The priest of the church looked at her curiously, “Not to God? All you need to do is speak to Heaven with a clear mind. If your request is pure and true, your prayers shall be answered,” he responded to her. “Which angel are you looking for?”
Madeline didn’t know if she should answer his question. Noticing her reluctance in telling the angel’s name, the priest offered her a kind smile.
“It is alright if you want to keep it as a secret. What is your name, my child?”
“Madeline Hawthrone,” introduced Madeline to the priest.
“I am Gabriel Quintin.” When the priest said this, Madeline stared at the priest. Since the time she had come to know about Paschar, and then Michael, Madeline had followed the angel’s names much more closely, and she noticed him smiling at her. “Is something wrong?”
“Are you-are you the archangel Gabriel?” She slowly took a step back to maintain a distance between them. The priest blinked his eyes as if not understanding what she just said.
Madeline had not waited to confirm and had dived right into the question. She had noticed the pattern in the past, and she didn’t doubt her gut feeling.
“I think you are mistaking who I am, young lady,” the priest had a perplexed look on his face, and his eyes looked at her curiously.
“I am the daughter of the angel Paschar, and I came here looking for him,” said Madeline to the priest named Gabriel and suddenly the expression on his face changed. “Are you still going to deny that you aren’t the archangel?”
Gabriel’s expression turned calm, and he stared at Madeline with a faint smile on his face, “So it’s Paschar who you are looking for.”
Madeline nodded her head, “I wanted to talk to him, but if you are an angel, you should be helpful.” Her words intrigued Gabriel.
“I have heard many rumours about you Madeline, but it is a pleasure to meet you,” said Gabriel, looking into the brown-eyed girl. “You are the child Heaven has been curious and wary about. A dark angel with unexplored power and potential. I don’t think you will be able to see Paschar as he has been ordered to not step out of Heaven and work there instead.”
“Why?” frowned Madeline.
Initially Madeline was angry at Paschar, but after meeting her mother and seeing some of the memories that belonged to him and her mother, Marina, she had decided to speak to Paschar.
“He has broken quite some rules by coming and meeting you when he was ordered to stay away from you or anything related to you. This is Heaven’s one way of keeping him safe, until he will come to know the difference between the people in the living and the angels,” answered Gabriel in a calm voice. “I thought he would have understood when his powers had been stripped away from him, but his feelings from the living world must have come back to him after discovering you.”
“Does it matter who it is when love is involved? I thought that is what Heaven preaches, to love people and live in harmony,” remarked Madeline and Gabriel smiled.
“Please take a seat,” he said, stretching his hand towards the bench at the front.
Passing an apprehensive look at the archangel, Madeline carefully took herself near the bench and sat down at one corner and on the other side, Gabriel sat down.
“Your words are true, but there are rules that Paschar didn’t follow. If he continued this, he might be thrown into the living world and go through the punishment like the rest of the fallen angels. But as he is an archangel like some of us, angels of high rank, it isn’t easy to do it. Heaven is merciful about him, believing he won’t turn his back.”
“What about the archangels who had relationships with the living in the name of work assigned to them?”
“Work is work. Unless the person is hurt by the angel, which I doubt has ever happened, then it should be alright,” Gabriel replied to Madeline’s question. “We do things to maintain balance and keep the living world in peace, while letting as many people as possible to enter Heaven so that they can spend the rest of their eternity in peace.”
Did that mean it was alright for Michael to have a relationship with Helena in the past? Asked Madeline in her mind.
“Was this what you wanted to speak to Paschar about?” asked Gabriel and Madeline shook her head.
“No. There are other important things that I wanted to directly speak to him. It is something between us, and no one else.” Madeline replied to the archangel who didn’t press her for an answer. He seemed more like a genuine angel, unlike Michael, who seemed off. “How does one know when an angel is turning to the dark side?”
“When that happens, the tainted angel will show his or her true nature in front of other angels, by letting their thoughts known to others. Only one such angel has done it, and I believe you have already met him. How is he?” inquired Gabriel. He was asking about the Devil.
For some reason, Madeline smiled at this, and she said, “He’s his usual self. Trying to bring me to Hell, the same as how Paschar and Michael want me to end up in Heaven.”
Gabriel stared at Madeline, her words sinking in his mind, “I see. Why don’t you want to come to Heaven?”
“I am not eager and ready to step into the afterlife. I still want to live long with Calhoun next to me and have children,” confessed Madeline and Gabriel nodded his head.
“If I am not wrong, I heard it from the whisperers that the angels have been asked to drop the matter for now. I mean having you in Heaven, because it does sound unfair when you haven’t done anything. But then that doesn’t mean there won’t be eyes on you,” informed Gabriel.
Madeline frowned, “Does that mean I won’t be forced and am allowed to stay here?” there was a hint of confusion in her voice.
