Celestial Crisis

by Leo E. Ndelle

  “Yes, I can handle it,” Uriel replied, trying not to focus on her bruised ego.

  “Good,” Lunok replied. “Now here’s the second prophecy I gave to Malichiel.”

  THE SECOND PROPHECY

  A fallen one would rise into rebellion. Many will fall and sorrow, suffering, loss and ending of existences will plague and haunt the realm of Celestia for cycles to come, for in her lust for power and dominion, the fallen one will stop at nothing to see her desires through.

  Uriel was shocked. Lunok had jumped to conclusions already, without any concrete evidence. And yet, he was so quick to talk about ‘maintaining a sense of objectivity’ with her? How pretentious! What a hypocrite! She could feel her anger rise but just as she was about to lash out at Lunok, he resumed talking.

  “Embedded in this prophecy is an energy frequency that prohibits Malichiel from sharing this particular prophecy with anyone but Michael,” Lunok explained. “I had to determine how Michael would react to such a prophecy regarding his lover and soon-to-be archrival. Malichiel thought he was doing his friend a favor by being discrete. But he was acting under a subtle influence. And yes, before you go saying it, I controlled Malichiel’s will, via the energy frequency embedded in the prophecy; at least in this situation,”

  Lunok paused for effect before he continued.

  “The fact that Michael chose to hide the information from all of you is indicative of his patience with judgement,” Lunok said. “His reaction is indicative that he still hopes for the better, despite the prophecy stating otherwise. If he were completely aligned with the darkness, he would have already felt threatened by Luciel, based upon this prophecy and he would have acted accordingly. But he did not!”

  “And what was the purpose of the prophecy you gave me for Malichiel?” Uriel asked.

  Lunok’s move was genius and Uriel felt more humbled by Lunok’s move. He was after all, a Shemsu. She was glad Lunok was mentoring her.

  “The purpose of the third prophecy was to ascertain how Michael would react to a threat on his legacy,” Lunok answered. “Before you ask, the answer is yes. There will be ‘a one’ that will rise to Michael’s level and even higher. And no, I will have nothing to do with that. I am confident about this prophecy thus because it is a common trend in every species. Along comes one that turns out to have a superior tendency or tendencies above everyone else. Celestia is no different. Hopefully, when The One arrives, he or she will choose to not align with the darkness, because if he or she does… Well, let us focus on the mission at hand.”

  Uriel was at least happy that Lunok kept saying ‘we’ instead of ‘I’. He had not kicked her off yet. Good sign!

  “And why must Michael deal with a threat to his legacy?” Uriel asked. “Is his legacy not a part of his nature? Is his legacy not a part of who he is?”

  “His legacy is a part of his illusionary self, or ego, and he has strongly identified with that illusionary self,” Lunok explained.

  “That illusionary self is what gets polarized. Every angel, archangel and every creature in the lower realms have one. The ego gets customized to whichever side one chooses to align with. So, yes, I was already aware that there would be those among you who would choose the path of rebellion and those who would choose not to rebel. The reason why Michael and Luciel are so special is because their polarization goes deeper than just their illusionary selves. Their polarizations involve their very essences and that is why we are concerned. That is why we say Michael and Luciel have tainted essences, thanks to Emok imprinting a part of HIS tainted essence unto theirs during spawning. As you can now see, this situation is as serious as it gets. It goes far beyond the notion of mere basic polarization.”

  Uriel nodded her understanding. Thanks to Lunok’s explanation, she had a better appreciation for the situation and was grateful for the enlightenment.

  “So what do we do now, Lunok?” Uriel asked.

  “Now, we wait,” Lunok replied. “But you can start being proactive.”

  “How so?” Uriel asked.

  “By starting your own recruitment,” Lunok answered. “And preparing for war!”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  PROACTION

  “I REQUIRE YOUR assistance, please,” Raphael said via telepathy. “I apologize for the intrusion.”

  “Of course, Raphael,” Uriel replied. “I will be there shortly. I take it you are at the Hall of Records this moment?”

  “Yes, I am,” Raphael replied. “Thank you very much, Uriel.”

  “My pleasure,” Uriel could not help but smile. “See you soon.”

  Always so polite, Uriel thought. The fierce, no-nonsense Raphael was always so sweet, outside of training of course! Too bad Raphael was not her type. He was the epitome of an oxymoron. Ah, the things she would love to do to and for him, if he was into such pleasures, that is. Was he? Uriel shrugged. Maybe he was, maybe he was not. She would never get the opportunity to find out for herself unfortunately. Raphael was always too serious about everything. Uriel stopped fantasizing about this macho of an archangel and teleported to the Hall of Records. Archangel Strong and Sweet needed her… services. Services, not her! Maybe she could even try to pull a charm or two of her own while she was with him. All this keeping tab of Celestial affairs had kept her mind off certain pleasurable distractions she had been accustomed to getting regularly.

  Uriel arrived at the Hall of Records. It had expanded it a little bit since her last visit. She really had been distracted lately. Well, Celestia was facing doom and gloom, potentially, and someone had to do something about it. Damn this Celestial crisis, she muttered to herself. She preferred to walk down the hallway. Angels were teleporting all over the place, retrieving and replacing tablets, while maintaining total silence. She was easy to distinguish the younglings from the senior angels, and even the young archangels from the old ones.

  The younglings were always trying to put up some kind of show. She could not say she blamed them, though. You never knew which archangel might be watching! The more you made yourself available and the more you showed your willingness to learn, the better your chances were at getting that golden bracelet. Ah, the bracelet of an archangel! The dream of every angel!

  Uriel smiled as she watched a youngling hovering to her right, eyebrows furrowed, and lips pursed. The youngling appeared to be deeply engrossed in the glyphs on the tablet in his hand. Uriel turned to her right and saw Archangel Hanikiel sitting opposite the youngling, calmly flipping through the glyphs on a tablet in her hand. Talk about trying to impress a mentor! Uriel smiled at the cuteness of the situation and continued her walk along the hallway. After letting the feeling of nostalgia wear off a little, she decided to contact Raphael and ask for his location. Raphael told her, and Uriel teleported over to meet him.

  “So, to what do I owe this visit, my dear friend?” Uriel asked as amicably.

  “Thank you so much for coming, Uriel,” Raphael said, and summoned seat appear next to him.

  Uriel raised an eyebrow and grinned. Raphael was so sweet! She sat next to him and Raphael moved her seat closer to his. Uriel started getting warm in her nether regions. She hoped Raphael could not tell what was going on. Or maybe she did want him to know!

  “You’re quite welcome, Raphael,” Uriel replied and hoped she did not sound too giddy.

  Or maybe she did. Damnation! She was really losing her cool. She cursed in her mind!

  “So here is what I needed your assistance with,” Raphael said and pulled out a tablet from underneath a pile of tablets on the table.

  Uriel at first did not notice until then. The tablet in Raphael’s hand was not of the Hall of Records. Even as Raphael handed her the tablet, she could tell Raphael was not in the hall to study. Even the section he had chosen to ‘study’ was empty, except for the two of them. A trap! Uriel thought and immediately braced herself for battle. Raphael did not show any signs of aggression. She was ready regardless, ambush or not! Raphael may be better in combat than she was, b
ut that was only because none of them had been in any real combat situation yet. Uriel took the tablet and stared at it. Like she expected, there was nothing written on it. It was a damn trap!

  She gently set the tablet on the desk. Even before she turned around to face Raphael, she could feel his fierce eyes burning into her left temple. She faced Raphael and the two senior archangels locked eyes. Uriel relaxed, hoping it would induce Raphael into lowering his guard before she launched a preemptive strike. Even as she thought of the plan, she realized the foolishness of it. This was Raphael she was sitting next to! One of the best in the realm!

  “I will make this as brief as possible, my good friend,” Raphael spoke coldly but calmly. “Your closeness with Michael is no secret and some of us have been concerned with his… uh… ‘behavior’. We would like you to enlighten us on this situation!”

  Even when he was issuing a threat, he was still so sweet!

  “Who is ‘we’?” Uriel asked as calmly as she could.

  She was not so sure which side Raphael represented. Perhaps Raphael was starting his rebellion; perhaps Raphael had sided with Luciel, which would be a huge disappointment by the way. Perhaps Luciel had sent him to test her, Uriel.

  “Who we are is no concern of yours right now, my good friend,” Raphael replied in the same cold, calm tone. “But I would strongly recommend you do as I have asked and start talking.”

  Raphael angled his head at Uriel’s wrist. Her bracelet had lit up and she was already summoning a dagger, even without her consciously realizing it. She mentally smacked herself for being so obvious as she dismissed the partially- formed dagger. She squared her shoulders and tried to look tough, but the slight smile from the corner of Raphael’s mouth killed her intention. It was the kind of smile that dared one to attempt another foolish act again. There was no way out for her. She was trapped between going rash and taking on Raphael, which would not be wise for her, and doing as he had asked. Uriel chose the latter.

  “I’m as ignorant as you are about Michael’s behavior,” Uriel admitted. “He has even shut me out, in case you couldn’t tell. But if you have noticed Michael’s change in behavior, then you also must have noticed he has shut me out. And that makes me wonder why you really asked for this meeting in the first place.”

  She tried to sound annoyed and exasperated but she knew Raphael would not fall for her act. What if she just called on Michael? And if Michael showed up, what next? There was no telling how bad the situation could escalate. Also, it was possible that Raphael had also thought of a backup plan. By Celestia! This could be the start of the rebellion already! There was no telling how bad the situation was. Patience! Survive this meeting and the rest will follow! Uriel told herself.

  “Why did Michael shut you out?” Raphael asked, ignoring her question.

  “You should ask him yourself which I don’t think will happen; for obvious reasons,” Uriel smirked.

  She noticed Raphael’s eyes narrow into slits, as if he was deciding his next move. She did admit it was petty of her to throw such a low blow at Raphael. But she felt trapped and was desperate.

  “I must add that I like the compliment, though,” Uriel added and relished the looked of surprise on Raphael’s face. “They sent their very best to eliminate me. Well, be prepared then because when Michael finds out that you ended me, his best friend, you will have a lot to answer for. I hope you’ve had sufficient training for that, my good friend.” Uriel added the last part with a sneer.

  Something about what she said seemed to make Raphael relax visibly. He was happy to hear her words. Was he not supposed to take offense or something and even indulge her in a semi-unfair duel? Why did Raphael seem so relieved? Now it was Uriel who was confused and did not know what to do. Raphael decided to put an end to her confusion.

  “I, personally, am glad that you’re not with them!” Raphael said. “We got word of a group of angels and archangels are planning a rebellion against Michael. They tried to recruit an angel named Palubiel. But she’s loyal to those of us who still side with Michael. She accepted their offer and now acts as an insider for us. What a very brave youngling. She should be getting a promotion with my endorsement as soon as possible.”

  “Wait!” Uriel was still in shock at the recent turn of events. “You mean, this is not an ambush and who are this ‘we’ you keep speaking of?”

  “My good friend, this is not an ambush,” Raphael said and did something he rarely ever did.

  Raphael smiled, only because laughing would probably end him.

  “This was just a test, to find out where you stand,” he explained. “I chose to be the one to test you, for obvious reasons.”

  He winked and Uriel was very happy that Raphael held their friendship at such a high esteem. Plus, he had just winked at her; another rare occurrence. She wanted to give him a hug but she was concerned she might force herself upon him. She did not know how Raphael would react to her sudden erotic manifesto. She summoned her wings, flapped them thrice and grabbed the edge of her seat to still herself. It only worked partially and she cursed many times in her mind.

  “And ‘we’ are the ones who believe a rebellion in our domain is the last thing we need,” Raphael continued.

  Uriel was grateful he did not notice, or pretended not to notice, her almost uncontrollable restlessness.

  “Even before Palubiel came to us, there had been rumors going around about recruitment and after doing some investigations myself, I found these rumors to be true. So, I extended my investigations to include recruitment of those who I believe were not siding with the rebellion, starting with a very short list of senior archangels that I trusted. Gabriel has also been of great help. However, by our estimates, most of the senior archangels and young archangels are siding with the rebellion. Luciel is their leader and Zukael is her general.”

  “Why am I not surprised,” Uriel interjected.

  “They’ve forgotten their ways, Uriel,” Raphael spat and Uriel could feel his rage. “They’ve forgotten who they are and why they were spawned. They have gone against every oath they took. But do you know their biggest mistake, my good friend?”

  Uriel met his eyes and, in those eyes, she saw the warrior she had always thought of him to be. It was like he was excited for the opportunity to teach the rebellion how much of a mistake they had made. And the very thought of him letting loose made her cross and uncross her legs. She was in so much heat she thought her seat would melt beneath her.

  “What was their mistake?” she asked with more enthusiasm than necessary.

  “They forgot about us!” Raphael replied. “They forgot that when we take an oath, we keep it to the very end; because we… are… angels!”

  And if you keep talking like that then Celestia help me for what I will certainly do to you, Raphael! Uriel thought and fought her urges with every feather in her wing.

  “What did you say?” Raphael asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Michael!” Uriel quickly replied and mentally slapped herself in the head.

  She did not realize that she had almost been thinking out loud.

  “I have to get to Michael somehow,” Uriel said. “He has been distant and I am concerned. I must know what is going on with him.”

  “Also one of the many reasons we are happy you are with us,” Raphael chimed in. “We must know where Michael stands regarding this and what he intends to do about it. We are assuming he’s on our side and that, by default, he’ll be our leader. Any idea on why he’s been acting differently lately? Do you think it has anything to do with the prophecy?”

  “I think it does, but I don’t think that’s the only thing bothering him,” Uriel replied and averted her eyes to the ground as if she was trying to fathom what was amiss with Michael.

  She was not lying to Raphael. She only chose not to fully disclose everything she knew. Hers was a covert operation, designed by both her and Lunok.

  “I must speak to him,” Uriel continued. “Even if he does not wan
t to speak to me, I will intrude upon his privacy. I will not stand idly by and let him get into seclusion like this.”

  “You do what you must, my good friend,” Raphael said and stood up from his seat as it disappeared into the floor.

  Uriel slowly rose from hers as well and it disappeared into the floor.

  “Let us know if there’s anything we can do to assist,” Raphael added.

  He walked towards Uriel and hugged her. Uriel felt her body press against his and her every essence quaked with raw, untamed desire.

  “You will meet the others later,” Raphael said as he pulled away from her.

  Uriel held on for a split moment longer before letting him go.

  “See you later, my good friend.”

  “See you later, my good friend,” Uriel replied and after Raphael teleported away, Uriel teleported over to Michael’s domain.

  She stood in front of his door and hesitated for a moment. She did a quick mental practice of what she intended to say and trashed it. Preparation was futile. She heaved her shoulders, summoned her wings, flapped her wings twice and dismissed them. She knocked on the door and waited. There was no reply. She knocked on the door again and waited. There was still no reply. Perhaps he was not in his domain, she thought. She turned around to leave.

  “And just where do you think you are going?” Uriel heard him say telepathically.

  “I thought you were not in your domain,” Uriel replied telepathically.

  She opened the door and cautiously slid her head through the crack in the door, as if she was unsure what awaited her beyond the door. The rest of her body followed and she closed the door gently behind her. Michael was standing by a window and staring blankly at nothing. His hands were clasped behind his back and he made no move to turn around and face her. Uriel walked at a slow, even pace towards him. When she was close to him, she hugged him gently from behind, but Michael remained motionless. Uriel understood and took no offense.