The whirring of machinery and electronic whooshes collided in the air, mingling with the scent of Heaven and doubling my excitement. Anticipation tingled my form and I knew that I was glowing more intensely than usual.
“Look who the chariot of fire dragged in,” a voice drawled to my right. I glanced over and spotted a stumpy angel with sharp, knife-like features distinct beneath his celestial radiance.
“Gavreel. Still waiting for an assignment, I see.” I tilted my head smugly. “Must be nice to have so many days off.”
He snarled, his light transforming from gold to burnished red. “I’m sure you’ll soon be joining me. After all, a guardian who can’t even protect her charge is not of use here.”
Gavreel’s words hit me in the heart, but I shook them off. Dwelling on my failure would only drag doubt and fear into my new beginning. I was moving on and leaving the rest in the King’s hands.
“I guess news travels fast in the Kingdom.”
He nodded. “Gabriel’s roars were loud enough to be heard in the throne room.”
“That’s probably why the Governor stopped by,” I mumbled.
“What?” Gavreel straightened and strode over to me. “Did you speak to the Governor?”
I grinned and jerked my chin toward the machines waiting in the large room instead of answering. “Think you can crank this old thing up for me?”
The King created the dome-shaped chambers when the Prince was given his greatest assignment—to clothe himself in flesh and dwell amongst man so he could ultimately die for them.
Since then, we used the flesh showers to don appearances that would fool the sons of man into thinking we were one of them. It was quite entertaining and many of the angels would don flesh for the fun of it.
The King banned this practice as the obsession with wearing flesh led one of our own to abandon his post in the Kingdom and remain on the earth with a mortal. It grieved us all deeply and so guards were placed around the machines to prevent any temptations.
Gavreel’s jaw fell open and he pointed absently to the closest chamber. “What-what is going on? Have you been reassigned?”
“By the Governor himself.”
“What?”
I brushed aside his shock and approached the interface on the gold and jeweled machine. Before I had even touched the metal skin, the screen burst to life and flashed a parade of human options on the digital wheel.
The process of choosing flesh was similar to that of a human selecting an avatar in a video game. Angels had no genders or ethnicities, but the sons of man needed such things to create their precious social hierarchies. If I were to go in as a more involved guardian, I’d need the perfect flesh to fit in.
Sounds easy, but it wasn’t by a long shot.
The King created so many unique human shades, facial features, and body types that it would be near impossible to decide on one. Should I go black? White? Tall? Short? Attractive? Plain?
I pressed the button for ‘Belize’ and breathed a sigh of relief when the options shrank to a more palatable amount.
“How can this be?” Gavreel finally overcame his immobility. He stalked ahead and blocked the door to the chambers. “Your charge died by your negligence.”
“The Governor offered me a second chance and I don’t intend on wasting it.” My finger crooked around my chin. “Now enough with the babble. Should I go as a male or a female?”
Gavreel looked like he wanted to argue some more, but he abandoned his pride for the greater good. “What is the sex of your new charge?”
“Female.”
“It would be wise to go likewise. Unless you want her falling in love with you as so many are liable to do.”
Gavreel had a point. It was embarrassing the way teenaged girls expressed sexual interest in their guardians. Heavens, there were even accounts of males doing the same.
Some of the angels loved the attention. Some even fell in love with their charges right back, but the laws of the Kingdom were unbendable and those situations never ended happily.
Well, almost never.
“Jada, I’m not being petty. Are you sure you can handle this? Wouldn’t it be better to guard from the spirit realm instead of entering the physical realm? The daughter of man doesn’t know you exist.”
I winced and selected the smaller option of human breasts before flicking the inward bellybutton. “She kind of does.”
“You’re kidding. Tell me this is a horrible, Moses-level joke,” Gavreel hissed.
“Moses isn’t that bad—”
“Jada!”
I startled and dropped my hand away from the interface. “I was panicking about Denise and I asked her best friend some questions. She is perfectly alright. No confusion whatsoever. Okay, maybe a little confusion.”
Gavreel worried his lip. “What could the Governor be thinking?”
“I’ll be fine.” I stepped into the chamber and allowed the mist to fall over my form. A striking pain followed everywhere the tendons, muscles and skin merged together. My screams echoed in the chamber, growing more and more panicked as the mist burned.
How did humans live with such pain? Such an invasion of the spirit?
Though it felt like I had lived agony for a thousand years, the process was complete in less than three seconds. I stumbled out of the machine fully clothed—or I should say completely naked.
Leaning against the machine, I struggled for breath. “Why did it… hurt so much?”
“It is another safety measure the King implanted so no angel would don flesh for pleasure again.”
“You… could have warned me.”
Gavreel smirked. “What would be the fun in that?”
The strength slowly returned to my new body. My hand followed the path of my curves and I stomped my legs, feeling the cold of the golden floors seeping into the pads of my feet.
“Okay, Tan.” I stared at myself in the jeweled mirror next to the chamber. “It’s time for us to officially meet.”
Hopefully, I could protect her, solve the case of Denise’s death and return to my post the King’s faithful victor. No other outcome would suffice.
Comments (0)
See all