“I have no choice,” repeated Nikola. Uriel looked at him with unending pity, and that irked the Bulgarian.

“You always have a choice. I will tell you a secret. God has not been with us, angels, since the first Leviathan was born. I believe you met him. Harriell,” Nikola blinked. Yes, Harriell had a big kill count, but, he was the first?

“What is Harriell, precisely?” Nikola had wondered ever since Harriell had told him the vague truth of what he was. Leviathans were giants as far as pop culture was concerned. He researched them on his laptop when he got back. But, Harriell didn’t look like a giant.

“He is the product of two angels, same as you,” Nikola nodded, he had figured as much. “And, his parents were spared by the grace of God. However, he went away, abandoning us. Michael took over, and all the angels that committed incest and were caught after that were dealt with.”

“So, Michael is the bad guy?” Nikola needed someone to blame, as childish as that was. He had pent-up frustration, and he required an outlet.

“He did his duty. The angels that produced Harriell produced one more Leviathan, despite knowing what they did was not allowed. Then, Harriell and that one, a female, bred.”

“And he had two children,” finished for Uriel, Nikola. “Harriell told me as much, but…”

There must have been more Leviathans. Harriell had killed around fifty of them. That was what the program had said.

“His children took spouses of their own and bred. The offspring were Leviathan as well. Then, when it became apparent that these new half-breeds could only eat human flesh, they become savage. Harriell tried to hide his grandchildren from us, and they did grow up, but they bred despite his orders. The further down the generations went, the more ravenous the Leviathans become. Then, Harriell was ordered to dispose of them. As punishment for hiding,” Nikola placed a hand on his mouth.

Harriell had told him it had been self-defense. But, he had acted on orders? And he had done it too. Killed off his grandchildren to spear his wife, sister, and children.

“Then, he killed himself,” added Uriel and Nikola gasped. “And Purgatory was created for the vile crimes he committed.”

“But he was ordered and then felt remorse! How could you do something like that? To lock him in white nothingness!” Nikola remembered Harriell’s face, then. How childish the man had looked in the snow. Like he was at peace. While the whole time, he had carried such a burden in his heart.

“I was against the creation of Purgatory. I wanted him to simply go to Hell. But, Michael didn’t want to give Satan a weapon he could use against us,” Michael again. Who made him the boss of Heaven? Nikola felt indignation in his bones. Uriel sighed.

“Michael is a beast you can’t tackle. No matter how many demons, Satan lets you throw in the emptiness of Purgatory. Pick your battles. But, let us go back to the topic. God never wanted you dead. He didn’t even want Harriell dead. So, your anger towards him is misplaced,” Nikola supposed that was true. However, hadn’t Uriel told him that God feared that Nikola was like him and not like an angel?

“I gave you the same reasoning God gave us when Harriell was born, for the two of you are the same. I didn’t lie to you,” Nikola nodded.

“That homey feeling, I get in the church?” Was it an illusion? Or, was he really watched, as he had thought?

“You are well liked among the angels. But they understand that you were raised as human and have their vices. You can’t imagine how amused everyone was during your last confession to father Sergei. Even Michael cracked a smile when he told you to lower your standards when it came to yourself,” Nikola looked down at his hands in embarrassment.

The angels knew he had had sex. Which, he supposed, couldn’t have been kept hidden. But, he rather liked the idea of having some privacy. Which, as it turns out, was impossible. Uriel cracked a grin.

“Please don’t read my thoughts,” whined Nikola and his father figure looked out the window.

“Sorry, old habit,” Nikola looked at Uriel pointedly until the man looked at him again.

“So, if the angels like me, why did Michael doom me to Purgatory?” Because, from what Nikola could piece together, Michael dealt with the parents, but gave the children a chance at life.

“We all thought that you will be different when you reacted well to being in a church. Harriell cried in temples, Asturias, the first vampire, couldn’t bring himself to enter a temple either. Don’t make me say what the fist werewolf, Abraham, did. It is not for polite company,” Nikola looked puzzled at that. What did it matter that he felt at peace in a church?

“A church, a mosque, a pagoda, any temple, really. They are the houses of God, even if the priests inside call themselves and him by different names. Only the children of God can feel welcome inside. Anyone else would feel oppressed,” a hope sparkled inside Nikola. Could he not be dammed, then?

“So, you are saying that I was in the creation bucket list after all?” After all, even Nephilim were God’s children. But, what was Nikola, then?

“You were given a human vessel for your soul,” said Uriel. “But, no angel made it. You were just a wisp of energy when you were born. Your parents didn’t even participate in any acts. I said that Michael had them killed, and that was the truth. But he was afraid. It is not every day that two angels create a fresh soul. An immortal one that no one knows anything about.”

That didn’t answer any of Nikola’s questions. If he had been just a soul, where had his body come from? He looked at his very human hand and flexed the fingers.

“We believe that, in an attempt for you to be accepted by the world, it was our father that gifted you with a body. Made from clay and water and given the breath of life. Just like Adam. But, unlike Adam, you were made sterile. For, the world couldn’t have been filled with your immortal children,” the bitterness returned full force. Nikola frowned and Uriel sighed again.