Falling... (a story of failure)

[Dominus Lux]

My backstory is finally finished! I worked really hard on this, please tell me what you think of it.
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[font="Century Gothic"]I miss my home... [/font]

[font="Book Antiqua"]In heaven, in the great above, we knew nothing but joy. Life was a perfection. As the gods' chosen, we lived in peace. We had law, but it was only a formality, really, for no crime had ever been committed. I only had but one true rule to follow...
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-----My life, my purpose, was to serve the gods, as was the truth for all of my brothers. However, to my great joy, my destiny revealed an even greater purpose than the simple servitude that was to be expected. I was to be their light. It was my duty, nay, my privilege to look down upon the earth and light its heart with my own. I took my new purpose with pride, and I shone. I was the light of the gods. I was the flame of hope in the hearts of mortal men, and, for a time, it was perfect. For a time.

-----I was told from the beginning that with my new purpose and the glories that came with it, there came a great burden.
----------"You shall be our light," they told me, "You alone can claim this title. With it, you will be the only of your brothers that can look through the great gates and see the world below. You shall look down to the faces of mortal men and give them love, and hope, and passion. You will do this for us in our name, however you will not enjoy what you behold. Man is not perfect, as we. They will break the loving bonds you create. They will steal from one another the hope you give to them. They will use their new-found passion to fuel their own pointless wars. It will be painful to watch, and you will be hurt a million times over, but no matter how much pain you endure over the hardships of man, they must remain as such. The lives of men will be their own to use or destroy, you will not intervene in any way. Their life is not your own, and it is not your place to change that. This is your burden to bare. Are you ready?"
-----When I answered "Yes." to that final question, it was not out of pride. I honestly believed that the words coming from my mouth were true. I was called to serve, and serve I did. For a time.




----------"What do you mean you're not coming back!?" Valentine shouted at the top of her lungs, "You can't just walk out of my life like this!"
----------"I can do whatever the hell I want," Jacob shouted, his face red with uncontrollable rage, "now get out of my way!" He threw Valentine aside and made his way to the closet to get his things.
----------"Please! You must stop this!" Valentine grabbed at her husbands shoulder to turn him around.
----------"How [i][b]DARE[/b][/i] you touch me!?" Jacob wrenched Valentine's trembling arm off of his body, hurting her badly. "Whats this? [i]Tears[/i]? You're [i]crying[/i]? What, do you expect me to feel [i]sorry[/i] for you? Here, let me give you something to [i]really[/i] cry about!" Jacobs hand flew through the air so quickly, that by the time Valentine knew what was going on, she was already on the ground, her nose broken and bleeding. The drops of blood fell down from her face making a small pool underneath her sobbing body. She looked up at her husband, the man who once loved her, the man who she promised to spend an eternity with. His face, which was once so handsome, was now cold, and misshapen, and filled with hate.
----------"Why are you doing this? Why? What did I do to deserve this?"
----------" Don't act like you don't already know!" Jacob screamed, "Samos told me everything!" He looked down at Valentine's cowering face with disgust. "My own brother... how [i]could[/i] you?"
----------"I don't know what your talking about!" Valentine shouted, struggling to her feet.
----------"Yes you do! You slept with him, didn't you?" Valentine shook her head violently. "[i][b]DIDN'T[/b][/i] you!?"
----------" Please, It was only one time!" You have to understand, I--" She was cut off by a blow to the side of the face.
----------"You [i][b]WHORE[/b][/i]!" Their infant daughter began to cry loudly in the next room.
----------"The baby!" Valentine ran out of the room to hold her child. Jacob shoved the rest of his things violently into the bag on the bed beside him and left the house abruptly. Valentine ran after him, holding their child tightly in her arms. "Please! Think of the baby! I cant take care of her on my own! Think of the baby!"
----------"The baby? The [i]baby[/i]!?" Jacob grabbed the screaming infant from his wife's arms. "I couldn't care [i]less[/i] about what happens to this kid!" He looked at his daughter's face and almost gagged in disgust at her contorted sobbing features. "You want me to think about the baby? Here, I'll show you [i]exactly[/i] what I think about the baby!" He took his right hand and wrapped it around the infant's neck. They crying started to get quiet as he began to squeeze.
----------"[b]Stop[/b]!" The deep powerful voice echoed all around them. Jacob let go of the child's neck and looked around, trying to find the source of the overwhelming voice. Valentine noticed his sudden lapse in concentration, and stole the baby back from Jacobs grasp.
----------"Where do you think [i]you're[/i] going!?" Jacob suddenly snapped back into focus and grabbed Valentine by the arm as she attempted to run, and threw her and the baby to the ground.
----------"[b]I said [i]STOP[/i][/b]!" The voice boomed again, even louder than before. Suddenly, a bright light shone from above the clouds and a great glowing hand descended down towards the couple. Jacob looked up in fear, and began to run as fast as his feet could take him. It wasn't enough, he felt powerful fingers wrap around him and begin to tighten their grip.
-----When Jacob's breath had finally left his body, the hand disappeared, and his cold, lifeless body dropped heavily to the ground. Valentine couldn't make a sound. She sat, stunned, staring at her husband's dead body. Suddenly, the thought of her child's life jerked her to her senses. She dove to where the baby lie beside her and prayed that she wasn't too late. Valentine took the baby in her arms and looked into her face, just in time to see her cough and rub her eyes. She began to cry with relief.
-----------"It's going to be alright," Valentine whispered into her daughter's ear, "everything is going to be alright now, I promise." She stood and walked back into her house, closing the door behind her.




-----------"[b]I said [i]STOP[/i][/b]!" By the time the words left my mouth, I could no longer think. [i]I can't just sit and watch this happen anymore! I have to help! I have to![/i] I reached down through the gate and took the horrid man in my hand. [i]He doesn't deserve to live! I have to save that woman! She needs me![/i] I squeezed tighter and tighter. [i]He has to die! He has to die! He has to--![/i] I felt his bones snap under my grip. [i]What have I done...?[/i] I let go and pulled my hand back through the gate. [i]What have I done?[/i] I stood and stepped back in terror. [i]Oh god! What have I done!?[/i] Fear overwhelmed me, and I ran. [i]Where can I go? What can I do!?[/i] Everywhere I looked, eyes were staring back at me from every dark corner. [i]I am worthless! I am nothing![/i] I ran and I ran. The pain of failure was unbearable. [i]I'll make it through this! It was only one mistake, they'll understand, right?[/i] I came to a dead end, and the eyes that had been following me began to close in. [i]No! No! Please! NO!![/i]
-----Everything went dark.

-----I can't say I remember much after that. Nothing but blackness, and then falling. Oh, the falling. I had lost all sense of time. I could have been plummeting from those unknown heights for hours. Or was it days?
-----Suddenly, I snapped awake. Had it all been a dream? I tried to get up, but was forced back down by the pain from my shoulders. I reached around and my fingers came back dripping with blood. Frightened, I fought through the pain and got up to find a mirror. In the reflection, I saw a man who was not me. He looked like me, but he was covered in cuts and bruises, and his eyes looked pale and old. [i]The blood![/i] I remembered, and turned to see the source of that horrid pain. There, just below each shoulder, was the bloody, grotesque, torn skin where my wings had been ripped from my body. I was human.
-----I took a deep breath and looked around me. Where was I? The small room looked rather empty, save for a few shelves filled with various books and pieces of parchment. A large map of an unfamiliar land hung on one wall. In the center of the room, there sat a single desk, with a small chair resting behind it. The desk cought my attention, for sitting upon It, was a rather beautiful golden scroll. It seemed to call to me.
-----------"I don't know where I am," I said to myself aloud, "but that doesn't matter now. I will find my way home, whatever the cost. They stole my life away. I WILL have it back. I will find a way to prove to them I am worthy. I will earn my way back into heaven. Someday..." I walked to the desk and took the scroll, looking at it, and making my way through the door of the small cabin. "Someday."

Edited April 4, 2011 by Dominus Lux