The balance on Earth has always depended on souls, all living beings were granted with them, from the tiniest to the biggest, from the weakest to the strongest and from the purest to the dirtiest...



Angels and demons had coexisted from the beginning and both wanted to keep growing stronger; they needed souls to keep growing, but there was no ruler over them. It wasn't too long before the sides that had always tried to keep peace decided to engage in a bloody war.

The Seraphs, six-winged angels with unbelieveable amount of power, charged against the Seven Horns, demons who were just as powerful. The rest of the beings kept fighting to get the souls of the deceased; many souls were lost during the conflict, including those of the holy and the unholy.

Nobody was able to stop the war...until the day of the truce.

Both Seraphs and Horns gathered together, they combined their power and created an infinite being, far powerful than any other being in existence, the closest being to a God. They had created The Death, shapeless, infinite, both virtuous and despicable.

The Death was created with one purpose "You shall rule the Earth, take the souls of all beings and send them to heaven or hell, judge them...you and only you will accomplish this task" Those were the first words that the shapeless Death heard once it was born...

A new era began and the war was stopped, but the years kept coming, beings rised and fell to the point that humans had already conquered the whole world...and the Death? It had assumed a true shape, formed by the fears of the humans...it took the shape of a skeleton with black vestiments that wielded a scythe, a long, deadly scythe.

Our story begins here...

The Death freed the Shades, angels or demons who were exiled and had been kept locked down in the 6th level of hell. The shades were loyal to The Death, and they formed a new society which they called "The Death Helpers", enemies of both Angels and Demons, their task was to collect all the souls from Earth to let their "Lord" rest.

Chaos took over the non-living beings once more, angels and demons broke their truce...not only that but they had also charged against the Death to collect souls and grow stronger.


But something was rising...from the 7th level of the hell...something terrible...wicked...and tremendously powerful...

---------- Post added 08-12-2012 at 05:23 PM ----------

Aurus, Seraph of the North, called one of his fellow Guardians, Guardians were the second strongest angels in heaven, he had an important assignment that required the best of the best in times of war. While any of the 28 Guardians were able to do the task, the Lord of the North chose the most competent among his group.

"Don't you require at least two other Guardians to keep the spirit under control?" Ariadne, Seraph of the South, was trying to reason with her partner. "My Guardian is strong enough to take care of it..." Aurus reassured her "Your Guardian will deal with -it-, the Death itself, how can you be so calm?" She insisted "...That is, Ariadne, because I did not chose a regular Guardian".

White wings with bright spots of cobalt beat powerful strokes in the air until the angel's destination was in sight. With powerful grace Orestes arrived before his superior and bowed. Golden hair fell around his rough features , hiding the curiosity in his brown eyes. "You've called for me, sir?" What did he have in mind, he wondered, that no others had been summoned? Certainly there was a reason for this!

"...You better know what you are doing" Said the female Seraph before she spread her wings and flew away. "Welcome, Guardian, I have a task for you...but before we speak I need you to answer but one question...how long have you been here...in heaven?" Aurus approached him, holding a golden amulet with his left hand, his Golden Armor showed many marks of previous combats, as it was not only scratched, but cut in several spots.

Orestes appeared surprised, features miming a fish in water for a few moments, before he finally regained himself. Elegant hands lifted to tug his white tunic back into place as he nodded seriously. "I have been here for many years, and served you for each of them." Certainly the man knew that, since he had been the one to call him. This task, perhaps it would only be given to someone who had shown his loyalty, and that was certainly Orestes. Born from the soul of an infant dead before their time, he had been raised into this role.

Aurus stared at him for a while, taking his time to decide whether or not he would take the risk. "You were reborn here and have served us well" He had to remark, not many angels got the privilege to call themselves ´Guardians´. "You have not yet seen the Earth with your own eyes, have you, Orestes?" But the Seraph knew the answer already, nobody could access the Earth anymore, not ever since the Death took control over it.

The question shocked him. Set foot upon earth? The thought alone made the man quiver in fear. That was Death's domain, and trespassers weren't seen kindly. Shades set upon them to torture them, and send them off into the depths of hell. "No, the thought had never crossed my mind Sir." It had, but only as something to avoid at all cost. Part of it was the fear of the unknown of course, but the greater was fear of pain and torture. Oh yes, of course he'd done battle before but that was an entirely different matter. Skill could save him from harm, but falling into the hands of the Shades ... That possibility neutralized whatever advantage his angelic skills allowed him.

"The rest of your comrades are heading down to one location each, but this one is special...because you will be working with an Impurity, a Shade..." The male handed him the golden amulet "Use this to get down to Earth, the Shades will not harm you. I need you to look for the Shade with the mask painted in black and white, he will be your temporal partner..." Aurus was not going to let one of his Guardians fall, he had already lost two not a long time ago.

Orestes appeared quite afraid for a moment, but swallowed it quickly and bowed. Wings folding back against themselves after a few nervous flutterings in the wind, the angel reached out to accept the amulet in his hand. The moment cool metal met skin a shimmering in the air around the angel became apparent until he too seemed to fade away.

Soon Orestes stood in a park surrounded by a gentle breeze. It was night, when everyone slept, or by right should have slept. With a shake of his head the blonde moved, letting his eyes try to search out the one he needed to work with.

Some whispers were heard within the darkness, many dark beings were out that night, recollecting the souls of the old and unlucky. The impurities looked over at the angel, some kept staring for more than just a few minutes, but continued their way; it was now when Orestes could see the Death Helpers working together, this was a busy night since not only humans had died that day.

Is it...him...? Is he who we are looking for, Master?" Mumbled a tiny yet mature voice, this "person" was mostly afraid of the angel, but there wasn't a lot they could do, the Spirit that Orestes had to hunt was just about to appear in the park.

"HiEhieHIEhie...hE sURe Is" Replied an impurity, who dressed in black vestiments and covered his "face" with a mask, he definitely was who the Guardian was looking for, but the shade decided to keep hiding and observe.

(Note: I used the caps to remark that the impurities talk with a distortioned tone of voice, sorry for bothering)

He looked about suspiciously while searching for the masked figure. Whispers sent shivers down Orestes's spine, even more so then seeing these beings of Death going about doing his work. There was something very disturbing about them all, and the shadows they seemed to be made of. "Do any of you know a masked one such as yourselves?" Somehow his voice managed to be both soft and loud as he called out to try and get someone's attention.

But they remained quiet, many of them ran away as not all the shades were fighters anymore, no, most of them had lost a wide range of their skills thanks to their new limitations, a minority gained more power, though. The figures faded slowly, leaving the angel surrounded by the calm breeze once more.

Suddenly, an Impurity approached Orestes, this one had the mask. "WeLl, WeLL, wEll, aRen'T you a LiTtle Loud?" He laughed hysterically, much like a crazy clown, but his laughter was far more disturbing. "You MusT Be ThAt DesPicABle GuArDiaN, aRE you Not?" The Shade stretched his hand at him, it was covered by a black glove as, apparently, this one shade liked to travel at night.

Orestes wasn't entirely surprised when the shades faded away leaving him alone with stars for company. There was no love lost between their kinds. At last it appeared his partner had decided to show himself. Laughter and voice both sent shivers of dread and something else trough the angel. With a ruffling of his feathers the man did his best to compose himself once more.

"I have a name, Orestes, and you shall use it instead of insulting me. We need to be civil, at least for the duration of our mission." Brown eyes regarded the hand suspiciously before Orestes shrugged and reached out to shake it carefully.

The Sign, which was this shade's nickname, shook his hand slowly. "HieHieHiEHie...My PLEaSUrE". Orestes sure was scary at an Impurity's point of view; angels have always wanted to exterminate everything other than light, which meant that they were targets in their lists. "ThErE iS nO neEd TO Keep hIdDeN, AkANE" Said the masked being as a young-looking woman joined them. "...Nice to meet you, Lord Orestes" She bowed before him as a sign of respect. "SiLlY GirL" Muttered The Sign.

The female was a typical human, the clothes, the appearance...there was no doubt about it. Was she a detector? Or a human slave? The collar around her neck highlighted her status as a human slave already. Not all souls went to heaven and hell, some held grudges and stayed in the place they had died. Impurities recollected these souls, taking them as mere pets, these "people" were called Human Slaves.

It didn't sound like it was, but that was rather hard to tell. The shade had such a strange voice! The angel felt anger flash trough his features as the woman moved forward. Turning to the shade, he raised an eyebrow and waved her way. "I would rather work alone with you. No offense lady." Seeing her around would only remind him of the bad qualities his partner held to himself. For Orestes was one of those angels raised from a pure soul, and knew nothing else then what others had taught him.

"WhAt?! do YOu HAvE ANY IdEa Of WhAt sHe iS cApabLe of?" This subject...was he playing along? Logic and ideals were nothing more than games to his kind. "I will leave master, please take care" Or else she would have to be taken by another shade.

Akane left fairly quick, running away. "SucH a burdEn fOr a SoUL" The Sign muttered just before he laughed at her weak condition. The things would get interesting now...since little did Orestes know, that his new "partner" had a plan for him already. The impurity took out five burned cards out of his sleeve, each one of them had diffferent inscriptions on their backs. "...TeLL mE, GuaRdIAn, HavE yOu EveR played WIth CArds...?" Something was not right with his tone of voice, even if distortioned, it sounded deep and threatening.

Of course he'd no idea, but that hadn't been the point. Orestes didn't trust the woman, it was simple as that. Since he didn't have to work with her, he'd made his request. The shade's reaction caused him to frown and shake his head with a sigh. Such strange habits this person had. And apparently it was only the least of incomprehensible things Orestes would have to deal with.

"No, I haven't. Why do you ask?" Suspicion laced his tone as the brown eyed man moved towards the shade. Each card was unique, and unsettling to the angel. This was after all a world he knew not with rules alien to him.

"ThEn lEt me TeaCh yOu hoW ThIS is dOne..." The masked "man" held the first card, a greenish, shiny, yet burned card. "HUmaNs cReAtedD theIr oWn gAmEs...soMEthiNg thAt I'm sURe yoU ARe nOt faMIliar WIth" He chuckled. "...So wE creatED oUrs...usINg thEse...thinGS....cARdS...oUr Lord DeAth lOvEs to plAy cArds..." Whispers that were thought to have left with the winds came back, but they were getting louder and louder, surrounding the two. "WhAt wEre You expECting whEn yOu gOT hEre, GuaARDIan? SOmE kind Of...dANger?" A fiery illusion began to appear over the green item. "DID yOU thiNk thAt tHIs wAs A misSion TO sTOp a SPiriT? For...pEAce?" The whispers got insanely loud, they reassembled intense screams at midnight.

That was exactly what he'd been expecting. Now Orestes thought otherwise. Eyes moving frantically, the young man reached for his sword and unsheated it in one smooth movement. This whole situation put him on edge, making Orestes more likely then ever to spring heedlessly into danger. "Yes, that's exactly what I thought. Was I right?" The angel wanted nothing more then to make the howling stop. His free hand lifted to press over one of his ears to try and drown out all the sounds.

The Sign chuckled at his foolish assumption "HiehIEhiE...Ah....The sWEeT SoUnD Of dEspAIr...BuT wE aRe NoT YOuR enEMiEs...as I sAid, We wiLl pLAy a GaMe" Another card began to burn, followed by the rest. These cards glowed in green, red, blue, purple and yellow. "You SEe...GuARDIans aRe haRd To fInD, aND ThEy ARe EVeN HaRdER TO KilL...We woN't leT YoU Go....UnLESs" A hysterical laugh followed the last word, something had to be quite funny indeed.

Meanwhile, the screams finally began to lose their strenght when several dark knights merged with the shadows to block any possible exit for the angel, winged beasts of pitch black bodies covered the sky while many other shades gathered around to watch the 'judgement'.

Burning cards and strange voices flowing trough the air all mixed together in his mind. Orestes wanted nothing more then to make it all disappear so he could fly away home. There was someplace he knew and understood, unlike this alien place. "Am I to be a prisoner then?" Such an assumption wouldn't have crossed Orestes's thoughts if not for the shade's words. It seemed logical to him, though it meant that his mission would end in failure and important resources would be diverted to rescue him.

"Oh No...YoU DIE Or yOu lIvE, THat'S ThE dEaL!" The audience cheered, all with different -and strange- voices. "ThErE ARe fiVe BuRNiNG CARdS BeFORE yOu...eAch Of tHem cOnTain a dEstInY, YoU ArE oNlY ablE To cHooSe oNe....i'd chOOSe CaReFuLLY!!" His chuckling invited the rest of the public to laugh along under the moonlight. "foUR CArDs aRe DEaTh sENTeNCeS, oNe CarD COnTaiNS a speCIaL spEll That WIlL MAKE YoU Go hOme...YoU CAn aSK For hElP AnYTiME, 'orEe'! bUt -REMEMBER- you Can't pIcK More ThAn OnE CaRd" Powerful waves created a vortex between Orestes and the creatures, if anything went wrong The Sign would have to recover the remnants of a few Death Helpers today, it was best to protect his 'audience' from the terrible gates that were sealed inside of such terifying items.

Surely such a daunting task had some kind of rules, some kind of loop hole so he could escape? Orestes sighed and lowered his weapon, shoving it home violently. So no more then one card .... The angel began pacing with a flutter of his wings and a nervous clutching at his shoulder with his right hand. Squeeze, release, squeeze and release once more.

What to do now? "How long do I have to choose, and what help could I expect?" There had to be a way out, if only he could stall for long enough.

"Ah...A wISe questiON, 'Oree'....a vERy wiSe queTIion. YOU Have twENTy HuMAn miNutEs TO DecidE...aS for yOur helP" The Sign shrugged "I HavE No iDeA, PErHAPS A DemOn cOuLd HelP yOu oUT?" Impurities all over the place laughed and threw small pieces of burned cards. "DO YOU sEe ThOSe caRdS? ThOSE aRe tHe tiMEs yoU HavE fALlen, anGeL. TheSE teSt IS AboUt coOpEraTIOn...bUt wHo are YoU GOiNG To wORK WItH?"
Silence took control over the place, everybody was expecting NOT to get picked, this test was about intelligence, how clever were you? Could you solve the puzzle? It was simple so why did so many angels fall? Well, angels, demons and shades were part of those cards, but Orestes did not have that information.

A small smile flitted across his features. "I pick you to help me." There really was no other option, considering that no one else knew what lay in the cards and which one was the right one. Now perhaps he could survive this and return home. Though all of a sudden, he thought that perhaps that might not be a good idea. This was a test... So what exactly was it testing? Later was the time to ask, when his life was secure. Orestes didn't even think to wonder at himself for trusting the shade so easily, though it was strange indeed.

Now that was an interesting pick, nobody in the room dared to laugh...that is because the Sign was as crazy as to let Orestes and himself burn...but he was also noble, which meant that he would save him. It was a lose/lose situation that was completely unpredictable, but the impurity accepted the challange "FiNe..." He floated all over to the place where he was located "No neED to wEaKen tHE baRrieR!" Smaller impurities yelled, they knew that this one Death Helper had another trick under his sleeve. "...I LieD to yoU...two oF TheSE caRdS sEal yOu iNsiDe...sO yOu BuRn WItH THem...oNe cArD fReeS yOu bY sENding YoU To ThE ExTeRnAL dImeNSiON...BuT ThE OTHeR Two sENd yOu tO ThE FIftH LEvEL oF Hell...ANd I KNow yOu hATe DemOns"