Cassie's Hall of Times

Cassandra leaned over and scratched yet another tally into the slabs of polished marble. The marble was white, but fisured with streaks of navy and aquamarine. In her palace, there was a tranquil, cool air. It also consisted of long hallways, sometimes doubling back on themselves, at other times making you walk for a quarter of an hour but getting nowhere. Everything was in a cool, watery blue or a pale crystalline white. Controversially, outside the palace was a scorching desert, with red, powdery sand and mystical winds blew eerie tunes through patches of straggling grass. Cassandra, or Cassie, since you now have been introduced, tipped the twelve hour-glass onto it’s reverse, and watched the sand trickle through.

The Great Sand timer of Mortal Time stood across the hall. Every twenty seconds, a grain of golden sand materialised and drifted into the ever growing pile below.

The quiet slunk through the rooms like a sheeted ghost, dampening the slightest sounds she made.

Cassie stood up, her white blonde hair flowing down past her shoulders. She stretched, and her lapis-lazuli blue eyes drifted around the silent Hall of Times. Time didn’t matter here; she aged excessively slowly and any statue would have been would have eroded away long before she passed on. Currently, Cassie identified as 2020 years old- a mere child in this palacial prison.

Her ceremonial robes pooled by her feet, their pale blue giving the rippling effect of water. She gazed at the countless tallies of her hope, and wondered if she’d ever see it resolved. Would she ever see the people of Earth age normally? Do work? Feel pain? Have a smile with real feeling behind it? Or would they slowly decay, all alone, scared and sickly?

She had the face of a sixteen year old, but bore more knowledge than anyone could dream of. The same went for her levels of optimism and hope.

Cassie needed to shake off these feelings, so she gazed at the perfect globe laid out before her. She could peek into the life of anyone she chose. And that was a gift. The globe was flat, and laid on a sheet of silvery, slippery silk, similar to a map, except she could zoom into any place on Earth she chose. That was one thing you wouldn’t see every day.

Now you know her a little better, I can reveal to you that she was a unique race. They did not belong on the blue and green planet before them, due to their immense powers, but it was them that kept the world spinning. Cassie was an angel. She had her own planet, far, far away, but she was tasked with the Keeping of Time. Every twelve hours, she would flip the day/ night timer to signal the entrance of a new day, or the departure of the previous one. Continuous as clockwork. Angels had been Keeping various Aspects working since the birth of Christ.

Beforehand, the world had relied on itself, but then Christ came down from the stars. All his power needed to be carefully minded so as not to create too much of a disruption between the mortals. When Christ had come back to them, Earth had sunk into a depression, and the Father had created the Angels out of starlight, so they could keep Earth’s Aspects in check, averting the Apocalypse. It had been Named the Aversion, and had been the largest catastrophe since Eden.

The Angels had been anticipating the two thousand and twentieth year for a long while. Until the Pandemic. They could only watch in horror as Satan’s two demons- Pestilence and Discord- roamed the Earth, sowing the path for Destruction- the third demon. They hadn’t seen it coming. After the great Aversion, they had captured Satan and his followers, and trapped them in the same sun that the Earth toured every year. Somehow, three demons had escaped. To compensate, three opposing Angel Keepers had gone to recapture them. Kailani, Keeper of Cures stalked Pestilence, Aurelius, Ender of Wars crept after Discord, and Gadzirisa, Mender of bonds and Promises chased after Destruction.

Cassie was keeping track of the long days before they were caught with the tally on her palace walls. She hoped and prayed for their capture, her fellow Angel’s safety, and the return of peace to Earth.

Now, finally, it was December the thirty-first, and the final showdown. For three hundred and sixty six days, the demons had nearly annihilated Earth.

The one issue with demons was they tended to stick together, but they were agile, deadly and intelligent. It nearly made up for the huddling instinct. Nearly. She zoomed in on them with her map, and watched as the Angels cornered the demons in a dark alleyway. Cassie resisted the urge to cover her eyes like the little children she saw so often. The demons hopped about madly, looking every bit the demented creatures they were. Gadzirisa moved like a lightning bolt towards them, and threw a chain of stars at them. They cackled, and dodged with ease. Pestilence grinned madly, and bounced onto the brick wall behind. A window was above, so he smashed the glass and bounded through. Kailani chased him through, and saw him as he loomed over a bed. A child, no older than eight years old, slept peacefully in it. Pestilence grinned more broadly and wickedly than ever, then coughed disease all over the child. Kailani flew at him in a fury, knocking him down. He tried to spring back up, as the child began developing pus-filled spots, and fell into a tremendous coughing fit. Kailani kept him pinned down, though it clearly pained her to hear the youngster in distress. Out came the star chain, and the demon was Bound. He wriggled furiously as Aurelius flew through the gaping hole in the window, wrestling with Discord, each trying to bind the other with another star chain. Suddenly, the building blew appart, taking out the warehouses on either side. The star chain snapped around Discord, and Kailani shrieked, and lunged to catch the screaming, crying child. At her touch, it healed, and she gently set it down next to her stunned mother. Kailani exchanged a few words with Aurelius, who nodded, then they boosted up into the sky, holding the demons between them. Cassie knew they were taking them back to the sun, so she turned her attention to Gadzirisa

He was circling Destruction in the rubble, his opalescent eyes flashing. Each bore impressive injuries from the fight. Without warning, Destruction leapt on top of him. Part of what had been the front wall stood in a shaky tower above them, and the demon smirked. Cassie let out a yelp, and bolted to the Great Sand timer of Mortal Time. It stood tall and proud. She had no idea if her half formed plan would work. In theory, it would have no effect on immortals. Demons weren’t immortal, but when killed would be replaced by another, twice as worse. Destruction sent a bolt of energy towards the tower, just as Cassie heaved the timer on it’s side. No sand moved. So neither did Time. Gadzirisa opened those beautiful eyes, blinked, then scrambled back. He looked at the sky, and looked straight at Cassie. He smiled, though it looked painfully cracked. Soul shine. That was the only way to put it. Cassie smiled back, even though he couldn’t see her. Binding the rigid demon with the star chain was quick and easy. She heaved the timer back up, and padded to her bedchamber. She loved her gift, but it consumed vast amounts of energy.

The next day, she opened her eyes. January the first, two thousand and twenty one. She ran down the spiralling stairs, and stared at the clear walls. No tally. She smiled broader than ever before. Gadzirisa stepped from behind a pillar. Fully healed, he looked very much alive. He walked up to Cassie and touched her arm. Then he pulled her in close, and said simply, “happy new beginning”.