Celestial War 🖤🌙

"The world has ended. The sky is in ashes, the earth is scorched and barren, and humanity will soon be erased from the face of our planet." This was how I would have written my diary entry if it were not for one small detail: I am a prisoner to an unknown organization and trying to escape.

My name is Lacey Hamilton, daughter of General Nathan Hamilton - leader of the Resistance against this new world order ruled by what we call "the Dark Lords" - but that's another story for now. They have been hunting us down since they started their campaign to take over six months ago. It all began with a rumor about them building up an army of angels on Earth to overthrow God.

I opened the heavy metal door of my prison cell with shaking hands as I held on tightly to this fragile relic from before the war had begun.

It has been so long since I last saw her face but there is no time for tears now; if I do not find shelter within the next hour or two, then they will surely be able to track down my location once again by following the trail of my blood - something that these monsters are well aware of how to use against us.

So what about this locket? Well, it's the only thing I have left of my mom. When I was five, she gave me a silver heart-shaped locket and told me that it would keep my soul safe at all times. Made sense to a little girl like me who did not know what death meant.

But I do now.

I have never needed to use this until now because I somehow survived six months of living in constant fear as a prisoner. I am so scared that I'm about to die, but never before have I been more determined. To save myself and my friends, me and the last living Resistance members must take out as many of them as we can find until they finally break us for good.

I'm not sure what the locket does and I've tried to take it off, but every time I do, my hand burns. As if on fire.

I know that it's just a mark of the curse on me - but I'm not sure how to lift it or if I even want to.

Lately I've been thinking about what will happen if they finally find us and capture me before we can escape Earth.

And now it's time for a final goodbye: In this dark new world where angels are enemies instead of messengers from God, there is only one weapon left in our arsenal - knowledge. For some reason these "Dark Lords" want to keep humanity at bay by not allowing any information in or out of their territory at all costs. And that's why I'm going to die now: so you can learn about the one hope we have left.

This is for all of humanity, even though some people will never know what it means or how much they owe me. Goodbye. It was at this point when she opened her eyes, she had been expecting pain but found only relief instead.

But I am alive - or at least I think so. It doesn’t really matter anymore; what matters now are my thoughts for this lost generation who never see a day without war on their doorstep.

Now that the Dark Lords are hunting me down, they might get their hands on this mystery locket and use its power for evil purposes even if it means sacrificing my life. And there's nothing I've been able to do about all of this so far.

So I'll just keep it on until they come to get me. So far so good!

Lacey does not know it yet, but the locket holds powers of the spirit world. She is the key to winning the war against the Dark Lords!

As humans we are all born with an innate desire for power. This becomes most evident as children when they want to grow up real fast because they see their parents doing things like pulling a lever on a washing machine or driving in the driver's seat: these kids have no idea how hard some of these tasks can actually be, but know only enough information to emulate them through sheer willfulness.

The same principle applies to the locket. It may be that it locks away whatever power is residing in those who wear it, and I have yet to find out what this power entails.

So what about the prophecy of "the end"? Well, it's not entirely clear. My dad was a preacher before he became an outlaw. He used to say that sometimes people put too much stock in prophecies and forget to live their own lives. It could be true or just one more thing for us to read into when we're already down on our luck.

The locket is a symbol for how I have to live my life: it's full of mystery, but even if nobody knows what power resides in it, it's not going anywhere.

It's a part of my story now.

In the year 2051, in a world where everyone has been born into poverty and is destined to stay there unless they fight for their rights, there was the Resistance. A group of people who wanted to stand up against the Dark Lords and fight back.

At the time, the Resistance was small and their numbers were fading yet still held the key to ending all evil. The Dark Lords had begun to recruit people from everywhere in order to create an army of fallen angels on Earth to overthrow God.

The Resistance thought that if they could find a way to strike at the Dark Lords where it hurts, then maybe they could turn the tide.

And so the Resistance set out to find a way to attack and infiltrate one of their camps. They were able to turn an old hotel into the perfect hideout for themselves, but they needed help: someone had to go in there first and scout it out before any plans could be made.

I found out how to use the locket my mother gave me to survive so I volunteered as tribute because I was skilled at scouting - even if that's not what people usually think when you say "scouts." Being part-angel means we can see better than humans, fly higher, hear things more clearly from far away. I had finally found out how to use the locket.

I was able to see that the Dark Lords were training their army on a large, flat field. In order to sneak in unnoticed, I had to get myself in and pretend that I was a lost angel.

It wasn't easy. I had to fight for my place there. I was assigned a demon and we fought, but she got the upper hand on me so I pretended to be hurt and she let me go.

I found out that the Dark Lords were looking for someone to replace one of their fallen angels, and I was able to sneak in as an angel replacement. It didn't take me long to realize that I was the only one there who wasn't a Dark Lord.

The great celestial war has been fought between the two races for a thousand years. The humans have long since resorted to planar travel, but their fighting is futile without help from otherworldly beings who can cross dimensions with ease. Meanwhile, the demons are draining away all human life force on Earth and replacing it with themselves. Both sides reach out to find a solution to the deadly stalemate.

Human: We were doing so well on our own, but now we're outnumbered and outgunned. I've been fighting this war my whole life, it's not fair that you demons are just showing up!

Demons: You humans have always had free will, but you've always been too weak.

But now that the humans are fighting among themselves and their numbers diminish with each passing day, we can finally turn on them without worry of retaliation from your kind—humanity is ours!

The demons have also been waging a campaign against humans on the material plane by creating false prophets to preach messages of peace and truth, while simultaneously plotting world domination.

The first wave of attacks begins on a human city, and it's only because they'd been betrayed by one of their own that they're able to defend themselves at all. The humans have lost too much ground already - but what is life without hope?

In order for the humans to end their war with demons there must be a truce made in the spirit world.

The only way that they will get this truce from the demons is if they are willing to sacrifice their last remnants of free will, the ancient map, but this might be worth it for peace in both worlds.

The humans know that without the help of otherworldly beings like themselves, there's no way they can win against the demon horde on either plane. They lay down their weapons and Lacey opens her heart-shaped locket to reveal the largest weapon that she has to offer, an ancient map of all dimensions.

The demons are willing to make a truce in order for peace on both worlds if they can get their hands on this map.

They agree with Lacey and her group's terms: The demons will let humans be free enough as long as they stay on the material plane, and humans will stop trying to cross over into other dimensions.

They offer up their last remnant of free will—the map that Lacey has kept hidden inside her heart-shaped locket this whole time. The locket not only held the ancient map safe but also made her part-angel, a child of light.

In order for the truce to take effect, Lacey and her group must be willing to sacrifice their free will.

It's hard, but they give up their last free will by burning it as an offering of peace.

The gatekeeper accepts the deal and lifts up his hands, opening a portal to the spirit world.

The truce is made and the humans dive into celebration, knowing that they can finally end this long war between them in the spirit world. All of their sacrifices have been worth it because peace will be restored on both planes for generations to come.

Happiness abounds as people break out into song and dance. After the celebration, Lacey has a feeling deep in her soul that she will be missed on this plane of existence.

In exchange for this map, the humans must give up their free will and Lacey's angel status in order to save themselves from impending annihilation by demons who have been trying to take over the world since before recorded time. The leader of the human group agrees, knowing that there is no other resolution.

The human's free will has been sacrificed but at least now their planet is safe from demon occupation once again.

Sometimes I wonder if the locket is still out there, somewhere.