Fallen State

Chapter Two

As Abigail stepped outside she was greeted by pillars of smoke in the distance. Thick black smoke that indicated serious trouble. As Rachel had predicted the radicals were getting serious. And they were going to regret it bitterly once the mania that had seized control of them subsided. Victory was far beyond their reach. Abigail did not want to be on the streets when the military responded. She very much wanted to avoid their attention so she decided to take a train to the nearby city of Elysium, named after the Fields of Elysium from Greek mythology.

While the cities that housed humanity stood as evidence of their ability to build wonders and the creative potential of the human mind the world outside the walls of these cities was a monument to the destructive capacity and reckless stupidity that was the other half of the dual nature of man. Man could create miracles and man could kill and destroy unlike anything else in the infinite vastness of creation. What Abigail was looking at through a window on board a late night train with a small amount of other passengers was not a desolate wasteland or some fiery inferno but a landscape littered with the ruins of a multitude of buildings taken over by nature. The skeletal outline of the world that had been was covered with vines and plants of various kinds of which many were highly toxic. This wilderness around them was the domain of strange savages who had once been human. At least that was what the old books written during the time before the walls claimed, the few of them that was that still existed and could be read. Information from those days was hard to find.

And no one was allowed outside without military escort, an expense few could afford. The government told them that the world outside was too dangerous but Abigail despite searching had never found an individual who had been outside and could explain what the danger was. Elysium was the second greatest of the walled cities in size and technological achievement and had a population of sixty million. Eden the greatest achievement of humanity had a population of a billion.

Abigail turned back to her laptop on the table before her and watched as on the screen the people described as terrorists were executed by firing squads. The government did not tolerate destruction of its property or attacks upon its proud enforcers of law. Abigail closed the tab on which she had been watching the news and switched to browsing social media. After a few minutes a message appeared on the screen and vanished. It was from Rachel using their usual communication method and it informed her of the location where they would meet in Elysium.

Her social media search found no mention of the executions or the riots. On the news there was nothing else. Nothing had changed. Not that she had expected that anything would. Many people with supposedly noble causes had risen against the government in the time she had lived among the mortals as one of them. All they had ever accomplished was the continuous expansion of the powers of the state as a response to the chaos and panic they had caused.

The streets of Elysium, lit up by bright neon signs offering various services for what they promised to be reasonable prices and flickering streetlamps, were surprisingly crowded with people in various stages of inebriation. The brightly illuminated logos of a host of corporations beamed their light upon drunken revellers while only a few miles away Eden was on the brink of enacting martial law. The council that governed Eden had delivered the usual speeches about the tragedy of what had happened and the unfortunate measures that had sadly been necessary to restore peace and order to the city. The next step Abigail thought would be open and unapologetic martial law. The council would say that although they were reluctant to take such extreme measures, and they would repeatedly offer guarantees that these measures would be temporary, they would do so for the greater good. One must after all be pragmatic with ones principles and let reason prevail.

As Abigail navigated the streets, the neon signs guiding her as she searched for the house that Rachel's wealthy parents had purchased as a second home, she thought about what would need to be done next as things proceeded to the next stage.

She felt a need to do something, a certainty that anything she could do would be like attempting to stop a tidal wave with a pebble, and wondered why she cared about the affairs of mortals when it would be so much easier to not care. To not feel. To not feel compelled to act in the name of a hopeless cause.

Rachel was waiting for her at the house and opened the door for Abigail before she had a chance to knock.

"Come in." She said. "We're the only ones here." The Rhode's second home was mostly used by their daughter who had free rein to use it whenever she wished to. Mostly it was used by the duo as a retreat from reality where they were free to dream of the world as it should be. It was also where they had agreed to meet up under emergency circumstances.

The house was fairly modest and minimally furnished.

Three of the walls of the living room had large screens on them that displayed the news, weather updates and information about various corporations. These were the most expensive things in the house. Rachel sat down on the couch in the middle of the room and waited.

Abigail sat down next to her.

"I've been keeping things from you Rachel." Abigail said. "Important things that you need to know about." Abigail took a deep breath and her hands started shaking. Her legs were shaking as well and her gaze dropped to the floor. She couldn't make herself look up. Even the thing that hid inside her didn't terrify her as much as this moment.

She couldn't withhold the truth anymore and continue to lie by omission, to pretend she was something that she wasn't and couldn't ever be, but the truth would cost her the only friend she had ever had…

Rachel put her arms around Abigail, stroked her hair and said, "I know. Did you really think that you could hide anything from someone with my abilities?"

Abigail felt as embarrassed as she was shocked. The thought had never occurred to her that she was not an exception to her friend's remarkable gifts.

"I know what you're afraid of." Rachel continued. "I've seen the path fate has put before you. I understand the role you were destined to play from birth quite well, I've always known my part in what's ahead of us and I want you to know that I'm not afraid of that or of you."

Morning dawned as the sun rose above them bathing them with its heat, which seemed like it would never subside, and Abigail and Rachel realised that they had stayed awake the whole night talking. With the morning also came the news that the city of Eden had entered a state of emergency and the council had granted the military the authority to act independently without needing to be asked to take action.

This announcement had been promptly followed by several arrests made that completely bypassed the usual process. No warrants were issued and there were no trials. The charge was sedition and the sentence was life in prison.

Abigail and Rachel returned to Eden later that day. Abigail had decided to confront her destiny but she would do it on her terms. No one would shape her path for her. She would turn her mother's words into reality. Things were about to change drastically because Abigail Keating born to a fallen angel and a human priest was done with hiding. She was done with playing the games of others and it was time for them to play hers.

Her father's church was a grand monument to opulence that towered over nearby buildings like a golden palace. It dominated the neighbourhood and could be seen from anywhere in the city. It was a physical reminder of the supremacy of the celestial powers over man whom they had created. Abigail's father, Caleb Keating, had for many years preached a message of humility. His sermons warned of the dangers of forgetting to honour and revere their creators. His church stood as his offering to the divine and indifferent masters he worshipped with unrivalled zeal.

Father Caleb was respected and feared by many but loved by none. Abigail and Rachel pushed the heavy doors open and stepped inside. At the other end standing before the golden altar was as usual Caleb who was lost in contemplation. Caleb opened his eyes and turned to face his daughter.

"Have you come to repent?" He asked.

"Does that actually work?" Abigail asked. "Have you found forgiveness in this temple of penitence?" With every gold plated part of his church Caleb begged for forgiveness. He screamed this desire at all who saw his creation but no one heard his pleas. No one cared.

"Not yet." Caleb said. "But I will… I doubt you came to seek salvation. A father must have faith in his child and he must be patient. One day you will understand but until that day comes… What can I do for you child?"

"We both know you can't help me." Abigail said. "We both know what I am."

"Yes." Caleb said. "So you've come to accept your path. It might seem evil to you but your role is necessary and a sacred task entrusted only to someone worthy of it."

"Why won't you say it?" Abigail asked. "Name what I am."

"You're not ready for that. Not yet."

"You don't get to decide that." Abigail said.

"You came to face me, to confront your father." Caleb said. "A child seeking their place in the world through their father yet you fail to see that this is exactly what I'm doing. You seek to condemn me. I can see it in your eyes. You want to embrace your future but you don't understand."

Caleb raised his right hand and recited a short prayer. A beam of light appeared in his hand that started transforming into a solid object, a sword of solid light that glowed like a small sun. It was a weapon made by angels.

How could a mortal man possess such a weapon? Abigail wondered. Did this mean they were getting involved?

To answer that unspoken question Father Caleb said, "Yes, they are coming back to us. Actually they never left. They have been waiting, waiting for today."

As he said this beings made of light, beings that resembled the shape of human beings but somehow were perfect in a way no mortal could be, surrounded the priest. They had long white wings and carried spears like the sword Caleb held.

"The angels are among us."