Rosalyn's head shot up, a look of horror unmistakably etched on her perfect features.

"Yes," the being responded, "it is I."

The face was androgynous, freckled, but those that knew of Fate knew its assumed gender to be male. Wide, doe-like emerald green eyes sat in a peach-colored face. His age was indiscernible, looking as though he could be anywhere between late teens to early thirties. His hair was cut in the old page-boy fashion, a strange auburn in color that became darker and darker until it was black at the tips; this was natural, not dyed.

The heavenly beings had met and dealt with Fate before, but their encounters were far and few in between. Fate's ceaseless duties spanned all, and he had a strict code of conduct to follow. None of these rules ever allowed him or granted him the permission to enter Heaven's Gates.

There was absolutely no reason for him to be here; his duties did not include holding control over Heavenly beings. They truly had free will. He should not have been there, standing before the two angels. In fact, it was downright forbidden.

"What are you doing here?" Sera demanded.

Fate wrung his hands, shifting his weight from foot to foot. This overt display of unease shook Sera to his very core. He had never heard of Fate being emotionally affected by anything, much less witnessed it with his own two eyes.

The thought that Fate possessed emotions had never occurred to Sera, much less distress. This terrified Sera, but he never would have reached the angelic rank he had if he left fear cloud his mind. It could be dealt with later.

"I do not know what to do," Fate replied. His words were tinged with whining. "I did not know who to contact aside from you. I need your help, Seraphin. I need to show you something; I need to show both of you something. It is imperative I show you this thing."

Rosalyn threw an uneasy glance at Sera, whose expression had become stony. Sera nodded curtly to Fate. Suddenly, a sheathed sword was at Sera's waist. "Of course."

With the blink of an eye all three were transported. It was dark; they appeared to be outside.

The ground they stood upon was covered in a thick mist, but their hidden shoes clicked against a hard surface. Endless purple-gray space surrounded them, looking like the sky at twilight. It was difficult to see, even for their angel-eyes. Rosalyn squinted, looking about herself.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"The Realm of Time," Sera replied.

Rosalyn started, looking shocked at Sera. She had only heard of The Realm, as all angels and higher deities had, but didn't have a high enough clearance code to enter it.

"Why are we here?" Sera asked Fate.

"It would be best if I showed you, not told. I do not think you would comprehend the full effect; my words would fall short."

Rosalyn and Sera exchanged worried glances but said nothing.

After a few minute's walk a shadow loomed in the distance. Fate led the way, the trio remaining utterly silent as they walked towards it. The enormous, mountain-like structure began to take form as they got closer.

A huge, ornate, silver gate became visible once they were close enough. It was identical to the golden gate at the entrance of Heaven. Twin Satyr's paced back and forth in front of the gate. They were huge, easily three feet taller than any of them. As the guards walked they spoke to each other in a guttural, clicking, snorting language that Rosalyn had never heard before.

As the small group approached the Satyr's stopped their pacing, lowering their gargantuan scimitars. However, upon seeing Fate, they both let out an ear-splitting greeting, and then went back to their relaxed pacing and chatting. With a huge boom, the Gates slowly opened on their own accord.

What was behind the gates shocked Rosalyn. Suspended in the air were what looked like glowing paintings. Each was identical in dimension, a good two feet tall by about eighteen inches wide, and an inch or two thick. They hovered in the air six feet off the ground, gently bobbing up and down a few inches.

Upon closer inspection, Rosalyn realized they were more akin to TV screens than paintings. A few seconds worth of time played out in an never-ending loop within each screen. These glowing windows were infinite, stretching as long and far as the eye could see, sectioned off by rows and aisles.

Rosalyn realized as she walked that she was witnessing the story of God creating the universe playing out on the hovering squares. Familiar sights filled her eyes; Heaven. The Garden of Eden. Rosalyn saw the creation of God's first child, Morningstar Lucifer, unmistakably. Time slipped past her, and within a few steps she saw the creation of Man, Adam and then Eve. Her breath caught as she watched the pictures unfold, until finally, with tears in her eyes, she stopped walking.

She watched Lucifer plunge from Heaven in a single frame, over, and over, and over. The stories in the Bible and those that had been passed down through angelic lore did not do the actual scene justice. She had never seen God look so enraged before. He literally smote the angel across the face, sending Lucifer plunging downward through the clouds. Though the images all around her were eerily silent, in her mind she imagined the howling rage of God, matched only by the pained scream of shock from Lucifer.

"Rosalyn," Sera's voice echoed to her harshly.

Startled, Rosalyn turned her tear-soaked face down the row. Fate and Sera stood a long distance away, mere dots. Rosalyn looked back to the tumbling Lucifer.

"What are these?" she called to the pair.

"Time Frames," Sera replied. "You're witnessing Time itself. Now do you see why only Archangel Primus, Death, Time, Fate, and God Himself are allowed here?"

Rosalyn noticed at the end of every few rows were white marble podiums. Intrigued, she went over to them. Shockingly, each one held some sort of important book--the Bible, the Book of Inbam, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Rig Veda. They were old, older than old, and Rosalyn was petrified to touch any of them least they might crumble in her hands.

"Rosalyn," Sera called her to. She lifted her head from one of the texts. "Come, least you be lost in Time. We wouldn't want that to happen, now would we?"

Rosalyn began walking back towards Fate and Sera.

"Please hurry," Fate called down to her. "I do not know how much time we have."

Rosalyn threw a final glance at Lucifer Falling as she passed and then ran down to meet up with the pair.

As they traversed the rows, cutting across, Rosalyn soaked in as much she could. She eventually comprehended that every second of every day was played out and captured in the Time Frames. Each row consisted for a few hundred years, and as she ran to catch up, she easily blurred past huge swarths of time.

It took her a while to fully understand how the Time Frames worked. First, the lifetime of Adam was shown. Then it started again, this time with Eve as part of it. Then, time was restarted again with Cain and Able now a part of it and continued through their lives. At the end of their respective lifetimes it all began again, this time including Adam and Eve's third son, Seth, and followed his life.

Every day was re-told in this fashion for every individual that existed, and thus history slowly unfolded itself one person at a time. The full ramifications of just how many Time Frames there must be hit her, and she was awe-struck. There must have been billions upon billions, each frame containing just a few seconds from one particular moment in Time.

No moment was left unrecorded. Even the mundane moments, like sleeping, had their many Frames. This made Rosalyn wonder just how big the Realm of Time had to be in order to store all the Time Frames, and she wondered just how long it would take them to reach wherever Fate was leading them to.

After a good hour of seemingly aimless wandering, a sound in the far off distance could be heard. After straining her ears, Rosalyn gave up on trying to recognize or pinpoint it. She instead focused on the Time Frames that continually surrounded her.

It was fascinating to her. Like most angels, she had lived a mortal life and had died. Most memories from her life were now faded and only dream-like wisps, but some scenes triggered memories of recognition. The great pyramids of Egypt. She saw Nero, and Columbus. The development of London played out before her.

She paused at Hitler. It was around this time she had died, and the history that played out after her death was disturbingly beautiful. Like all angels she had a loose comprehension of what life was like on The Surface (as Earth was referred to by angelic beings). Also like everyone else the details were sketchy.

She was saddened to see how many wars unfolded before her, but was amazed at the advancement of technology and medicine. Some of it was amusing to her, like video games, while people's preoccupation with making humanized beings from metal and circuits disturbed her. It reminded her like a twisted attempt at what God had done. She wondered if that was in fact what humanity was trying to accomplish by creating these strange heap of metal and circuits.

Another few hours passed and finally Rosalyn recognized the sound. Someone very near was crying. In fact, they were veritably sobbing. Rosalyn opened her mouth to question who was crying but then Fate turned and led them down the last aisle.

Lying in the middle of the row was an old man. He was the one crying.