Thomas and Metatron were stunned with how the world was shifting and taking form around then. The forest had finished blooming and these two were the poor flys trapped behind its jaws, waiting for it to fully digest them.

  The familiar pine trees that wouldn’t stop spinning themselves to death, the feeling that you’re always being watched, and the whispers from the forest were all still there. It was like the forest had waited for Metatron and Thomas to come back to continue living.

  The familiar backwards screaming snapped Thomas back to reality, quickly reminding him of the dangers of the forest and how any second could be his last.

  Metatron tried to wear a stoic mask but Thomas could see past it. The angels hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

  “His gaze has left me… I don’t feel my god here…” Metatron whispered to himself as he stared at the red moon that had been staring him down since he had entered this place.

  Thomas took a deep breath and grabbed Metatron’s hand loosely. “We need to protect the altar.” Thomas voice was monotoned but his simple action was enough to remind Metatron who he was, one of the archangels.

  Metatron, with the help from Thomas, finally tore his gaze from the moon and looked down at the child. “How…” Metatron asked. Thomas looked forward keeping the angel in tow without answering him.

  The two were on a faded path that lead to the heart of the forest. Each side of the path was lined with trees that occasionally had a set of eyes staring at intruders as they passed by.

  Thomas was calm as could be, he didn’t let his expression slip from a muted displeasure. Metatron on the other hand borrowed the fear Thomas should’ve felt, his hands kept flinching towards his hip, where he kept his sword, even at the slightest sound.

  “This is your first time without gods presence isn’t it?” Thomas words were hollow and stuck through Metatron’s heart who could only nod to signal that the child had read him like a book.

  “It isn’t for me. If I had to count the amount of times my god had abandoned me, let something bad happen to me or someone else I loved. That number would probably be as many pine needles as that tree there has.” Thomas said pointing to a random tree to the side.

  His heart shattered even more for this child, the angel held the child’s hand even tighter now. “Why do you still believe then?” Metatron planned his words carefully. He knew he couldn’t tell Thomas he was wrong, his words were to true.

  “Faith is a very strange thing… I believe because it was what I was told to do and my belief was what I was beaten for when I disobeyed. I don’t have a choice to keep it simple.” Thomas spoke like he truly knew what it was to not have free will. Metatron saw himself when he looked at this child. Someone who didn’t have a choice, someone who was created and forced into a belief.

  The lips of the angel were sealed, pressed firmly shut. What lied behind them were a thousand reasons, all the good things that god has, all the lives he had saved. But none of them were his reason to stay faithful, none of them gave him the same comfort that gods gaze had given him.

  “I believe because my god is great. Sure he lets thousands die to injustice each week but he saves some people every now and then, right? Just back there I was going to die wasn’t I? But then you came and saved me.” Thomas said thinking back to the twisted remains of his best friend, Jinar. He really thought he was lucky to be saved by Metatron but the words came across cold like a knife. A knife that pierced Metatron through his heart.

  “I have saved countless lives and delivered a speech to each one that reinvigorated them to get back out there and fight the devil through spreading belief. But never have I been on the receiving end of such a speech until now. Thank…” Metatron began to go off but as soon as he looked back down at Thomas he noticed the child still had never blinked, his grip was still half-effort, his eyes calm like the stars.

  Thomas and Metatron had continued walking in silence. The trees shock the earth with each fall they took. Each one signaling these two were close to reaching their destination. The unblinking eyes of the demon observers were constant reminders that at any moment if they decided to turn back now they would be done for.

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  “Why did you kill all of those innocent people? All of Luci’s friends I mean.” Thomas’s simple question took the form of a gust of wind that slapped Metatron across the face. A surprise he was not sure how to answer.

  The angel took his free hand and placed it against his chest. Gathering what strength he could to answer this child honestly in hopes it will show both of them that god has a plan for everything. “Because I was ordered to. They were planning on killing god.” Even with the added bravery Metatron’s voice was still shaken.

  “So you’re saying if I simply plan to kill god, you would be forced to kill me? Your god is someone who is great, someone who couldn’t be simply killed by a few rebels could he? He probably can’t be killed at all can he? So why use such force against people who wished to do the impossible why kill them?” Thomas’s breathing was unchanging, no hint of anxiety while talking to an authority figure like this.

  “Your god is a god of forgiveness. Your church preaches about giving people second chances, to turn the other cheek and yet you killed almost all of Luci’s friends after one incident. You only let some of them live because you couldn’t find them right? Where was their forgiveness?” Thomas’s unchanging expression unnerved Metatron especially since he didn’t know where the child received such knowledge.

  But Metatron knew the child was not accusing him but holding a mirror to him to see what he truly has turned into. “You mean Lucifer not Luci right? He is the symbol of sin. The first thing that defied our god and tried to turn against him. We had to make an example of him.” Metatron spoke these lines that he rehearsed millions of times, the same ones his god gave him when he asked the same questions.

  “I did not mean Lucifer because that is not who I know. I meant Luci, the man who saved me, the man who is still grieving over the injustice of all his friends being murdered.” Thomas said letting go of Metatron’s hand, whose hand instinctively tried to seek the boys hand once more before stopping after it found no offered refuge or comfort.

  “So because they were the first to rebel they had to die? What example did that set really? You still have countless groups who are built to defy god and his church but they are never struck down?” Thomas picked up his speed and began to leave Metatron behind.

  Once Thomas had gotten five feet away the whispers that were constantly at the angels back had now started to break through, each one hit him with the force to make him crack. The cracks kept growing until the angel could see his life for what it truly was now. He now truly realized he was only a machine that was built by his god to fulfill orders. Tears began to trail down his face as he tried to think back to any point in his existence where he was the one who had made a choice but came back with nothing.

  Metatron ran to the child and took him by the hand once more and the whispers began to die out once more. “Your god has planned everything right? Anytime anything bad happens it is said ‘It’s all apart of his plan’. So does that mean my life is meaningless? If I don’t have a choice in my own life then it’s not a life is it? Tell me, did your god plan for this?” The child had began talking like the angel never left his side. Once Thomas pointed at the red moon, to make the subject of his question clear, howling erupted all around them.

  The eyes in the forest grew smiles to match in their delight at the mention of their new god. Figures began to rip themselves out of the trees and walk behind the two, not in a menacing way but like Thomas was now the leader of a parade.

  “You have that wrong! You still have free…” Metatron began to scream but halfway through his voice grew quiet as thought if he was actually speaking the truth or uttering a line he was forced to remember.

  “Brother! I finally found you!” A scream pierced through all the demonic cheering and through Metatron’s own internal self doubt.

  A being covered in golden light descended from the sky and landed softly in front of Metatron and Thomas, blocking their path. “Sandalphon! How?” Metatron screamed dropping Thomas’s hand and tried running to his brother but the child’s grip finally tightened around the angel anchoring him in place.

  Metatron needed Sandalphon like a way a brother needed his older sibling. But this wasn’t about a family reunion, it was about a restoration of faith. “I couldn’t see you anymore so I had to rush here, I’m glad to see you ok brother.” Sandalphon said with folded hands placed over his own heart.

  “What of our lord? Has he awaken yet?” Metatron’s words were filled with glee and hope, the way a child would ask if dad had come home from work yet.

  The angels head bowed hiding a sorrow he wished not to share with Metatron yet. “He’s…” Sandalphon began speaking but Metatron had heard this speech before. About how the lord was asleep and it was their jobs as angels to keep the peace while he’s away, how it’s their job as archangels to lead the rest in his absence.

  “Your god has been asleep for a while now hasn’t he? I don’t think he will ever wake up, do you?” Thomas words slapped both the angels across the face.

  “You do not understand that of which you speak child! Our lord has been keeping you all safe for so long now!” Sandalphon yelled as he walked over and grabbed Metatron’s hand which was still reaching for him. The two held onto the broken angel not giving any signs of letting go.

  Thomas tugged on Metatron’s hand once more, he found out that the angel was now resisting him so the boys arm went limp. “Enough of this.” The words unnerved Metatron.

  The gilded angel stepped forward once more and grabbed the arm Thomas had a firm grip on. “What…” Sandalphon’s mouth opened, barely speaking a word before his scream was the only thing that could be heard. A blade made from red spores looked like it had grown out of Thomas’s palm. It was like a flash, Thomas reached up to the angel and a second later gold blood exploded from Sandalphon.

  Sandalphon’s flesh ripped open and his now severed arm fell to the ground. His scream was so powerful it began to crack the earth beneath their feet, it began to tear the wind apart, it began to bring fire down from the sky.

  “I have been asked to be at the altar. You’re making me fall behind schedule.” Thomas said leading Metatron by the hand as they walked around Sandalphon who was on his knees holding his own wound.

  Metatron walked by in horror. “Brother… I’m sorry…” He said reaching towards the now broken angel. The light that Sandalphon began to flicker, fading in and out. The angels halo had shattered into pieces scattered across the floor.

  “Where is your god now?” Thomas said before the demon hoard that was following them surrounded the wounded angel. His screams were the only thing that could be heard as Thomas and Metatron continued their march to the altar.