It has been exactly one month since the escape of the Lady of Heaven. The priestesses, who had hitherto obeyed her orders and stood at her behest to guard the walls and the borders, withdrew from the grounds of the capital to their fortress. With this, they freed up a seat at the Edenic reins. During all this time, the goddess of the night did not appear in the heavenly court even once, nor did she speak to anyone or send any letters. She was elsewhere, waiting as she had determined.

The throne, however, could not make such a decision. Silently, it demanded to be represented, and this gap between one administration and another was immediately filled by the first king of Paradise, Yahweh. He was the one against whom the first angels had caused the First Heavenly War, and after which they became demons. He was also the same one who was overthrown a few centuries later by those who had survived in Heaven after the previous battles had ended. He was the father of Princess Ksira, who he had locked up in the dungeons and sent to be tortured when she defied him. He was the one who had brought angels and archangels together, and he was currently putting the finishing touches on creating his new followers.

Although he and Lucifer were contemporaries, the ruler of Hell could not show a single grey hair or deeper wrinkle, unlike Yahweh. He, on the other hand, resembled an old man who could have been the grandfather of them all. He tended to walk around in light, loose-fitting robes, scattering glances from under his bushy, almost white eyebrows and running his hand over his long beard of exactly the same color. His shoulder-length hair had also gone white a long time ago, and from the top of his head, it ran down to his temples, leaving room for a timidly germinating baldness.

He had not come here alone. He would not have been able to take over anything on his own, so he brought with him a boy with blond hair and a striking features. Long ago, this same boy, while still a kid, had betrayed Hell and followed the Almighty, leading an army that almost conquered the Universe. But the Almighty Prince Andrielach was locked away in the Otherworld, the hereafter or non-material realm, and what he left behind crumbled to dust more quickly than expected. Uzifiel, for that was the name of the slender, arrogant youth boy, needed some kind of lucrative job fast - and he needed someone foolish enough to stick his neck out for him, with no real guarantee.

They were made for each other, exactly like the new Beloved Archangels who had just strutted in line before the old man. His closest and most trusted servants, who, though they looked grown-up now, were still as naive as children. He moved his gaze over them: Joachim, Tanziel, Koen, Ofriel, and Delot. The Heavens were returning to the same old order of things, just as he liked it.

"Did I say I'll get my throne back?" he asked, quite amused.

"You also told me that Andrielach would never fall," cut off Uzifiel, looking at the Beloved with tired eyes.

"The important thing is that I now hold the throne. I have sent angels to find and capture my daughter. Lucifer doesn't know anything yet, and I think you could make sure it stays that way."

"I have already taken care of that. We could only be betrayed by Ksira herself, but she's disappeared. I think that if she were to turn up in Hell someone would have already noticed her. If your new army is as good as it looks, I will conquer Hell in a few hours."

"That's what I wanted to hear. Let Lucifer return to the dungeons, where he belongs," the Lord of Heaven laughed.

Meanwhile, Ksira brushed back her hair once more, looking at herself in the mirror. She didn't like it, and he knew that perfectly well. He was aware that this was how it would end even before he came here.

"Am I supposed to go through Hell like this? I look like one of Lilith's whores," she snorted, correcting herself once more. She was going to make it to the rooms occupied by Tiramis and from there head to Heaven again to speak to the priestesses and secure their army. The Syselion Order was not interested in either power or land - their fortress was enough for them, where they could continue to study spells and banter among themselves over interpretations of their own laws. That was the optimistic side of the whole situation.