And here we go back to see the point where this became an AU.
There's a saying that 'the highest form of loyalty is dissent.' Because someone who speaks out to warn a nation or leader, or otherwise act against them, is putting their life in the hands of said nation or leader. Is trusting, believing, that they are capable of doing better than the path they are on. That whatever evil they are speaking out against is the aberration, and it is something that can be fixed, can be overcome. That their country is better than that.
While those who don't speak out because of fear clearly don't value their country enough to risk their lives for it. And those who don't see the problem don't care enough to examine the reality of the situation, don't love their country enough to worry about it. To want to protect it, even from itself.
The Holy Sophia is canon, present in the actual text of the Bible: some Orthodox churches believe she's a full aspect of God, equivalent to the Son and the Holy Ghost. Besides overseeing creation and such, most of the stuff I have about her here is apocryphal/what heretics believed. But then, Lucifer is entire apocryphal: going from the exact text of the Bible, Satan works for God and Lucifer doesn't exist, so yeah.
They were still here after tens of thousands of years.
Two long arcs of bone, white as ivory, without a hint of age or impurity. Taken from the cage humans had inside their bodies to protect their hearts, as frail as such a shield was against a demon's claws or the claws humans had learned to make for themselves, to kill their fellows.
Now, a human's flesh and soul were two separate things, but God had breathed into the earth to give it life, to infuse it with his own spirit in his own shape, and thus Adam was born. The combination of God's creation and God himself, soul and matter.
Then God made Lilith to love Adam, but the love of those possessing free will could not be coerced, yet God did not wish Adam to share his own loneliness.
Remiel still didn't understand how Adam could have been lonely, surrounded by the animals that loved him, as God was surrounded by the adoring angels. They loved them. They had been made for that purpose, so how could they not be good enough while beings that could turn against him, could hurt him, were?
That was the question Lucifer fell for, although he hadn't phrased it as a question. When God told him to kneel before his new creation, his son, when Adam was still innocent and pure, Lucifer had still refused. Still warned God that by giving this creature choice he had ensured that it would turn against him, and what if it made more? What if it made something stronger than God, mightier than their creator? If that new God had the power to strike him down? Lucifer had refused to kneel before any master but God himself.
And the Holy Sophia, the embodiment of the wisdom of their creator, had smiled as Lucifer was struck down for his disobedience and defiance.
Sariel, Anael: so many believed that it was only his refusal, his disobedience, his pride that Lucifer had fallen for instead of his refusal to acknowledge Man as his superior, as one he must obey after God himself. They believed that he was right about humanity, about Adam. That humans did nothing but hurt God: Oh, there was Enoch, but God had made him into an angel, so he was worthy because he was one of them. They thought that free will was an aberration that must be stamped out with punishment, with curses upon curses. After all, had not God cursed Adam and Eve when they ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the sealed form of the Holy Sophia? Had not God cursed Cain when he killed his brother?
And yet, Remiel knew, those curses were both mercies. God had granted Adam freedom from Eve, who God had originally placed above him, as his controller. God had granted Cain long life and protection from any who might hurt his still-beloved child. Yet even Sariel's Eye only saw the cruelty. Only wanted to see the cruelty, and think that was what humans deserved.
Remiel did not understand his creator's design. None of them were capable of that, not even Metatron. Many of his brethren seemed to have forgotten that. Metatron was only an angel now: he was no longer of the race akin to God, so how could he understand Him? Yet Remiel was wise enough not to share those thoughts. His name and his task were God's mercy, so it was only proper for him to show too much kindness towards humanity. After all, was not God too soft towards them? Did he not let those base creatures keep causing him sorrow?
Yet they were not base creatures. They, not the angels, were the true children of God. That was why the original Bel had been such a threat: His grandson, imbued with the power of the demons, the power of the chaos that ran contrary to God's designs (or did it?). He could have become God's equal: he had defied him, cast the angels out of the human world save for those who had fallen because they gave humanity knowledge that was then used for evil.
Save for those who did as God had once wished, and helped humanity… No, such thoughts were blasphemy.
Or were they merely treason?
How long had it been since God had ceased to walk among them?
These bones contained the union of flesh and soul possessed by the children of Adam, with life breathed into them by God: their Eves, when Eve had been created to guide Adam on the right path, to watch over him. And if Lucifer had not tricked her into believing that to taste of the fruit and gain all of God's wisdom was best for Adam, he would be in the garden still. For Eve had been created out of a portion of the soul of God, because of his love for his son, and so she loved Adam before God.
Remiel had failed to lead Cain back onto the correct path. Every life he became more and more filled with hatred, and could Remiel truly blame him for this? When that hatred was born of compassion for all the human suffering he saw? For the suffering of his brother?
The brother Cain had knelt before, when he returned from the demon world. The brother he had pledged his eternal loyalty, his eternal service, all his lives and his very soul, to atone for that act of murder.
That act which Remiel truly believed had been an accident, even if there was supposed to be no such thing in God's design. Cain had not meant to kill Abel. He was not the shepard, he did not understand the fragility of flesh or the power a metal tool in human hands had to kill until it was too late.
Cain had confessed, as he had failed to confess his act to God. He never repeated the sin: he had made it up to his brother countless times. And yet he was not forgiven, not granted mercy. Not allowed into heaven or allowed to be reborn as an innocent the way Adam and Eve were.
Remiel did not understand this. Sariel thought he did: Sariel was wrong. How could he watch humans and their suffering, their efforts not to sin and their own bodies turned against them and not understand?
Remiel had a guess. He hoped it was wrong.
Remiel did not have permission to take these two bones, these two souls, and plant them within humans to be born in the new way. Yet he did have God's permission, God's order, to do whatever he could to help Cain, on the day he was not cast out, but rather fled, unable to face his sin or his parents' grief.
Metatron did not have the authority to override God's orders, and no angel should have to go to him for permission to follow God's orders. Many had forgotten that, and the remainder, like Remiel, knew better than to speak of it.
After Abel's shattered soul was flung into the underworld for the second time, only one piece had managed to claw its way back into the human realm, seeking not vengeance against God but to be reborn alongside his brother so Cain would not blame himself for a second death, this time because he wasn't strong enough instead of because he was too strong.
Now, Abel's power had almost fully recovered. The shards were gathering together, at the same time the angels began to speak of the necessity of another ordeal. This internet allowed humans to lie and harm others without consequences to themselves far too easily, yes. It was a temptation to do evil, but did not communication allow the spreading of the Word? All humans to understand that they were all children of God?
For all communication to be stripped from them… There was no mercy in that. Many angels had no contact with humans since Adam, and Adam did not need food or drink. The humans that lived now were much weaker. They were only able to build that tower, this network, because they came together.
Most angels did not understand that if humans were stripped of the power to communicate, to work for the benefit of each other, they would die.
Most angels did not understand how death, the shedding of the physical body to become pure spirit, a being closer in nature to an angel, could possibly be a bad thing.
Somehow, the ordeal must be prevented, humanity must be saved. Yet Remiel did not have the power or understanding necessary to do this thing, and he could not interfere in the lives of humans the way other angels dearly wished to, not even for a good cause.
The Holy Sophia would have, if it was possible, but God had sealed away his own wisdom, something else Remiel could not understand. Yet he'd still placed that tree in the garden: had he meant for his children to someday taste of it? Some heretics had believed that the Holy Sophia was sealed away because she saw that all of creation was irredeemably corrupt, that God had sealed away the part of himself that knew this as a mercy, so it would not destroy this world, but Remiel knew that was not so.
He was God's mercy, after all. And the more he saw of that corrupt world, the more he knew that it should not be destroyed, it must be redeemed. God and God's children had suffered so much: how could a being that loved God wish for all of it to have been for nothing, to end in nothing but their Father's loneliness and tears?
Jealousy.
Jealousy had taken the heavenly host, had blinded even Sariel's eye.
And Remiel could not even redeem one human, one child of God who possessed such a deep love. Not just of his brother, but of God himself: it was jealousy that drove Cain to violence, to kill the brother he loved and bring sadness to his beloved creator.
God had ordered the angels to love Adam as they loved him, and they had obeyed and knelt. All except Lucifer, who had tried to tell them all that this simply could not work.
Yet now Lucifer aided humanity, or at least thought he was, by unleashing chaos. Why were all the angels who served man as God intended fallen?
Almost all of them.
He was God's Mercy: his foolish mercy, so many believed.
He did not know how to help Cain, much less Abel.
Yet these two souls had been created for that purpose. Would have inherited Adam and Eve's taste of the Holy Sophia. Once upon a time, humans knew the difference between right and wrong, possessed God's own knowledge of good and evil.
Yet they'd still chosen to lie to him. To do evil onto him. Because they were afraid the Father they loved would be angry and hurt if he knew they had disobeyed.
They had chosen not to do no evil, but to do no harm. To try to prevent strife from coming to the garden, even in such a clumsy way.
Remiel did share one belief with his fellow angels: that love, love was the most important thing of all. Even a human's love for another human instead of the highest form of love, the love of God.
Could love prevent Abel from misusing the power he might regain? Could an aspect of Cain whose hands were not stained with his brother's blood let him forgive himself?
So he prayed, and so he believed, as he placed the first bone, then flew to attend the birth of Cain's newest incarnation.
Even as a child, red eyes could still see him, still glare at him in frustration, for where had God's mercy been when the kingdom was toppled, when his brother was slain by the forces of God? Where was justice, either, when God's angels committed the same sin Cain had, except deliberately, and were not punished for it?
God's mercy had failed. God's mercy and compassion: there was not enough of it. It was not enough to spare all those lives. Yet Remiel loved God, so he did have faith that one day, it would be enough. One day Cain would be able to let go of his hatred, of both God and himself.
"I am sorry I cannot do more to help you," the angel Remiel told her.
"Is Jezebel truly more powerful than an angel of the lord?" the child asked him. She was a sinner: humans were not capable of living in this world without sinning, without harming others. They could do so out of simple ignorance in countless ways, not knowing that what they did harmed others. Yet Amane was truly dedicated to the good of this world, to helping her brothers and sisters, the other children of God. The fact that she trusted him, when she was taught that angels and God himself were evil and wished to do only harm to humanity was proof that she had as pure a soul as a human could have: there was not enough evil in her for her to truly believe there was evil in others. She rose above the blind hatred she was taught to reach for the light of God and truth.
If only his own kind were so noble.
"Yes," he admitted freely. "I am only a servant. But that is not the only reason I am unable to overcome Jezebel. As an angel, I am not meant to interfere with… I am not meant to harm humans, for you are the children of the God I serve. And the soul of the core of Jezebel, the soul of the ancient King of Bel, is human. That is what allowed him to become such a powerful demon, and allows Belberith and Jezebel to grow stronger and stronger, for humans are the children of God, and this soul has chosen to become a demon god. Not out of lust for power," he told her, to forestall her judgment, "but for the same reason your father sought the help of even a demon. He learned of something that shattered his trust in God, and made him believe that he needed power, any power, even the power of demons and chaos, in order to protect his brothers and sisters.
"When he returned to the human world, he created a country where peace endured for thousands of years, and humans began to advance, to discover for themselves tools they were taught by angels before the flood, and then lost. To create, and by doing so they became closer in nature to their Father, for he is the creator of all things. To understand the world around them and work to better it is a noble thing, born of love for God's creation." Some felt so much love for the core of that creation that they could not believe that the hand they felt there, the maker and truth that they loved as man should love God, was the God of the Bible, who ordered genocides and committed petty cruelties. No, they believed that which shaped the universe was surely above such things, and the faith of those seekers of truth humbled him.
"Yet with that power the King of Bel could have done great harm, could have reached heaven and threatened God himself, and so he was shattered, his kingdom was destroyed, and his people rendered unable to speak to each other so they could not pass their knowledge on to their children. But Jezebel and Belberith care nothing for this. They are purely demonic, born of that lust for power and vengeance the king felt after seeing his people killed. The core of him was reborn as a human, to comfort his brother in his sorrow. If he wins the War of Bel, if he is able to control that power of chaos and use it for good, to lead humanity to righteousness and abjure the demons to harm none, then this world will surely be saved." Surely. "Until then, I will do all I can to protect you, not simply because you have opened your heart to my voice, but because you are one of His beloved children."
"Besides, I follow no god," Naoya told Amane, and walked past her before she replied.
"But you did once, didn't you? Twice. And you would follow the God you chose to serve again."
He whirled on her, and though she knew the power he possessed his eyes had never frightened her before, not when she knew the true nature of that mark. It was not Cain's wrath that stained them blood-red: it was the wrath of God, a warning that anyone who harmed this child of his would have the pain returned sevenfold. To harm even a sinner was such a great evil in the eyes of God… She had chosen to have faith in that truth.
"Now where did you hear that?" he asked her. And what did she think she could do about it? "Belberith is a demon: humanity can only be free if we are led by a human."
So he openly declared himself against the Shomonkai in one of their fortresses, the server room itself? He must be very certain that she could be silenced, one way or another. "But you would not care that much if Belberith won, would you? He would be cruel to humanity, but we would survive, would still have the power of communication. And the soul of the King of Bel would be complete again, and eventually overpower the mind of Belberith."
"It would be another Dark Age, but we've already suffered so many thanks to him," he agreed. "Is Jezebel trying to frighten me? Do they believe that they can suppress the true king's soul?" He smirked. "She can try her luck now, if she likes. I'll crush her and her lord!"
"Indeed," Amane acknowledged. "For the sake of your brother, Remiel has faith in your victory."
"Remiel? What's my stalker up to this time? I've wanted to ask him a few questions." And he would not hesitate to extract the answers from her, Amane could see it in those eyes.
"You have seen so much evil, so much pain," Amane said, and this time she was speaking for herself. "You wish to sit at your brother's left hand, because you do not believe you are worthy to sit at his right. You will leave all of the final choices up to him, as you did when he reigned, because you believe that you would choose the crueler path, that everything you will ever do is tainted by one moment of yielding to rage and pain." The priestess' face remained impassive, as she was taught. "You believe that because you did evil, you are evil, and because you believe you are evil, you don't try as hard as you should to be kind, and mindful of others. You have surrendered responsibility to him, so he is still the God you follow, the savior you believe in, even now. You could wait another thousand years, if you must, with faith that whatever kept you from reviving him this time you could overcome, that you could do anything because you would do anything for his sake, and this world's. Remiel hopes that you will come to believe in yourself again, for you as well are a child of God."
Naoya clenched and unclenched a fist slowly, finger by finger. "Is that why he released that piece of me? So I'd have a mirror to see myself in? She's nothing like me, just like Belberith is nothing like my brother."
"Then at least you will have someone to understand you, to give you compassion. The mark is on your forehead, but His curse and blessing is upon you both, for you share the same soul."
He snorted. "Like they'd give me more power, like they'd let me have someone else who remembered other than you angels. I will not break. I will not fail him again."
"Break? You think he was trying to break you?" Amane said, hurt on Remiel's behalf.
"Ask him. They don't lie, although what they believe often has nothing to do with the truth. Sariel won't even try to conceal it from you: he's bragged about it, how I will break, I will kneel before God." Ha! "Even if I am never free of this curse, humanity will be free of you angels." This he promised, and not only to her. To him, she was only a telephone to convey his declaration, a window to shatter: she was nothing to him, not next to his brother and his enemy.
He had closed his heart to everyone else: he had become cruel, as cruel as the God he hated for his cruelty, for seeing humans as pawns that existed only to serve.
Amane wanted to try to tell him that, but she already knew that he wouldn't listen, or he wouldn't care. He would wallow in those depths if that was what it took, but, "Would your brother really want you to hurt others for his sake?"
"I will do it if it needs to be done, and if I do, it's better if he hates me," he told her honestly. "If I have to fight him, he should hate me." Not that that was any of her business. "Do you know who I am?"
"You are Naoya Minegeshi, programmer of Babel's vessel. You are also Cain, brother of Abel, whose mind and memories make up Babel. You have done everything you can to bring about Father's vision, only better than he thought was possible, because Belberith is cruel while your brother isn't." She bowed, because she owed him thanks.
"You're a strange girl," he murmured.
"I will take that as a compliment." To be strange, out of all the people he had seen in tens of thousands of years?
"I've found mine. Where is the other one?" he asked, speaking to Remiel again.
Still, at least he'd looked at her and seen Amane instead of Remiel, even if only for an instant. "He will find her," she reassured him.
His grimace made her curious. "You don't want him to find her?"
"This is a trap." Obviously. "I might not be able to resist her, but I won't let her stop me from fighting. And I won't let the other one take the rest of my brother's soul."
"Isn't she helping you?" Already? So soon after they'd met? Even though he must have told her the truth, that he was Cain and what she was feeling was only the produce of predestination and a shared soul. Such a lonely, sad and bitter soul.
He looked away, unwilling to lie but not able to trust reality either, not when it came from an angel.
"And why would Abel's steal his power when to harm him would be to harm herself?"
"You really don't know much about humans, do you?" He laughed in her face. "We harm ourselves all the time," were his parting words as he left the server room and the Shomonkai behind.