"I am impressed," Michael said calmly, seeing the four angels assembled. "To think that you resisted the call." He chuckled at the idea. Ariel gazed upon the archangel whom she had pledged her loyalty to not so long ago. The last time she had seen him, she had been thankful of his mercy for her life. Now, his presence brought all the memories of being used for their cause, and she resented him.
Following Michael’s descent, a large ball of light slammed against the concrete road. The road broke upon impact, creating a mist of dust and rocks that veiled what was beyond. When the mist cleared, Lucifer's form emerged. "I see that we still have a resistance," Lucifer said.
Gabriel raised her scepter. "If we must fall, we shall do so in battle!"
Michael looked back at Lucifer. "Are you to spare them as well?"
Lucifer chuckled. "They have stated that they shall fall. So shall it be."
Michael nodded. He turned back to them and immediately saw Gabriel's form approaching him on high speed. "Fall they shall!" Michael summoned his spear and blocked Gabriel's leg as she attempted to deliver a kick. The force threw Gabriel back, skidding across the ground. "Hear me!" Michael shouted. "I am the vessel of Heaven! I am invincible! I shall grant thee a merciful death if you—"
The place where Michael stood exploded in dark flames and a flurry of feathers like that of a raven’s. Michael jumped out of the flames’ reach and soared up into the sky. He twisted his body to face a large black orb that spun around until the feathers reeled back into Azrael’s wings. The Angel of Death stared up at him with her crimson eyes, brimming with fury.
"Yield!" Michael shouted. Suddenly, swords of light sped towards him from all directions. Michael felt pain as one sword stabbed him, then another. Daniel focused all his swords to soar towards the archangel who seemed to be crippled by the attacks, though he bore no great damage.
Lucifer watched the scene with mild interest. "Do enjoy yourself, Brother. Please keep their attention as I open Purgatory. I shall join you soon." He turned and walked a few paces away from the fight.
Finding a suitable space, he raised both hands and summoned twirling light from his fingers. He closed his eyes and murmured an archaic language. The light from his fingers slowly moved towards the space up front and began to form a sigil comprised of a circle and an upside-down star. The sigil changed color, from white to violet. In an instant, a large swirl of the purple mist spilled and the sigil expanded.
Ah, the Gates of Purgatory, unsealed covertly by the five souls. It is mine, all of the souls shall empower me… and from that power, I spark the engines of creation! Lucifer put his hands together, palm to palm, as if in prayer. After a few moments, he parted his hands, and like Noah who parted the red sea, the mist that was the gate of Purgatory began to unweave.
As soon as it did, Lucifer flicked his hands up. The sigil reappeared, and each of the five points of the star began to glow. With the sacrifices that defy the will of God, I shall use thee to defy the law of God's true realm!
With a sudden shock wave, the sigil spun. As it did, the mist cleared and the portal to the grey world of Purgatory appeared before Lucifer. Now, all the souls will be mine!
His triumphant smile melted instantly, and his eyes widened. His face was etched with nothing but shock and surprise.
"Hello," a voice dripping with sarcasm spoke from the portal.
A good distance from Lucifer and his portal, Daniel, Gabriel, and Azrael created a strong front against Michael. The archangel stood, spinning his spear to deflect Daniel's swords. "Your form is poor!"
Gabriel, who landed nearby, spat out, "To have no experience in real battle revokes your authority to pass such judgment! Choosing to stand on your lofty pedestal, giving nothing but commands! How laughable that you claim to be the strongest!"
Daniel recalled his swords, and before Michael could recover, Gabriel rushed towards him to deliver a punch to his face. Michael flicked his spear across the approaching angel, but it missed her when she rolled downward. Following the roll, Gabriel jumped towards him and slammed her elbow into his stomach. A pained gasp escaped Michael’s lips. His body remained undamaged but still allowed pain. Gabriel’s arms circled his lower torso and lifted him. Michael saw the world turn before his head slammed hard on the ground.
Daniel appeared behind Gabriel and touched her shoulder just as she loosened her hold on Michael. With a sudden gust of wind, both disappeared. Michael groaned in pain as another wave of black fire spilled from above.
As ordered by Gabriel, Ariel held her spear and stood back. Using the scepter, Gabriel coordinated their attacks and told Ariel to stand until they create an opportunity for her to strike. When the flames from Azrael’s attack cleared, Ariel heard the order to strike, and she charged with her spear.
Before she could near Michael, a powerful energy filled the air around them, causing her to stop. All heads turned to the source of the powerful energy that radiated both dread and warmth.
Not far from where they fought, Ariel saw, to her surprise, Lucifer backing away from a large portal. The odd tension in his steps made her wonder what he saw. She followed his gaze to see a bright figure stepping out of the portal.
Her face lit up in utter delight, recognizing the figure immediately. "Caelum!"
Caelum, whose form was still in his favored dark blue suit, radiated a pure white aura. On his head was a weave of wood that gave a softer, candle-like glow, and in his hand was a long, beautifully ornate, golden blade. He stepped from the Gates of Purgatory and flashed his smile at the angel who greeted him. "Did you miss me?"
Lucifer brought about a flash of light and disappeared inside it. He appeared next to Michael who had fanned the black flames away from his brother.
Ariel ran towards the demon, eager for his embrace. But she stopped as she closed in and faced Caelum instead, looking into his eyes. "Is it really you?"
She could not feel Caelum's soul, but she could feel his warmth. Caelum stared back at her. "Yes. It's me, Ariel. Like I promised, I'm back to help."
Michael stared at the brimming figure. "Brother, what happened?"
Lucifer's calm face changed into a frown. "It would seem that this lowly demon managed to absorb all the souls from Purgatory."
"How?" Michael questioned in disbelief.
Lucifer merely shook his head and shrugged. "It matters little. Brother, let us dispose of them. We cannot guide the souls if they are within a vessel." He took a step forward, approaching the reunited angel and demon. Ariel and Caelum turned to the archangel as he addressed them. "Pardon if I interrupt your sweet murmurings," Lucifer chided, and the two readied themselves as Lucifer neared them, "but you have something that rightfully belongs to me."
Ariel turned her spear to him and yelled, "Now is our chance! We will stop you once and for all!"
"On the contrary." Lucifer smiled, "It is my chance now."
To Ariel's surprise, her spear suddenly moved on its own, turning to stab Caelum. The demon blocked the blow with his sword, but the spear pulled back and delivered stabs one after another, with Ariel helplessly pulled with it.
"What's happening?!" she screamed, unable to let go of the spear.
With the skillful grace of a fencer, Caelum caught the spear's tip with the side of his blade. He quickly flicked the sword and stepped to the side to allow the spear to pass. When the spear stabbed past him, he quickly swung the blade down at its handle. The spear shattered into glistening light. The light whizzed about then zipped to Lucifer's side. Ariel turned to Caelum, clenching her hand. "What have you done to the spear?"
Both Caelum and Ariel heard Lucifer laugh. "Ah, how gullible centuries of being imprisoned have made you, Ariel." He chuckled. Ariel looked at him in horror and doubt. "Very well, I shall silence the questions troubling you." A dark orb appeared around him, circling along with the white one. "Umbra, Ignis, shall we show the lady how it was made?"
Upon his request, the dark orb began to undulate and morph into a shape as t
all as a man. From that shape, a perfect copy of Caelum stepped forward. Ignis, the white light, zipped around and morphed into a rod of light. When the light waned, it became a spear very similar to Ariel’s.
"It felt the same, didn't it?" Lucifer mocked. "You must not love your partner enough to separate a simulated essence from the real one."
The statement made Caelum look at Ariel. "You were deceived by that while I was gone?"
Ariel bowed her head in shame. "Yes, I was. I also wept when I thought you had perished."
"No matter," Caelum said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "I have the power to end this." He flashed her a smile before facing Lucifer. He stepped towards the archangel and aimed his golden blade at him. "The time has come! The curtains of this stage of yours are about to close!"
"To my story's ending it shall!" Lucifer added. Suddenly, the Caelum copy vanished and turned back into the black orb. Like a swathing of ink, Umbra trailed around Lucifer, with Ignis following close.
Once their dance ended, Caelum and Ariel took a step back. Now in front of them stood hundreds of Lucifers, each holding a long, black, jagged blade.
Chapter Seventeen: Symbol of a King
Enoch and the Tenney family walked quietly towards the golden road. Enoch noticed that the family shared the same expression as he did when he’d first walked in Heaven, filled with awe and confusion as their eyes gazed at everything they could absorb.
"Where are the angels?" Jenny asked.
"Gone," Enoch replied. "Michael called them all and absorbed them into his body."
"Does that mean…" Jenny stammered, "Ariel and Daniel are...”
"No." Enoch sighed. "Thankfully, no." Enoch looked up and saw the pillar of light in the distance. "We are almost there."
Passing more of the spires, they finally reached a place where the six towers stood. David and the rest scattered about, appreciating the scene despite the situation at hand. "These towers," Enoch explained, "are the home of the archangels. I resided in one of them; Lucifer's previous tower."
David turned to Enoch. "Did you learn all there is about Lucifer while living there?"
Enoch shook his head. "The tower was empty. They cleared everything out before I stepped in."
"What's that?" Jenny pointed, her mother trailing behind her. She pointed at the moat surrounding the pillar of light.
"Oh that." Enoch wondered why she didn't point at the golden pillar of light first. "That's the reflection water where you can see what God sees. Sort of."
Jenny energetically ran towards the edge of the moat. A "whoa!" came out of her mouth. "It's Ariel and Caelum!"
"W-what?" Enoch exclaimed, confused. "You can see in it!?" Enoch ran to the girl, David and Ann following suit. As they reached her, though all they could see was clear placid water.
"I don't get it…" David said. "I only see water and this big wall of light."
"Huh?" Jenny turned. "What wall of light?"
David pointed at the center of the moat. "That big pillar of light. Kinda hard to miss it."
Jenny only tilted her head. Ann smiled and told him, "We don't see one, all we see is that stone slab."
"Stone slab?" Enoch felt alienated. “What slab?"
Jenny stared at the slab carefully. "It's big, rectangular, made of some rock, and something is etched on it." She squinted, trying to see the detail on the slab. "It has a tree… I think that's a tree, yes. The roots are all spread at the bottom with six circles, and… and above, the branches all spill into lines. No, rays of light? Yeah! And on the very top..."
"A triangle with an eye?" David suggested, and Jenny nodded.
"Yeah! You can see it too?"
"Humph." David exhaled with an air of pride. "I'm betting the six circles below represent the six stages of creation, and of course, the fruit of the tree is the symbol of God."
"I don't get it," Jenny murmured. The question she asked shocked everyone, especially Enoch. "Plants start from the roots. How come God is the fruit? Shouldn't He be the root, and the creations are His fruits?" Something caught her attention and she pointed again. “Ah! There's writing below the triangle! It says: I created man in my image."
Everyone else looked at each other except for Jenny who peered intently at the statement.
"Let Man create me in theirs." Enoch's memory flashed back to him. From the moment he’d stepped into the pillar of light, he saw the large monolith. The man, who he claimed was God, stood in front of the stone and faced him.
You shall look upon my lands, and see all that I will see. For I walk among this land and am one with my beloved creations. You shall be the witness. As I see the world of Man with my eyes, you Son of Man, shall see the world of God with yours.
From that moment, he had become the Scribe. His task was to record everything, learn everything and understand everything there was to know about Heaven and God through the eyes of man.
Am I supposed to be the bridge between Man and God? Enoch wondered.
"Hey! What’s happening?" David loudly interrupted Enoch’s reverie. He looked where the lad was pointing and saw Jenny touching the water. As the ripples flowed around, it slowly revealed what Jenny had seen earlier; Caelum and Ariel cornered by Lucifer.
The God's eye view of the place broke Enoch's heart. "W-what have they done to the world?" The view zoomed out, and the city they were in was nothing but rubble, destroyed buildings and flat, burned land.
"Look at all the Lucifers," David lazily remarked. When the view zoomed back, Ariel and Caelum surrounded by a few hundred Lucifer copies were seen. Each copy held a grotesque blade.
Enoch jolted when he saw Caelum's new form. "That crown, the olive crown! He succeeded!” Enoch rejoiced. He now has in him all the souls of Purgatory, with the binder of the Holy Spirit! The olive crown!
David eyed Lucifer and clenched his fists. “We have to help them! I want to help them!"
Caelum's form gave Enoch some confidence. "Alright. We have nothing to lose but the fate of the new world. This is the final battle we must face!" he cheered, his eyes fixated on the demon who faced the first angel below.
Caelum readied his sword and carefully scanned all the Lucifers surrounding him. The weight of the sword felt both odd and comforting in his hand. He had never needed to hold a weapon before; his weapon of choice had always been his words. But he doubted he could talk his way out of this one.
Ariel slowly stepped behind Caelum, unarmed against the hundred enemies. "Caelum?" she asked. "What are we to do?"
Caelum chuckled. Without turning to Ariel, he addressed their foe. "You're not fooling anyone, Lucy," he stated. "I know all of those are illusions."
"Alas, it is true." Lucifer nodded. "They are but fabrications of reality. However…"
One among the copies suddenly bolted and rushed towards Caelum. The copy's sword whistled as it dove towards the demon. Their blades clashed, but as Caelum swung back, the copy hopped backwards.
"These…" Lucifer revealed with a smile, "are no mere tricks of the light."
Several copies rushed towards the two. Caelum stretched his arm back, as if to block Ariel from the oncoming attacks coming from all directions. They were clearly overwhelmed by the number, but the demon did not lose hope. As the first Lucifer approached, Caelum charged, easily blocking and slashing his way past him. He took down a few of the copies before a gasp from behind him caught his attention. Ariel had been stabbed on the shoulder by another Lucifer, her hands bleeding as she grabbed the blade. Distracted by her pain, two Lucifers carved their swords on Caelum's back, and as he fell, several more of them plunged their blades on him.
"How anticlimactic," Lucifer chided.
"I know," a voice answered, startling the archangel. He and several other copies turned and saw Caelum standing with Ariel, unscathed. "You're not the only one who knows a trick or two."
Ariel vanished from behind Caelum. As she did, shadows spilled from where Caelum stood. The shadows rose up like spires reaching t
he sky until they formed multiple copies of the demon, grinning at Lucifer. Their numbers grew until they matched Lucifer’s copies.
"Now, now," Lucifer said. "Those are actual tricks of the eye. They would but distract me, and to match them with me is utterly… oh, how did Uriel say it before… ah, futile!"
"It would seem so," Caelum replied. "However..."
He looked at the sword War had given to him. I think I get why you named this blade Attrition. You wanted to see the greatest battle ever!
Caelum raised the golden sword, and all his copies raised their hands. The sword glowed and thundered. War's laugh echoed from the distance, and to Lucifer's surprise, swords of the same design appeared in each and every illusion’s hand.
Caelum faced Lucifer and aimed his blade at him. "Shall we dance?"
Lucifer laughed, extremely amused by the turn of events. "Dance we shall! To the ballad of light and dark!"
As Lucifer faced Caelum, Michael was separated from him and was left to face the three angels: Gabriel, Daniel, and Azrael. He hated to admit that Gabriel's insult was accurate. Though he had an invincible body, his knowledge of battle was scarce. The only war he’d ever fought in was when Lucifer had been banished. Ever since he’d defeated Lucifer, he’d been branded as the ultimate archangel by man. Even among the angels, his story was passed. No one knew that Lucifer had allowed it to happen, as it was part of his plan.
Now, he faced Gabriel, a veteran of all heavenly wars, Daniel, one of her generals, and Azrael, the sole governor of all the mortal souls. He spun his spear and prepared himself for battle. He knew that the only way to win this was to exhaust them and ready himself for the pain this plan would deliver.
He was wondering why the three did not approach him, but Daniel's move answered his question. After concentrating, Daniel raised his sword, and from it, countless swords of light manifested. They flew upwards, and upon reaching an apex, curved and showered down. Michael braced himself as the swords struck, but to his surprise, only a few hit him, and the rest scattered wide around him.
The Damned and The Pure Series: Books 1-4 (The Damned and The Pure Series Box Set) Page 82
