Angelic - Part I [Patron-Guided]

The earth, the year 2000. A coastal city in North America rests uneasily. They prepare for the arrival of that they have little understanding of, heads and cameras alike turned to the circular sigil that has appeared above the clouds. The expected drop-point is the mountain range many miles east of the urban sprawl, a safe location for angels to make contact. Life continues as normal -- jobs to work, families to tend -- but the discussion is everywhere, rumors of what brings a celestial to their corner of the globe. Some are grateful that it’s not a devil that’s come to their city, but others are no less relieved.

The sigil glows like the yellow sun, an intricate design inside the circle made of violet-colored lines that slash through the air. The first report of its appearance was shortly after midnight, but now in the midst of rush hour traffic, its radiance begins to intensify. The empty space within the sigil fills with a featureless white. Something materializes: a foot exiting the white portal, bare and delicate. A leg is then produced, then the hem of a knee-length robe barbed with laurel weaves. The shape of a human with feathered wings on its back slowly melts from the hole in the sky, their raven hair the last feature to be revealed as it spills over their shoulders.

The body is massive. Investigators shoot an estimate of an angel between 800 and 1,000 feet tall, expecting the slopes of the mountains to serve as a staircase for the celestial. Contrary to the immense size, the angel descends gracefully at a steady speed. The mighty wings do not move, still like the rest of them and cupped around their shoulders similar to a cloak. Contact with the earth occurs between two peaks, the figure’s unarched height rivaling the points on either side as they stand in the valley between them. Their weight marks the ground, disturbing the sheets of snow with the crater-forming touch of their bare feet.

“Br-rr-rr…” The angel’s toes curl and their knees buckle towards each other. “Mm… It’s somewhat colder than I expected…”

Cyth surveys their surroundings with eyes of gold that twinkle with supernatural skill. The setting is a stark difference from their last visit with earth, one-thousand years into the future. The massive mega-metropolises and the blood-colored war-torn skies were non-existent in this earlier age of humanity, providing a refreshing breath of earthen air that hadn’t yet been overtaken by smog. The planet is less developed and refined in these years, but Cyth is comfortable with this age. There are less worries, relative to the complicated destiny humans would come to, but it is still just the earth as they have always known it. Large and round, electrified with life, and so easily molded to the whims of celestial power.

Though in the image of a feminine human, Cyth is not one, nor is this image a static form they had to take. Cyth is an angel, an agent from Heaven, and this shape is one of several that they find befitting for themselves. Shapeshifting is one of the most meager of their celestial capabilities, which itself is a long list of powers bestowed upon these greater beings. They, like other angels, exist primarily in Heaven, a spiritual organization that oversees earth and its human inhabitants. Across time itself, they influence humanity towards offering their worship to the goddess Amana. Through her is it possible for angels to manifest their world-shaping powers, and through the prayers and worship of humans is she able to sustain such a feat.

Thus, the angels of Heaven are tasked with the eternal occupation of keeping humanity’s progress in the favor of the divine. Their intervention with world events is rarely hidden; since the dawn of time, the influence of celestials has been known and only better understood through the centuries. The methods of angels vary from instance to instance; some express pacifism and generosity, encouraging humans to willfully join the side of Heaven, whereas other occasions call for inarguable justice, often spilling into inevitable violence. The balance between orderly cooperation and distrustful resistance is never perfectly even, but Heaven has maintained a strong control over humanity and its timestream due to the angels’ efforts.

Allowing this control to slip would mean allowing fate to be in the hands of Hell. A rival organization with much the same structure, Hell employs devils to contest with angels over the direction of earth. They guide humanity into a cult that worships Sinis, the lord of Hell, but Amana has affirmed her position as goddess for near-eternity. Hell’s efforts to overturn the order of the world is ceaseless, manipulating humans across time to weave different threads of destiny.

Cyth’s arms are crossed for warmth as they travel down the mountain, the many ridged bluffs crumbling into flat pans where their feet happen to fall. They study the city that’s ahead of them; their destination, seen through a filter of gray-yellow air. The scent can be detected from even such a distance, a bitter taste to breathe especially compared to the perfect atmosphere enjoyed in Heaven. For this time period, this city is quite large and advanced, covering a wide stretch of the beach with several harbors.

There is no doubt that this is the city Cyth intended to visit. Before the sights could distract them, they remind themselves the reason for being here at all…

(REMINDER: Only votes from Hexed-tier patrons and up will be counted~)