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I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight
I've never seen you shine so bright…
Saraquel, the Supreme Archangel, pushed their chair to a faster speed, steering through the indistinguishable halls of Heaven by memory. Crowley’s message had insisted they come immediately, though they couldn’t imagine why they were needed on the battlefield between Heaven and Hell on such short notice. If Hell was planning an invasion, wasn’t Crowley obligated to stop it as a co-anchor of the Neutral Alignment? Perhaps Hell wanted to renegotiate terms with Heaven. If so, Saraquel hoped their second-in-command, the dominion Solisel, would return from wherever she was to assist them.
Ironically, it had been the angelic version of Crowley who’d introduced his sister to Saraquel. The three of them had attended a meeting about star creation. Saraquel had recognized Solisel immediately. Of all the angels, she was the one who most resembled the Mother and was reputed to be one of Her favorites.
“How do you two know each other?” Saraquel asked.
“We were created by the same command, along with Lunael.” Solisel smiled. “That makes the three of us ‘siblings’ of a sort.” 1
Saraquel wasn’t familiar with the term, but they nodded politely. Although their companions presented differently—one was a red-headed male, and the other a dark-skinned woman with scalp-short hair—they projected similar levels of power and confidence. “Will you be joining our nebula project?”
“I’m afraid not. I only have a single star to look after, and it’ll be fully functional as soon as it’s made. It’s supposed to be an important one, though.”
“Let’s go find the others and assemble our ‘book,’ Saraquel.” Her team member grinned as he tugged on their sleeve. “I think we have everything we need to get the universe started. See you later, Solisel!”
As Saraquel neared the entrance to the battlefield, they realized they’d almost forgotten something. The area had been created by the Neutral Alignment; beings from Heaven or Hell were miracle-blocked here unless given special permission with a sash to use them. Gesturing, Saraquel summoned the narrow silver sash that would allow them to control their chair.
The battlefield itself appeared almost empty. The only signs of life were a couple of shapes speeding away in the distance and the sound of orchestral music coming from one of the buildings. They followed the music, tensing as they remembered a much more violent battlefield.
Wounded angels and rebels in pools of golden ichor were scattered everywhere Saraquel looked, while an unfortunate few lay far too still. Rebels who’d surrendered were being led away to await punishment. Solisel’s face was grim as she maintained a force field around the prisoners. Only Lucifer and a handful of his closest companions fought on. Saraquel, Michael, and Gabriel protected each other’s backs.
In a desperate, unplanned move, Michael and Gabriel attacked Lucifer simultaneously, trying to pin him. One of his defenders cast a curse in a distorted version of Enochian. Saraquel caught the full brunt of it as they shielded Gabriel. Instantly, every limb of their True Form curled painfully in on itself. Saraquel collapsed, unable to support themselves. They could only watch while Uriel and Sandalphon rushed in to help secure victory over the rebels.
Once the battle was over, Gabriel carried Saraquel to Raphael for healing. The curse proved too complicated to reverse, so Raphael devised exercises to loosen Saraquel’s limbs and restore some of their mobility. The Mother could have healed them completely, but no one dared approach Her and Her wrath.
Sometime after the Fall, when Saraquel had been reassigned to Heavenly Security, Solisel brought them the first version of their flying chair.
“Have you heard anything about my brother?” she whispered as she assisted Saraquel into the chair. “Lunael and I are positive he wasn’t among the prisoners we forced out of Heaven, but we can’t find him anywhere!”
Saraquel had already reviewed the list of the Fallen, and they shook their head. “He’s been sent to Hell.”
“For how long? When will She show mercy and bring the rebels back?”
“They are damned to suffer for Eternity, Solisel. I’m so sorry. All of us know someone among the demons, but we have to accept that they are lost to us.”
Saraquel had never forgotten the shock on Solisel’s face, nor the tears that ran over her flawless cheeks. “But…but…”
Saraquel clamped down on Solisel’s wrist with all the force they could muster. “For your sake, don’t question it! Don’t question any of it!” they whispered harshly. They had plenty of questions they wanted to ask the Mother themselves, but even the most exalted angels who resided in the Executive Suite as part of Her court trembled before Her these days. A favored dominion and the first Supreme Archangel had already been punished; neither Saraquel nor Solisel were safe. But as the dominion continued to weep, Saraquel held her while ensuring Heaven would have no record of the incident.
“Her will be done,” Solisel intoned brokenly before leaving.
As a dominion, Solisel was expected to make sure the lower angels performed their jobs correctly while balancing justice and mercy. Several times over the next millennia, she met with Saraquel, and they did what they could to shield the innocents from abusive supervisors. But when Gabriel, the new Supreme Archangel, found fault with Raphael during the Flood, he forced Saraquel to take their memories and demote them to scrivener. Saraquel was able to become Muriel’s supervisor but could do little else to protect them.
More time passed. The Mother announced She had made a wager with Satan about a pious human. From the training areas for dedicated warriors to the archangels’ offices, Heaven stirred with unprecedented excitement. Some angels thought this was a turning point in the war against Hell, while others pointed out that they still had thousands of years before they fulfilled the Great Plan.
As Saraquel prepared to monitor events on Earth, Solisel appeared in their office. “Gabriel told me who Hell’s representative on Earth is.” Saraquel knew her well enough by now to sense the pain she was hiding behind her controlled tone. “Let me see him, please.”
Saraquel shook their head as they blanked out the live image on their desk. “Let him go, Solisel.”
“I need to see him as a demon first.”
“They aren’t like us anymore,” Saraquel said gently. “They have animal forms. I’ve seen him as a legless creature called a snake. He is the Sepent of Eden. He’s responsible for corrupting the humans that Mother was so proud of.”
Solisel shuddered but didn’t retreat.
Desperate to make her leave, Saraquel moved forward until they bumped into her, but she didn’t take the hint. “Why do you still care about him? Only humans have siblings, not angels. Siblings aren’t always kind to each other anyway. Remember the first pair, Cain and Abel? Do you think the Mother expects you to kill your so-called brother as part of the Great Plan?”
With a scream, Solisel released her wings. They brushed against the transparent walls—and wards—around Saraquel’s office. “I demand to see him!” Power roiled around her, threatening to shatter Saraquel’s desk.
“If you insist, Your Radiance. Remember, I advised against it.”
Solisel flinched, but she was silent as she pulled in her wings. She made way for Saraquel and their chair in front of the desk before positioning herself behind them. Saraquel reactivated the live feed.
“Why are his eyes covered?” Solisel asked a few seconds later. “Does it have something to with his punishment, or snakes? I thought you said he didn’t have legs anymore.”
“That was only when he emerged from Hell onto Earth,” Saraquel said. “I might have the image in the Archive somewhere.”
Solisel sucked in her breath as Crawly created a giant fireball—or a miniature star—hovering over Job’s goats. Then Aziraphale, Heaven’s representative on Earth, appeared to stop the demon. Apparently no one had remembered to brief him about the wager. Crawly took care of that, displaying the very detailed permit Muriel had helped prepare.
“Is it just me, or do the two of them seem to know each other?” Solisel asked.
“There aren’t that many humans yet,” Solisel replied. “I imagine Heaven and Hell are interested in the same targets and send their representatives to the same locations.”
“Even so, I would have expected them to be more … adversarial.”
Abruptly, Crawly summoned firebolts from his protostar, targeting the goats. Solisel gasped and covered her mouth.
Saraquel turned to her and asked, “Satisfied now?”
“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself.” Instead of leaving, Solisel continued to study what was happening on Earth. After a couple of minutes, she said, “Saraquel, does it seem to you he’s using more power than necessary?”
“You mean by making that mini-star first?”
“Do you think he knows we’re watching and is giving us a sign? No.” Solisel shook her head. “Maybe he’s showing off Hell’s power, but that doesn’t seem right either. I wish we could study what’s happening more directly. Can you show me what happened to the animals?”
Saraquel shuddered. “Haven’t you ever seen what’s inside a physical corporation? It’s all foul liquids and organs and the grossest matter you can imagine!”
“It can’t be that bad. Matter is only energy in a different form—”
The scene shifted as Crawly appeared in the courtyard of Job’s house. Aziraphale followed to remonstrate with the demon about killing Job’s children, even though that was included in the wager. An angel, going against God’s plan? Saraquel and Solisel traded glances, then studied the scene in earnest.
“I know the angel you were,” Aziraphale said to Crawly.
“The angel you knew is not me.”
Solisel bowed her head briefly, but she stared as Crawly removed his dark glasses. Saraquel couldn’t help being transfixed by his inhuman eyes as well.
Aziraphale and Crawly moved to opposite sides of the courtyard. The small black creatures on the ground made strange sounds. Aziraphale cast a miracle and revealed the animals to be the goats that were supposed to have been destroyed moments earlier.
More tears rolled down Solisel’s cheeks, but she smiled. “That’s my brother. He may have changed, but he hasn’t changed inside.”
A quirk of Heaven’s viewing system meant they couldn’t see what happened when Crawly and Aziraphale entered the house. They continued to watch anyway. Solisel created a stool for herself and sat next to Saraquel. Day turned to night, and the forces of Hell sent a storm to destroy the house. It looked horrific for the humans, but Saraquel forgot about them as she and Solisel had the liveliest discussion they’d participated in since the star-making session. How much had Falling changed a rebel’s nature? What did it mean that both an angel and a demon refused to do what was expected of them? Why was the Mother permitting it, and what would happen if more beings acted independently? Whose side were Aziraphale and Crawly on? Was it a test, or part of the super-secret Ineffable Plan? Solisel was so engaging Saraquel temporarily forgot their fear of questions—though they made sure no one listened in.
“I think She’s testing all of us, not just the humans,” Solisel concluded. “My brother—his new name doesn’t suit him at all—and Aziraphale must be key. They’re too unusual for Her not to be watching them. We have to give them the space to develop without interference.” A wistful look crossed her face. “Can you imagine a world where we all can be free to do what we want without fear?”
Saraquel shook their head.
In the morning, Job left his house to plead with God. The two angels stared in awe as the Mother descended. Somehow it felt right for Saraquel to hold Solisel’s hand as She spoke to Job. When She left, so did Solisel. The dominion dropped in later to the archangels’ follow-up meeting, sitting at the end of the long table with Saraquel as Gabriel and Michael reported on the results of the wager. They described how Job had been rewarded for his faith but didn’t explain why God had bet with Satan in the first place—or what benefit it had for either Heaven or Hell. Both Solisel and Saraquel listened for any hint that Gabriel and the other archangels had noticed anything out of the ordinary, but if they had, they left it out of the official report.
Then came that awful moment when the Mother and most of Her court vanished without warning or explanation. Angels abandoned their duties and wandered around Heaven, calling for Her. The Voice of God denounced them all as unworthy of Her and promised reform. Only a few dared whisper that his rules were too harsh and that he craved power like another former angel.
Saraquel was studying the model of Earth, wondering if something down there had triggered the Mother’s departure, when Solisel and her other sibling Lunael appeared at Saraquel’s side.
“The Voice of God has commanded us to search the universe for the Mother. We are not to return until we find Her and convince Her to come back to us,” Solisel said. The anger in her red-rimmed eyes indicated this was exile. “Do you have a map of space, Saraquel?”
With a heavy heart, Saraquel summoned all the scrolls they had. The two angels squeezed each other’s hands as Solisel duplicated the scrolls. She passed her copies to Lunael, who silently tucked them into a private dimension. Rumor had it they hadn’t spoken since the Fall.
“Farewell, Solisel and Lunael. May you succeed in your mission.”
Saraquel had debated saying more personal, or giving their friend a hug. Before they could rise from their chair, the Metatron, the last seraph in Heaven, had appeared, and the dominions vanished. Turning his glare on Saraquel, he said, “If either of them ever return to Heaven without my authorization, I expect to be informed immediately.”
There was nothing they could do but bow their head and say, “Of course, Highest.”
The archangel had never expected to see her friend again. Heaven seemed colder and lonelier without her. Saraquel had been shocked when a few thousand years later, the Metatron had summoned Solisel and Lunael back to Heaven to deal with Crowley and Aziraphale. That hadn’t gone as he’d anticipated.
Saraquel was just as astonished now to enter the building and find a party in progress. Then they remembered Solisel had invited them to Crowley and Aziraphale’s surprise housewarming party, which was being held here due to the wards around their cottage. Saraquel had refused to come, citing too much work. Part of them still worried that angels shouldn’t attend parties. The other part felt Solisel had only invited them to be polite. Surely she would rather spend time with her siblings, especially since Crowley and Lunael were both stationed on Earth now.
The party was bigger than Saraquel had expected. Human souls provided music, and Lunael and their demonic partner Tabitha were teaching other beings how to dance. Food, plants, and decorated boxes were displayed on tables. Now that Aziraphale had made Saraquel feel love connections between beings, they could pick out every couple in the room.
Saraquel scanned the area, searching for Solisel. Crowley was easy to identify; he was the only red-headed being present. The female with him had Solisel’s figure, but that couldn’t be her in that dress, with that hair—
The woman turned to face Saraquel. Solisel! Oh, Mother, do You see her? She is glorious, regal, so beautiful…
And I have never seen that dress you're wearing
Or the highlights in your hair that catch your eyes…
Normally, Solisel wore a simple white dress with a narrow gold belt. Her formal gown was pure gold, strapless and floor length. The color made her dark brown skin glow. The fabric flowed over the curves of her corporation without being too revealing, and elbow-length white gloves made her look elegant. Most striking of all was her new hairstyle. Saraquel had never seen it so long, and it was mostly straight except for a couple of loose curls. The only way Solisel would look more queenlike was if she removed her halo and balanced it on top of her head like a crown.
The best part was that Solisel was laughing, probably at something Crowley had said. Saraquel wasn’t needed here, but they lingered by the entrance, drinking in every movement and gesture of Solisel’s.
Then Solisel glanced at Saraquel, and her expression froze. Before Saraquel could flee, Solisel slowly advanced toward them. Beings moved out of her way but followed her with their eyes. And the connection between Solisel and Saraquel, the one Saraquel had told themselves was friendship at most, pulsed.
Saraquel allowed themselves more memories of their interactions with Solisel:
The reunion they’d had shortly after Solisel and Lunael had captured Crowley and were bringing him to the Metatron. Saraquel had intercepted them before they’d gone up to the Executive Suite. This time, Solisel had waited for Saraquel to rise, and they’d embraced. It had been the perfect cover for handing over the precious bit of unicorn horn. Despite the stress of the situation, joy lit up Solisel’s face as she whispered, “I missed you.” Saraquel had barely been able to choke out, “I missed you too.”
“I select the newly returned Dominion Solisel to be my second-in-command,” Saraquel announced to the assembled hosts of Heaven. The two of them shared a smile as Solisel took her place by Saraquel’s side. The only thing better than the chance to reform Heaven was having the perfect companion for the job.
“We’ll always have paperwork, Saraquel, but a total eclipse only lasts a few minutes. We must go now!” Floating in space an instant later, watching darkness arc across the planet below, the two of them sharing what they remembered from that class on stars Before the Beginning …
Comforting Solisel when she realized Lunael would leave Heaven for good…
Saraquel swallowed. Solisel was more than just a clever and powerful angel, one so good she wouldn’t rest until Heaven matched her ideals. She was more than one of Mother’s tools; she was an independent being with feelings. And for the Mother’s sake, she was making Saraquel feel things they never realized they were capable of.
I have never had such a feeling
Such a feeling of complete and utter love, as I do tonight…
Solisel halted in front of Saraquel. “You came.” Her voice was higher than normal.
“Crowley summoned me.”
“He did?”
Even to Saraquel, Solisel’s disappointment was obvious.
“I guess it wasn’t as urgent as he claimed. I’m glad to be here, though. I should have accepted your invitation to come with you.” Saraquel took a deep breath. “You look … beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Not that you don’t normally, but your outfit is beautiful in a whole new way.”
Saraquel winced. They sounded like a complete ninny, but Solisel didn’t seem to notice.
“Thank you. I won’t wear it Upstairs, though. Too ostentatious.”
“You have more right to wear that much gold than any other angel left in Heaven, you know.”
“What about you, my Supreme Archangel?”
Saraquel’s cheeks felt warm. “I don’t think gold’s my color.”
Solisel smiled as if she doubted that. The music changed to a song with a slower tempo. She hesitated, then held out her hands. “Saraquel, will you…will you dance with me? Please don’t say that angels don’t dance,” she added hurriedly. “We know they can. And dancing in your chair counts.”
Saraquel glanced at the other party guests, who were all wearing clothing styles from the mid-20th century or so. “It’s too bad I can’t change my outfit. My sash only lets me control my chair.”
“I don’t think mine has any restrictions,” Saraquel said. “I’m wearing it underneath my gown. What kind of clothes would you like?”
“A modest dress, maybe something in light blue.”
Solisel nodded, then gestured. Saraquel’s zippered jacket with tartan details changed into a robin’s-egg-blue silk dress with subtle pleating. It was lightweight and comfortable against their skin, and it made them feel like a new being. The white gloves were shorter than Solisel’s, but similar enough to make the two of them feel like a couple. Saraquel nodded their approval.
“Look who’s beautiful now,” Solisel murmured.
Grinning, she ushered them to the quietest corner of the dance floor. Saraquel raised their chair so they were eye level with her, then waved their hands over their head in time with the music. It wasn’t the kind of activity they would want to do for very long, but it was both freeing and a little nerve-wracking making sure they were doing it right.
“We appear to be the only angels dancing together,” they said after a few minutes. “All the other pairs are angels and demons.”
Solisel bit her lip for a few seconds. “Have you ever thought about joining the Neutral Alignment someday, once we’ve reformed Heaven?”
“Do you think we’ll ever manage that? We all have a lot to unlearn.”
“I know, I know. But I found a couple of virtues we could train as eventual replacements for us…” Solisel sighed. “I don’t think we’re supposed to talk about work at parties. Crowley told me earlier that if the two of us want to join the Neutral Alignment, he’d match us with Shax and Furfur.”
Saraquel nodded. From what they had heard, Crowley and Aziraphale’s combined miracles were powerful enough to break a being’s bond to Heaven or Hell. To join the Neutral Alignment properly, the being then had to exchange essences with someone from the other side. “And we would then be their partners?” they asked.
“I’m not sure if that’s required,” Solisel admitted. “But if I ever return to the stars, I’d rather go with you than one of them—or anyone else.” The current song ended, and she folded her long fingers around Saraquel’s. “I’ve liked you from the moment I met you, Saraquel. You’re clever and have more integrity than all the other remaining archangels put together. You’ve been there for me through good and bad. When I was banished from Heaven, you were the only part I missed.” Her grip tightened. “Crowley and Lunael have found other partners. Will you stay with me for Eternity and be mine?”
Saraquel looked into Solisel’s dark brown eyes. The previous Supreme Archangels had always been set apart from other angels, but neither Lucifer nor Gabriel had been strong enough to handle that role on their own. Solisel’s natural leadership talents complimented Saraquel’s knowledge of Heavenly bureaucracy, but their partnership went much deeper than that. If the Neutral Alignment and even Hell were now led by couples, why not Heaven?
“I missed you so much when you were gone,” Saraquel said, “and I’d rather give up my halo than lose you again.”
“You’ll always be under my wings, Saraquel,” Solisel whispered as she hugged them. Their cheeks felt wet as the dominion’s face brushed against their own. Saraquel prayed silently to Mother that Solisel would have no further reason to weep. The two of them would need clear eyes to see the stars together.
But none of the stars could ever outshine Saraquel’s angel in gold.