Juvenile Orion Fan Fiction ❯ Fallen ❯ Others Must Fail ( Chapter 3 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: DesertIllusion 
Victory is not enough. Others must fail.
Anime/Manga: Juvenile Orion Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 12.28.2006 | Updated On: 06.27.2007 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.6K | Visits: 313 | Status: Completed
Victory is not enough. Others must fail.
Anime/Manga: Juvenile Orion Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 12.28.2006 | Updated On: 06.27.2007 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.6K | Visits: 313 | Status: Completed
O Israfel, Gabriel! wherefore art thou Lafayel
Deny that creator and refuse thy series;
Or if thou wilt not, be but subjects of my own
And I’ll be a loyal fan fiction writer
’Tis but a copyright that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, but not a Gokurakuin.
What’s a Gokurakuin? It is nor hand nor foot,
Nor arm nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Rayyu would, if not Rayyu call’d,
Retain that dear perfection that he owes
Without thy title–Azrael doff thy name;
And for thy name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself
Questions have also been raised about how angels have their so-called “powers”. Most angel theorists believe that the various displays of seemingly magical powers are apparitions of the angels’ excess energy. This species’ body cells have been shown to have more mitochondria than any other living cell. It is not certain how their bodies store the excess energy, though it has been proposed that they retain more glycogen than earth animals, or that their form of short-term energy storage is easier to break down and convert. However they manage their energy, it is believed that they have the ability to manipulate the energy so that it can be used as weaponry. Though energy cannot be converted into mass, as it is forbidden by Newton’s laws of energy and mass, excess can destroy a cell, and thus used to kill an opponent. In this way, angels penetrate their enemies with their surplus energy, causing cells to explode and wounds to appear as though the victim has been stabbed, beaten, or in any way physically assaulted, depending on the pattern the energy was injected.
Fallen
Chapter 3
Others Must Fail
By Mirage
The angel slammed against the pillar, cracking the hard stone and drawing the attention of several by passers. Both wings broken and bent, his body slid down the smooth pillar, accelerating as he fell. Falling almost parallel to him was another angel, four wings spread to help slow him down as he neared the bottom. The injured angel lifted his head and swiped his arm across, bolts of energy flying across the short distance to the other angel. The attack was blocked quickly and from behind the shield a third angel rose and slammed his hand against the loser’s throat. His eyes narrowed as he regarded his gasping victim. “Are you alright, Israfel?”
“No harm done,” the four-winged angel replied. “His power does not match mine. You need not have interfered.”
Lafayel tightened his hold on his quarry and was answered with another gasp and a desperate barrage of clawing. Long nails dragged across his arm, drawing blood, but he did not flinch. “You have too much mercy,” he said. “You would have let this weakling live.” His fingers clenched a little more.
“He has learned his lesson. There is no need for pointless bloodshed.”
“That attitude will kill you someday,” Lafayel warned.
Israfel stared at his companion coolly. “Someday, but not today. Let him go.”
The two locked in a staring contest, each trying to bend the other to his will with just his gaze.
“I have… information,” the loser gasped, the blood completely drained from his face. “It… may prove… useful.”
Lafayel broke the eye contact with Israfel and turned his gaze toward the half dead angel in his hand and loosened his grip ever so slightly. “If it is as useful as you believe, I may yield to Israfel’s request.”
“The blue planet fleet is returning within a moon. I hear they need more missionaries.”
Lafayel narrowed his eyes even more. “So, not only a weakling, but an eavesdropper as well.”
“He gave us an advantage over other cherubs, Lafayel,” Israfel argued. “He has earned his life.”
His companion hissed, fingers tightening again. Dark bruises were already visible on the delicate skin.
“Lafayel.” Israfel’s voice began to lose its calm.
Lafayel made the mistake of looking back into his sweating face and poorly masked terror. With a growl, he shoved the half dead angel at his companion. As he stumbled into Israfel’s arms, Lafayel collected a spear of energy and pierced the angel through the very center of his back. He fell, dying in Israfel’s arms. Dark red liquid gushed out of his body as his heart continued to pump rhythmically, staining their snowy robes and polluting the air with its thick sweet scent. Israfel’s legs gave way and he stared at the dying angel slumped against him. His shock was only momentary, however, as he quickly moved to try to heal the wound. The blood flow lessened. The life energy drained away. The oxygen deprivation due to Lafayel’s strangling and the immense blood loss had damaged the body too much. Israfel looked down. Blank, unfocused eyes looked up.
“He was going to kill you!”
“He was too weak! There was nothing he could do to me.”
“It does not take much to kill you if he had just sent a small amount of energy in the right place!”
“I saved him from you!”
“You shamed him by saving him! Get that through your thick skull!”
“Israfel, there is no winner until there is a kill,” Gabriel said as he floated down. His eyes took in the scene before him: Lafayel turned toward him expectantly, waiting for him to contribute his views, Israfel kneeling, caked in blood with wide pleading eyes, and the dead angel cradled in his arms, face forever frozen in shock. He landed softly. “You are fortunate it was I who heard your quarrel first. Another angel would have come with the sole purpose to kill you both.”
“Jibril….” Tears trembled for a moment before sliding down his cheeks slowly.
Gabriel fixed his stare upon the four-winged angel. “There is no victory without death.”
“Is it not enough just to have established my supremacy?”
“By allowing your opponent to live, you give him the time he needs to train and exact vengeance.”
“Why would he seek revenge?”
“Are you daft?” Lafayel burst out.
Gabriel held up a hand to still him and he fell silent. The older angel knelt down to the same level as Israfel and placed a hand over his companion’s heart. “You know as well as I, and any other angel in Heaven.” He stared pointedly at Israfel’s amber eyes. “Pride is the core of every angel. Pride in our abilities, our strength, and our survival. When that pride is injured, and deeply through a shameful defeat, we naturally seek revenge and force our antagonizer to feel the same pain as we, but with absolute lack of mercy.”
“Victory is not enough. Others must fail,” Lafayel said.
Gabriel narrowed his eyes slightly and turned his attention towards the other angel. “Where did you learn that?”
He shrugged. “There was a scripture at the nursery. It was an old report on the mission’s progress in the blue planet.”
“Never say anything from that scripture again,” Gabriel demanded. “Rayyu will have your wings for it.”
“Jibril,” Israfel tugged on his role model’s sleeve. “He said that the blue planet missionaries are arriving for recruits soon.”
Gabriel slid the body off Israfel’s lap and stood. “Return to the barracks,” he ordered. “I will find more information. Lafayel, help Israfel erase any signs of tears before Rayyu sees you, or any other angel for that matter. You may be killed on the spot if one notices.”
The two nodded quickly. Lafayel bent to help Israfel up and the two spread their wings and launched together. Gabriel glanced at the prone figure before he too leaped into the air, his wings catching the current and lifting him upwards. Dead pleading eyes watched their departure. Near the edge of the mess hall, the body would decompose until the pure white feathers littering the floor covered it and it was all incinerated together, leaving no evidence of a disagreement, a fight, or a kill.
One of the problems with a society built around physical strength and power was that it was difficult to obtain information. Verbal communication not involving the party was rare between angels past the younger cherub stage. Gabriel glided through the crowds silently. For the most part, all he could hear was the beating of wings and the occasional scuffle. He slowed when he recognized a powerful angel, but would quickly move on once he saw his target was alone.
“My Lord.”
He perked at the title and scanned the area where the voice originated. He used his eyes, not his aura to avoid detection. His eyes landed on an angel beating his six wings to stay in the air. Azrael, the most powerful angel in Heaven flared his aura briefly in a show of unmatched authority. All angels within a ten-meter radius were engulfed in engulfed in a burning heat that sent some of the weaker ones into shock, their frozen bodies falling. Those fortunate enough to have fallen onto piles of feathers only suffered several broken bones. The majority landed on the stone floor. Gabriel watched in amazement as the angel that had addressed Azrael merely shuddered briefly and bowed his head, his hand over his heart. Gabriel himself had experienced intense pain, but had managed to remain airborne. He waited until the six-winged angel withdrew his presence before drifting towards the pair slowly.
Israfel and Lafayel flew side by side in silence. Shame kept Israfel’s eyes averted and the tension between the two thickened. He should have known that the battle was not won until the opponent was dead. Society had been drilling it into his mind since he was a cherub. The friction between him and Lafayel, as well as the impending tension would occur once Rayyu learned of the experience, could have been easily avoided. Just one well-aimed blast and he would be returning to the barracks to praise instead of disappointment. Anger and guilt welled up in him, but he tamped it down. Pride, he reminded himself. A true angel has pride.
The two angels flew at a moderate pace, neither making eye contact with the other nor acting as though their only relationship was anything more than two happening to have the same destination. Suddenly, a wave of heat passed through every angel’s body and Israfel stopped flying. He remained airborne, suppressing his own aura to acknowledge his inferiority to the owner of the powerful aura. His eyes widened as he felt another more familiar presence leave his side, falling down. Still trying to conserve his energy and keep his presence at a minimum, Israfel darted down and caught Lafayel’s arm. The two remained suspended until the aura retracted. Lafayel broke free of Israfel’s grasp and they looked down at the bloody lumps dotting the otherwise white floor.
“Who was that?” Israfel asked.
“God,” Lafayel answered. He stared at Israfel. “Did you not feel anything?”
“I felt it,” he said. “You can’t not feel an aura. Especially one as powerful as the Gods’.”
Lafayel just continued to stare. “You were not affected.”
“It burned.”
“Was it painful?”
“Only a little.”
He scanned Israfel’s face to make sure. Wordlessly, he turned and continued to fly towards the barracks with his companion following close behind. I fell. I fell. Lafayel’s face contorted. I couldn’t move and almost died and he saved me. He barely felt anything. He forced himself to stop thinking. The next thought was unacceptable. He would never admit to it, even internally. Lafayel glanced behind for a split second, turned to look ahead, and refused to look back again.
His stalker was good. Joseph had yet to notice him. Azrael drifted toward the docking platforms, his advisor trailing behind him, rattling off the various times and platforms the returning fleet would be docking. Iblis’s missions at the blue planet were the most successful of the fifty Azrael had sent out across the galaxy. He would have to be fairly rewarded. “Joseph,” he said abruptly, interrupting a list of the items the fleet was to bring back. “Prepare the platforms for landing and be sure to arrange the proper carriers for the corresponding items. Meet me at platform three at the sun’s third quarter.”
Joseph bowed. “Yes, my Lord.”
Azrael continued towards the platforms even as his advisor left to fetch guardians. The corridor he was in was lowly populated and he fanned his aura out, making sure to keep the intensity to a minimum. He smiled. The tag-along knew he had been discovered and was floating in one place. The angel approached him hesitantly, knowing he had no chance of escape. Azrael looked him over. Young, only a few years out of the cherub stage, probably seeking the time the fleet would arrive in hopes to join the mission. The young angel remained distanced, afraid to approach his God. Azrael probed at his aura slightly and concealed his surprise well. The presence was similar. He smiled inwardly, careful not to allow his thoughts to leak into his aura. “Here. Four suns,” he said. “The fleet arrives in four suns.”
Gabriel blinked. He bowed, and the two parted.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Allusions and Explanations:
Mitochondria: An organelle that converts food into energy
Glycogen: After a meal, your body’s short-term energy storage is in the form of glycogen, which is easily broken down. Long-term energy storage is in body fat.
Iblis: In the Islamic faith, he was a jinn, a creature created out of fire, like humans are created out of clay, which defied Allah and became Shaytaan. In the Christian faith, he is the equivalent of Lucifer, the fallen angel who became Satan.
Azrael: Islamic angel of death. No, he is not described to have three pairs of wings, I just imagined him that way.
God: No, it’s not what you think. A God is merely the equivalent of a king in the angel world, thus Azrael is the God of the colony. Likewise, Heaven is just the name of the colony.
Joseph: Thinking along the lines of Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat, he was a Hebrew dream interpreter in Ancient Egypt. I just needed a biblical sounding name and chose the first one that popped into my head.
Guardians: They act as servants, guards, and police.
Posted: 4 December 2006
Next Post: 25 December 2006 (Will be late, seeing as how I’ll be away with no internet)
Reposted: 28 December 2006
Deny that creator and refuse thy series;
Or if thou wilt not, be but subjects of my own
And I’ll be a loyal fan fiction writer
’Tis but a copyright that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, but not a Gokurakuin.
What’s a Gokurakuin? It is nor hand nor foot,
Nor arm nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Rayyu would, if not Rayyu call’d,
Retain that dear perfection that he owes
Without thy title–Azrael doff thy name;
And for thy name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself
Questions have also been raised about how angels have their so-called “powers”. Most angel theorists believe that the various displays of seemingly magical powers are apparitions of the angels’ excess energy. This species’ body cells have been shown to have more mitochondria than any other living cell. It is not certain how their bodies store the excess energy, though it has been proposed that they retain more glycogen than earth animals, or that their form of short-term energy storage is easier to break down and convert. However they manage their energy, it is believed that they have the ability to manipulate the energy so that it can be used as weaponry. Though energy cannot be converted into mass, as it is forbidden by Newton’s laws of energy and mass, excess can destroy a cell, and thus used to kill an opponent. In this way, angels penetrate their enemies with their surplus energy, causing cells to explode and wounds to appear as though the victim has been stabbed, beaten, or in any way physically assaulted, depending on the pattern the energy was injected.
Fallen
Chapter 3
Others Must Fail
By Mirage
The angel slammed against the pillar, cracking the hard stone and drawing the attention of several by passers. Both wings broken and bent, his body slid down the smooth pillar, accelerating as he fell. Falling almost parallel to him was another angel, four wings spread to help slow him down as he neared the bottom. The injured angel lifted his head and swiped his arm across, bolts of energy flying across the short distance to the other angel. The attack was blocked quickly and from behind the shield a third angel rose and slammed his hand against the loser’s throat. His eyes narrowed as he regarded his gasping victim. “Are you alright, Israfel?”
“No harm done,” the four-winged angel replied. “His power does not match mine. You need not have interfered.”
Lafayel tightened his hold on his quarry and was answered with another gasp and a desperate barrage of clawing. Long nails dragged across his arm, drawing blood, but he did not flinch. “You have too much mercy,” he said. “You would have let this weakling live.” His fingers clenched a little more.
“He has learned his lesson. There is no need for pointless bloodshed.”
“That attitude will kill you someday,” Lafayel warned.
Israfel stared at his companion coolly. “Someday, but not today. Let him go.”
The two locked in a staring contest, each trying to bend the other to his will with just his gaze.
“I have… information,” the loser gasped, the blood completely drained from his face. “It… may prove… useful.”
Lafayel broke the eye contact with Israfel and turned his gaze toward the half dead angel in his hand and loosened his grip ever so slightly. “If it is as useful as you believe, I may yield to Israfel’s request.”
“The blue planet fleet is returning within a moon. I hear they need more missionaries.”
Lafayel narrowed his eyes even more. “So, not only a weakling, but an eavesdropper as well.”
“He gave us an advantage over other cherubs, Lafayel,” Israfel argued. “He has earned his life.”
His companion hissed, fingers tightening again. Dark bruises were already visible on the delicate skin.
“Lafayel.” Israfel’s voice began to lose its calm.
Lafayel made the mistake of looking back into his sweating face and poorly masked terror. With a growl, he shoved the half dead angel at his companion. As he stumbled into Israfel’s arms, Lafayel collected a spear of energy and pierced the angel through the very center of his back. He fell, dying in Israfel’s arms. Dark red liquid gushed out of his body as his heart continued to pump rhythmically, staining their snowy robes and polluting the air with its thick sweet scent. Israfel’s legs gave way and he stared at the dying angel slumped against him. His shock was only momentary, however, as he quickly moved to try to heal the wound. The blood flow lessened. The life energy drained away. The oxygen deprivation due to Lafayel’s strangling and the immense blood loss had damaged the body too much. Israfel looked down. Blank, unfocused eyes looked up.
“He was going to kill you!”
“He was too weak! There was nothing he could do to me.”
“It does not take much to kill you if he had just sent a small amount of energy in the right place!”
“I saved him from you!”
“You shamed him by saving him! Get that through your thick skull!”
“Israfel, there is no winner until there is a kill,” Gabriel said as he floated down. His eyes took in the scene before him: Lafayel turned toward him expectantly, waiting for him to contribute his views, Israfel kneeling, caked in blood with wide pleading eyes, and the dead angel cradled in his arms, face forever frozen in shock. He landed softly. “You are fortunate it was I who heard your quarrel first. Another angel would have come with the sole purpose to kill you both.”
“Jibril….” Tears trembled for a moment before sliding down his cheeks slowly.
Gabriel fixed his stare upon the four-winged angel. “There is no victory without death.”
“Is it not enough just to have established my supremacy?”
“By allowing your opponent to live, you give him the time he needs to train and exact vengeance.”
“Why would he seek revenge?”
“Are you daft?” Lafayel burst out.
Gabriel held up a hand to still him and he fell silent. The older angel knelt down to the same level as Israfel and placed a hand over his companion’s heart. “You know as well as I, and any other angel in Heaven.” He stared pointedly at Israfel’s amber eyes. “Pride is the core of every angel. Pride in our abilities, our strength, and our survival. When that pride is injured, and deeply through a shameful defeat, we naturally seek revenge and force our antagonizer to feel the same pain as we, but with absolute lack of mercy.”
“Victory is not enough. Others must fail,” Lafayel said.
Gabriel narrowed his eyes slightly and turned his attention towards the other angel. “Where did you learn that?”
He shrugged. “There was a scripture at the nursery. It was an old report on the mission’s progress in the blue planet.”
“Never say anything from that scripture again,” Gabriel demanded. “Rayyu will have your wings for it.”
“Jibril,” Israfel tugged on his role model’s sleeve. “He said that the blue planet missionaries are arriving for recruits soon.”
Gabriel slid the body off Israfel’s lap and stood. “Return to the barracks,” he ordered. “I will find more information. Lafayel, help Israfel erase any signs of tears before Rayyu sees you, or any other angel for that matter. You may be killed on the spot if one notices.”
The two nodded quickly. Lafayel bent to help Israfel up and the two spread their wings and launched together. Gabriel glanced at the prone figure before he too leaped into the air, his wings catching the current and lifting him upwards. Dead pleading eyes watched their departure. Near the edge of the mess hall, the body would decompose until the pure white feathers littering the floor covered it and it was all incinerated together, leaving no evidence of a disagreement, a fight, or a kill.
One of the problems with a society built around physical strength and power was that it was difficult to obtain information. Verbal communication not involving the party was rare between angels past the younger cherub stage. Gabriel glided through the crowds silently. For the most part, all he could hear was the beating of wings and the occasional scuffle. He slowed when he recognized a powerful angel, but would quickly move on once he saw his target was alone.
“My Lord.”
He perked at the title and scanned the area where the voice originated. He used his eyes, not his aura to avoid detection. His eyes landed on an angel beating his six wings to stay in the air. Azrael, the most powerful angel in Heaven flared his aura briefly in a show of unmatched authority. All angels within a ten-meter radius were engulfed in engulfed in a burning heat that sent some of the weaker ones into shock, their frozen bodies falling. Those fortunate enough to have fallen onto piles of feathers only suffered several broken bones. The majority landed on the stone floor. Gabriel watched in amazement as the angel that had addressed Azrael merely shuddered briefly and bowed his head, his hand over his heart. Gabriel himself had experienced intense pain, but had managed to remain airborne. He waited until the six-winged angel withdrew his presence before drifting towards the pair slowly.
Israfel and Lafayel flew side by side in silence. Shame kept Israfel’s eyes averted and the tension between the two thickened. He should have known that the battle was not won until the opponent was dead. Society had been drilling it into his mind since he was a cherub. The friction between him and Lafayel, as well as the impending tension would occur once Rayyu learned of the experience, could have been easily avoided. Just one well-aimed blast and he would be returning to the barracks to praise instead of disappointment. Anger and guilt welled up in him, but he tamped it down. Pride, he reminded himself. A true angel has pride.
The two angels flew at a moderate pace, neither making eye contact with the other nor acting as though their only relationship was anything more than two happening to have the same destination. Suddenly, a wave of heat passed through every angel’s body and Israfel stopped flying. He remained airborne, suppressing his own aura to acknowledge his inferiority to the owner of the powerful aura. His eyes widened as he felt another more familiar presence leave his side, falling down. Still trying to conserve his energy and keep his presence at a minimum, Israfel darted down and caught Lafayel’s arm. The two remained suspended until the aura retracted. Lafayel broke free of Israfel’s grasp and they looked down at the bloody lumps dotting the otherwise white floor.
“Who was that?” Israfel asked.
“God,” Lafayel answered. He stared at Israfel. “Did you not feel anything?”
“I felt it,” he said. “You can’t not feel an aura. Especially one as powerful as the Gods’.”
Lafayel just continued to stare. “You were not affected.”
“It burned.”
“Was it painful?”
“Only a little.”
He scanned Israfel’s face to make sure. Wordlessly, he turned and continued to fly towards the barracks with his companion following close behind. I fell. I fell. Lafayel’s face contorted. I couldn’t move and almost died and he saved me. He barely felt anything. He forced himself to stop thinking. The next thought was unacceptable. He would never admit to it, even internally. Lafayel glanced behind for a split second, turned to look ahead, and refused to look back again.
His stalker was good. Joseph had yet to notice him. Azrael drifted toward the docking platforms, his advisor trailing behind him, rattling off the various times and platforms the returning fleet would be docking. Iblis’s missions at the blue planet were the most successful of the fifty Azrael had sent out across the galaxy. He would have to be fairly rewarded. “Joseph,” he said abruptly, interrupting a list of the items the fleet was to bring back. “Prepare the platforms for landing and be sure to arrange the proper carriers for the corresponding items. Meet me at platform three at the sun’s third quarter.”
Joseph bowed. “Yes, my Lord.”
Azrael continued towards the platforms even as his advisor left to fetch guardians. The corridor he was in was lowly populated and he fanned his aura out, making sure to keep the intensity to a minimum. He smiled. The tag-along knew he had been discovered and was floating in one place. The angel approached him hesitantly, knowing he had no chance of escape. Azrael looked him over. Young, only a few years out of the cherub stage, probably seeking the time the fleet would arrive in hopes to join the mission. The young angel remained distanced, afraid to approach his God. Azrael probed at his aura slightly and concealed his surprise well. The presence was similar. He smiled inwardly, careful not to allow his thoughts to leak into his aura. “Here. Four suns,” he said. “The fleet arrives in four suns.”
Gabriel blinked. He bowed, and the two parted.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Allusions and Explanations:
Mitochondria: An organelle that converts food into energy
Glycogen: After a meal, your body’s short-term energy storage is in the form of glycogen, which is easily broken down. Long-term energy storage is in body fat.
Iblis: In the Islamic faith, he was a jinn, a creature created out of fire, like humans are created out of clay, which defied Allah and became Shaytaan. In the Christian faith, he is the equivalent of Lucifer, the fallen angel who became Satan.
Azrael: Islamic angel of death. No, he is not described to have three pairs of wings, I just imagined him that way.
God: No, it’s not what you think. A God is merely the equivalent of a king in the angel world, thus Azrael is the God of the colony. Likewise, Heaven is just the name of the colony.
Joseph: Thinking along the lines of Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat, he was a Hebrew dream interpreter in Ancient Egypt. I just needed a biblical sounding name and chose the first one that popped into my head.
Guardians: They act as servants, guards, and police.
Posted: 4 December 2006
Next Post: 25 December 2006 (Will be late, seeing as how I’ll be away with no internet)
Reposted: 28 December 2006