CHAPTER 25

The fountain sprayed out water into the stone bath and a few white doves relished it, cheerfully performing their daily cleansing routine. Yet, Kael found no joy in watching them today. Yes, Julia was alive and well, and for that, he would be eternally grateful, but he would never see her again and that broke his heart in two. Then there was the matter of his fate that weighed heavily on him. Losing his wings would crush him completely.

He sighed. This waiting in anticipation was killing him. Any day now he was certain they would come and fetch him and cast him into purgatory. Maybe they would skip purgatory for all his sins and cast him directly into hell. Who could blame them, he had brought this upon himself.

Another despondent sigh escaped his throat.

In the meantime, he promised himself, he would do his best to be the Kingdom's devoted Overseer until that fateful day arrived.

A small breeze flapped at Kael's white robe, twirling it in such a manner that the silver lining on the trimmed edges shone brilliantly in the sun's reflection. He had always admired this uniform, the main attire worn by angels in heaven. His one bore a picture of a golden crown embroidered on the front, which symbolized his leadership position in the Kingdom while every region wore its own crest, with its own colours like the blue wings worn by guardian angels denoting their heavenly calling. He used to feel proud to wear this robe. Now it pained him to know that he would soon be stripped of it. No, he would not crumble. Julia was alive, knowing that would hopefully give him strength to endure whatever suffering was coming his way.

Custo, Logan, and James came hurrying along the garden path to join him. They were all adorned in the same attire but bearing their own unique crests, Custo's being an embroidered picture of a red hand signifying his healing position, while James's had a picture of the pearly gates.

Kael's stomach tightened into a knot. Surely the three of them were not the ones assigned the task of kicking him out of the Kingdom. That would be cruel, not just for him, but for them too. He would hate to be in their shoes, having to kick out their leader, and Logan having to kick out his own brother.

Breathing hard, and filled with trepidation, Custo addressed Kael first. "I'm sorry to have disobeyed your order in not bringing Julia here. But I couldn't bend the rules. I guess that's my weak point."

Kael shook his head. "No, you did right. Rules help to keep out the chaos. They are created to keep order and for all our benefit and protection," Kael assured him kindly. He wanted to say so much as his heart was full, but he left it at that. It was he himself who had to apologize to everyone, but he couldn't, for fear of turning into a weeping wreck. He mocked himself. How the tables have turned!

James awkwardly stepped forward then. "Kael, I just wanted to apologize to you and also thank you for rescuing me."

What in heaven's name was going on? Did they want to cleanse themselves of guilt before throwing him out? So be it, he sighed. If that was so, he would grant them that for none of them deserved to harbor any feelings of guilt, especially since it was his mistakes and his disregarding of the rules that brought him to this end. He would bear all the responsibility, and he alone.

"No need to apologize James. I'm just glad you're back safe and sound." Besides, he was the one who should be apologizing to James for all his misguided suspicions. Yes, James had been sneaking around the underworld, but he had had his reasons and they were not to betray the Kingdom as he had unfairly and mistakenly presumed.

In an attempt to lighten the mood and bring assurance to them, Kael added, "Just promise me one thing James, no more hanging around in the underworld, no pun intended, and stop protecting the damned. Okay?" He understood now more than ever how fickle the heart was, but Lilly had done unthinkable things, murdering, and stealing, to name a few, so damned she would remain.

"I hear you. No need to worry. I've realized Lilly is not the same woman I was engaged to. Rest assured; I'll not be going down there any time soon," he winked.

Logan cleared his throat. "May I please have a moment with my brother, alone?"

Custo and James nodded, greeted Kael, and then left.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get to Julia in time. When I got to her place, they'd already taken her." Logan apologized. "I wish I was more of a warrior guardian angel than just an angel that brings comfort and guidance."

"Hey, don't say that" Kael implored. "You're a great guardian angel. And besides, Julia's fine now, that's all that matters. How is she by the way?"

Kael tried to hold his gaze and fight back the emotion that wanted to open the floodgates to pent-up emotions. Instead, he swiftly lowered his gaze to hide the tears threatening to explode. The last thing he wanted was for his little brother to see how close he was to breaking point.

"She's doing well under the circumstances," Logan remarked. "She wanted me to give you this." He handed Kael her turquoise scarf.

"When I told her how you tracked her using that, she insisted that you have it – along with this." It was a photo of Julia. Logan looked around the garden anxiously, scanning the area, before guiltily slipping the photo into Kael's palm.

Kael swallowed a lump in his throat, battling harder now to fight back the tears, as he gazed at her image. Heavens, she was beautiful. Forgetting her would be impossible and he was crazy to think that he ever could.

"I know you have feelings for each other, and I'm terribly sorry. But I give you my word, I will take good care of her. I will be on extra high alert," he promised.

"I know you will. That's if you stop pretending to be Superman." Another failed attempt at humour as his voice betrayed him but thankfully Logan hadn't noticed, or at least pretended not to.

"Super Angel," Logan corrected him jokingly.

Kael let a low soft laugh slip out. He would miss his brother dearly.

"Well, it's time for me to go back to earth. You take good care of yourself Kael." Logan grabbed his brother and held him tightly for a moment. "No more rule breaking, you hear!" He knew Kael was hurting inside but there was nothing he could do to help him. Tears started to well up in his eyes so he quickly broke the embrace and turned away so that Kael wouldn't notice them. "Goodbye, brother."

Kael wanted to reply but the knob in his throat was too large. In silence, he watched as Logan flew away. Only once he was no longer in his sight, did he manage to speak. "Goodbye Logan." His whisper faded in the wind.

A few days later Kael walked around one of the lush gardens at Head Quarters, one that was situated close to the main courtyard, and he was staring at the photo of Julia.

Suddenly James came running up to him. He quickly slipped the photo back into the inner pocket of his white cloak. Why did everyone always come running up to him instead of walking? Or better yet, why didn't they just fly?

"What's wrong, why was I summoned?" James panted, worry creasing his brow. "I was told to come to HQ immediately."

"What? You were summoned? Who summoned you?" This was the first time Kael had heard of it. He may be cast out of heaven soon, but surely, he was still their Overseer for the time being and thus should have been informed. A touch of anger threatened to rear its head.

"That messenger angel, what's his name? Tego. He didn't give specifics. He only stated that it was urgent that I come to Head Quarters immediately."

"Well, it wasn't me who summoned you." Perhaps the time had come for his punishment to be read to him, Kael thought solemnly. He scanned the perimeters to see if others were arriving too.

Suddenly the heavens opened, releasing a wake of lightning beams which showered over Angel Headquarters and deafening sounds of thunder ensued.

"Not again." A strong wind arose, the sheer force of it almost blew Kael off his feet. The crosswinds surged against them, buffeting them from all directions, and then it circled them and slowly coerced them into the main courtyard.

Maria and Custo ran down the passageway leading to the Great Hall so they could get a view of the lighting and thunder. To their surprise, the large door leading out to the courtyard slammed shut, which was out of the ordinary. It remained open – always. They tried to push it open, but it refused to budge. They hurried to the large window to look out to try and catch a glimpse of what was taking place outside. That's when they noticed Kael and James holding onto trees for dear life. The courtyard was strangely dark. Another strange phenomenon as Head Quarters was always filled with light. There was never darkness here.

"What is happening?" Maria shrieked. Custo was speechless, clearly just as alarmed as Maria.

"Do you think Satan and his army found a way into heaven?" She asked, afraid.

Custo did not respond. He had no idea. Anything was possible these days.

The windstorm ferociously flung James to the far end of the courtyard while Kael clung to a pillar near the centre.

All of a sudden, a blinding white light hovered above Kael before opening up like a whirlwind. It dispersed the darkness around him and swiftly enfolded him, hiding him from sight. After what felt like ages, everything just stopped, followed by an unnatural stillness. The wind abruptly subsided, the lighting and thunder disappeared, and the blinding light vanished.

Suddenly the door to the Great Hall flung wide open.

As Custo rushed into the courtyard he found Kael down on one knee, his one hand touching the ground and he was shaking uncontrollably. James was lying on the tiles, a little shaken up, but unharmed.

Custo first helped James who was closer to the door and together they made their way to Kael.

Meanwhile, Maria just stood in the doorway, gaping in shock. "What just happened?" Her face was a pale mask of dread, but she finally made her way toward Kael.

Once his shaking had subsided, Kael finally arose, and he sadly looked at them. "I'm no longer an angel."

"What – no that can't be. How?" Custo stammered.

"Ignore him Custo, He's just being silly. He probably hit his head. Of course, he's still an angel. He's the Overseer for heaven's sake," Maria berated.

"I'm no longer the Overseer either." He spoke so quietly that Maria was sure she had misheard him.

But Custo hadn't. "I don't understand. If you're no longer the Overseer, then who is?"

Kael glanced at him before turning to fix his gaze on James. He nudged his head in his direction. "He is."

James snarled at him. "Okay, is this some sort of lame joke, Kael? Shame on you. I thought we were over this feud or whatever it was that was between us. I don't have the energy for that anymore."

"James!" Custo's command jolted him into silence.

"I don't understand what's happening." Maria was close to tears. Now that she knew she had not misheard him, emotion saddled her. Kael was no longer their Overseer. Oh, this was just terrible.

"Is this because of your love for Julia?" Marie blurted. "Surely that can't be it. You haven't acted on your feelings. I mean, the heart is an unpredictable thing. You can't be blamed…"

"This has nothing to do with my feelings for Julia nor the fact that I had to break some rules to save her or the Kingdom."

"Then why?" she pleaded to know.

They all glared at Kael, desperate for answers, and were quite surprised to see how calm he was.

"The truth is ready to be revealed," he replied and turned to walk towards his office.