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Year 0, Birth of Luka
Ilias's Six Commandments To Man
1) Thou Shalt Not Have Intercourse With Monsters
- Monsters are a disgusting scourge onto my beautiful Earth; do not indulge in their lustful ways.
2) Thou Shalt Not Have Interspecies Marriage
- If you cannot consummate the Marriage in adherence to the First Commandment, it is a false preceding and an insult to my name.
3) Thou Shalt Be Dutiful In Their Prayers
- Stay loyal to me above all else, and your rewards will be Heavenly.
4) Thou Shalt Not Turn Their Sword Towards Their Goddess
- If one wishes not to bathe in eternal Hellfire, they should keep their wrath pointed away from their Goddess.
5) Thou Shalt Not Worship, Nor Bear False Witness to, False Idols
- Keep only Ilias in your prayers, lest you wish to suffer eternal damnation.
6) Thou Shalt Not Disgrace Their Goddess
- Keep my name with respect, and your rewards will be Heavenly.
Ilias's Six Commandments To Angels
1) My Daughters Shalt Not Have Intercourse With Humans
- Keep your modesty and do not indulge in lust with Humans.
2) My Daughters Shalt Not Fraternize With Monsters
- They are enemies of your Mother, and the friend of an enemy is also an enemy. Do not become an enemy of your Mother.
3) My Daughters Shalt Be Dutiful In Their Prayers And Obligations
- Stay loyal to your responsibilities, and your rewards will be Heavenly
4) My Daughters Shalt Not Worship, Nor Bear False Witness to, False Idols
- Mutineers will receive a judgement worse than eternal Hellfire
5) My Daughters Shalt Not Deny Their Goddess
- If your Mother asks, you will give. My demand is of the utmost.
6) My Daughters Shalt Bring Greatness Unto Their Goddess
- Shine glory onto my name, and your rewards will be Heavenly.
Towering high aloft Earth hovered a large swath of resplendent golden clouds. Standing out powerfully from the ones that helped shape the Earth's weather, these 'clouds' were an entirely separate plane of existence from everything around it. The facade of this dimension seemed to be the size of a small island, but in reality, it was much larger than it appeared. This mystical realm was known as Heaven, home to a being of pure Light.
This woman sat upon a polished marble throne resting on the top of the seemingly endless field of golden cloud. She was adorned with a split dress of only the purest white, held close to her body with a thin golden waist-piece. Cascading down alongside her dress was similarly golden hair that drifted through the air, rippling as if underwater. Behind her, coming out of her upper back, were the grandest feathered wings in all of Heaven.
This was the self-proclaimed Goddess of the World and All Creation, Ilias.
A look of reserved discontent marked her face. "She should be finished by now, why is it taking so long?" The rather blunt question betrayed the woman's visage as a Goddess, as her impatience was almost childlike.
The woman slowly raised a gauntlet-clad arm that was equally gold as her other garments and a hole began to grow as a collection of clouds parted in front of Ilias's throne. Inside this was a transmission of a scene taking place on the Earth below, in a small village aptly named Ilias Village. In this vision, a woman could be seen lying on a small futon. She had messy, shoulder-length golden brown hair and eyes as bewitchingly blue as the Goddess's eyes. However, there was no sense of grace radiating from her form.
Such a thing is difficult to preserve when one is in the middle of giving birth.
This woman was Lucifina, the second Angel to be created by Ilias. Before she was better known as one of the Three Great Seraphs, now more infamously known in Heaven as the first Fallen Angel.
Besides the flustered and panting Lucifina was the man who helped the pregnancy become possible, a man named Marcellus. He clasped Lucifina's hand with one of his own, putting on a very believable facade of concern on his face to help mask the unbelievable amount of pain radiating from his most certainly crushed hand. His short, pale purple hair was frizzed from the stress of the situation. Even with numerous years of fighting under his belt, the now-retired Hero had trouble processing the event. The nurse at the foot of the futon worked assiduously, but the process had been ongoing for a worrying number of hours now and had been rife with many troubling issues.
This, unbeknownst to anyone but the pregnant woman herself, was due to the very fact that her Angelic body was simply not built for the stresses of the birthing process; even though it was physically possible, Angels were strictly forbidden from mingling with Humans in such a way. Angels were supposed to protect, guide, and provide wisdom to Ilias' followers, not bed them.
But Lucifina, after leaving Heaven, lived on Earth while disguising her holiness by sealing away her powers. Living under the guise of a Human she had roamed the Earth for hundreds of years until settling down with Marcellus in Ilias Village, which had led to the situation at hand. Despite overwhelming odds, an Angel - or rather ex-Angel - might very well finish the day by being the first Angel to ever bear a child.
Which presented a complicated problem for the Goddess of Light.
If the pregnancy was a success, it would become quite the revelation. Ilias had no idea if an Angel, upon indulging in a particularly forbidden fruit, could indeed bear a child. If not, then nothing changes. But if Lucifina were to succeed, the ramifications would be colossal. It would be the first of a whole new breed of creation, an entirely unique species! And on top of everything else, Ilias would have to decide what to do if this hypothetical half-Human half-Angel baby were to actually be brought into her world...
...However, merely seeing if it was possible wasn't truly the only reason Ilias was observing the event.
She would not admit to it, but the Goddess did still have some fondness in her heart for her second Daughter; even if she did turn her back on her Goddess, Lucifina had served her well for hundreds of years and proved more than diligent when she was following Ilias. In a strange, warped way, Ilias being an audience to this birth was a showing of her lingering affection for Lucifina.
Down on Earth, Marcellus diligently used his uninjured hand to brush a set of tangled, knotted locks out of the face of his beloved as she continued to push. He tried to avert his light blue eyes from the ever-growing amount of blood coating the small bed; he was not a squeamish man, but the sight cast a dangerous question about the health of his wife and their soon-to-be newborn child. Lucifina, clothed in only a blood-stained white nightshirt, continued to push and cast out the thoughts of her pain as she did. Meanwhile, Ilias watched on, thus far unimpressed with the lack of any real progress. She sighed, beginning to figure out herself that the process ultimately could just be a fluke.
Just as doubt began to grow in her, Ilias watched as Lucifina practically snarled and gave a grueling final push.
From between the ex-Angel's legs, a small head began to sprout. On top of the head was a small fluff of pale purple hair, just like the Father's hair. Within the few breaths allotted to the fatigued Lucifina, the rest of the baby nearly flew out into the bed nurse's arms as if all of the subsequent pushing had finally caught up to fire the newborn out like a cannonball.
Despite the intensity of the moment, the child was silent. Strangely enough, he was also clean of blood or other debris from the birthing process. Marcellus quickly rushed to the nurse as Lucifina collapsed onto the bed, overcome with exhaustion. The Father tentatively approached, looking in wonder at the tiny form of his newborn.
He chuckled, the joyful cadence in it resonating through the room. "A-Amazing!" The newly made Father reached for his son, gently procuring him from the nurse and holding him close to his chest with a careful and kind gentleness that he had only before used with his wife in the afterglow of the nights when they had begun to work towards this day. Speaking of Lucifina, Marcellus strode to his wife with a smile nearly as bright as the setting sun just outside the window.
The late evening light of the setting sun washed over the child, shining off of his purple hair and reflecting off of his sapphire pupils. Even his skin, as pale as it was, had an ethereal glow. Her vibrant blue eyes were dumbfoundedly locked on the boy, unable to even spare a glance in any other direction but him. Ilias had witnessed many births over her impossibly long lifetime, too many to her liking. The process of birthing to her was unpleasant, so she usually shied away from watching the disgusting ordeal. So, if it wasn't for the extraordinary circumstances, Ilias wouldn't even bother. How glad she was that she did, though.
As Goddess of Light, Ilias could view many more layers of existence than the regular being. All levels of Light were visible to her, and one of those levels that she could observe was the Light of a living being's very soul. In her lifetime, Ilias had only ever observed three different types of soul light.
To a degree, the souls of her Angels were on a spectrum of gold that, at its brightest, shined like the sun. None of them burned brighter than Ilias's, which was naturally the brightest.
Monster souls, on the other hand, were on a spectrum of violet, their darkness being a reflection of their inherent devious nature. The darkest of these belonging to whatever Monster was the current Monster Lord, the champion of the Universe's Darkness.
Humans were a special case, each one being on a certain spectrum of gray. Some were lighter and some darker, depending on how much good versus evil lay dormant in the Human soul.
This boy's, however, was one she had never laid her divine eyes on before. The image of his soul was pure white. That, to her knowledge of the Universe, meant that his soul was purer than any Human's, purer than any Angel's!
This was an exciting, yet confusing discovery for Ilias to make. 'How could the crossing of an Angel and Human create something this divine!? Sure, Lucifina had been a model Seraph for hundreds of years and Marcellus had aided my cause well by slaying the Fifteenth Monster Lord...' The Goddess thought, '...But both of them have sinned in excess! How could they create something this pure!?'
It didn't make sense to the Goddess; it had always been that two wrongs don't make a right, hadn't it!? But right here, right before her eyes, the copulation of a Fallen Angel and a Failed Hero resulted in the purest soul ever created. They had made something Ilias could never do; they made the perfect soul.
''His soul's Light is even..." She paused at the revelation; clutching the collar of her dress, she could feel her heart pounding erratically against her chest as her mind went haywire as it tried to digest this discovery. She looked down to her own golden aura. "...Even greater than mine."
Unfamiliar, conflicting emotions manifested inside the Goddess. She felt ecstatic to gaze upon something like this but also terrified that it appeared to be a greater force of Light than her, the very Goddess of Light herself. Should she be jealous or even somewhat afraid of this? Should she be thankful? Perhaps the boy is a gift, a blessing sent to her from the Universe itself?
With these questions floating through her mind, she gazed closely as the boy was given to Lucifina, laid down with the utmost care by Marcellus. Ilias felt a pang of envy as Lucifina held the baby but ignored this as she listened to her ex-Angel speak. The tired woman looked to her husband, "Luka, yes, that name will be perfect." The man whispered with something to support this, but Ilias paid it no attention.
"Luka... My, you are correct, Lucifina. It is a perfect name." The Goddess murmured to herself, still not breaking her gaze from the newborn. Suddenly, an idea breached her mind, one that put a rare genuine smile on the Ilias's face.
Sitting back on her throne, unconsciously having leaned more and more forward when she had inspected Luka, Ilias clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. The small smirk on her face morphed into a wide smile as her mind began to weave together a stratagem from this new event. "This rather blasphemous affair may actually end up being more beneficial than not."
The way Ilias saw it, she figured that where Luka's parents had both failed her, this boy Luka could make up for their failures and more. Naturally, being the son of a Seraph should mean that his power should at least rise to the same level that his Mother had possessed, perhaps even higher if such a thing were possible. This would be very beneficial, as the Goddess was in short supply of truly powerful and fearsome followers on Earth.
The full-blooded Humans tried, but they just weren't enough by themselves to make any difference. Plus, they were easily swayed by temptation. With the recent attempts of Heaven's enemies to unite once more, she needed strong leaders to help control and guide the Human race before the Monsters took them away from her for good. "Yes, then so it will be done." Ilias proclaimed to herself.
Without needing to do even as little as lifting a finger, Ilias summoned two of her Angels to her throne room.
The first to appear was Ilias's right-hand Angel in Heaven, the last of the three Great Seraphs, Eden.
Thick tresses the hue of sage fell behind her shoulders, reaching all the way down to her lower back, and came to rest in the middle of the Angel's six large wings. She also had two fluffy twin tails of hair fall down to her collarbone and rested below her chin. Above her head, hovering over another small set of wings attached behind her head, was the largest and brightest halo of any living Angel. Her clothing was simple and modest, consisting of nothing more than a plain white robe that started at the middle of her neck and went down to the top of her sandaled feet. The sleeves of her robe went all the way down her arms, ending just below her wrists.
With an unnecessary amount of speed, the Seraph dropped to her knees and clasped her hands in front of her bosom. "My Lord, to what do we owe the great honor of residing in your presence?" Soon after, a light snickering could be heard emanating from the Seraph's side, much to her visible annoyance in the form of a scowl.
Floating next to her was a more scandalously dressed Angel. She was the Angel of love, to be more exact, Cupid.
Her blonde locks poked out messily from underneath a large pink cap, some of which partway covered her right eye and face. The length of her single braid behind her was impressive, going nearly the entirety of her body. The front of her cap had a golden outline of a heart emblazoned upon it, which connected to the hat's golden trim. Her eyes flashed a bright pink as well, fitting as her pupils themselves were glowing hearts. Sprouting from her back were a single pair of wings that looked much simpler and smaller than that of the other two. Her halo was also very, very small. If one were to spare only a passing glance, they wouldn't even be able to see it.
Her clothing consisted of a light pink dress, with half the length being button-up. A fraction of which was unbuttoned, leaving an ample amount of flesh visible, including half of a heart tattoo on her right breast. The dress also split at the bottom, showing a questionable amount of thigh as it did, despite the effort from her knee-high boots to conceal her legs. In her forearm-length pink gloves haphazardly held Cupid's famous - and for some, infamous - bow and arrow: The ultimate instrument of "love".
Eden hmphed as she glared at Cupid with her eyes, not having moved a muscle of her body or face away from her Goddess, "Is there something terribly amusing about that?" The Seraph snapped in annoyance.
Cupid's thinly veiled snickering turned to an outright cackle before she proclaimed: "Aha, nothing to do with you my dear sister, just something amusing from earlier that I remembered just now." Of course, it was a lie, but even Cupid wouldn't joke about Eden's nonstop groveling when Ilias herself was right in front of them. Even when she oh-so terribly wanted to tease on how accidentally provocative the position looked from just the right angle...
...Such things being implied of the Seraph would drive her absolutely insane with anger.
Eden huffed, rising from her knees to stand in front of her Goddess just as Ilias began to speak. "Listen close now, you two. What I have for you is very important news. Something has just transpired on Earth, something that could aid me in finally bringing peace to my world." This quickly gave Ilias the full attention of what she considered to be some of her most useful subordinates. Looking at them both, she evaluated them quickly. For they were, perhaps begrudgingly, some of her best choices for this new project of hers.
Eden looked at her, eyes steeled and determined. The last Seraph looked at her with a fierce loyalty that had never waned once throughout her entire existence. For that, she could consider Eden her most important piece on the chessboard as the leader of her Angel army.
That being said, Eden could be considered somewhat... daft. As said, her loyalty to Ilias was greater than any Angel or Human, but alongside her devotion to Ilias was a seemingly complete incapability to muster any sort of free-thinking. The Angel could personally relay every single last order of Ilias's to every single last Angel from top to bottom with no issue but was utterly unable to come up with any decision by herself on her Goddess's behalf when needed. She was as lost as a baby bird outside its nest if she were to be with her Goddess's guidance. It was endearing, but also very annoying.
Ilias's eyes scanned to the next Angel, who took a moment to... Well, float a bit straighter and more proper once she noticed that her Goddess's gaze was upon her. Cupid was a difficult case. Her loyalty, though not as unwavering as the Seraph's, was without question. Additionally, the Angel of Love was much freer willed than Eden was, which led to her having an easier time with spur-of-the-moment decisions. With little trouble going off on her own, she could spread Ilias's will through her own means. One could even say that she was a bit too cunning for her own good, as she easily found ways to circumnavigate certain restrictions put on her due to certain tendencies she had shown to have.
Especially since the Angel quite frequently had rather scandalous ulterior motives when performing her duties.
Cupid's primary poison was that the Angel's soul was probably one of the most perverted of all of Ilias's Angels. This was due to the egregious amount of desire in her heart. She was supposed to be the Angel of love, yes, but Ilias had noticed her foster more and more lustful tendencies as time went on. Cupid had never actually engaged in any physical relations with Humans, but she had certainly pushed the limitations that had been put on Angels when it came to matters of intimacy. An impulsive voyeur, Cupid often watched as Humans consummated their marriages a bit too closely and did so in a manner far from innocent.
In short, the two Angels had very conflicting personalities, each with their own, they were begrudging the best options she had available as any Angels more capable were busy on Earth with the fight against Monsters, or in Heaven trying to manage the flow of Heaven itself. Ilias couldn't afford to waste any of her assets, as creating Angels took much more time and effort than her enemy did in creating more of their licentious kind.
Ilias mused, 'At the very least, even if I'd rather my Angels not suffer from such unhelpful behavior as these two, their differences could balance each other out some.' Indeed, Eden's dogged strictness and focus could help wrangle in Cupid's lecherous thoughts while Cupid's spur-of-the-moment thinking could potentially inspire Eden to take initiative in situations instead of calling upon Ilias's guidance every time a decision needed to be made.
Ilias put on her best benevolent smile and cast an arm toward the portal she had been viewing. "Behold, my daughters."
The two Angels drew near, Eden being the first to recognize the severity of the development, "I-Is that Lucifina... with a child!?" She exclaimed, eyes wide with confusion and just a touch of awe.
Cupid's eyes grew soft, a look that was more akin to actual love rather than her usual lust. "Aww~" She cooed, "What a cutie!"
Ilias replied, "Yes, your dear fallen sister has had a child with a Human." Ilias slowly hovered up from her throne and flew closer to the vortex until she came to the side of the Angels to examine their reaction. "His name is Luka, and I believe he may be the one to finally aid me in bringing peace to this world for good."
Eden quickly glanced back to her Goddess, her wings shuffling wildly behind her. "Truly, could it be? But how could something..." She turned back to the scene where Lucifina had begun to nurse the small newborn. "... born from such a sinful act, be able to help us in our war against sin itself!?"
Ilias sighed, frustrated but sympathetic to her Daughter's lack of understanding. After all, what Ilias could see was a privilege to her as a Goddess. How then, could she have mere Angels comprehend what their Goddess sees? Ilias folded her arms underneath her breasts, her face contorted in thought as her Angels waited for Ilias's eventual answer. An epiphany struck her, and Ilias addressed her loyal followers.
"Here," The Goddess beckoned to her daughters, "Gaze upon the one sent from the stars to purify this world..." Ilias paused, searching for a fitting title for the boy. Then, deep in the recesses of her memory, she found one she had long since forgotten.
"...Your Prophet, Luka." She placed a hand on the heads of both her Angels and temporarily morphed their essence to be more akin to her own, allowing them to see the physical manifestation of souls. Eden and Cupid were startled by the new sensation, as they could now see the souls of Marcellus, Lucifina, and most importantly, Luka.
Marcellus had a very gray soul, something Ilias knew was a trait he inherited from his aforementioned ancestor, whose soul was similarly mixed. Lucifina's soul was a faded golden hue, showing how she was still Angelic like any other of Ilias's daughters, but it was clear that her's was dimmer due to her cutting off her holiness by betraying Heaven. And just as Ilias had seen it herself, Luka's soul was a pure and Holy white. It was difficult for the Angels to even look upon, as they were not used to such an overwhelming sight.
Eden especially was staggering, completely ill-prepared to take in this discovery. She stammered, "It-it is amazing my Lord. It's as if the b-boy's soul is... is..." She trailed off, Ilias finishing it with an enthusiastic interruption.
"-Perfect, isn't it?" Ilias cut in.
The Seraph nodded, having nothing more to say. Eden couldn't fathom ever actually having admiration for anything but her Goddess. However, this was very different from anything she's ever experienced. Luka's soul was the paragon of purity, so much so that she wondered how her own soul could compare if it even did at all. 'Does... mine hardly even come close to his? How deep could that gap possibly be?' Her thoughts trailed off, going down a route unknown to the Seraph. This train of thought that she had never considered, ever, in all her years of assuredness in her own abilities.
Eden had always prided herself in being Ilias's most loyal and most pure creation since she became the last and now only Seraph, but now that position was now contended. Luka's soul being the purest ever born on Earth must mean that his aspirations reflected her Goddess's more than Eden's did. With this inclination, he could become a great spiritual leader for Humanity. Which would naturally discharge her from her position as Ilias's right hand. The position she alone had owned for hundreds of years...
'Wait, I shouldn't think of it like that,' The Seraph berated herself, 'This isn't about me; it is about my Goddess and her will! We need every advantage we can get, and this Luka could be exactly what we need to turn the tide!' The World was in desperate need of Human leadership, as the Monsters continued to corrupt whatever they touched without much challenge from Humanity itself. 'Once he is mature, he would be invaluable to Heaven's will as a spiritual leader for Humanity, like a candleflame in the night he will guide them to Heaven and away from the bane of Alipheese's bastard abominations...'
Her mind and heart had settled on this idea, and she began to envision how Luka could serve Ilias in the future. She could see him as a beacon of light, Ilias's light, cleansing a dark and unholy world. 'With his will alongside Heaven's, we could not possibly fail.' Using Luka's Father as a template, she could imagine an older Luka in her mind. Clad in Angelic white silk, a mark of his divinity, he rose above all other creation as a pillar of holiness, a bastion of Ilias's will.
New, interesting emotions began to swim in the Seraph's head at this image. It was warm and fuzzy yet exhilarating at the same time. 'Maybe,' Eden thought, 'Luka could even help to cleanse us of our impurities... In order to help better ourselves in serving Ilias of course...'
The thought of this holy purification excited her, her heart's beating quickening as she clutched her hands together tightly in front of her. '...I look forward to the day I can be cleansed.'
Floating beside the great Seraph, Cupid was having a similar internal battle. However, any thought of purity was absolutely not involved. Instead, Cupid's heart-shaped pupils homed in on the boy's soul in reverence. Inside her bubbled up a mixture of something different than her usual love and lust. She felt light-headed, and her legs would wobble if she were to actually stand on them. This Luka was most definitely something of high interest to her now. Not because of his Holiness, though, but because of a very unholy thought pervading her mind.
A thought having to do with a very particular Commandment that Ilias had placed on her Angels:
"Thou Shalt Not Have Intercourse With Humans."
This Commandment was the only one for Angels that expressly forbids them from having intercourse, all other avenues being closed off without even needing the distinction of being a Commandment due to their outrageousness. Because of this, all Angels were virgins aside from the Fallen Angel Lucifina.
Now, to most Angels, such a thing was no issue as they were content with nothing more than praying to and fighting for Goddess Ilias. However, Cupid was in the very small percentage of Angels that felt lust. Watching and helping select Humans in finding partners to bear children with had made the previously pious Angel turn perverted, wanting in any way possible to feel such a sensation.
And so, this Commandment was the one that had caused the Angel so much grief. It was the one that made it to where she must remain so frustrated, regulated to just being able to watch at most and merely dream at worst. It had reduced her and, to a lesser extent, all the other Angels to living in forced chastity. Of course, none of the others had nearly the amount of overflowing lust as her, but was it not to be expected? She had to watch as literally hundreds of thousands of Humans got to receive such Heavenly pleasure! Why, then, should she be denied the same exhilarating release?
It was the only misgiving Cupid had against her Goddess and was why she bent that Commandment's rule whenever she could.
But as Cupid had listened to her Goddess and watched Lucifina hold her child, she came to a startling realization. 'The Commandment says we cannot lay with Humans...' the Angel grinned, '... But Luka is not really just Human, is he? No, he is a mix of Human and Angel, the only one of his kind!"
Cupid's grin widened, depraved thoughts entering her mind. 'Which technically means that there are no Commandments specifically saying that I can't have sex with him!' With this admittedly shaky realization dawning on her, Cupid became ecstatic. Of course, the day when she could metaphorically fly through this loophole was far away, but when that day did come...
...She tightly squeezed her bow...
...Cupid fought to stifle her giggles in check, not wanting to leave any hint of her internal thoughts. She wanted no one else to know her plans to use Luka as the key to unlock her chastity.
"Now then, your mission statement." The two Angels gave attention to Ilias, her face stern to match her tone. She looked to the Angel of love first, "Cupid, since most of your work is done on the planet below, it would only be fitting for me to add onto you a new priority."
Ilias turned towards the portal; her arms folded. Before her, Lucifina and Luka had already fallen asleep due to the stressful birth. Marcellus was beside the futon, watching the pair with a soft smile. "You will be tasked with observing young Luka in the periods in which you aren't undergoing your usual daily tasks, until he is of age to be Baptized."
She looked down at Cupid. "In short, watch his progress from a safe distance and report any significant events to your commander, Eden. And do try to do this before the day ends. Prayer requests are already backed up enough as it is, I don't need last-minute extra paperwork clogging up communications." The Angel attempted her finest and most dignified bow, though Ilias looked on with disappointment as the surprisingly graceful curtsy ended up doubling the amount of cleavage Cupid was already showing.
'It wouldn't be half as shameless if she could just keep the loose shoulder strap up on her shoulder...' It was Ilias's fault really, the Goddess should've made the Angel robes mandatory as her legion's uniform, not just a suggestion. Still, to go back on that now would be too much paperwork for her.
After exasperatingly rubbing her eyes, Ilias then turned her attention to the aforementioned Seraph. "And Eden, it will be up to you to review everything Cupid has for you, and ultimately decide whether it is truly worth being relayed to me or not."
Ilias sharpened her gaze, staring directly into Seraph's eyes, "I alone, as powerful as I am, don't have time to keep tabs on this boy due to my responsibilities, so I need you to be able to decide what is truly needing of my attention." Ilias backed up on her intensity some, noticing Eden's anxious look. "Otherwise, I am to trust that you are diligently carrying out my plan."
Eden was about to give a nod but hesitated. "Wait, what is the plan, my Lord?" She held her arms out as if waiting for an explanation to drop into her waiting arms. "That, and would it not be best to bring the child here to Heaven if we wish to-"
"No." Both Angels flinched at the immediate change in tone from the Goddess, her previous benevolent cadence replaced by one of immense displeasure. But it wasn't without reason.
"Luka... needs to stay on Earth. If he is to be my Prophet and assist us in purifying the world, then he'll need to be there to combat it. Being in Heaven would merely distract from his true purpose. So, the best way to ready him for his destiny is to allow him to grow up in the fields in which he will have to battle." Ilias tilted away, gazing up into the swath of golden clouds above before continuing.
"It may be somewhat cruel, but his responsibilities will be taxing, and he will need to bear that burden to be my Prophet. And once he is ready, he will come to me and embrace his Prophethood, I'm sure of it." Her sage words had an obvious effect on the Angels, as they both looked to their Goddess in awe. To them, it was another example of the sheer depth of Ilias's wisdom and divinity.
To Ilias, it was pathetic that she felt the need to lie.
Ilias quickly focused back on her Angels, banishing her inner turmoil to the back of her mind until she was alone. Ilias waved away her Angels, "Then you may leave." Cupid disappeared quickly, not wishing to draw the ire of her Goddess.
Eden, however, was hesitant. "My Lord," she nervously started, "Don't you wish for the rest of your Angels to know about their Prophet?"
Ilias considered it for a moment, debating whether she wanted the rest of the legion to know about such a thing. "For now, only inform the Order of Archangels about Luka. They are the only ones who I can trust to hold that information for the time being. I don't want regular soldiers carrying such precious information with them. If his existence is known before he's ready, it could be catastrophic. The rest of the Angels will find out when the time is right when Luka is older and more capable."
Eden nodded, teleporting away without another word. Ilias stared at the spot the two had occupied, her mind and heart colliding as she was filled with more unfamiliar emotions.
Simply enough, Luka couldn't live in Heaven simply because Ilias did not trust her Angels around him. They had good intentions, but there was corruption in her ranks, Ilias could see the sinful urges in their souls. She couldn't say for certain that any of them would try anything with the boy, but...
...She would level her very own Heaven if his purity was to be stained by unholiness.
Therefore, ironically, Ilias Village was much safer for the boy due to its isolation. Then, when he was ready, he would help Ilias finally take back the world she was created to rule. At least, she hoped. She glanced back at the boy's face, his small body curled tightly against his Mother. She watched as the aura of his purity radiated off of him, almost like a warm fire pulsating around him. Right in front of her had been born a soul genuinely worthy of her. A soul deserving to aid her in finishing her eternal battle with the Goddess of Darkness for good. Then, he would help her bring true peace to Earth...
...Unless he rejected her and proclaimed her a false, corrupted Goddess like every other Hero had before him.
"No, not him too. So many before him, especially of his bloodline have turned on me. If he were to turn on me as well, with a soul as pure as his..."
Ilias reclined on her throne, unable to finish the forbidden thought, tired of the what-ifs floating in her mind. It wasn't something that could be helped, even by her. For now, Ilias had to be patient and wait to see if the seeds planted on this day would grow to be fruit perfectly ripened for her picking or become the weeds that would strangle her roots. With her malfunctioning Angels and the unyielding Monster forces that conspire against her, Ilias was getting desperate. Luka could be her very last chance to win back Earth for good. If not, the planet may just be put to ruin.
However, without realizing it, Ilias had just placed a trap for her very own forces as word of her "Prophet" would spread through Heaven like poison from Angel to Angel, as each one latched onto the idea of their savior as much as they latched onto Ilias's word itself. If not more so, for the Goddess's own complex emotions towards the boy would reflect upon Heaven and cause their already warped minds to react disturbingly. It had already manifested in Eden and Cupid that day and would continue to spread throughout the rest of all Angel kind from top to bottom. For Ilias inadvertently gave her Angels encouragement to break one of her most crucial Commandments:
"My Daughters Shalt Not Worship, Nor Bear False Witness to, False Idols"
A False Idol, they had been given. And they would witness his rise, even if it is a role that Luka would not desire to have.
To make matters worse for both Ilias and Luka, Angels would not be the only ears to hear of this new development. Said eavesdropping being done by a small stuffed teddy bear hiding amongst the clouds behind Ilias's throne.
Once satiated, it slowly sank into the clouds, swallowed up by a nearly unseeable pale blue rift that closed as soon as the brown stuffed bear had disappeared.
Ah yes, once again I disappear just to reappear with yet another completely different story while I still have several others on the backburner!
Old habits do indeed die hard.
Really though, I'm happy to have forced something out. Although, I expect this one is probably more on the least expected side of things and truly it is. I never really expected to write this, but an idea of something like this sort of gnawed at my brain for a while and well, I couldn't help but scratch that itch. Needless to say, this will be a raunchier than usual type of endeavor, but the M is not simply for endless smut.
No, if you know my style than you should expect pain before pleasure, and this will be that sort of traumatic experience I love to write. Not to say that it will be pointlessly sickening and depressing 24/7 of course, I do like moments of fluffy niceties, but there will be blood and death and all kinds of distress. Oh, and as always, I will be tweaking and adding onto the canon to suite my needs when I feel it needed as most had probably noticed by this chapter alone.
With that out of the way, do let me know if this is to your liking, I always like seeing the feedback. Oh, and know that none of my other stories are dead, I've simply been out of sorts due to my rather unstable life as of late and my interests on writing for one story over another are constantly shifting. Heck, I have a couple of stories I still haven't even posted first chapters for yet that are older than ones I've had on here since I've started. That's just how my writing process is, and unfortunately regularly dipping in and out of activity is one of the cons for me.