Mazikeen's black Dodge Challenger Demon pulled up in front of a secluded, well-hidden building on the outskirts of the city. The young Antichrist thought it was a nice sports car and enjoyed the infernal sound coming from the exhaust. Still, he preferred the Aston to this monster. The demon had shaken her head gently and noted that he was indeed his father's son, having inherited his father's taste, which bordered on being a bit of a snob. Maze and Alexander stepped out. The young Antichrist looked around for a moment, at the building and the night sky. With a snap of his fingers, he suddenly donned black combat gear akin to that worn by Special Forces. A balaclava emblazoned with half a skull covered the lower half of his face. Instead of a military insignia, he wore a large red dragon on his chest and a katana on his back instead of an automatic rifle. Maze looked at him for a moment and asked quietly:
"You weren't wearing that when you confronted Amenadiel; why?"
Without looking at her and facing the building, Alexander replied:
"Because at the time I didn't want to reveal too much about who and what I am. Amenadiel and Muriel, once back in heaven, no doubt spoke to some of their group of zealots. That no longer matters. Michael and Grandpa have taken their positions, and they have no choice but to follow that, or suffer the consequences. After tonight, Heaven and Hell face an accomplished fact."
He rolled his head for a moment, as if to clear a knot in his neck, and then said briefly:
"Let's have a chat with our guest of honor..."
With determined strides, he walked towards the building, Maze following close behind. She knocked several times on the door with her leather-clad fist, which opened a moment later. A rough-looking man with a rich collection of tattoos opened and asked in Russian what they had come for. Alexander replied in perfect Russian with a St. Petersburg accent:
"We're here for the priest. You and everyone else in the building can leave. Maze will take care of the payoff."
The advantage of Celestials is that once they enter the realm of Hell, they pick up every language spoken in Hell and can make themselves perfectly understood in it. The Russian gangster looked at Maze for a moment. He knew full well that she was Lucifer Morningstar's bodyguard. His boss had told him to make absolutely no trouble if he did not want to end up as shark's chow. Something the gangster took to heart. What surprised him, however, was that it was a boy who seemed to be in charge of what was going to happen here. Whatever that might be. He was bitterly uninterested in it anyway, and after what his boss said, he had no desire to know. He shouted something to his companions who were in the building, and a moment later three gangsters took off without looking back. Alexander and Mazikeen went down into the basement. He saw a pale and exhausted Kinley tied to a wall. They had obviously followed Maze's orders to the letter and made the priest as uncomfortable as possible. The Antichrist got a wicked smile around his mouth and said sweetly:
"Mazikeen, would you mind untying poor Father Kinley and putting him on that chair at the table? Perhaps he needs some support."
Maze grabbed one of her daggers, cut the ropes that held Kinley in place, and dragged him, without much ceremony, to the table where Alexander had already taken his seat. The boy said nothing, just stared deep into the priest's eyes. Kinley became uncomfortable with the boy's penetrating gaze after barely half a minute. It was as if the boy could see into the depths of his soul. The priest looked down at the table and asked in a raspy voice:
"Who are you? In the name of our Lord Jesus, reveal yourself, demon!"
Alexander placed the file Gabriel had brought from heaven on the table and, instead of answering, asked:
"Should I be impressed now? Trembling to follow your orders because you took the name of Yeshua Ben Joseph in your mouth? Do you know who she is?"
Alex pointed at Mazikeen. The priest looked at her for a moment and replied:
"Yes, that is the demon Mazikeen, who is always close to the devil."
"Very good. According to your little club, Demons hate the name Yeshua. You also firmly believe that if you use this name as an exorcist, the Demons will be forced to obey your commands. Let's test that theory, shall we?
Without waiting for an answer, Alex turned to Maze and asked:
"Mazi?"
The demon bared her teeth in a smile and spoke:
"Sorry to disappoint you, padre, but the name Yeshua doesn't fill me with fear, and I'm certainly not going to do jack shit just because a priest uses the name. I actually liked Yeshua-a bit of a softie, if you ask me-but then again, I am a demon. He was a nice little boy when he was about your age, Alex. Something Gabriel put a bit of a damper on when he came to tell Yeshua who he really was and why God had brought him into existence. Man, that boy was pretty pissed off for a couple of weeks."
Kinley's eyes widened as a Demon could apparently take the name of Jesus into her mouth without any difficulty. Even more, he could tell from her words that she knew him personally and had no problem pronouncing the name of an Archangel. Alexander saw the confusion in the priest's eyes and said:
"Ah, come on, Kinley, it can be found in your archives that your church is aware that Lucifer resides on Earth from time to time. You have known this since St. Peter. How do you think Peter knew that?"
The look in the priest's eyes didn't get any more intelligent. Alex sighed and said:
"You see, you're not that important, Kinley. You haven't seen that part of the archive or even knew that it existed. As a priest, I'm sure you know what the Bible says about Jesus and his time on Mount of the Temptation. Your little club has made it a story that the devil came to Jesus and offered him the world in exchange for his submission, and that Jesus sent him away in the name of God. That's why they call that hill the Mount of the Temptation. I'm blown away by the originality, to be fair. A simple little priest like you is not high enough in the Curia to be told two things. The first is that Lucifer never offered Jesus the world in exchange for his submission. Why not? you will ask. The answer is simple: Lucifer hates submission. He does not want to submit to anyone's will, nor does he expect anyone else to do so. He hates that whole submission stuff. The whole thing about being cast out of heaven is about that simple fact, Kinley! Lucifer did not want to submit to certain rules laid out by God. And to be fair, he had a good point. The second thing is that your whole exorcism thing doesn't work, as you will have noticed from how Mazikeen can effortlessly utter the name of Jesus and the Angels without anything negative happening to her. You can sit in your chair for hours and recite the name of Jesus, every Angel name you know, and all the names of all the so-called saints. A demon like Mazi here will not respond to that. Okay, she will probably beat you up, because you will no doubt get on her nerves in less than two minutes, and the whole thing will annoy her in no time. She is known to have a bit of a temper, our Mazikeen."
Alexander rubbed his blonde curls for a moment and changed the subject. He was already having to do everything in his power to stay in his seat and not twist the priest's head off his neck like the cap of a Coke bottle.
"Priests are usually educated people. Tell me, Kinley, do you by any chance speak Enochian? Can you read the language?"
The priest's head suddenly snapped up. He looked at the boy in confusion and asked, not understanding:
"Enochian?"
"Yes, Kinley, the language of the Angels."
The priest replied:
"This knowledge is not for humans. It is the sacred language of heaven. Only Angels speak the language."
"Hmmm, strange... So if I were a demon, as you seem to think, I could not even touch a text written in the language of angels. As an exorcist, you are convinced that some Latin gibberish is enough to make a Demon feel hellish discomfort and follow your orders. Let alone that a Demon would be able to read and write the holy language."
With some theatrics, Alexander opened the file and said:
"It looks like either this is a fable or I am not a demon Kinley. Place yours bets, picks your choice. You who claim to know so much about what God and the Angels would want. Let's see... This file says that you participated in three so-called exorcism rituals in which a person died. That you were and are firmly convinced that these people were possessed by a Demon. However, the medical profession and Heaven say that this was not the case."
He pointed to a passage in the file and asked:
"Would you claim to be better informed about these people and this so-called possession than Heaven, than the Archangel Zadkiel?"
Kinley did not seem to understand him and asked:
"What is this file, and what do you mean?"
Alexander laughed for a moment, looked at Maze, and said:
"Oh dear, how stupid of me. I didn't mention what the meaning of this little chat is. I am so forgetful sometimes. I remember one time when Azrael came to pick up my sister Casiel and me for a trip to Earth to get to know humans better. I was so excited about the trip that I stormed out of the palace but forgot to put on my pants. For a while, I heard about that silly event from every Angel I met over the next few weeks. They were having a great time teasing me a bit..."
A small smile formed around Maze's mouth. Not only because of Alex's little story. As short as it had been since she had met him, she could very well imagine that this was exactly what could have happened to the young Antichrist in all his enthusiasm. He was just that kind of kid and gave off that vibe. In that matter he did not seem to differ much from Lucifer. Get him excited, and he flies into the fray without thinking twice. But also because she was impressed by his technique in handling Kinley. This was obviously not the first time he had had such a conversation. He had experience with it, gained in the other universe. After all, he was the crown prince of Hell there. The father who raised him was the King of Hell, and Alexander seemed to be raised well on all fronts. Kind, friendly, polite, and the one side as one could expect of a prince of Heaven. His other side just screamed crown prince of Hell. The boy seemed to enjoy breaking the priest piece by piece. Maze had no doubt that this was not just because the priest came after Lucifer. Yes, he was Alexander's father, but up to the moment he came crashing into this universe, he was a stranger to Alex. Someone the boy only heard stories about from Rae Rae. The Demon saw it in those green, piercing eyes from the boy that this show with Kinley was second nature to the kid. And that told her immediately what the boy could and would unleash if someone ever dared to touch someone he liked, like his sister Casiel, who he talks about all the time. Or, Maze thought, after what she observed the previous day and earlier that evening, Beatrice. Alexander acted so casually and seemed so innocent and harmless. His smile could be so disarming, and a second later he struck... hard. An absolute apex predator who enjoyed playing with his prey like a cat. A small shiver ran down Mazikeen's spine at that thought. She was starting to like this young boy very much indeed. In his last few sentences, he had casually dropped the names of three archangels. As if being in their presence was a daily occurrence for him. Well, until recently it probably had been. Alex had also pointed out the sacred language of the Angels. Maze knew that all sorts of things must be going on in Kinley's head right now about who and what Alexander might be. She was right in her thinking that none of the thoughts going through the priest's head at that moment were positive for his immediate future. The young Antichrist looked deep into the priest's eyes again. He made his wings appear, pulled the balaclava away from his face, and said icily:
"My name is Alexander, and this Kinley can be called a trial of sorts. Your big problem is that this is being conducted while you are still alive. Result: no Angel of Justice to be seen nor Michael to present your case to. Only me being your prosecutor, judge, jury, and, at the very worst, your executioner! I am a new kind of celestial. As you can see, I'm still young, but I'm one that humanity is going to get to know soon enough. If you want to put a label on me, I think for types like you, Angel of Vengeance comes closest. Was this a little clarifying for those two brain cells of yours?"
Speechless and almost palpably uncomfortable, the priest looked at Alexander.
"Perhaps you are not as erudite as you think you are, Kinley. This file is from the archives of Metatron, and it is your life's journey to this point. These files determine whether or not someone has access to Heaven at the end of their lives. Depending on how badly they screwed up, either one of Zadkiel's angels or Zadkiel himself will make the decision. Call it a kind of trial in which a human soul has to answer for certain things. Based on that, Zadkiel and his angels decide whether a person will be granted access to heaven, whether that access will be conditional, or, in the worst-case scenario, whether a soul will be denied access to Heaven. If someone has really messed up and they show up at Heaven's Gate against all odds, for example, a sociopath who feels no guilt and therefore is not drawn down to Hell, then it is Michael who does the honors. Believe me, you do not want to stand in front of a pissed Michael because he absolutely hates that part of his job and those kinds of souls. Those are not pleasant moments for that soul just before being banished to Hell! Tell me what you think. What will it be for you? Admission to Heaven with a VIP reception, or a one-way trip to the deepest caverns of Hell?"
The priest looked at Alexander's blood-red wings with big, horrified eyes. He just had a feeling that the boy's words were the absolute truth and that he was in deep, deep trouble. He swallowed hard and answered softly:
"I am a servant of God. I have always done God's work..."
Alexander shook his head in disappointment and said:
"Oh, Kinley, you should know how many so-called servants of God are permanent guests in hell, while they were firmly convinced that they were doing God's work when they were alive. Where do you think the souls would be of those so-called servants of God who were convinced they were doing God's work when they burned innocent women at the stake or threw them into the water to drown in a burlap sack? Or the souls of your predecessors throughout the ages. People like you who thought that as long as an act was done in the name of God, it was perfectly okay and He would welcome them with open arms. In these modern times, you hear almost nothing about it anymore, as if it were distant history. Now it all seems to have been replaced by the misdeeds of Islamic extremists. Your little club, Kinley, used to do exactly the same thing in the past as what is happening today in the name of Allah. Priests used to assure warriors of their place in paradise when they went to war against so-called heathens and later during the Crusades. The priests shouted from the rooftops that no matter who the soldiers killed or raped, innocent children, civilians, no matter, their place in heaven was assured. You are a priest, Kinley; you should know how much your words weigh with the faithful. How much did the words of the priest not weigh in the days when the common soldier could not even read or write and therefore could not pick up the Bible to verify if their priests were speaking the truth? Worse, how long has your little club forbidden the so-called lower classes to own a Bible? How long have you maintained your monopoly by saying Mass only in Latin? Fighting tooth and nail to keep the Bible and the Mass in Latin. Making it a sin to translate the Bible into a language the people could actually understand and speak? In those days you were the representatives of God, the delegates of Gabriel, so to speak. People trusted you completely. If a priest said it was okay in the eyes of God, they did not doubt his words for a second. How many massacres and atrocities have been committed in the past because a priest said it was not a sin to torture, rape, or kill a heathen? Exactly the same thing is happening today. Only the names are different. The rest hasn't changed an inch. Take the names out of the stories, and you don't know if they're talking about God, Allah, or Yahweh, because it's all the same shit being done for the sake of the same madness, by the same people who are unwaveringly convinced they're in the right. Do you recognize the phrase "Kill them all, God will recognize his own?" That past is not that long ago, priest. What role did your Vatican and your fellow priests play in World War II, the persecution of the Jews, and the escape of war criminals? And what about the sickening acts of a foolhardy group like the KKK committed by so-called Christians? Do you really think that God differentiates between Caucasians, Asians, Africans, or whatever? Mankind was created in the image of the Angels, in the image of the children of God. Do you think God prefers Michael to Raphael because Michael is white and Raphael is brown? Such disgusting figures who committed these misdeeds may have escaped human justice over the centuries; many appeared at the gates of heaven with a broad smile, assured of a place. That smile soon vanished, believe me, when their record appeared on the docket. No one escapes celestial justice, including you, Kinley."
It was clear that the priest was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. The more hard facts the young Antichrist recited, the more the priest began to wobble in his rickety wooden chair. Kinley was more than aware of the sins his church had committed in the past. Alexander continued:
"Are you familiar with the commandment, Thou shalt not murder?"
Kinley nodded:
"Is the Church perhaps in possession of a by-God-himself-given amendment to that commandment that says "except in the case of..."
The priest did not answer.
"I thought not, because there is no such thing. God has been very clear, I think. It is forbidden for a human being to murder, and yet you planned an ice-cold murder, and you still think your way to heaven is paved. In the history of your little club, there have been tens of thousands who have gone before you, Kinley. Popes, cardinals, bishops, priests, monks, and nuns. They all thought they were going to be given an honorary reception in heaven. It turned out to be a good day in hell, because another one of your club had descended. Their whining and screaming is worse than the poor souls tortured by Justin Bieber's music. I know it's Hell, and I'm all for a bit of revenge and punishment. But Bieder... That is borderline sadistic if you ask me. You are responsible for the deaths of three people, and you incited a human to carry out your plan to kill Lucifer Morningstar; that is conspiracy to be murder."
"Lucifer is the devil; he belongs in hell!"
The priest said suddenly, with bitterness. Alexander manifested a Bible, threw it on the table in front of the priest, and said:
"Show me the passage or point me to any theological text that shows that God wants Lucifer to reside in Hell permanently. And please don't point to a text written by figures like John with his revelations. That guy lived in a cave surrounded by God knows what fumes and lived partly on a diet of mushrooms that grew in that cave. The guy was so high that even Snoop Dog would say it was too high for him. Take your time..."
Kinley looked uncomprehendingly at Alexander, who said:
"Well, what are you waiting for? Show me where God told man that Lucifer was to remain in Hell at all times, and if he didn't, that man was to do everything in his power to send him back!"
After a few seconds of silence, Alexander nodded and said:
"That's what I thought; you can't, because there is no such command from God, for the simple reason that God never gave that command. Logic is sometimes very hard to find with you priests, isn't it? On the one hand, there are several passages in your Bible where God not only allows Lucifer to dwell on Earth. These passages are very useful for priests like you, when you want to frighten the faithful to keep them in line. But the moment you find it necessary, you seem to spontaneously forget them. God even gave Lucifer dominion over humanity and even allowed him to attempt to lead humanity away from God, as you so eloquently put it. On the other hand, here you are, sitting on a chair, claiming that Lucifer does not belong on Earth. It is not very logical, Kinley, that on the one hand God would have given Lucifer dominion over the Earth and allowed him to lead mankind away from Him, if Lucifer was not allowed to set foot on the Earth to do what God allowed him to do. I am almost beginning to believe that you think you know better than God himself. Tell me, priest, isn't it a mortal sin to think yourself better or wiser than God?"
The priest began to sweat, growing paler and paler. But Alexander was far from finished with him. This was the warm-up for the main course to come.
"But let's leave Lucifer aside for a moment. What about the three people you killed?"
The priest said softly:
"I didn't kill anyone!"
"You kept three mentally ill people in custody for days on end; you denied them basic care and medical attention, which led to their deaths. What would you call it then? Your actions are the same as shooting them in the head, Kinley. It only took a lot longer. So yes, you killed them! The only reason the Italian police didn't throw your ass in jail and bury you is because the Vatican intervened to minimize the damage you caused and the PR storm you created. How do you reconcile that with doing God's work when God has made it very clear that you are not to murder?"
The priest bowed his head and said:
"I saved their souls from the Demons and from hell..."
"Yes, their souls are in heaven, but no thanks to you, Kinley. But you have to explain something to me. Why does the Devil send or allow Demons to enter people's bodies and take their souls to Hell?"
"The Devil is always out to corrupt the souls of the innocent and take them to hell."
Alexander turned to Maze and said:
"You see, this priest is not really one of the brightest. He thinks the Devil and the Demons have nothing better to do than corrupt innocent souls."
He looked at Kinley icily.
"Mankind does not need a devil or Demons to find its way to Hell, Kinley! At the gates of Hell, there is a never-ending traffic jam that grows longer every day. You humans are particularly good at condemning yourselves to Hell. And in that traffic jam are so many of those pathetic little figures like you who think they can break God's laws at will because you think you know what God wants. Explain to me how a puny little pathetic person like you knows what God thinks and what God wants! Are you really going to claim that you have a direct line to God and that He is whispering commands in your ear? Who is Lucifer, Kinley?"
The priest looked at him dumbfounded, whispering barely audibly:
"The Devil."
"You see, you claim to be so erudite and aware of all that God wants regarding Heaven and Hell, and your answer to a simple question I ask you is half an answer, because otherwise you have no idea at all. You call Lucifer the Devil! A little news flash straight from Heaven for your priest: the devil does not exist! The Devil is an assignment, not a person. Lucifer is and always will be first and foremost an Archangel. Do you really think that God would have allowed Lucifer to keep his celestial powers as an Archangel if He wanted him out of the way? Lucifer and Michael are the Demiurge, the most powerful of the angels. But that's not all there is to Lucifer, Kinley. Yes, he is the King of Hell and who do you think is keeping the Demons down there in check? Who do you think made sure that they and their craving for blood and torture does not spill over on Earth to wreak havoc among those people you so desperately want to protect from them? Remember Kinley, God gave Lucifer dominion over Earth, so why is the planet not overrun by Demons? The answer is simple, you dipshit! Because Lucifer has outlawed demonic possessions shortly after he became king of Hell. And why would he do that, you ask? For the same freaking reason, he did not ask for the submission of Jesus. Because he hates submission and does not want anybody having to be submissive to anybody else! That so-called devil that you were so keen to get out of the way is also the First Son of God! You should know your Bible by heart. What does Genesis begin with? Remember the sentence: "And God said, Let there be light." Who or what do you think that light was, Kinley? How mad do you think God must be at you right now, a puny little man who tried to kill his first son? Do you still think you are going to get a VIP welcome in heaven?"
The priest grew even paler at these words, but it would only get worse for him. Alexander would first grind him down with words and facts on Earth before his real punishment would start. The young Antichrist did a damn good job of breaking the priest and making him lose all hope of salvation. The outcome of this conversation was predetermined before Alexander appeared in this universe to rescue Lucifer. This was just payback. Not just for the fact that the priest was responsible for the deaths of innocents and for wanting to kill Lucifer and thus would have condemned Chloe to Hell in the process. This was also revenge for how miserable Alexander felt now that he was impossibly far away from his home, his parents, his family, and his twin sister. If you had asked the young Antichrist directly if he was enjoying what he was doing and would enjoy what lay ahead, he would have answered with a resounding yes.
"Who is Azrael, priest?"
The man almost stammered:
"The angel of death."
The Antichrist nodded and said:
"The Archangel to be precise, but let us put my words to the test, shall we?"
He clasped his hands together, and his eyes glowed gold with a divine light:
"Azrael, I need you for a moment..."
A few seconds later, Kinley heard the sound of two large wings, and Rae Rae appeared in the basement. She bowed slightly to Alexander and asked:
"What can I do for you, My Prince?"
If the priest hadn't already been sure that this conversation was going to go badly for him, the way an archangel addressed the boy with the title of Prince was the moment when it dawned on him. Alex smiled at the little angel and said:
"Thank you for coming. I hope I didn't disturb you with anything urgent."
The little angel smiled broadly and said:
"No, not really. Ella and I were just talking. She wants to give me a makeover tomorrow. She says that now that I can spend more time with her without any hassles or secrets, I desperately need a more modern look."
Alex's eyes widened, and Maze giggled. She was no doubt imagining what a modern Rae Rae would look like. The Antichrist said:
"For God's sake, does Ella know what you wore after Casiel said your cape was a thing of the past? Thinking about those T-shirts still makes my eyes hurt."
She shrugged and said mischievously:
"It could be that I showed her some pictures, yes. Ella claims that a calmer look would be perfect for me."
Maze was suddenly very interested and said:
"Then I need to see them very badly, Rae Rae. That reminds me, I think we should have a talk now that we all seem to be on the same page."
A mischievous smile appeared around Angel's mouth, and she asked innocently:
"Hmm, what would we talk about? What could an Angel and a Demon have in common?"
"I desperately need some ammunition to use against Lucifer. And I just know that you have stories to tell about the time when that idiot was still upstairs in his white heavenly robes, doing stupid things."
"I might have a story or two to tell, Maze. You, on the other hand, will also know something about him, more precisely about embarrassing episodes on Earth..."
The demon grinned broadly and said:
"Rae Rae, we really need to get together for a tribe night and go on a bar crawl. Could be damn fun..."
Alexander shook his head, mumbled something unintelligible, and said:
"This sounds like the beginning of a stupid joke: an Archangel, a Demon, an intoxicated therapist, and a fired-up Latina enter a karaoke bar.... What could possibly go wrong?"
Both the Demon and the Angel looked at him with mischievous eyes. He sighed deeply and said:
"Okay, first this before we get to what I sent you for. I just know that I'm going to regret this! Rae Rae, you go upstairs later and find Michael. Ask him if it's okay if you work part-time for a while. When Ella's at work, you do your job. When Ella is done working, you stop working too. Choose a bedroom in the house. You and Ella obviously have a lot to catch up on, and the sooner that is over, the better for my peace of mind. Otherwise I won't get a moment's peace with you two! And I, who thought there was nothing that could give me a headache faster than you and Casiel together. Now it's gonna be you, a Demon and what looks like an adult version of Casiel. May Grandma have mercy on me..."
It seemed as if these words from Alexander made the little angel tremble with energy like a coiled-up spring. Her eyes got as big as saucers, and she almost started to drool. This was something she had longed for for years, to be able to spend time with the little Latina, and now Alexander was making it possible. The atmosphere suddenly became very serious again when the young Antichrist pointed to the priest and said:
"Azrael, may I introduce you to this Catholic priest? His name is Kinley. Lucifer is your older brother, right?"
"He is the eldest of us, along with Michael, of course; they are twins. But yes, Lucifer is the first created and therefore the older brother of every angel."
"God banished him to Hell. Does that mean that every Angel hates Lucifer and wants him dead?"
The angel's face contorted, and she said bitterly:
"Father and Lucifer had a big fight; Father did what he thought was best to keep the peace in Heaven. This does not mean that Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Jophiel, Zadkiel, or I hate him. On the contrary, he is still loved by most in Heaven and he is and always will be my favorite big brother."
Alexander nodded silently and made a head movement toward the priest:
"How would Michael, commander of the Heavenly Army and twin brother of the Lightbringer, react if a puny human like this one tried to kill his brother?"
Rae Rae looked at the priest and shook her head slowly:
"I think your priest here would wish he had been thrown into hell before he had to face Michael. The chances that he would suffer less from the Demons there, even if he wanted to kill their king, are so much greater. I do not know what would happen to him if Michael got his hands on him. All I know it would not be pretty. The kind of stuff Heaven would talk about for thousands of years to come."
At these words, Kinley turned deathly pale. The next question, or rather the answer to Alexander's next question, made him turn green and nearly vomit:
"And what would God do with this piece of human scum if I delivered him to his throne?"
"The human that wanted to kill Father's first angel, his favorite son, his original crown prince and heir? I think Father would go Old Testament for the first time in a very long time. The punishment he would devise for him would be a thousand times worse than any punishment he has ever meted out to a human."
Alexander pushed Metatron's file towards Rae Rae and asked:
"Suppose you knew nothing about this wretched creature, and you had to collect his soul on Earth to take him to his final destination. What would that be?"
The little angel took the file and began to read it. A minute later she threw it back on the table in disgust. She said:
"His access to heaven has long been forbidden. Michael's personal seal stands by that prohibition. This one has worked himself deeper and deeper into the circles of hell. By using an otherwise innocent human being in his plan to kill Lucifer and thereby also banishing that soul to Hell for violating the No Murder Commandment, he has completely sealed his fate. Not even a hearing or a chance to defend himself, Michael's seal and his prohibition are unmistakable. This one is for Bearus and a cell in the ninth circle."
The young Antichrist got his famous grin on his face and said:
"I think we can do better than that, Rae Rae. I think I have something in mind that will confront him for the rest of eternity with his idiotic behavior and the misery he has caused. Something that will make the hellish tortures of the ninth circle look like a trip to Disney World."
The young Antichrist stood up, clapped his hands once, and said:
"Time to get to work!"
He looked at Mazikeen and asked with a gentle smile:
"Are you ready to take your throne, Mazi?"