Flutter

“You’re not real prophets.”

Alex and Lilly said nothing.

“How–how could you lie about something like that?!”

“We didn’t want to,” Lilly said, “We–it was a mistake.”

“A mistake!?” I yelled, “How could it possibly be a mistake!?”

“I just wanted to get past training so I could get on with my life,” Alex said, “I–I was told that I couldn’t get certified for a halo unless I changed my religion, so… I decided to pretend to–”

“Pretend to be a prophet!?”

“No.” Lilly came to his defense. “He was just pretending to be born-again. But then Father John…”

“He declared us prophets,” Alex explained, “I–I just wanted to give a convincing story, so I…”

“All Alex said was that God didn’t approve of the war with the ‘cubi. He shouldn’t have said it, but… Father John asked, and I think… he just had a lapse of judgment.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You–” I stopped. Alex really was sorry. I could feel it in his mind. And see it on his face. He hadn’t meant to cause such a commotion. He just wanted to be able to live his life. Just like I do.

“Please,” Lilly begged, “I–I know it’s not right, but… we don’t have any choice. If The Academy finds out we’re not real prophets, they’ll… they’ll take our wings away and–and–”

My wings twitched at the thought of having them taken away. “I won’t let them do that to you. It–it’s not right. You made a mistake, but… you don’t deserve that kind of punishment. It’s–it’s not what God would want.”

“So, you’ll keep this between us?” Alex asked.

“I–I don’t know. I–I need to ask God about it. See what He wants.” God doesn’t like it when people claim to speak for Him, but the message those two were spreading seemed like the kind of thing He’d agree with, so I was hoping He’d be okay with it. If not… if He wants me to turn them in, then I’ll have to do it, no matter what my feelings are.

I’m an angel, a servant of God. It doesn’t matter what I want, just what He wants.