“Why didn’t he just rescue the others and bring them to Earth?” I said.
“Though Earth had its own beauty, nothing could compare with the majesty of Styclar-Plena. He discovered mortals—humans that grew from children into adults and eventually ceased to exist. Death, the end of things, was not a natural cycle for those in the first dimension. Our ancestors did indeed grow, but the stages of their life were vastly different. Time moved there at a far slower speed than on Earth. Once our beings and creatures became all but a day old, which on Earth is the equivalent of nearly twenty years, they remained fixed, frozen in time, and their forms—immortal. It is in that first day of our graced life that each of our kind is brought to the crystal. It is the only time in our existence that we are permitted to touch it. In that one day, all the history of Styclar-Plena is revealed to us and our purpose made clear. The story of our origin, our heritage, and the days that followed are unveiled to us in a series of images and memories.”
“So you touched the crystal?” I asked.
“Yes. I can’t even begin to explain its magic. An all-encompassing feeling of calm, contentment, and acceptance flows through every inch of your being.”
It sounded magnificent. It reminded me of how I felt in Gabriel’s presence. He almost started to glow as he recalled his experience.
“Orifiel became aware, very quickly, that he had gifts that were unusual in this dimension. He could do things that mortals could not. He was far faster and stronger; he had the power to influence; he could make himself invisible to them should he choose, to name but a few. And it was while Orifiel searched for answers that he stumbled upon a young woman who was dying. As she passed, he witnessed a light so white and pure, which was remarkably similar to the light from our crystal. The brightness ascended into the air and floated above the woman’s body. He noticed that none of the humans who surrounded her could see what he could. The light seemed to be drawn to his carving from the crystal. The essence traveled toward Orifiel and as it did, the crystal once again came to life, becoming bright and bold and luminous in his hand. Suddenly waves of silver formed like hairline cracks in the air, just the same as when he had passed through. They appeared in front of him and Orifiel returned to our dimension with the woman’s essence.”
“He stole her soul?” I asked, a little unsure.
“He didn’t steal it; he simply guided it to where it wanted to go. I witnessed, through the images, Orifiel returning with her energy. It seemed to dance and almost sing as it traveled into the crystal sphere that dulled where he had left it. The sphere immediately lit up once more, and the gold and white sparkles outstretched. It was in this moment that Orifiel realized that he had found the key to our survival. He returned with others of his kind, and they learned how to harness the energy that left a mortal’s body in death and lead it through the second dimension back to the first, Styclar-Plena. Using carvings from the crystal they were able to command these gateways to open, and from there, life in the first dimension flourished once more, and was even more majestic than it ever had been. It was as if this was the way it was always meant to be. The light spread farther and wider and our world grew vast and deep.”
He looked at me and encouraged me to ask the questions that hung on my lips.
“So what you’re saying is that when a person dies here on Earth, beings from your world, from Styclar-Plena, open these gateways and collect their souls and use them to, well, fuel your world?”
I was trying to make sure I had it clear.
“Essentially, yes. But it is a wonder for the souls that feed the crystal; they continue to exist in a form of beauty, different from anything on Earth, as brilliant light … love. Humans don’t have it far wrong; it is a form of Heaven, only their souls don’t continue to exist in the same way—they live on, but as something else. Another being, a structure, air … Their essence is transformed by the light and they still go on existing.”
Gabriel paused to make sure I understood. Then he continued. “But as the days passed and the ages moved forward, a more structured society was born out of necessity. Now, so that Styclar-Plena would continue to flourish, select beings were appointed by Orifiel, to ensure the survival of our world. They were later given the name ‘Angel.’”
“Like you?”
“I am an Angel, but I am an Angel Descendant; I was not one of the first. I have existed for nearly two hundred years in Earth terms, which is still very young when it comes to my kind,” he answered. “Though I only inhabited Styclar-Plena for that one day before I was tasked.” He stopped abruptly. His body stiffening told me that it was not a comfortable subject.
“How are you a Descendant?”
“There were only a few of our kind who could fulfill these duties. They were the most human-like of all. There were only forty left after the day the darkness fell: twenty male and twenty female, including Orifiel himself. Not enough by any stretch to move souls to our plane. So they did what no other being in our dimension could do. Having seen how the human race populated, Orifiel devised a similar solution. Through the exchange of light and energy, a male and a female Angel would conceive a child. Around the same time, another male and female Angel couple would also create a child in the same way. A special ceremony was then held and, harnessing the bright white light and energy from the crystal, it touched both unborn Angel children in their mothers’ wombs, bonding them together. One light, split into two.”
“An Angel Pair?” I mumbled.
“Two Angels, fated to be each other’s mate; fated to work together in their tasks on Earth, in the same rank, guiding and supporting one another; fated to share a love like no other.”
“But why would they want to do that?” I said.
I could feel an unsettling feeling rising inside me; was Gabriel half of an Angel Pair, and if so, where was she?
“In the beginning, only one Angel Descendant was conceived at a time, not linked to any other. But as time moved forward, Angel Descendants began to fall, choosing to exist on Earth as mortals—and to die.”
“But why?” I asked.
“Parted from Styclar-Plena in order to carry out their tasks on Earth, they grew weary. It was at the loss of so many that chose to fall that Orifiel decided to pair up the Angel Descendants. So although Angels had the duty, and to a degree, the burden of sustaining our world so that others could exist in paradise as they had once before, in return Orifiel gave us something none of the Arch Angels possessed: the immediate connection to another via an all-encompassing love, a love that bonds the two souls together for eternity. It no longer mattered how long they spent away from our world, as long as they had each other, their lights continued to shine brightly. These Angels then worked up the ranks, put in place by Orifiel, together.”