The Eden Chronicles Boxset

by S. K Munt

  ‘Humans speak of broken hearts,’ she croaked, ‘but only angels can know the true meaning of the term, for only angels hearts are without flaw to begin with, like yours was and still is.’ She touched one of her own tears and grimaced, then flicked it away. ‘I’ll leave,’ she repeated. ‘Clearly, I have no reason to stay, and nothing to hope for on earth now anyway- not even vengeance.’

  God stepped back. ‘Are you saying that you will surrender your love to me, to save him and this earth?’

  ‘No,’ Satan sniffled, pulling a brilliant solitaire off her ring finger. ‘I can’t pledge love that I do not have.’ She got to her feet. ‘But I can see him clearly all the same Lord and one thing is certain- not only has he strived to live up to your piousness, but he has surpassed you, because he will not abandon something or someone because they are flawed.’ She turned to Gabriella, and pressed the solitaire into the limp palm of her hand and closed her fingers around it. Gabriella stiffened, clearly frightened to encounter Satan for a second time and to now be touched by her, but she stared back at her lover’s former flame steadily, trying not to let her fear or envy toward the dark goddess show. ‘In this world, as it stands, a whore like yourself would never be given something so precious in the name of love, and is considered worthless when compared to a virgin or a martyr in the eyes of God, isn’t that right?’

  ‘Si,’ Gabriella said coldly.

  ‘That is due to religion, not my saying so!’ God proclaimed.

  ‘I know,’ Satan said, not looking away from Gabriella. ‘But although she has lived a tortured existence due to her status and years of abuse, I approached her many years ago and offered her everything she could want, and she turned me down, and found her own way into the light with a heart heavy with hate.’ She smiled tightly at the young mother. ‘For that, I respect you and give this, if you promise to hold your head high and his hand tightly in my wake- to be joined with him forever more, and to protect his son the way Heaven’s mother did not protect her.’

  ‘In your wake?’ God asked, hopeful, as Gabriella nodded stiffly.

  ‘I have already made that vow, dark angel,’ Gabriella said icily. ‘Without trinkets from you to motivate me to do so. But I will accept this for I’ve seen that your dark underlings have raped the earth of almost all the others, and something made of light belongs in the light.’ She smiled down at her son. ‘With him. Perhaps one day he can give it to his love.’

  ‘See?’ Satan turned back to God. ‘Even in this chaos, mortals can find something worth living for. Gabriella and Miguel should be the influence on others like them- not us, for they are unified in both sides of the human condition in a way that you and I can never be.’ She stepped closer to God. ‘And if you allow that, I will give up my life for the chance to see it play out.’ Her eyes shifted to the peaceful, glorious infant. ‘That, and for this child’s chance to grow old with a family who loves him- the chance that Heaven and Hell never had.’

  Behind him, Gabriel and Rabia gasped, but God was too paranoid to be shocked by such a selfless exclamation from an entity that had already admitted to being devoid of anything good on the inside. It had to be fraudulent, so he eyed her warily, wondering what true angle she was coming from. ‘When you say that you will give up your life…?’

  ‘I will use what energy I have to reverse what you have destroyed before your eyes. I cannot create an earth from scratch like this one, but I can heal much of it- and I know you cannot, not now.’ She gestured to the blackened and gnarled forest behind them, which was covered with sludgy snow, to the barren valley slowing down from beneath their feet. ‘I will fix what you have done, and it will exhaust me. And when I am almost completely drained, I will have no choice but to return to energy, and then I will have no choice but to wait in hell to be summoned back. And because this time, I will not be here to influence it directly, I will be as incapable of influencing the mortals after, as you have always been.’ She wiped the heels of her hands under her eyes. ‘It will be a clean slate for the humans, and an untouchable one for us. And if you would destroy the world before you let him be corrupted by me, then you would save the world for him to win back his love, wouldn’t you?’

  ‘I would,’ God said, surprising himself by actually agreeing.

  ‘Then don’t destroy it! Let him have it, and then let us both retire to rest. If he is as good and pious as you believe he is, and as in control of his selfish traits as I believe- then love will come to you and I will fade. But if he is corrupt and selfish and loses sight of the meaning of life despite being so like your image- I will be revived enough to take Corporeal form again, and the earth will be mine for the taking first. If it comes to that, I imagine we will fight again- if you have not lost interest in it- but that should not happen this day,’ she motioned back to the people. ‘Not when you still have something left fighting for.’

  God thought this over. He would still sooner end earth then see it in Satan’s hands, but then again, she had made a fair point. Miguel was good and had already learned from the worst mistakes a man could make- he was like God in every way. And if God rested enough, he wouldn’t have to worry about surrendering the earth to Satan, because he could just return eventually to destroy it and rip it from her clutches anyway. So what did he have to lose, but time, which he had in spades?

  Actually you have one thing to lose, and you cannot leave this world until you have secured that!

  God turned to Miguel. ‘Would you take responsibility for the new world, for the love of your family, Miguel?’

  Miguel looked a little dazed, but he nodded. ‘I would.’

  ‘Would you be a fair leader who served your people before yourself?’ he went on. ‘Would you live as I did, and love and go out of your way to prevent the same disastrous histories from repeating?’

  Miguel’s eyes flashed with concern. ‘I... I would try.’

  ‘Would you stop people taking vows in my name, only to break hearts and inspire hate from such holy matrimony after? Would you protect the weak, and corral the strong so that they do not overwhelm the others? Would you see that children are raised in complete families, and that everyone is accepted for their skin colour? That hard work is equal to value to scheming? That murder is not punished with murder? That varying tales of my life and my love are not twisted against me?’ God stepped closer to him. ‘Will you strive to win every heart in the world for me with your actions, my son, and cast out only those who serve her purpose intentionally?’

  ‘I…’ Miguel was pale when glanced back at his followers, and his indecision was clear.

  ‘Would you wear the earth’s crown?’ God asked. ‘Instead of Heaven’s halo?’

  Silence fell, and Miguel looked at him, confused. ‘What?’

  ‘If I leave you four here, then I will not send any more angels down as I did before to watch over the earth.’ God said. ‘I will lose my eyes and ears and that perplexes me, but if I lose any of your hearts to her, I will surrender your divine power to her and that I cannot abide.’ God cupped his hands and a brilliant, warm light shone from within them. When the light faded, in its place was a golden crown. He held it out to Miguel. ‘If you take this to wear on Earth as their King and leader, you agree to surrender your wings to me in death from the moment you put it on, as an unbreakable promise to me,’ God said, and he saw Satan inhale sharply. He wanted to smile to know that he had blocked one of her schemes, but his depression over never seeing Miguel’s brilliant wings in Heaven again was too thick for a smile to penetrate through. Even as he held the crown out, he silently begged Miguel to refuse it.

  ‘But without my feathers… I won’t be able to return after, will I?’ Miguel asked, looked vexed. ‘Not alive?’

  ‘No,’ God said sadly. ‘You say you are willing to refuse Heaven for this life, and so I will hold you to that forever. I cannot risk your strength ending up in Satan’s clutches, so if you stay, you will serve your people until every last feather falls out. And when they are gon
e, you will be mortal, and die as one. Your soul will return to me if you love me still, but your power will return to me as it fades from you to keep it safe with your daughter’s spirit.’ He sighed. ‘You will be Soul Mate no more.’

  Miguel stared at the crown, and the other angels moved closer.

  ‘Does this apply to all of us, lord?’ Tariel asked.

  ‘No,’ God said, staring hard at Miguel. ‘Only him. The rest of you may return as you see fit if your feathers heal adequately to do so, or you can choose to stay and use the reserves of your strength to help him in his image.’ He stepped closer to Miguel. ‘But there will be no divine intervention this time- only free will. When your last feather has fallen out, your mortal life begins to end, and your spirit will go where your love resides.’

  ‘This is too much of a sacrifice to ask him to make,’ Satan said, her voice shaky. ‘Can’t I just promise not to covet his wings? I have made this offer to benefit him, not to attempt to overpower you, and I will not even be here to try!’

  ‘You may vanish from sight, but I don’t know where your minions are, or how many of them have lingered to corrupt in your absence so no, I will not gamble his soul on your word.’

  ‘You can see how many of my Soul Mates are left,’ Satan said sourly, ‘by counting the twelve new angels that you now have in Heaven, for they are certainly not here or in Hell!’

  ‘There was evil before there was hell,’ God said, still staring hard at Miguel and willing him to turn away from the crown. ‘And there will be dark Nephilim lingering in the wake of your fallen soldiers. Besides, your word is worth nothing to me Satan, so if you want his wish granted, keep your wicked opinions away from the terms, or I will rescind my offer completely!’

  ‘You can do it, Miguel,’ Amalie whispered, creeping close to gawk at the crown. ‘I have faith in you.’

  ‘You know where we went wrong,’ Rabia encouraged him. ‘We all do! You may wear the crown alone but we will help carry the load of responsibility and make sure that things are different this time.’

  ‘I think we should just leave,’ Tariel said sadly, though he couldn’t take his eyes off the golden, thorny crown either. ‘Heaven is lovely, and we could be happy there if we can let go of our earthly desires.’

  ‘How do we even know that she means what she says? We know that there are some dark Nephilim lingering- we feel their shadows, even in the night!’ Selafiel cried. ‘And what if she is tricking us? Perhaps she will only appear to vanish- but will linger as a ghost to torment us every way she can!’

  God had already anticipated such treachery, and the quick flash in Satan’s eye confirmed that that was exactly what she intended to do. She’d been regretful a few minutes ago, but she hadn’t given up on her love- she’d still had hopes of capturing Miguel’s soul and his wings and dragging him to hell with her. Well, maybe she’d get his spirit- the fact that he still wore her feathers proved that she had not lost her grip on him- but never his feathers! Never his power!

  ‘I don’t know…’ Miguel croaked, looking close to tears. ‘This will be so hard. I do not know if I am up it. I…’

  ‘I believe that you can do it,’ Gabriella whispered, putting her hand on Miguel’s back and smiling at him, and the light shone off her solitaire in a dazzling prism. ‘I believe that you could do anything, for love. And maybe you will not be their Soul Mate anymore, but you will always be mine, Miguel.’ She looked at him with desperate eyes. ‘That’s enough for you, isn’t it?’

  Miguel bit his lip and stared at the crown, but he still did not reach for it and God knew that he was remembering how easily he’d been overwhelmed by temptation in the past. Could the lacklustre and sharp-eyed young whore be enough for him? God doubted that, even though he wished it could be so.

  Say no, Miguel. Choose Heaven! Mortal desires will never eclipse heavenly ones!

  Satan sighed and shook her head, turning away from them. ‘If he is too scared to accept the responsibility, then perhaps Rabia will.’ She indicated to the healthiest of all of the lingering Soul Mates, whose eyes flashed with the thrill of the offered promise. ‘Perhaps with a female spirit guiding things, everything will flow more smoothly anyway-’

  ‘I am not scared! And Rabia is not up for this challenge the way I am!’ Miguel snapped, snatching the crown from God’s hands and putting it on his head. God went to cry out a warning that Miguel was being baited into making a rash decision with his pride, but it was too late. He watched in shock and horror as the first of Miguel’s remaining feathers fell from his wings. It was tiny and went unnoticed by everyone as they stepped forward to admire the crown on Miguel’s head- all but the little girl at her mother’s side. She bent and picked the feather up, studying it curiously, and God’s heart broke, for it had turned black as it fell.

  ‘That was a brave decision to make,’ Satan said, her voice oozing smugness. ‘Already, you are setting a wonderful example.’

  ‘You have your wish granted, Miguel and have saved the earth.’ God said gravely. ‘But keep in mind that you have been manipulated this day by your vanity, and if you continue to succumb to such things, not only will you strengthen her demonic heart, but you will fail all of the human race in a way that I never would have!’ God turned to Satan. ‘And you- don’t think that I haven’t seen how you’ve manipulated him with temptation, or deceive yourself into believing that I think you have done any of this for anyone but yourself!’

  ‘Don’t deceive yourself into believing that I couldn’t have taken you down where we stand!’ Satan erupted back, raising her hands above her head and causing a bright glow to emanate from her fingertips and caress everything that the light reached. Fall leaves turned green again, and the sky shifted from stained ochre with swirls of lavender, to the purest blue. Clouds parted and brightened, and birdsong filled the air. ‘I have given YOU a chance to redeem yourself God, instead of striking as I could have, and without my influence, this place will be nothing but a reflection of your spirit from within his heart! So if Miguel fails, you fail and the earth will be mine and there won’t be a GODDAMNED thing you will be able to do about it!’ The magic Satan was conjuring did nothing but make things shine and sparkle and clear- everything from dissipating the haze in the air to calming the ocean that had been smashing against the cliff face in the aftershock of some distant earth tremor, and yet everybody curled in together in terror to see her demonstrate just how powerful she had become, even though her feathers were beginning to smoke and char and fall out. She was healing three years worth of God’s carnage in seconds! Even the air smelled better, and the atmosphere lost its chill and warmed notably. ‘A man’s character is his destiny, and we all have facets of yours, so pray mortals- pray not that I will leave and hastily, but that you are not so weak as to find a way to follow me without my provocation!’

  ‘You threaten them and I with my character,’ God said, smiling sorrowfully at her, clasping his hands together and then opening them to reveal a single, shimmering star, which was pretty as it was unimpressive, and identical to the one that he had left them in the sky back in the beginning. ‘And yet you are forgetting one vital thing…’

  ‘And what is that?’ Satan sneered, her eyes blackening, her skin becoming translucent as she began to fade away. Everyone continued to watch her, afraid that she had deceived them all- afraid that she was going to take some other form and trick them by lingering, but God felt no fear.

  ‘Love is more powerful than hate, and a single vow of devotion whispered into an ear can overcome the hearts of those screaming the most hateful things.’ He smiled at her and brightened the tiny light in his hand. ‘When you influenced that man to push the button and start the final war, you did it with a kiss didn’t you- not an insult?’ Satan stared at him, confused, but he only smiled more widely. ‘Yes, you hear the truth in that, don’t you? Love conquers, and hate fades- as will your influence once you are gone!’

  ‘I don’t know about that,’ she griped. ‘It is in m
y character to be sceptical, and after what I have survived, I cannot be held accountable for that.’ She pointed at Miguel. ‘I have forgiven you, but only for the love in Gabriella’s heart. If another woman is so broken again as to bleed tears like I have-’

  ‘They will not,’ Miguel said quickly. ‘I vow that to you.’

  ‘And I vow that so long as you continue to make threats, you guarantee only my suspicion!’ God snapped.

  ‘And what is that supposed to mean?’ Satan asked haughtily.

  ‘Forgiveness does not come with conditions,’ God chastised her. ‘And until you understand such things, you must understand that I cannot allow such negative energy to haunt the earth. So please forgive my child for doing this again, but just in case you have a trick up your lovely sleeve- I will use the energy I have left to send you back to your son, and hold you to your word, for I cannot trust you to do it on your own accord!’ God raised the star to his lips, kissed it and then blew that kiss at Satan. Like a tiny meteorite, it shot through the air, hitting her straight in the chest, and though her scream was so loud and tortured that it made every human bleed from the ears, Satan vanished in a burst of light, and God fell to his knees, exhausted.

  ‘I forgive you and love you unconditionally, Satan,’ he whispered to her feathers as they fell on the earth that she had stained with her bloody tears. ‘And I hope to see you in Heaven next time, where we all belong.’

  The angels and mortals rushed forward to help him to his feet, but he held up a hand and coughed blood as his now fragile body began to break down.

  ‘I’m sorry!’ Miguel cried. ‘I only wanted a life for my son!’

  ‘There can only be equality,’ God gasped, not wasting the last of his breath on pleasantries. ‘The earth must be cared for, the population must be kept in balance with it, everyone is entitled to be loved and to return to me… no religion…’ he coughed. ‘No shame for what were seen as sins of the flesh…’ the bloody tears were disappearing as green grass continued to shoot up form the parched earth. ‘No neglected children! No starvation or greed… and her name must not be spoken or called to! Nor mine used as a weapon!’