Fall From Grace By: Charlotte Dumas Rating: PG-13 Chapter Three Summary: Serafina was your ordinary angel until she broke the rules. Now forced to choose between Heaven and Earth, Serafina is tested like never before... AN: This is my first story in my "Fallen Angel" series. I hope you all like it. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wyatt ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time when he heard the thump on the ceiling. He had sent Corliss up with the breakfast tray about ten minutes ago and she was already causing trouble. He threw open the door and scanned the room. Finding Corliss on the floor with Serafina's head cradled in her lap, Wyatt asked, "What happened?" Corliss made a motion with her head and said, "I showed her she wasn't the only one." Corliss' magnificent wings spread out behind her. Her right one though, suddenly changed angles as though she had broken it in a fall. Which she very well had; when she fell from grace several lifetimes ago. Wyatt raked his hand though his hair. "Damn it, Corliss. I would have thought you knew better." Especially after one particular instance in her youth. He walked toward the window and contemplated the scene below him. He could see the outline of a few of his workers' wings. "She might not be eternally earthbound. I stopped her from ascending last night." Corliss looked up and felt her jaw slacken. He...he... "Why? Didn't you have any clue?" Wyatt scraped a hand across the back of his neck. He had some clue, but he didn't act on it because...because he had wanted her. However, she was sweet and tempting; things he had been missing in his life lately. "I think so, but other things were clouding my vision." Corliss snorted and continued stroking Serafina's hair. Softly, she said, "I'm going to take her back to Rosehaven." She looked up to see anger and disappointment burning in Wyatt's eyes, but she continued, "She needs a place where she can collect her thoughts, not where she'll be distracted." She smiled at Wyatt's scowl. He had to know anyway, why not now. Returning her gaze to Serafina she said, "You're the reason she fell." The last thing she heard was Wyatt's footsteps echoing in the hallway. * Serafina had let herself be bundled up and put into a carriage. She gazed out the window as they pulled away and saw Wyatt at the back of the crowd, not looking happy at all. His dark scowl made the mood less cheery, but he smiled when Serafina waved at him. She lay back against the cushions and willed the journey to begin. Corliss finally entered the carriage and giggled when she said, "He's in a tizzy because I'm stealing you from him." Clapping her hands together, she continued, "We're going to build up your strength and see if you are allowed to ascend. At Rosehaven, everyone has wings. They are all descendants of angels or else reincarnated angels themselves. I'm one of the latter." Serafina looked at her and asked, "What did you fall for?" Corliss clasped her hands together and a look of worry crossed her face. She gulped and said, "I wanted to fall. I tried to convince Urian to fall as well, but he didn't. That was nearly a thousand years ago." She could still remember her fall. Lucifer's voice taunted her and, for one moment only, she almost agreed with him. She jarred herself and produced her wings, but she fell on her right side and broke her wing. Someone found her and took care of her. In obligation, she married him, but they were never able to have children. Serafina primly folded her hands and placed them in her lap. Clearing her throat to knock Corliss out of her reverie, she said, "Urian was the one to show me the mirror." Pausing a moment, she added, "He looked in it as much as I did." Corliss' eyes lit up in interest. She had been alone for so long... She clasped her hands to her chest and prayed that Urian would forgive her for leaving him alone. She gazed out the window and watched numbly as the scenery passed by. Serafina held a hand to her mouth to hide her smile. Urian would be happy she knew. Messengers always loved to give good news, and Serafina was no exception. It felt good to know that she had made her new friend happy. She leaned her head back on the cushion and willed herself to get some sleep. * "Serafina, we're here." Serafina opened her eyes stretched. She sat up, looked out the window, and gasped. Rosehaven was the closest thing she had seen to Heaven since she had fallen. "This is beautiful." There were flowers of different colors, many that she had never seen before and she had seen quite a few. She turned to Corliss and asked, "How?" Smiling, Corliss answered, "In my last life, I planted all of these. I had become friendly with the man who owned the property and he let me plant these flowers." The thought of the kindly old man who had let her plant those flowers there made her tear up. He had dearly loved the gentle girl that came and planted the flowers in his garden, and she had loved him. She wiped a tear away while she swept her other hand over the landscape, and added, "Only angels can see the multitude of colors. I kind of bewitched them." "Well, I'm glad that you did." Serafina wanted to stop and gather some up in her arms, but Corliss grabbed a hold of one of her hands. "Let's go inside." Corliss stepped out of the carriage and offered her arm to Serafina. Taking Corliss' arm, she stepped down from the carriage. "When will Wyatt be here?" Smiling slyly, Corliss answered, "I forbade him to come for a week. That's why he was mad at me as I took you away." She didn't add that Wyatt had definite designs on her character and Serafina needed to be pure if she was to reenter Heaven. Wyatt wanted to make her un-pure, in the worst way possible. Serafina stopped short in the doorway. The entrance hall had marbles of the purest white as well as some of the darkest blacks. The floor was covered in white and black marble tile, while alternating colors of columns rose to the ceiling. Among the starkness of this, vivid red glass vases held peach roses and books graced antique wooden tabletops. Turning to Corliss, she asked, "Did you do this as well?" Corliss smiled and shook her head. "No," she tapped a finger on her lip, "but I think Wyatt did." Seeing Serafina's confused look, Corliss grabbed her hand once more and said, "You'll have to ask Wyatt for the answers." Corliss pulled Serafina toward the staircase and said, "We have so much to do in such little time. I'm going to show you your room and then we'll get started on exercises." Taking the steps two at a time just to keep up with Corliss, Serafina asked, "What do I need exercises for?" Stopping short, Corliss whipped around and smiled at Serafina; not a kindly smile, but one that spoke of experience. "So that way, when you face Lucifer on your way back into Heaven, he cannot tear you back down." Serafina mutely nodded her head and silently resumed following Corliss up the stairs. * "Places everyone!" Corliss was flying six feet above the ground so everyone could see her. She believed in doing the same things her 'students' were doing. She smiled at Serafina reluctantly taking a spot in the front next to another new fallee. Serafina's face lit up in recognition and she began lightly chatting. Clearing her throat, Corliss boomed, "Alright everyone, wings out!" All of a sudden, sixteen pairs of wings were gracing the backs of former angels. Some had terrible falls, like Faline--the one Serafina had been talking to--whose wings had bald spots where she was molting, and others didn't really suffer. The only reason those angels were here was so they could begin lives anew, hopefully with Logan. Again Corliss boomed, "Begin flapping so you rise a foot off the ground!" Soon after the flapping began, three angels fainted right away. They were still adjusting to the fact that they were fallen. However, Corliss was especially proud of Serafina and Faline. Somehow, whenever one faltered, the other would share energy so they wouldn't fall. "Okay, try to rise another foot!" Again, the two were sharing energy as they raised another foot in the air. Serafina had been here only a few days, but Corliss could tell she was getting stronger. Faline had arrived a day before Serafina had. Already there was a bond that was tight enough that they could share energies. "Another foot!" Corliss continued until only the four that had been at Rosehaven nearly a month, Serafina, and Faline remained. These women had surpassed some sort of standard that Corliss hadn't seen in any of her lifetimes. Could it be possible that this was what she had truly fallen for? She smiled to the man and woman that fell to the ground. They were chatting good-naturedly, but were intently watching the group hovering above them. Clapping her hands together, Corliss said, "Everyone, stand on the ground. We're going to try something new!" She flashed a smile at Serafina and Faline before she continued, "This time, find someone you absolutely trust. Hold their hand and this time, if you feel your partner start to fall, I want you to send some of your energy to them." From her perch, Corliss saw Serafina murmur words of encouragement to Faline before grabbing her hand. Shifting her gaze to the group, Corliss looked at the auras of the matched pairs. She could tell who would be the best pairs to go into battle--if the need called for it--and not let their comrades fail. "Alright, I want all of you to start at six feet. Remember, if your partner falters, I want you to share your energy!" As soon as everyone was in the air, Corliss looked again at the different auras. The ones that she believed would fail began to do so. To test them, Corliss sent small energy balls to the different pairs. Watching Serafina and Faline especially, Corliss was surprised for almost all of them to let the balls hit them. Serafina and Faline managed to dodge to the side while sharing energy. This was interesting indeed. Maybe it was time to let Wyatt come... * Wyatt had let out a sigh of relief at Serafina's departure a week ago, but he was missing her now. He had returned to her room and took care of the linens himself, not wanting anyone to alter anything in that room. He had found a feather of hers and had placed it under his pillow. His dreams had become disturbed lately, a sure indicator of what was to come. He let life continue as it had before Serafina had been dropped into his life, but his days lost the color they had sometimes held. Now, he was standing at a window, looking outside and wondering at what to do. He couldn't let his thoughts drift for too long, or else he would begin to think of how he had fallen himself. He was now a soldier, and this time it looked as if he might have some hope. There were bits and pieces that alluded his memory of the time he was an angel, but he distinctly remembered a conversation with Lucifer before the two of them fell. Lucifer had sneered and said, "My reign will come to an end when the one named after the Seraphs falls." Wyatt couldn't look at his hands after that memory. He knew what he would see. His oath to God, forged by blood, crisscrossing in scars across the palms of his hands. Wyatt stripped off his shirt and looked at the foretelling of Lucifer, written on his chest. Calling forth his gigantic black and red tipped wings, he called for a messenger. Looking the man in the eyes, he said, "Start flying ahead of me. Make sure you tell Corliss that I need to talk to Serafina. Also tell her that she needs to begin training her troops." Wyatt grabbed his shirt off the floor and looked at it with disgust. He wrapped it around his left arm and began walking to an outside door. Passing a mirror, he gazed at all the different oaths scored into his back. He plucked out a feather and wrote another oath into his skin. If he failed this lifetime, it would be scored there in the next. It read in a language lost even to the angels, "I will guard the one named for the Seraphs with my life and will proceed her in death if it means her goal will be accomplished."