Chapter Text
The sky was a bright blue that day, and there was not a cloud in sight. The birds were chirping. The sun was bright and shone through the heavens. My name is Lucy, well not really, my real name is Amatormara, but everyone calls me Lucy. I am a soul in heaven and an old one at that, from the early times of civilization in fact.
A beautiful pastel-like scene before me as I traversed the beautiful blooming gardens with hedges on the 8th ring and the innermost part of heaven where Elohim chooses the greatest as his company. Beautiful flowers bloomed in a rainbow of colors, they glitter like gems in a jewelry shop. Angels floating through the sky like birds zipping in the air. I weave my way through the winding paths and laughing souls. Gazebos packed with children and adults, all with smiles bright as the sun, cheering and enjoying the company.
This place was a paradise for most, but not me. I am the daughter of the great Devil, Lucifer. I feel like a splotch of mud on a white carpet, a black sheep among a flock of white sheep. A half Devil in heaven feels wrong and the decision to bring me here was met with much resistance. But now I had a way out. The Council of the High Angels finally offered to let me be reborn as all souls in heaven could. Just being a part Devil couldn't be hard enough, nobody has the finest clue what the effects of being reborn could do to me. This could solve my trouble, or risk my existence.
I paused my stride as an angel dropped down next to me. “Hey Lucy,” the angel said with a soft smile. “Oh, hello Deimos,” I responded. Deimos was a Seraphim who was a demon in life, he was most nowadays would call transgender. He chose to remain in his “female form” even though he could shapeshift. Now Demos is different from your normal soul in heaven, he was a ‘Fallen’ or a cursed dead but a repentant one since he’s an Angel. This means he can affect the human world as well unlike us souls. Also unlike me, he is very cryptic and is perhaps the most mysterious and unpredictable Angel except for his commander Archangel Michael.
“So I hear they are going to reincarnate you,” Deimos says, looking at the sky with his intense brilliant yellow eyes.
“Yeah, they are and you are part of the council, remember,” I say.
“It’s more a formality than anything else now,” he says, his eyes never leaving the sky, “after that incident anyway.”
“Huh?” I glance at him with confusion. What is he talking about? What incident is he talking about?
“Oh nothing, and besides,” he continues, “it's Ural’s power that will bind your soul to a new body, not mine.”
“True but it was you and Michael who fought for this.”
“Yes but Michael is my superior and my good friend so I’m honor-bound to him and his morals.”
“But…” I started to say but was cut off as we entered the Inner Sanctum of this ring and were blinded by its brilliance. A huge chamber made of brilliant white marble. Ceilings are colored with scenes of great feats. A swordsman slaying a hellhound, a warlock felling a dragon, and the most out of place among them a young brunette girl and a red-haired Oni-man fighting a devil. And not just any devil, THE Devil, my father. Then another more curious painting caught my eye. One of a glowing gold angel and a black and red devil battling. You wouldn’t think that this was unusual but the two were ringed in gold and blood-red fire burning over a cathedral and a head-on fight between heaven and hell hasn’t happened in many centuries, millennia even. Compared to the others this particular painting was far more faded and cracked, seemingly very old.
In the chamber many layers of white marble benches were cut in semi-circles, Above them in the middle was a glowing gold throne, a smaller silver throne, and 7 white marble chairs. In these chairs sat the 7 archangels and on the thrones sat Elohim engulfed in his blinding glory, and his most trusted and oldest adviser, the captain of the heavens, Archangel Michael. Deimos took flight and landed next to Michael’s throne and stood by his shoulder.
Elohim’s voice fills the room like a chorus of bells with the rumble of thunder.
“Amatormara Dawnbreaker, Daughter of Lucifer Morningstar Dawnbreaker, the counsel of the heavens will now hear any objections you may have.”
“I have none, Lord.”
“Very well, does the Council of the Angels have any objection, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
One of the Archangels stood in his chair, Raphael by the looks of it.
“Yes Lord, I have an objection.”
“Yes my faithful servant, you may speak, Raphael.”
“Yes, Lord. I would simply like to point out the risks of this resurrection. For one, if anything goes wrong and something happens, we will face the wrath of Lucifer and his minions.”
“But we are already,” another angel called out, interrupting Raphael.
“Yes, but not in the magnitude we will if she is harmed, he might even decide to take it into his own hands,” replied the archangel
“Then I will face him and take responsibility for it. As a former friend, I could console him,” A booming baritone voice rang through the sanctum. I glanced up at the silver throne. There was only one person that could be, Michael. He stood and faced Raphael.
“I mean no insult, but I proposed this, therefore by doubting it you're doubting me. Is that not so?”
“Apologies, my dear friend. I simply want to state the risks, lay out the facts as they say.”
“If that is all my dear friend I have already researched this very subject,” Michael said
What? He did? I racked my brain to see a reason for this but found none. And so I spoke.
“Why?” the word sprouted from my mouth before I could stop myself.
Michael looked down with a small smile across his calm serious face.
“I can’t let the good friend of my second in command just simply die, could I?” he said.
“How?”
“I have connections, perhaps someday you’ll meet them. Now there are a few possible outcomes, one is that it goes as planned, not likely. Another is that you simply disappear, again not likely.”
“Then what is the most likely?” Said the archangel Ural.
“That is her soul rebels and she becomes a new being entirely.”
“How likely is that?” Ural asked
“About a 50 percent chance.”
“So are we getting on with this or not?” Asked another of the archangels, Gabriel, impatiently.
“I would say so,” Ural replied, “I have no objections to this matter and it’s my magic we are using. Ok dear, stand right there and don’t move while the ritual is underway, if you do some of you could disconnect from the rest of you.
I nod my head and stand still as she begins to chant in an unrecognized language. The world began to swirl around me like a whirlpool. The ground seemed to spin over the end like a washing machine. Suddenly the world went black.
“Took you long enough,” a mysterious voice said, “I have been trying to talk to you for ages now, child of the devil king.”
“Wha… who…?” I stammer into the darkness. There was a low chuckle from the dark. Suddenly two glowing red eyes cut through the dark.
“They call me the Phantom or the Evening Star.”
“I’ve never heard of you. Show yourself!”
“You will meet me soon enough, now an awake child of the Morning Star, and bring with you the rise of the Chaos Born, children of heaven and hell.” the voice said slowly fading away as the blackness disappeared.
“Wait, who are you?!” I cry reaching out my arm. Suddenly I was back in the sanctum with Deimos standing over me.
“Are you okay?!” he said in an alarmed voice, “You just collapsed on the ground without warning!” Should I tell him what happened? Who am I kidding, I don’t even know.
“I’m fine, my vision went black after that I don’t remember anything.” His concern wasn't gone but he backed away. Then Michael came over and stood next to him.
“Lucy, it’s clear that you aren’t in a human body, and that you still have your memories, but do me a favor. Tell me do you feel any different?” he said. I frown with curiosity.
“No, not really. Why?” Wait, I can feel the stone under me and I can smell the flowers! Ghosts can’t do that! What's going on here?!
“Here, look at yourself,” Michael says, handing me a mirror made of his energy. My face looks very different from before. Instead of my normal human appearance, my face was split into two appearances. The left side of my body had a more demonic appearance. A fang jutted out of my mouth, a red eye that glowed, and my left hand was clawed with black nail-like claws as long as a bear’s. From my back sprouted a wing of bone. On the right side of my body seemed more angelic, with a gold color eye and a beautiful white wing. My arm was laced with an interlocking gold pattern. On my upper arm, a pattern of stars and a rising sun decorated my bicep. A small antler protruding from my head on the left with a half halo on my right
“What happened to me?” I ask, confusion written over my face.
“That’s a good question, I can feel that your energy is different, not angel but not devil, nor is your energy human.” Michael replied, “But your appearance is like a mix of your father as a god and as a fallen, it is quite curious indeed.”
“Then what am I?” I ask,” What have I become?”
“A good question, one I cannot answer, it is a mystery what you are, this has never happened. The only thing I do know is that your energy has increased massively. I have no explanation why though.” I guess that’s to be expected. After all, something like this has never happened.
“Why don’t you go get some rest? It might help now that you have a physical body,” Demos suggested. And though he never said it I could hear his unspoken thoughts. 'The council has to discuses this'
“Okay that sounds like a good idea, I will go get some sleep,” I replied. After that, I took a nap underneath a tree. As I took in the fragrances of the flowers and the feel of the grass on my back, suddenly I felt slightly different. I looked down to see my arms had returned to normal. My claws were gone and the interlocking patterns had disappeared but the stars and the rising sun remained. Interesting seems to be based on my father’s form or that of Michael and the angels, and it seems when you're reborn you are born in the clothes you die in. A devil or angel can change between two forms: a true form and a more human-like form. Mostly these forms can be changed at will, except for a few low-tier angels and devils who are stuck in their true forms, as a book I borrowed from the archive said. It seems that my true form took angelic and demonic aspects and combined them. At some point while reading about this I dozed off.
Suddenly I was standing in a huge room, decorated with red and black decor. Black columns lined the wall and torches burned with green fire. Gold etched lines like cracks in the pillars along with singer bases. The walls were dark and glittery like they were built of obsidian. The room seemed to whisper of horrors unspoken. There were cracked windows of dark stained glass showing a red sky. At the end of the room stood a large obsidian and quartz throne behind it a beautiful apple tree with pearl white leaves bearing a singular golden apple on its branches, hanging over the throne. Wrapped around the tree is a giant grey three-headed hound dog with seven golden serpents instead of a tail. A tall man sat on the throne, with cropped black hair, red eyes, and grey skin. His face seemed stern and distant and was as beautiful as an angel’s. He wore a black silk shirt and pants with high-laced black boots.
“Hello my daughter,” He said, “It has been a while, well you wouldn’t remember but it’s been a while for me, in human terms. How have you been?” The man asked in a smooth charismatic but stern voice, a tiny smile breaking his stoney face.
“You're my father?” I ask, my voice cracking. Of course he is stupid, but how is he talking to me? If he could, why not do it before now?
“ Yes, I am Lucifer, your father, the Devil king. I wish I could have talked to you sooner, though I was magically sealed away for a time and I also had to run Hell of course. But sadly this is not a friendly talk. I have something you need to warn the angels about.”
Of course, why else would he talk to me? I thought bitterly, but out loud I said, “What is it, Father?”
“ A new devil of mine has gotten his hands on the Black Book and is currently leading a rebellion. He went to the mortal realms a few days ago. He also used the Black Book to counteract my control on his soul and the souls of his followers.”
“What’s the Black Book and why me?”
“It’s a powerful ancient artifact, a book filled with black magic of the most powerful kind. It was in my possession for safekeeping. It holds the power to tip the very foundations of this world. And as for why you, well dear daughter, you hold the favor of an Archangel and his right hand, and not just any Archangel but old Mika himself. And besides I have no way to directly communicate with Heaven and no desire to talk to those self-important bastards if I could.”
“How did he get it? It sounds like you should have had it locked up safe.”
“It was guarded by various spells and devils. But most of those devils were destroyed and all the spell circles are broken and there are no witnesses. I usually am able to see memories of devils
under my control but they still have to exist at the point that I am looking through the memories.”
“That’s awfully convenient.” I muttered bitterly, “Why do you want me to do this?”
“Because you have a power you never realized, you just need to find it. You’re more of an angel than I ever was, and stronger in ways that I could ever hope to be. Oh and tell this to your heaven’s council what I told you.”
“I highly doubt that they will believe me.”
“No one would ever just dismiss the possibility of the Black Book on the loose in the hands of a devil. Especially this one.”
“Why what's so different about this one?”
“He’s an Oni,” my father said flatly, “there has only been one other fallen Oni, and he was a natural disaster. Now go and explain what's going on. And don’t forget I am proud of you.” As he said this the dream faded to black. Before he disappeared Lucifer looked at her with his intense red eyes and said, “One more thing beware the septagram. They will only bring trouble.”
“What do you mean?!” I shouted, sitting up with my eyes shooting open. Over me stood Deimos.
“Bad dream?” he asked, concern for me painting his electric blue eyes. His blond hair spilled over his shoulders, he leaned forward to offer his hand to help me up. I grabbed it and muttered as he pulled me up, “something like that,”
“Demos I need to see Micheal. Now.” I told him, “Where is he?”
“I’m right here young one,” Michael’s booming voice said from behind me. I wiped around and looked at him. He was standing there, his figure looming over my own. His brilliant iris is the color of liquid gold. Small silver bands swirled through it like fish in a lake, his gold hair striped with streaks of black. Like me, his left bicep was decorated with a symbol, half covered by his plain white shirt, and he wore plain white silk pants. Around his waist, he wore a simple cord belt with a sword in a sheath. Must be Irthizeal, the legendary flaming weapon of Elohim’s commander. He looked at me, his eyes seeming to glow softly.
“Well little one, what do you need?” he asked in his baritone voice, like a chorus of brass.
“Well, I fell asleep and I had a dream.”
“And what happened in this dream?” he asked gently.
“Well I saw my father…”
“What! You saw Lucifer!” Demos interjected in surprise.
“Yes, and he told me that a devil has stolen an artifact called the Black Book”
“The Black Book!”Michael exclaimed, “Oh boy that's not good,”
“I don’t understand why this artifact is so dangerous.”
“The Black Book is an artifact that was created when the primal Chaos was sealed in his realm, it was a side effect of the spell that sealed him away, thus it’s imbued with his powers and all the inherent abilities of the fallen. This is because we are a product of Chaos,” Michael explained.
“And because it has his powers and those of Michael and Lucifer, it can override almost any power. It can even undo the spell that sealed Chaos, there is a limit though and it always comes with a cost,” Demos added.
“ I see,” I said.
“Indeed, I will tell this news to the council, you stay here, I’m sorry to say but the council probably doesn’t want to hear from you again,” Michael told me, looking a little frustrated.
“Ok, tell me what happens when you come back,” I responded, keeping my voice even. As Demos passed me he looked over and gave me a blinding smile, his teeth a brilliant white and the only sign of what he was in life was the slightly longer canine teeth, sharp like fangs.
“Have fun, Lucy, don’t throw any crazy parties while we are gone,” he teased.
“Ha ha, real funny,” I replied, giving him a friendly push. He chuckled and turned away, you could almost see the muscles ripple in Michael’s and Deimos’s legs as they tensed then jumped into the air, white wings spreading with a powerful flap. They flew off in the direction of the sanctum. I sat under the tree and watched the clouds. Funny, I have never seen it rain in heaven but the plants are always so lush. I looked at the sky picking out shapes in the clouds as I contemplated what had been going on lately. I absorbed myself in my thoughts, thinking back to when I was still part of the human world. My vision started to fade as a memory came to my head and seemed to absorb my surroundings.