Ramiel

Chapter 3. (Behind the Black Marble Door)

There had not been any big incident in Heaven since the departure. Angels tended to be quite selfless in the cause of their species and deviant behaviour was not part of their culture or nature. They were seen as the epitomes of virtue generally amongst most of the species. So much so that there were a few religions which had existed and come to exist that proclaimed them to be the creations and representatives of an all powerful being who resided with them in a most hallowed part of their nation. The religions called this being God.

The religions centred on this shared differences as well as similarities. A common similarity was the divine status bestowed upon angels. The angels in truth, were just as confused as any species as to their origin. Even with their great intellect, the question baffled them. Even though the religion seemed ridiculous, Heaven didn't mind it. It made dealings with adherents of the faith diplomats came across go in their favour. They were not about to stop that. From the shadows, they even encouraged the spread with resources.

Ramiel recalled the night with the Elven female of Tyuik. He had really gotten into high gear with her when she had started moaning softly at first, then louder and louder until she couldn't contain herself.

"Oh God! Oh God! Oh my God!", She screamed.

She looked down, her eyes meeting Ramiel, followed by a scared expression. She quickly got off him and bowed while apologizing profusely because she felt she had insulted him greatly by mentioning his creator as they satisfied their lust . The memory constantly made him laugh.

Heaven's hierarchy dealt with merit and age. Some had both, some had only one of the qualifications. Ramiel had both. He wasn't amongst the eldest ones, but he was old enough. He had earned his merit with his dealings as a diplomat. He was a star in international relations. If heaven wanted to get anything done at any point, Ramiel got it done, and he accomplished more than requested a few times. It was through his unmatched genius at diplomacy that he had earned a commendably high rank in heaven.

High ranks granted Angels access to certain off limit or exclusive parts. It wasn't that heaven was restrictive, infact it was the opposite, even the lowest of angels had a lot of spaces they had access to. The restricted areas were kept that way because the assumption was that angels who had gained entry to them would never do anything to harm heaven with whatever they found out in those spaces.

One of the restricted areas with the strictest security were the prisons, out of all, the Black marble door was the most guarded. Ramiel had access to the prisons. He had gained it when he had convinced the Dwarves of Dohm to hand over a totem which could spawn the dead. They had not used it in any harmful way at the time, but its potential to wreak havoc did not put Heaven at ease.

Ramiel had talked to the the Chief all night, painting him a picture of the riches and power Heaven could bring his way in exchange for the totem and the next day he walked through a door to give the totem to Cassiel. The elders were quite impressed. His rank had been lifted and he had been granted access to more areas. The most he had seen of the Black Marble Door was the entrance as he did not have access to the inside.

Presently, Ramiel was waiting near the entrance of the Training Dome. He had studied the angel's schedule like a hawk and suure enough, five minutes later, there she was. Cassiel, a specimen to behold, one that looked like art. She was quite tall, with very toned muscles and a lock of golden hair to compliment her silver eyes. She exuded a strong aura, and indeed she was. Cassiel was one of Heaven's oldest and was great at combat. She easily stood out wherever she went and the visible strength she exuded really complemented her high position as Heaven's Director of Security. She was put in charge of Heaven's protection and defense, internal and external.

Cassiel's expression remained as unrevealing now as it had been since Ramiel remembered. She was the kind to take her duties seriously but not to the point of detriment those under her. Shee was popular amongst the young ones. She did not reprimand them as easily as the other older ones were prone to and shee passed across her points and instructions in brief easily understandable instructions and with a tone which made listeners not want to disappoint her. This was not to say Cassiel wasn't ruthless. She could unleash the raging beast within when the she needed to do so, and Ramiel has seen her do so a few times in her life.

"Cassiel. It's been a while".

Cassiel smiled at him slightly. "I guess it has. You know, Sameal has had nothing but praise for you recently. Big change from how he has been for so long. Keep that up. I'm impressed as well, Ramiel"

Ramiel brushed the back of his neck with his left arm. One of some habits he picked from some humans.

"Oh. I had no idea two high ranking angels have so much time on their hands that they gossip about me."

"It's nothing like that, Ramiel. We were just...", Cassiel trailed off when he saw the mischievous smile on Ramiel's face.

It had taken her a while to get used to his habit of pulling legs he obviously picked up from other cultures, but it now amused her a bit.

"What do you want Ramiel?"

"I was, uhm... I was thinking about the past and the totem I got from Dohm. I don't know I you remember it. It had a..."

"I remember.", Cassiel interjected before he made a description.

"Well. I was thinking about it and I really got nostalgic. I suddenly wanted to see it again, for old time's sake. Then I remembered my buddy Cassiel. She's got access, and she knows me, I thought. So here I am"

It was an unusual request but no alarms went off in Cassiel's head. The area was restricted to Ramiel, but Cassiel had the authority to grant access and it did it appear to be that any fishy business was at the corner.

"Don't touch anything and don't wander off. I'm serious Ramiel", Cassiel said, turning right and walking toward the Black Marble Door.

Ramiel's face lit up as he followed quickly behind Cassiel.

They reached the Black Marble Door. It had a breathtaking entrance and as Ramiel stood in front of it, he did not know what to expect inside. The air inside was denser and had a chilly smell to it. The interior had the look of different eras. The parts closest to the door were made up of rows of rooms with metal bars. It had the same design as the prisons cells used by some species. One could tell that they had been left as they were in an attempted to preserve history.

The cells kept getting more advanced as they went in. They eventually got to the place where the totem of Dohm was. It did bring some nostalgia for Ramiel as he looked at it. Thoughts about the night he had spent negotiating for it came to him He continued to observe it for a while until Cassiel decided that he had spent enough time looking at it.

"Time to go, Ramiel."

Ramiel couldn't leave without achieving his main goal. He had to see the crpyt. It was why he had asked Cassiel to take him into he prison after all. Ramiel started to plead to Cassiel to take him and eventually, he got Cassiel to agree to a short peep at the Crypt. They went past a number of other areas before they got to the huge fearful looking entrance to the Crypt. Cassiel repeated the warning she had given earlier to Ramiel, and in an even more serious tone. Right before she unlocked the door, she paused, turned back to look him dead in the eye and with a cold commanding expression and tone she said,

"Ramiel. The other side of this door is without doubt the most dangerous place on the planet. Whatever pranks you've got, leave it at the door."

The commanding aura coming from Cassiel made Ramiel straighten up.

Cassiel unlocked the entrance and they both stepped in. The air was quite heavy and smelt of danger. Ramiel could feel goosebumps on his arms. He felt like he was in immediate danger simply by being there.

The room was intimidating. It had pitch black walls. Walls which Ramiel could easily guess were made from the strongest material known to Heaven. Within the black walls were symbols and glowing materials that looked like rocks. Ramiel imagined their purpose was to disperse any natural energy which the beings inside could try to access. Though intimidating, he admired the symbols as well the technology used in the Crypt .

The only thing he saw in the room was what looked like a small fragment suspended in the air and surrounded by major natural energy. The complex symbols and energy formations around it and radiating from it told Ramiel all he needed to know about how much Heaven considered what he was looking at dangerous. They looked at it silently for about a minute before Cassiel motioned for him to move with her down a short corridor.

There were also symbols all over the corridor. They met another door which Cassiel opened. Ramiel stepped in and his heart skipped a beat when he looked inside.

"It has to be.", he thought, regaining his composure.

Some distance from the entrance, and surrounded by heavier security than the previous room was the object of Ramiel's attention. A transparent cube containing a dark liquid which seemed to be alive. The liquid was moving around the cube, crashing violently against it in what looked like an effort to be free. The attempts were futile before Heaven's imprisonment.

Ramiel was drawn to it. He felt a familiar feeling the closer the got. It was unmistakeably the source of the voices which had come to him many months ago in the Garden. It drew him in like metal to magnet. As he got closer, his left hand reflexively reached out in the direction of the the cube and received a quick painful chop for it.

"Control yourself!", Cassiel bellowed to him looking very angry.

"I'm sorry Cassiel. I had no intention of doing anything. I mean, look at all that security. My arm would have been chopped off if it got too close. Now why would I ever do that?"

"That's all of it, Ramiel, and more than you asked for".

Ramiel nodded in submission. He looked across to the farthest part of the room where there was a door. This door, unlike the others was covered in symbols. According to his research, he knew it led to the last occupant of the Crypt.From the way the door looked, whatever was behind it held the most dangerous being in the world. He gestured toward the door.

"That can never happen. Time to go, Ramiel", Cassiel said, looking toward the door with anger Ramiel had never seen from her before. The danger to Heaven whomever was behind that door could wreak was no joking matter to Cassiel.

Ramiel did not protest. He turned and headed toward the exit with her.

They stepped out of the Black Marble Door and Ramiel could feel the air get lighter. He took in a deep refreshing breath and turned back to talk to Cassiel. He stopped in his tracks. She was looking up at the entrance with an angry expression. Ramiel came closer and found out she seemed to be holding back tears. It was the first time he had ever seen her show emotion without her composure and he did not know how to react to it. He stood beside her quietly. He was certain what was happening had to do with who was behind the last door in the Crypt, but he did not know what the story behind everything was.

She spoke just over a minute later.

"It's alright Ramiel. I'm alright." , She sounded like her normal self and her eyes no longer looked like there were tears waiting to run across her cheeks on short notice. Ramiel did not bother asking because he knew she wouldn't tell.

"This was great Cassiel. Now I owe you a favour."

"This was a small kindness to a friend. You owe me nothing.", Cassiel said, giving him her famous slight smile as she walked away.

A huge smile broke into Ramiel's face after she was no longer in sight. He had observed everything closely from the moment they stepped into the Black Marble Door. One of the things he noticed was that at every point Cassiel needed to something done within the prison, she typed in instructions onto her bracelet. Ramiel had watched her very closely everytime she did this.

He now knew what he had to do to get to the voices. For now all he had to do was to plan and prepare, continue to observe everything and strike when the time was right. He thought about what the most important thing he needed to accomplish what he wanted was. Cassiel's Bracelet. It was the key.