An Ineffable History

Chapter One: In the beginning, there was a Snake, an Angel, and a Garden

The Garden of Eden, 30 days after the beginning,

In the Garden, there was a snake. Over time it has been told that the snake was the Devil himself. The Embodiment of All Evil who came to tempt humanity and bring them out of paradise. In reality, it was far less dramatic than that. The snake, who the others of his kind had decided to call "Crawley," was not a minor demon per se, but he was nowhere close to the Devil. He slithered through the tall grass and the blades gently scraped against him as he wrapped his long body around a tree and slithered upwards until he found a suitable branch that was high enough and could hide him. Had anyone actually seen Crawley they would have said he changed in the blink of an eye. But, as there was nobody there, he simply changed. One moment he was a large black snake, the next he looked more like the rest of his kind, human- at first glance. He leaned against the tree trunk somehow both lounging and looking like he was about to strike. Go on up there and make trouble, he thought, closing his bright yellow eyes for a moment, do the bastards bother and tell me how to do that exactly? He let his wings hang down and relax as he peered through the leaves of the tree to observe the humans. Why the Almighty had created them Crawley did not know. There were only the two of them so far, and to Crawley they just looked a bit...fragile. Crawley just didn't understand what all the fuss was about. But his place was not to ask questions, he had learned that lesson the hard way. He watched as the female one, Eve- he remembered she was called, pet a large striped cat as it lounged in the sun. The male one, Adam- was not looking at his wife, instead his attention was on something in a tree that Crawley could not see. Adam jumped multiple times until he pulled down a large white feather from its hiding place. Now that got Crawley interested. He immediately recognized that particular type of feather, angelic.

Crawley carefully dropped down from his vantage point on the tree, making sure the humans hadn't seen him. He wasn't going to do anything to them today, Crawley decided, they hadn't done anything yet, might as well let them enjoy their innocence while they can. Besides, Crawley had heard a rumor about a tree with a forbidden fruit, now that might be something he could use to his advantage. He decided to stay in his human form, there was most likely no one else there to see him and besides, it did offer a more pleasing view of the Garden then just grass.

The tree was easy to find, right in the middle of the garden. Really, Crawley thought as he approached the clearing, what was the Almighty thinking putting the most beautiful tree in the middle of the Garden, and then saying "Wait, don't touch that one tree specifically." Something moved in the clearing and Crawley ducked behind the tree line. He watched through the branches and leaves as the mysterious thing came into view. An angel in a white robe, with large white wings, and hair so blonde it seemed to emit its own light. Crawley looked down at his outfit, he had never thought much about it, but seeing his own black wings and robe made him feel so much darker than the angel- which, he supposed, he was. Crawley watched, captivated as the angel reached up into the tree and gently cupped a late bud into his hands. The angel smiled as the bud blossomed into a beautiful white flower as he let go of it. Crawley, entranced, took a step closer, trying to see more of the angel through the leaves, when a loud snap pierced the air. Crawley blessed under his breath as he ducked down, careful to not step on any more sticks. He watched as the angel picked up a large sword from the ground. How had he not noticed that? The sword suddenly burst into flames as the angel brandished it out in front of him.

"Who goes there?" The angel yelled, turning towards Crawley. "Show yourself!"

Needless to say, Crawley did not move muscle. The angel despite the flaming sword, did not look the least bit threatening.He looked around for another moment before putting the sword out and making his way back to the tree. Crawley had not realized he had been holding his breath until he exhaled, slowly standing back up at turning back towards the angel and the tree. Now this might be worth paying attention to.