Sacrifice: 2nd Edition

by Jorge Silva

  “Since you’re the Archangel of Justice,” Lucifer said to him, “could you stay awhile and teach my children to be just?”

  Azrael thus became the first judge of the humans, trying to protect the freedom of freedom itself. The men and women respected him, because he was always equitable, but they never ceased to fear him for the severe punishments he would mete out to those who deserved it. Although he continued to try to convince Lucifer to accompany him to Yahweh, he never succeeded. Before he departed, Azrael left an established code hoping that, in his absence, it would maintain the justice that he had instilled.

  When Yahweh saw that the Archangel of Justice returned to His side He brought forth a grey cube within the sphere, that Azrael might rest.

  He took another piece of His soul and created Uriel, Archangel of Light. Yahweh couldn’t read Lucifer’s mind, and He thought that perhaps She couldn’t perceive the threat that Chaos posed with the same clarity that He did. Uriel flew to Lucifer’s Realm, and when she found Her she opened her eyes. With her Light she tried to illuminate all the corners of Creation. Yet there were many places that remained dark. All that was, all of Creation, was nothing more than a speck compared to the Void that She had seen emerge at its interior. The soul of Uriel couldn’t conceive of It, so she perceived nothing more in the darkness than the limits of the universe. But Lucifer saw, and She didn’t have a doubt that everything she had created had its days numbered, including Her children. Even so, She wasn’t willing to return to being One.

  Before returning to Yahweh, the Archangel of Light wandered for a time among the humans. Lucifer permitted it, but She made her promise to keep her eyes closed whenever humans were close. She could withstand her Light, but the small souls of Her children weren’t prepared for it.

  Uriel understood. She was curious about the effect of Light on matter. The shadows that it generated, the reflections on water, the colors in the sky. Lucifer was happy to have Uriel in Her Realm, and She tried to convince her to stay by Her side. She taught Uriel how to sing, to transform her Light with sound, and they impregnated Creation with their music.

  Uriel accompanied Her much of the time, interested in the opacity of the humans, even feeling some esteem for them. Their closeness was such that Uriel taught them to create musical instruments, reeds that captured the sound of the wind, strings that vibrated like a thunderstorm.

  Yet she also saw the suffering in their faces, the pain in their souls. All caused by making poor decisions, by using their freedom without a mission that gave them a cause. Not even Azrael’s code could protect them from themselves.

  But, Lucifer could not be with the archangel at all times, as She had to take care of Her children. On a day like any other, Uriel walked, singing, through the green fields in Lucifer’s Realm. There she saw a group of men in a circle, surrounding something she couldn’t identify at first. She approached them to strike up a conversation and perhaps sing with them, but then she saw a figure in the middle; it was a woman with her clothes torn, and she understood what the men were doing.

  Upon seeing her, the men took a step back. Uriel moved closer and kneeled, covering the woman’s eyes with her hand, helping her to forget the affront she had lived through.

  With a single movement of her hand she could have simply freed the woman, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted to remove the darkness of these men from Creation. It was then that she broke the promise that she had made to Lucifer and opened her eyes for a second.

  When she closed them, she saw that the men writhed on the ground screaming in pain while they covered their eyes, and she knew that they would live in darkness forever. The woman ran from the place, fearing the luminous being, without knowing that it had been she who had been her savior.

  Uriel was ashamed that she had broken her promise, so she chose to leave Lucifer’s Realm without saying goodbye to She who had taught her to sing.

  When Yahweh saw that the Archangel of Light returned to His side He brought forth an amber cube within the sphere, that Uriel might rest.

  He took another piece of His soul and created Gabriel, Archangel of Mercy. Establishing this mission in Creation He hoped that the present and future suffering of Her children would soften Her resolve. Yet when Gabriel descended to Lucifer’s Realm, it only took a single meeting for the archangel’s heart to be etched with the image of Lucifer. She tried to convince him that perhaps there were other ways to protect Creation, that maybe with the help of the Seven, Her return wouldn’t be necessary.

  Before returning to Yahweh, the archangel wandered for a time in Lucifer’s Realm. He was profoundly moved by the humans and the freedom that She had given them. On many occasions he saw the suffering and pain that their decisions caused, but he also was witness to how, sometimes, they felt mercy for their siblings.

  When the magistrates that were charged with carrying out Azrael’s code met, he tried to temper the judgments of Justice with Mercy. Many times Lucifer was present for the trials, and when he didn’t see Her in among the crowd he felt a weight in his soul that he couldn’t identify.

  Although for a time he continued trying to convince Lucifer that She should return to Yahweh, little by little he stopped, and more and more he simply enjoyed Her company.

  It was at this time that Azrael returned. He tried once more to convince Her to come with him; as before, he didn’t succeed in making Her change Her mind. In fact, he was the one who changed.

  Through countless conversations, trials, and adventures shared with Gabriel, the Archangel of Justice learned to temper his severity with the compassion that Mercy showed.

  Even so, Azrael convinced Gabriel that it was time to return to Heaven. When they arrived, Yahweh brought forth a white cube within the sphere, that the Archangel of Mercy might rest.

  Yahweh took another piece of His soul and created Cerviel, Archangel of Dominion. He had tried, fruitlessly, to convince Lucifer by appealing to Obedience, Justice, and Mercy. Perhaps He should use the Strength of Heaven to force Her to unite with Him, and as One fight against It. Every atom, every particle, every bit of energy, should unite in order to confront the Chaos that, inevitably, would wind up devouring Creation, replacing it with the Void that preceded it. He had to risk everything for a chance to free Creation from that threat.

  Cerviel descended, covered in his black armor. He was the first of the archangels to take a piece of his soul and give it the form of a weapon. With his gigantic hammer, longer than his own form, he tried to force Lucifer to carry out His Word. But even though he was the strongest amongst the Seven, he wasn’t powerful enough to force Her to accompany him. With a simple wave of Her hand, Lucifer parried the archangel’s hammer, smiling all the while, amused by Cerviel’s attempts.

  Hundreds of humans were witness to the attack of the winged being, and they tried to protect their mother even though She didn’t need it. Not knowing his own power, Cerviel fended them off with a movement of his arm. Without meaning to, he sent them flying a great distance, leaving dozens of them screaming in pain.

  Lucifer, who up to that point had remained calm, called forth a sword in each hand, and approached Cerviel to punish him for the harm he had caused Her children. But in that moment Raphael, Archangel of Restoration, appeared and immediately cured the wounds and pains of the humans. Lucifer thanked him with a gesture, but made it clear that Cerviel no longer had Her blessing to set foot in Her Realm.

  Even though he returned to Heaven dejected and defeated, Cerviel’s involuntary attack against the humans had given Yahweh an idea. He now knew the only way to convince Lucifer that She should join him in Heaven. Yahweh then brought forth a black cube within the sphere, that the Archangel of Dominion might rest.

  He took the last piece of His fractured soul, the last part of what He had sacrificed to bring forth the Seven, and He created Ramiel, Archangel of Vengeance.

  Above the sphere that made up Heaven, He created a gigantic block of stone, a grey cube in which He would have space to
develop His idea. Then He called the rest of the archangels, thus convening the first Heptagon.

  He asked Cerviel to show them his hammer, and to teach them how to make use of force to carry out their missions. One by one, they molded part of their souls into weapons.

  Raphael called forth a staff, which allowed him to block the attacks of any who opposed his mission. In the upper part of the staff he put part of the waters of his soul, to be able to restore someone even if they were profoundly broken.

  Michael called forth a bronze spear with a sharpened point. It was quick and direct, as he thought the response to Obedience should be.

  Azrael called forth a sword of fire, reflecting the passion that he felt for his mission, but also as a symbol. Those who saw the fire, even from a distance, would feel hope in their souls. All would know that Justice was close, and that sooner or later it would come for everyone equally.

  Uriel called for a simple ray of light with sharpened point, a rapier with which she could penetrate the darkness of souls.

  Gabriel, seeing the weapons of his siblings, thought that Mercy would need to protect the defenseless. He knew that the humans would also be armed, as many trials over which he had presided involved terrible wounds. Lucifer, the being he loved more than any other, had called forth swords to fight against Cerviel, even if She hadn’t gotten a chance to use them, and the closest of his siblings, Azrael, had also called forth a sword. Gabriel did the same, but his soul was pure and innocent, and the sword turned a white almost as brilliant as Uriel’s rapier.

  Ramiel, the youngest of the Seven, didn’t call forth a weapon. But everyone could see that her nails, red like her hair, red like her eyes, red like her mouth, became as hard and resilient as her armor and as sharp as Michael’s spear. The same happened with the feathers of her wings, whose tips became as lethal as daggers.

  It was Cerviel, Archangel of Dominion, who taught them to use their weapons, to fight, to defend themselves. Some, like Azrael and Michael, learned quickly, and soon equaled their teacher. Others, like Raphael, showed themselves to be reluctant students. However, they all did their best to obey Yahweh.

  Yahweh then told them that it was Ramiel’s turn to descend to Lucifer’s Realm, but this time, He wouldn’t send her alone. Instead, He would send the Seven Archangels together to destroy the humans. If Lucifer wanted to wait for It to destroy everything forever, He would make it impossible to do so.

  If She loved Her children so much, She must choose. End their suffering by uniting with Him and becoming One, or fight with Him in Heaven, where Raphael would repair Their division.

  Gabriel finally understood the reasons behind what Yahweh was doing. He understood every one of his plans, and how none of them had worked. Even though the scroll had ended there, he knew what had happened next. He had created Death, threatening to remove Lucifer’s children from Creation, so that She would change Her stance and become willing to unite with Him. But Lucifer had created a refuge for Her children, and thus they could continue in Creation. So He, with fire and ash, had turned Paradise into Hell, to force Her to go to Otherworld.

  Exactly what She had asked Gabriel to do.

  The broadsword of the Archangel of Vengeance served two purposes. Thanks to it, the human souls, fragments of Lucifer’s soul, were captured. Yahweh would ask Raphael to restore the division between them and Lucifer so that later He could reunite with Her and become One again. At the same time, by depriving as many humans as possible of the chance of going to Hell, it would make Her more urgently wish to fight in Otherworld.

  Gabriel understood why Yahweh hadn’t stopped him before. What Lucifer was asking of him also served His purposes. If he freed the tormented souls from Hell and brought the humans to Otherworld, it would end their suffering, but only for an instant, as in that moment Raphael could restore the separation between the humans and Her, between Yahweh and the Seven, and thus they all would all disappear to be reunited as One.

  When his father died, Gabriel had thought that he had disappeared from Creation and that he would never see him again. Knowing that he was in Hell had made him angry, yes, but at the same time he was happy to know that he continued to exist. Furthermore, he had hope of getting him out of there. But none of that would matter if It wound up instilling the Void, making everything that ever was disappear, including the Three Realms and their inhabitants.

  Gabriel knew what he had to do. He would have to leave behind his humanity. Whether to follow Lucifer’s plan, or Yahweh and His Word, his sacrifice was necessary for the Phoenix to once more fly free from matter between the Realms.

  He took to the air then, opened his arms and wings and whispered, “Do it.”

  The dragon smiled, and Gabriel didn’t need a single image to understand that the gesture had touched Him. Yahweh left, flying towards the upper part of the Throne Room so far away that Gabriel could no longer see him, while the doors slowly opened.

  Gabriel left the Throne Room. On the giant bridge of stone that stood before the entrance, Uriel stood alone. She took a step forward when she saw the archangel.

  “Archangel of Light, it’s time that you freed me of my human soul,” said Gabriel, kneeling before her.

  Thousands of years ago, the Phoenix had sacrificed the human body with which he had merged. Now Gabriel was willing to lose something much greater. It would be his soul that he sacrificed for humanity.

  He wanted to rescue his parents from Hell. He wanted to save all humans from their destiny after Death. If possible, he wanted to find a way to confront the threat of It. But to do any of that, he would have to allow himself to forever disappear from Creation. None of his memories would remain, and his body, which awaited him in the Realm of humans, would never again carry a soul.

  Uriel approached, her hand illuminated.

  “You have no idea how glad I am that He has convinced you to submit to Oblivion. I’m sure that your unnecessary rebellion will cease as soon as you lose that which makes you human.”

  Gabriel closed his eyes and clenched his teeth while he watched one memory after another. He could see his mother teaching him how to swim in the pool, holding him by the stomach so he wouldn’t sink. He saw his father arrive with an acoustic guitar as a present, and he heard the first chord he managed to get out of it, E minor. He remembered for the last time the day he met Emily, when she was a new student in sixth grade who chose to sit beside him.

  Uriel’s hand lost its shine and Gabriel stood up. The only memories that remained were those of the archangel, including those that he had shared with the human since the dream in which they had united.

  Gabriel the Archangel had returned. He was no longer tied to the matter of the young mortal that had housed him. His features were those of old, his brown hair falling to his shoulders, his eyes of the same color, shining with determination. His torso was no longer covered with a tunic, but rather with the shining armor that he had worn for eons.

  He knew that the human soul had disappeared along with his final memory, but somehow he still felt his presence. “Was there something else that had made him human?” he thought.

  Gabriel smiled, bringing a hand to his chest. The last thing the young man had done before disappearing from Creation was to sacrifice himself freely, as a human being, not merely carrying out a mission that defined him.

  The human had carried the Archangel of Mercy within him, but he could have said no. He could have run from what he felt was his duty. But he had chosen to give everything, absolutely everything, for others.

  Like a precious gem, the Archangel Gabriel would carry that memory. The moment in which a human and his freedom had allowed him to return, giving him the chance to save everyone.

  He looked at Uriel and saw her as he hadn’t seen her for ages. Free of his human soul, he could once more observe Creation without the static appearances that matter gave things. Yes, before him was the Archangel of Light, with her golden hair and her closed eyes, but she was also simply Light, w
ithout a figure that constrained her, and at the same time, he heard a song emanating from her.

  He called forth his sword and attacked Uriel, who barely managed to jump backwards and dodge the blow.

  “What are you doing?” she fumed, as a fissure opened in her armor through which lightning appeared to bleed.

  Gabriel flew towards her and attacked once more. Calculatingly, he went about injuring his opponent, first on the arms, then the legs. Uriel fell to her knees. Gabriel raised his sword to deal her a final blow, but it was blocked with a flash. He knew the Archangel of Light well. She had summoned her rapier to defend herself, preferring to free Azrael rather than allow Gabriel to defeat her.

  It was what he had hoped for. In a flash, Gabriel disappeared. Instantly, he was on his feet above the rocks that covered Azrael’s body, but this time he saw them in their true form. The stones that buried his brother were made of the consequences of the actions of the Archangel of Death. Uriel had sung about the pains that he had caused. It was the weight of his remorse that had him trapped, and that weight appeared as rocks in the Realm of Yahweh.

  Gabriel beat his wings with so much force that the rocks flew shooting in all directions. He told his brother that he forgave him for what he had done; without doubt this was the largest of Azrael’s regrets. The Archangel of Death sat up with difficulty, his armor broken in many places and his left arm completely immobile.

  Raphael appeared. He had been flying overhead trying to heal Azrael with his powers, but he hadn’t been able to free him from Uriel’s rapier.

  Gabriel took Azrael in his arms and gestured for the Archangel of Restoration to come closer. Raphael looked at Gabriel with shock. Gabriel knew the cause of his surprise. His face no longer looked like Raphael’s former student, but rather that of his brother.

  “Hold on tight,” Gabriel told him.

  The Phoenix, free of his human ties, flew through the Realms, carrying a pair of archangels with him. When they arrived in Hell, he found Lucifer giving succor to one of Her children.