𝑴𝒀 𝑰𝑵𝑵𝑶𝑪𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬 | 𝑺. 𝑴𝑰𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑬𝑳𝑰𝑺

𝟎𝟑 | 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐖

𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑭𝑰𝑹𝑺𝑻 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑰𝑵𝑵𝑶𝑪𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑰𝑨 𝑹𝑬𝑪𝑶𝑮𝑵𝑰𝒁𝑬𝑫 𝑼𝑷𝑶𝑵 𝑾𝑨𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑾𝑨𝑺 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑴𝑬𝑳𝑳.  Heaven had no smells, only bright colors like pale pinks, bright oranges that painted the sky and placid whites and golds that formed the wings of the other angels. Down below the smells were different, sharper.

Innocentia got up slowly, her body sore after having crossed the barrier that separated Heaven from Earth. The young woman pressed her palms to the floor, immediately feeling the dark cobblestones press gently into her skin along with small pebbles that covered the surface. 

Innocentia gagged, the torrid smell of sick and sweat and blood hitting her nostrils as soon as she was no longer lying on the floor. Heaven had no smell, but it sill was better than wherever Hanniel had sent her. 

The young woman looked around, eyes adjusting to the darkness while trying to recognize the place where she had landed. 

Innocentia was leaning against the wall, a small hand firmly pressed against her side while the images of dark shadows and demons still haunted her mind. The alley was narrow and small, the floor covered in puke and other bodily fluids that the woman didn't want to think too much about.

Hanniel didn't speak of the Earth often, and when she did, she spoke of sins and human nature like she spoke of demons and shadows. Innocentia would listen because she had nothing better to do, but even with Hanniel's venomous words, the young angel still believed there was something more to it.

Whenever Innocentia thought of Earth, she thought of purple flowers, animals unlike she had ever seen, colors she could never quite picture and smells like fresh-baked bread. But now, as she stood with her hand pressed to her side and a blood pooling at her feet in a dark alley, the young woman wondered if maybe Hanniel had been right.

There was nothing magical about Earth, it was ugly and dirty and sick and Innocentia's heart sunk at the mere thought that everything she had hoped for was a lie. 

Innocentia increased the pressure on her wound, red liquid slipping between her fingers while a strange sensation seized her. The woman looked down, her golden eyes watching as the blood coated her fingers, her pale skin painted crimson like many of the paintings hanging on the walls of headquarters in Heaven; paintings that told horrible stories of death and despair, paintings that Innocentia always avoided looking at for too long, feeling that if her stare lingered a sinful feeling would settle at the pit of her stomach and poison her.

You must remain pure. The words echoed like a broken record and Innocentia stared at the blood once again. 

She'd never been hurt before, always safe and protected in her ivory tower with no one for company except for Hanniel and her clear distaste for humanity. The blood flowed more heavily, and soon her white dress was covered in dark red, the lace sticking to her wet skin.

Innocentia had never given too much thought to death, she wasn't even sure she was allowed to, even with the blood filling the gaps between the cobblestones, even with her dress stained with blood... 'Death is an adventure' Michael had said one day while he was still sewing Innocentia's skin together, back when they both were on the tallest hill and he was still creating her under Raphael's watchful gaze. 

Innocentia had repeated those words countless times, but even as they left her lips, she wasn't sure what Michael had been trying to say. Is death an adventure? She asked herself, half-lidded eyes still focused on her bloodied hand.

The thought of death shouldn't have scared her, Innocentia was made to be pure and innocent and to embody everything that a demon would want to tarnish, she was Heaven's polished weapon that had never gotten used. But she didn't want to die, not yet, not when she hadn't really been able to live yet. Had Innocentia truly ever been alive? Locked away in her ivory tower just in case Heaven ever needed her, with the burden of remaining pure just to appeal to the angel's enemies? Was that living, or was it just existing? 

I can't die here. She thought, her fingers digging into her skin in an attempt to keep herself awake. I don't want to die here. She dug her nails into her skin, pain flaring up instantly and making her open her eyes just enough to see the end of the alley.

The darkness of the alley rescinded as the sun appeared on the horizon, its yellow glow illuminating the street. A tear ran down Innocentia's face as she looked around her, night slowly turning into morning as the shadows receded at the light settled into the scene.  

It's beautiful.