Precious Gems

Chapter One

Being an angel can be a rather complex business. Apart from delivering holy messages on time and making sure people are where they're supposed to be by the light of a star, angels also attempt to make the afterlife bearable for people who have passed on. Most times, only the highly trusted are given this task of checking in on the souls that are being housed in Heaven. And so, at the start of every new day these angels lineup to receive their daily tasks in the form of a rather large (and almost never-ending) list. Strangely enough, though, there have been recent instructions during the lineup that if a name on the angel's list doesn't correspond with any of the doors, they are to report to the eldest Gemstone, Sapphire. Once they have delivered these names to her, they have been instructed to forget that the encounter ever happened, and go on about their business. It's after the last encounter of a rather random day that Sapphire is off to inquire about the names on the list she has collected over the week.

Sapphire sighs as her younger sister straps pieces of shimmering blue armour onto her. "Emerald, I don't see why I need my armour today, of all days. I am just on a trip down to Sanctuary to visit those that have been..." She trails off as her sister, the head armourer of Heaven, shares an understanding look with her. As she takes pins out of her mouth, Emerald says "I know, but father and I would feel better if you wore it when you go down. We've already lost too many... and we don't want to lose you as well sister." Sapphire nods, looking to the list with a sigh. "It has grown, since I was given this assignment away from the others, hasn't it?" Emerald looks to the list sitting on her desk before looking at her sister, "Yes. But we aren't at liberty to question the orders handed down to us." Sapphire begins to say something but is cut off by her sister tightening the strap of her chest armour, "Even if we are supposed to be held at the same level as him, we are not to question. You saw what he did to his brothers... Imagine what he could do to one of us."

"Oh, you mean what already has me at the barrier's edge? Seeing as how he forced my husband and most of his family to flee?" Emerald shakes her head, "Hush. If you were caught speaking of him..." She trails off as Sapphire scoffs and laughs. "Oh, wouldn't it be an absolute nightmare... I have not had a chance to be with my husband in two centuries Emerald. Not as far as being with him, as we were before the Great Fall. I no longer have a loving smile to greet me at the entrance to the hospital after the shifts I work, and the home we once shared is quiet. I long for the sounds of Alexander and Victoria laughing... Imagine if... If you were to lose myself or Opal... How would you feel?" Sapphire asks wiping tears away with her gloved hand as she takes the list from her sister's desk. Without turning to look at her sister, Sapphire starts for the door; stopping when she hears "Hollow... I would feel hollow." Sapphire clears her throat, "Then you know how I've felt for the last two centuries." before walking out.

"Are you ready to descend, Miss Sapphire?" The guard's question snaps Sapphire out of her thoughts. "Yes, please... Uhm, whenever they are ready to receive me." The guard nods, "Very well, ma'am. You can go through now if you'd like." She smiles at the guard before stepping through the white portal in front of her. In just a few seconds, she is stepping out into the entryway of a rather ornate, sixteenth-century manor house. Two figures step away from the shaded wall as the portal begins to close. The first, a young woman with blonde hair and amber-coloured eyes dressed in a Greco-Roman style evening dress, is a few steps forward of the second, another young woman with midnight black hair and kaleidoscope eyes dressed in a purple and grey medieval renaissance dress.

"Hello Lady Donovan, Lady Mallory. I hope both of you are well." Sapphire says with a nod to each of them. The first returns her hello with a smile, the second with a solemn bow. Sapphire heaves the stack of papers to her right arm, brandishing a pen with her left hand as Lady Donovan (A.K.A Karissa, the wife of the horseman War and mother to his son) looks at her companion. "That's no way to treat a guest, Selena." Lady Mallory (A.K.A. Selena, the wife of the horseman Death and mother to his daughter) sighs and looks to Sapphire. "Forgive me, Gemstone Sapphire. I haven't felt well this week. And I woke today to a rather foreboding sense that I have yet to be rid of." Sapphire waves her gloved hand, "No need to apologize, Selena. I hope that I didn't scare anyone with my arrival." Karissa shakes her head, "No, most of the people have scattered themselves about the area. We're expanding again, you see." Sapphire nods and clears her throat, "I'm not at all surprised by that. As you can see my list has grown longer. I could swear it's doubling every day now... I wish I could do more to help the people." Karissa sighs before motioning to the doors leading out to the rest of the manor. "By all means, let us begin your weekly visits."