Ch:1 destruction

Eli had seen it all before, the great war that destroyed everything and drove the Seven Elder demons to hide away from Heaven. He was still bitter about losing his home, his family. He hated that he was no longer human. But he understood now why God created them in the first place. They were supposed to protect humans, not destroy them. And as much as he wished otherwise, they did just that. His kind were called by a new name now, but he knew what it really meant. They were demons of destruction. Eli knew why the other Elders despised him so much. Demons were evil. Evil always gets what it deserves.

But despite this fact, there were few among his own kind who truly believed they would never be good again. Some of the elders believed that the war had changed humanity forever, but to Elitiah, it only seemed like a temporary thing. It might change them for good in time, or it might drive them to turn on each other even more than they already had been. The choice lay solely in their own hands. So many of his people chose not to fight at the end of the war, but to hide instead.

Eli knew he should leave them alone. He knew that once he returned to Heaven, that the others would make him go back to work on Earth, to clean up the mess that they made. Even if they thought he deserved nothing less. So he stayed, hoping for the best even as his hope dimmed day after day.

"I've got it," said one of the angels when Elitiah asked him how long he planned to stay on earth.

Elitiah gave him an unimpressed look. "What do you mean, 'you have it'?"

"The key to getting into Heaven."

That caught Elitiah's attention. "You mean the secret entrance into our realm? You can get in there?"

"I'm not telling you where it is, if that's what you're asking me," the angel replied. "And anyway, I don't think we'll need the door anymore. Not with your brother gone, right? No offense, of course."

No offence taken. Elitiah had come to terms with his brother's disappearance. It wasn't like he could have prevented it anyways. Still, though… He didn't understand. Wasn't Lucifer supposed to be in charge now? He didn't seem very strong. Then again, neither was he. Maybe his brother had been stronger than he ever let anyone know. Or maybe he had become one of the Fallen Angels.

There was something wrong. Something big. Elitiah sensed it. But there was no way to find out without going to Heaven himself. That would be asking too much, and he couldn't risk that. Especially since the last time he tried, things turned out horribly for both of them. Instead, he remained silent and waited, watching every single one of his fellow Elders with suspicion. None of them spoke to him except for Uriel, the highest ranking amongst them, and even then only when he needed help in some way.

A year passed, a year in which Elitiah kept himself busy. He cleaned house, he fixed things that broke down and sometimes he helped rebuild. He also found ways to keep himself hidden from the others, using his knowledge of Heaven's secrets to help him avoid detection. If he managed to survive a trip to Heaven or Earth, there was a chance that he would learn what was going on. But most importantly, there was a chance that he would meet someone who had been there before. Perhaps another human who had fallen to Hell. He had to keep his hopes high.

Then one night he woke up from a nightmare filled with screams and tears, a feeling of dread clinging to him. Someone was hurting his people, breaking their souls and destroying them utterly. His people. There weren't enough Elders left alive to repair the damage. He couldn't stop them. If anything happened to anyone because of him, he wouldn't forgive himself.

He threw on clothes and ran outside. All he saw were flames, the heat almost unbearable. His feet stumbled over rubble, the ground crumbling beneath his feet. Screaming echoed around him, drowning out the sounds of battle. Smoke rose everywhere. He felt sick.

To Be Continued