Reaching over for more bottles, she added in a few drops of each substance. Drops of Intuition, Feeling, and Judging were added in. The final mixture was a deep midnight black with streaks of silver. Perfect. The time was right. She ladled some of the mixture onto a spoon and fed it to the baby. The was no change. Suddenly, a look of intense pain crossed over the baby's cute features, marring her innocent look. She just left the baby there and went to create the other babies' mixtures.

The next baby had drops of Introvertedness, Intuition, Thinking and Perceiving. The result was a deep midnight blue color with streaks of dark purple and black. The last baby had Introvertedness, Sensing, Feeling and Judging. A deep scarlet colored the pot with streaks of dark blue and black. They were meant to be connected in someway, sighed the Angel, happily. The experiment had been a success. Now all that was left was to unfreeze time in the human world and send the babies back. The Protector, The Thinker, and The Artist have come back.

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{A/N: Anyone get any of these Meyer's Briggs Personality Test references? }