On Angels Wings
By; Caroline Joy Wood "Senshi Mysterahe"
(Disclaimer: All people, places and events are not real... They are *science fiction/Fanasty. Speical thanks: Luke Stuard, Justin Passage, Kissles, James Coffin, And everyone under the sun.)
Prologue:
The world was created in seven days. There was darkness, enteral night, creatures of power were created and vanquished every moment. A group of beings, mages of different races, took reality, as it had been, and made something new. Creating a world with in worlds, with in worlds.
Inside these worlds, a small planet, amung stars, planets and galaxys, called Terra to some, Gaea to others, and home to Humans. Mortals. Some called them a mistake, to most, they were just another new race, another side effect to the mesh of concepts and existance, to a few, they were important.
Centuries past, the world grew, creating and supporting life. The creatures, orignally thought to be a silly mistake, maybe even an experiment gone wrong, thrived on their world. Soon, they even began to touch the stars.
But through it all, they had faith. Faith in gods, beings of power and wisdom, to guide and protect. Wars raged, the conquers concured and the stars wove in their endless dance. Guns, then bombs, brought the scale higher and higher, and more and more people populated the earth.
And the more people there were, the more the outsiders wanted in. For ages they had played in their outside reality. In the darkness, they watched, grasping at the outer planes of demons and angels. They studied the ways of the past, they being almost ageless beings.
The planes, Demonic and angelic alike, also raged wars. Some of the elders whispered invisblie chess peices playing an ancient war. Lucifer, the lord and master of the demonic plane, had a habit for listening into old things, and when the world started whispering for war, he was prepared.
Angels gathered, for it was time to fullfil prophesy. Maybe it was a bit of ego that through Earth into the powerstruggle. Maybe it was simply a corner, a powergathering gateway. No one knew for sure, but suddenly, in one foul swoop, Gaea herself was thrown into the prize section of the Angel/Demon wars.
The world, the humans, all of it was new, even their 'gods' had yet to figure out exactly the right ways to pull and tug to achive what they want. Greece found their gods to be young, petty and cruel. They were fledgelings, and those who couldn't surive died, swept in the passing times. While some simply became known as God, Father, Abba.
But, when the world was young, and even God was a 'teenager', they teetered on teh brink of existition. The Outsiders, in their first push for power, struck out, lashing at the tiny planet with the humans. Realm walkers, the anicent, soultied beings, who moved easily through all the planes, or just one, found themselves left, holding a half burned out candle, with only the Elven ways to help.
One walker, who was consitered the least powerful of them all, snapped, driving the forces back out, out from where they came. To make sure it wouldn't happen again, the ancient ones left sealed Earth from it's breathern. Sealing magic and power with a sharp, and hot sword.
The world moved, some elven, vampyre, demon and angelic kind settled into working the planet toward better, bigger goals. And the Game conutined, moving through ages, turning magic into myth and legend.
Until, slowly, the bonds began to shatter, crack and break. More of the Celersals, people from other planes, drifted to Earth. Most left within a lifetime. some stayed for generations, starting their own bloodlines so there would always be someone to come back into.
The outsiders moved slowly, digging up and rooting out the 9 keys to the doorway to Duwatha, castle of the Gates. The walker who had snapped, awakened, a key in the great puzzle. Slowly, the others began to awaken, and with them, the anicent wars took on new valor... Slowly spilling over into the scientific modern world.
This, is the story of one woman, who found herself trapped between worlds, between existance and concept. She was the least powerful of all the keys, would she be the one to save the world like the walker? Or would she fall on the wayside, like so many had prodicted for her...
Chapter 1
The Great Food Shortage...
Pale, small and slightly plump fingers spreed lightly over the drawing paper. The other hand was clasped tightly around a mecnical pencil, slowly, painstakenly drawing lines. The figures on the paper seemed distant to the world, eyes focusing on a blank area of the paper. Golden hazel eyes, set in a normal looking face, poured effortlessly over the paper, halfway unfocused, as if the woman who owned them, was looking deep inside herself for the answers.
Headphones brushed the long, frizzled locks of red-brown out of the hazel orbs. Stubburn pride tilted her chin to the right, the tip of a red tongue sticking between normally colored pale burgandy lips. Pale skin reflected in the dim candle light, provided by the 4 candles spread in a half circle around her.
Her left hand, once sprawled over the paper, moved to grasp the goblet stem. Dark red liquid slip and slid down her throat, massaging the puffed and iritated flesh. She sniffed, rubbing the pink tinted nose with the back of her hand, setting down the glass with as much unthought of grace as she did when picking it up. "No..." She whispered, then earsed one person, starting all over.
The grandfather clock chimed midnight in the background, from her dim 'office' the sound didn't make it past the blasting music of her headphones. Mostly heavymetal, but just randommusic they throw on the radio stations. She didn't hear the front door open and close with soft clicks, nor did she notice the baby screaming in the background, being hushed by soft singing.
The woman was well built, stocky, but firm on her feet. She wasn't nesseraily fat, but she wasn't about to win a prize for her beauty, at least, not in todays standerds. She was dressed in a simple outfit of a sleeveless teeshirt and a pair of jeans, nudged up to midcalf. She looked to be dressed for summer in california, not their icy cold winter. Her baretoes brushed along the wall were they were propped.
"Cassandra..." A voice murmured from the doorway of the 'Office'. It was called the office, by the residents, because it was a minture school room. The walls were lined with books, and desks pushed up with their own set of bookcases along the walls. Chairs, papers and notebooks rested about in various disaray. Collegestudents, the room screamed loudly. Books ranging on sugery to basic cooking ranged from the desks, totalling 7 in their various states of organization.
The only desk occupied was the girls. Her books, shoved up sidewise, so more could fit, where ranging from art and cooking, to hotel management and business. The mans gray green eyes softened, moving slowly and deeper into the room toward the girl. His frame was slightly heavy set in the 6'2 base. His build was medium, with slight defention to his muscles. His hair glowed deep walnut in the flickering illumination of the candles. His fingers were long as they reached to brush delicately through her redkissed brown locks.
She tensed under his fingertips and his gaze, chin not following her golden orbs trip up to see him. Only then, did her own fingertips rise to brush the headphones off her ears. "Yeah?" Her voice was light, almost childish in it's questioning.
"Cass... didn't you hear the baby crying?" The mans fingers brushed once more through her locks, lovingly. "She's been wailing, D came in and woke me up after calming her." The mans deep baritone echoed through the room. "Mike refused to get up, offline to do it, and let her wail."
Cassandra sighed, her whole frame moving with the effect, before shoving the chair on wheels away from the desk and stretching. "What time is it?" Golden orbs drifting over to the glowing red digit clock on the wall.
"A bit past midnight..." The mans fingers raked through his hair. "Did you hear a word I just said?" He questioned, half teasing, half angry. His frame was decked in black boxers and a mussed teeshirt of bugs bunny. He looked to be about the womans age, early twenties.
"I heard you..." Cassandra mummbled as she stood, only to bend down and blow out her candles, plunging the room back into darkness. "Lights?"
"Camara, Action!" A voice, a tenor, spoke sharply from the door as the lights flicked on, bathing the room in white artifical light. Cass hissed out a curse with the other man. As golden hazel orbs focused on the newest party member, the man beside her was already making his way back through the tables to take off his head.
"Azrael!" Cass snapped, stopping the man in his tracks. Gray orbs leveled onto her hazels, then he merely shrugged and grinned boyishly. "That's better... You Know I want to kill him myself." Cass smirked and snagged a pillow, she had been sitting on for the last three hours.
The man at the door smirked, where his two compaions could be called homely, he was fine tuned and hansome. He was of italian decent, with deep brown eyes and brown hair, tinted red-blond with the blessings of dye and technology. His frame was lanky, though well defined, he was in jeans, boots and a light white shirt, black leather jacket thrown over one shoulder. "Get real Cass.. You couldn't hurt me if you had Azrael and Mike helping you." His tenor voice almost echoing the smirk plastered on his lips.
Cass smirked and let the pillow fly, sending a book lower, so predicably, when he caught the pillow, the book would, and did, smack into his left shoulder. The tenor yelped, hansome features betraying the grimace of pain. "All talk.. no play." Cass's soft, huskily sick, soprano purred, then she ducked as Azreal assulted her sides with deft fingers. Her laughter drowned out the babies newst crys.
Azrael lifted his head, glancing over his shoulder, his fingers stopping in the deft tickling circle. "Damn.." He whispered, getting of his knees, leaving Cass to gasp her breath back in short heaves. "I'll get her, I woke her up..." He left, already singing softly in latin as he moved down the hall to the nursery.
"Whats up?" The tenor perched his frame, at a bit taller then Azrael, onto a desk. His desk, to be correct, with the medical books and copys of plays. He snagged a notebook, and a pencil, holding both with deft hands, started sketching out an idea on paper for a play.
"Nothin..." Cassandra let her fingers play along the edge of her shirt, then she got to her feet and slid back into her chair, propping her feet back up on the desk. "Your twins been playing that new video game for ages now..."
"He'll never get past that boss..." The tenor snorted, fingers etching in the title first. " Got a new idea for a screenplay... The prof didn't much like it, but I'm sure with a few turns and a bit of help from my favorite brat... It'll be come something decent." The tenors soft brown eyes glanced up over the paper. "Mina call?"
"No, your currently lady didn't call.. But Sonia did... She said, and I quote... "Tell that player Draco that I refuse to see him until he apologizes for his behavior..." Cass smirked as she spoke, picking up her own work. "I told her she shouldn't of gotten her hopes up, you always kept your options open."
"Cassandra you didn't!" he slammed his fist down on the table, giving her a death glare. Cass smiled, hiding her eyes from him. "I thought so.." He picked up his almost snapped in two pencil and started working again. "Jesh, I can't leave you at home without worryin' about the storys you and those magpies talk about."
"Domi, Beth, Jewls and I are not magpies, and we don't bother your women. I'd be more worried about Mike telling them horror stories." Cass snorted softly, glancing over at Draco. "The Prof say anything about my ditching?"
"Naw... Prof said to tell you to get that art piece done so he can buy it and we can make our rent again." Draco pressed his lips into a thin line, before writing some on his pad. The silence was a comfortable one. And only broken by a loud cheer from another section of the house, starting up the babys wails, as well as padding feet. "Damnit!" Draco looked up. "DAMNIT MIKE! YOU WOKE UP THE KIDS!" He screamed, if any child had remained a sleep, it was aparent that they wouldn't be for much longer.
Cassandra rolled her eyes, sliding from her chair and stretching. "So much for getting work done... Lets go repair the damage..." She walked close to Draco, grabbed his arm in a firm grip and all but dragged the taller man out the door.
A sleepy eyed four year old stood in the hall, blond curls drifting to her shoulders, bright blue eyes glancing up at Cassandra. "Mommy... Mike-papa just screamed again..." She lifted up her arms, blues drooping tiredly. "That's the third time tonight... and I'm tired..."
Draco growled under his breath and stalked toward the den. Cassandra leaned down and picked up the fouryeard carefully. Before she too, padded down the hall in barefeet. The girls pajamas were done in a cute bunny style, with a fluffy little pink and white ears, complete with a white tail. "Usagi.... You know your Mike-papa gets exicited..." Cassandra rubbed her cheek againest the top of the girls head.
Just then, a man, in red and black boxers, a white mesh shirt and socks, flew into the hallway wall. His blond curls echoing the childs, as well as his bright blue eyes. He was scowling through, as he got up and darted back in the room. Cassandra snickered softly as she shifted the small girl up on her hip. "See Usagi..." She teased, calling the small girl a bunnyrabbit in japanese. "Draco-daddy is taking care of it.."
Another heavy toss, and this time it was Draco getting up off the rug and charging back in. Both tenors screaming their lungs out at eachother. "How could you! I justbeat the last boss!!!" Mike was the slightly higher one, on a fevered pitch. "I spent three hours just getting there!!!" A thump as something, or someone, hit the wall.
"YOu stuipd ass! We got kids!! or haven't you forgotten!" Another thump as Draco's voice started to ring in response. Sleepy children, ranging in ages, slowly emerged from the rooms, gathering behind Cassandra and Usagi.
"So!?" Mike flew out the door after his response. Two blond haired boys pounced upon him imedately after his little trip through the air. The boys, one six, the other eight, held onto his arms. "Nathan, Nicolas, let Daddy go, he has to go beat down your uncle D..." He tried to pry the small children of his arms, only to have them reattach at his calves.
"So there! Look! Even your boys woke up..." Draco stuck his head out the doorway leading into the extensive den/family room. The lights in the hall flickered on as two more annoyed, and older people showed up on scene. Draco smirked and pointed. "Look! You even woke up the dead!" His finger, so accusingly pointed, was driected two the older figures.
They were middleaged, both in their earily fifties, late fourties, one with a shoulder length beard, the other with shoulder length platium blond hair. Both clothed in loose training gear of the martial arts. The man had a black belt, the woman had a simple multicolored strip of cloth tied aronud her middle. "Ha Ha... Very funny. " The older man pointed at the gathered children. "Get back to bed!" He screamed, the bass rummbling through the hallway. Like flys they scattered, one brave boy remained behind Cassandra, but the other three ran like the wind back to their rooms.
Nathan and his brother both clung tighter to Mike's legs, causing the blood to stop flowing. Mike glared bullets into the old man. "Thanks Duncan... You old fart..." He leaned down and whispered something in the boys ears. Their blue eyes brighted and they darted out back into their rooms, slamming their door when they reached their destination.
"We do not run the house like that." The woman spoke up from Duncan's side, glaring back at Mike. "It's a quarter past midnight and your pretending it's only seven o'clock!" She stepped forward, and just like the children, Mike screetched, jumpping back and running behind Draco. She whirled on his darkhalf. "And you Draco! Your tossing your twin into the hallway isn't good for the building! Stop it!"
"Yes'm.." Draco muttered, sarcasm dripping from the word like honey. The small woman, she could of only been a bit under five feet, darted forward and took Draco down with a mad thwap upside the head. Where ever she had gotten the newspaper was a mystery.
"And put some respect into that tone." She turned, dark ebony flesh flashing with her dark eyes. "Cassandra, if I find you were encouraging this behavior..."
"You'll have my toenails ripped out one by one?" Cassandra smiled brightly, hugging Usagi close. "Or my fingers all broken?"
"Very funny.." Duncan, white beard swinging like a pedulam, moved closer. "But it's very hard to teach your ladies how to defend themselves, when we have to come break up a fight." Cassandra looked down, studing the floor, and the brown topped boy's head. She smiled, then hid it, she didnt' want to alert them to his presence.
"Come my dear.." Duncan wrapped his arms around the small, darkskined womans waist. "You know your blood will boil for the evening with this..."
"I don't care..." She snorted, turning on her heel and marching proudly back to the room." Duncan shrugged, and turned, mocking her as he walked back in exactly the same way. Cassandra giggled into the pink pajamas.
"Mommy..." The small boy with short brown hair poked his head back out. "I'm hungry..." This caused his little sister to agree with a nod and a neck breaking hug. "See? Usa-chan is too! So please... please please please may we have a cookie?"
"Yes mama.. Please?" Seven voices echoed the plea. Seven, because one Mike echoed his own in. Cassandra rolled her eyes and motioned the troop to the kitchen. The blond duo of Nathan and Nicolas, clung to Mike's legs once more as he moved down the hall. Cassandra smirked, then smiled and offered her free hand to the brown haired boy.
He smiled, grasping it tightly. He was eight, with the hazel eyes and temperment of Cassandra herself. His flesh was warm againest her cool fingers. He was clad in bear pajamas, with cute half circle ears poking from the hood. "Theodore..." Cass scowled as his free hand tickled the bottoms of Usagi's feet. He was almost to the age where the bear pajamas would seem childish, but not quite.
"Yes Mommy?" His voice was already like an angels as he looked up innocently at her. Cass chuckled and brushed her thumb along the back of his hand, stopping into the brightly lit kitchen. It was huge, the kitchen, of course, for a mansion turned home for collegestudents and children, it had to be.
Already a 16 year old red head was diving into the pantry for the cookies. "Jonathon, you better be expecting to share." Mike ducked his head in over the lanky boy, peering inside. "Hey... Where's the food?" Blond curls bounced as Mike turned accusing blue eyes upon Cassandra. "Well Woman!? Where is it?!"
Cassandra shruged, setting Usagi on the counter and fixing the zipper to her pajamas out of her blond curls. "Don't know, it was your turn to do the shopping this week." She grinned as he paled under her acusations. "Ah ha... well Kids, no cookies for you, Mike-Papa forgot the groceries again."
"Aww...." The small crowd of 8 moaned, then as one, stuck out their tongues, and glared at Mike. Who scowled and shuffled his feet.
Cassandra chuckled, slipping to the fridge and propping it open with a elbow, peering inside. "Well... we have moldy apples, something I think we had last christmas...." The kids giggled and crowded closer. "Ah... I think these will work." Cass took out a few of the good apples and the last of the cheese. Tossing the hunk of cheese over the kids heads to mike, she snagged a knife.
As Mike cut the cheese into finger snagging lengths, Cassandra sliced and cored the apples. Setting the apples neatly around the cubes of cheese she set it carefully on one of the kitchen benches. The children scrambled over eachother to get at the munchies.
"You should of gone shopping, that's the last of anything edible..." Cassandra scowled Mike as she dried her fingers on a towel. "The rest should of been thrown away a week ago." Golden hazels watched the children, most of whom had lost their parents in strange accidents.
"I know... but finals..." Mike's fingers cleverly found their way around to her shoulders, rubbing them gently with clever strokes and nudges. "And you should relax... The stress will kill you before Duncan does..." Mikes lips curled into an impish smile, before letting his hands caress down her shoulders. Cassandra smirked and slapped his fingers.
"Jewls is going to see you doing that one day." Cassandras voice held a note of sharp rebutal. Mike glanced away from her, to the children. Two of them were his, and Jewls. They were engaged, set to marry in a few months, at the first sign of spring. "She's going to come back from her studies and beat you with a spoon." Nicolas was Jewls son from her younger days, she and Mike were both in their mid twenties. She only left him to go to school for three days a week, and at night, so she wouldn't miss anything.
Mike clasped his hands, watching Nathan, his birth son... His first wife died giving him life. Mike scowled, looking away to Cassandra. "I only think of you as a Sister..." Cassandra shook her head and opened her mouth to say more, only Mike beat her to it. "But your right, Jewls would probably think otherwise." The thought of his lady brought a smile to his lips.
Cassandra smiled, then turned to sweep up Usagi from Marie's flying fists. Marie was 4, and almost a dark twin to Usagi. Where Usagis curls and merry blue eyes reflected the happy healthy child, Marie's hair was straight and black, with deep brown eyes and the haunted look behind them. Most days the girls got along, however... "Mommy, Marie took my Appul!" Usagi whined, face blotching pink in her childish anger.
"She took my Apple first!" Marie crossed her arms, glaring daggers up at Usagi.
"Now girls..." Cassandra started, only to have another fight erupt between Jonathon, the 16 year old, and the 12 year old Rachel. Mike had his hands full dealing with his cranky boys to go stop it. Cassandra sighed softly, glancing to the four quiet ones. Teddy was sharing his cheese with a small boy of 9, who was of japanese decent, and part of the reason Cassandra studied it.
The other two were the baby, Kelsi, who cooed around her peice of cheese and the shadow protecter. The shadow being 14 year old Belle. She was kelsi's birth mother, but without a place to go and being only 14, she had been adopted into the family. Belle shifted, honeysuckle blond curls tucked into a strict ponytail. Bright emeralds matched Jonathons as she watched him fight.
Cassandra sighed softly gripping her temper with tight mental fingers she snagged the half apple she had been saving for herself and split it between the girls, who soon settled. As for Jonathon and Rachel, Belle had quite enuogh of their screaming and knocked them flat with a pillow. Cassandra sighed and started herding the children back to bed.
"Mommy, I don't wanta go to bed..." Kado tugged on his black ninja pajamas. "I wanta stay up..." Kado wrapped his small fingers around Belles hand. Belle had matured since she had gotten pregant, though she shared the responsiblities of Kelsi, she also made sure she repayed the family by helping with the other children.
"You can't stay up Kado..." Cassandra brushed her fingers along the small of Teddy's back, nudging him to keep up with them. Jonathon scooped up the lagging Marie and held her gently in his arms as Marie let her cheek rest againest his shoulder. "You have to let Santa come and bring the presents..."
"But Mommy..." He whined sleepily, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. Somethings never changed. Cassandra smiled softly and nudged open the first bedroom. Nathan and Nicolas got carried in by Mike, one on each arm. Rachel followed him in to help settle the boys back into bed.
The dark and light sisters were next, Jonathon settled Marie in her bed. Marie murmured sleepily, recurling her arms aruond her huge stuffed lion, cheek pressed into the fuzzy mane. Jonathon leaned over and kissed her cheek lightly as Cassandra echoed his movements. Only Usagi sniffled and hugged her once more before settling amungest her collection of stuffed bunnyrabbits.
Jonathon and Rachel smiled and hugged eachother outside the younger childrens doors before moving off into their own rooms upstairs. Cassandra closed the door gently, then grabbed Teddy's arm, in a tight, but loving grip from his hidding spot. "Where's Kado..."
"Here Mommy..." Kado sniffled, sliding out from behind a corner. These were the two young men who didn't understand the concept of sleep. They were the last ones asleep, and the first awake. "Can't we stay up?" He begged, only to be swept up in two powerful arms. Mike whispered in his ear and tickled his sides, swinging him upside down as they moved to their bedroom.
Belle trailed behind, holding Kelsi carefully. Cass opened the door, nudging Teddy in before her. "Mommy... Can't I sleep wif you tonight? Pwease?" Teddy looked up with begging eyes at Cassandra. He loved to cuddle. "I'll be good..."
"Teddy, you know that's why you can't sleep with Mommy... Your a big boy and mommy needs her own bed..." The fact was her room was barely big enough for her dresser, bed and nightstand. And the bed barely enough for her. A small price to pay for being around family. Cassandra lifted Teddy into her arms and carried him to his bunk bed, flicking on the star night light. "Your stars will be here to watch you, because I can't." Teddy was the only little love who didn't claim one of the boys as a father. He claimed them as uncles. The only one he called mommy was Cassandra.
Kado, like the rest, called her, adn the other girls, Mommy. But Teddy was speical. "But Mommy... The mean man will come back." Cassandra set Teddy down gently in his bunk. "He'll get me..."
"What mean man Teddy?" Cassandra's voice was absent as she tugged and tucked the covers around him.
"The one who had wings Mommy.. He came in and only left when he heard Mike-papa scream." Kado chimed from the lower bunk. Shivers ran their icy fingers up and down Cassandra's spine as she looked toward the door. No one.
"I'm sure he won't come back... I will come in and check on you. I promise."
"But Mommy!" Teddy's protest was a squeak, he was really afraid.
"He won't hurt you Teddy.. I promise." Cassandra slipped her barefeet over the wooden floors, shuting the door softly. "Night Teddy, Kado."
"Night Mommy..." Both boys echoed softly, hiding under their covers.
Cassandra moved down the hall swiftly. Her feet making soft echos through the now darkened passageway. Golden hazels blazed, something was wrong, every fiber in her body screamed it. Fingers pushed away the drawing room doors. A man with long black hair, well taned skin, and a huge mass of six feet, nine inches, rested his arm on the fireplace.
Wings graced his shoulders, from the tip of his head to his knees. Feathers smooth and a pearlish gray. Cassandras breath sucked in between her lips, making a hiss. She saw Mikes golden curls out of the corner of her eye. "What's going on?" She stepped a step closer into the room.
The door slammed shut behind her, something panting behind her. She whirled around to face a figure of a man. Or, what used to be a man, his flesh hung from his corpse in deaths grip, his palor was gray blue, and eyes were sunken and hollow, glazed over white. His breath rasped through lungs, one could swear, only moved by sheer will.
Cassandra whirled, to face the man leaning on the fireplace, then to Mike's blond hair, or at least, the back of his head. Slowly he stood, white feathers slowly brushing againest the crushed velvet of the chair. Mike's eyes were saddened as he turned, blood on his hands. "It has begun..." His voice was a hushed whisper.
