by Andrew Gille
Shalos then made the delivery of the 10 cords of wood as promised to the location in the Island city of Cibolia that Lucifer had demanded.
CHAPTER NINE
Recruitment
All he had created, Lucifer had wanted to rule. The 10 planets that circled heaven’s golden sun, the great cities that they had built in glory to him, the construction of which Lucifer himself had overseen. All of the lesser angels, who sang praises to him, should have been singing to Lucifer. The great halls, the azure oceans that melted into the horizon, the beauty of the enormous mountains, the snows of Paradisio and the arc of Kalos as the ringed planet made its way across her sky, the complete paradise should have been his. It was all but promised to him. He had worked so hard to build this in glory to him, Os, the Almighty, how could he not pass this gift down to him?
He stood on the balcony of his palace in Excarian City, the second most significant city of heaven’s most magnificent planet Paradisio, second only to The City of God, the home of the Palace of Os, the creator, and ruler of all of Heaven. Excarian City, high upon a hill looked upon The City of God, it’s alabaster buildings shining in the setting sun as Aequiss rose in its sky along with Nivea, the moon of Paradisio. Many evenings, he’d contemplated the wonderment and greatness of this kingdom from here on his balcony, taking in the colors and beauty as the sun sank below the horizon, but now all he could see was grayness and dread. The only thing he felt in his heart was hatred. Hatred for them, the new inheritors of the kingdom. Os had created them to deny him the throne. They were to inherit the Heavens, and in the worst insult, the magnificent angels who had spent their existence in praise and glory to him were to be in service to these inferior creatures, the thought enraged him.
From his opulent palace, Lucifer saw the other three main inhabited celestial bodies of heaven. Aequiss, Kalos, and Vertias, aligned in the night sky as the golden sun of heaven dipped below the horizon. Soon they would be under the hegemony of his alliance. He had courted the greatest of archangels and all of those with whom he had spoke agreed to his revolutionary plan.
Now he sought the counsel of the most inconsequential of his potential collaborators. The archangel Michael, weak and insignificant. Michael should be in awe to visit the palace of one as great as Lucifer. He should prostrate himself before the great one and beg to be a part of this new order. He had dispatched a herald to find him on Paradisio, and now they returned.
To his irritation, Michael strode onto the balcony with the reverence of a higher angel like Raphael or Gabriel. Those two, unshakeable, adherents to the failing rule of Os, their creator. Many would not realize his true power until it came to crush them. He did not expect such trouble from this one. Michael, an unaccomplished and weak archangel, should be honored to be asked to join his rebellion.
Lucifer gazed out onto Excarian City, this grand place whose architecture and development was overseen by Lucifer himself. Michael stared out onto the setting sun, he had never been to Excarian City long enough to appreciate its beauty and certainly not from the vantage point of Lucifer’s palace. He grew anxious waiting for the arch seraph to speak to him.
Lucifer looked out onto the city, the dimming sun glinting off the structures that made up The City of God. Down into the valley where it lies, he could see Elysian Palace, it’s seven spires climbing above the rest of the cities buildings. The most magnificent palace in all of heaven, in one of the only capitals Lucifer himself had not had a hand in constructing, and Lucifer coveted it. He dreamed of walking as the ruler of heaven through its hallowed halls. He would have it, and Michael would help, or he would be destroyed like Os and the rest of his fawning minions.
“As you are aware, Os has created a new realm, a realm with new creations he deems superior to us. I wish to talk to you about this. All of our existence we have sung hymns about how he is omniscient and omnipresent. I know this will be difficult for an angel of your stature to come to terms with, but it was all a lie he perpetrated to keep us in subservience to him. Some of our own have studied secret texts discovered in the Biblioteca Anatalia, they say that we were created by the Colossals, just like Os himself, that he was not our creator. Michael, you know that right now all that is great in heaven is being perverted by what happens on Earth, this new realm, these weak beings he has created of flesh, you know that they cannot inherit this kingdom. I need you to help me stop it, to ensure that they never ruin this place. They are powerless and weak, yet also dangerous, he has imbued in them traits which we do not have, and I see them only betraying him with the abilities and gifts which he has given them. Our Lord, The Almighty Os, he was gravely mistaken in creating these creatures. He insults us by insinuating that we should serve them, you must see the failure that arrangement will cause. We cannot bow to these human beings, we must show him his fault and take back our rightful place at the head of his table.”
Lucifer was no doubt the most powerful angel, but there were doubts as to the powers he possessed. As he accused Os of doing, he was the one who used stories to make himself seem more powerful. He exaggerated the importance of the hierarchy of angels and his status as a member of the Order Seraphim to intimidate other angels into following him and doing his bidding. The fallacy of these stories that had apparently been made up and attributed to some mysterious documents in the Biblioteca Anatalia was even more troubling. Michael had heard the rumors, according to these lies, the Colossals had created the angels, and they were Os’ equals, capable of surpassing his greatness. It was blasphemous apocrypha, a falsehood that many were apparently choosing to believe as a means to justify their insolence toward Os.
Michael looked out onto the beauty of Excarian City, it was with great dismay that he now realized why he had been brought here. It was rumored that Lucifer was unhappy with Os’s newest creation and even more upset by the edict that he had created them for the angels to serve. He spoke in an attempt to help the high archangel to understand what he felt Os’s plan might have been.
“Lucifer, I have been to Earth, I have seen what he has created. They have gifts that we cannot even imagine, great ingenuity, creativity and abilities that we cannot fathom. Yes, their physical bodies are weak, but their spiritual bodies are even stronger than ours, they will make heaven stronger, they will make this place more beautiful, they will do great deeds and accomplish things of which we cannot begin to dream. They will transform heaven into a wonder even more spectacular than what you see. Is all of the power he has granted dangerous? Yes, but, first, Os tempers their knowledge and will ensure that they are given this power gradually and that the breadth of their abilities is able to grow at a determined and cautious rate. I have faith that given the limitations placed upon them by Os, they will use their powers in the glory of Os and build great kingdoms on Earth and here in heaven when they arrive.”
Lucifer was regarded as the most beautiful angel, yet his eyes narrowed and his mouth pursed into an ugly grimace as he absorbed Michael’s words like a wave of poison washing over him, “Yes, I noted that he has you attending to them, serving them like some sort of inferior minion.”
“Yes, it was my privilege to witness his glorious new creation, I arrived at the Earth realm with a sense of wonder and excitement and I was not disappointed.”
Lucifer bristled at the Archangels comments, “Help me to understand, these...creatures are made of the energy which we know as the spiritual force, but also have some new form which they take?”
“Yes, the new realm follows a new physics away from the spiritual force, they have both a destructible, physical presence on earth and spiritual energy within them that stays with them until the physical presence is extinguished.”
“So you have seen this physical presence, sounds quite different than our presence, how did you navigate their world?”
“We archangels have the power to take a form in their world, just as they have the ability to take a spiritual form here in heaven.”
“And did you feel the spiritual
energy of this form they have within them?”
“Yes, the spiritual energy within them was powerful, and they are capable of great deeds that we angels cannot fathom, they have the Lord’s power of creativity and creation. The Lord has suppressed this knowledge from them until the time is right, however.”
“Until the time is right?”
“Yes, when the Lord is ready, he will reveal their true abilities and the power of knowledge to them.”
““You insult me by insinuating that they are greater than us. You say that the humans are capable of greater deeds, capable of building greater things than us? Lucifer pointed out from the balcony onto Excarian City Look out upon this great city Michael, do you see it? Do you know who built all you saw to the glory of Os? It was I, and to say that human beings will improve upon my great city, it is blasphemy! Disgusting! Michael, you are an idiot, he suppresses the power of the humans because he knows when we witness it, we will be outraged. He does not allow them knowledge until there are enough of them to protect him from us. He, however, underestimates our power, he does not realize that they will never be as great as us. They could equal the three billion of us, and we would still rule them. Their abilities and curiosity may be greater than ours, but we can use them, harness these abilities to make ourselves greater. We need not serve them, allow them into the kingdom of heaven as our superiors, no this does not need to happen. You fawn over them like you are happy to be in service to them, do you not understand that it is you who is their superior? They should bow down before us, and they should serve our needs.”
“That is not as he wants it Lucifer,” Michael interrupted, “Now why is it that you bring me here? For what matter of the Lord taketh me away from my important duties on Earth?”
“You grovel, and your servile nature will make it so that you are never a true archangel Michael, do you believe that our Lord is infallible, that he might never make a mistake? That he never errs in his actions?”
“I do Lord Lucifer.”
“Well you’re wrong Michael, this is why you will always be the lowest of the archangels, you do not realize your power. You do not realize the power we have, he knows our power, and this is why he’s created these bastardizations of our perfect image. You have been there, do you not see their weakness, their frailty, the ease at which they might be corrupted and bring doom upon the heavens?”
“Lucifer, you are the one who is wrong, this blasphemy you are speaking, I am taken aback by…”
“Yes, you are shocked that I would dare to question the omniscience of our creator, does that concept not seem a bit unbelievable to you? Do you not realize that it is he who has invented that concept, not he who has it? How would I dare to speak against him this way if he were, in fact, able to know everything I say, everything I am about to say? Would he not strike me down for this? I would strike down an angel speaking this way of me. He does not have the power to hear my words, he does not have the power to do it! It is because he is not all of these things he has told us, he is not all-powerful, not all-knowing, not ever-present. If he were here now, would he not bring his thunder down upon me?”
Michael stood, silent for a moment, he looked at his archangel counterpart with anger, “What is it that you want from me Lucifer, why have you brought me here?”
“Michael, I sense in you great powers, I sense abilities that I need to correct this great wrong and return the angels and the kingdom of heaven to its rightful glory. I need you to join me. I can give you great things, things he does not want you to have because he is scared that it will wrest his grip on power if we understand that we have now exceeded his power. Look out there? You have seen them, do they deserve to inherit this great kingdom? Or do we? As of late, our Father has been quite reclusive, would you not agree? Do you not think it may be because he is growing frail? He does not want us to see him in his weakened state? Who gave you the orders to travel to the realm of man?”
“Gabriel.”
“And did Gabriel speak directly to our Lord?”
“Gabriel received the word from a seraph.”
“Yes, the Seraphim, my brethren, inferior to me, yet they are the only ones allowed to look upon him as of late. Why is this Michael? Do you not ask yourself these questions?”
“I do not question Os. If you are concerned about the state of his being, why not travel to Elysian Palace to look upon him yourself,” Michael pointed to the palace on the horizon.
“Michael, when you become as powerful as I, you’ll sense these things. I do not need to lower myself to go before him. I am aware of the truth and the reason no angel looks upon him and he only allows the Elysian Seraphs to now look upon him is that he knows that his powers have dwindled to theirs. He knows that I have eclipsed his power, he knows that I am more capable of taking control of heaven. He knows that I should sit upon his throne and I should look out upon Paradisio and see all that is mine.”
“Lucifer, I have important business to attend to, if you called me here to complain about our creator and fantasize about being more power….”
Lucifer grabbed Michael by the throat, the lesser archangel dropped to his knees before him.
“There, that’s where you belong, on your knees before me Michael, you are weak and wretched, no wonder you enjoy your servitude to them, pathetic!” Lucifer released his grip and Michael tried to stand, Lucifer slapped him back to the ground. “Stay down weak one!” Lucifer commanded, “I will crush you along with him after I enslave the entirety of his new pets and bring their spiritual essence back here under my command. You are hypnotized by His power because you can never hope to equal Him. You didn’t intend on being the heir to this kingdom because you are weak and insignificant. You will be a vassal to anyone who controls heaven, you can never hope to be a part of anything greater. You’re enamored by his creations because you don’t understand their simplicity, their frailty and the irresponsibility of giving these powers to weak and vulnerable creatures like these. If we do not stop this, they will destroy both their own world and ours. I will not allow that to happen. Join us, or you will stand against a force that equals fully three fourths the angels of heaven. These are the most powerful of us. Os has proven that he can no longer lead this kingdom, he has proven that we have surpassed him with this creation. Now leave me, inferior one, I’ll deal with you from the throne of Heaven.”
As Michael left the palace, he had the distinct feeling that this was not the last time he would have a conflict with Lucifer.
Lucifer had always spoken of the right he had to inherit the kingdom of heaven from Os, he’d told other angels that Os had promised him that he would one day lead the realm. What Michael and most other archangels believed was that Os had somehow praised Lucifer or perhaps even compared Lucifer to himself and from this Lucifer had distilled whatever parts of the words that Os spoke into the fallacy that he’d promised him rulership of the kingdom. Increasingly he seemed to feel superior to Os and had apparently blatantly stated as much to some of the angels.
Now Michael was in the unenviable position of having this knowledge. It seemed that Lucifer was allowed to behave any way he wanted, he openly mocked Os and did things that were clearly against what Os wished angels to be doing. Still, it was clear that Lucifer was Os’s favorite and he continually forgave him his transgressions. This emboldened Lucifer further, and his actions of late delved into heresy unabated. Lucifer could undoubtedly cause problems for an angel like Michael. He was in charge of Paradisio, the most important planet in heaven, however, he delegated nearly all of his responsibilities to his lieutenants and sought only to find ways to undermine other angels, curry favor with Os and seek power for himself. However, he could still use his status as the arch seraph and the appointed ruler of Paradisio to cause considerable problems.
Lucifer was singularly obsessed with ruling heaven and was under the impression that Os was going to abdicate his throne to him. Many believed that Lucifer had wanted it so badly that he’d read the p
erceived promise of Lucifer’s inheritance of the throne into almost anything Os said to him. Os rarely spoke to the angels, yet Lucifer claimed to have numerous conversations with him and each time he validated his belief that Os would give him this power. Lucifer was the only angel in heaven who wanted to see Lucifer on the throne. Most believed that he would be a cruel ruler and heaven would crumble under the selfishness and greed that he would bring. Paradisio and especially Excarian City itself were a microcosm of what that might be like. Although he had apt lieutenants running the planet and it was successful, it was hampered by the vast palace he continually added to instead of improvements to the world itself. His focus on his home and the beauty of his surroundings led to more significant problems that weren’t addressed, in many ways The City of God and Excarian City were a beautiful gilded mess.
Both Gabriel and Raphael had their lives complicated by Lucifer’s meddling, and Michael was not eager to face his wrath either. Disagreement with Lucifer was usually cause for him to create a problem for you and Michael wasn’t powerful enough to go up against him like Raphael and Gabriel had in the past. With Lucifer, you could not say no, and now Michael had told him exactly that.
CHAPTER TEN
The Proposal
The warm breezes of Veritas, closest to Heaven’s golden sun, the summers seemed endless, and its rainforests and savanna were hosts to some of the incredible flora and fauna in the realm. Veritas was known for its beauty which was said to surpass even, the homeworld of Os, Paradisio itself. Only a few miles from the gates of the heavenly city that shared its name lay a famous nature park where the angels came to admire the beauty of Veritas, the Etherial Gardens of Hesperides.
The beauty of this garden was legendary, carpet-like grassy fields, gorgeous rare flowers that blossomed each year filling the air with effervescent fragrances. These flowers provided the ingredients for the many hives that produced the most delicious honey in heaven. Majestic forests, whose trees stretched up to Vertias’ blue skies and vineyards that rolled out along trails with which one could access the beauty of all that there was to see within.