In spite of what others may suspect, Michael did not understand his Father's will perfectly. There were some decisions and actions made by God that simply bewildered him, left him wondering what manner of plan the Lord might have. But such thoughts did not linger long. Of all the archangels that the Creator had made, he was the most loyal, the most obedient, the most determined to abide by the letter of the law. And this served him well in his management of Heaven and its hosts. He was well-respected, obeyed without question, and deferred to as the highest judge - second only to God. And yet, he had been given the task of safekeeping the Virtue of Hope.
Crevan, the nephilim was named, and his human side was apparent to his guardian from a very young age. He was headstrong and outspoken, determined to make his own way in spite of the rules and expectations placed upon him. It reminded the archangel very much of how Gabriel had been when he was a fledgling, full of life and lacking in wisdom or humility. What had he done to be assigned this boy, the most difficult of all the Virtues?
But perhaps his Father knew only Michael had the strength and determination to not give up on Crevan, to not be deterred by his rebellious attitude. "I will not fail you, Father." He murmured the prayer even as he received word from one of his many eyes in the heavenlies that the boy was attempting to leave. Given the nephilim was not too far away, it was all too easy to pinpoint his exact location beyond the inner gates and appear a few steps behind him. Crossing his arms, the dark-haired archangel stared down at Crevan with stern disapproval, saying only, "Crevan."
But his tone would say everything the boy needed to know
******
As for Constance, well . . . she wasn't exactly rebellious so much as she was full of her given Virute: Faith. And Heaven, well, it didn't need faith. Not like humanity did. So much pain and despair and darkness existed on the planet. How could she just stay put and twiddle her thumbs when she could be helping others, restoring their faith in God and each other? Of course, her inherent trust and belief in everyone meant that it was all too easy for her to be taken advantage of. She didn't have a skeptical bone in her body, and that could get her into quite a bit of trouble.
Like most nephilim, she had angelic power within her half-human form, but as a Virtue, that power was increased beyond the norm. So as she knelt on the ground in the Haitian village, touching the head of a young boy with terrible malaria on his brow, he was cured instantly. This was her third healing in the past half-hour, and the villagers began thanking her profusely, asking her by what means she came to such magic. Though her French was not the same dialect as theirs, she managed to explain that it was not magic, but the Grace of God. And she could just see in their faces the faith that she inspired.
But the local medicine man didn't approve of her interference. He was stealing behind the hut with a knife hidden behind his back, having every intention of threatening his new rival, if not outright killing her for unintentionally stealing away the sway he had over the people. It was a good thing that Gabriel was looking for her, because Constance sure wasn't looking out for herself.
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