Nix smiled. "Oh little babies, you really don't know anything about anything. Weren't you paying attention at school?" he said. Hope looked at Aleks, who shrugged his shoulders.
"Dear ones, just as there is a rank system in hell, there is also one in heaven, only something... different. There are a total of nine classes of angels, which can be divided into three areas. The supreme sphere is that of the heavenly advisors – the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones. The second sphere is that of the heavenly stewards – the Kyriothetes, Dynameis and Elohim. The last and third spheres are those of the heavenly messengers – the archai, archangels and angels.
"The Seraphim ensure that heaven, earth and hell are supplied with the divine life energy – also called magic. The Cherubim are guardians and transmitters of the divine plan, and the Thrones are the ones who pass on and distribute the responsibilities in this regard to the lower levels.
"The Kyriothetes monitor and relay information, because they can see along the branches of choice and decision, the ripple effect of every action that may take place. The ones responsible for other invisible processes are the Dynameis, who also break many laws of nature and work so-called miracles. Lastly, the Elohim, they are carriers of human consciousness and help with birth and death. They keep the world in balance and lead lost souls on the path of heaven. They also have the task of protecting the heavenly sphere from all negative influences of the earthly sphere.
"The first and second spheres do not interact directly with the human world or hell and never leave heaven, so they are uninteresting. The third, however, is the decisive one. The seven archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Jophiel, Camael and Zadkiel rule over the armies and make all decisions regarding the human world and hell. They commission the angels standing below them and supervise them.
"The Archai, on the other hand, control, monitor, and maintain the functionality of time itself, ensuring that everything proceeds in the right way – according to the laws of time as established by the supreme God. Thus, the Archai are a kind of neutral control unit that intervenes when the archangels do not. They operate in the background, unrecognized.
"The number of class members decreases sharply from bottom to top, with the exception of the archangels, of whom there are always exactly seven. Thus, more than ninety-five percent of the inhabitants of heaven are members of the lowest class of angels. There is also no direct possibility of ascension, one is only called to a higher one by the gods alone. You can read more about this in the Angel Chronicle.
"If a non-angel were to enter the heavenly sphere, this would lead to a conflict with the archangels and the Archai, as this would contradict the heavenly laws. And a conflict with the Archai should be avoided, because I suspect that it was they who caused the erasion of the existence of the Deva from the history books and memories."
Wow. Aleks was dumbfounded. There's so much I don't know yet. "Are they powerful?" Hope asked cautiously.
Nix shook his head. "Many people think that classes have to do with a difference of power, but it is not the case, because here, our definition of power does not apply. The first and second spheres have tasks that go beyond our ability to think. They influence us directly and indirectly, but there will never be direct contact between us and them.
"The definition of power only takes effect from the archangels, because they act independently and interact with us. An archangel is on the same level as a prince of hell, which is why there are seven of both. So they are direct opposites, all for the sake of cosmic balance."
"It's all very complex," Aleks said, rubbing his forehead. It took him some time and a few conversations with Belial to understand all this. But the essence of the statement has arrived: should they enter into heaven, there could be a confrontation with the archangels and Archai, which should be avoided at all costs.
"One more thing," Aleks said, looking at Hope. "Hope, it would be better if we didn't see each other before and after the birth. The prophecy says that time and empathy will awaken knowledge."
Hope looked at him thoughtfully, then nodded. It made perfect sense to stay away from each other. He thought it was a shame because he had just met his cousin, but they still had a lot of time to catch up on all this later.
As a result, all parties went home.
Aleks took a deep breath in and out. Why does everything always have to be so complicated? It was clear to him that they couldn't just walk up to heaven. People couldn't just go to hell. But it looked like he was the only one who had access authorization at the moment, only he was not allowed there – otherwise He, whoever He was, would find him.
"Tsuka, you should rest," Belial said affectionately. His angel nodded and sighed. Worried, he stroked his belly. Less than four months to go.
They spent the next two months looking for a solution, but every trace, no matter how small, came to nothing. During this time, Telos attacked Mammon's, Belphegor's and Asmodai's capitals, so that their army was permanently weakened. Sereph wasn't spared either, although he was repelled prematurely. No one knew why they had launched this attack, but it was rumored that they had searched for something and found it.
Each of the seven princes of hell had taken a heavy attack – except Lucifer. The latter had already mobilized his armies and was waiting with grinding jaws. In addition, the bodies of the missing demons were gradually found. They had been covered with strange signs and robbed of their souls. They were handed over to their families and buried with honor.
At the beginning of the 13th month of pregnancy...
Aleks lay on the bed and ate with relish the sweet fruits that his demon had brought him. He had been prescribed the dreaded bed rest for a few days and was only allowed to get up for two hours a day. His belly had now soon reached the final size, because their son had another phase of growth.
Now followed the final phase, in which the race and the magic level of the child finally manifested itself. This was extremely exhausting, because their son was probably planning to become a future prince of hell, at least that's how it felt to Aleks. It was as if her child was sucking every drop of magic out of his body, which is why he was instructed to consume several cups of blood a day.
It was a miracle that Belial could still stand at all, as many times as Aleks nipped him. The problem with connected mates was that they were reluctant to drink from strangers, which was much worse for the pregnant.
But as nature set it up, Belial produced a lot more blood than usual during this time, so that the loss of the amount necessary for Aleks was bearable. He even bled a little extra when Aleks drank less in a day , otherwise the pressure in his veins would make him uncomfortable. For example, eight vials of his demon's blood were already lined up in a cupboard if he was not directly available.
Astaroth had relieved him of all duties, for he knew that he couldn't and wouldn't keep his right hand away from his pregnant mate.
Back to the boredom that tormented Aleks. I want to get out. But he couldn't always ask Belial to carry him around, even if he would do so without hesitation. A knock on the door made him breathe a sigh of relief. The door opened and his brother carefully poked his head in.
"Can I come in?" Zack asked cautiously, because his last unannounced visit had ended with a bleeding nose.
"Come in," Aleks said joyfully.
Zack entered, laughing, and sat down on the bed next to Aleks. "Are you here all day?" he asked, after a warm hug.
"Yes, unfortunately. Even though Astaroth has released Belial, he can't help it. He's working to figure out what Telos is up to. I don't want to be a burden to him. I mean, what's he supposed to do all day? Sit next to me?"
Zack looked at him knowingly. "I understand you, Tacina. Lucan is also involved, after the attacks. But hey, don't you want to go out on the terrace in the sun?" he asked.
Aleks smiled. "If you carry me."
Zack nodded and carefully slid one arm at a time under Aleks' thigh and lifted his brother up.
"Hell, Tacina. Are you planning to give birth to an elephant? You must have taken 'eat for two' too literally," Zack teased, earning an offended expression from Aleks. Then he carried his brother, who had grabbed a thick pillow, downstairs to the terrace, where he carefully set him down on it.
Aleks felt a tingling sensation on his skin and made Shin appear. He lay down protectively in front of the two and kept watch.
"Your protector is on guard as ever," Zack said, amused.
"He's even worse than Belial. Most recently, he growled at an employee who brought me food," Aleks said and began to cuddle Shin.
"May I?" Zack asked, pointing to Aleks' belly. He nodded, laughing. Zack pulled up the wide shirt and caressed it with a tender expression. "Do you already have a name for him?" he asked curiously.
Aleks nodded. "Yes, but it's a secret. Not even Belial knows."
"And you're not going to tell your beloved Tacina?" Zack asked with doggy eyes, but Aleks just shook his head laughing. Then Zack's expression became serious.
"Aleks, I have to ask you something. Can you and Belial talk... telepathically?" he asked cautiously.
Aleks looked at him silently. "Why are you asking that?" Aleks replied cautiously.
"I... I think I'm doing it with Lucan. I've been feeling like I'm listening to his thoughts lately, and he's... It's strange. Ever since I heard Hope's prophecy in my head, something has changed in me. My magic level has increased quite a bit and I can now do things that I couldn't do before," Zack said, watching Aleks' reaction.
"You mustn't pass on what I'm telling you now," Aleks said seriously and his brother nodded. "You're right, I can communicate telepathically with Belial over a certain distance. I think it has something to do with our Deva side. Maybe yours has awakened, but I don't think it was just the clue, I think it was through the creation of the key."
Zack looked at him thoughtfully. So I was right in my guess. Is that why he was so different? Is that why he felt so excited? "How do you do that? I mean, can you actively control it?" he asked Aleks.
He nodded and explained it to him. When Aleks suddenly grimaced painfully, he immediately calmed Zack. The child seemed to be very active today and didn't want to be considerate.
Again and again he marveled at the strong man who had become his little brother. A few moments ago he had been a newborn in need of help, but soon he would give birth to a child himself. There was such a huge burden on him that Zack didn't even want to imagine, and yet he sat here, smiling and radiating life and joy that infected everyone. He's really incredible.
They talked for a while until Belial joined them and took Aleks with him so he could feed. Zack hugged his brother goodbye again and went home. Anticipation arose, because Lucan would return from his trip today. He hadn't seen him for two weeks and missed him.
But that wasn't the only thing, Zack also had a hunger that he couldn't explain. It was like a slight burning sensation in his stomach. He sat by the window and read a book while he waited. Hearing noises, he looked up and saw Lucan, Hettia, and a few generals step out of a portal in the courtyard.
Joy shot through Zack's body and he jumped up to run down. He ran through the door to greet his loved one. At that moment, he saw one of the generals put his hand on Lucan's upper arm in friendship.