Hesitation Of A Heart Beat

Chapter 3,Faith

My name is Mirabelle. Im an angel in training. The demons and angels are at war, and Im proud of who I stand with. Yet Im afraid to fight….I don’t like the thought of shedding blood. The sight makes me sick to the stomach, and I feel light headed. I grew up in this time of war, and I find myself wishing for peace between demons and angels. Mother told me demons would spear you if you tried peace talk, but I think there is good in everyone, you just have a hard time reaching it. This war has been raging far before I was born, and I can’t imagine a time were I can walk around feeling secure.

I sat on a grassy hill, books spread out around me. They were books teaching fighting techniques, much to my displeasure. When an angel reaches 15, they must spend an entire day going from trainer to trainer, using an assortment of weapons to find one they were naturally gifted at. After they found a weapon, they went through a season of training. Then they were qualified for war. If you didn’t find a weapon…. “Studying hard?” I whipped my head around to come face to face with Cari. “Yeah.. I’m trying.” Cari was my childhood friend, an one of the most beautiful angels you would find around these parts. Her white blond hair was pulled in to two fluffy pigtails, and her eyes were green, half hidden by thick eye lashes. Her skin was ivory, blending in beautifully with her looks. “Don’t worry, you’ll find a weapon youre talented with.” I sighed. I was glad of her support but.. “I don’t wish to be talented with a weapon. Surely there is an alternative?” Cari sat down and hugged her knees to her chest. “Mirabelle, an angel who can’t fight gets to sit in the village all day feeling useless. You must learn to fight, to defend what you stand for, if not for God.” The last part brought protest rushing to my thoughts. “But I DO want to fight for God. I just wish I didn’t have to fight at all.” She sighed, rose, then ruffled my hair. “Youre a good kid, you’ll do fine.”

I sighed as she walked off, wishing I had as much confidence in myself as she did. Angels would one day grow wings, when they showed a courageous act or did something that showed they earned them. When an angel earned their wings, they were given a red silk ribbon to tie around their weapons. In a battle, this proves they had every right to be there, no human, demon, angel, even vampire could deny their courage over the red ribbon. I sighed and shut the book I was reading. It was talking about sword strikes and weak points in the body. Disgusting. I gathered the books together and stood up, trotting through the fields and into the bright and cheerful village.

I was blind to the merriment as strolled along the path to the church. I poked my head through the doors to peer inside. Stain glass windows filtered sunlight into an array of colors, which danced along with the shadows of rustling tree leaves. Upon the rows of benches sat one figure. “Mom?” My mother turned and smiled with recognition. She was the religious leader of the church, a holy mother and a teacher of God’s will. And my adopted mother. My real mom was a great hero named May. She died protecting me from a demon raid on our humble village, and her heroic stories are written in history books. I was young then and Beth, the holy mother herself adopted me. I respect and love her just as much as my real mother, so I don’t bother with formal names. She arose and walked down the isle. Upon arriving in front of me, she placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure this is about the Talent Seeking event.” I opened my mouth, then shut it and nodded. “Don’t worry, you will find your place in this war, and Im sure you will contribute to the good will.” I smiled. Beth always made me feel better. “Thank you, mom.” I stayed to talk with mom abit longer then left.

“Mirabelle, hello there.”

“Good morning, Darren.”

He stepped fully out and closed the door behind him. “Wanna go for a walk?”

Although that was ALL I had been doing today, I smiled and accepted.

“Daren?”

“Hm?”

“Do you think some demons are good?”

He looked surprised. I’m sure it was an odd question, but the thought had been nagging at me for sometime.

“Actually, some demons feel emotion of love and such, yet they were raised in a savage environment, so they are forced to live a life of lies. Some half-hearts were transformed into hateful murderers. The environment of someone’s life as they grow up can effect how they live later in life. In fact I once knew a demon that was a half heart…”

I listened intently to his talk about a demon named Thayer, who loved an angel but could not find a way to be with her. So she joined him in the demon world, still fighting for the Lord’s rights as a spy. Eventually, Thayer left for a time, and the angel was killed.

“Though she had children, so it is very possible that there is a bloodline of Half-hearts in the demon world.”, he concluded.

The thought that there was good on the other side was comforting.

We passed cherry blossom trees of pink tones, their petal drifting on the warm breezes. I broke the silence with the other question nagging at me.

“So Darren, were you scared when you turned 15?”

He looked thoughtful, and his answers usually reflected his looks.

“I was more uncertain than scared, but I ignored it and got lucky.”

Darren was indeed lucky. He found a talent in swordsman ship, the first thing he tried.

“I don’t think lucks on my side…”

He glanced at me, then draped his arms over my shoulder, drawing me into an embrace.

“You’ll be fine, I have faith in you. Just try and have faith in yourself.” His words brought a spark of inspiration to me.

My face was a flame red as I nodded vigorously.

“I will, I promise.”