I awoke hours later, but it was still dark. It must've always been dark in Hell, I realized. Gaia was staring at me as I opened my eyes. I sat up.
"Did you do a spell while I was asleep?" I asked cautiously. "Of course," she said. "I told you I was going to do one."
I was offended. "Why would you do such an unholy act in front of me?" I asked. Gaia shook her head, "it's not unholy. It's not holy, but it's not unholy either."
I sighed. And the other angels thought I knew nothing. I spoke slowly to explain it to her as if she were a child. That's how she was acting. "If it's not holy, God doesn't like it. So it's unholy."
"Not everything is black and white. There's grey too. And color. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, but you are 'colorblind.'" she said in air quotations. "All you see is black and white. Heaven or hell. Your way or the wrong way. There are different colors and shades. Think about life like that."
It kind of made sense, what she was saying, but there was no proof of it. I was a divine being, but I hadn't met or heard of other Gods...at all.
"Why would magick and spells be bad anyway?" Gaia asked. I sighed. "It comes from Satan."
"That would make sense for it to be bad." Gaia agreed. "If it did come from Satan. Which it doesn't."
I sighed. I had been sighing a lot lately. I never got mad. I just got disappointed with ignorant people. "So, if you don't think it comes from Satan, where do you think it comes from?" I asked.
"It comes from the magick user. Their life source. The energy of life. Magick is just manipulating energy, changing it's course, shaping it. Different sources of energy make it act differently. Some sources are easy to communicate with, others are more specific and less predictable." Gaia explained.
"How do you know all this, even if it were true?" I asked.
"I learned it from my coven, and it's been proven by my own experience."
I felt weird. If everything she was saying was true, it would turn my whole world upside down. "How do you know it doesn't come from Satan?" I asked, my last attempt.
"I have faith. Just like you. Just like everyone else. And my religion says it doesn't. I mean, Christians always bring up the bible to defend their religion. So why shouldn't I defend myself with my religion? I could ask Satan personally if magick comes from him, if that'd make you feel better." Gaia said.
I gasped. "You're going to talk to Satan?" I asked. "He could hurt you!"
Gaia shrugged. "Azazel said he wouldn't hurt us. If he wanted to hurt us, he already would have.
I gulped. "If that's what you wish. But I don't want any part of it."
"Ok. But you might want to hear what he says for yourself." Gaia said.
There was awkward silence for a few minutes. Then I asked, "Can I ask you a question about Azazel?" Gaia's face lit up. "Sure."
"Ok, well, why does he call me dove? I'm starting to get used to his weird antics, but it's really out of nowhere." I said. Gaia chuckled. "I think it's just a pet name. He's intrigued by you. The reason why he chose dove, I think, is because you're an angel. You have wings, and your peaceful, like a dove."
"So... Azazel likes me?" I asked, disgusted. "I think he might. He's nicer to you than he's ever been to any angel. He's even nicer to you than he is to me. I didn't know he could be so nice."
They call that being nice? I gulped. Why would a demon like me, for any other reason but lust? Maybe that's all it was; he just lusted me.
