I, Devil (a love story)

Chapter Twenty Six: Azazel

I landed in a big huge pile of trash. I was glad to not have a body. I was glad to not experience the sheer stench of it. All around me was trash, miles and miles and miles. I did not recognize what country we were in. I was disorientated. I had no idea where I was or even what time period. There were no land features. No grass, trees, or rocks. The mounds of trash just looked like colored static. Up above-- the sky was a clear, cloudless blue and birds circled the stinky mountain peaks. The mountains of garbage cast massive jagged shadows across the ground. There wasn't even a path to walk.

I must be in real time, I thought as I stepped through the trash. All of the trash was of fast food wrappers and broken plastic. Every item I could see was of modern origin. I used my normal human avatar shape, but I was a fleshless ghost. I did not want to expend the energy to transubstantiate a real physical body for this literal shit. I could feel Raum was near somewhere, but I wasn't exact in my coordinates. He was somewhere among the rubbish somewhere close. Was this a city dump, I wondered? Why was he here of all places?

I stepped through dirty diapers and rubber tires. I found toys, packaging, and scrap metal. As I meandered through the mess looking for Raum, I found the end of the garbage. It was a literal shoreline. I was on an island of garbage, floating out at sea. I wasn't able to totally orientate myself, but I suddenly had an idea of where I was. It was likely somewhere out in the Pacific ocean. The garbage pile was so gargantuan that it was its own landmass with its own natural features and fauna. Water lapped naturally at the trash as if I were walking on a sunny beach (but with razor-blades and used needles instead of sand.) Fun for the whole family.

That's when I spotted Raum.

He was still more or less the same from last I saw him in 1937. Except, he was literally picking up cans. I was careful to cloak myself so I could not be detected. I just wanted to watch before I announced my presence. It was nice to see my brothers act naturally, to do what they do instinctively when they know they are not being observed. Raum, just like before, was in the shape of a raven and picking up trash. He first picked up the pieces in his claws then to his beak. Afterwards, the piece of trash was tucked under his wing and it disappeared.

I was curious so I honed my insight deeper. I focused my magic so I could get a little better idea of what was happening. It appeared that Raum was simply cleaning. He was removing the human made trash. It was slow, to be sure, but he was removing pollution from the ocean. His aura and vibrations were clear and pure. Something about him had changed.

First, his raven suit was a little different. It wasn't small and black, like it was in 1937. He looked like a physically real crow back then. Now, he was much larger. His feathers were white, as if he had albinism. He was still raven shaped, but he somehow seemed more powerful. When I probed a little deeper, I could see his aura had changed, too. It was like looking at a reverse-fallen angel. I had never seen anything like that before.

Since he was in spirit form, proportions didn't make sense. He was a raven but he managed to pick up an old refrigerator in his claws. Either he became larger or the trash became smaller. Then, I watched as Raum tucked the old refrigerator away. It vanished into the Void-- thrown away for good. Before it was gone I saw a flash of stars in the darkness as if he had the solar system mysteriously under his wing. He was like a magician creating an illusion with a magic, feather cloak. He made the broken fridge simply disappear from reality.

One by one, one piece of garbage at a time. Each piece required energy and effort. There was no acolytes, no recognition. He was simply doing good for the sake of doing good. I wondered if he choose to pick up garbage because of my teasing, or if I had given him the idea somehow. Raum hopped from one thing to the next, targeting larger items before going after smaller ones. It was clear he was concentrating and working hard on this purposefully thankless job.