Home.

One

"Rosabella Sapphira Aine-Beccket, please come forward."
I stepped forward, eyes cast down, knowing what the Elders' next words would be.
"As you know, you were born of a forbidden union. Your mother, Rosilabeth Nicholette Aine left the Above to visit Earth, where she met your father, Noah Zane Beccket. They became infatuated with each other, entering into a relationship that should have never happened. Because of your status as a Nephelim, you now have to make a choice. Be cast from the Above, all memories of your time here erased, or stay in the Above, unwelcome in all communities. You have ninety days to make a decision. If you do not make a decision in that time, you will spend eternity walking the veil between the Above and Earth. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Elders, I understand."
"Very well then, your ninety days start tomorrow at sunrise. You are dismissed."
I nodded, turning and leaving the Great Hall, my heart pounding as I thought about what I had just been told. Ninety days to decide to keep my life as it has always been, or leave and start a new life on Earth. In the next ninety days, I was free to come and go from the Above as I pleased, no longer restricted by the curfews normally imposed upon Celestials. I had known this day was coming from the day I was born. All Nephelim had to make the choice.
"Saph! How'd it go?" my best friend, Arlo said, running to me, his green eyes filled with worry.
"I have to choose. I knew this day was coming, but I had no clue it would be here so soon," I muttered, leaning into him as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, "I desperately want to explore the Earth, but I can't leave my mother. It would break her."
"Well, you have ninety days to choose. Just make the most of it. Alright?"
"I'll try. I just wish I didn't have to choose. The Above is home, after all. But I can't help but wonder if my life would be better down on Earth."
Arlo sighed, running a hand through his jet black hair. He still had a year before he had to make the decision. We had grown up together, both cast out of the communities our families originated from, and building our own community with other Nephelim and their Forgotten parents. It was odd that they were referred to as Forgotten, because everyone remembers what they did, and who they are. Any Celestial who had relations with a human was shunned, their actions seen as the worst anyone could commit. The community of Forgotten and Nephelim was small, only about fifty of us residing together. We were like a family, always providing for each other, even when the Elders wouldn't. Nobody mentioned how the community came to be. We simply existed, and it had always been like that.
     I watched in silence as the sun set, terrified of what would come in the next ninety days.
     "Saph, you know I'll always be here for you. And if you choose to leave the Above, I'm going to watch over you forever," Arlo said, leaning into me, pale skin glowing in the moonlight.
     I nodded, knowing that if I said anything, I would start crying.
     "Let's go in, you need sleep."
     I followed Arlo into the small house that our families shared, wishing I could stop time, at least for a day.
     "Ninety days," I whispered, watching as the sun disappeared into the night.