The Chosen

Gabriel's obsession

The Celestial Kingdom was a symphony of light and harmony, a sanctuary suspended between infinity and eternity. The air vibrated with a gentle melody, a divine resonance that enveloped the angels in an unalterable serenity. Golden columns rose like pillars of wisdom, supporting ivory vaults shimmering with opalescent reflections. The hanging gardens, where immortal flowers bloomed, exuded fragrances of ineffable sweetness. Here, every breath was an echo of the divine, every step a silent prayer.

Yet, at the summit of the Ethereal Palace, Gabriel stood alone, absorbed in anxious contemplation. He leaned against a finely crafted balustrade adorned with celestial motifs, his gaze fixed on the horizon where a world so different from his own stretched before him: Earth.

He had always harbored a secret fascination for humans. Their fleeting emotions, their vulnerability, their ephemeral loves formed a melody of poignant beauty. Unlike angels, crystallized in eternal peace, mortals lived with intensity, burning with desire, sorrow, and hope.

But this time, something was different.

His eyes had captured a woman. Not just any human among the countless souls he had observed, but one with a unique light, a being marked by an unspeakable sorrow. She stood on a hill, bathed in golden sunlight, her hair unfurling like a wave carried by the wind. Her eyes held a quiet melancholy, a buried secret, an invisible wound to the world.

Léa.

Her name came to him without knowing how. It seemed engraved in him since the dawn of time.

He knew he should not linger. Observing humans was a tolerated curiosity, but becoming attached to them was a peril no angel could recover from. Yet, he could not look away.

That night, he wandered through the hanging gardens of the Celestial Kingdom, troubled by an emotion he did not understand. He had watched countless souls—heroes, doctors, poets, tragic lovers—but none had struck him like this.

His heart, if he had one, tightened.

Why did this woman haunt his thoughts? What made her so special?

A breeze brushed his face, and a deep voice interrupted him.

"You are troubled, Gabriel."

He turned and saw Raphael, one of the most revered warrior angels. Towering, draped in a luminous robe, he carried an implacable wisdom in his gaze.

Gabriel offered a weary smile.

"I saw a human today," he murmured. "And I cannot forget her eyes."

Raphael raised an eyebrow.

"A human?"

"She is... different. Her soul is radiant yet broken. She carries a sorrow I cannot comprehend. And yet, I feel an irresistible force drawing me to her. As if our destinies were intertwined."

Raphael placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Be careful, Gabriel. Even divine feelings can be dangerous. We are guides, messengers. Not lovers."

Gabriel lowered his head.

"I know..."

"Then keep your distance. Attachment to humans has led more than one angel to their fall."

The warrior walked away, leaving Gabriel alone with his thoughts. He knew Raphael was right. He knew his path could only lead to inevitable torment.

But fate seemed to have drawn another road for him.

And it was already too late to turn back.

In the days that followed, Gabriel continued to observe Léa. He saw her laugh, weep in silence, lift her eyes to the stars with a poignant nostalgia. Every tear she shed tightened his heart with a pain he had never known.

One night, as she slept peacefully, he descended to Earth in silence. He sat near her open window, the wind gently lifting the curtains. He could hear her steady breathing, perceive the luminous energy emanating from her.

He reached out a hand, brushing the air between them.

"Who are you, Léa?" he murmured.

She stirred in her sleep, her lips trembled.

Then, in a sigh, she whispered a word that froze him.

"Gabriel..."

A shiver ran down his spine.

She knew his name.

His fate was already entwined with hers.

Gabriel returned to the Celestial Kingdom, but the encounter had left a mark on his soul. He tried to resume his duties, tried to ignore the pull he felt towards Earth, towards her. But each night, he found himself gazing towards the mortal realm, seeking her presence.

One evening, he found Léa standing by a river, her reflection trembling on the water’s surface. She was alone, a book in her hands, its pages fluttering in the breeze. He drew closer, unseen, yet feeling every beat of her heart as if it resonated within him.

As the days passed, he learned more about her. Léa was an artist, painting the emotions she could not speak aloud. Her canvases were filled with sorrow and hope, with longing and light. She had lost someone dear to her, a grief that weighed upon her shoulders like an invisible shroud. Yet, within her, there was a strength that fascinated him, a resilience that shone brighter than any angelic glow.

One night, unable to resist, he whispered to her through the wind.

"You are not alone, Léa."

She turned sharply, her eyes wide, searching the darkness. He remained hidden, yet he saw the way her breath quickened, the way her fingers clenched around the fabric of her dress.

"Who’s there?" she called softly.

Gabriel hesitated. Revealing himself would change everything. It would break every law, defy every boundary set between their worlds.

But it was already too late.

The stars shimmered above them, and for the first time, Gabriel stepped into the light, allowing her to see him.

Léa gasped, her hand flying to her lips. Her eyes locked onto his, recognition dawning within them. She had seen him before, in dreams, in moments between waking and sleeping.

"You..." she whispered. "You are real."

Gabriel nodded.

"I have always been watching over you."

Léa took a hesitant step forward, drawn to him as much as he was to her. But the moment their fingers nearly touched, a sudden force pulled him back.

The heavens roared with disapproval. The sky darkened, the stars flickering like dying embers. Gabriel’s heart pounded. He had crossed a line he could never uncross.

A voice thundered in his mind.

Gabriel, you have broken the sacred law. You must choose. Return to the heavens, or fall to the earth.

He looked at Léa, at the fear and wonder in her gaze. He had spent an eternity as an angel, untouched by pain, by love, by the raw beauty of mortality.

But now, faced with the choice, he knew.

He would rather fall than live without her.

And so, as the celestial gates closed behind him, as his wings burned away in divine fire, Gabriel fell.

And Léa caught him.

Their fate was sealed.

Together, they would forge a new path, neither fully human nor fully divine, but something in between.

Something eternal.