In the beginning, at the very dawn of creation, Elysium, the kingdom of heaven, was only a part of existence in the spiritual world. It was a part of existence where God and the followers he created existed. Those followers, made in his own image, were called angels.
But one day, God decided to create something new. Why did he decide to do this, it is not known, but in the end, that's what he did, so the reason is never discussed today. He created planet Earth, along with its rich ecosystems and gorgeous nature, and then, as his final creation, again in his image, he created human beings.
Seeing that what he made was good, he decided to give Elysium the appearance of Earth's nature so He and angels could enjoy its beauty. He also allowed the humans he created to live in Elysium too. As everyone probably knows by now, this is where the troubles began. Humans, though immortal and resembling God, and therefore the angels too, weren't spiritual beings. They were weaker than the angels. But God loved them and cared for them, and he wanted the angels to care for them too. This made some of the angels very dissatisfied with the situation. Why should they, as higher beings, be forced to serve such weak life forms as humans? According to them, such things already existed in the form of animals, and they couldn't understand why God chose to create what were basically imperfect angels.
Rebellion against God broke out, led by none other than archangel Lucifer, one of God's most loyal servants up to that point. The most wicked thing he managed to do was introduce sin into the hearts of humans. God was furious, both with humans who sinned and with traitorous angels. As a punishment, he decided to cast out the humans on Earth and make them mortal. The rebellious angels met an even worse fate than humans. Their godlike appearance was twisted, and they were made ugly, becoming the first devils and demons. After that, God cast them out of Elysium, and they went and created the first hell, where they resided and plotted against God, angels, and humans.
Disappointed, God put his remaining loyal angels in charge of Elysium and made it so that the souls of humans that were good in life would arrive in Elysium to rest in peace while waiting for resurrection, and the souls of those that were bad in life would arrive in hell, where they would face eternal torment for their sins. Then he retreated to his own plane of existence, and the angels mourned his departure, for they were deprived of his holy presence.
As time passed and both Elysium and hell became fuller with new souls, a war between them began. And with war, the appearance of Elysium and hell changed. Fortifications and cities began to appear because those were more easily defended than natural landscapes. In both cases, they were inspired by fortifications built by humans, which was pretty ironic in hell's case. The difference was only in style and appearance. Angelic fortifications and cities were bright and divine, made mostly out of marble and other bright materials, while hell's fortifications were mostly made out of dark metals and stones. There were no cities in hell. It was one big mess of tormented souls and demons and devils who tormented them (excluding the private domains of demons and devils, of course).
This was the story that the paintings in the hall of the main temple were showing. They went farther on, showing God's return during his many smaller and a few bigger interventions, but Lucius didn't have time for that today. He had already spent a lot of time watching the paintings. He wasn't here to appreciate art. He was here to express his thanks to the Lord for saving him from death. He went further inside the temple and arrived in a huge room that served as the church. It was gorgeously decorated with paintings, mosaics, tapestries, and sculptures. It was full of angels who kneeled on the kneelers and prayed, facing the tabernacle, in which lay the consecrated Eucharist. The streets of angelic cities were mostly empty because most of their inhabitants spent time in churches or at their homes praying. Angels held masses too, but more on that later.
Lucius joined his brethren by kneeling in one of the kneelers, crossing himself, and starting to pray. He calmed his mind and tried to fully focus on expressing his gratitude for surviving his encounter with the sleep demon. At first, he succeeded in his endeavours, but it didn't take long for doubt to appear.
Was he really worthy of such mercy? The very fact that he received it told him he was, but his thoughts constantly returned to Daniel. That poor child. The things that he and his sister had to witness. Wait… Daniel's sister. She still lives! Maybe he could… No… His master was very clear when he explained the magnitude of Lucius's foolishness regarding his choice to become Daniel's guardian angel. It would be stupid and even disrespectful to his master if he made the same mistake twice. But what else could he do? He already did everything he could have in an effort to help Daniel, and it wasn't enough.
It's because he was so weak. He is weak. That troubled him. There was no clear way to improve that. He couldn't just lift weights or train like humans do to become stronger. He needed different kind of power. A divine power. But how to earn it? His master said that he has to keep doing his best and to remain humble, but for how long? Lucius wasn't power-hungry. It was simply obvious that he wasn't strong enough to deal with the enemies he faced. He was just strong enough to scrape by, and that wasn't even true for the sleep demon, who would have killed him with ease if he didn't wake up with the Lord's help.
Why did God allow that? He knew that question was pointless. God had his own reasons for everything he did, but Lucius couldn't help but ask. He wanted to know what God's plans were for him, like all who believe in God do. But that's not how things work. He had to persevere and be patient. That was the only thing that made sense to him. After finishing his prayer, he remained in silence with an empty mind, enjoying the peace and sense of unity being surrounded by hundreds upon hundreds of his brethren who also prayed instilled in him. It was comforting to know that, despite all his hardships, he isn't alone. He glanced over the tabernacle. He's never alone.
After resting a bit, he stood up and left the church part of the temple. He headed straight back to his master, but something made him take another stroll around the temple instead. As expected, the halls of the temple were basically empty, not counting a few angels that were arriving and departing. This was really a peaceful place. The stone was comfortably cold, everything was quiet, the temple itself was beautifully decorated, and those who searched for solitude and meditation had a perfect sanctuary in the main temple.
Then something quite unusual caught Lucius's attention. At first, it was just a sound he heard. He had never heard anything like that. It was like someone was moving something on the floor in short bursts. What is that sound, and who's making it? He followed the sound around the corner and got the answer to both of his questions. In front of him stood an old woman, sweeping the floor with a broom. Her skin was dark and wrinkled, and she wore a dress and a headscarf. Both the dress and the headscarf were white, but they had blue lines on the edges of the cloth. She seemed familiar, but he was sure that he had never seen her before.
"Praise the Lord." he said as a greeting.
"Praise the Lord." she greeted him back, smiled at him, and continued with her work.
Judging how quickly she returned to her work, she didn't really look like a person who wanted to strike up a conversation. Since Lucius got an answer to both of his questions, he wanted to turn back and leave when he noticed that the woman was sweeping the floor in front of a room. The door to the room was open, and in the room, hundreds of people sat on the floor in a circle while holding hands. In the centre of the room was a big pillar of light that went high above. Lucius stepped in, intrigued by what he saw. When he entered the room, he could see that there were also many floors above and stairs leading to them. It appeared that on each floor, people were doing the same. But what was it that they were actually doing?
"If you are wondering what these people are doing, I'll tell you. They are combining their spiritual energies to form a shield that protects Elysium from the demons. If there was no such shield, demons could teleport right into our churches and wreak havoc. There are many places like this across Elysium where both angels and resting souls help to protect us." explained the old woman who approached him from behind.
He thanked her. He wasn't surprised by her because he clearly heard her approach him. Instead, another question popped into his head, and he was unsure if he should ask it, but in the end, he couldn't resist.
"Do angels that watch over the wounded at the Holy River also come here to do this?"
"Why yes, they do, especially at times when there's not a lot of wounded. Why do you ask?"
"I have a fr... No, acquintance would be a better word; who does that, so I wondered if you maybe know her?"
"Oh, I'm afraid I can't be of help to you. You see, a lot of people come to the temple and go from the temple. I would go crazy if I tried to remember the names of all of them." said the woman, heartily laughing.
"Of course. How foolish of me. Thank you anyway! Well, I should get going now. " he said, quickly departing to avoid further questions.
"Wait. Take this. I give this to the people I meet during my days. The words of wisdom and encouragement. Who says you don't need to hear something good from time to time, even if you are dead?" she said and giggled while handing a small, folded piece of paper to Lucius.
Lucius smiled, thanked her, said goodbye, and left.
"Goodbye... Lucius..." whispered the woman for herself as she continued to sweep the floor.
Lucius, on the other hand, again headed to his master's place. Before he left the temple, he stopped in front of the painting, which showed how Lucifer and other archangels and angels despised humans and considered them imperfect angels. This painting was very close to the entrance, so it was hard to miss it. Lucius thought about it for a minute. How arrogant. To consider humans imperfect angels means that angels themselves are perfect. But they aren't. If they were, they couldn't get agitated by the existence of humans. Lucifer, his followers, Lucius, his master, Rebecca, and all the others. They were all imperfect. And that's what troubled him. Is it so bad to want to be perfect? He knew the answer to that question. It isn't. Moreover, it's preferable. But only so few managed to achieve perfection, and Lucius knew that there's a long road ahead of him. He sighed and looked down like a child who had begun to understand how the world works. Then he noticed that he was still holding the piece of paper that the woman gave him. Out of pure curiosity, Lucius unfolded it and read what was written.
Very surprised by what he read, he rushed back to the room in front of which he found the woman, but couldn't find a trace of her. It was like she disappeared into thin air, which wasn't all that uncommon in Elysium. Strange. Or is it not strange at all? Maybe this was the Lord's answer to Lucius's troubles? Who knows? Since he couldn't find the woman, this time he really decided that nothing would distract him from his goal, and he left the temple. While quickly walking to his master, he firmly gripped that little piece of paper in his hand. There was not a lot of text written on it. It was a simple sentence. It read:
"You cannot save everyone."