Sinners and Saints

Sinners and Saints Chapter 8 - Meet the Parents

“She’s always masked her presence behind the structure of Heaven until now,” he adds, “None of us know why she’s suddenly decided to make herself official.  But I can tell you that it’s making all of us very, very worried.” 

“Why?” I ask, “Aren’t you one of her creations?  Wouldn’t you want her to be more active?” 

Clark frowns and his brows draw down.  He’s not mad at me – which is a first – but he is lost in thought.  He looks – worried?  Confused?  

“None of us remember anything before the battle, Claire,” he says softly, “Neither the angels nor the demons.  If you asked any of us why we chose which side to fight on, we couldn’t say.  Although you would be very unwise to ask such a – personal – question to anyone else,” he adds, “So none of us really know how or why we were created.  Or by whom – on that note, you and I are equals,” he raises a brow at me, expecting a snarky comment, but I don’t take the bait, “Although you’ll be hard-pressed to find another immortal willing to admit that to a flesh-born,” he sighs, “We are all guilty of hubris – every one of us.  We deal with it in different ways.  Almost all of the angels have given up on mankind and withdrawn to let the lesser-beings fend for themselves.  Where we once were hundreds of thousands strong, there are only a handful of us now that pay any attention at all to the human world.  And most of them from a strictly amusement-factor, not from a direct-involvement factor.” 

“Like reality TV?” I ask. 

“Yes, very much so,” he nods. 

“But not you,” I say slowly. 

“There are a few of us who still feel it necessary to watch over Earth,” he nods again, but I can tell he’s not going to tell me why. 

“Does God?” I ask instead. 

His wings flutter, but his expression remains neutral, “God turned his back on this planet when they killed his son,” he says quietly, “His current obsession is with a planet in the Crab Nebula.” 

“Oh,” my jaw snaps shut.  I knew to expect this, but it hurt all the same.  Trillions of good people, trying to do the right thing, trying to love and forgive and accept and accommodate – over the millennia.  But the big guy never saw them.  Doesn’t see them now.  

“The demons,” he continues, “Took a far-more bureaucratic approach,” he emphasizes, “Consolidating and taking advantage of the power vacuum to build an empire dedicated to the complete domination of the planet and everyone on it.” 

“But why?” I ask, “If God doesn’t even care, what’s the point?” 

“They don’t know that God doesn’t care,” Clark smiled, “At least, we don’t think that they do.  But even beyond that, the Goddess cares.  Some of us still care.  And most importantly, mankind should care.  If they can take over this planet, they can take over others – like the one in the Crab Nebula.  We believe this is their beta-test, so to speak.” 

“So now Jojo and I are huge threats to their little plan,” I nod. 

“And to the power structure of three major religions and to the angels themselves,” Clark continues. 

“What could we do to the angels?” I ask, “Why would they have it out for us too?” 

“You could make them obsolete,” Clark shrugs. 

“Aren’t they already?” I ask and his wings immediately snap out, “Sorry, I don’t mean you or your – uh – friends,” I add quickly, “I mean the ones who don’t care anymore.”