The Higher Purpose

"Oh God, i cant take this anymore!" cried Xero as he swung open the ornate office doors and
stormed into the room.

A soft chuckle emanated from the large desk at far end of the room. "Dont tell me you're already giving up?" replied a calm voice. "I thought you were already decided on getting this... promotion? "

Xero paused just enough to catch a glimpse at the speaker. As usual, he was sitting in his oversized chair with his back against him. The boss always knows everthing. Comes with the job i guess, Xero thought to himself. Building up courage once more, he approached the desk.

"Yes I am. I do want the promotion." Xero took another step closer. His eminence's very presence never ceased to calm him. Of course, he was never mad to begin with. Here in this room, lay an eternal peace. This was the Ark of Heaven, the chamber of the One.

"You question my wisdom then?" spoke the Lord.

"Of course not your holiness! I am but confused as to how ensuring the safety of this mortal is supposed to make me Archangel my lord. Are there no other tasks you wish me to do? Gabriel had it easy."

"To each his own my son. Time will show you my plans. So how has it been?"

"Terrible my lord. at least for me. ever since you told me to protect every single hair on his head from harm. Everything he seems to do turns out to be a disaster! And lord, I get nothing in return. No thanks, not even any acknowledgement everytime i save his butt from certain doom..." Xero was getting ecstatic.

"...Why only last week, he posted to the world how things always go wrong at the worst possible moments. He blames it all on someone called Murphy. Is that my counterpart down there?" He emphasized the last word slowly. Xero always suspected that there was something much more to guarding the human than met the eye.

"Maybe." Another chuckle. The Lord was definitely enjoying this game. Mental note: Ask Lucifer how HIS demon is faring. "And my restrictions? Remember, you should be very discreet."

"Yes your holiness. No blatantly changing of the physical laws. No witnesses on any divine acts. Though i do admit, that last misadventure of his was really a stumper"

"Ah yes, I remember that." Chuckle. "Busting out his tire at the last moment so that he wont get into that 6-vehicle-collision... And a year before that, quite an ingenieous way of clearing out C5 before his car spun out of control at 100Kph." A long pause. "Xero, the Archangel of Creativity. It has a nice ring to it doesnt it?"

Xero squirmed at this last bit of undeserved praise. Now for the bad news. "I think he's onto me, my liege."

"And why do you think that?"

"He fancies himself ... invincible."

"Interesting."

Exciting too. Xero sighed. Very exciting.

"He is scared of nothing now. He is reckless, suicidal, doesnt give a damn about his health AND keeps taunting enraged Ateneans about their sucky team... My lord! I cant just keep causing the bad guys to slip on banana peels! I cant continue possessing perfect strangers to catch him when he falls or push him away from falling hollowblocks! I dont even want to keep messing around with the natural order of life... My Lord, he is going to ABUSE ME!!!"

"You should be happy Xero. I give you the free hand to do what you want. this is much much more exciting than simply delivering messages to virgins or slaying firstborn Egyptians."

"Please dont make me go thru this my lord! Even angels have their limits!" cried Xero in exasperation. The limit was VERY close indeed.

"You can walk away any time you know. Just think about it." the Lord said with finality. "But remember, this is your trial by fire."

To be continued...

What will happen to Xero, Guardian Angel of the being known as SoloFlite? Will he achieve the reknowned title of Archangel? Or will he leave Soloflite alone in his adventures? Tune in next week for the continuation in...

...The Angel Xero vs the Demon Murphyeous!