Until The End Of Time

Chapter 14. Sea of fire

Notes:

Warning: Violence.

Michael stared into the dancing fire in front of him. His hands were rough due to all the labored work. The perimeter had been secured to his best knowledge. No one should be able to find them here, angel or human, but his mind still couldn't rest. He didn't have much, but he would die before letting anyone come in and take what was his.

***

Spring is back in Ayham. The birds sing joyously everywhere, the sun never sleeps, and lines of people wrapping around the building of the Labor and Human Social Affairs Bureau are getting longer every day.

The newly passed law is no small deed from Michael and his group of angel assistants. He wants to make sure that, first and foremost, human servants and domesticated companions would get better treatment while they are alive and employed, and second, they would be liberated from the eternal contracts that they are unknowingly and unjustly submitted to. All forms of abuse from their angel employers would be outlawed and punished accordingly.

Michael has never had the desire to own human servants or domesticated companions. After spending time with Kye, he has also realized that the one thing all humans want more than anything is their freedom. It is just wrong to keep a soul for eternity against its will. Michael wants this new law to be a token of his sincerity, to show how serious he is about maintaining peace and improving life quality for her kind. He wants the angels and humans to live together long-term in harmony and, to achieve that, Michael has to take away some privileges the angels have had.

This, of course, has caused outrage among the angels, but Michael has bulldozed through all the protests as he always did before. Not all angels put eternal contracts on their domesticated companions and servants, but they are still unhappy when their "rights" are taken away.

Michael wants to show them that not only the angels' jobs will be easier if humans truly corporate, but also this is the right way to govern. Not with fear and oppression, but with mutual trust and equality. Of course, everyone knows humans and angels will never truly be equal in terms of power, but both sides can learn something from each other and Michael believes it will be beneficial for all.

Deep down inside, Michael knows he did it for Kye. He wants her to feel more secure about him and their future. He wants to prove to her that, no matter what, he will always be on her side.

Michael's schedule has also become extremely busy because of the endless hunt for Alastair. The last time he got some winds on Alastair, the man was on some kind of abandoned ship far out in the middle of the bay. It was supposed to be a water fortress with all kinds of angel wardings, far more sophisticated than any at the Resistance camps.

Michael has a list of all the big vessels operating around that area but Alastair has been hiding well. The fogs have helped him, but the archangel suspects Alastair may have a secret route and hideout nearby.

There are many big and small islands in that area divided by dangerous shallow patches filled with hidden rocks. Most don't have a name. The weather was also fickle. A lot of experienced crews don't even want to go near there if they don't have to.

Michael has known who is behind Alastair for a while now, but he will let it be for a little longer. He knows it's a smart thing to just cut off the head of the snake, but Michael still can't bring himself to do that. He prays Lucifer won't push his limit. Lucifer is still his baby brother, the one he has pulled out of the Mold and held close to his heart at the beginning of time, the one he taught to pull a bow, to wield a sword, the one who followed him everywhere like a shadow. Michael kneeled and begged Father not to end Lucifer's life that day. He begged Him to give Lucifer a lesson and time to learn. He didn't know Father would go as far as taking his brother's grace away. It was cruel, even to him. How could an archangel survive on Earth alone with no power and no one to rely on but the primitive kind Father had put there? Michael had no right to question. He knew that. Father's decision was final, still, he could blame himself. He failed all of them when he failed Lucifer.