Caelum raised a brow at Michael. “And that’s supposed to convince me?”
“Think what you wish, but I have no interest in you any longer,” Michael’s voice echoed. “Soon, you will be eradicated along with this cursed world one way or another.” He turned his back to them and began to move away. The road in front of him distorted, revealing an image that interchanged from a desolated city to a clear lake.
The demon was not pleased by the turn of events. After all they had risked, after all the pain and loss they had suffered, Caelum didn't want to let it end this way. He thought of his trip to Purgatory and his journey with the Horsemen. All of them had assisted in his goal. But all their efforts were taken from him when Lucifer destroyed the crown that the Holy Spirit had bestowed upon him and the souls that Death offered him. A part of him wished he still had Power who was taken from him by Famine. I would have a better chance of fighting if I still had that part of me!
Then, he thought of what War had given him. His eyes darted around to see the sword lying on the ground. Azrael’s voice returned to him.
“It is not a sword. For you it looks and feels like a sword, but that artifact is a symbol.”
A symbol? For what? Caelum asked himself. He remembered the boisterous Horseman, eager to witness such a battle as they faced. Then, the thought hit him. It is a symbol! A symbol that the war is not over!
The demon charged forward before either of the angels at his side could stop him. He aimed for the sword that War had given him and gripped it tight. He turned to face Michael, only to halt his attack in confusion. “What the—?”
The godly form of Michael was hunched over, his shoulders shaking violently. One hand clawed at his face, his teeth grinded together loudly enough to be heard. “What—” The voice distorted in the space. Suddenly, he arched his back, looking up to the sky. A gurgling sound escaped his lips and his muscles clenched in pain. The scepter dropped to the ground as the hand that held it rose to his face.
“What is happening?” Ariel asked, uncertain.
Gabriel watched the scene intently, watching her brother struggle from within. “Impossible…” she muttered under her breath.
They all watched Michael twist and turn, both hands gripping the sides of his face. “No… Mercy…” The words escaped his lips in a whisper. “Don’t....please…ah!”
As if something snapped, Michael’s arms fell limp at his sides. His back was still bent and his face stared up at the dark sky. Then a smile stretched his lips and a new voice escaped him. "Oh, my dear Brother. You belittled the Archangel of Wisdom."
The voice sent a chill through Caelum. He watched Michael’s form straighten and turn to them. His face was indeed Michael’s, but the expression did not fit the serious archangel. His smile and eyes glowed with both triumph and humor, and his voice was all too familiar to the demon. "I am the manifestation of God's intellect, and I have foreseen my brother’s betrayal."
His face twisted to the side, turning his smile into a face of anger and desperation. "How is this happening?" It was Michael’s voice that choked out the words.
The face again bore the triumphant smile. "Brother, do you remember what I told you, why I descended down to the mortal land before? I went down to the mortal world to infuse myself into the souls of the mortals. With their near indestructible components, even the great flood our Father created to wipe away those I influenced did not stop parts of my soul from spreading amongst them. When a soul influenced by my own was sent to Purgatory, it spread my essence to the rest, allowing me to be part of all of them. All the mortals’ souls carry a small part of me that you will never be able to control!
“And that, my dear brother, is why you had no chance of taking the power of God. Because while I have them gathered with me, I have full control of them!”
Ariel peered through Michael’s vessel and could see all the souls inside. She saw the struggle of the primal soul, Michael’s soul, as the rest overpowered it. Another angelic soul, which she assumed was Lucifer, began to surface. And soon, all the mortal souls that carried Lucifer’s essence devoured the soul of Michael, leaving Lucifer in full control.
"Fruition!" he rejoiced. "As man bore the great tree, its fruit shall be the Lord, thy God. With this fruit, I carry the seed of the new tree, the new age of creation!"
While Lucifer basked in his glory, Ariel rushed to Caelum. The demon turned to her and lowered his eyes to the spear in her hand. We may still have a chance! He spoke in a low voice. “I will make the first move.” He trusted that she would understand what he meant.
Before she could respond, Caelum charged towards the omnipotent being that was Lucifer, sword in hand. As expected, Lucifer easily halted his attacks with only a look. Caelum’s body was hoisted up, his feet inches from the ground. Lucifer spoke softly. “Fear not my wrath, for I shall eradicate you in a painless manner.”
Ariel rushed for Lucifer, her spear in hand. But despite Caelum’s distraction, Lucifer just as easily halted her movements. He lifted her body and forced the spear out of her hands. It skittered away on the concrete road.
You shall know no torture, you shall know no pain, for I shall erase you from existence. Rest the eternal rest, Lucifer spoke in their minds.
Caelum’s eyes met Ariel’s, and for a moment they only saw each other. Lucifer found the sight a perfect ending for the two whom he had manipulated for his cause. I honor your love with a quick death together.
Just as Lucifer was to deliver the will that would erase the angel and demon from existence, a figure loomed behind him. With his focus on the two before him, Lucifer’s guard was down which allowed the attacker to stab him in the back.
"Your pride has turned against you!" Gabriel shouted, holding the scepter she’d plunged into him. From the scepter, vines suddenly exploded and wrapped around Lucifer’s arms and torso. Seraphiel? Lucifer cursed the name of the presence he felt from the vines.
The sudden attack released both Ariel and Caelum from Lucifer’s grasp. They collapsed on the ground just as Gabriel shouted, “Now, David!”
The Tenney family and Enoch had materialized nearby. Enoch quickly thrust his palm on David's back. "Go!"
David almost flew from his position, his powerful stride moving him swiftly to Lucifer. Augmented by Enoch's ability, he clasped his two hands together as he flew towards the god-angel.
"Eat this!" David's palms slammed into Lucifer's chest with a shock that made him shudder. The tattoos on David's arms started to glow, and black creases started to fissure from where he’d hit Lucifer.
"You damned angels!" David growled. "You took everything away from us— from me!"
David held his palms firmly pressed to Lucifer, and as he did, the black creases suddenly lined his arms. David felt an agony in his palms, but his furious revenge held his hands in place.
"You!" Lucifer shouted, strange energies swirling inside his body. His anger burst into a pool of light that threw both David and Gabriel away from him. David crashed to the ground, but he quickly turned to see his masterpiece, light pooling around him. David wiped blood out of his eyes and watched.
On Lucifer’s chest, the black creases glowed red. David pulled himself up and charged at Lucifer again. He slammed his hands on the angel’s chest. Lucifer’s menacing eyes set their sights on David, and he willed the human to burn. The flames roared, but only barely did the flames lick David’s skin.
"I made this one just for you." David snarled, watching the creases crack in curves and lines, its shape almost forming a crude eye. "That seal," he said between heavy breaths, "feeds on your own energy and..."
The god-angel stared at the eye pattern which seemed to stare back. His eyes glinted, but as soon as he willed the pattern to disappear, a sudden force hit him once again. This time, Lucifer noticed that the golden glow on his body – rather, Michael's body –had slightly dimmed.
"And it exposes your angelic soul each time it activates," David finished. Thank you, Mikaela.
David remembered being in Mikaela's home after his last goodbye. Mikaela had been taken too soon. From the cruel world she’d wanted to be a part of, to a father who only wished for her to become the fine woman she ought to be, and to him who only wished to love her as she deserved to be.
For this, he wanted to avenge her. He wanted her death to have purpose and his pain to be justified.
This resulted in his greatest masterpiece. Reading Mikaela's detailed papers on the self-replenishing demon soul, the ever static angel soul, the near-indestructible mortal soul, and his own knowledge of the Enochian seals, David was able to create a self-replenishing seal, one that fed on the static angelic energies, forged with a portion of his own indestructible soul. He transformed his avenging will into an Enochian pattern and made it manifest in a tool that could match even that of a God’s.
"What's wrong?" David shouted as he hopped away from Lucifer. He raised his hands, taunting the still staggering god-angel. "Smite me! O powerful and ever omnipotent one!"
A huge shockwave coursed through the ground near Lucifer. For every one of his actions, an equal and powerful reaction took place.
"You," David sneered. "You are nothing but hate, jealousy, and pride in the guise of a man." His eyes trailed to Caelum. "There are even demons that are greater than you."
A raging shout tore through the sky and cleared the clouds. Lucifer's fury grew, and he began to muster his power. The seal glowed a bright red, responding to the massive energy he had gathered.
The hair on David's skin stood, and a visceral nervousness gave him a cold sweat.
"If I cannot dispel the seal, I'll just destroy this mortal realm along with it!" Lucifer’s voice had strengthened.
David gritted his teeth, knowing Lucifer’s plan would work. The energy he'll generate will definitely return to him, but it won't matter as force itself won’t exist. His uneasy smile, however, showed that there was more to it. Just a little more.
Lucifer raised his hands, and the afternoon sky cracked. The air hummed a slight screeching noise that reached David's spine. In a twisted thought, he imagined that the universe itself was screaming.
The crack streaked through the skies, and as pieces fragmented, strange colors and displays spilled from the holes. The ground began to shake, and, as if mirroring the sky, began to fragment and split from where Lucifer stood.
Just a little more.
Lucifer's hands trembled as if he were trying to grab the fabric of the universe. As his fingers curled to the universe's invisible resistance, the noise and the cracks intensified.
A shuddering silence suddenly fell, and Caelum, who had shielded himself and Ariel from the display, looked.
"Now!" David shouted. "Use the Master Key!"
Lucifer stopped. For a fleeting moment, he found himself powerless, no different than when he was an angel.
"Lucifer's angelic soul has surfaced!" Gabriel shouted.
Ariel knew what to do. In the span where David courageously battled Lucifer, Gabriel had explained the plan to everyone. Ariel plucked the spear from the ground where it lay, and, just as she had in Lilith's battle, with great focus and form, catapulted the spear towards Lucifer. The spear whistled as it tore through the wind.
"Pathetic!"
A pooling light exploded just where the spear was heading and flung it upwards. "Do you really think I'd be outsmarted by something —?"
"Yes! I do!"
Caelum's voice boomed from above. The demon shot down from the thin shadow the strange lights had cast from above. His hands reached for the spear deflected by Lucifer, and he sped towards him. Caelum dropped down on Lucifer and drove the spear into Lucifer's chest. But the strike did not connect as light spilled from where the tip of the blade was, just mere inches from penetrating his chest. The billowing light brought a blowing force that pushed Caelum back, but he mustered all his strength and fought the force.
Lucifer's laugh filled the air. "You cannot win!" Several spheres of light pooled around Caelum who still pushed to drive the spear towards him. "You shall never defeat me!"
"Not alone!"
Lucifer's menacing smile flashed into a surprise. The world around him suddenly halted and his thoughts of anger, power, and victory came to a sudden, crashing stop.
His eyes trailed downwards. Caelum held the spear, a desperate look on his face. Ariel was beside him, her face filled with fervor.
On his chest, the spear had plunged into his flesh, and from the spear’s stained handle, he could almost feel Lilith's sadistic essence.
Chapter Twenty: The Damned and the Pure
Lucifer stood in his tower, relaxed and content with the ways of Heaven. He had just finished teaching a few new angels the dynamics of both Heaven and the mortal world, and, as always, his teachings were heeded without question.
"And all was good," he said to himself, honoring his Father's words when the days of creation were done. Lucifer surveyed the land and its angels from his tower. Ophanim floated above, gathering and maintaining the energies of Heaven. The glowing lights that were the virtues flew and chased each other in play, knowing their duty to uphold the events of Heaven and Earth needed no immediate action.
Below, Lucifer cracked a smile as a Principality, a seraph assigned to supervise a set of angels, prepared a few cherubim and an ophan to descend to earth for a task. Ah, another order to encourage man to love one another.
He peered into an adjacent tower, wanting to see his siblings. Gabriel was not in her tower. Now, what would warrant the Archangel of Battle's attention? He then recalled his Father had issued a certain command not long ago. Ah yes, Gabriel is to be oriented about the Holy Spirit. How fortunate for her to be chosen to deliver the message and prepare the 'lamb'.
He wondered why he had not been chosen for the task, but the wonder reached a quick end when he reminded himself. My role in this world is to be the guiding light. As I was honored to be the Dawn Star, my position is to be someone who the lost and the curious will follow.
He peered into the pillar of light that was the throne of his Father, its purest light like a Father's watchful and caring gaze, giving him comfort in his rest.
If only he had foreseen it.
One day, when he beseeched the word of his Father over a curiosity at his beloved creation, man, his Father did not answer.
His question was simple but full of doubt. "Father, the Highest, do you love man as you love us?"
He’d asked this question as all the angel's duties were to cater to man. To set minor angels to guard them, to foster love for them, and to help them as they led their nations.
One fateful moment, when the question he’d asked had remained unanswered, he pondered. This curiosity, a trait strongest in him among all the angels, fueled him to do what no angel had done.
He faced the pillar of light and walked through the clearest water. Before him now was the humming pillar of ever rising light. His Father had never forbade them to step upon this light, but it seemed to be an unspoken rule, perhaps in respect for His throne as would any mortal respect his ruler's throne.
He stepped in, mindful of what punishment he would impose on himself, but his drive to seek love from his Father had led him to a horrifying discovery.
"God. God...why have you abandoned me?"
Those thoughts now raced into Lucifer’s mind who had betrayed Heaven, prompted the desolation of mankind, and now stood in the empty mortal world. Facing him was an angel who’d gone against the laws of Heaven and a demon who’d gone against all the laws of Hell.
What was he then? If fate had brought these lawbreakers together, what law had he broken? He thought plenty, but one in particular resounded in his mind. The moment he’d stepped into the pillar of light long ago, he’d broken his own law: the law of faith.
Now, here he was, trying to rekindle that trust by becoming God himself. A few moments after the spear had stabbed him, he suddenly felt the overwhelming energy of the millions of souls retur
ning.
Ariel and Caelum were suddenly thrown away by a force. Caelum relinquished his hold on the spear and held his beloved angel as both of them felt the impact.
The glow on Lucifer's skin returned, and his eyes once again were ablaze. With impatience, he resumed his task to spark the engine of creation in himself and destroy the mortal realm. He didn't need to hesitate, but the face of the one mortal who had defied him sent his mind racing with doubt.
David had a sullen, victorious look on his face. Jenny, Ann, and Enoch assembled by his side, helping him up from his crumpled state. He almost had a grin if not for his labored breaths, but between these breaths, he let out his final taunt.
"Let's see you handle God's program in that framework."
When Lucifer tried to start the engine of creation, he suddenly felt his hand jerk. It was as if energy from the engine blew and released out of his hand. As the cracks and the noise resumed, he suddenly felt his head snap upward involuntarily.
After a quick thought, he realized the grimness of the situation. He channeled the energy of the souls and parts of his own framework. The ultimate vessel that was Michael slowly fragmented.
Caelum rose up just in time to witness Lucifer's entire right arm explode. The dread in Lucifer's face was so pure; the greatest fear Caelum had seen in all his life. All manner of lights spilled from the gap in Lucifer's arm, and as he tried to patch the arm with his other, his left eye budged and exploded.
Lucifer screamed. He felt a pain that transcended the physical realm. It was not a pain the souls of Hell felt, nor the pain of dying. He wished it was that kind of pain, and no matter how he willed it, even with the power of God, it would not go away, and it only worsened.
It was the pain of all his victories, success, planning, and lies all culminating upon him. The feeling of being truly alone in this universe, that no being could help him, not even himself. It was this feeling that he, in his godly form, wished for death to end.
The Damned and The Pure Series: Books 1-4 (The Damned and The Pure Series Box Set) Page 85
