by SwordSkill |
Author's Notes: Before I go to the usual A/N jabber, I want to first state clearly that I do not mean to deliberately offend or mock anyone whose beliefs concerning Lucifer and the other fallen angels disagree with mine. But I firmly believe in what the Bible says, so if I had offended you, I'm sorry, but I guess that's just the way it is. So anyway, concerning the fic, it will be a kind of series by chapter wherein I'll portray the works of angels in various parts of the Bible in the angel's POV. So I suppose I'll update it a few times with more chapters. Also, the only named angels in the Bible are Lucifer, Michael, and Gabriel, so the names of the other angels are purely from my imagination. R/R please!
"I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."
Gabriel looked at the shining angel hovering above crowds of other angels. "There he goes again, Michael. Does he not know he is blaspheming the Master?"
"He knows fully well," said Michael, his usual bronze face red with righteous vindiction. "And it is more than I could bear."
Before his friend Gabriel could answer, Michael had flown off towards the bright angel in lightning speed across the white clouds.
"Lucifer!" he shouted, creating a murmer in the crowd of angels below. "You have done the Master a great wrong! Do you not know the penalty of that?!"
Lucifer tilted his beautiful blond head to face Michael. A proud smirk quickly spread across his chiseled features, showing his perfectly-lined white teeth. He said contemptuously, "Michael the Archangel, soon you will bow to me, the angelic host will bow to me, and even the Being you call Master himself will bow to me."
"No one is greater than the Master, Angel of Light!"
Lucifer crossed his arms and said, "Come now, Michael. Is that any way to talk to your future master?"
Michael snarled, "No, it is the way I use to talk to deceivers and liars!"
Lucifer merely shook his head, tsking.
"And I thought you had more sense in you, you being in the high ranks and all," he said dryly. "But then I must has overestimated, for I am the anointed cherub, am I not? And soon, I will be more than that." His voice grew dangerously soft. "Listen to me, Michael. I will be God, and you will serve me!"
There was no more time for more pleasantries. Michael drew his sword with a metallic swish. His face was a mask of stone as he growled, "I serve no one but God, the true Ruler of his Kingdom! Show me your worth, cherub! Show me how you could defy the power of the Almighty who created us!"
This challenge resulted to a great hullaballoo in the crowd witnessing this scene. Rolling his eyeball from the growing crowd to Michael, the great Deceiver hissed, "With pleasure," his hand reaching for his own sword.
"Michael!" Michael felt hands grab his shoulder as Gabriel whispered, "Michael, let us not be hasty!"
"You agree with this evil creature?" Michael swung to face his friend, shock written all over his face.
"No, I do not," said Gabriel indignantly. "I am as angered as you are, my friend, but for a battle between you and Lucifer, the anointed cherub? You will not be able defeat him! Furthermore, the Master may not approve!"
Michael shook his hands away. "Defeat or no defeat, I would have done my job. Also, I fight to glorify the Master, and for no other reason."
Gabriel looked at Lucifer, who was sneering at them, and he was suddenly appalled to see how that sneer uglified the otherwise-handsome angel's face.
"What is wrong, Michael?" Lucifer said, twirling his glowing sword effortlessly. "Is little Gabriel scaring a big soldier like you?"
Gabriel was not pleased at Lucifer's unnecessary commentry, but he managed to look expressionless.
"If you truly believe that you are in the right side," said the ambitious Angel of Light, flipping his jeweled cape over his shoulder, "challenge my sword and see who is right after all!"
"I must go. I, no, we, were created to glorify God and to serve Him only." Michael pushed Gabriel away, but Gabriel caught his arm.
"Then you leave me no choice," he said, staring at the archangel's eyes. He drew his own shimmering sword. "For you are not alone."
A smile spread across Michael's face. "We fight for the King."
"This is all very touching, I assure you," said Lucifer with a bored expression on his face. "But let's get a move on, shall we?"
"Choose a partner," said Michael coldly.
"You two against a future god?" Lucifer gave a sharp chuckle. "No competition for me, I'm afraid."
"Then taste our swords, cherub," said Gabriel evenly.
"And you mine." Lucifer drew into a fighting stance. His face got ugly. "You will pay for your defiance."
The crowds and crowds of heavenly hosts burst into a brouhaha as the three angels moved into a circle combat. Michael eyed Lucifer from head to toe as he warily moved in a circle. He knew Lucifer was created to be a great cherub, and a great fighter at that. He would have to gauge his moves carefully.
Michael planned to fake out Lucifer with a lunge, but before he could put his plan to action, a great voice thundered, "Be still!"
The voice echoed around the angels, vibrating with power. Hearing the command, every angel stood still and was silent, even Lucifer.
"The Lord God," said Michael, never ceasing to be in awe of his Master. He shot the arrogant Lucifer a glance and said, "Now you will have justice."
Lucifer gave him a dirty look.
"Michael," the Lord said.
"Yes, my Lord?" Michael bent his knee and bowed in obeisance to his omnipresent Master.
"It is not your place to take this matter in your hands."
"Yes, my Lord. Your word is law."
"Lucifer."
Lucifer ventured out, "Yes?"
"What is this rebellion you are doing to Me?"
Lucifer smiled proudly. "Is it that unnoticeable that even the God of heavens cannot fathom my ambition? I will rise higher than You. I will become God of everything You have created. I will be placed upon the summit of power, and every knee shall bow to honor me. There will be no one above me. Not even You."
There was a deathly silence as the angel defied their God.
"Lucifer," said the Lord. "You were created as a perfect being, the bright one, with a great position to rule the angels. But by your lies, your pride, and your rebellion, iniquity was found in you as you sinned against Me. You and your followers."
Michael saw a flicker in Lucifer's eyes. He was not sure what it was, but evidently Lucifer was not as confident as he was before.
"You have sinned. My holy kingdom can no longer be your dwelling place," said the Lord of Most High. "Henceforth on, you and your band shall be cast away from Heaven and into the earth."
Lucifer slit his eyes and bristled. "I shall rule!" he hissed. Michael noticed that Lucifer was not as brightly shining as he was before, and that his handsome features were gone. In fact, he seemed to be turning into something else not very angelic.
"I shall overthrow Your kingdom," continued Lucifer, his eyes blazing. "I will prevail!"
Then the Lord's voice thundered even more resonantly. "Away from My presence, Satan, you and your unclean followers! Flee from me, and begone!"
Suddenly, by an unseen force that could only come from the Lord, Satan and his followers, a whole flock of them, were lifted up and hurtled back in the air. They came to a clearing of clouds at the end of the Kingdom, screaming and shrieking as they saw the earth that awaited them.
"You have not seen the last of me!" screamed Satan, raising a fist. To Michael's horror, Satan and the angels that joined him were changing, changing fast. Their angel handsomeness were gone and replaced by hideous features too horrifying that words were unable to describe them. Then they fell.
Michael looked away as they plummeted from their lofty position of the skies to the earth below them, shrieking bloodthirsty cries, shouting obscenities to the heavens they had left.
"So how much had gone?"
Kadmiel, a Hebrew-looking angel, answered, "After the head count, approximately one-third of the angel population had gone."
"It must had been terrible for the Master," said the angel Eol.
"And Lucifer had seemed to be a very promising leader," mused Gabriel.
"Well," said Michael, polishing his sword, "it was his choice. We were created by the Master to have choices, and that is His gift to us, that we may not be forced to do His every bidding. We chose to love my Master. Lucifer chose to defy Him."
"True," said Eol. "And it was a bad decision for him."
"Evil," said Kadmiel, cracking his knuckles. "The Lord should have made him and his demons mortal instead."
"Well, we are not to judge on what the Lord does," said Michael. "Although-"
"Men, you might want to see this," interrupted Gabriel, peering at the opening of the clouds. "But it's not very pretty."
"What is it?" asked Eol.
Gabriel looked up. "Satan has contacted God's children."
Michael sprang up. "Not Adam and his wife!"
Gabriel nodded solemnly. "I'm afraid so."
Kadmiel looked over Gabriel's shoulder. "Satan is in the form of a serpent," he reported. "And he is tempting the woman to eat the fruit from the Tree of Life."
"We must warn her!" said Eol, sprouting his wings. But Michael put an arm on him. "Not until the Master orders us to."
"But the woman is already taking the fruit!"
"I want to go there as much as you do," said Michael firmly. "But we must await permission from the Master."
The angels were about to peer in again when another angel flew over them, sounding a horn. "Archangel Michael, the Master summons you," he said briskly.
The angels exchanged meaningful glances as Michael sprouted his wings saying, "Stay here. I may need you soon to go with me."
"Yes sir!"
Michael flew up to the holy throne of God. He remembered it so well. It was bright, wonderful, full of life and love. There was no place that could compare to God's throne of grace. The presence of the Lord was good and righteous, bathing him in light.
He lowered himself and sheathed his wings. He bent one knee, bowing his head to the majesty of his Creator. "You called me, O Lord?"
"The woman has eaten the fruit, and so has the man, faithful Michael," the Master said. Michael's heart sank. It was too late then.
"Then the man and the woman have sinned," he said, his voice cracking. The humans were the masterpiece the Master had made in the Creation, and now they had answered the call of Satan. "They will be doomed to hell." He looked up in despair. "Couldn't we have stopped them, Lord?"
"We could have, Michael, but then that would have been our choice, not theirs." He seemed comfortably calm, and for the life of him, Michael did not know how his Master could be so unperturbed by this catastrophe.
Micahel found his tongue and said, "Yes Lord, but to lose them, mankind, to Satan..."
The Master held up a hand, and Michael quickly left his sentence unended. "There is a Way, Michael. There is a Way to bring them back."
Hope sprung into Michael quickly. Of course his Master would know what to do. He was the Father of the world. He had created them. He had created Satan, and could destroy him with a flick of a finger and save mankind.
"What is this Way, Lord?" he asked, his eyes shining.
The Father handed him a thick book. "Behold, the Book of Life," He said. "It is written there."
Michael eagerly took the book. It was smooth yet heavy in his hands.
"The first page, Michael," said God Almighty. "Read it."
Michael quickly flipped the cover open to the first page, excited to see what power his Master would show.
He read aloud, "Saved by the blood of...-"
Then he stopped, and his eyes widened. He looked up at his Master, stunned. He knew that he had no right to question the sovereignty of the Lord, but this...
"Lord!" he gasped. "Not..."
"Read it aloud, Michael. Read the Name aloud, that the heavens may echo His holy name, and know who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
"Surely this...this cannot be the only way!"
"It can be," said the Lord, "for it is the only Way. No one can come to the Father except through Him. Him who is..."
"Immanuel, God with Us," whispered Michael reverently. "But Lord, how could you? Your Son...to die for them?"
"I love them, Michael."
Michael reeled with the simplicity of the reason. "But Lord-"
"There is nothing else to be said."
Michael got it. He bowed low, regretful of his disagreement. He knew better than to cross with the decision of the Master, for his Master was all-knowing of the things to come, and this was a part of the great tapestry He was weaving for the world. And Michael was only more than glad to stand by Him.
"You will learn, Michael," said the Master softly, stirring Michael. "Not even His own people will accept Him, but it is He who will storm the gates of Satan and save My children from eternal doom."
Michael could feel hope springing up in him like a flood, and joy gushed over his whole being. The Master was right. His Son was the Chosen One.
"Whatever happens, my Lord," said Michael joyfully, "it is Your will. And Your will be done."
The Master smiled at him. "Thank you, Michael. And worry not. Soon you will have a great battle against Satan after my Son's second coming. And lo, only one shall come out victorious. "
Michael couldn't help smiling back. "I thank you, my Lord," he said. "It will be a great honor."
"Now, call Jarus the Cherub and his band of cherubim to Me," said the Lord. "I need to talk to them about guarding the Garden of Eden that no sinful man may enter it again."
Michael stood up and bowed his head. "At once, my Lord."
"You are dismissed."
"My Lord." Michael bowed again and spun his heels.
After doing quick work of calling Jarus and his energetic band of cherubim to the Master, Michael quickly flew to his outpost where the angels were waiting. They looked troubled and disheartened and Michael guessed that it was because of the sin of Adam and Eve
"I suppose the Master said no," said Kadmiel glumly. "Not only have we lost a third of the angels to Satan, but also the humans."
Michael landed softly and folded his wings, replying, "The Master has shown me that there is a Way of bringing them back."
The angels quickly brightened. "What is it?" asked Gabriel eagerly. "What is this great power that will crush Satan's forces?"
Michael's vision was blurred by the tears as he smiled at his comrades. "His Name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God."
Copyright © SwordSkill 2001