A bit longer than I wanted, but this was an important chapter. I’m going to post some more pics of Ryohei on my profile soon, so keep an eye out if you want to see! As usual, thanks for reviews, and I hope you enjoy. BTW I do not personally believe in gods or god, so you can take those sorts of comments elsewhere. Kay thanks. :D

Ryohei flopped down in a pillowy soft armchair contentedly. His birthday feast had been excellent and he was full to bursting. He didn’t get much of a chance to digest and relax however, as Kealae and Keloras charged into his room. With excitement written all over their faces, they settled themselves on the edge of Ryohei’s bed.

“Go on Ryo, get out the book,” said Keloras, grinning. Ryohei obliged, with a sigh he extricated himself from the armchair and retrieved the tome in question from his bookshelf. Settling himself back in the armchair, he looked around for Arela. She wasn’t there: apparently the angels’ meeting she was attending was still in session.

Although Ryohei knew Arela would have enjoyed listening to him reading from her gift, his own excitement won out. He opened the embossed cover carefully and began to read aloud.

“In the first years of this land, the gods were unhappy with what they had wrought. The land itself was perfect with beautiful water formations, mountain ranges, and open fields. No, the problem lay with those that lived there.

“Although the people moved and breathed, they did not think, remember or dream. The animals were dull and mechanical. Even the plants were unyielding and did not move in the wind.

“What exactly was wrong? The gods could not say. They couldn’t fathom that they might have made a mistake with the creation spell itself. No, they reasoned, something must be missing from the created.

“To solve the problem, they created five divine beings, the Shining Angels. There was one for each element: water, fire, wind, earth, and divine. These angels were each endowed with a pair of magnificent wings and a glowing aura of the appropriate color: respectively blue, red, green, yellow, and purple.

“The angels were everything that the gods wished their humans to be. They were intelligent, thoughtful, and quite perfect in every respect. And so the gods decided that to fix their humans, animals, and plants, each would be given their own wings and aura.

“Unfortunately, this presented a new problem. If everything in the land possessed the same qualities and abilities as the angels-who were after all, the servants of the gods themselves! -How would that keep the angels and gods at the top of the hierarchy?

“It was the Divine Angel herself who came up with the first suggestion. Let their wings be hidden, she said, in spirit form. Only when their bodies were no longer needed will they be able to fly. They gods were pleased with the wisdom of their creation, and so the plan came to pass. All the wings of the living things were turned to spirit and hidden deep within. Only upon crossing Death’s threshold would the spirit-wings be released.

“This concept of Death, the gods thought, with great happiness, would be another way to make the living things, especially the humans, less powerful than themselves. From this idea, a new angel was born, this one of no element, but of Death itself.

“Then, the angels of water and wind solved the next dilemma, what to do with the auras? They proposed a system where the aura would be channeled into energy, not unlike the gods’ magic. The energy’s color would differ depending on which element it embodied. The humans would be able to shape this energy by making it flow, not flat out controlling it like the gods did. Admittedly, the element-aura would show through in two places where the controlling bonds were weakest. It was still a sound suggestion though, and the gods made it reality.

“Now, the angel of death, forgotten until this moment, interjected slyly with one last problem. Surely not all humans would be able to handle their power without desire for more.

“He looked at his fellows once, and then voiced his solution aloud. The auras of humans should be changeable in color. A change to a lighter color would indicate noble use of the energy. If they became darker, Death himself would keep an eye on their wielders. Then, if the aura became pure white, the gods would take the human as a lesser angel. If the aura became pure black, Death would seize the human for a minion. This, he reasoned, would also be a useful tool to choose successors for the angels when they ‘retired’.

“At this point, the gods were tired of creation, and so they implemented Death’s plan without a second thought. It was only after some time had passed that they realized with horror that they had had given Death power that was equal yet opposite to theirs.

“We shall see, they agreed, whether his order and chaos balance works for the best. If not…. retribution would be heard throughout the lair of the gods.

“Yet Death did not hear, for he had fled at once for his own kingdom, and so the gods wait to this day for his return.”

Ryohei closed the book with a flourish, his heart beating with excitement. He knew that within him, a brilliant green aura was growing and a pair of beautiful wings was hiding. He only hoped it wouldn’t draw the attention of the gods too much.