Azrael. The angel of death. It was he, they say, who swept over Egypt and, in one night, slew all the firstborn male children of the kingdom. It was him and he has been paying for it ever since. 

 

Azrael was meant to be the one who separates the soul from the body when life is done. He was supposed to ease the journey of death, never be the cause of it. Nobody else would obey the Creator's command in Egypt, none could take innocent life so Azrael did, knowing it must be done but it wounded him. Some say he never recovered and went just a little bit insane.

 

When he is found on Earth, in bonded form, that insanity is translated and felt by his mutually linked partner, causing untold chaos and difficulty throughout time. This was not the intent many think, more of a side effect. Somehow, following the ritual of bonding with his host; the effects were communicated back in time, causing everyone to forget both the original name of the host and of Azrael himself.  It is even said that so powerful was this effect that even the participants in the bonding ritual forgot about their part in the event. The new gestalt entity wanted all evidence of its existence erased from memory it would appear.

 

Always the quiet one and a loner, Azrael carried out a solitary yet necessary function, though not a popular one. He never sought nor was looked for by other angels so his sudden disappearance was not noticed at first. It was only when Lucifer assumed his role and began to let his agenda influence the same that beings began to notice. By then, though, no-one could remember who had 'been' Death before then. It was a job nobody really wanted so...