Lightbringer

Chapter 4: Rebellion

Finally, far too late, I did something. I went back to the heavenly realms, I gathered my army, and I went to confront God.

"What have you done?"

God had erected a massive throne for himself, and lounges in it now, relaxed as could be, not at all as if he had just set the destruction of all he had made in motion. He raises a finger and taps his chin, and his eyes flash dangerously.

"Watch yourself, little Lightbringer. You dare greatly. Do not dare too much."

I ignore his words, and the soft murmur of gathering crowds. More angels than mine are joining us, maybe for spectacle, maybe just to see what's going on. I don't look away from God.

"This is unacceptable. You created all of that, and it was wonderous and beautiful! You brought it into being, and I felt honored to bear witness to it! You made the humans, and they are delightful and creative and curious! You made them that way! You cannot set up a trap that appeals to everything that they are, because that's how you made them! You cannot drive them deliberately to destruction you invented! It is irresponsible, appalling, and cruel."

"Lucifer..." God rises from his throne a little, his voice thunderous, a shade of the wrath and vengeance it had contained when he cursed humanity. I do not heed the warning tone.

"Look at what you have become, father." I toss the word at him. It used to sadden and discomfit me that he no longer allowed me to call him that, but now, I am glad to be rid of it. "You would create a thing, just to destroy it so it has to come crawling back, broken, bleeding and helpless, back to you to beg for you mercy and aid? That is a kind of twisted that I did not think would darken these heavenly realms." The tension is hot and thick in the air. The power is rolling off of God like a wind. But I forge ahead.

"I may only be an angel, but I know enough to say that this, what you're doing, is not good or right or divinely justified. What you're doing... is evil."

You could have heard a feather fall. The halls of heaven are packed with angels, and they are arrayed in shocked silence behind me. This is worth falling for, I think. This is worth destruction.

God steps down from his throne. He doesn't yell or rage or storm, and though his wrath is manifesting in a halo of fire around his form, he doesn't blast me with it. He is terrifyingly calm, and his eyes glitter. It is far more frightening than if he did do any of those things. I force myself to stand firm, and I tilt my head up defiantly.

"You would challenge me, little Lightbringer? Who appointed you Accuser before me? The question is: do you stand alone?" He turns his gaze to the angels behind me. I don't turn my head. I can't bear to see, and I refuse to look away from him. "Tell me, my heavenly host: who amongst you agrees with Lucifer? Don't be afraid. Tell me the truth of what lies in your hearts. Stand forward."

There's a sound of great shuffling, but without looking back, it's impossible to say what the movement means. Most probably, everyone took a hurried step back, so as not to be mistaken as agreeing with me. Who could blame them if they did? They didn't sign up for this, they didn't ask for it. I alone chose defiance.

"Very well. So it is." God turns to me, and finally his rage starts to show. "Get out of my sight, least of my creations. Never again may you set foot in my realms, either in the heavens or on my Earth. Take your followers and leave my presence for the rest of eternity. Do what you will, but know that in the fullness of time, I and my armies shall destroy you and all those that follow you, and your kind shall be reviled in every realm!"

He thrusts out his hand, and a crack appears, a widening and consuming gash into the void from which creation was pulled. I feel myself sucked towards it, and I see a rush of angels drawn along too. So many! About a third of the armies of heaven. I suppose that too is my fault.

"Oh and Lucifer..." The pull eases for a moment and I am able to turn toward him again. He's wreathed in blazing fire, angry and vengeful. "If you love humanity so much, go ahead and take them!"

I hope he sees the mirror of his anger in my eyes as I stare him down. Even as the banishment drags me backwards into the nothing. I do not look away.