We all took several moments to recover. Michael was the first stand up. When he spoke it was in a very hesitant manner, “It seems that creating life and shaping worlds may be only a small part of what we are capable of doing. I knew we could heal our creations, I am sure we have all done that from time to time but hurting each other, healing each other, perhaps destroying a brother. These are things I am not sure I ever wished to be capable of.”
“It only stands to reason,” Raphael stated, “There has to be a balance after all. All things must bow to that. One would look a mountain and think that it would be impossible to harm it, yet water and wind, they slowly break it down. We have seen entire suns slowly fade and die. Nothing is truly indestructible.”
Gabriel shook his head, “How can that be? We are energy and energy cannot be destroyed. Can it?”
Silence took hold of us again. We all stared blankly at each other, consumed with our own thoughts and philosophies until Uriel's gentle voice gained our attention.
“You are correct after a fashion Raphael, nothing is indestructible. Things shift, change, become different things. Look at a tree, it starts so small, then grows, becoming a home for some things, food for others, a respite for the sun for creatures that move about during the day. Eventually it dies, breaks down and becomes dirt again so other trees may grow from it. It has not truly been destroyed, it has merely become something else. Perhaps Remiel wasn't destroyed as such, he just returned to what we were before we became what we are now.”
“Which is what?” Raguel, “If he became nothing and Remiel as we know him was gone, he was dead to us. Destroyed. Right?”
“In one way, yes,” Uriel replied.
“Your making a rather fine distinction Uriel,” Gabriel joined in, “If he had not come back, he would be gone, even if he had rejoined that which created us. I would not be able to speak with him. Just because parts of him still may exist somewhere within the greater energy, those parts are not Remiel.”
I felt that I should be saying something since I was the one that had gone through the experience but I found that I had very little to add. It had all happened so fast, there was no way for me to know who or what I was at that moment.
“You wouldn't call a pile of dirt a tree,” Seraqual started out, “I am not saying your statements are incorrect Uriel. You are looking at the broader view of things though and I think that undercuts the importance of what happened earlier. Whether or not Remiel rejoined the universal energy is beside the point, the Remiel we know would no longer be here. Which means we can be destroyed.”
I decided that I should at least describe to them what had happened. I wasn't sure if Lucifer had and I felt that may be the only way I could add to the conversation, “I can tell you what I felt. I don't think it will give any answers or make anything easier to understand though.” I told them everything, starting from Seraqual losing control up to when I returned and Lucifer had cradled me to him. When I finished their faces registered varying levels of horror, astonishment and concern. “This is why I put the new conditions on the agreement between Lucifer and Elohim, all of us were becoming too emotional.”
“Uriel,” Raphael spoke first, “I think you were correct in saying that he rejoined the universal energy and I disagree with Elohim's statement that we somehow pulled him back.”
“Huh, statement?” Raquel said, “That was Elohim trying to make us fall for his arrogance and nothing else.”
“Elohim is allowed to have his opinion,” Michael stated.
Raguel chose not to reply. He didn't really have to, the eye roll and disdainful snort that followed Michael's words did it for him.
“We truly have no answers brothers,” Gabriel interjected, “It is good for us to discuss these things and be more aware of the consequences of our choices. However, unless one of us wishes to be destroyed and hopefully come back again we won't know truly what happens or what it means.”
Uriel rose and extended his hand to me, offering to help me stand, “Gabriel is right.”
I took Uriel's hand and stood easily, I felt truly whole again.
Uriel continued, “For now we must watch over Elohim and Lucifer but not truly interfere unless one or the other breaks the agreement that Remiel created.”
“That will take some doing,” Seraqual pointed out, “They won't be too fond of us constantly checking on them and I am not too fond of delaying our tasks any more than we have already.”
“Our tasks won't suffer from waiting a bit longer for us to get to them.” Uriel surprised all of us with that statement. “The planets are patient, so is life itself. This situation is much more important. We, all of us, are in some way responsible for this issue and therefore we must resolve it.”
“So what do you suggest?” Raphael asked.
I hadn't planned to say anything about Lillith and I'm still not sure what prompted me to speak, “I think all of you should spend some time with her.”
Seraqual frowned at me, “Why?”
I looked at Uriel, he knew what was on my mind and gave me a slight nod. I sighed, “Lucifer has named her. Her name is Lillith. That is her name, not the name of her species.”
They all spoke at once, except for Seraqual and Uriel, who already knew. “What?”
Michael's aura started to flicker and flash, silvery sparks shot from Raguel.
“Brothers..,” I tried to calm them. Michael and Raguel closed their eyes and controlled themselves.
“Speak Remiel,” Michael directed.
“We all know that he cares for her and we know that Elohim will not be satisfied quickly or swayed from his current path. It is obvious that Elohim believes he is correct and that we must all eventually conform with that belief. Neither these creations or the contention between Elohim and Lucifer will be going away soon. I feel it is important that all of you know exactly how different of a creature Lillith is and her mate will be. She is like us in every way other than being able to hop between planets on a whim and create a living being from nothing. She thinks, she feels, she makes choices, she is not driven wholly by an instinct to hunt or mate. There is a reason Lucifer feels as he does, dismissing it as wrong or unbalanced will not change that.”
Michael's green eyes pierced mine, searching for an explanation, “You have already spent time with her.”
“Yes.”
“And come to care for her in some way.”
There was no point in denying it, “Yes.”
“How will you be able to stay neutral then?” Michael asked. “Your judgment on this will be impaired because you allowed yourself to care.”
Raphael, Gabriel and Seraqual were staring at me, they had agreed to follow my lead on this because they thought I was neutral, that I cared only for the balance. I was already regretting my lapse of truthfulness, then the thought hit me that I shouldn't have to.
“One of the reasons we have all been upset with the two of them is they kept things to themselves. I care about the balance, I always will. I just think that we should all be truthful and understand everything that is involved.”
Raguel spoke, “I think Remiel is right.”
That took me by surprise as he had threatened to destroy Lillith earlier.
“Why?” Raphael asked.
Raguel looked at each of us in turn before he spoke, “Because anything one of us creates, we are all responsible for. We have never sectioned off who did what. We have all created things on our own before, with little input from the others. When it comes down to it all of us are guardians of every thing from the largest animal to the tiniest grain of sand. Lillith and her kind are our responsibilities as well. We may not agree for the reason behind her being here but that is not the point. Each of us knows the intricacies of every single thing we have ever created, never once have we turned away from understanding a creation in the past. She is not at fault for existing and should not be punished for it. We need to separate her from our anger with our brothers.”
That sentiment caused Michael to look away from us and start to pace, “Perhaps you are right, yet I am not sure I could do that. Her very existence is the problem.”
“That may be,” Uriel replied, “but that is not her fault. Remiel's idea has a few benefits that you are overlooking Michael. It will give us a reason to stay close to Lucifer whether he likes it or not and once Elohim understands that we are not being so blind to his plans as we were in the past perhaps he will moderate his ambitions and abandon this who project.”
They all looked at Uriel and even Seraqual appeared to be taking Uriel's words under serious consideration.
“As much as the idea of even being around her disgusts me,” Seraqual stated, “you have a valid point Uriel. Fine. Let's get this over with. Either you or Remiel tell Lucifer what is going to happen. If we all show up he will just get angry.”
Speaking further to Lucifer was the last thing I wanted to do at that moment. I needed some peace and quiet. “Uriel, would you? I need some time to myself, please.”
“Of course. Get some peace brother, you have done more than enough to help us already.”
Uriel embraced me again and when he released me Gabriel came up and did the same. One by one, all of them, even Michael wrapped their arms around me and if gave me hope that maybe things would work out for the best.