Saint Vanity (mxm)

Chapter One

"If he but fail to recognize himself, a long life he may have, beneath the sun," was what my father was told by a seer when asking about how my life would go.

When Nemesis cursed me to gaze at my reflection, people often mistake me for staring at my face, my external beauty. And while I'm damn fine to look at, that wasn't what I was captivated by. If it was, I would have been captivated by my reflection earlier.

Sometimes who we are is mirrored in our actions and how we react to situations. Only, I saw it all at once when I was cursed to gaze deep into a pool.

Behind my eyes I saw a room with shattered dreams, scars I wished would heal, fears and doubts lurking in the corners and shadows that grow with everything I wished to ignore. The same room displays our desires, the memories I held dear, the inspirations that drive as, and the purposes I lived for.

And in the centre a heart more vibrant and beautiful than I could ever hope to describe to anyone else. I saw my power and flaws past the reflection and adored it all. I knew then and there only I could comprehend how much existed within me. I loved it all because it was mine. It was the first real time I truly saw myself.

The Greek Gods coined the term 'narcissist' to condemn the idea of self-love, knowing if people were to start loving themselves more, there would be no use for them.

But while I continue to value myself above everyone else throughout the years, I struggle to remember the version of me I saw in my reflection.

"Do you really think Adam is going to take down the Paradise realm?"

"If it were that easy, we would have control over the universe by now."

"I don't know. If the guy has managed to cause so much damage so far, there is no telling how far he can go."

"If he does, I call dibs on singing: Paradise is crumbling down, crumbling down, crumbling down, paradise is crumbling down, my fair demons."

"Have any of us told you how much we hate it when you open your mouth?"

"And yet, I do."

Ignoring my co-workers, I snap another ten pictures and go through them. While gorgeous to look at, all are incredibly underwhelming in substance. No matter how many pictures, filters, angles, or lighting, none of it reminds me of who I saw.

"Still, it seems like the boss is preparing for something big. Why else would he keep inviting Vanitas here to update us on what is happening? He ignores us then doesn't even pay attention to our meetings. See, he even goes on his phone the entire time."

"It the only thing keeping me from murdering the next person who mentions Adam," I scowl, "I'd honestly prefer it if you discussed anything. Anything else; the pointlessness of existence, the strangeness of being able to communicate with a series of noises, or hell, I'll even settle for a conversation about the greenness of grass."

Because of that orange eyed freak, I've had to put up with weeks of Dinero debating whether we should destroy Adam or sit back and let him destroy Paradise. It's bringing me to the verge of insanity.

Basically, Adam, from the Adam and Eve story, is an immortal human hell-bent on sabotaging Heaven. For what reason? I don't know. The dude probably has daddy issues. What he has done so far is divide the Angels living there.

One side is fed up with the older dingbats of Angel higher ups holding onto their conservative ways; the other side whines about what is wrong with their ways, while ignoring how their torture and murders of those they deem as unholy are probably not good, considering to them, everyone is sinful.