1 A Sea Of Clouds

Note before we embark on this little journey of ours, this story is part of a much bigger one that my best friend and I have been working on for the past 3 years for nothing other than enjoying the narration of the characters we created, and thanks to insomnia and the fact that this has been going around my mind for a while now, I decided to start putting this out to share with other people hoping they like it, this is one side of a huge world and a bigger story, and I figured to do it in books each pertaining to one of the main characters, and then maybe if it does well, cross them over to make the main story, because it's real long and complex so I figured it could be simpler and more digestible this way.

Another little note is for some parts of the story I will not give a detailed description for some of the characters for instance the angels since in the story narrative they're six dimensional beings, and since we can't see or imagine that really, but being unable to describe some emotions sucks so I will be describing those in a way that we would perceive what they do in relation to our own actions for example they don't cry but because that's what we use to express emotions I'll use that to express the equivalent of their actions for that emotion, the same way this story is in English while the language they speak isn't.

And lastly the depiction of heaven hell angels and demons here is drawn from multiple religions as well as my own imagination, for those of you that are religious you might find some of the content offensive just keep in mind this is in no way relating to your own beliefs and ideals it's entirely fictional and intended for the characters of this fictional universe only.

Now without further ado, please enjoy.

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July 8th, 1608.

The sky seemed to split with what looks like a red bolt of lightning, whether that is its real colour, or if the heavens themselves were angered by the unfolding of events he cannot tell, but there it was, holy light fading followed by dying agonised screams...this must be it, this must be hell.

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July 8th, 1598.

A peaceful lush green field that stretches as far as the eye can see and in what seems to be its center, stands a tall and majestic tree, branches stretching far and wide bearing huge leaves, roots reaching deep into the ground some of which are bent above the surface, so enormous that a man would seem like a bug standing next to it.

Parilla looks to the side as she walks by the big orb of white light not too far from the tree "it must be time for another emergence, the Holy Orb has been growing for a while now, if anything it is overdue" she thinks to herself making her way towards her brethren sitting under the tree's vast shade.

"Kisoku will be here soon is everything in order?" Inquires Paschar, an almost identical looking angel, not lifting his eyes of the scroll he seems to be reading.

"Yes I prepared AND sorted the lists as you asked, yes alphabetically, and yes in sealed scrolls" Replies Parilla in a somewhat proud tone.

"Couldn't humans just stop dying, I'm more than happy to offer a lifespan extension if it means we get a break for a change" Zuriel pipes in, laying there with a few fallen leaves under his head, face covered by an open scroll.

"You k-" starts Paschar only to get interrupted by a sudden tremble in the tree they're resting on, all three of the angels turn to face the orb as they can sense the sudden appearance of a single new presence, they rush to the side of the tree facing it to see the new angels whom this presence belongs to.

The new presence soon fades into two, much to their relief as this seems to be back in order, unlike the last few emergences which have been chaotic to say the least, birthing deformed angels that died moments after if not from the impact where they land, ones that fail to split and end up exploding around the same time they emerge, and so on with these unfortunate accidents, they'd thought the orb was maybe broken but this seems to be looking good so far.

As the light of the smaller emerging orb fades accompanying the presence splitting into two, it reveals two little angels on the ground in front of the tree, with a big charred dent left in it, not something they've seen happen before but that isn't important now they need to know if these two will make it since as the light fades they can see its another unusual pair, one of them is clearly larger than the other, both smaller than them of course but the difference in their size is strange, one is healthy and strong looking and the other is frail and weak upon first glance.

"Be careful sister" warns Paschar as Parilla kneels near them and reaches to feel the bigger one's wings with her own.

"Welcome to the world little ones, do you have names?" She asks in a friendly tone looking between them.

"Q-qadar" says the smaller one with a voice that fits her small body, while the bigger one continues to look at Parilla's wing seemingly interested, he moves his wing away and then gently whacks hers with it and looks up at her with an amused chuckle.

"Shukumei Eidal" he says drawing his wings back behind him "did I do this" says looking at the charred dent in the tree.

"It seems that the two of you did yes" says Paschar stepping closer to inspect that spot in the tree.

"Shukumei Eidal huh, another compound name" notes Zuriel taking a look at the two from where he's standing.

"That's correct" says Shukumei with a nod "the other would be Eloarubi...Kisoku's twin, they're here by the way" he adds pointing in a certain direction, all while Qadar hides behind him almost.

"Oh what have we here!" Exclaims Eloa with joy, she rushes there and kneels next to Parilla in front of the newcomers pulling them both into an embrace with her wings "goodnesses you two are beautiful!".

Kisoku walks in as expressionless and aloof as always "you know this is dangerous Eloa they could still be unstable".

"Yes well, the girls seem to lack that common sense" says Zuriel stretching and walking back to his comfortable spot from earlier.

Eloa pulls back with a smile and gently pokes their faces "I sensed you rascals forming your connections earlier you're quite hasty aren't you" she says with a chuckle as the little angels look at her.

"Paschar you handle the fledglings the rest of you I will see in the hall" says Kisoku authoritatively as he walks away.

"Why me???" He asks almost complaining.

"Oh I'll be happy to look after them Kisoku Pa-" starts Eloa without getting the chance to finish as Kisoku cuts in.

"Paschar will tend to them your presence is required in the meeting" he says before flying away once out from under the tree.

Eloa frowns looking sideways a little annoyed by his attitude and the fact that she won't get to spend time with her new siblings yet after so many of them not making it, she looks back at the little ones and brushes over their wings with her own with a friendly expression "I will see you two later make sure not to give Paschar a hard time" she says before getting up and following Kisoku.

"I must go present the lists as well before Kisoku gives me hell about it, you two have a look around and settle in you will be shown your duties later" she says before following the other two accompanied by a reluctant Zuriel.

"Well I suppose it is just you and I then" says Paschar with a little sigh.

"Don't sound too excited" says Shukumei under his breath having been mostly silent, with Qadar still clinging to him "can't we simply follow?" He asks audibly this time.

Paschar chuckles "you're still a fledgling Shuki, it is still a few years too soon for you to be able to ascend....speaking of that...come with me let me explain a few things to you little ones" says walking ahead.

The two of them follow, Qadar still holding on to Shukumei, eyes soaring around the place in bewilderment as her lips tug into a small barely noticeable smile.

Paschar catches a glimpse of Qadar's expression and then looks ahead "The Garden, this is where we currently are, it is the second of the four levels of heaven, the first being The Sea Of Clouds, where Cherubs reside, unlike us those angels have been here since the dawn of creation, their duty is to tie human souls together to make it possible for two souls to be able to create a third one, through human copulation...it is how they reproduce to ensure the survival of their kind"

"S-ouls?" Asks Qadar shyly.

"Yes it is what humans have at their core" Explains Paschar, poking her chest with the tip of his wing "where we have our cores of grace, they have theirs formed from life force, making what we refer to as a soul"

Qadar nods, fascinated with this information, other forms of life, what could they be like.

"Where ARE these 'humans', I cannot seem to find anything different from us within the entire garden" Shukumei chirps in.

Paschar turns to look at him with a little surprised expression "you're able to see that far already, quite peculiar" looks ahead again "and yes humans do not reside here they're on a place called Earth, they're mortal and upon death their souls go to either heaven or hell, so some are here they're simply not in the garden, not this part of it that is"

Qadar looks around a little unsettled, she wonders what it is they're talking about for that she can't see any farther than where the garden curves, she hides behind Shukumei a little more.

"As I was saying, The Sea Of Clouds is where the Cherubs reside, they are regarded as a lower class of angels as they are unable to ascend past their level, next is where we currently are, the orb from which you emerged resides here therefore we are able to access both the sea as well as the garden from birth, however The Hall and The Palace remain inaccessible until you grow enough to possess the adequate amount of grace required to ascend, all of the current angels, excluding the two of you, are able to access The Hall, however, as of yet only Kisoku and Eloarubi are able to ascend past that to the last level, The Palace, they are the first angels to be created, and Kisoku is the only one among us who saw our creator, therefore he's the one with the knowledge and the wisdom to guide us to fulfil our purposes" Paschar elaborates further as they walk around.

Having grown bored with the garden as there isn't anything new he's already seen it so walking around is pointless and he's finding Paschar's lecture rather uninteresting, he looks up wondering about that new place, maybe it's more interesting, after all they're supposed to be holding some important meeting up there so maybe he should go take a look...he takes a few more seconds before making up his mind, he spread his broad white wings and shoots upwards leaving Paschar and Qadar who looks startled by his sudden movement "sorry brother Paschar but I think I can hear them calling me I will not be long!"

Paschar chuckles looking at him go he doesn't want to dishearten him he seems to have a bright spark.

Shukumei flies up further and further until he starts feeling a sense of warmth flowing through his being slowly making its way to his very core and once it does he feels a more profound rush of that feeling wash over him as the scenery around him changes from the blue sky of the garden to what looks like a very large hallway.

Paschar does a double take looking up there, there is no way this fledgling just ascended within minutes of his emergence it's unprecedented let alone bizarre, but before he has time to go after him he hears a small whimper from his side, he looks there to see a very scared Qadar looking around herself.

"W-what's happening brother....I..I cannot see....the g-" she doesn't get the chance to finish before she falls through the ground, she screams in fear as she can feel that sense of warmth abandoning her as she falls through the clouds before finally coming to a stop upon impacting the surface of one, she gets up looking around very alarmed and scared, holds her arms and wings close to herself in an attempt to restore some of that warmth, she can't recognise anyone here all there seems to be are clouds stretching as far as she can see, and more angels just with smaller less vibrant cores, aiming down through openings in the clouds with what looks like a bow and arrow....why is she here, she begins to panic wanting to return back home this place is cold, and those angels don't feel like her other brothers did.

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Well there it is a wee little chapter, I didn't want to make this one too long and just have it be a little introduction to this world and how heaven is in this universe, I hope you like it, the following chapters will be where the interesting stuff start, leading up to the point this one started with, its rly bad :(

If you like it please leave a like, and lemme know your thoughts in the comments I love those, same goes if you didn't like it lemme know what you don't like about it.

Make it a great day and I'll see you in the next chapter!