"And so we reach the last traitor in our midst, Amenadiel."
Amenadiel began to wobble a little restlessly on his simple wooden chair. If this Alexander knew so much about Decker, the betrayal of Mazikeen and the role Eve had played, he could expect nothing good now that he had turned his full attention to him. How horribly right he was in his thinking would soon become apparent. Ella and Daniel looked at him with outright hostility.
"We already know that Amenadiel had taken it upon himself to drag Lucifer back to Hell time and time again and took pleasure in it. The Angel who not only betrayed Lucifer again and again but also planned to remove Godfry from the throne and become the power behind it."
Everyone except Michael and Celine looked at Alexander uncomprehendingly. How could Amenadiel overthrow Godfry from the throne? Why the power behind the throne and not take the throne himself? Only Lucifer understood the answer to those questions. Amenadiel lowered his shoulders and the last hope of getting out of this in one piece drained from him. There was apparently nothing this powerful young man did not know.
"Godfry has two favorite Angels. Michael here represents his brute force as the general of Godfry's forces. The commander who keeps all the other Angels in line. The Angel who unquestioningly threw his twin brother into Hell, proving his absolute loyalty to Godfry. Little did Godfry know that this event would unleash an unprecedented hatred in Michael that would eventually lead to his fall."
Soft cries of indignation went up among Daniel, Beatrice, Ella and Linda. Lucifer had never told them that he had a twin brother let alone that the twin had thrown him into Hell. It was Ella who asked a question with tears in her eyes. She already had an inkling that this episode was not only extremely painful for Lucifer:
"But why? Why throw your twin into that terrible place?"
Michael took a big gulp of his bottle before answering:
"Because our father is an incredible sadist Miss Lopez. He knew very well that I was not on my brother's side during Lucifer's rebellion. He knew very well that I had advised Lucifer time and time again not to go through with his plan. However, Father also knew that I was not one hundred percent loyal to him. That my connection to my Twin was so strong that I would never blindly follow whatever order He gave me. That the reason I was against the whole thing was because I could not stand behind Lucifer's ill-conceived plan. I knew it would bring misery but my little brother over there again wouldn't listen and thought he knew everything better. My love for my little brother, my admiration for his light, his free spirit and his unbridled positive attitude that had to be punished by father. That is why I was the one who was ordered to throw Lucifer into Hell. If I had refused he would have rendered us both defenseless and then Amenadiel would had happily thrown us both into Hell together. Then he would not only be the oldest, not only God's favorite but also the most powerful among the Angels. Seeing the only two Angels who outclass him in everything end up in Hell must have been a wet dream for him. Right Mani?"
Michael took another generous gulp of his bottle and continued:
"What I did Ella, was not out of self-preservation or cowardice. I realized the moment I was ordered that the old man had to be put out to pasture. I have carried that burden with me every day since the day I did it. There was a calculation behind my behavior, a strategy I could not share with anyone for a very long time because everyone in Heaven is terrified of the old tyrant and for good reason. I resolved to get Lucifer out of Hell at all costs but unfortunately that would take time. God's general had to stay in Heaven and keep God's trust. That was the only way to secretly assemble an army so that we would not be led like lambs to the slaughter and we would be ready the moment the one who could free us all from Godfry was ready to take him on. Angels are billions of years old Ella, especially us Archangels. What are a few thousand years? A blip on our radar screen."
Lucifer, meanwhile, also lit his first cigarette and spoke rather mournfully:
"Sounds nice when you put it that way Michael but time in Hell works differently. I didn't spend a few thousand years there but tens of thousands."
"If you think I don't know that little brother and don't regret it every day you are terribly mistaken! Nobody but father could take you out of there and that old fool would never, ever do that. Well that was what we all thought the first few thousand years. Until we learned that not even he could get Lucifer out of Hell on his own. He and Mother executed his punishment together so he needed her if he wanted Lucifer back in Heaven. After he threw her in Hell there was not a snowball in Hell change that she would cooperate with him to undo the punishment. What remained was to wait for Lot to get everything in place to bring about the ultimate moment in millennia. Lot has tried before but father has figured it out every single time until now. And you should know that very well by now in that thick skullcap of yours!"
Lucifer looked his twin sternly in the eye. The Devil's brown ones bore into the General's blue ones. He saw only sadness but also joy at finally being together again. Nowhere was there a trace of deceit to be seen. Michael in turn saw a vortex of emotions in Lucifer's eyes. Sadness, anger, betrayal but also his still-present light. He said softly:
"I know what you are thinking Luci. I have always known what you were thinking since the day we were created. If there are angels who care about you why didn't any of your siblings come to visit you in that terrible place? Because Father forbade it! Any violation of that command would be immediately followed by a painful public execution. You don't want to know how many times I literally had to stop Raphael. He knew that the fall must have injured you very badly and yet, despite the prohibition, he wanted to go to Hell to heal you. And doing so would have killed him with certainty. You don't want to know how many times and how long I had to talk Rae Rae into staying away from you. What remained, as I said, was waiting for Lot to get everything in place."
Michael took another sip and then asked with a sad smile:
"You know what's stupidly ironic?"
Lucifer shook his head and Michael said:
"Father and Amenadiel could have saved themselves all the trouble, all the idiotic plans and that damn miracle over the past millennia. All they should have done to keep you permanently in Hell was to tell you the truth about the ban, but they simply don't know sincere relationships. All they know is deception, lies and betrayal. If you had known about the ban and the associated punishment you would have immediately shut down Hell so that no one would get to see you because you would never risk one of your brothers or sisters dying because they had visited you. You would rather bear all the pain, loneliness and sorrow of Hell all by yourself than to see one hair harmed on one of their heads. That is your deepest being, light and love!"
Lucifer's anger and disappointment in his siblings drained out of him at lightning speed. His anger for Amenadiel, however, rose to unprecedented heights. The Hellfire in his eyes was more than obvious. For him, he would gladly make an exception to his rule not to injure family. Alexander said to Lucifer:
"The way you look at Amenadiel tells me that you have understood his betrayal through the millennia of lying about the vast majority of your family and their feelings for you."
Lucifer looked at Alexander and asked in a vulnerable pleading tone:
"But you knew the truth. Why didn't you tell me anything?"
"You know very well why Lucifer. This is not about you. This is not even about me as a person, I as a person am completely unimportant in this, I myself am nothing. This is much bigger than me. I am just the instrument, a tool and it is much too late now to ask; Father please let this cup pass by me. There is no turning back. There has been no turning back for 6,000 years! The slightest change in your behavior would be noticed immediately. Knowing you and the way you love to rill up Amenadiel the change that you would let something slip was simply to great when so much is at stake. Recognizing the slightest glimmer of hope in you would inevitably have led to your destruction and that was never, ever to happen. As I said, I am nothing, just a tool like a hammer or a saw to free your brothers and sisters who live in absolute oppression and have to fear for their lives every day. That's what I am, nothing more!"
Ella felt a stab of pain upon hearing these words from Alex. She knew immediately that this man had completely devoted himself to saving the Angels and Humanity without even a second thought towards himself. How lonely this young man had to be if he saw himself as nothing but a tool. Well relatively young compared to Archangels as Lucifer and Michael, Alex pointed to Amenadiel:
"He brought you back to Hell again and again, and you allowed that to happen without too much opposition. Amenadiel, however, could not miss an opportunity to suggest to you that you are the ultimate evil. That you are responsible for all the evil that happens on Earth. He went out of his way to spread the image of the Devil as the ultimate evil. Your Father hates you; he saw that hate so he wanted to please daddy by adding a bucket of fuel to the fire and a lot of vitriol."
The dislike Alexander felt for Amenadiel was evident in his words:
"Ladies and gentlemen may I introduce you to the true father of lies. Amenadiel, by his own admission God's favorite Angel, which in fact is taking the truth for a serious stretch! Lucifer never lies, Amenadiel does not know when to stop lying. Lucifer never used violence against his family, even during the rebellion. When the situation began to get out of hand in the Silver City it was Lucifer that made sure all his followers put their weapons down and he surrendered to the mercy of a merciless Father and Mother. Amenadiel takes pleasure in threatening others and keeping them beneath his thumb. Everyone except Michael and the Angels who are at home in Michael's circle. Why? Because he is the prime example of a true bully. Hurting the weak with pleasure and shitting his pants in front of those who are stronger than himself. But even Amenadiel knows that Godfry would do absolutely nothing to stop Michael if the latter gave Amenadiel the beating of his existence because the general is more important than the so-called favorite when it comes down to it. Frankly, I wonder who is the Angel and who is The Devil."
Alexander let these words sink in for a moment and lit his umpteenth cigarette of the evening.
"Let me skip a few thousand years otherwise we'll still be here next year and unfortunately we don't have that much time. I'm going to limit myself to the last four years. After thousands of years, Godfry had had it with Lucifer. He simply could not break him. Lucifer refused to take on the role forced upon him as the Devil, the ultimate evil. He never formed a bond with Lilith the way Godfry hoped he would do to become the anti-thesis to Adam and Eve. The whole Antichrist story is just a weak attempt at reviving that scenario. Lucifer is responsible for all the evil in the world, would bring about the end of humanity, God is the good guy, Gods saves the day, bla… bla… bla. Therefore, even though Lucifer denies it himself, at his core he remained the Lightbringer. A younger brother, Uriel, had the gift of seeing patterns, he was as true zealot as Amanadiel and foresaw that Lucifer would show up in Los Angeles for his next vacation. A descendant of Godfry's favorite bloodline lived in town and the rest, as they say, is history. The new plan was not to send Lucifer back to Hell but to eliminate him permanently. To kill him while Decker was around, therefore he would be vulnerable and mortal."
Ella who had been following everything with thought wrinkles in her forehead asked:
"But why go to all that trouble? I mean if he is so powerful why can't he just take Lucifer back to Heaven and kill him there?"
Again a smile appeared on Alexander's face and he replied:
"Oh man, I just can't help but admire your keen intellect Miss Lopez. Michael already hinted at that before. In short it is because Godfry is a moron and because his temper gets in the way of his thinking. All the laws, rules and commandments that were set when he was on the throne with the Goddess he cannot undo on his own. Therefore, he cannot take Lucifer into Heaven to conduct the execution because Lucifer has been banished from Heaven by them both. What was a punishment one moment turned out to be Lucifer's salvation the next."
A light went on for Ella:
"That is why Amenadiel brought him back to Hell again and again, and why they set plans in motion to kill him because they could not do it themselves."
"Indeed yes. As much as Amenadiel wished it he literally could not stab Lucifer in the back even with Decker nearby or with a celestial dagger or sword. One of the first laws the Gods introduced was that Angels were not allowed to kill each other. The only one exempted from that is Lucifer and this because of his banishment to Hell. All the rules and laws no longer apply to him. If Lucifer had really been evil then Amenadiel would have been killed by him thousands of years ago as well as any other Angel that Godfry would send. The only thing that could end Lucifer's punishment is the destruction of Heaven's Gate with the flaming sword. However, destroying the gate is not the ultimate solution. It is, unfortunately, a temporary solution. But it is enough to get Lucifer into Heaven by which his punishment automatically ceases to exist until a more permanent solution can be put in place. All the other shit that Godfry and his snake put together in laws or punishments unfortunately cannot be undone so easily. Something Godfry is sure cannot be done again and Lucifer, of course in a thoughtless moment, has made sure of that in two ways. The sword needed to cut through the gates of Heaven needs four components to become the famous Flamming sword. The sword of Azrael herself but that is now floating around somewhere in the Goddess' new universe, a guard sliding over the blade and the pin hanging around Amenadiel's neck to hold those three components together and finally the Lightbringer himself who can ignite the sword. Even if he could have reassembled the sword, Lucifer would never cooperate to ignite it. The only other option Godfry has is to come to Earth himself to eliminate Lucifer. However, he is too paranoid to leave the throne or even the throne room for any length of time. What Godfry does not know is that the sword has long since returned to this universe and is in the possession of Rae Rae. But that is more symbolic since there is an important element missing. And that toothpick of Rae Rae is not needed for our purpose anyway."
Alexander rubbed through his curls for a moment, looked at Michael and said:
"Would you please relieve Amenadiel of the pin? I think he has lost all right to be in possession of an object of such divine power."
"With pleasure."
He straightened up and stood in front of Amenadiel. In one furious tug he pulled the necklace from around his neck. Then sat back down and offered the necklace to Alexander. He took the necklace and looked at it for a moment but shook his head:
"Celine, this one is for you. It's going to increase your powers incredibly so take it easy in Heaven. I don't want any more dead Angels than the ones Godfry killed."
He added with a smirk and the last part was not meant seriously:
"And if at all possible no destroyed bedrooms in certain homes..."
His left hand turned a little red in the face because she knew exactly what he was alluding to. She simply felt honored by the trust he placed in her and replied:
"I swear it my lord. If I can somewhat prevent it no unnecessary blood will flow."
"I know that Darling that is why I am giving it to you."
He once again filled his glass full of his favorite mix and continued speaking:
"Anyone remember the history with Malcom Graham? There are four Angels present here. Can any of you tell me what Godfry would do to an Angel who would take a soul from Hell, plant it back in it's Body and then watch that person leave corpses left and right?"
Michael laughed out loud:
"It would have made for a shit show in the throne room. All the Angels compulsorily present to see how Father would execute that Angel, slow and extremely painful."
Alexander nodded in agreement:
"And yet that didn't happen here. The why is simple. Amenadiel carried out this plan with Godfry's blessing. Innocent victims or not as long as Lucifer's existence came to an end. So you see, the commandments apply to everyone but himself. When the plan failed, Amenadiel proposed a new plan. Lucifer would never fully trust him as long as he was an Angel. So he had to supposedly temporarily fall, become human. He could sell the falling to Lucifer as a punishment from Godfry for what he had done to Graham and for having sex with a Demon, for those of you who do not know it that Demon was Mazikeen. By appearing so weak he no longer posed a threat to Lucifer and could sell him a lot of bullshit like wanting to help Lucifer make himself worthy again in the eyes of Godfry. Something the Lightbringer had absolutely no interest in. With his so-called status as a fallen Angel, we come to Amenadiel's ultimate betrayal and double-dealing. Because it was during that period that he laid or hoped to lay the foundation to overthrow God from his throne and become the true power behind the throne."
Amenadiel looked at Alexander with shock. His biggest secret, his most dangerous gamble ever, had been revealed. Daniel, Linda and Ella looked at Alexander perplexed. How could an Angel remove God from the throne? How could Amenadiel become the power behind the throne? As it turned out, he was not nearly as powerful as Lucifer or Michael, never had been. Even Lucifer, during his rebellion, had never intended to overthrow his father from the throne. Amenadiel really did not look well after Alexander's words. If God found out the slightest bit about it, which was very possible after Gabriel's departure, he would end his existence in the most gruesome way. He pulled away pale. The rest who didn't understand any of it looked at Alexander questioningly. This latest piece of news had hit like a bomb. He only raised his hand to ask for some patience.
Looked at his wristwatch and turned to Michael:
"Rae Rae should be here any minute. Time for you to go back and make final preparations. Make sure you look a little damaged when you enter the throne room."
"I'll just dive into a volcano that will do the trick."
Smiled the Archangel.
"Michael will you please bring Lucifer's battle armor to Raffa when it's his turn to show up?"
Michael smiled broadly:
"Lucifer in his battle dress! That will give a sight in the Silver City. That alone will lift the spirits of ours and make hearts beat faster!"
"The sight of you two side by side again after all this time will hopefully bring many of the doubters to our side or at least make them passive. But I'm sure the sight of you two together will strike fear into the hearts of the zealots!"
The two shook hands and Michael said:
"Three hours before it starts I will be back and then there will be no turning back!"
And with that he disappeared from Casa Diablo. Daniel asked:
"But what about this ultimate betrayal and double game of Amenadiel?"
Alexander thought for a moment about how to summarize this succinctly yet clearly and said:
"No Angel can remove God from His throne. The throne would simply not bind with that Angel and a binding is needed with the one who takes a seat on it. There is only one being powerful enough to defeat God. Something not set in stone as so much can go so unimaginable wrong. There is only one being who can take the throne to bind himself and that is a Nefilim. A Nefilim is a child of an Angel and a human. And I see that Doctor Martin already knows where this is going."
With wide eyes and fear in those eyes, Linda could only nod and then suddenly the others understood. Amenadiel had wanted to use Charlie to remove God from the throne and become the power behind the throne as the father of the new God. Alexander smiled encouragingly at Linda:
"No fear Linda. Charlie is the child of a fallen Angel and a human being. At the time Charlie came into existence, Amenadiel was human. In order for their plan to succeed, Godfry had to temporarily remove all the Divinity and grace from Amenadiel. Otherwise, Lucifer would have immediately noticed another game being played by Amenadiel and Godfry. As a result, Charlie is completely human. It was simply an experiment by Amenadiel and if it succeeded then he had a weapon in his hands. Did it not succeed as appears to be the case nothing was lost for him because he was still Godfry's favorite and Godfry would be none the wiser. Unfortunately for you doctor when he found that Charlie was fully human he lost all interest in him. Nor did he think about Charlie for a second because he knew that the chances of Godfry destroying everything were very high. And the reason why? Godfry hates Nefilim for obvious reasons and would immediately destroy Charlie if he found out he existed. But not only Charlie, also Amenadiel would have to suffer because he had dared to father a child with a Human."
"Azi, Anthony would you please escort Amenadiel to the guest-house. I'm afraid I can't let Celine do that."
He said with a greasy smile and Celine was staring hungrily at Amenadiel.
"O Amenadiel you better be very quiet on the way over. For I have given Crowley the promise and permission to break both your legs if you resist. Don't worry Azi will heal you but then of course Crowley can break them again, Azi heal them, Crowley break them. Well I think you get the picture"