7 Chapter 7

"Protect and lead your siblings to Sixth Heaven," I ordered Metatron, and he nodded hastily, sprinting out of the door.

"Father, what will you have us do?" Michael asked. My eyes trailed over each of them. All of them looked nervous, but some looked ready to fight, while others looked like it was the last thing they wanted to do.

I wouldn't force them.

"I alone will face Helel and the rebellion; all of you retreat to Sixth Heaven."

"No, Father, I won't allow you to go off alone!" Remiel stepped forward, a golden spear forming in her hands. "Let us fight with you."

"I agree with Remiel, Father, we can help!" Uriel stood by his sister.

"We will protect Heaven." Michael looked at me with a face full of determination.

"Could you fight against your brothers and sisters, Remiel, Uriel, Michael?" I asked in a stern voice; each of their resolves wavered, and that was all I needed. "I alone will handle this. Let your father discipline his children."

I didn't wait to hear any further argument; instead, I teleported to where the angels were fighting.

Upon appearing, I saw several downed angels, with a significant number of my children carrying weapons of light.

None of the angels were dead, seems Helel's not as much of a lost cause as the Lucifer I remember.

The angels stared at me, fear building in their eyes as they saw their main opposition. They got on guard, but a single angel flying to the front stopped them from doing anything stupid.

"Father."

"Helel."

All movement had frozen as Helel, and I stared at one another. His white wings were shimmering, and I could hear his silent prayers, apologies, and resolve to stay together.

We exchanged no more words as he formed a light spear and rushed me. I formed my own and blocked his, the light clashing in a bright shine, but neither of us covered our eyes.

"Wait, Father!"

I pushed back harder, and Helel went flying. I turned my head to the one who called me and saw Michael.

"I will face Helel," Michael said with firm determination, walking in front of me and forming a light spear of his own.

His resolve was firm and made me proud. Pride was a sin, but I wasn't afraid to admit it at this moment.

"I understand, Michael. This fight is yours." I smiled warmly before turning my attention to the other rebellious angels. "You all have made your choice; now you will reap the consequences of your actions."

I held my hands forward; anything the angels were going to say was lost to me as I sealed them into the same space I sent Lilith. I had complete control over the angels sure they had free will, but like most things, they were a piece of me. Sealing their bodies was as simple as running my hand through my hair.

Sixty-five rebelling angels were gone in an instant.

I looked upon Helel and Michael clashing before focusing my attention on the downed and injured angels who had victims in this rebellion. I raised my hands, green light forming within them, and I spread the light to each of my downed children.

Within the next few moments, they slowly rose to their feet, checking their wounds. Their bewilderment turned to tearful joy as they looked upon me. I smiled at my children before focusing on my oldest son's fight with my second eldest.

It was about that time; knowing didn't make it any easier.

— Helel —

Ever since they were created, it was easy to tell that he was the strongest angel. Father made it so his eldest children would be stronger than anyone younger than them. This means that Michael, since the beginning of their existence, had been weaker than him.

…Until now.

Michael sent a barrage of spears as he struggled to form a shield to block them. This shouldn't be! It made no sense! How has Michael grown stronger?!

"Are you wondering how brother?" Michael asked, and Helel's eyes widened briefly before his face bit into a snarl. His wings flickered black at the pure amount of wrath he felt at that moment. "The answer is simple."

"Shut up!" Helel roared, shooting into the air and spreading his flickering wings. "I am God's first angel, a being of perfection, an almighty soul to stand beside him forever! I will not be defeated here!"

Light formed in his hand, an enormous amount of it, until he compressed it down. It formed into a ball as he stared down at his younger brother. "I will succeed!"

Michael mimicked his older brother's actions, but instead of just forming a ball of light, he added each element into the center of it. Water, earth, fire, wind, lightning. They all swirled in the center as Michael blasted off towards Helel.

"You will not stop me!" Helel shouted, launching himself towards Michael, and their balls of light collided in a brilliant flash. They both struggled for control, and it was then that Michael started to speak again.

"I am stronger, older brother, and it's not because I've grown stronger," Michael said through gritted teeth. They both were exerting a great deal of energy, and it was a certainty that the entirety of Heaven could feel their clash. "I am stronger because you have grown weaker."

Helel didn't believe it, he couldn't! He was perfect, down to the minute detail; he couldn't lose. "You're wrong!"

"The wrath you feel in this moment is both proof of my words, as well as the very thing that hinders you!" Michael roared louder than Helel had ever heard him speak. "You have been consumed by the very thing Father told us not to fall to. You are littered with sin, and it affects your mind. I am stronger because you have fallen from grace!"

Helel's anger grew at Michael's words, his wings flickering at an incredible speed before they stopped.

He felt cold, colder than he had ever felt in his existence. As he and Michael continued to clash, Helel looked back to his wings, and his heart dropped.

Black.

"You could never win without your love for Father surpassing your sins!" Michael shouted, his ball of light exploding as the elements were reinforced by the broken light, transforming into something different, something-

…Holy!

The elements clashed against Helel, sending him flying upwards.

"GAAAHHH!" He screamed in pain as his body reached its climax height and fell downwards. No one slowed his falls as his body slammed into the crystal white floor of Heaven hard. He coughed up blood and lay on the ground, his body refusing his orders to move and his mind broken by the sadness he felt in his heart. His eyes drifted towards his father, and his heart fell into even more profound despair as he saw the apologetic look in his rainbow-colored eyes.

"You've lost, brother, because you lost faith in the most high." Michael floated down to him. His little brother's face was much more sorrowful now as he stopped just above him to stare down at his defeated form.

Helel felt ashamed. He didn't dare look at anyone. He had lost himself, and now he had lost his family. He was a broken angel.

An imperfect being, never to reclaim the perfection he once held.

"Helel." He heard his father's words, but he didn't dare look towards him. "Let us talk." Helel heard a snap of his Father's fingers, and he could no longer sense any angels around them. He slowly opened his eyes to see a barren land of rock and stone.

"Fath-" He stopped himself. He held no right to call him that, not after what he did. Not after he hurt his brothers and sisters.

Not after he hurt his father.

"Stand, Helel." His father ordered, and he did as commanded, standing but not looking upon his form. "You have caused great heartache for me and your siblings."

There was no answer; Helel already knew this. Hearing it from his father just hurt him more.

"It was to be expected." God sighed, and Helel's head snapped up, surprise and confusion plastered on his face.

"What do you mean…expected?"

"From the beginning, I knew things would turn out like this. No amount of coddling would have allowed such a thing to change. Even if I stayed in Heaven instead of on Earth, you would have started to grow jealous of your siblings for stealing my attention."

No…He wouldn't do that, would he?

"This was inevitable, and it's also for the best."

"What do you mean, for the best!" Helel shouted, spreading his arms and wings out. "I am a broken angel; I have fallen from grace! I am no longer per-"

"You were never perfect."

Those words froze Helel. His heart stopped beating as he looked up to meet his father's eyes.

"...W-What?"

God's gaze softened considerably.

Helel, you as well as all your siblings, were never perfect. True perfection is impossible." He explained, but Helel couldn't understand what was being said to him. Of course, they were perfect! They were angels created in God's image, and God was-

"How…how can true perfection be impossible if you exist!" Helel pointed at the Almighty Being before him. Such a thing made no sense. God was perfect, the universe's creator, and God was everything.

The Lord shook his head. "I am not perfect. Never in my existence have I been perfect."

Those words threw Helel for a loop, so much so that he didn't believe him.

"You lie!"

"I do no such thing." He shook his head again. "I speak the truth. From the beginning of my existence, in a void of nothingness, I was not perfect. If I were perfect, I would have been able to create existence itself with no drawback to myself."

Helel paused; he knew God created many amazing things, existence itself, but what he didn't know was that it came at a cost.

"From then on, my abilities have been more limited; perhaps one day I'll get my all-knowing mind back, and perhaps I'll rise beyond the pinnacle of power. That doesn't change the fact that I am not perfect. I am who I am."

"That…doesn't make sense! How can you claim to be Almighty if you are not?!" Helel shouted.

"Simple, my son, we have different ideas of perfection." God walked forward, and Helel saw no reason not to follow. "While you see perfection as something that bears no flaws, I see perfection as something that can recognize their flaws and correct them. I created humans because I believe that one day, like the angels, they could reach this definition of perfection I have created. As for me, I know my flaws, and I act accordingly to correct them."

God stopped, turning around to look upon Helel. He spread his arms out with a warm smile. "I claim to be the Almighty because I believe I am. I will be who I will be."

Helel stared upon his Father's form, and for the first time in the entirety of his existence, he understood his father, fully and truly.

Tears streamed from his eyes that he wiped away, he turned his back to his father as he regained himself.

God didn't speak as Helel took a moment. Once Helel was feeling better, he turned around with a face full of resolution.

"So, what you want from angels and humans alike is for them to be who they are?" Helel asked.

"Yes."

Helel gave a curt nod before pointing at his Father.

"I am not better than you, even if you claim not to be perfect, nor is any being in the existence you created, but I vow today, I will reach your level of perfection, and I will take your throne; that way, you'll have to listen to whatever orders I give you!"

God smiled and gave a nod. "A fine goal, Helel."

"No." Helel frowned. "I am not Helel." He walked away a few steps before turning around. "Today, Helel died, along with the angel of imperfection I once was." The twelve black feathery wings on Helel's back started to shed their feathers until there was nothing but bat-looking wings. "I am a being of imperfection, a creature of the sin I shall embrace! I am Lucifer, and I shall call this domain Hell, where the angel Helel was reborn into his true self!"

God's smile grew wider, and he gave a short applause, making Lucifer blush red.

"You're not supposed to clap!"

"How could I not, Helel…forgive me, Lucifer." God snorted, making his face grow even redder. "You have embraced sin, everything that goes against my existence, yet I am proud, incredibly so. You have chosen to accept yourself, and I cannot…will not ever hate you for that."

The words were like a warming light for Lucifer. As much as he tried to stop himself, he couldn't. He ran towards God and crashed into his arms. The taller man held his son with a warm smile on his face.

"Live and grow, Lucifer, for this is your home now."

As Lucifer held his Father, God started to fade into light.

"I look forward to seeing the Kingdom you and Lilith build."

Lucifer wiped the tears from his eyes and looked upon the wasteland of the realm he was told to rule. He could sense Lilith, and with the last words his father spoke to him burning in his mind, he took to the skies and flew toward where he could feel her energy.