Heaven is For Real Part 13

Ariel was alone now. It wasn't that long ago when she and her fellow councilmen split up to different corners of the shopping platform, each off to engage a different faction of the attacking dark angels. She soared through the infinite cityscape at super sonic speeds. To the eye she looked like a blurring lightning bolt that zipped through the sky. Her wings helped her glide through the air, manipulating the gravity of her realm so she could quickly stop the terroristic fallen angels. Even blind she could still see all of Paradise. Her ability to see instances in the potential future helped map out the whole cityscape in her mind. She knew every home and building of each of the nine districts. The destination to the transport docks was not far, but she had to hurry. Listening closely she heard the cries of her people by the docks. It did not sound as though they were killed for sport. But Ariel did not want to give her enemy a chance.

Through her foresight her mind caught a glimpse of the encroaching danger. Three members of the Fallen marched through the docking port. They did not have their wings sprouting out, just moved through the port by foot. Ariel wasn't sure if they carried guns or not. She cannot ponder on it. Civilian lives were in grave danger. She sensed there were men, women, and children trying to flee or hid at the docks. As it said in their creed she must protect the innocent. It was her duty as an archangel. The Archangel of Peace commanded her wings to point up, moving herself down to where the terrorists encroached. A bolt of gold lightning struck in front of the three Fallen. They paused and watched as the lightning strike took the form of a beautiful woman with a cloth over her eyes. They recognized her as an archangel and a member of the Council with her gold wings that separated her from the other angels. She did not wear armor or carry a sword, or spear, or any devastating weapon. The archangel was dressed in her formal robes and attire, and carried a long quarterstaff in her hands. She looked directly at them. Her eyes were covered—and she was completely blind—but they each felt that she was looking right at them.

The three dark angels stared at Ariel, who stood perfectly still. Never flinched, never moved. Still like a statue. Her large wings were spread out for their view. At first they laughed that a blind angel was part of the most powerful order in Heaven, believing this was an easy execution. They drew their swords out, wanting a more interesting fight, but Ariel remained motionless. "Draw your sword, archangel!" one of the masked attackers ordered.

"I walk a different path," Ariel tranquilly said. Her gold wings dissolved back to her body. Finally she moved. Her hands motioned her staff in circles. She positioned her right arm around and held her staff behind her back. The left arm stuck out towards the enemy. The ring and pinky fingers were curled up while her middle, index, and thumb held out like an oversized L. Now she waited again. Still like a statue. The three terrorists spread out, circling around the lone archangel like wolves around a defenseless sheep. Ariel listened closely to their sounds. The chaos of Paradise was shut out. Each footstep was like thunder. The blades they spun in their hands were a gust storm. The cock of a gun... one of the attackers aimed a gun? There was a fourth!

Ariel heard the shot of a plasma gun. The direction the bolt was headed was for her head. She reacted quickly, twisting her body to the left when the bolt came. The world around her seemed to slow down as it flew by her eyes. It was like a solar flare shooting through time and space, and she felt its intense heat. Her dodge caught one of the dark angels behind her off guard, striking into his right shoulder. It wasn't fatal but it hurt like hell. Now was the time for the archangel to strike. She jumped to another fallen angel and repeatedly smacked her staff against his body. She applied different combo moves that struck her opponents arms, chest, and legs. The staff struck so hard that it knocked his weapon out of his hands. He was dropped unconscious when one of the staff ends slugged across his jaw.

Another fallen angel charged forward but Ariel heard him coming. She jumped, his blade barely poked her back. The archangel backflipped behind her assailant and struck him with similar combos. The wounded Fallen warrior charged too. The archangel was too quick. She slammed one end of her staff in the floor and swung around on it. Her right leg kicked directly into the wounded one's face. She bounced again and struck his sternum with the other end of her staff. The angel grunted when he felt his ribs shatter like glass. He fell backwards and was done. Ariel went back for the third. Her staff swooped through the other's legs, tripping him off the floor. The dark angel hit the floor so fast he never understood what happened. A violent tap against his forehead with the staff's tip finished him off for the count, knocking him completely unconscious.

Ariel heard another shot from the same plasma gun from before. This shot hit her staff, ripping it out of her hands. Her staff bounced and rolled away from her reach. Her attacker believed her defenseless, but she knew she was never defenseless. Ariel sensed the shooter made his presence known out in the open. He had his rifle aimed once more for her. The shooter fired again. Ariel did not move but waited. Waited for the plasma bolt to get closer. Her left hand smacked at it. The bolt was directed to strike the ground by the archangel's telekinetic powers. The shooter tried again but the result ended the same again. Ariel jumped toward the shooter, spinning through the air like a twister. A bright light flashed on her back and out sprung her magnificent wings. One of the wings sliced the rifle in half. Ariel landed on her feet and used the other wing to strike at her wouldbe assassin. The shooter cried from his fresh burns on the side of his face. Her strike wasn't from the whole wing, just the tip. But it still left its mark.

Ariel waited for the assassin to recuperate. He was still roaring in pain from the mark she felt. Now she heard him breathe heavily. His breath wasn't muffled under his disguise. The attack must have cleaved off whatever fabric masked he used to hide his face. She could not see but felt his darkness surfacing, which was clear on his face. If her eyes could see, if they were not bound by the cloth, her eyes would have gazed upon the disfigurement that was of the Fallen. Besides the large, cauterized gash that stretched from his cheek across his left eye, red veins emulated through his skin which caused severe flaking and fissures along his pale skin. His eyes were blackened like coal. His small, red pupils drowned inside his sickly eyes. The dark angel snarled like a carnivore, baring his greyed teeth at the archangel.

"Darkness has corrupted you," she said. The fallen angel ignored her. His boiling rage could no longer be contained. He lunged for her. Hands ready to choke out her life. Ariel pushed her hands out. The terrorist flew backward from the powerful winds the archangel projected with her magic. He flew several feet away and into a nearby obelisk, one of the many that helped decorate the area. Pinned against the strong winds the dark angel couldn't move. The winds blew even stronger and left him immobilized. As winds she created kept her opponent down Ariel slowly motioned both her hands in a circle. The stunned angel watched as the Archangel of Peace crafted a large, mystic circular rune made of orange light appeared with smaller shapes forming inside. "If you choose to stand inside the dark, you fail to see the light glimmer before you."

The disfigured angel once again ignored her. He only sound Ariel heard of him was his hateful screams. She understood this as surrender was never going to be his option. She finished her spell. Her right hand slammed at the rune's center. The magic circle engulfed itself into a large comet and soared its way to the pinned angel. Ariel heard his screams silenced when the comet collided and decimated the obelisk he was pinned to. The obelisk's base exploded into a cloud of fire and dust, forcing its peak to collapse on itself. She could no longer feel his presence. His dark light was extinguised.

But the Archangel of Peace felt another presence nearby. There were two brave individuals who watched the whole fight. Even without know who they were, Ariel knew they were not a threat. "Whoa," she heard a child, a girl, speak. "That was totally badass."

"Swear!" said another child. This one also a girl but sounded younger than the first voice.

The archangel kept her gaze away from them, something that the two girls found rather off about her. Her left arm stretched out and called for her staff. The staff hovered vertically into her open hand. "It's not safe for you here. Get to shelter immediately."

The archangel's wings flapped down and she disappeared in a bolt of golden lightning. The two girls watched as the bolt zipped out to the infinite skies and flew to the opposite direction from where she first came. Ariel knew the danger in Paradise was far from over. It was time for her to regroup with her brothers-in-arms.

The archangel was already too far for her to hear what one of the girls said next. "Come on, Regan. Let's get going."

The transport docking area was clear and some of the transports were left abandoned. There were so many to choose from. Some transports were shaped like taxis, others like flying saucers, and some like weird canoes. Rosemary and Regan stepped inside one of the abandoned transports that was docked. No security, no anchors, just a hovering vehicle free to be taken. It was built much like a car from earth but it had no wheels and floated above the ground. First Rosemary placed her beside what looked like the vehicle's control console. MARI appeared from her little disc and her holographic image phased inside the console. All they needed to do was allow MARI to work her own kind of technological magic. A few configuations and rewiring later and the transport was under MARI's control.

"Accessing transport controls," MARI complied. "Be sure to wear your seatbelts at all times, and keep all limbs inside too. Thank you for flying Air Paradise. Next stop, the Archangel Citadel." Rosemary and Regan felt the rumble of the vehicle as it slowly lifted off. Their smiles grew with MARI operating the controls. It was like the vehicle was driving itself. The transport soared away and off to the coordinates MARI marked in her CPU. The Gravely sisters were getting closer to their goal. They were one step closer in seeing their beloved uncle.

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