Before the dawn of man, my brothers and sisters knew no conflict. We knew no wars, we knew no hatred, and we knew no place better then the beautiful home we shared with our loving Father. The four eldest sons, Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel, and Raphael were our leaders, our lights, and for this fledgling one of them held the keys to my downfall. As angels we all have stations, placements, jobs, and duties to perform. My job, was to watch over all of Father's creations in the heavens, and report back to Lucifer my findings. I am unsure how much time passed before I started seeing my brother as more then just my brother.
Angels do not have feelings in a human sense. We are fiercely loyal, blind followers, extremely passionate about what we feel is right and wrong, and love unconditionally. That is how we were created by our Father, and that is how we have been throughout time whether we fell or not. We do not share a human idea of time, however after what I can only assume was eons, our Father grew bored of our sibling squabbles. He decided it was time to create a new plane of existence, a new group of children, and in within seven Earth days my whole world was turned upside down.
I returned from my duties observing the heavens to Gabriel blowing his horn, calling us all to Father's audience. We all herded into the throne room, and fell to our knees. The four eldest stood at Father's side as he sat upon his golden throne. As the last of my siblings were shuffled into the room, Father stood, raised his hand, and the hushed whispers among my siblings became an eery silence. I peered out the top of my eyes to catch a glimpse of our etherial Father, as no one besides the eldest four could look at him directly, and I caught a look from Lucifer telling to lower my head once more. I took a deep breath and returned my gaze to the floor.
Father's voice boomed and echoed throughout the room as he spoke, "I am going to create a new world for us to watch, guard, and learn from. A new world with new beings, flawed and weak that will need your guidance. However, I do not want these beings to look upon you as Gods, but I wish you to bow and serve the new creatures." I could hear the rumblings of my siblings, unsure what to make of the words coming from Father's mouth. We could not understand why we, as perfect beings would bow before a flawed creature. As if he was hearing our thoughts, Lucifer raised his voice to speak, "Father, if I may understand more clearly. Do you truly wish us to bow before an imperfect creature?" An unease set across the throne room, and the tension between Father and son was truly palpable.
We all knew the answer to Lucifer's question, and knew the consequences for questioning a decision made by Father. A collective breath was held as we waited for Father's response to Lucifer. The question was one we were all asking, but were too afraid to voice. Father's voice could not hold more contempt as he answered, "Lucifer, how dare you question me! I am God, your Father, Creator of the heavens and a new world for us to guide and nurture. The creatures as you call them are human beings, and they will be just as much my children as you are. Your pride will be your downfall son. I will not stand here while you question me in front of your underlings."
Lucifer's voice never trembled as he replied, "Father, with all do respect. I am asking you, how can you expect us to bow before these humans? We have been raised to be above the fray, loyal and unquestioning. However, this time I cannot just accept your decision, and follow orders."
A tear streaked my cheek and fear coursed through my body as I waited for Father to issue Lucifer's punishment for questioning His decision. It was at that moment I decided that no matter the consequences, I would stand by Lucifer's side, and I would take the same punishment he received. To this day I am unsure of my motives for standing with him. Was it loyalty, was it love, or was it the fact that I totally agreed with his position? I cannot answer that, but what happened next was the furthest thing from my mind when I chose to stand with Lucifer against Father.
An echo roared through the throne room as Father spoke, "You my son, have crossed the line, and I will not stand here listening to your refusal to follow orders. If you cannot bow down to the humans, they you will be cast out of heaven to live out the rest of your existence among them."
The silence was deafening, and I stood in awe of Father's commandment. For the first time I raised my voice and my eyes toward my Father. My eyes burned as I held my gaze, "Father if I may, I must stand with Lucifer on this position, and I will accept his punishment as my own. I cannot however, bow before I creature that is less then us." The tension was palpable, but soon many others stood along side me. They raised the eyes and their voices in unison chanting, "We will not bow. We will not bow. We will not bow."
Father turned Gabriel to blow his horn and silence the crowd. I could see the disappointment on his brow when he cast his judgement, "If this is your decision, I must change mine as well. You all will be cast into eternal darkness. A realm below that of the humans, to live out your existence in damnation." He took a sharp breath before turning to Michael, "You are in charge of rounding up the rebels, imprison them as I create the hell they are damned to live out their lives inside." Michael swallowed thickly as he drew his sword on Lucifer. I could see him mouth the words, "I cannot believe you are making me do this."
Swords clashed, and flashes of light crashed throughout the throne room. The war raged for what felt like millennia while Father created the pit that would become our new home, far away from the brightness of the heavens. Michael and Lucifer locked swords day after day, year after year, decade after decade, century and century until that one moment of weakness. In that one fleeting second Lucifer felt remorse for his actions, sadness about the deaths of thousands of our siblings, the loss of our home, and the punishment dealt to more then just himself. In that second Michael got the upper hand, and in that second we fell.
The searing pain of my wings being burned from my back was too much to bear. My last memory was looking across the heavens and seeing thousands of others going through the same excruciating pain as I was, and hot tears streaking my face. Unable to deal with the pain of losing my wings, my home, my life, I lost consciousness, and fell into the darkness.
