Sariel read and read and read. She lost days and weeks reading while she was apparently cleaning. Gabriel and Michael had decided the Archives would be her last punishment.
She spent her days buried in journals across the ages. Sariel had read and re-read Lucifer’s journals so many times. She also devoured any journal Patrick gave her as well as the ones she chose to read. Sariel saw the War and Fall from different sides. She had even stumbled across some of Michael’s early journals, his later ones were presumably in his personal library.
She also raided the library afterwards but was highly selective of what she read and borrowed. Cassiel was under strict orders from Gabriel to note everything she read. As one of Gabriel’s lackeys, she was very thorough in her cataloguing of everything Sariel read in the main library. Cassiel was one of the reasons Sariel never removed any of the journals from the Archives. She did not want Gabriel or Michael to know what she had been reading.
It was in the Archives that she learnt the most, away from the prying eyes of Cassiel. Patrick was proving insightful beyond belief. One day she came in to find a stack of journals ready for her on the desk. One was her father’s, marked with his crest, a six-winged serpent wrapped around a scythe. The other was her mother’s, a golden sun intersecting a silver moon. These were from their later lives. Sariel read their joy of her and Michael’s births. She learnt a lot about the dynamics of the Old Council, the endless factions and politics as the War progressed. Her father’s continual call for peace, and his pain over her mother leaving.
That was perhaps the most surprising. Lilith had left Heaven before the War finished, no one knew why. Which made Sariel question if she had really been killed in the War or if that was just another lie.
One day she worked up the courage to ask Patrick about the selections she had been given.
“All the journals you have given me are from the War onwards, but you haven’t given me anything from before the War. What has been hidden from me that even you hesitate to show me?”
He studied her, hesitating. He had been increasingly impressed with her intelligence. He had questioned it initially, but it had merely been suppressed by her family. Allowed to develop on its own accord, it was thriving. He too had been keeping an eye on what she read, following both the journals and texts she read. Her selections were wide and careful. She had read her parents journals, Lucifer’s, Michael and Gabriel’s, various Arch Angels and a wide selection of Ascended and Lesser. She was keeping an objective view on it all.
He wondered at the risk he was taking. “What have you been told about the Angels? How did the Elder originate?”
“The Elder Angels are the most powerful of all the Angels. Only they can form the Governing Council and it is the Council which is most affected by Human belief. Belief empowers us, but also binds us. Those who die and are accepted into Heaven become the Lesser Angels. They are weak but plentiful. The Ascended are Lesser, who have been empowered by either being venerated as saints, patriarchs, or prophets.”
“Can anyone be an Angel? Can an Elder be born from a non-Elder?”
“No,” she said carefully. “Only those accepted into Heaven can become Angels, and only the Elder can give rise to more Elder.”
“What if I told you, you were wrong? That people can be made into Angels against their will. That, not all Angels wish to remain that way and would do anything to remove all Angelic trace from themselves. That the Elder are the offspring of Gods and Demigods and even Demons.”
“Where is your proof? The writings of deranged Angels?” She had read a few times that Angels were descended from Gods, she wasn’t entirely convinced.
He hesitated before gesturing for her to follow. Confused she followed him in silence as he headed to the fountain. With a wave of his hand, the middle stream parted to reveal a shadowy corridor behind. Once they were in the cave, the only sound was of the water returning to its usual route.
She glanced around her surroundings as they crossed several corridors, heading ever downwards. Heaven was a place of eternal light; decorated in bright whites, cheerful pastels, and shiny metallic. The hall was grey granite heavily veined with white, but it lacked any decoration. It had been smoothed and mounted with light globes.
Sariel had never been here before and was curious as heavy gold doors started to appear. They passed dozens of them, turning into different corridors until finally, they stopped before one. It’s simple bronze plaque said, 'Brigid.'
“Behind these doors is all the proof you need. However, once you have your proof, you will not be able to unsee what you have seen. Beyond lies, more questions than answers and you cannot turn back once you have seen beyond,” he whispered, making her wings shiver.
She swallowed but was determined. Sariel had to know the truth, so much of what she had been told was lies. This affected her and everything she had ever known. There were answers to her questions behind these doors. And besides, it was an Arch Angels duty to always uncover the truth. She was meant to do this.
“Show me.”
He opened the doors, pushed her in then slammed them shut behind himself. He was scared, either of what he was showing her or because she was here. Curious she glanced around the room. It was a perfectly circular room, intricate patterns of blue and pink magic danced across the floor, all encircling an Angel who sat chained to the floor.
She was beautiful in the way of the Divine, that ethereal sense that permeated every pore of their being. Her skin was pale compared to other Angels, with only the slightest of tanning, but it was slightly darker than Sariel’s. Six brown wings hung limp behind her. Her long brown hair covered most of her face, but two eyes glowing like emeralds shone through. She looked young but had the feel of someone old for some reason, an air of power as well as the wisdom and suffering in her eyes.
Her eyes were stunning, beautiful and haunted. They had seen so much, suffered so much. Hate blazed through them, but overall resignation and defeat were the dominant emotions.
Who was she? And why was she chained? Was she one of the Fallen, captured in Heaven? A traitor against Gabriel, a supporter of Lucifer?
“This is the Goddess Brigid of the Celts. She was captured early in the War, but despite her absence, her people adored her so much they would not revoke her when the church moved in. Despite all the persecution they endured they would not give her up. Facing defeat, the Angels whispered in the Cardinals’ ears, Brigid was no Goddess, but an Angel and her love benefitted the people. As their beliefs changed so, in turn, did she. She developed wings, her magic changed, all while she was chained up in here. She was one of the first casualties of the War before the Gods even knew there was a war. She was imprisoned as a Goddess but was twisted into an Angel.”
Sariel stared in horror at the Angel/Goddess before her. She had not realised the Gods were so vulnerable to Human belief. Were the Council as vulnerable to Human belief? She realised they were, it was why they were so desperate to remain in control of Humanity. If Brigid had once been a Goddess and was now an Elder Angel, where did the original Angels come from? Were they really the offspring of Gods and Demigods? Or possibly even Demons?
“How is this even possible?”
Brigid turned those remarkable emerald eyes to face Sariel, pinning her with that stare. “Because the Order has been changed. The Servants rose up against their Masters and took their place feeding on the prayers and beliefs of mortality. In turn, they developed towards what they had overthrown but sought to distance themselves from our decadence. Instead, they created a lie in a vain attempt to protect themselves. They did not understand the powers they were messing with, nor do they yet comprehend the full complexity of the Gods’ position.
As the world united under this lie and then continued to evolve beyond their control, they became chained to Humanity even more than we were because they deny their true nature and have corrupted mortal perception.
They sealed away my brethren and persecuted our lineages, locking away magic from Humans. To make them more controllable, how foolish. Without magic, they have forgotten what should have been remembered and feared. They have learnt to stand on their own.”
Sariel sagged to the floor. This was huge, this was unimaginable. Her brain felt like it had just been fried. Everything she had ever known was a lie. Everything about their history, their way of life, their justification for the way they lived. Clearly the Council was aware, or at least the Arch Angels were.
Comments (0)
See all