Testament of An Archangel

Chapter 11 Part 1

“Things may never be exactly the way they were, “ I started out, “but they do not have to get worse either. Many of you were rather harsh on Lucifer. Believe me when I tell you that he regrets the discord that his actions brought.” I was hoping Gabriel would volunteer to apologize to Lucifer as Lucifer had apologized to me.

Gabriel's face hardened, “What he did was wrong Remiel.”

“No one is denying that, but he is not the only one at fault.”

I watched him struggle with it for several minutes. You have to understand, the balance, the need to keep it, it has always been paramount to all of us and Lucifer's solution to Elohim's madness went against the very core of what we are. Giving Lillith some of his divinity, he had to know deep down that it would only make things worse. When I left after our fight I had come to terms with the fact that his betrayal of the balance was truly what had driven me to attack him, not the manipulation of us all, but his willingness to push the boundaries so far without any thought to the consequences of his choices.

Gabriel's aura stilled finally, the confusion in his face cleared and he gazed at me with resolution in his eyes. “You are right. I shouldn't condemn Lucifer for being who he is, none of us should. None of us are perfect, we all bear some of the blame for the way things are now. Once we finish here I will talk to him, I just hope he listens and it helps.”

I gave him a brief smile and we resumed our task. True to his word, several days later when we had finished he left to speak with Lucifer who was with Uriel again.

“Remiel?” Uriel's voice came to me soon after Gabriel had left me.

“Yes?”

“Gabriel is here and is speaking with Lucifer who, surprisingly, is actually listening. I thought you should know. I assume you had some small part in convincing him to speak with Lucifer.”

I had to chuckle, Uriel knew me all too well. “A very small part. Is it going well?”

“Lucifer seems somewhat stunned with what Gabriel is saying..wait a moment.”

I'll admit I waited with bated breath for Uriel to speak again. Any improvement in how my brothers were acting towards each other, no matter how small, was something that I was desperately hoping for. I love all my brothers, even now, after all that has happened. There are things between us that no human could understand, our responsibility as creators and immortality, they are an immense burden to bear alone.

“Well done. Lucifer embraced Gabriel and seems to be thanking him for whatever he said. Gabriel appears very relieved and grateful. Oh, well that's nice to see.”

“What is?” I could sense Uriel's joy and relief at something.

“Gabriel left but Lucifer just turned to me and smiled. Not his usual arrogant smile but something much different, something much more innocent. He has been very somber since he last saw Lillith. Gabriel forgave him, is that correct?”

Some of the tension and distress I had been feeling dissipated at Uriel's words. “After a fashion.” I relayed Gabriel's and my conversation to him.

“It's a start,” Uriel replied. He was much more excited and pleased than his words would lead one to believe. I could feel it. “I have been purposely keeping Lucifer with me more than usual to keep an eye on him for several reasons. I sent Michael to keep an eye on Elohim.”

“Ah, I was wondering why they had become so much closer.”

“It pains me to say it,” he continued, “But I found myself not trusting either of them to keep their word in full. I felt that I should get ahead of any possible future issues instead of letting them catch us unawares again. So far they have both been true the agreement though as far as we can tell.”

“Good.”

“Yes. Now if Gabriel can convince some of the others to speak to Lucifer we may get him back to something close to his old self. It has been hard to see him like this. As much as we may have all wished he were given less to grandiose displays and perfectionist ways I find that I miss it.”

I remembered all the beautiful, heart stopping things Lucifer had created over the years, how truly empty many of the worlds would be without his sheer genius and talent. The way my brothers had been describing his recent creations now troubled me greatly. He had never created anything that was dull, imperfect or without gifting it with something truly unique before. It appeared that was all he was turning out now.

“I think the universe itself misses it,” I replied. “I am glad I could help in some way. Thank you for letting me know what happened.”

“Of course,” Uriel answered, “I will keep you informed if any of the others appear as well.” 

For the first time since Lillith awakened I found I had a small bit of hope.