Serendipity-= Mercurian=20 Archangel of Light

"The=20 world is clouded in shadows and darkness. Let there be light once

more!"

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It=20 was a strange sensation when Armageddon had come and gone. All the legends on both sides had been interpreted to = mean=20 that there would be one clear victor = in the=20 cataclysmic war. Either Heaven or Hell would triumph, and whichever side won would dominate the= world=20 henceforth. It was...creepy to = scholars of=20 the War on both side when it turned out that neither side had apparently won. The Archangels = and Demon=20 Princes had

simply...annihilated each other.

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To=20 Serendipity, Mercurian Friend of Sleepers, it had been a terror-fraught time, and it had come with so = little=20 warning! She had been on assignment = in the=20 corporeal realm, guarding the dreams of a child who had been tortured by a particularly sadistic = Habbalite of=20 Nightmares. The Habbalite did not = know that=20 a Mercurian of Blandine's had been assigned

to=20 her "plaything", but she had been just about to find out--the hard <= FONT=20 face=3D"Times New Roman">way--when a massive Disturbance had rocked the = Symphony.=20 Turning from the boy who she was = guarding=20 (in the role of a babysitter), she looked into the night sky and witnessed the skies turning red = and=20 weeping fire. In this case, the fire= =20 generated from the explosion of nuclear missiles.

Ignoring her role, she grabbed the sleeping child = and=20 bolted for the nearest Tether of = Dreams in=20 her car.

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The=20 scene that greeted her was chaos. Demons of Nightmares in corporeal form were already storming the Tether! = The=20 back-country hill was already aflame = and the=20 Cherub Seneschal was soul-dead near the loci of the Tether. Leaving the child in the car, = Serendipity=20 carved a direct path to the locus of = the=20 Tether, using a reliquary with the Song of Thunder that she had planned to unleash upon a = certain=20 unsuspecting Habbalite this evening. = The=20 surprise attack from behind startled the demons, and gave the beleaguered defenders of the = Tether=20 a chance to regroup. That brief = distraction=20 enabled a Seraph Master of the Realms of

Night to lead a new charge and sweep the foes from= the=20 Tether. Not waiting for = congratulations,=20 Serendipity ordered a Cherub to watch her assigned child, still sleeping peacefully in the = back=20 seat of the car, and dived through = the=20 Tether loci.

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The=20 trip was...strange. The pure light of the loci was distorted, wavering between light and dark and shot through = with=20 flame. Arriving in the Marches, = Serendipity=20 gaped as she beheld the flaming wreckage of *both* Towers. Ethereals and Tsayadim had taken = the=20 field, harassing the massed forces of= Dreams=20 and Nightmares, all allegiances gone now. Shoving

her=20 way through the crowd, taking up the flaming sword of a stunned <= FONT=20 face=3D"Times New Roman">Ofanite, she witnessed a sight she thought she = would=20 never see.

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In=20 the middle of a cleared space, ringed by angels and demons, Serendipity witnessed a sight she thought she'd = never=20 really see. Blandine, Cherub = Archangel of=20 Dreams, lay on the ground, a spike riven through her blasted chest. The great Lady was in = her=20 celestial form, a

majestic white wolf with flaring wings and golden = eyes,=20 eyes now clouded in pain and dim = shadows.=20 Looming over her in all her hideous, warped glory, was Beleth, the Djinn Princess of = Nightmares. The=20 strangest thing was that Beleth's = face wore=20 a look of mingled triumph and regret. Serendipity wasted no time for thought of what she= was=20 doing. Her grief

turned to anger and she charged the Princess with = only=20 her borrowed sword. The surprised = Beleth,=20 weakened from the battle, turned to swat this insect, but at the last second, Serendipity = turned=20 her charge into a flying leap and = blew all=20 her Essence in an Invocation. Not stopping to wait for help, Serendipity blasphemed Beleth in = the worst=20 terms she could

use=20 ("failed, useless would-be Cherub" being one of the more polite <= FONT=20 face=3D"Times New Roman">terms). Her wild slashes did little to actually = injure=20 Beleth, but her words infuriated the= =20 Princess and distracted her for a key moment. In that moment, there was a burst of radiance, then=20 Superior-level Songs of

Thunder and Acid blasted Beleth from her feet.

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=20 Turning, everyone saw Khalid and Christopher, fresh from <= FONT=20 face=3D"Times New Roman">respective battles with Magog and Fleurity. The = two=20 Archangels ambushed the weakened = Beleth=20 (aided by a well-timed sword-thrust into Beleth's eye by Serendipity), and soul-killed her. The angels of = Dreams,=20 taking the initative, stormed the=20 demoralized demons of Nightmares, driving them all the way into the Far Marches and then slaughtering= them=20 without mercy. There were few = survivors.=20 Although Christopher, Khalid remained= for a=20 time to aid in the onslaught. When it was done, Serendipity was a heroine, acclaimed by the angels= of=20 Dreams as the leader who had stood = against=20 the Princess of Nightmares.

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=20 Unfortunately, it was not enough to win the day. By the time the=20 Marches were cleansed of Nightmares = and the=20 backdoor to Hell was held by Heaven, = Heaven=20 itself was in flames. In the absence of their Archangel, the angels of Dreams turned to Serendipity for=20 leadership, even the Masters of the = Realms=20 of Night. Serendipity left a strong guard around Hell's back door and then led the rest on a charge= back=20 into Heaven. She was in time to aid = in the=20 retaking of the besieged Halls of Progress, and to witness Jean's triumph over the cyborg troops = of=20 Vapula in a searing storm of = lightning=20 bolts. The Archangel of Lightning had nearly cleansed the field when Vapula launched a renewed assualt = that=20 drove the angels of

Dreams back towards the Marches. Serendipity did = not see=20 the outcome, but later heard=20 from a surviving Ofanite that Jean destroyed Vapula, but was= so=20 weakened that a swarm of Technology=20 Servitors bore him down and held him = until=20 Furfur had time to kill him.

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=20 Weakened and in disarray from the onslaught, the armies of Dreams=20 regrouped in the Halls of Creation, = taking=20 in angels from other Words who fled = when=20 their Archangels fell. No one much questioned that Serendipity was in charge, leaving the relatively young = Mercurian=20 bewildered and dazed. She held her=20 position--and Eli's Halls--until the end. When it was over, when silence reigned in Heaven far more than= any=20 Word of the Symphony ever had, = Serendipity=20 led her forces out into the flaming = wreckage=20 of Heaven. It was horrible. Angels and demons lay strewn everywhere in twisted heaps amidst the ruin of = machinery=20 both Divine and Infernal. The = greatest=20 devastation lay near the molten crater that had

been=20 the Volcano. There Gabriel and Belial had fought for full control of=20 the Word of Fire, and both had = ultimately=20 lost, destroyed in the explosion that= had=20 leveled the Volcano. The Council Spires lay shattered, and it was a painful thing for many of his angels = to see=20 the Archangel of Judgment, fallen on = the=20 very steps of the Celestial Tribunal as he personally held it against an onslaught of Baal's= =20 warriors and Asmodeus's Gamesters. = The only=20 small consolation lay in the fact that the Demon Prince of the Game lay in a slumped corpse not far= from=20 Dominic's cloaked body, the Sword of= =20 Heavenly Judgment rammed straight through his black heart, nailing him to the ground.

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As=20 Serendipity led the angels through the remains of Heaven, they encountered bands of demons, who were mercilessly = slain=20 as a matter of course. The bewildered= =20 Mercurian looked for any Archangel who could possibly take command, but found only their=20 corpses. Christopher, having aided Marc in the fight against Mammon, had met his end= at=20 Furfur's hands. Furfur in turn had = been laid=20 low by Zadkiel in the battle that=20 had shattered the Citadel of Protection. Litheroy had taken the=20 battle with Alaemon all the way to = the=20 Monastery of Masks in Stygia and back= to the=20 lake of his Abbey, the two Superiors battling with all the intensity of Belial and Gabriel themselves, while= =20 Novalis's Glade laid charred by the = forces=20 of Saminga's armies. It was said by some of the survivors of Flowers that as Saminga gloated over = the=20 death of Novalis, the Grigori = Archangel of=20 Death had returned and dragged the = Shedite=20 Prince to Abaddon and an unknown fate. Neither had returned. Some claimed to have seen a Grigori = calling=20 herself Harmony, Archangel of Song,=20 traveling towards Yves's burning Library, but her fate was

also=20 unknown. Michael and David lay in their burned Groves, fallen in the=20 two-on-two battle with Lucifer and = Baal,=20 though not before they had slain = their foes=20 as well. The only one who could be found was a dying Janus, slumped against a burned tree in the Groves. He = had=20 strangled Valefor and related the = news of=20 Laurence's death in the assault on Hell, between the

conquest of Hades and the storming of Gehenna. He = claimed=20 that Haagenti had devoured the corpse= , but=20 Laurence had managed to impale the Prince of Gluttony as he was being eaten. He also related = that a=20 strange blackness had flowed from = Haagenti's=20 corpse at his death, followed by a feeling of lethargy that had slowed him down long enough for = a=20 concerted ambush by Valefor and = Kobal=20 to severely damage him, although he'd had the

satisfaction of seeing Valefor dead and Lilith's = slumped=20 corpse before he'd fled. He could offer no hope for the immediate future, however. With that,= he=20 perished.

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A=20 distraught Serendipity looked around her at the ruin of Heaven and screamed her despair, her loss, and her = confusion. As=20 she lowered her tear-streaked face, = seeing=20 only the loss of all hope in the universe, a beam of white light descended from the Higher = Heavens. A=20 quiet, gentle Voice sounded through = the air=20 about the gathered angels then. "Ah, My

Daughter, do not fear. The world as you have known= it has=20 fallen, in fire and in blood. But now= comes=20 the time for rebuilding, for a new hope. The Darkness has been driven back, its' leaders dead. = My=20 wayward Son has fallen in his = illimitable=20 pride and vainglory. You who have seen My Children through the Darkness shall now take up = the=20 burden of Light, to drive back the = shadows.=20 Thus it is that one of the least shall become one of the greatest. Friend of Man, Mercurian of = Dreams, do=20 you accept this burden?" When the = awestruck=20 Mercurian nodded, the light became blindingly brilliant about her, forcing her to her knees. = When it=20 had ended, when the State Change had = been=20 worked, the voice said softly "Then rise, Serendipity, Archangel of Light, for you are the=20 Lightbringer to a new creation now. = The=20 others shall come in time, new Bright Lords, and those who would be the new Dark Lords. Go in peace, My=20 Daughter." With that, the Light from = above=20 was gone, but the Light from the Mercurian Archangel shone as brightly as&= nbsp;a=20 star.