Chapter 2: An Undercover Vacation

<p>Reaching his destination, Cael soon found himself in front of the office that was Rathanaels'. It looked like any kind of business office. Only with some golden decorative details on the corners of the door with Rathanael's name in gold plating and wings on each side with a small halo on top. With a deep sigh, he knocks on the door.<br/><br/>"It's open," said Rathanael from the other side. Cael opened the door and walked on in. Closing the door behind him, he soon came face to face with his superior archangel sitting at his desk. <br/><br/>"You needed to see me sir?," he asked.<br/><br/>"Have a seat, Cael." Rathanael gestured for him to sit opposite of him. Cael did so, sitting in the office chair facing his boss. "Are you happy here, Cael?" Rathanael asked him, his hands folded upon the desk.<br/><br/>Cael was a little surprised. He didn't expect this to be the start of the conversation. This would usually start out with something like 'Do you have any idea what you just did?!' or 'Why do you do this to me, Cael?'. The kind of conversation starter usually letting the archangel trainee know what he's getting himself into. He thinks about it for a moment as if he should be completely honest with him. <br/><br/>"Permission to speak freely, sir?"<br/><br/>"Permission granted."<br/><br/>"I'm fine with how everything is but...I just don't feel whole inside. Like there's more to be added here than it already has."<br/><br/>"Like?"<br/><br/>"Well for one thing to be able to goddamn curse. Eyahh!" Cael felt another shock of electricity run through him. "See?! It's ridiculous that I can't do that anymore! I know it's supposed to be a holy place here, but couldn't <strong>some</strong> cursing be allowed here?"<br/><br/>Rathanael shook his head. He knew something like this was going to be brought up. "Do we really have to go through this again, Cael?"<br/><br/>"I could ask you the same thing." Cael frowned.<br/><br/>"Cael, you were made aware about this sort of thing when you became enrolled as an archangel-in-training. Why must you do this to me? Anyone else would kick you out of the precinct in an instant by how you've been acting."<br/><br/>"It'd be a nice reprieve," grumbled Cael.<br/><br/>"Cael, please don't do this to me. There <strong>are</strong> other angels here that appreciate what you have done for heaven, the results are unquestionable. But the means of how you go about to get such results is what makes you...well..."<br/><br/>"Controversial?"<br/><br/>"Questionable. You're not a rogue cop anymore, Cael. You have an actual book of rules to follow in order to do your job as intended." Upon saying this, he shows Cael the 'Archangel Manual' which made him roll his eyes.<br/><br/>"Hey, you think it's easy to deal with how humanity is in the world today? Why don't you or any of the other archangels go on missions once and a while, and see if <strong>you </strong>can complete it 'by the book'?" Cael retorted in air quotes.<br/><br/>"Because <strong>we</strong> have duties that are just as important as what you do."<br/><br/>"<strong>Sure</strong>, if you consider monitoring everything behind a desk as 'just as important'. Am I actually here for just another lecture or is there actually something more important for me to do?" Cael was getting tired of the same ol' tango he had to endure. He hoped it was another demon killing, those missions always seemed to curb his anger.<br/><br/>"That's actually why I sent for you." Rathanael took out the golden envelope from earlier and held it up for Cael to see. Cael's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he saw it. "You do remember what this color coding means, don't you?"<br/><br/>"Yeah, that of high importance. Why?" Cael asked carefully.<br/><br/>"Well believe it or not, this is actually a high priority mission for you and <strong>you</strong> alone," said Rathanael, emphasizing with the mission envelope by jabbing it at Cael. "Ordained by <strong>him</strong> himself." Rathanael added as he gestured upwards to the big boss high above them.<br/><br/>Cael took the envelope and read through the mission statement. As he read the main point of this particular assignment, he stopped and looked up. "You're serious?"<br/><br/>"It is, and so is he," assured Rathanael as he made nod upwards. He got up to get some water from an ice cold pitcher. "There's been an anonymous tip from someone down below that a certain princess of Hell, Lucifers' own daughter, is planning on putting together a so-called rehabilitation center for sinners. To give them a chance to get into Heaven." <br/><br/>"Sounds like a decent proposal," said the trainee as he continued reading.<br/><br/>"Yes, a little too good to be true," added Rathanael. He poured himself a glass, putting the pitcher down as he finished. "It would seem like it's a dream come true, but dreams can often be nightmares for others."<br/><br/>"Are you suggesting the possibility that they might send a 'repented' sinner to Heaven just to sabotage its operations?"<br/><br/>"That is the possibility. Supposedly, but hopefully unlikely. Nevertheless, it does need to be understood what the real intentions are." Rathanael sat down and drank some of his cold H2O.<br/><br/>"And I suppose this is where I come in, right?"<br/><br/>"That is correct, Cael. Your mission is to infiltrate this 'hotel' and monitor its activities. Get to see what this is <strong>really </strong>all about, however long it takes. Then you will make your reports to us and we will determine what to do next."<br/><br/>"So let me get this straight. You're literally sending <strong>me </strong>into Hell to play spy for Heaven and to do so however long it takes to get all the intel?"<br/><br/>"That is <strong>exactly </strong>what it means. There are, of course, some conditions that need to be followed."<br/><br/>Cael sighed. He had a feeling there would be a catch to this. There was always a catch to these sort of things. "And what are those conditions exactly?"<br/><br/>"First and foremost, your aura and abilities as an archangel will be reduced to that of…25%."<br/><br/>"25%?! That's ridiculous! How am I to fend for myself at only 25% of my damn power?! Gyahh!" Another jolt from his collar surged through him, making him groan in pain.<br/><br/>"That is because of condition number two. We need you to keep as low a profile as you can. If we just send you as you are now, they'd be all over you like white on rice and then what would you do? At least with 25% power you'll have a chance to defend yourself <strong>only</strong> when it's absolutely necessary. At least if you get into a tight spot and some demon lord might be on to you."<br/><br/>"I guess that makes sense." Cael relented as he leaned back in his chair. "Does that mean I still have my wings then?"<br/><br/>"Of course. That's why we came up with an alias for you, as you will see in your assignment folder. You will be going undercover as a fallen angel. Your cover story is that you got tired of Heaven, thus did something unholy and got kicked out because of it."<br/><br/>"That seems a little <strong>too</strong> much on the nose." Cael said to himself. He then said out loud, "And just what is that reason exactly?"<br/><br/>"That part we left to you, my friend. I'm sure you'll able to make something up, given your previous reputation as a cop. Just make sure it's believable."<br/><br/>"Yeah I got some ideas," said Cael thinking on the spot. "So the other obvious question left to ask is, why? Why is it me that gets to go and not some other high ranking archangel?"<br/><br/>"I can honestly ask myself that same question." This only made Cael frown just from what Rathanael was probably thinking about why he as a trainee was to go and not someone higher up. "However, it's not really my decision to make. I suppose it might be because of your intuition, how you follow your cop instincts. That or you might possibly adapt quickly and fit in perfectly. And it's not implying that you are to be gone from here to stay in Hell."<br/><br/>Cael folded his arms and looked to the side with slight discontent. "Yeah sure. Tell that to the other archangels and such. I could tell from their expressions. Any time I walk past anyone here, they always have something to say but not have the balls to say it to my face."<br/><br/>"Well this might be a chance for you to change that mindset, Cael. You can still have your piece of mind. <strong>And</strong>,-" Rathanael leaned over to Cael. "-<strong>if</strong> you do well on this mission, you can also be granted one true desire. One choice of whatever you want for a job well done."<br/><br/>Cael raised his brows ever so high. "<strong>Any</strong> one true desire?"<br/><br/>"If it's within His divine power, yes. <strong>One</strong> true desire that you could have as a reality. So what do you say, Cael?"<br/><br/>"Let me think about it for a second." Stroking his partial beard in thought, Cael thought of the <strong>one</strong> possible wish he always wanted. Could he maybe...? Yeah, yeah that one world that he could have that would benefit not just himself but for other people as well. This was gonna be tough. If he wasn't able to have that one desire once his mission was finished (that is if it wasn't within His divine power), he could always think of something else. It was worth a shot. If anything, this could be a good getaway from this realm of goodie little two-shoes. Not that there was anything wrong with it, he just wanted some time away for himself just to be himself. He could always come back if it wasn't worth the time. "Alright, I'll do it."<br/><br/>"Excellent. We can have you leave right now if you wish," said Rathanael as he stood up. "But first, we need to get you some equipment in case something happens to you. Shall we then?"<br/><br/>"Ye-huh. Let's go, chief." Cael answered. In his head, this (he hoped) was going to be the most interesting vacation for him yet. And he couldn't wait to see what was in store for him.<br/></p>