Sacrifice: 2nd Edition

by Jorge Silva

  She turned around and saw him, then smiled as She hadn’t for myriads upon myriads of years. It was Her Gabriel. After a wait that no one else in Creation had ever suffered, the Archangel of Mercy had returned to Her side.

  Lucifer told the tormented souls who were gathered there that they should take their leave. Gabriel placed his brother carefully on the ground, and Raphael began to carry out his mission, restoring Azrael’s wounds with the touch of his hands.

  Lucifer and Gabriel looked at each other in silence for moments that seemed an eternity.

  20

  He couldn’t say who took the first step, but they were quickly in each other’s arms, giving each other the kisses they’d waited so long for. No one had ever been as joyful in Hell as they were in that moment.

  The archangel pulled back, caressing Her cheek.

  “I know what stalks us in the Void,” he said.

  Lucifer opened Her mouth in surprise, but said nothing.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about It?” he asked Her, while he played with a lock of Her hair.

  “What can one can say about It? I know nothing more than what It leaves in Its wake. Utter Emptiness. Not a single atom, nor particle. Not even Time and Space can reign there,” replied Lucifer, who had Her arms wrapped around the archangel.

  Gabriel heard a moan, and turned towards Azrael. Raphael’s hands hadn’t been enough to stop the suffering of his sibling, so he had made the waters of his soul flow from the orb of his staff. It would weaken the Archangel of Restoration for a long time, but it was the only way to help his brother.

  Lucifer went to them and sat down. In a delicate voice She began to sing a melody that interwove with Raphael’s waters, which appeared to shine in response. Gabriel sat down beside Her; She lay down with Her head on his thigh as he began to gently stroke Her hair while she sang.

  He wanted to ask Lucifer so many things. He remembered the images that Yahweh had revealed that were fresh in his mind, and he needed to know if, after all this time, She had found another solution to the threat of It. If there was another way of saving Creation instead of Her reuniting with Him and becoming One. A way in which he wouldn’t lose Her forever.

  But he would not interrupt Her song, not if he wanted his brother to recover. He also needed to speak with Azrael, the archangel who had burned his wings. The one who had saved him.

  After long minutes, Azrael moved his fingers. The wound had closed, but a scar marked the place where the rapier had penetrated his arm. He opened his grey eyes and looked up, recognizing the archangel who he hadn’t seen for eons.

  “I see Gabriel made his choice.”

  Lucifer offered Her hand to help him sit up, but Azrael declined. With a gesture, She brought forth from the ground four stone cubes, three of them with the colors that each archangel preferred. One by one, they sat.

  “I’ve brought you here so that you can help me save Creation,” Gabriel said. He knew that Lucifer and Raphael were familiar with the threat, so he passed the scroll to Azrael, who read it in mere seconds.

  “Now I understand why He asked us to convince Lucifer to return to His side.”

  Lucifer shook Her head.

  “There is no way to know that if we had become One again we would be able to fight Chaos.”

  “No,” said Azrael. “But it’s a good bet.”

  “Now that the three of you also know the true meaning of His Word,” said Raphael, making his staff disappear, “you should know that my mission originated solely to restore the division between Them.”

  “But what would happen then?” Gabriel said, tucking the scroll back into his armor. He wanted to be sure of what he had understood in the Throne Room. “What would happen to Creation if Yahweh and Lucifer disappear and become One again?”

  It was Lucifer who spoke next, and Gabriel noticed that Her voice wavered.

  “I don’t recall when we were One. I only know that if Yahweh and I cease to exist, so will all that we have created. Otherworld, my children, the Seven.”

  “We can’t allow it,” said Gabriel.

  “Will you take the tormented souls to Otherworld then?” Raphael asked.

  Before Gabriel could respond, Azrael stood up.

  “Lucifer, what is the point of the revolts that you’ve been causing in Otherworld?”

  Lucifer looked at him with shock on Her face.

  “What are you talking about? No members of the celestial hosts are my allies.”

  “But… the angels that I fought with Cerviel?” asked Gabriel.

  “Until you and I read this scroll, Raphael was the only one of the Seven who knew about It and understood what would happen if he restored the division between Him and Her,” explained Azrael, still standing. “Care to enlighten us?”

  Raphael remained silent for a few seconds. Reluctantly, he began to speak.

  “The revolts are caused by believers in the return of the One; they are angels from my legion. For centuries I’ve been making it seem as though Lucifer is waging war against Him.”

  “But why?” asked Gabriel. Azrael sat down again.

  “I know you well, little brother. Mercy wouldn’t allow me to restore the One if it meant that all of Creation would disappear. Yet, just as He knows, I knew that it was the only chance of stopping the Void, before It consumes more and more of Creation.

  “If I convinced them that Lucifer was a threat, the younger archangels would unceasingly attack the humans with their legions. He also wanted this to happen, so that Lucifer would be forced to fight in Otherworld. The humans would suffer when they were alive and in death Hell awaited them. Confronted with that agony, the Archangel of Mercy couldn’t remain indifferent. Because of the love you have for Lucifer, for the sake of the Her children, you would do anything to take them to Otherworld.

  “Thus, He and She would be in the same Realm, albeit for an instant. In that moment I could restore their division, in order to make them One again.”

  Lucifer was about to stand up, but Gabriel put a hand on Her thigh to dissuade Her. Raphael was carrying out his mission, he didn’t deserve for their anger to fall on him.

  “Yahweh and Raphael want me to carry Lucifer to Otherworld and thus make them One. They think that is the only way to get rid of It, and I can’t claim that they aren’t right. Uriel, Cerviel, and Ramiel don’t know about the threat that lies within the Void, they only know that to protect Creation Lucifer must return to Yahweh’s side. He himself doubts that they would obey if they know that it means their own destruction,” said Gabriel, closing his eyes, tired even though he had only recently returned to existence.

  “What do you want, Azrael?” he asked, opening his eyes.

  “I want Them to stop using my brother. I want you to make the decision that seems best to you. I will be at your side defending that right. I don’t trust in the perspective that my mission grants me, but I do trust in Mercy.”

  Gabriel felt in his chest the memory of the young human who, freely, had sacrificed himself.

  “Does anyone have another solution?” asked Gabriel, looking at each of those present. No one spoke.

  “Let’s meet again in forty days,” said Lucifer who, seeing the worried look of Raphael, clarified. “When I created this Realm I made it so that time here moved differently than in any other corner of Creation. Thus the threat of It will take millions of years to reach us. Forty days in Hell are only minutes in Heaven. Time plays in our favor here.”

  Raphael approached Azrael to speak to him, but Azrael turned to leave before he could say a word. The Archangel of Restoration walked away leaning on his staff, his eyes fixed on the solidified magma over which he walked.

  Lucifer and Gabriel left for Gehenna, the ancient palace, where they lay down in one of the empty rooms and came to know each other once more, as they had waited eons to do.

  Those forty days were some of the best that Hell had known.

  In the beginning, Gabriel himself had been surprised at how carna
l his thoughts towards Lucifer had been, but he remembered the uncountable moments in which his soul had been mixed with matter. Not even after Oblivion could his soul return to the same pure state as when it had been created by Yahweh.

  However, he noticed that after hundreds of thousands of years surrounded by Her human children, She too had become more human. More desirous and eager for those caresses that, even surrounded by fire and ash, the men and women of Hell still granted each other.

  Whenever they left the palace, they saw Azrael rising in dizzying leaps, trying to stop the spheres of fire that fell frequently from the sky. They could hear the tormented souls cheer every time that one of the spheres exploded in the air after being hit with his sword. Gabriel knew that his brother wouldn’t stop thinking of a plan to save Creation, some idea that would prevent all of Creation from disappearing.

  They often ran into Raphael. Word had spread quickly that someone was helping the inhabitants of Hell in their suffering. His hands and staff healed the pain and weariness of almost everyone. Almost, because Gabriel knew that for two humans there could be no solace.

  Gabriel and Lucifer were standing in Her ruined palace when he sensed their presence. Gabriel recognized them immediately, due to the memories that he still carried of the young man, every one made since the moment they had joined together in a dream. The parents of the human with whom he had merged entered the room, holding hands, with hope on their faces. He knew that they wouldn’t recognize him.

  “Excuse me,” said the man to Lucifer, without daring to look Her in the eyes. “I wanted to ask if you knew anything about our son, Gabriel.”

  Lucifer approached them and brought forth a stone bench behind them. The woman began to sob. Once before she had been told to sit down before getting an answer to that kind of question.

  “There’s no easy way to say this. Your son sacrificed his existence to free the Phoenix. He gave up his humanity in order to save all of Creation,” Lucifer replied.

  The woman buried her face in her hands while she shook with the force of her sobs.

  “I told him to go to Heaven to look for another answer in the scrolls,” said the man, while he helped her to sit.

  “He did,” said Gabriel, approaching and placing his hand gently on the woman’s head.

  “He read, and he understood that there was no other way.”

  “Was someone with him? In the end?” the man asked.

  Gabriel sighed softly and looked him in the eyes.

  “I was with him until the end. His last thoughts were of you two, about how much he loved you and how thankful he was for you.”

  Although it hadn’t been exactly how it happened, there was nothing better that he could tell them in that moment.

  “Remember him,” the Archangel of Mercy told them. “Carry his sacrifice with you, with pain yes, but also with pride. Your son decided to cease his existence to protect all that is.”

  Shortly after, the woman got up and left the palace in silence. The man followed her, making a small bow to Lucifer and the archangel before leaving.

  Gabriel went to his old room and sat in front of the black stains that bore witness to what had happened there. If they didn’t find another form of eliminating the threat that It posed, the sacrifice of the young human would be in vain. Everything and everyone would be replaced by the Void and disappear from Creation along with him.

  Lucifer entered the room but she waited for a moment before speaking.

  “The humans are limited by matter; their souls are too small, and I needed to use it to sustain their existence. The archangels, on the other hand, are limited by the missions that Yahweh has charged them with.

  “Yahweh and I are limited because we are. That was our first prison, after the division of the One. Along with Time and Space, we began to be.

  “And what I’m most afraid of,” said Lucifer, moving closer, “is that It isn’t limited by being,” she whispered, closing Her eyes. “Although even I can’t begin to understand what that means.”

  Gabriel stood and caressed Her face until She opened Her eyes.

  “But what existed before you two?”

  Lucifer smiled, but there was nothing happy in the gesture.

  “Before Time? I can’t say. Not because I don’t know, but because asking what there was before time doesn’t make any sense.”

  No matter how they looked at it, they always ran into dead ends. How to stop It, which wasn’t limited by being. How to banish from Creation that which is not. They only knew the solution that Yahweh proposed. Reunite all that was, return to being One, and fight Chaos on equal footing. But they couldn’t be sure that it would succeed, and whether it worked or not, that would mean that everything created by Them would disappear.

  Perhaps it was the weariness of running into the same questions without answers. Perhaps it was the longing from so many years postponed, but Gabriel and Lucifer lay down together and once more lost themselves in each other’s arms. In the darkness, the archangel thought that perhaps if Yahweh and the celestial hosts knew the pleasures of the flesh, they would understand that matter didn’t only corrupt, but also completed, and then everything would be different. He remembered Tiberias then, and smiled, knowing that he would understand.

  The forty days passed, and the four met again where Lucifer had brought forth the cubes. Silence reigned. Neither Gabriel nor Lucifer had found an alternative to Them becoming One again and reinitiating Creation. They understood clearly that all would be lost, and that only if One survived the battle against It, would Creation be able to emerge anew. A Creation where neither Yahweh nor Lucifer, nor humans, nor the Seven would exist.

  “The souls of the celestial hosts are in Otherworld. The souls of the humans are in their Realm while they live, and in Hell when they die. That’s all the souls within Creation, no?” said Azrael with a smile.

  “Exactly,” said Lucifer.

  “Except we know of another place where souls also reside… where there coexist human souls and that of at least one angel,” said Azrael.

  Gabriel stood up.

  “The broadsword that Ramiel, Archangel of Vengeance, wields,” he said, hitting his fist against his open hand. “But is it possible that it’s not part of Creation?”

  “The sword, yes, but not necessarily its contents. Unless I’m wrong, Lucifer can sense any human soul in Creation. Isn’t that so?” asked Raphael.

  Lucifer agreed.

  “But I do not sense the human souls that have been absorbed by the weapon. They have disappeared from Creation,” She said.

  Raphael told them then of how he had learned the human theories of physics. He explained the notion of pocket universes; entire universes inside the limits of another universe without mixing together.

  “Perhaps they have disappeared from this Creation and appeared in another. If it’s another universe, different from ours, then the Void can’t reach them there.”

  “But how can we know for certain if its interior really isn’t part of our Creation?” asked Azrael.

  “Perhaps if I examine the sword…” replied Raphael.

  Azrael stood up, but Gabriel gestured for him to sit.

  “The last time that we saw it, it was in the human Realm, under Ramiel’s control. I’ll go look for it. I’m the only one who can walk there as an archangel without being limited by matter.”

  Gabriel kissed Lucifer, and then prepared himself to fly where he had last seen the broadsword.

  21

  Having lost his humanity, Gabriel was no longer limited by the walls of Order, and thus he was able to fly to the Realm of humans on his resplendent wings, like a spirit hovering over the surface of the waters.

  At first he thought that there was a torrential storm over the sea that he was crossing, but after a few minutes of flying over the planet, he understood what had happened.

  He retracted his wings and dove, headfirst, into the vast dark waters that covered the surface. In the depths he could
see tall buildings, then houses. Here and there he caught sight of some of the swollen corpses of humanity.

  He cursed Yahweh. He was forcing them to make a decision. How much of the Realm of humans was now completely covered in water? It was impossible for him not to feel at least partly to blame. He had been too distracted to realize what was happening outside of Hell.

  He had to look for the broadsword, and there was no better place to start than where he had last seen it. He swam as quickly as possible, propelling himself with his wings, until he arrived at the house of the young man who he had possessed through a dream. He recognized the guitar, though the wood was ruined from being submerged for so long, but even if it had been intact he wouldn’t have been able to extract a single song from it, including the ones that the human who had played it for so long had composed. The Archangel Gabriel no longer remembered the lessons, much less the infinite hours of practice; just the one rehearsal that he had managed to experience while merged with the mortal.

  The sword wasn’t there. He returned to the surface, searching for mountains that weren’t yet submerged. Confronted with the rising waters, the humans would certainly have gone in search of higher ground. And if the humans were there, surely Ramiel was nearby, ready to turn them all into statues of salt.

  He flew over many mountains, and he could see that there were thousands of Lucifer’s children still alive, but he continued searching until, on one of the peaks, he found the Archangel of Vengeance stalking a group of humans. Even though she was again vested in a man’s body, he recognized her by the giant weapon she carried in her hands.

  How many humans had she managed to capture in the broadsword? He knew that, sooner or later, all the humans that hadn’t drowned in the flood would be trapped in the interior of the sword. If Raphael was right, they would still be alive in a separate universe within the weapon.