Prologue
"You can't do that Skyler!" Warned the newest member of the Seraphim family, Rosa, the newest member to arrive felt the conviction to warn her new brother.
The long-haired dark-skinned Seraphim glared at his brothers and sisters defiantly, "We can't stand by why he just lets them die! We must help them! What are we here for if not to help them? It's not right to let the humans pay such a price." He paced the Telestial gardens as the anger overflowed.
A hand caught his shoulder making him stand still, then he heard the soft voice of his closest brother, "You are the angel of Faith. You have to believe that he wants what is best for the humans! We are here to do his bidding not save the humans!" He tried to sound reassuring but failed badly.
Skyler jerked his shoulder free of Zeke's grasp, "We are here for that but at what cost? The humans are dying by the thousands from a disease they can't control. What's so wrong with us helping them? They are supposed to be his children!" Pointing towards Rosa, he snipped, "Not too long ago you were a human. How can you turn your back on them so easily?"
"It's against the rules," interrupted another Seraphim, Rafael, who stood back from the others. "We all knew the rules when we became Seraphim...when we reached the Telestial level of heaven we knew the rules. Or is it something more?" There were about twenty Seraphim now gathered in the magnificent gardens watching the interactions between Zeke and Skyler. These two have been brothers in heaven for more than a millennium and have never swayed from their positions, but when the Plague of Galen hit and killed thousands, Skyler felt like he couldn't stand by any longer and do nothing. Rafael rarely spoke up but when he did usually Skyler listened, but not today. Rafael tried to step in closer towards his friend, but Skyler moved away not allowing his friend to impress upon him God's will.
Looking around at his heavenly home where flowers always bloomed, the grounds always perfectly manicured, Skyler became even more outraged at the human's situation.
"Something more? Is this not enough? I will help them. I don't care what any of you say," the rebellious Seraphim turned to his heaven long friend, "Will you join me?"
Zeke's head dropped, he shook it slowly as he looked back up at his friend, "You know I'm always up for a good cause, but God specifically commanded us not to interfere. We can't. I can't. I'm sorry."
Skyler shrugged, "Fine. I'll do it myself."
Without hesitation, Skyler left his heavenly home and went to the place on earth called Mesopotamia. The bustling city made of clay buildings and dusty roads filled with people moving along their daily routines as if there was no danger, nothing out there killing them off. But there was a plague that was killing the people by the thousands that ended up killing over five million before the angel could find a way to stop it. The painful boils and life-threatening fevers spread like wildfire in the dry bush through the populations. Skyler came into the city and befriended any of those who would listen to him. He worked hard, day and night, to show them how to stop the spread of the disease and healing as many as possible before God could summon his soul back to heaven. Boiling water, cleaning, and sterilizing clothes as much as possible while helping them move diseased corpses out of the city and burning the bodies on massive pyres, Skyler worked for many weeks with no contact from any of his brothers or sisters, no contact from God. Feeling the great creator had given up on his people only fueled the energy within the angel to work harder and save more lives. His ability to heal them was minimal, and diminished over time, so most of the work was backbreaking, physical labor.
In the Telestial realm of heaven, God watched his angel work. Hoping he'd see reason; God finally gave up and summoned Skyler back to his home. He paced the floor as he waited for the summons on Skyler's soul to be complete. Standing seven feet tall with skin that changed from one tone to the next on a rotation of every skin pigment the humans had, while holding his hands behind his back, he paced and mumbled to himself. He was outraged that one of his Seraphim had betrayed him, one that had been with him since near the beginning of time, one that had already seen the repercussions of defying him.
Skyler's soul was ripped from where he stood among the people and pulled through the atmosphere into and through the heavenly realms where he landed at God's feet. The people who he had been standing withstood in awe before running and hiding thinking they would be sucked away into some unknown place by some unknown force. Skyler shook himself off and looked up at the being who he had once praised without a doubt. Standing he looked at the heavenly keeper, "Sir, you took me away from my work. I wasn't done."
Looking down at the angel who was being so insolent, God's voice boomed making the heavens shake, "Skyler."
The two glared at one another. God tried to be patient with his defiant child because to him all those in heaven were his children and was more highly prized than the humans back on earth. Skyler stood, placed his hands behind his back, spread his feet shoulder width and tried his best to look confident. He knew he had broken a rule of heaven, one that could banish him for all time if God so saw fit, even still he stood behind his decision to help the humans. "You summoned," his words were cautious because he knew his heavenly fathers' wrath was unparalleled.
"Did you go to the humans and help them with that nasty little plague I set upon them after I told you to leave it alone?" God didn't face the Seraphim as he spoke. Instead, he paced slowly around the angel of faith.
Shocked at the revelation that God himself set the plague on the people, Skyler stuttered, "You did what?" His eyes had gone wide and his brows scrunched.
God chuckled, "I don't answer to you my son. You have our roles a little confused, don't you?" He turned and looked closely at Skyler, eye-to-eye as he bent down.
"How could you do that to your own children? Where is your heart? You created them to love you and you torture them this way. Woman and children dying in unimaginable pain and anguish and you stand here and laugh as if it were some game. I had no choice but to help them, save them! Someone had to fix your error!"
"Have you forgotten your place? I think you have but I will tell you this plague was no error or misunderstanding. I often send plagues to clear out many humans in order to test their faith." God's voice boomed over the heavenly realms making them all quake and rumble as he stood to his full height.
Skyler stood firm in front of his father, "I have not, but I think you have forgotten yours! Those are your humans down there. The same humans you say have a choice in where their souls go. You condemn them to death with such horrifying pain! I will not stand by while you continue to do these things. I've seen enough."
"Have you now?" God now looked shocked that his angel of faith was being so defiant.
"Indeed, I have," Skyler no longer cared what happened to him.
Growling at the angel, God bent down. His nostrils flared in anger from the defiance the angel displayed. He roared, "So be it. I condemn your soul to live as a human until such a time that you regain your faith. You will live a thousand lives born to no family each lifetime. You have lost faith in me so I will take your memories until you can regain your faith once more. You will keep your name in each life, and you will always look the same so maybe one day when you hear your name or see your reflection you might remember. If that does not work, then you will be forced to continue living as a human until the day you make yourself worthy to return to heaven!"
Skyler broke inside as he felt his soul-shattering but what came next was his hell. Skyler fell to his knees as a burning sensation ripped through his body, beginning in his legs it didn't stop until it hit his head. The pain then settled on his back. Flesh ripped and blood streamed from his back as his wings were torn from the place they grew out of his back at. Skyler's screams could be heard in all three realms of heaven causing others to hide in fear, for they had not heard an angel being banished since Lucifer himself was kicked out of heaven. Crumpled in a pile on the floor, the once glorious angel, was now a mere human shaking in pain, unable to stand on his own.
Stepping forward, God knelt next to his son, "You will leave my home now and not return until your faith in me has!" God touched his forefinger to Skyler's forehead and all he saw was a bright light.
Skyler lived a thousand lives, never born to any family as his time on Earth continued in cycles. This next life was about to change him forever, only he didn't know he needed it to.
As a child, Skyler knew he was different. He never looked like his family and always stood out. His dark skin and long hair, along with his name all followed him from lifetime to lifetime.
Adopted into a family with a daughter, Skyler was now a big brother. Although he loved his sister, Skyler's childhood and adolescence was hard. He knew he was different, not only in his family but among the other children. He wasn't like the other boys who fawned over the girls, no he was interested in the boys. This was the first lifetime that God had sent Skyler into where he was the most different, not that he could remember the others. Rebellion and acting out against his family, Skyler partied and caused trouble until the day his sister, Rose, came home with a terminal diagnosis she contracted through her work. The one person who loved him unconditionally was dying, so he turned his life around for her.
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Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
