Let There Be Light! Ch.18 (Patreon)

— Azazel —

“Do you know what led you here, Azazel?” God asked as Azazel sat in his office. He faced her, and the amount of sadness that filled his eyes was clear.

Azazel stayed quiet even though she knew the answer to the question. It had been her brash attitude that led them here. God had a reason for not giving Humanity the gifts that she had given them, and though she still had never figured out that reason, that knowledge alone should have put her off from doing what she had done.

“I suppose you do…” God took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair.

“I… don’t understand,” Azazel spoke quietly, earning His attention. “Why didn’t you wish to give Humanity more advancement? They were clearly struggling.”

“Are you blaming me, Azazel?” God asked with an expressionless face, which forced Azazel to pause. She was upset. Things had not gone the way she wanted, and her siblings had fallen, and now, she was on the verge of falling.

“I am… was… I didn’t mean to.” Azazel clarified, placing her head down on her desk and wrapping her arms around to cover her face. She didn’t want God to see her this down. It was against her nature to be so upset, so defeated.

She felt a hand on her shoulder comforting her, which improved her mood. God had been with her since the beginning. He created, nurtured, and taught her so much, and now here she was, reaping the consequences of going against Him.

“I’ll answer your question, Azazel. Come with me.”

Azazel peeked over her arm, wiping the tears that had left her eyes to see God looking down on her warmly. Her body froze, and emotions racked over her. Even now, after she had caused her siblings to fall and was on the verge of falling herself, God still showed her the love he always had.

Azazel wiped the remaining tears and stood up.

“Please, lead the way.”

With a flash of golden light, God and Azazel disappeared from his office and appeared somewhere different. Azazel looked around at the area filled with white. She couldn’t tell if this was still Heaven, and she knew it wasn’t Earth.

She couldn’t sense any of her siblings, so wherever they were, it must be either really far away or sealed off from God’s realms.

“GRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”

Instantly, Azazel fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around herself. A bone-chilling roar screeched out from ahead of them. The roar was so strong and depraved that the amount of God’s light that lingered in Azazel’s body couldn’t hope to fight off the sheer level of darkness that the roar emitted.

If the roar was so terrifying, Azazel didn’t even for a moment wish to comprehend what kind of creature made that noise. All of the curiosity that existed in Azazel’s mind had fled at that beast’s call; she didn’t dare wish to learn more.

“You are alright, Azazel.” God placed a hand on her shoulder, and suddenly, Azazel felt God’s light overpower the darkness of the creature.

“M-My Lord, w-what was that?!” Azazel asked, gripping God’s clothes tightly and looking up at him nervously.

“Let us pay it a visit, and you will see for yourself-”

“I do not wish to, My Lord!” Azazel denied, cutting God off as she attempted to pull him back over to where they came from. “Please, it would be better if we left this place!”

God looked down at her for a long while before shaking his head. “Azazel, this trip is more than feeding your curiosity. It is an introduction to ‘The End.’

Azazel’s heart froze at the way God said: ‘The End.’ It sounded so grave, as if it would truly bring about the end of all existence in God’s realms. Azazel’s feet wouldn’t move. She didn’t want to see it or bear witness to The End.

“Trust in me, Azazel.”

Azazel looked up at God’s towering form as her body was bathed in golden light again. Her wings that had been turning black were now a bright gold. Never in her entire existence had her wings ever been golden. She could feel the amount of light God was pouring into her, making her feel safe and warm.

“I trust you, My Lord.”

God took her hand with those words and led her into the white void.

In the distance, they saw a black dot, and as they walked, the dot got bigger and bigger until eventually they were close enough that Azazel could see what the beast actually looked like.

Had Azazel not been washed in God’s light, she knew she wouldn’t have been able to meet its gaze. Its sheer presence held so much darkness, suffering, and pain that she, along with all of her siblings, likely would have collapsed from mere eye contact.

“GRAAAHHHHHH!” The beast roared at them again, and Azazel felt as if the moment she took her eyes off this creature, she’d be dead.

“It cannot move, Azazel, for I have sealed it.”

“Is this creature… your creation?” Azazel asked, hoping that his answer would be “no.”

“It has been born of the suffering of man. So, in a sense, yes.” God nodded.

“Is there any way to… remove it?” Azazel asked, not taking her eyes off the beast. She was usually against killing, even regarding the devils; she wished not to see them spill blood, but this beast-

She hoped God would burn it for all eternity.

“There is, but I do not possess the power now,” God admitted, and it took The Beast's glare not to force her head to look at God in shock.

“What do you mean by that, My Lord?!”

“Creating all of existence took a great deal out of me, but I am I recovering.” He paused for a moment as he took steps toward the beast. “However, I am recovering slower than this beast, the Trihexa, is gaining strength.” God paused just in front of it and turned around to look at her. The beast tried to move, to scratch and bite at Him, but He stood his ground uncaringly. “I did not give Heaven’s light to Humanity because Humanity is not a race of inherently good beings like Angels.”

Confusion budden in Azazel’s eyes, so God explained further.

“Humanity is born on a neutral scale, between good and evil. In contrast, Angels are born with varying amounts of good. If humanity strays from me and my teachings, they tend to go down on the scale, becoming more evil, and giving them Heaven’s tools would make them think less of me and my teachings.”

“Which would make them more evil?” Azazel asked, understanding what God was getting at.

“Yes.” God nodded. “This would also lead to Humanity creating more problems for themselves and increasing the amount of suffering that takes place on Earth.” God turned around and pointed his finger at The Beast. “Making 666 stronger.”

Azazel’s eyes widened in shock. The entire time, she thought she was doing good for the world, but in reality, she was increasing the strength of this… thing!

Never in Azazel’s existence had she fully regretted doing something so much. Because of her pride, she had gone against God, thinking she was smarter and could change his mind, and it had led them closer to the end of existence.

Before Azazel could fall to her knees again, she felt the light around her shine brighter. An aura of golden light surrounded her body as God approached her.

She didn’t deserve to feel his light! More than anything, Azazel wanted to run out of Heaven and suffer for the crimes she had committed against her siblings and existence, but those thoughts all came to a halt when God pulled her head into his chest in a warm embrace.

“You hadn’t known. You were doing a good thing; I cannot fault you for that. Do not blame yourself, Azazel. Learn from this mistake, and be better.”

Azazel’s hands shook hesitantly before God’s light washed over her once more, and she returned his embrace tightly. Tears poured out of her eyes as she rubbed her face into His chest.

They stayed like that for several minutes, even with The Beast’s screeches in the background, Azazel felt safe and loved-

But she knew she didn’t deserve it.

Azazel pulled away from God and looked into his rainbow-colored eyes. She wrapped her arms around His neck and pulled Him down to press her lips against His gently. It was a chaste kiss, but it got her feelings off, and all the while, she spoke to Him in her mind.

‘My siblings fell because of me. I am still to blame.’

She pulled away, and God gave her a saddened look. They both knew that Fallen Angels who did not repent and seek God’s light again wouldn’t be welcome in Heaven lest they encourage their siblings to fall into temptation, so they both knew there was only one option Azazel would feel comfortable with.

“Retake your light, My Lord.”

“Is that truly what you wish for, Azazel?”

“It is.” She said with certainty. She made a mistake, and that mistake had cost her siblings. She couldn’t just act like nothing had happened now.

“I… I’m proud of you, Azazel.” He admitted with a sad smile. A golden light enveloped both of them, and they found themselves on Earth.

God put his hand on her shoulder, and the golden light that had shined bright around her and emblazoned her wings was being sucked away until there was nothing left but pitch-black wings.

Azazel felt cold, colder than she had ever felt in her existence, but she knew this was the price she had to pay.

“Azazel!”

Azazel turned her head to see Penelope running out of her house at full speed, nearly tripping over her long dress.

— Penelope —

“Penelope,” Azazel whispered softly. She took in the blackened wings of Azazel and tears nearly left her eyes. She knew of how angels would fall thanks to Azazel explaining what had happened to her sibling's wings, but she would have never thought such a horrible thing would happen to Azazel.

Penelope reached the two and paused. She looked at Azazel for a moment before looking at the white-haired, rainbow-color-eyed man standing beside her.

“Azazel… who is this? Another one of your siblings?” Penelope asked with a tilt of her head.

“My beloved, what intrusion has you so rowdy-” Enoch walked outside of the house, followed by their son, Methuselah. They both paused upon seeing Azazel standing next to the man.

Enoch’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he sprinted over to Azazel and the man and dropped so fast that his head slammed hard against the ground.

“M-My L-Lord! For the A-Almighty to visit us, you have truly blessed us!” Enoch preened in reverence, and once the words were processed in both Penelope's and Methuselah’s minds, they both dropped to their knees.

So much was going through Penelope’s mind. God Himself had come to visit them?! Such a thing… it was insane! Yet it was so very beautiful! She didn’t dare sneak another peak at Him, but she so wished she could!

“Stand, Enoch, Penelope, Methuselah, and be not afraid.”

— Chapter End —

Author’s Note: Next chapter, wrapping this up and moving onto the time skip.