1 PROLOGUE - A NEPHILIM SINS

AUTHOR'S NOTE

My mother once told me a story when I was young, during one stormy night where the rain would threaten our little shack down, the fire could hardly keep us warm. She tells the most fascinating stories, later in life I figured out that all those stories were to distract me from being frightened. But I never had the feeling that all of them were fake. One story she told me was the one I would always remember, the story of how Angel city came to be. It was called like that because its geographical land mass consists of white colored soil; thus white islands, white landmarks. Not just the surface but all the way down, the surface looks snow white, and under looks ashen gray. Its just like any other land in every part of the world when it comes to composition or properties, the only difference is the color. Because of this the crime rate in Angel City is an all time low, due to the glow of the land even at night time and brighter with all the lights around the city. And let me tell you like any other modern country nowadays, Angel City is superbly lit. White lands, no darkness, no crime, fat cops, no fear, everyone is safe, everyone is happy. Thus, Angel City.But my beloved Mother's story told otherwise,

and here's how Angel City began.

This was always known. Two spiritual realms had been waging war perpetually, fighting over the claim on who would own the earth. Both sides have reasons of their own: heaven fought to protect it, hell fought to possess it. Unfortunately hell fought with too much efficiency, their cunning and deceit channeled their strengths to greater effect despite the feud going on among its higher powers. An equal force had tipped the scale against the heavenly hosts. Massive explosions and destruction had been done in the universe, the war threatening the balance of the planets and the stars, black holes siphoning everything in its wake. Something had to be done. So it was finally decreed, by the Four Fathers of all creation themselves, that the war would be fought by champions alone; seven against seven, each from the side they represent. They will battle alone until the other is defeated and another will take the fallen's place, the winner of the fight will stay and fight on, till last one standing would be declared the victor. They fought in the heavenly plains of Cerulean. An unformed planet unfinished due to reasons of war, so it was left hanging in the Anular system among the many contained within the famed Hestio Galaxy.

The Archangel of sacrifice and compassion, was the fifth of the heavenly champions to arrive in Cerulean. Upon arrival, a question in his mind had been answered: Why an unformed planet was chosen as their battleground? For the air around the place was overly thick with the essence of the universe, as my beloved mother put it simply as a general understanding, magic. It rippled around the place, rising from the ground as if breath. The very whiff of air from a curt swirl of a fingertip even contains the power. Because of this the strength of the champions were amplified, boosting their powers and endurance, their fighting capacity. Everything. So too for the champions of hell. Yet in such a place, hell's deceit and treachery cannot play, all is flat and bare, nigh a single growth of grass or any protrusion that could be used for any purpose.

Even in the face of defeat, the Four Fathers never abandoned their honor while strengthening their children, the honor that is the foundation of all heaven and all that is good. Such wisdom, my mother had thought. But temptation. Temptation is the serpent that you let in once you open the door, a seductive mistress that slithers around your body and you knowingly let, opens its lip-less mouth and pours venom inside your ear, to destroy you from within. The Trojan horse.

Like a chip in a flawless armor, the devil saw the weakness in his enemy and used it to his advantage. So he propositioned a deal. And before the Archangel could have delivered the final blow that could result in heaven's third win, he listened. Thus begun the popular motto, "never deal with the devil" as my mother said with sarcastic manner. I asked her what the deal was about. the devil's deal was about rest, she answered. as a child you could imagine my surprise and confusion.

"Why would he bargain for a simple rest? anyone can do that, right? its not something you put in a can and sell it to people."

Mother nudged me on my arm and asked "Do you want me to continue or go to bed?" of course, boy that I was, begged her to continue to clarify me on this matter. The war had been going on for so long in the vastness of the universe, so long that it had taken its toll within the just defenders. The angel was no different. He could barely see an end to the conflict as their numbers continue to dwindle. He became desperate, yet tried hard to keep his frustrations within himself, he looked ready as he donned his armor, yet his knees could be shaking within. With every blow he took and every blow he gave in return, his breath came out heavier and strained. And when desperation reached its limit, it begat desire. The enemy smiled. As the angel was winning he became spent, his desire for rest and respite became so strong that another battles rages within him as he was fighting without. And when desire was given voice, it sounded like the sweetest words ever to fall upon listening ears.

"You are tired." the devil hissed. "You are fighting two wars you cannot hope to win. Stop."

The angel paused, his wings relaxed behind him and he dropped his powerful arms to his sides, his shoulders burn threatening his arms to fall.

"Do not speak to me, serpent! I will rest when you are dead!" so the battle continues yet it did not stop the devil from seducing him, nor his exhaustion ever declined, he only grew more weary with every moment. And the devil's words are becoming a salve the more he hears it. The angel pinned his enemy to the ground, grabbed hold of the devil's throat and raised his fist up high, gathering strength for a powerful blow.

The devil grinned and laughed. "You will win and yet you will die, you'll be the victor and yet it is short lived. You are too tired too fight another much stronger than I, do you think you could even the odds after you win? But if you lose, you would die the same. Another arc will take your place and he too will fall. You would have died in vain, this will never result in a victory, you are outnumbered. Hell is legion." the devil smirked.

The angel launched his fist that could have shattered his enemy's face. Yet he stopped before it could connect. "Michael is yet to fight." he huffed.

The devil's eyes rolled towards him. "Would you rather save a brother? Or condemn him to death as well? He will win two battles at most, but WHO do you think he will face in the end? So tired and beaten? "

The angel loosened his grip around the devil's throat. Both of them got on their feet and looked at one another. "What are you saying, traitor?" he said, holding his arms in a defensive position, curling his fist. Wary and on guard.

The devil caressed his neck and chuckled. "How you long for it. A true rest but not of death. You grow even more weary knowing that this war is futile. You have been in service for too long yet heaven made you bow to the creatures beneath you! Now, what reward is that for someone so loyal?" the devil swiped his hand in the air. "Nothing."

the last words wringing in the angel's tired ears. "Stop this fight, and in return save your brothers." the devil hissed. "And rule."

His eyes went up at the last word. Questions suddenly erupting in his mind. Rest? Salvation? Rule? Rest? How? "Cut maze with true intent and arrive at your point, demon." He said contemptuously.

The devil grinned. His teeth slick with blood. "You have grown too far in your faith that you've become blind; That is why you lose. Look around you, soldier." he spreads his arms and looked across the wide battlefield. The angel never averted his gaze from his enemy, his stance remained the same.

"This unfinished land will become the instrument of your escape. Our freedom." "I did not notice that you are of a like mind." the Archangel said. "Traitors like you deserve death better than rest. But it did not surprise me, the betrayer that you are."

"Like my kin, I am an opportunist. Such trait have served me well; well enough to survive until this day." he hissed. "Hear me out, and take the rest you so long deserve, save not only yours, but your brothers' lives as well. Stick this out long enough, and rule. Is that enough of a bargain?"

"I am only interested in the first two. I have no intention in ruling, only the Founding Fathers has the sole privilege to rule, and in your envy of them, you soared too high only to plummet." the angel said bitterly.

The devil's eyes squinted in his effort to hide his irritation. "Words of a true soldier, very well. This half of a planet is ripe and overflowing with the energies of the universe, its unfinished state leaves its core open with no cover and exposed, these energies could only flow like stream, it gives strength to both beings such as us to a god-like extent. Imagine all this power available to no one but us alone. We use this power to untether this planet from space and use it as a vessel."

The angel's thoughts began to race. "Use this planet for transportation. As a ship. Thus pausing the war, halting everything." he muttered. "My brothers, saved. To where? There is no universe where heaven cannot reach." He exclaimed.

The devil grinned. "There's a good lad. To one where they will not expect, in a faraway galaxy; Earth. Mankind is lost and in need of a lea-"

The angel's eyes widened. "Earth? You would smash this rock on the very heads of mankind? The Creators' prized creation? You cannot slither your way around this, demon! Better I will-" The devil waved a hand up.

"You are not listening. You forget that an unformed planet is as soft as rocks beaten by water, by the time we arrive upon earth's atmosphere, the mass of this planet will gradually break apart in flames as we make our descent, too small to damage earth by the time we land. There with what is left, we bind this to the very earth itself making it one of the scattered continents."

The angel shook his head. "Abomination." He gasped. "We do not tamper with creation itself, only the All-fathers has the right to meddle with life. This is sacrilege!"

The devil shrugged and squinted his eyes. "Are you not the upholder of sacrifice and compassion? Arc, as you like to call yourselves. Or is all of that lofty title bear no weight?"

The angel fell silent, his brows furrowed as he tried to arrive in a decision. Most of all his being screamed of rest. Of escape and freedom. His brothers. Saved from impending doom. But what will they think if he is discovered?

A smile creeps upon the devil's face. "They will not find out. They will ponder, it will take them the same longevity to travel such distance to find where this plane once stood. This land will already be a part of Earth long before they would even arrive."

He tried to weigh the facts. Conniving with the enemy, known for it's lies and treachery, its hate for mankind. Yet he will not leave them alone to him. He will remain as protect-

"Why serve when you can rule?" the enemy hissed. "We can rule mankind! Only the two of us! Unbound to anyone! They are weak! And in need of a true leader! Not some imaginary deity on a golden seat!" he said rhetorically. "Come on! no one would ever know!"

The archangel of sacrifice's heart began to race. He tried to catch his breath. Knowing fully that if he's going along with this, he will be beyond redemption. Beyond hope of even the slightest glimmer of salvation. Heaven will condemn him-

"Save your brothers!! This war has gone for far too long, this is a tunnel with no end, Angel. Only death! Hell is Legion! Do it now or regret it in the future! You're the angel of sacrifice and compassion, do what you're meant to."

If there was one thing the angel had learned, is that it is forbidden and wrong to tamper with creation, only the Creators, the All-fathers have the sole right to edit life. For there are things even beyond an angel's understanding. That all things are meant just the way they are, for Their purpose and Theirs alone. The angel gasped, he felt so tired, his-

"Rest. Eternal freedom with no responsibility but to your own self. Imagine the freedom, what will you do with such infinite possibilities? And on earth? We could be gods in our own right!"

He sighed and opened his eyes. Clenched his fist and parted his lips. Every movement, now a sin. "Let us begin. And be rid of this shameful union once and for all."

With their combined powers they had successfully done the most abhorred and illegal act in all of time. So, Angel City, once called Cerulean, fell. And the remains of that half- planet was reduced to a small continent no bigger than it's neighbors in the western hemisphere. The travel and the earth's atmosphere took the greatest toll on a great life form. While the fallen angel screamed in regret at what he had done, for not only the planet was reduced, so too himself: he became human, lost his wings and all of his talents. Making him unable to track or even find any trace of the devil he connived with. Thus he spent his mortal life trying to undo what he wrought. Yet he was so limited in his new body that he himself was struggling to adapt within,the freedom he had been promised was nothing more than a prison. Heaven fought for so long to protect Earth and mankind against the legions of hell, all of that had been in vain when the Angel himself, tricked, brought the devil in mankind's shores. By the time Heaven found out it was too late. Mankind was corrupted, and to their sadness, the planet they have been looking for so long was finally found. A speck of what it once was. A wound forever unhealed. And so the saying was born: "Woe to the earth and the sea, for the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with malice and fury, knowing he is caught." it is said that the Four fathers of creation themselves said those words. I'll never forget my mother's story, I think no one would upon hearing such a myth. That's how Angel City came to be, or so it was told. "What's the angel's name?" I asked her.

She said that in the Fathers' anger they erased all memory and traces of him including his name, as if he never existed.