TO HUMANS, SAVING a life is easier said than done.

　They enjoy being part of the audience to their champions' adventures, watching them chase one quest for glory after another while they jeer from where they stood. An ardour is shared by the crowd as they wait on the edge of their seats for the climax to happen before their eyes. Will he be able to save the damsel-in-distress from the fire-breathing dragon? Is he going to die at the hands of the villainous sorcerer? Can he bring home the treasure he had travelled seven seas for?

　Many of them, however, are afraid to leave their posts to try and play their own hand in the pursuit of greatness. As enticing as it is to be heralded as heroes, there is ─ like many other things ─ a price to pay. Sometimes, it's nothing more than lost time or a replaceable possession gone forever. It's often a steep exchange that could cost them those that they hold dear. They need not to worry, though, as their saviours can find salvation in the form of the divine. Say your prayers, the elders would tell the children, and God might be able to save you from the fires of Hell.

　But deliverance is temporary. Suffering is persistent, though it is also dormant and patiently waiting to pounce on its prey. No deity can truly save humans from sin, only stir it away from one without certainty they can do it again in the next. There are times when even the loudest cries or the most prolonged prayers are no good. Mortals cannot accept that once they are damned, they cannot run nor hide away from it but only stall the time to be swept away from their plane of existence.

　I know this because I am The Watcher ─ all-knowing, immortal, damned. I am cursed to see everything and hear everything, but only to be a mere spectator to it all. In the centre of Heaven and Hell is my prison; where I watch over angels, demons, and humans alike. I am witness to the Creation and I am to witness what's been made teeter into destruction. The catastrophic apocalypse shall unfold before me and I am shackled to my chains for eternity. There's a handful of time to spare, so let me tell you this.

　Among angels and demons, to save a life is better said than done.

　There is an unspoken reality in the midst of my punishment. The greatest tragedies of all are not those of towns being wiped out by a great flood or a city in ruins. It is, in fact, the death of an angel or a demon. You see, Heaven is not as heavenly as God's diary portrays it to be, nor is Hell kind to those who inhabit it despite promises of freedom from those up there. Amid its holiness, corruption has corroded the place above and rewards those who are evil while punishing those abiding by the law. On the other hand, the underground isn't much better. Not one of its population is truly evil but chooses to be in order to survive.

　It's a cruel irony, but a truth that they live by. No one is there to save those who save, impossible for the wicked to find it when they are in dire need of it. There are three options: death by Hellfire, death by holy water, or torturing yourself into hiding. Most turn to the last one, but that does not mean that angels burning or demons drowning have not happened. It has, although if you mean literal flames or figurative water, no one can say for sure.

　That is due to the martyrs amongst celestial beings. Mortals, but practically immortal. There are powers and weapons at their disposal, and they will use them for their own advantage. They become guardians to those they adore, so much so that they are willing to throw themselves in the line of fire leading to their loved ones. Often, they end up needing salvation themselves, and those they were intent on saving step into their shoes instead. There are many stories of pure-hearted demons trying to help the needy and mighty angels that have fallen to the depths of sorrow, and none of them truly end happily.

　 This is one of those.

hihihi!! this is vv brief so before you come for me, i just want to say that i know that watchers are angels that have fallen from heaven becos they were feeling 📯🦵 for human women (taken from the first book of enoch). however, my version of a watcher is only loosely inspired by this text and i've created my own creature of sorts that's a cross between a demon and an angel that basically just pulls an eternal "we shall not interfere with the timeline" yadda yadda yoo.

also woooowww finally!! we got a prologue for this one. really, really sorry for the long wait. life's been quite hectic esp now that i got a raphael of my own to the mix as well having to get into college soon hihi <33 can't promise anything but i really hope you enjoyed this little update.

see you next time, folks!