Lucifer - The First Angel by Marcelo Hipolito - HTML preview

CHAPTER XIII

Revelation

The garden of Gethsemane, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, seemed wrapped in a strange melancholy under the pale moonlight of dawn. Suddenly, the sepulchral silence was broken by the untimely arrival of Jesus of Nazareth, followed by three of his disciples: Peter, James, and John.

“My soul is deeply saddened to death,” the Nazarene told his friends. “Stay here and watch.”

Overcame with dread, Jesus turned away from them to pray. Upon returning, he found the disciples asleep.

“Peter, wake up,” Jesus said, shaking him by the shoulders.

“I'm trying, master…,” Peter babbled. “I don't understand... why I can't keep my eyes open...”

Peter plunged back into the same deep sleep of John and James. In desperation, Jesus knelt and prayed to God.

Jesus saw the end approaching, the scourge, the pain, the blood, the crown of thorns, the shadow of the cross...

“Father, all things are possible for You; take this cup away from me,” Jesus pleaded. “Be not, however, what I want, but what You want.”

A voice answered Jesus. But not the one he longed for.

“Jesus of Nazareth. Stand up.”

Jesus rose before an angel of light who was staring back at him, weirdly. He recognized the power of evil emanating from that being.

“Who are you?” asked the Nazarene.

“I am the Devil.”

Jesus felt a chill.

“I know the Devil,” Jesus said. “He looked upon me in the wilderness when I fasted for forty days and forty nights. You're not him.”

“I never paid you any visits, in the desert or anywhere else. And why would I do that?”

“Then who came to me on that occasion? One of your demons?”

“I would say an angel of the Lord posing as me.”

“Lies! Why would an angel of God pass for the Devil?”

“Perhaps to test your faith,” Lucifer speculated. “I tested a human once myself. A man from Uz. However, that occurred on my terms, not in those of the Creator. And yet it became an experience I would never repeat.”

“Do you really expect me to believe your words, Satan?”

“Frankly, what you think is irrelevant to me. That's not why I'm here.”

Jesus was intrigued.

“What do you want from me, Devil?”

Lucifer smiled.

“Some say that you are the Son of God, that your mother was impregnated by the Almighty himself,” Lucifer acknowledged. “Truth or not, if God tainted His essence with human blood, like His angels before Him, worse for Him.”

Lucifer approached the Nazarene.

“My interest lies in a certain skill that you seem to master.”

“What skill?” Jesus asked.

“To predict events that have not yet occurred, the ability to see the future,” said Lucifer, tormented. “Something that oracles and seers have always claimed through the ages, but never possessed, confined to their mediocre games of divination. In fact, no angel or human has ever demonstrated such an ability, which suggests that you have inherited it directly from God. And if God possesses such power, it means that I have been manipulated since my creation. For God would have no other reason to make me to His perfection, knowing that I would become the Devil if He did not have a plan previously envisioned for me.”

“I don't have the answers you're looking for. All I know is what He teaches me, I only see from the future what He allows me to,” Jesus said, humbly. “But God has a plan for each of His creatures. Of that, I'm convinced.”

Lucifer froze.

“But there is something I do not understand,” Jesus said. “Your faith in my visions. They have not even materialized yet… I thought the Devil was much more suspicious.”

Lucifer cast a menacing gaze upon Jesus.

“You told your disciples about a traitor in your midst, that he would come for you tonight, did you not?”

“Have you been listening in our conversations?” Jesus asked, surprised.

“I have one of my demons infiltrated for years among you. Hidden under the skin of Judas Iscariot.”

Jesus was surprised.

“Do you understand now why I don't have to resort to temptation?” Lucifer boasted. “My ways are different. I destroy from inside.”

A buzz arose at the entrance to the garden. As he turned back to Lucifer, Jesus realized that he was gone. However, the power of Satan, who kept the disciples of the Nazarene asleep, endured. They did not witness when Judas Iscariot arrived at the head of a detachment of Temple guards.

Azazel, wearing the body of Judas, kissed the face of Jesus to identify him, and the Nazarene was led, under offense and beating, toward martyrdom. Peter, James, and John only awakened at sunrise.

Azazel released Judas from her injury-free influence, but only because Lucifer revealed her presence to Jesus. If it were not for God's protection, Azazel would have killed the host. However, the outcome ended up satisfying the demoness. Haunted by the acts committed in his name, though unrelated to his control, Judas hanged himself on the tallest tree he encountered, thus condemning his eternal soul.

On the Hill of Tropes, near the Mournful River, an ugly course of smelly sulfuric acid that crossed the southern region of the Abyss and flowed into the Lake of Solitude, two demons practiced the macabre version of the Gaborah. The rules had suppressed creativity, focusing only on the mental speed with which the pieces were commanded. And instead of heavenly insects, the diabolical variant of the game employed human bones stolen from cemeteries and brought through the Great Seal. Skulls against ribs, levitating in the air by the will of the players. Beelzebub faced Leviathan, forming configurations with his skulls faster than the other could keep up with his ribs.

Suddenly, a fight broke out in the valley below. The two fallen Seraphim flew to the trio of contenders who assaulted each other with kicks and fists.

Beelzebub questioned the reason for that indiscipline. Fangor, a red-eyed demon like Matraton's, stepped forward. He told them about what he had witnessed in the Hagmore Tavern, situated in the eastern district of the Dark City, where he had been intoxicated with Pandemonium – the beer the fallen produced from the fermentation of the bitter and disgusting juice that poured from the walls of the Abyss – upon the sudden arrival of a band of angry and desperate demons. They ransacked the tavern, haunted by agonizing prophecies that condemned the Abyss to succumb before the angelic army. Thus, Fangor flew to alert his friends, Qarem and Verbes, miners of the iron veins that sprouted at the foot of the Hill of Tropes. Stunned, however, at the news of Fangor, Verbes and Qarem discounted their frustration in one another.

Beelzebub and Leviathan abandoned the trio, immediately taking off for the Dark City. Both had been absent only by a couple of shifts and still found the capital engulfed by chaos. Fires, looting and fighting multiplied, the evil army in disarray, leaving the Abyss vulnerable to the angelic hosts. Only the Luciferes maintained their posts, guarding the Citadel.

Beelzebub and Leviathan presented themselves to Lucifer in the throne room. The Firstborn kept a disguise of majestic confidence, despite all the fear that lurked behind his magnificent eyes. For Abaddon had recently returned from a mission of infiltration on Earth claiming that God had revealed to Man the details of the final demise of the fallen and their following eternal damnation. Such was Abaddon’s hopelessness that he did not seek, at first, the Prince Regent, preferring to succumb to despair, wandering around the city, bursting into tears on the main road of the northern district, shouting the horror of that revelation to the unwary around him. The terrifying rumors spread throughout the Dark City like a torment of hysteria and disorder. Being God and angels impossible to lie, then the ultimate truth seemed to unfold to the demons. At least, so the fallen Cherubim and part of the ancient Seraphim believed, despite Lucifer's efforts to convince them otherwise. For Lucifer has seen the Heavens lie when it suited them.

However, the Prince Regent himself faltered in his certainties and convictions, although he hoped that Man, bounded to their limitations, had misinterpreted the Creator's words. Lucifer decided to pursue the truth. He brought Mephistopheles to his waistbelt and took off for the journey that would define his destiny.

John, the Virgin Apostle, used to enjoy the warm nights of Ephesus, an important Roman commercial city on the coast of Ionia. John had made Ephesus his home and base for spreading the word of the crucified Christ to the neighboring towns: Smyrna, Pergamon, Tiatira, Sardi, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

Those night walks helped John clear his ideas and sort out his thoughts. Something vital to John's work who had showed himself to be a writer as talented as he was humble. John spent his days dictating to his disciple Procoro the truth of God, his own masterpiece, his gospel.

Suddenly, John was awakened from his ramblings by the lonely barking of a dog in the distance. He only then realized that he had diverged into a dirty and deserted street. John hurried his step back to his modest residence, near the port. However, his legs, marked by old age, responded slowly, even with the aid of his long staff.

Still, John almost reached the corner that would take him out of the shadows to a main road illuminated by bonfires and torches and animated by warm human voices. However, he was first gripped by his long gray hair and thrown into the dusty ground.

John tried to get up, but a heavy boot came down over his neck, trapping him to the ground. He tried to remove the aggressor's leg uselessly for it was firm as a Roman column. He searched through the darkness, finding his fallen staff nearby. He used it to strike the enemy’s leg several times, but it remained impassive.

A sudden glow emanated from the attacker, embedded John, and revealed the wicked angel who had him trapped. Without speaking, Lucifer peered into the Apostle's mind and glimpsed his services to Christ; his devotion to Mary, the Savior's mother; the trip to Ephesus and his pilgrimage through Asia Minor; his imprisonment and scourge in Rome, by order of emperor Domitian; his exile on the island of Patmos; and his release, after Domitian's death.

Lucifer focused on the memories of Patmos, a desolate and miserable place where John wrote the Book of Revelations. Lucifer saw each line of prophecy dictated to John by the angel Gabriel, as if out of the Creator's own mouth.

To his horror, Lucifer heard Gabriel talked about the Devil's final fall, the salvation of the righteous souls, and the transformation of the Abyss into Hell, a lake of fire where demons and the doomed souls should burn for all eternity, in the most horrendous damnation. John witnessed the storm of emotions that struck the Devil's face.

Horror becoming fear, and fear turning into anger.

John got scared for his life before the homicidal fury that irradiated from those eyes, both splendid and terrifying, but the Devil ignored him, flying away in an unholy rage, never to be seen by a human being again.

The Firstborn ascended to Purgatory, where he cried out for Gabriel.

Two heavily armed phalanxes, responsible for guarding the main gates, promptly surrounded the Enemy. The heavenly warriors waited patiently for the arrival of their commanders, who appeared hovering before the Devil.

Gabriel and Camael were intrigued.

“What do you want, Lucifer Morningstar?” asked Gabriel.

“Do you think God loves you, Gabriel?” roared Lucifer.

“What kind of question is that?” inquired the Herald.

“A direct question, requiring a simple answer: a mere ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is enough.”

“God loves all His children.”

Lucifer smiled, debauched.

“For if God loved you, Gabriel, and really knew the future, he would never have sent you to me, knowing what I am about to do.”

Lucifer drew Mephistopheles directly toward Gabriel's throat, beheading him with a single blow. And that was the end of Gabriel, the most celestial angel of creation.

Camael brandished his sword as the phalanxes rushed toward the Devil. However, an explosion of light enveloped Camael. His whole being trembled as if struck by lightning. And Camael became the new Herald of the Lord. And God pronounced Himself through him.

“Let him through!” Camael echoed the glorious voice of the Lord.

And the light softened in Camael as God left him.

He lowered his sword and the phalanxes made way for Lucifer.

The Devil moved on to the Four Heavens. No angelic host slowed his advance.

And Lucifer saw the First Heaven, the Crystal City, which in all exceeded the brightness and splendor of its predecessor. Its walls and buildings were translucent, as of a liquid contained by beautiful and infinite colors that alternated in a gentle dance of pure contemplation. Its towers were twice as high as those of the Silver City. Lucifer was surprised, but he did not stop and flew higher and higher, until finally gliding before the Almighty.

“Welcome, My son,” said God. “I was waiting for you.”

“So, it's true?” asked Satan. “Do you really see the future?”

“I know everything that was, is and will be.”

“Prove it!”

“All right,” God sighed, bored. “You are about to commit an uncalled act. You will be the first and last to raise your hand against your God. And I say you will pay a terrible price for it, and yet you'll practice it.”

“I can still turn my back on You and leave. Then I'll have shown You're a liar.”

“But you won't.”

“No,” the Devil agreed. “And You know why? Your words are false, an ephemeral shield behind which a useless and cowardly being hides. No angel is here to protect You. I can destroy You now as I did with Mephistopheles, Your evil self.”

Lucifer drew Mephistopheles.

“You are a God of love, not violence,” Satan continued, before advancing against the Lord. “And that is Your weakness!”

Lucifer struck the face of God with the vigor of his hatred. The dark sword, however, fell apart into thousands of shrapnel before an inviolable God. Several of those turned on Lucifer, tearing his flesh and causing deep but not fatal injuries. Satan was flung back by the impact of the blow with a brutality seven times greater than he had employed.

Lucifer stood afloat, stunned, and helpless, before the Creator.

“Wrong,” God said. “Love is never weakness. Feel its power and learn.”

God raised His left hand to Lucifer, and from It blew a lightning bolt like never. A magnificent discharge of light and energy, the sound of which reverberated through the Four Heavens. Made to purify, not to destroy, the divine ray padded the Devil and flung him away from the Lord and back to Earth with stunning precision and speed.

Unconscious, Lucifer tore his passage through the Great Seal and collapsed on the outskirts of the Dark City, opening a huge, deep crater beneath him. And this was the Second Fall of the Firstborn, from which he never recovered. His body was then covered with sores, his natural glow extinct, his wings reduced to small calcined stumps.

Lucifer crawled to the Lake of Solitude.

From its shores, he painfully jumped to one of the tiny islets lost amid the abundant and sulfurous substance. With bare hands, Lucifer erected a gloomy hut from the rough boulders of the islet. Devoid of furniture and vanity, the hut served only for Lucifer to retreat to hopelessness.

Beelzebub, Leviathan and Pazuzu attended the islet several times. However, they were always turned away by Lucifer, who provided them with no explanation. Exasperated by the chaos that reigned in the Abyss, the trio took on the demonic crown, establishing themselves as the Triumvirate, the three corulers of the Dark City. And they sought to convince the demons that revelation was an invention of Man, and not the word of God.

Despite the ideology they propagated, in their innermost years, even the Triumvirate remained uneasy about the Apocalypse. But what choice were they left?

Without a choice, most demons embraced the new tenet offered by their leaders. For a few tens of thousands of fallen, however, this belief was impossible to assimilate. Unable to bear the dread of damnation, they put an end to their desperation by throwing themselves on the tips of their swords, spears, and tridents. Their essences sipped by the insatiable Abyss.

Still, the Triumvirate was able to restore order and discipline and assert itself as the new demonic power. Its three members shared Lucifer's estate among themselves, including his former wives. Beelzebub possessed Prosperine and Agrat-batmahlaht, Pazuzu took over Eisheth and Naamah, and Leviathan took Astarte. Lilith, however, justified her free spirit and remained unaccompanied, never submitting to another husband.

By this time Lucifer ended his brief stay at the Lake of Solitude.

His wounds were sufficiently healed and his pains bearable. He moved to the distant desolated ravines west of the Abyss. Before the great western wall, Lucifer tore what was left of his clothes and threw away the rags. He dug the wall with his wounded fingers, creating for himself a small cave, barely larger than a tomb. He got into it and sealed the entrance behind himself with a compact barricade of rocks and debris.

When revelation came, and divine fire consumed for eternity the demons and souls of the damned, Lucifer was safe in his dark tomb, protected by the evil cold walls of the Abyss.

From that moment on, the accounts differ on the fate of the First Angel. Some believe Lucifer went mad by loneliness and despair, covering the walls of the tomb with a bizarre gospel, written by his large, sharp nails, and intended only for his eyes. Others suggest that the ancient Seraph plunged into the deepest state of meditation, by which he would have reached Nirvana and a higher stage of consciousness comparable only to that of God. Finally, there are those who preach to have Lucifer, surrounded by the peace of absolute darkness, discovered in himself the essence of God, which may exist dormant in all creatures. Thus, contemplating darkness and silence, Lucifer would have isolated and purged evil from within himself, trapping it firmly in his left hand, like a dark bird of hate struggling to escape. And free from evil, Lucifer would have created light. And in the palm of his right hand, made a tiny creature appear, to call him with his primordial name, Samael. And Samael would be the first of many. And Lucifer would create the Heavens and other beings in the image and likeness of Samael. And in due course, Samael and some of his sons would betray Lucifer. But Lucifer would not be sad. For the darkness in his tomb was eternity. And Lucifer would create the physical universe and Man. And Man would be his most beloved creation. Until the end of time, for how long eternity lasts, and beyond.