Chapter 5

I watched as Adam and Eve strolled through the Garden of Eden, hand in hand, the same way that Adam and Lilith had. It's a shame it couldn't last longer. I had come to love Lilith, as a father loves his daughter-

…Not like that. She has a pretty sweet rack that I admired whenever I was here on Earth. The same could be said for Eve as well.

A smirk crossed my lips as I saw Eve practically bouncing as Adam explained everything to her. All the creatures and plants he named on the lands, to all the fish and aquatic creatures in the sea. They all came at his beck and call, to do his will. His Kingdom, as he wanted, with Eve as his Queen.

I looked away from Eve's feminine curves and laid my head against the grass. It was time. Lilith acted as she had because Helel pushed her to that. Looking at Helel's thoughts, he truly sees nothing wrong with what he's done, it's a little concerning. His reasoning for doing it warms my heart; he wanted me to spend more time in Heaven, with him and his siblings. There was more to it, but that was the base of his reasoning.

He isn't excused, the means don't justify the end.

I sat up, pushing myself to my feet, and stepped through the portal. It was time, the time to truly set the future of this world into action. If I didn't have all of this overwhelming knowledge flowing in my mind, I'd be a bit worried, but now-

…All I feel for Helel, is pity.

— Michael —

Again, he and his siblings were playing UNO, this time only four of them. The others watched closely, content on enjoying each other's presence. What wonderful siblings he had.

"Draw four," Uriel said, looking at Michael. Michael smiled innocently, throwing down a draw four of his own.

"Draw eight." He said to Azazel, Azazel looked at her cards for a moment. She reached over to the deck to draw, only to pull her hand back and slam another 'draw four' onto the table

"Draw twelve!" Azazel grinned.

"How in Father's name do you keep getting those!" Helel shouted, throwing his cards down on the table.

"Skill issue?" Uriel asked, looking far too amused.

"What do you mean, skill issue, It's UNO, there's no skill involved!" Helel got up, anguish leaking off him.

"That's what an unskilled person would say."

They all got out of their seats and bowed at the entrance of their Father.

"Rise." He ordered and so they did.

"You're back earlier than usual this time. Did something interesting happen, Father?" Remiel asked, excited to hear a story from their creator.

"Yes, something…interesting occurred but not in the way I would have liked."

They all grew curious at that answer. Something Father didn't like? That meant that whatever happened must have been bad.

Michael's curiosity peaked. He wished to know what had upset their father so that it could never happen again! Not on his watch!

"What happened, Father?" Michael asked, eyes pleading for an answer. God remained quiet for several moments before he let out a tired sigh.

"The Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, Lilith ate it."

Gasps across the entire room were audible. Everyone was taken aback by that knowledge. They knew of both trees and knew the restrictions God had placed on them. No one, not even the angels could eat the fruit, though truthfully, they didn't need to. The fruit merely made whoever ate it more perfect, closer to God, but the angels were already God's perfect creations.

To think Lilith would go against their Father's orders and indulge in such a selfish desire!

"It is as I said, Father. The humans are a disgrace to your perfection, and ours." Helel walked forward, standing beside God. He held his hands out as he looked at his siblings. "We, the angels are God's perfect creations, to rule over one of God's Kingdoms as anything less would be an insult of the highest order!" Helel turned back to God and dropped to a knee. "I ask of you Father, command us, either myself or Michael to rule over Earth. If it is your wish, all the angels can take dominion over it."

Again all the angels were taken aback by Helel's request. Michael was sure that none of them had even considered ruling over one of Father's kingdoms. They were surprised that God let humans rule Earth, but never once considered doing it themselves. Helel seemed to always be three steps ahead of everyone else.

Everyone remained quiet as they waited for God's answer to Helel's request.

"Helel…no."

Not a surprising answer by any means, but Michael was sure the tone in which God had said it didn't bode well for the future. It broke his heart to hear such sadness in their Father's voice. It was as if they failed in their one mission in this existence, to make God's life easier.

"I know what you did, how you played with Lilith's emotions to eat the fruit."

"He what?!" Uriel shouted in disbelief.

"Helel…no, Father you must be mistaken." Gabriel held her hand over her mouth, of the gathered Archangels, none seemed to take such news as badly as her.

"Father is never wrong, don't forget that, Gabriel," Michael said, stepping forward.

Helel's face was stuck between shock and sadness. Michael wanted to believe that God was mistaken, but that would go against everything that they knew. For God to be wrong, such a thing was an impossibility. God defined right and wrong, there was no exception.

"Helel…why?" Michael asked, the eldest Archangel didn't look at any of them, still shocked, his eyes slowly came up to meet their Father.

"You knew…I should have suspected you would. No! That doesn't matter! What I did was expose their true nature, it would have come out sooner or later. It couldn't last. Not forever!"

"It would have, that I am certain of. Your actions made it so such a thing could never come to be." God explained and it felt like Michael's whole world was being torn away. His eldest brother…had gone against God. Indirectly as it may have been, he went against God's plans.

Such a thing was criminal to angels.

"Your heart was in the right place, I'm sure of that, but your actions have cost Lilith her eternity on Earth, as such…I must punish you, Helel." The brokenness in God's voice broke the hearts of all the angels, but surely none more so than Helel. Michael couldn't take it anymore, he wished he could go back in time, and stop Helel from doing something so rash.

So stupid!

"...I will need to take some time, to think of your punishment. Remain in Heaven until then, Helel. I do not permit you to leave." With a snap of God's fingers, he was gone, leaving behind a bunch of confused, surprised, and distraught Archangels.

"Helel," Azazel whispered walking towards him. She reached her hand out but paused and brought it to rest at her side. Michael couldn't blame her. Helel had done something wrong, something so cruel that it had greatly upset their father.

With Helel's state in Heaven being questionable at the moment, it was time for Michael to stand up tall, to be the elder sibling that Helel had been.

Michael walked towards Helel, stopping just in front of him. "Father's word is law. You are to stay in Heaven. I ask that you pray to him, ask him for forgiveness, Father always holds room for forgiveness in his heart." Michael pat Helel on the shoulder and then looked at the rest of his siblings. "Helel made a mistake, that's what older siblings do. They make mistakes so the younger siblings don't follow down that same path. So that they grow to be better. Learn from Helel's mistakes, and try your hardest to not bring Father to such a saddened state."

""Yes, brother.""

— Helel —

He sat on his bed in Fifth Heaven, in a room all to himself. He couldn't believe it, all he wanted was to show his father that Humanity was a mistake that needed correcting, and now here he was. Sitting down, waiting for the verdict. Helel wasn't an idiot, he had created an incident that went against his father's plans, and any intelligent angel with knowledge of how their father operated would know what fate awaited him.

Banishment.

He caused Lilith to be banished, so the only fitting punishment would be the same thing, or something worse. It depended on how their father was feeling when he gave the verdict. Though, in his days of acquired consciousness, he had never once seen his father so…upset. It broke his heart and at that moment, he wished he could have followed his father's wishes and waited it out to see if Humanity truly held beauty within their souls.

His fists clenched. He messed up, but he did it for his family, for his brothers and sisters, for his father.

Now, he would be cast out, and have the doors locked in his face.

"DAMN IT!" Helel shouted, slamming his fist into the wall. No damage was done, the walls of Heaven were too durable to fall to such a poultry attack, but his intent was made clear. He laid back in his bed. His dream, of spending eternity in his family's presence, was gone…never to come true.

*Knock*

Helel sat up, looking at the door. He sensed three familiar energies. Curiously, he got out of his bed and made his way towards the door. He opened it to see three angels; Asmodel, Leviel, and Beziel. All three of them looked at him, firm resolve twinkling in their eyes. Such resolve intrigued Helel, he gestured for them to come in.

"What did you all need?" He asked only to be cut off by Leviel putting her hand up. She used a hand to brush away her long brown hair and closed the door. Her purple eyes twinkled with power as she put some sort of seal on it.

"There, now our father shouldn't be able to hear our conversation." Leviel frowned, taking a moment to stare at her handy work.

"What do you all need," Helel repeated, he could assume judging by Leviel's words that they planned on talking about his impending punishment, but he really didn't want to talk about it.

"We need you." Asmodel leaned against the wall. "We agree with you, Helel. We share the same opinions regarding the humans and Earth." Oh, now that caught Helel's attention, he gestured for Asmodel to continue. "God created the humans, but even if they lived up to his expectations, they would never be perfect. You shouldn't be punished for seeing what he couldn't, it just makes you better."

Just like that, Helel was lost. He rushed Asmodel, grabbing his collar and lifting him against the wall.

"You dare speak ill of our father?!" His sneer grew, as well did his rage. His wings flickered black then back white as he threw Asmodel onto the ground.

Asmodel coughed for a moment before wiping it away.

"He phrased it wrong." Beziel frowned. "What he meant was that you would be better leading Heaven."

That wasn't much better, but Helel didn't want to risk falling again so this time he let the conversation play out. "Oh, and what does that mean?"

"It means, you can make better choices than us, and even surpass the deductive reasoning of God. You are the most fit to rule Heaven."

Better, but it still didn't strike his chords.

"Beyond that." Leviel joined in, with a small smile. "You are God's most beloved child, why do you think it hurt him so much when he had to punish you? If you were any other angel, you probably would have been gone by now, but here he is, still deciding on what to do with you."

Helel paused at that. Was that true? Did Father truly love him more than any other creation?

"What would I do once I take rule of Heaven?"

"Well, you could start by giving dominion of Earth over to the angels." Asmodel shrugged. "Anything after that and even before is up to you."

"I see." Helel hummed. If they took control of Heaven, it would surely make his siblings hate him, but he wouldn't have to say goodbye forever, they would stay together. He could imprison them, and the same could go for his father…in time, even his father would come to forgive him. It wasn't perfect, but it was all he had.

"So what will it be?" Leviel held her hand out. "We're not the only ones who feel this way, with our numbers, we may be able to win."

"How many of you are there?" Helel asked, and Beziel smirked. "Sixty-two others."

"So sixty-six in total." Helel hummed in thought. It wasn't perfect and they were still grossly outnumbered, but all they had to do was defeat their Father. A tall task, but a necessary one. Once their father was defeated, victory was theirs.

…Then he could be with his family forever.

"I'm in."