“Dad, tell David about the beginning. Tell him about the times before Noah and the great flood. Tell him about the time before time. Help him to understand. Help him to see the missing pieces of the great puzzle that you and I know of. Tell him please.”
“Okay, I will, but only because you are my shining star.”
Lucifer takes a drink before starting.
“Before everything was created before you, me, or anything else was a thought in God’s head, God floated in a lifeless void with nothing but himself to entertain himself. Then he created me. I was to help him create the universe and everything that you see before you today, and some of the stuff that you don’t see. I was his shadow, his clone, his doppelganger that could do just about everything that he could do, but God left out a couple of things just in case he had to destroy me. I enjoyed looking like him until the day I realized that he wanted to harm everyone that I hold dear to me. That was the day I started to change my appearance, and I have evolved into what you see before you. Lots of people have no idea that I helped him with the seven days of creation. I even helped him with the creation of the Angels and the Heavens. It was his idea to make the Angels not have free will at first. He added that later when he decided to come after my family. What I didn’t help him with was the creation of Hell or what you have also come to know as Eden. I had to take over Eden in order to survive because God decided to flood the world to cover up the Great War that has his blood and name written all over it. This war started because God wanted to rewrite his master plan. Everything and everyone were doing well in the time before the Great War. People were taking Angels and Djinns for husbands and wives. That action created a whole new race that not even I could foresee. Halflings, they were called. Half Angel or Djinn and half human; they would have some of the powers that the higher races would have, but not without some side effects. These side effects are what made them, unique. But God started to hate these new creations and decided to do away with them. I was the first to stand up to him. I pleaded with him, but he could not allow this new race to survive any longer. So I plotted against God. I wanted to overthrow him in the worst way. He was a friend that became my worst enemy. I never wanted to hurt anyone, but God had to be stopped. I organized an army against God, and we went to battle hoping to win and set things straight. But the turning point was my failure. I tried to create a weapon that could give me the lost pieces of the puzzle and even the playing field between God and me. In the end, I killed many humans, Angels, Djinns, and even Halflings in the process of creating this weapon. Even some of my generals were caught in the midst of all of this. They were my elite, my most trusted and loyal generals that dominated all who would challenge them. Each one had a different specialty, and each was unique. It was a dark day when I lost them.”
Lucifer takes another drink, “In the end, I lost… no… we lost… everything. Hell is my new home and home to everybody that rose against God.”
“Tell him where gold, silver, and platinum come from.” Alfonzo butts in.
“Gold is from all the dead Angels that died in the Great War. It is the blood they have shed fighting against my army and me. Silver is the Halflings’ blood, and platinum is Djinn’s blood. So many lives were lost, and God even used my weapon against us to win the war,” Lucifer goes silent for a couple of minutes.
“I never knew. I am sorry for all of your losses.” David pauses for a second being unsure if he should ask the next question, but something tells him he needs to, “Whatever happened to Alfonzo’s mother? Your wife.”
“She sided with God, but I think it was because she had a job to do, a job God assigned to her in order to pull us apart. She never had to do this job before when we were married. She just had to be a wife and a mother to our two children. One child I can never see again. I had to curse or bless Alfonzo because there was no way that I was going to let God take both of my children away from me. God and I have a love… hate relationship. Sometimes I still love him, but sometimes I still want to kill him. As for Alfonzo’s mother, she is doing well for herself, and I wish her the best with all my love.”
A silence fills the room as all three reflect on the happy times spent with loved ones. David and Lucifer are both almost done with their plates of food while Alfonzo is only hitting the halfway point. Lucifer clears his throat.
“David, I have been around for a long time, and I have seen many things. I have seen towns turn into countries while other counties were beginning to crumble. I have seen great men rise to power only to become worse than some of my most favorite demons. When a person comes into power they have a choice of what to do with it. They can become greedy and corrupt with it. Harming everyone that they love to the point that they loose everything. A good hearted man does none of these things. A good hearted man does the complete opposite of this and succeeds in life helping to change the very heart of the world. The use of power is not to abuse it but to cherish it and use it to help others. Just because I am Lucifer and people have come to know me as Satan, the prince of darkness, does not mean that I am a bad man. I am a Djinn, I have free will just like every human on earth, and I choose to use it every day I am alive.”
Lucifer stops talking and goes back to eating the rest of his dinner.
Alfonzo smiles at David as she enjoys her food. David takes in all of what Lucifer has said and then thinks about all of the countries that have fallen to crime and corruption. Complete civilizations have fallen and disappeared in a blink of an eye. He thinks about the Mayan race and how it has always been a mystery about what happened to them so long ago. He also thinks about the Romans, the reign of Genghis Khan, and even the great Caesar. All of them had fallen in a blink of an eye.
“Are you referring to God and how he may or may not be a good hearted man? Or are you wishing that you personally had done something different in the past to be the good-hearted man that you talk so fondly about? My apologies for making you mad if I am butting my head into a place where it does not belong,” David wiggles his toes into shark-filled waters by asking these questions.
“No, you are not making me mad at all. It has been a long time since I have had such a wonderful and deep conversation with another person. It just brings good memories.”
Lucifer stops to think for a second.
“The answers to your questions are that I want you to decide for yourself then wait and see how everything plays out.”
Lucifer leans back in his chair and takes a drink of his cool water.
Alfonzo is finishing up as David is left to wonder what the answers are. One thing that Lucifer and Alfonzo still have left to answer is where does the cool water come from.
“I know what you are going to ask by the look on your face. You’re wondering where does all this cool water come from?” Alfonzo gets up from the table, “Follow me if you are dying to know.”
David rises and glances over at Lucifer to see if he is following Alfonzo's lead. Lucifer smiles and follows Alfonzo, right behind David. Lucifer knows where and what they are about to see. He has seen it thousands of times, and it never gets old.
Alfonzo dances up to a pair of double doors that as old as time itself. She pauses for a second to think back on all of the great times that her and her father shared. But the times are changing with what has been happening in the last couple of years. These memories are but a dying candle. She puts on a smile for David.
“What is behind these doors is a mystery to many people, Djinns, and even Angels. This room was forgotten long ago by many, but was not forgotten by my father because this is where he and God would go to have their private talks with one another. Behind these doors is the beginning of all creation on earth, and this is why it has been forgotten.”
“Sweetie, would you just open up the door, and let him be wowed by the room itself?”
Alfonzo smiles and opens both doors at the same time to reveal a larger than life room.
It is an indoor garden with massive statues in each of the c
orners. Each one of the statues is an elemental titan. It holds a globe over its head, which contains one of the four basic elements… fire, wind, water, and earth. Two spouts on each globe pour into two separate pools, allowing the elements to mix together. Four pools, each pool is located and stretches between the titans. The corners of an X start from the corners of the room and connect to a platform in the shape of an O with the center open to the lower pool. The platform is raised six feet above the floor of the entranceway. Steps float in the air to lead people to the platform. Located in the middle of the O is a tree with different colored and shaped leaves similar to a multiple of trees that blanket the earth. He sees strange fruit hanging from the mysterious tree. The fruit is the sized of a peach and the color of a granny smith apple. David reaches out his hand to take one, but quickly pulls it back. Alfonzo smiles and giggles a little bit.
“Its okay,” Alfonzo plucks one off the tree and holds it out to David. “You can take one. This fruit tastes like no other fruit known to humans.”
David takes the fruit from Alfonzo and bites into it. A surge of lightning races through his veins as David chews the mystery fruit. His pupils dilate fully as a sense of enlightenment rains over him like a flash thunderstorm hitting a desert. Thoughts of the creation of the earth and the beginning of time and space, creation of humanity, the Garden of Eden, and the first marriage between Lucifer and Elijah. The feeling starts to wear off as David swallows the fruit.
“I’m sorry that the feeling does not last longer. It was the best that I could do with what I had.”
Lucifer looks over at the tree.
“You see, this is not the Tree of Knowledge or the Tree of Life. It is a mix of both. I had seeds from both I tried to grow, but I could not. Even though we stand in the birth place of the trees.”
“You see the pools that line the outer walls of this room? These pools feed into the center pool that holds the new tree. Alfonzo took one of each of the seeds and put them in the same hole. She watched over them for years and talked to them every day for the longest time. Then one day she came running into my throne room, screaming that there was a leaf sprouting out of the pool. It took another thousand years to grow the tree to this size. We now call this the Tree of Love because that is what Alfonzo gave it to grow. It has a little bit of both knowledge and life within it, but it is not enough to make you a god overnight, just enough for upkeep.”
“So what happened to the other two trees?”
“God took them up to Heaven after the Great War. A couple of apples dropped off of the Tree of Knowledge, and a couple of peach dropped off the Tree of Life. That is where we got the seeds,” Alfonzo says after as she takes a bite from a piece of fruit and chews it.
Lucifer picks himself a fruit, “I like to call this fruit a papple, the fruit of the damned.”
“Who are the titans that hold up the globes that feed the pools?”
“Anchiale is the titan of fire. Oceanus is the titan of water. Astraeus is the titan of winds. Hecate is the titan of ghost, witchcraft, and necromancy. All these titans have dreamt to return to the surface of the earth, but they remain in slumber,” Alfonzo replies before Lucifer can.
“I think that is enough for now. I think that you two need to get some sleep before you two leave,” Lucifer walks to the door to see them out.
On the way to the guestroom, David hears more moans and screams on the way there.
“I hate to ask but what are those noises that come from all these rooms?” David asks Lucifer.
“Those are the moans and screams of child rapists, molesters, and killers. God says that he has a unique place for everyone up in Heaven. Well, I have a specific place for people that harm children. I personally torture each one of them. Once I’m done or tired of them I give them the choice to leave. Most of them take it. I laugh every time that one of them chooses it because I know just what is waiting for them.”
Lucifer smiles and turns the guestroom's door handle.
“Don’t worry, David, this room is soundproof so you will have a great night sleep.”
As the guestroom door opens a smell of chocolate fills the air. The smell reminds David of when his mother would make homemade chocolate in the kitchen when he was a child. Tears try to surface but he holds them back.
The guestroom is filled with only the finest amenities that humanity could wish for. The bed is larger than life in its elegant decoration and tasteful in its size. Windows on the far side of the room overlook a place David has seen before but cannot place it. A single chair sets next to a fireplace with a bookshelf that has the works of Lucifer’s favorite authors. An elaborate door in the right corner is closed with an unknown room hidden within. The wall covering look as if they are handmade, and the beams that hold up the ceiling are all hand carved with cherubs dancing about.
“I hope that this room is going to be okay with you,” Lucifer walks around straightening up as he goes.
“Yes, this will be good.”
“I hope that you have a good sleep. I am sleepy; I am going to bed. Goodnight.”
Alfonzo pretends to yawn as she walks out of the room. Lucifer and David wonder what she is up to.
“Is there anything else that I could do for you?” Lucifer asks David. “Anything all?”
“No, no, I’m fine.”
David knows that deep down inside that he is not.
“Okay. Breakfast is at seven am, sharp. See you then,” Lucifer starts to walk out of the room.
“Wait. I still have no clue as to what or who I am. Can you…”
“Don’t worry. I am going to figure it out,” Lucifer turns to leave and he closes the door behind him.
David stands in the bedroom, alone for the first time in a long time. The fireplace sits there, empty as if it wants him to start a fire within it. His head cocks to the side.
‘Where’s the firewood?’
He sees nothing to burn or even a box that could keep wood inside.
“How the hell am I supposed to light this fireplace? Where is the firewood? Is this a joke?”
“You use your powers silly.”
Alfonzo emerges behind David startling him. She stands with a red robe on that goes down to her feet with her hair pulled back in a ribbon with a skull on top.
“Where did you come from?”
“The front bedroom door right over there.”
“I thought that you came through that door in the corner of the room. Wait, where does that door go to?” David looks at Alfonzo then at the door in the corner.
“Silly, that door is your bathroom.”
Alfonzo walks over, opens up the door, and to show David. He looks in to see a jaw-dropping bathroom hidden behind the door. David is speechless, and Alfonzo is impressed with what her father has done with the place.
“Wow, my father really cleaned this place up. This was a crap hole about a month ago. There were bodies lying all around over there and over there. Right here was a pentagram on the floor that matched the one on the ceiling. Hummm, those were the good old days, just my father and me torturing the hell out of those child molesters. Sometimes I wish that I could still do those things with him. That is the real father and daughter bonding at its finest.”
Devilish smile comes to Alfonzo’s face.
“The best part of it all was that I got to bathe in their blood. You have no idea what human blood does to a demon’s armor. Sexy.”
“What! Human blood? Torture? Bathing in blood? What the …” David leans back on the sink but quickly leaps away from the sink; only to fall into Alfonzo’s arms.
“If I thought that it was this easy to get you in my arms, I would have done this earlier.”
One of her hands slowly runs down David’s back as it heads for it target.
David pulls away, “Stop that, you know that I am already with someone. I will stay faithful to her.”
David turns around to face the mirror and put his back to Alfonzo.
Alfonzo glides ove
r to David and runs her hands up David’s back and starts to massage his neck.
“Oh, come on. You know that I will not stand by and watch you throw your life away with that little human. You belong with me. We belong together, forever. We are as one. I feel your pain as you are with her in bed thinking about me. You think that I don’t feel your pain, but I do. I have felt everything since that day we joined. You need me as much I need you.”
“You know nothing. You feel nothing.”
David pushes Alfonzo’s hands off of him and walks away from her. She comes behind him and knocks David onto the bed. Climbing on top of him, she forces his arms down, and stares at him face to face. David struggles to get up. Alfonzo laughs.
“The big bad David is now held down by a little girl. Aww, isn’t this cute? A little girl is stronger than a big bad David,” Alfonzo laughs harder as she mocks him.
‘Cute, she thinks this is cute. Hell, no, this is not cute.’
A flame in the fireplace grows out of nowhere as David feels the flame within grow to a raging fire to fuel him with incredible strength.
Alfonzo laughs a little harder at David as he fights back but quiets down as he begins to win. Then, in a flicker of a flame, Alfonzo has her back firmly press against the bed with David over her grinning back at her.
“The big bad Alfonzo is held down by big bad David. Aww, isn’t this cute? A man is stronger than a Halfling.”
“It’s about damn time that you finally grew a pair. I have been waiting for you to grow a pair for a long time. So, what are you going to do?”
Alfonzo decides to throw a couple of more logs on the flame within David’s chest and see what will happen.
“You think that people like being pushed around? I’ll tell you this, little miss Alfonzo. People hate being pushed around by other people, including Halflings like you. You see, people have a belief that they should be treated fairly and with some respect. This might not change anything in your world, but it does affect mine.”
Enigma of the Soul - Book 1 - Pieces Page 22
