A Talk and A Walk Part 2

"So sad." Alex said as he listened to a chorus sing.

"A gift and a curse, being able to feel the emotions of the living." Joshua said as he looked down.

"And yet it doesn't even compare to what you go through. The dead outnumber the living by a large margin."

'The dead?' Alex looked around before noticing the noise from his dark affinity was clearer.

'So many voices. How can I hear them all?'

"A gift, or maybe a curse. It's all up to you to decide upon that."

Joshua had turned around he was walking backward and talking with Alex.

"This will help, thank you." Alex said after returning his focus.

"No no, thank you. You had already planned to help from the very beginning."

"I did. You know, it's not easy to plan anything when I've got someone who knows what I'm thinking." Alex said before pausing to think.

"No, we don't have any tinfoil hats. Besides, that wouldn't do anything." Joshua said while turning to pull open the door of the large building.

Alex looked at the building it was large, but Alex could see that it was larger than he had at first thought. Its size changed every time he looked. No matter how many people he imagined entering he could feel that the building would hold them.

The two were immediately met by the full volume of the somber singing as Joshua opened pushed open the door.

Alex turned as he could have sworn he heard a whisper in his ear.

"You can hear him right?" Joshua asked

"Who can I…" Alex paused as his eyes landed on the unknown singers.

Many humans stood in front of him, some had wings many didn't.

Alex looked at the people and he couldn't help but describe them with one word, perfect.

"Angels." Alex said as he looked at them. He shook his head and turned his gaze away.

"Caretakers of the endless paradise, servants of god, and at one point guides for humanity. Of course, this is only a small portion of the things they do." The god said as he appeared in front of Alex.

"As you can see, they are very much so real. They care for humanity, most of them that is. A few just couldn't accept that I had placed my hopes in humanity. Look and see how it all began."

Alex stood still as he watched his vision shift, he looked at several figures speaking.

"I've called you all here to tell you something very important." god said to a large group of angels in front of him.

"I plan to give humanity the knowledge this time."

An angel at the front spoke up. "Knowledge?"

god nodded. "Their progress has always been slow compared to the other non-magical races. Look at the dwarves, orcs, ogres, and even goblins. All of them have civilizations built while humans are prancing around nude."

"But sir, I have been making strides in my work. Just last cycle I added countless millennia to the life of the universe. If you gave me just a little more time I'm sure that I can help you fix this reality."

"I know Samael, you are incredibly successful in what you have done, but the price is too high. They are not just toys, they are living beings just like you and I."

Alex watched as the angel addressed as Samael stood up. Alex had never seen anyone like the angel before him, he would have considered him incredibly handsome if he hadn't seen the facial expressions that he made when god called him out.

"They are nothing more than the apes that they are related to. Why do you treat them so highly? Have you not seen how they act, never in my entire existence have I seen such barbaric acts, their evil knows no bounds."

"Enough! I know, I've seen it all. No matter how many times I try to create them, they always lack the ability to hold back, but even still I see that within them, they hold the key to solve all of this."

Samael looked down an ugly expression on his face. "You are right they do hold the key within them, their souls hold the power to keep the universe stable, and I will continue my job holding this place together, even if you give them knowledge."

A pair of dark wings surrounded Samael and a cloud of darkness surrounded him.

"Stop this at once! Samael, you heard what the creator said." An angel said standing up to stop him but was halted as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"He won't be able to take their souls without their consent once they take in the knowledge of good and evil. If they do give their consent even with the knowledge, then there would be no way to save them at that point anyway." god said after Samael left with his underlings.

"Their connection to this place has been cut."

Alex watched as the creator spoke silent words and a ball of light appeared in front of it. When it stopped speaking it reached out and a fruit appeared, the fruit and light merged.

It pressed the fruit forward and disappeared with the fruit. Alex's vision changed as he saw only an empty void.

Soon he saw stars approaching fast. His vision blurred as streaks of light passed him, time seemed to slow for a moment as he saw a familiar sight. A blue dot off in the distance grew in size as he approached.

Soon everything stopped and he saw the god planting the fruit. The reality flickered for a moment and a tree had grown in front of them.

Alex watched as the god disappeared. Surprisingly Alex didn't follow him, instead, he just stayed. he was beginning to think he had been left behind before he heard noise from afar. Alex watched as two humans walked out from behind the brush.

'What?'

Alex immediately closed his eyes as they were completely nude and approaching his position.

"Ssstay back!" A loud voice bellowed from behind Alex.

"This fruit is not for human consumption, doing so is directly defying god!"

Alex turned around and saw a serpent with legs defending the tree behind it.

'Samael? It's definitely him, but his presence feels different. Is he just controlling this beast?' Alex thought as he studied the creature.

He suddenly heard laughter behind himself, Alex felt goosebumps as he heard what was said.

"You think a measly lizard can tell us what to do? Adam cut him down to size and let us see this forbidden fruit."

Alex watched as the man sprinted towards the lizard. He grabbed its arms as it attempted to claw at him and ripped them off.

A smile adorned Adam's face as he looked at the creature squirming below him. He walked around and yanked its rear limbs off.

"This suits you well. Why are you crying in pain, you should be happy to have your life intact? filthy beast." He said before spitting on it.

'These, these can't be humans. I've never seen someone so evil and devoid of emotions.' Alex thought as he watched the humans bully the serpent.

"Here, you take one first." Adam said as he threw a fruit towards the woman.

The woman caught the fruit and ate it. "Oh, it's so delicious. You have to try it Adam."

Adam, seeing that it wasn't poisonous took a bite from another fruit he had picked. The two ate the fruit with satisfying smiles filling their faces.

The serpent, seeing that his plan was failing got frantic before a smile filled his face.

It laughed before it spoke up.

"You fools, you have fallen for my schemes. I hope you are happy with your choice to live a cursed life."

"Cursed life?" Adam said as he looked at the small portion of the fruit that he hadn't eaten.

His life flashed before his eyes as he looked back at all that he had done. All of the lives he had taken. For the first time in his life, he could feel the pain that they had felt as he played with them.

'What I've done was wrong.' Adam thought as he looked at his shaking hands. He had long since dropped the fruit.

Alex watched the two humans cry as they were able to differentiate good from evil and right from wrong.

"You tricked us, you foul beast!" Adam yelled as he fought to hold the tears back.

"It serves you right, you now have to live knowing you have defied god." The serpent hissed as it slithered away from where the two humans were.

'Good, only two were able to eat the fruit. I've gathered all of the rest in my domain, the little demons will make for good servants.' Samael thought as he left the serpent's body.

Alex watched the snake writhing in pain.

"You held up your end of the bargain, here is your reward." Samael said before laughing. He quickly left after robbing the snake of its eyesight.

"I understand." Alex said as he returned to the large building.

"It has all been warped. When they told their stories and passed them down, they truly believed what they said."

Joshua nodded.

"Everything written in the holy book was written with them wholeheartedly believing what was written. Not one person knew that what they were writing would leave the world in constant confrontations."

He gave a soft smile for a moment.

"For a short moment every time, humanity comes close to solving its problems. I offered myself as a sacrifice to break his hold over humanity. Unfortunately, it was at the cost of breaking earth's connection with heaven as well as his domain. You know my teachings well. The world was prosperous after I left them with the New Testament. If only I could have been there with them."

"But they didn't, why didn't we?"

"The seal, as you call it, gets repaired as humanity learns of the universe's secrets. Mana flowed freely, and everything seemed right, but Samael used the mana to free himself from his domain. He slaughtered nearly everyone, and handpicks the survivors every time."

Joshua sighed before sitting down.

Alex sat down next to him.

"Even today, he lives freely among humanity clearing out those that he decides are unfit for his goals."

"Those are his whispers that you are hearing."

Alex nodded.

He didn't know what to say, everything just looked meek.

"You have been keeping him around because you need him to prolong the life of the universe." Alex said to Joshua who nodded in confirmation.

"Then I know what I have to do. I should head back." The god in front of Alex nodded and waved his hand.

"Oh, before I go, do you know what the chains surrounding the blue sphere within me are for?" Alex asked as he remembered what he had seen earlier today.

The figure looked at Alex. "You mean your soul?"

Alex nodded. "I guess that is what it is."

"There are no chains."

"But there are, I can still see them now." Alex said while double-checking.

Joshua looked at Alex with a somber face. "Alex there are no chains and even if there were, nothing in existence could contain a soul without its acceptance."

Alex tried looking at the sphere differently but no matter how hard he looked he saw his soul trapped by chains.

'Well, it was worth asking anyways.' "Thank you for having me here." Alex said as he turned to enter the rift.

He paused before entering. "I hope that this time your goal will be completed."

The two nodded and waved goodbye.

"Such a terrible curse, being forced to go through such pain would make many lose their sanity, but to unknowingly put yourself through that is even worse." Joshua said while looking at the two beings standing next to him.

The mind of god and his soul nodded in confirmation with the god in human form.

"Next time we meet, will be different. I hope you will forgive us ??????." Joshua said, a name from a foreign language leaving his mouth.

"Even I barely survived the explosion, to see him make such progress, it brings me hope." The mind spoke up.