An Angel Loses Her Wings (SataiRolePlayingGuy x AirAllie14)

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

The sky disappeared around Anahel, as did the earth below her.  She was pulled back from the mortal world to the one she came from.  It was a space, strange looking, alien, to mortal eyes.  An open space, filled with gem like ‘stars’ of many colors and void that shifted between many colors.  This was just one aspect of this world though.  There were aspects of that also resembled an Earthly paradise, other sorts of places as well.

This though was an ‘audience chamber’ of sorts.  A face formed, human in shape, but massive.  Its hair long, a gold that shined as brightly as the sun.  The eyes were also brightly shining silver orbs.  The face of Anahel’s god.  It spoke without moving its lips, his voice echoing throughout the space.

”You seek answers, Anahel?”  It was rhetorical question, as she knew.  He heard her questions.  He also knew every thought she had.  “Do you not see the justice in your mission?  I heard the boy’s prayers.  He was right, Vanoria deserves punishment.  I will tell you this.  It is fate the emperor of Vanoria to die by his sword.  And the boy will only get there with your help.”  There was more to the plan.  A fate for Maxim and Anahel together, but that was something for her to learn on her own.  He would not tell her about that.

”The quest to free the slaves will be the boy’s other great work.  Something he will be remembered for.  Do not expect it to be quick and easy.  The Vanorians have mastered a technique to genuinely enslave other humans.  You have seen the girl, she truly wants to be a slave.  Just know I have chosen you specifically for a reason.  I will not tell you that reason.  But you will figure it out eventually.”  What Maxim would be remembered for was the quest to attempt to heal the slaves.  Whether he succeeded was another question.

Then there was the biggest question.  “What is a ‘god’ really?  A being of immense power, but beyond that?  Control of some aspect of the universe, focus of worship?  Be cautious, Anahel.  There is much about the world, you, and humans do not understand.  These other ‘gods’ humans worship?  Some are human inventions, desperate hope to answer questions they cannot.  Others are quite real, but do not be so quick to try to meet them.”

[AirAllie14]

Anahel watched as the world around her began to shift. She soon found herself from sitting to floating in the space. She looked up at the man she saw before her, it was him, he actually answered her calls. She floated there, listening to him. He was vague as always, something she found frustrating.

”Yes, I see the justice… yes, you are absolutely right, but why did you not send me sooner? Could we not have saved more lives and prevented some of the women who were turned to slaves? Am I really the best suited for this mission? You saw you chose me specifically… wouldn’t someone more knowledgeable about this world be more use?” She then began to wonder about the other gods, “I will be wary… are there other gods I can trust… or are they all bad…?”

Her mind then returned to the slave girl, “can you please help me…? I really don’t know how to help her… you say it will take time but… but I just don’t know what to do… I don’t know how to help her… today, when she was around, I felt so frustrated… none of my words were able to reach her…. She thinks I’m her master… I’m no one’s master… and then she accused me of being a slave… your slave… I’m not a slave! I’m not a slave!” This last part seemed to be coming from a deeper emotion within Anahel.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

“If you were to listen to a Vanorian priest, he would tell you their power was a sign they were the ones with divine approval.  They are not completely wrong.”  There were always many powers at work, some human, some not, in shaping human history and the world.  “When gods fight, there is no good for the human world.  If I acted too soon, too quickly, they might have been the one sending someone like you, but much crueler, even less human.  Vanoria went too far, I was justified taking action.  But it has to be a smaller action.  I could not send an army of angels, I certainly could not get involved myself.  But you have the power, as long as you are not reckless, to show my disapproval, to make the boy the king he was born to be.”  There were unspoken rules about when to act, what was justified without provoking another god or gods.

”The girl is saying what she has been taught to say.  Those priests use the idea of humans being the slaves of gods as part of their manipulation process.”  He heard her cries against being a slave, that was part of why he chose her.  Something she did not yet understand.  “you are more equipped to help them than you know.”  She would learn, the method she learned would be cruel though.  They would win the war, but Anahel would go through a lot in the process.  “She is drawn to you too for more reasons than either of you know.”

“I could tell you more.  My plan for you.  Who you used to be.  Pray for it, and I will.  Though it may make certain events harder on you later.”  There was no easy answer to the slave girls, maybe this answer would help, maybe not.  The question of other gods would wait

[AirAllie14]

Once again Anahel did not get a clear answer to how to help the slave girl but she simply sighed. She seemed intrigued about what her god said, why was the girl drawn to her? She then stared in shock, “y-you can tell me who I was…?” She thought about it. He really wanted to know but after everything, “n-no! D-don’t tell me… I want to find out myself…”

 

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

“I naturally could, I took your soul, chose it to make one of my angels.  In the process, you forgot it all.  The memories are still there though, deep inside you.  I could bring them back right now, but I will respect your wish.  You will eventually remember.  But I will not say when or how, except that it will involve something that reminds you of your old life.”  There were several reasons for her forgetting.  Simply becoming an Angel, the god’s plan for her, an attempt to give her a fresh life.  “You are uncertain right now, but I will promise you will be happy with my plan, though there will be some very hard moments for you in the process.  Keep your faith in those moments, and know you will find a source of happiness, and changes that go with it that you would not expect.  In the end I will not be your only source of support.”  He could spell it out for her, that would make some of it easier, some of it harder.  If she got the truth now, on who she used to be, she might be able to reach out to the slave girl easier.  But it would make a future moment, already traumatic for her, that much worse.

[AirAllie14]

Anahel looked down a little. She thought about Al of this information she was being presented with and then looked back up at her god. “T-thank you… this has been… helpful… alright, I’ll continue to go forward and do my best to help these people. I will not let you down.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

“You asked me about how much you can trust other gods.  The answer is more complicated for you, one of my angels.  You are my agent.  A method to spread my will among humans.  Most will try to ‘convert’ you, into serving them.  Using various methods, some more pleasant than others.”  Anahel was not fated to go down that path, though the god was concerned her curiosity would bring her dangerously close to one or more, and she might be surprised by the methods to try to claim her.  With other gods involved, even he could not be certain she would not convert.

[AirAllie14]

Anahel frowned a little as she heard that but she nodded at her god and said, “yes… thank you, I understand… I’ll try to be careful if I come across any of them…”

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

“Are there any other questions you have?  When we are done, I will return you to the place and moment you disappeared.”  Time truly did not pass the same way here, compared to the mortal world.  As far as Maxim and anyone else knew, assuming they had been watching her, she would not have been gone at all.

[AirAllie14]

Anahel nodded along and then shook her head saying, “no… I do not have any more questions my lord… thank you, this was very helpful to me.”

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

The process would not repeat every time Anahel had questions or doubts, but they were significant enough to address this time, there might be further occasions of it from time to time.  Anahel was going to go through many things as part of this plan, happy, sad, strange, or painful at times.  But she would be happy with the final result.  With that, all the various lights around Anahel swirled together into a bright whiteness for a few seconds, which then faded, putting Anahel back where and when she was when she asked those questions.

[AirAllie14]

Anahel blinked and found herself once again on the roof and looking up at the stars. She sighed as she began to think about everything she had been told. It was a lot to take in but she took them In and soon waited for the morning.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

It was a little strange, sleeping in such a bed, knowing the likely history of the house and bed.  Compared to most of his recent nights, it was rather comfortable and Maxim managed to sleep reasonably well.  It was the first time in a while he did not feel rushed to wake up early too, and slept in an hour or two later than he had been before finally waking up.  He did not want to stay here especially long, but probably at least a day or two.  Let Anahel help some more people.  There was also the question of the slave girl, who he thought about a bit as he woke himself up, got out of bed and dressed.

[AirAllie14]

As the or ing rolled around, Anahel’s strength at completely recovered. She had flown over to the empty field while Maxim was getting dressed. There she returned some of the grass and placed a few more saplings with a little of her power.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Maxim gathered his guard and left the house.  He felt safe enough with their help at the moment, to be happy to let Anahel do their own thing for a bit.  The town was still suffering, but between their presence and the victory over the Vanorians, there was a peace in the town.  A degree of healing.  Some of the people were trying to celebrate as best they could.  Though they needed to bring back the women and hopefully find a way to fix them, before it got closer to normal, he his time walking down the roads, studying the people and buildings as they made their way to have breakfast, figuring Anahel would find them on the way.

[AirAllie14]

When Anahel was finished restoring some of the field, she then began to walk through town. She smiled and proceeded with helping some of the people, using her magic to carry heavy things for them and even helping with some of the restoration to the buildings by gathering what they needed for them and helping them lay it all down. She figured Maxim would be in the mess hall and that’s where she went.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

When he saw Anahel, Maxim was glad she seemed happy.  While he did not know the specifics, he assumed she was out helping people in various ways.  Doing the sort of things people might expect when they thought of an angel.  The sort of things to leave them more content.  "You have been out helping other people?  That might be a better idea than a repeat of yesterday.  I'm not sure how many women are left that want to visit.  It's possible doing that sort of thing with her might help the slave girl more."  That was what Maxim hoped anyway, though there was the concern she would just see it as 'slave activity'.  Better to approach it in a way the girl did not think her 'mistress' was commanding her to do it.  It at least was probably better to try something different than yesterday.

[AirAllie14]

Anahel smiled at Maxim and gave a nod saying, “yeah I was helping people and restoring the field a little. It was fun.” She then blinked at Maxim’s idea about how to help the slave girl, “hmmm, I hadn’t thought about that… sure… that could be an interesting idea to try…”

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

After they finished eating Maxim went to find the priest, informed him of the plan.  The priest agreed that it could not hurt to try.  Would the girl react any different that way?  Helping her fellow towns people?  Maybe they would find at least one who knew her and could try to reach out to her.  She was brought out, the emptiness in her eyes replaced that light of a sort when she saw Anahel.  But for a different reason than the people she had helped so far.  She was just happy to see the being she decided was her new owner.  "Would you prefer to go with her alone, or have me and the priest go with you?"  Considering how the girl stressed Anahel out yesterday, he thought it might be better to join them, but he left it up to Anahel.

[AirAllie14]

Anahel looked up at the girl with a frown but tried to put in a smile to seem happy. She then looked at Maxim and nodded, “right… I think it would be best if I go with her alone… however,” Anahel then preformed a spell, “I have linked our minds like before. We will be in the town so there is no reason to worry about range, if I need your help I will call…”

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Maxim nodded, turned and left.  He would not go too far, but he give them their space.  Let the two do their thing without him watching directly.  The girl silently waited for Maxim to leave, she did not look Anahel in the eye directly, but watched in her general direction.  Not speaking unless spoken too.  It was clear they were going to do something different today, though she was not sure what yet.  Neither the priest or Maxim told her anything other than that she was going to see Anahel again.  Had the angel listened to what she said yesterday?  Given up on trying to change her, was she accepted as the angel's new slave?  She waited for instructions, or whatever else Anahel might say.

[AirAllie14]

Anahel watched Maxim leave and soon she approached the girl and took her hand, “come, today we are going out into town and help other people,” she then left with the girl and asked, “can you tell me about your life before you were a slave? What did you used to do everyday?”

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Her mistress wanted to know such silly things?  Her old life, before the Vanorians came, before they taught her a slave's life?  It was almost like a different person.  She had the memories still, but it felt like a completely different person now.  The breaking was hard, painful, humiliating.  But after it was all over, she really was happy with what she had become.  Content to serve.  Lived to serve.  She no longer knew how to make decisions for herself, and did not want to.  The people around her thought she was broken, she just thought they needed to experience the teaching.  Obviously not everyone could be a slave, a proper society had a healthy number in each tier, but slavery was a part of proper society as far as she was concerned now, and she was happy to learn her place.

"A farmer's daughter."  She replied plainly, remembering something that was, without any seeming nostalgia.  "Helped take care of the animals some, my mother with the house work.  A little with the fields, though that was mostly my brothers."  It was a busy life, a lot of work.  Relatively little time to rest.  Did that help contribute to her breaking?  Maybe made it a little faster.  Though her understanding was there was not a single girl who successfully resisted it, unless outside forces interrupted the process before it was complete.  She waited to see what the angel meant by helping people.  It might not be different from what she was now used to.

[AirAllie14]

Anahel nodded at this and said, “I see.” She then smiled and began to lead the girl. Soon enough the two happened upon a small farm in the town as Anahel said, “here we are. We’ll be helping around this farm today,” she thought that work like this would help the girl to regain her former life. She hoped.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Was that why she wanted to know?  The girl would not disobey or question her mistress.  But if the idea was to remind her of her old life, she was doubtful it would help much.  The angel did not understand how completely she had been changed.  It would probably take something almost as extreme to restore to her old life, get her to think the way she used to.  She looked over the field.  A familiar one.  Not her family's but a neighboring one she had visited from time to time.  A family that remembered her.  That was going to be an awkward conversation.  Was that part of the angel's plan.

A girl her around her age came out from the farm.  The girl Anahel talked to yesterday.  Pregnant with the child of a Vanorian soldier.  She looked over her neighbor with some pity, then to Anahel.  "It is an honor to see you again, holy one...you brought her here to help?"  She barely recognized the other girl, the way she looked now.  She was curious what the angel was planning with her.  She certainly not reject any help at the moment though.  "...I do know her.  At least I used to."  She had heard the stories, what she was lucky enough to avoid.  They just never got around to trying to start making her a slave.  They left a different mark on her.