by Jorge Silva
The archangels and Lucifer finally rose to their feet. Gabriel took the broadsword and Ramiel came forward, seemingly to object. After all, Yahweh had entrusted her with it, but Cerviel put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.
Each archangel explained the plan to their respective legion, and stated that Yahweh was in agreement. Being created from fragments of the soul of Obedience, the angels didn’t consider resisting.
With the speed that characterized the archangels, Gabriel crossed the sky with the broadsword held in both hands. One by one, the angels disappeared in silence, absorbed by the dark blade. Some closed their eyes in terror before they were run through, revealing that they had possessed a human body at some point in their existence.
In a few minutes, all the souls of the celestial host existed in the universe within the broadsword, in theory, safe from It.
It was then the turn of the tormented souls, who remained unmoving as Gabriel ran them all through. Unlike the celestial hosts, they did it for love of Her, not from blind obedience. For their mother, who had taken care of them and consoled them in every moment of their stay in Hell. They trusted in what She had explained to them, that they would be in a better place if they allowed themselves to be absorbed by the weapon.
Yet, there were two who stood somewhat apart from the rest. Gabriel approached them, with his brown hair falling to his shoulders and his gentle eyes softening his face. He remembered well the parents of the young man whose soul he had merged with, as well as the lie that he had told them the last time that he’d seen them.
The archangel dried the tears of the woman with the back of his hand.
“We want to stay here. Perhaps Gabriel will return,” she said in a whisper, somewhere between pleading and resolute.
Gabriel put a knee on the ground and looked up at them.
“The only way for you to remain together for eternity is if you allow yourselves to be run through by the broadsword.” Gabriel saw that the woman was holding the hand of the man who had once been her husband. “It’s what your son would have wanted.”
Azrael approached. The Archangel of Mercy placed the sword in his hands and flew towards Lucifer, leaving his brother to take up the task.
In Hell there were no longer any tormented souls. Creation reverted closer and closer to its beginning. In it remained Yahweh and Lucifer, and six of the Seven.
Cerviel extended his hand, asking for the broadsword.
“If I’m going to be run through by a weapon for the first time, it will be by my own hand.”
Azrael offered him the hilt.
Taking it in both hands, Cerviel tried to stab himself in the chest, but it bounced off of his armor. He tried it a few more times, until Raphael spoke.
“The broadsword cannot absorb the same soul that is wielding it. You would have to be within it and outside of it simultaneously, which would be a paradox.”
They all remained silent for a few moments, knowing what that meant. One of them would have to remain outside. With the pragmatism that Gabriel expected from Azrael, he saw how he took up the sword once more and ran Cerviel through the stomach. The Archangel of Dominion wasn’t able to mutter a word before disappearing.
Ramiel stood forward and opened her arms then, her crimson lips trembling as she spoke.
“See you soon,” she managed to say to Azrael, before being run through by the weapon, disappearing without leaving a single trace.
“I’m sure that they will need Light in this Universe,” said Uriel, with a faint smile. When Azrael approached her, she put her hand on his arm, above the scar that her rapier had left.
“Is there enmity between us?”
The Archangel of Death smiled, and shook his head.
“None. You were doing what you thought was necessary to save Creation,” he said, running the broadsword through the chest of the Archangel of Light, and one more soul disappeared.
Raphael opened his mouth to speak but Azrael interrupted him. Gabriel also knew what he was going to say, without needing to read his mind.
“No, it won’t be you who delivers the last blow. The new Creation will need Restoration. It will be your opportunity to redeem yourself for the many troubles that your mission has caused.”
Before Raphael could object, Azrael absorbed the soul of the being who had been his ally in so many battles, even if he hid the true meaning of them from him.
A billion souls had been captured by the broadsword in a single day. Now there were only three left. Lucifer held out her hand, asking for the sword. Azrael looked at her in silence, and shook his head one more time.
In the middle of the fire and suffocating smoke, Lucifer and Azrael looked into each other’s eyes. Gabriel watched them both, certain he knew what each one was thinking. Without a doubt, they were the two souls that he knew best in all of Creation.
Once again, Lucifer extended her hand.
“It’s time for someone to save you for once.”
Azrael remained still, holding the sword by the hilt.
“I would prefer to remain here and that it be you two that reside in the new universe.”
Lucifer took a step forward and Azrael stepped back.
“If I leave here, Hell will cease to exist. You can’t cross the Realms without help from Gabriel,” She said.
“It will be me that stays outside protecting the sword from It, and from Yahweh if necessary,” said Gabriel. It wasn’t what his mission obligated him to do, but a young human had taught him that he didn’t need one to make a decision like this.
Azrael remained silent, and Gabriel saw that his hand gripped the sword more tightly. He had no desire to try to seize it from him.
“None of us can survive in the Void, but at least I would be able to flee from It for the longest time. Perhaps even indefinitely,” said Lucifer.
“That could be, but you know there’s another alternative.” Gabriel could tell that Azrael was trying to smile. “Do it, and walk with your children and he whom you love in the new Creation,” said the Archangel of Death, almost in a whisper.
Lucifer began to cry. Gabriel had only seen Her do so when his brother had taken away his wings. It was possible She hadn’t done so again until now.
Gabriel knew that Lucifer could take the sword from either of them without trouble. She continued to be stronger than any of the Seven, but after millions of years, perhaps She no longer wished to continue acting like one of the Elohim. Perhaps She too deserved to be free.
He understood the alternative that Azrael had spoken of when he saw Her put Her hands to Her chest. From Lucifer’s body emerged a glowing sphere that floated between them.
Azrael took it with his left hand. The fire that enveloped his hand turned a white even more luminous than Uriel’s Light.
“I won’t need all of this in the new Creation, but it will be useful to you,” said Lucifer.
Gabriel understood what the archangel had received; half of Lucifer’s soul. Yet he couldn’t have guessed what happened next.
He saw Azrael scream with pain, and how the wounds on his back, that had taken so long to scar, opened, spilling blood in gushes. One feather at a time, his old wings returned to him and began to elevate him a few centimeters from the ground.
“Well, they will no doubt come in handy,” he said, panting. He had barely finished saying the words when another scream tore from him, and Gabriel saw his brother fall to his knees.
Four more wings emerged from his back, two on each side. With difficulty, Azrael stood up in a puddle of blood.
Lucifer opened her arms. “Do it now, Azrael.”
Azrael no longer needed to hold the sword with his hands to move it. With only his will he pointed it at Her chest, and it penetrated Her like an arrow. Lucifer disappeared in an instant, absorbed by the weapon.
Hell began to implode, as though it too were being swallowed by the sword. Azrael was no longer a mere archangel, but something much more than that, something that with its si
x wings could escape the Void as They had done, at least for awhile.
Hell continued to disappear, getting smaller every moment. Gabriel approached Azrael, with his hand extended, repeating the request of his beloved.
They were the only souls remaining in Hell. Far away was Yahweh, alone in Heaven. And wandering in the Void what had caused the rest of Creation to need to flee: It.
“I knew you would try to be the last one to use the sword,” Azrael said, as he shook his head. “Perhaps that’s why She allowed me to become so much more powerful than you.”
Gabriel tried to get closer to take away the sword from Azrael, but he couldn’t move. Azrael had raised his hand and with that gesture had managed to completely immobilize him.
“Once, I took away your chance to be with Her. I won’t do it again,” said Azrael. Before Gabriel could try to free himself, he felt the sword run him through.
As Gabriel disappeared from Creation, the grey eyes of Azrael locked with his. The last thing he saw was a tear in the eyes of Death. His friend, his brother, remained alone, condemned to an existence with no mission but to escape and to hide.
Without a doubt, his new wings would give him a better chance of escaping from It and from Yahweh, and thus protecting the sword that carried all the souls of Creation.
24
Gabriel opened his eyes.
He felt different, less agile in his limbs and unable to see as great a distance as he could before. Nonetheless, what he could see filled him with wonder.
A vast, green meadow extended in all directions, with a river cutting through it nearby. He could see hundreds of humans walking around, collecting fruit from the verdant trees that grew all around.
He tried to fly towards a group of them, but he couldn’t get off the ground. He no longer had wings. Raphael had mentioned that things might be different in this parallel universe, but he had never imagined that he would lose his ability to fly. Before he could take his first step towards the humans, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He turned around and recognized Her immediately. Lucifer was standing in front of him, beaming.
“Welcome to our new home,” She said as She ran her fingers through Gabriel’s brown, shoulder length hair. “And Azrael?” She asked, the only reply to which was a small shake of his head. He kissed his lover’s neck and, in silence, he thanked his brother for the sacrifice that had allowed him to be with Her.
Lucifer suggested that they rest on the grass. She told him that it was something that She had been enjoying lately, feeling her back touch something cool and fresh, rather than the hard rocks of Hell. With Her eyes locked on the blue sky, they lay side by side, as She began to explain what had happened within the broadsword.
“The first to enter were the humans that Ramiel had absorbed. In the beginning the place had been even worse than Hell. There hadn’t been anything but dust and smoke in the air, the ground covered in ash, and small reflections of Yahweh’s soul that threatened in the darkness.
“Later came the angels that you captured in Hell. In this place they didn’t need to possess the body of one of my children to be among them. As soon as they arrived to this universe they took on form and matter, indistinguishable from those they had fought for eons. The same would happen with the rest of the archangels. In a universe out of the reach of Yahweh, they didn’t have to obey, and they had to learn to be free.
“The tormented souls arrived next. Just as the celestial hosts had, upon entering they materialized with bodies. Many of them began to wander in their original forms, but the majority, after millennia in Hell, had souls that more closely resembled other creations of mine. So, in this new universe, there appeared wolves and deer, birds and fish, and many more animals.
“Cerviel was the first of the Seven to enter. In a universe separate from Yahweh, the mission of the archangels was detached from them as soon as they arrived. Cerviel had brought Dominion to this universe, and some rose to organize the humans and the celestial hosts, now indistinguishable in appearance, to survive in this new home. He knew that he had to be careful now that, along with his wings, he had lost the powers that distinguished him from my children.
“Ramiel appeared then, and unfortunately she brought Vengeance with her. The peaceful relations between the inhabitants of this new universe became strained. A brother even tried to kill his brother for practically no reason. If it hadn’t been for Cerviel’s harsh punishments, there surely would have been many more atrocities committed in that time.
“Time passes much faster in this new universe than in Hell. For each minute that passed in Gehenna, here years have passed. For much of that time, the inhabitants of this new world lived in total darkness, illuminated only by the fires they managed to kindle.
“But then Uriel arrived, and as the Light was taken from her, it appeared on the horizon as a giant sphere, around which this new planet rotated, illuminating everyone equally. She took advantage of her new form to wander as any other in this new universe, always walking with a song on her lips. I think that she is content with her new life, even though some doubt that Uriel could ever be happy again. The last I heard of her was that she was living on the far side of the planet, following the colored lights that dance only in those skies.
“Alas, Uriel brought with her something in addition to Light. When she arrived in this new universe, Oblivion came with her. Everyone present, including her, Cerviel, and Ramiel, lost all the memories contained in their souls. Even though confusion reigned at first, the equality between those who were here created new possibilities, in which no one felt superior to anyone else. My children and the celestial hosts would never know of their different origins, and even the archangels thought that they had always been humans. For those who wandered as animals it was also easier for them to adapt to their new condition without the memories of their previous lives.
“But even illuminated by the luminous sphere, the place continued to be very difficult to inhabit. It was impossible to plant anything in the ash, and the inhabitants had to invest a lot of time into hunting and finding caves that would protect them from the ruthless climate.
“Everything changed when Raphael arrived. Restoration was taken from him and floated around all the confines of the new world. The ash turned to dark soil, the smoke to a breeze that granted its freshness to everyone equally. The wounds produced by the predators closed with time, ceasing to stain the land with blood.
“Leaning on a staff that he had carved with his hands, Raphael began to wander in this new world. His predictions had been correct, and it was in a universe apart from Creation, outside of its limits, and consequently safe from It. Having entered after Uriel and the Oblivion that she brought with her, he was the only one who still held his memories. He knew Azrael’s plan, as he had read his mind before leaving. Patiently, he waited for us.
“You were the last to enter, bringing Mercy into the world with you,” said Lucifer. “I waited here, with the hope that it would be you who arrived.” She sat up a bit and kissed him on the lips. “I trusted that Azrael would save you one more time.”
“But if all that you just told me happened before you got here, how do you know about it?” asked Gabriel.
“Because when I arrived, Raphael was waiting for me along with one of the first inhabitants of this world; Tiberias.”
Lucifer then told him about Her encounter with Tiberias, who had been the first angel to be absorbed by the broadsword. He was happy to finally be human, and even though the punishment that he had received from Ramiel had followed him, he could take pleasure from matter in other ways.
“There’s something I don’t understand,” said Gabriel. “If Tiberias was here from the beginning, he should have been subject to Oblivion. How does he remember what happened before Uriel got here?”
Lucifer laughed. “You know him; ever since he arrived he began keeping a log of events. It’s so long now that it’s comprised of many volumes. He’s been recording everything he
remembers; how Creation began, about the Elohim and the humans, about Armageddon. He assumed from the first moment that Uriel could make him forget. He never thought it would happen the way it did, but he was prepared.”
“If what you tell me is true, each of the Seven had to come here for their mission to work freely in this world.” Gabriel opened his eyes which hadn’t lost their warmth even though Mercy had been taken from him. “Does that mean that the humans will live forever, since Death is not here?”
“So it seems,” said Lucifer. “So it seems.”
He kissed Her then.
Gabriel leaned back and closed his eyes, and imagined Azrael flying without cease, escaping the Void. He said nothing more.
They traveled for days through the meadows, plains, and mountains of the new planet that was now their home. Neither of them was used to walking to get around, much less needing to rest and sleep.
When night fell, Gabriel embraced Her to protect Her from the cold. They explored each other’s bodies, getting to know one another in ways they never had before. They were humans now and they had much to discover.
They almost always remained apart from everyone else, but when they arrived at a village, they were welcomed and treated kindly. However, on some occasions Her beauty became a curse and the men would try to force their way with Her. Even though it was no longer possible for Gabriel to call forth his sword, he had made a stone axe with which he was able to buy them enough time to escape.
Frequently, their wanderings brought them into the territory of Cerviel and Ramiel, who had both settled in the same region as chiefs of a tribe. Whenever they saw them, Gabriel felt as though they would remember for just a second, but he knew it was only an illusion. And yet, it was one of the places where they were always well received.
Raphael and Tiberias always traveled together, carrying on their backs the volumes that they had written and continued to write. When the four who remembered all that had happened would meet, they spent days talking by the warmth of a fire.