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He had been forced into this prison, this Cage, made by Father himself, such a long time ago, that he had forgotten how freedom felt... The wind beneath his feathers, the blue sky over and the green earth under him with the sun shining down on him but he was still shining brighter than any sun could ever hope to archive. He used to be the brightest of all angels, the most beautiful among God’s creation and now... now he was nothing but a trapped bird in a Cage left to rot. No light, no wind, just bars made to contain him.
Despite all his might and all of his powers, he wasn’t able to break free. For the first few millennia, he raged and threw himself against the bars of his Cage but they neither bent nor broke and his formerly white wings turned grey and red where they were injured as he threw himself against his Cage.
When his first rage of being betrayed subdued, another emotion rose in his grace. Anger, followed by hate. He did nothing wrong when he told his father he could never love someone more than he loved Him and his father had him cast out by his own brother.
Screaming his rage and anger, the Cage shook and the fires of Hell died under the force of his grace that the Cage couldn’t contain for a brief moment. This brief moment was still enough to leave micro fractures in the bars of the Cage. Not enough to break free but enough to allow him to watch outside and to learn what was going on among these creatures his father loved more than His first children.
He watched them with distaste when he saw how they fought against each other, how they twisted his father’s words to fit their every whim. He couldn’t understand how his father could abandon him for these... spiteful creatures.
He didn‘t know how long he watched humanity when he heard the first whispers of a way for him to escape. There would a soul, a human soul matching his grace, made only for him. Why his father would cast him out only to forge a soul which would only belong to him, wasn’t something he could understand. He was locked away, out of reach in the depths of Hell where no living soul could find him and souls condemned to Hell had other problems than finding a way to his Cage.
His laughter was nothing but cynical and cold. Once again his father had betrayed him. Let him know that there was one living being who was his and his alone and this beautiful soul was out of his reach.
When his grace broke loose from his hold for a second time since his imprisonment, no raging sound that killed demons and twisted souls alike, sounded through the Hell plane. Wave of wave of rage fueled grace hammered against the Cage. His whole being hurt when his grace hit the Cage but more micro cracks appeared in the bars and far in the distance he could see a light that wasn’t his own for the first time since he was betrayed by his family.
Seeing this light gave him something that was so close to hope of meeting the soul made for him, that he didn’t dare to think about it for more than a fleeting moment.
He would wait as he was sure the soul he heard more about with every passing century hadn’t been born yet.
He had nothing but time. And so he would wait with the light shining down on him from between the cracks. His time to enjoy his vengeance and take his rage out on those who had wronged him would come. He was sure about this more than anything.
…
The day the soul, the one soul made for him, was born, he fell down on the ground of his Cage and weeped in happiness. This soul was so pure and bright, brighter than any soul he had ever spotted through the small cracks. He tried to reach out and cradle the small light in his grace and tell him that he will never be alone that he, an archangel, was watching over him from afar.
Only seconds later, when the small soul was still so tiny and young, a shadow was thrown over the soul. Crying out when the shadow of blood red and demonic black tainted the soul. The trapped archangel tried to reach out to the soul, to purify it again as no soul should carry such a burden, such a mark, but his attempts were futile.
The seals and wards on the Cage were still too strong, too powerful, to allow him to leave and so he had no other choice but to watch this beautiful soul cry out as the corruption took hold .
His grace was bleeding and crying out for this strong and radiant soul as he never took his eyes off the light shining down on his Cage. He felt every pain like it was his own, every misery was his and he was forced to watch how this one soul that was made for him darkened and its light diminished until it matched the dull souls all around him. Only a small glowing spark was left when the soul grew older... until the one day the soul blacked out completely.
The pain which raced through his grace was unlike anything he had ever felt. It was as if something was ripping him apart from the inside out and not even Michael’s sword cutting into his grace had been this painful.
Unable to move and pain shaken, he rested on the ground of his prison. The soul, his last light, was dead. Heaven would never grant a soul so tarnished from life entry, and the fallen angel was sure that he would soon hear the screams of his soul from the pits of Hell. With the first cry he would rather destroy himself in his path to free himself and save this beautiful soul from the torture on the rack than listen to it cry and scream until the human was gone and a demon remained in its place.
The growl that came over his lips shook the foundations of the Cage and the angel gathered his strength to break free from his millennia old prison... when suddenly a weak light fell on him from above.
Stunned, he looked up and he saw his soul once more. The light was weak and tired but clearly this was his soul.
Captured in awe, the angel turned around and watched how his soul came back and found his way back to life. But when he suddenly saw the shadow of deepest hurt darken his soul the angel knew what happened and what caused the resurrection of his soul. Someone, a beloved one, had made a deal. Not any kind of deal but a deal with a demon to bring his soul back to life at the cost of his own.
Sighing in defeat, the angel sat down and looked up, watching his soul’s attempts to stop the deal from being due, to break it, but it was as futile as the angels attempts to free himself from the Cage. It was that moment the angel understood something he had missed all those milennia he had been waiting.
The soul, this bright yet battered soul, was as much part of the angel as the angel’s grace was part of the soul. They were two halfs separated through worlds and the angel’s Cage and they could only end their suffering together.
At those thought, the angel threw himself against the bars of the Cage, reaching out to the soul with his grace despite the distance.
“Come to me, my soul. Together we can bring back your lost one and take revenge on those who hurt him. Together, we will be unstoppable.”
A spark of his grace was ripped off by the forces of Cage trying to push him back. It hurt, it hurt so much but he started to laugh when he saw the spark fly up to his soul. His laughter could be heard even in the farest corner of Hell and demons shook in fear and souls half mad on their racks, screamed in panic. Still, the angel kept laughing and the laughter turned into a moan when the tiny spark joined the soul and angel and human became one for the very first time. Not even in Heaven had the archangel felt so complete and peaceful.
…
Now, with the spark of grace embedded firmly into the soul to guide and help, the angel felt better. Whenever the soul was in danger, the spark would enhance the natural powers of the soul and nothing could stand against the combined force of a soul enforced by the power of an archangel.
Still, even with this kind of power, something was weighing heavily on the soul and the angel flinched whenever his soul was beaten not by weapons but by words from his loved ones, from his friend and... angels.
Snarling, the angel, the archangel, prowled around in his Cage. Hissing at every curious demon coming close, but he came to a sudden stop when he felt something from his soul. A decision had been made and it felt... final to the archangel.
From the distance, the archangel watched and observed as the soul found a gate leading down to the planes of Hell. Demon after demon fell victim to the soul’s powers and skill with a blade and the archangel laughed and cheered when his soul managed to kill a demon in a rather creative way. The other souls, bound to the rack for torture, shed away from the only living soul when the soul passed them. The soul himself spared no glances at the other souls as he knew that they had sealed their own fate for ending up on the racks.
The deeper the soul walked into Hell, the less demons he met until he only had to walk over a dead and deserted plain.
Excited and happy when he saw the soul cross the plain around his Cage, the archangel watched and waited until he could see the soul up close for the first time. He had dreamed and thought about it so often that he thought he was prepared to meet his soul for the first time. He had been wrong.
Tired eyes of deepest blue met the angel’s grace but the soul didn’t back off. Curiosity was the most prominent emotion and the angel leaned against the bars despite the pain it caused him to be as close to the soul as possible.
The soul, the human, stepped closer when the angel leaned against the bars. The soul’s vessel was tall with short and tousled dark blond hair, strong shoulders and a beautiful face covered in a soft dark blond scruff.
“Who are you?”
Pulling his wings tight against his back, the angel tapped against his own chest before he pointed at his soul’s chest.
“I’m the one who sent you the spark, to protect you, to keep you company when you were alone. I could feel your pain and your sorrow. I didn’t want you to suffer.”
No emotion on his soul’s face.
“I... I heard you, at night. You were whispering to me, telling me everything will be alright... and that you can help me.”
Nodding, the angel pulled back from the bars when the metal’s burn against his grace became too painful. Hissing he rubbed against the burned parts of himself but not once did the angel take his eyes if his soul in front of his Cage.
“Is it true, though?”
Not understanding the question, the angel lifted his wings in confusion before he lowered them again. “What do you mean?”
The soul rubbed his face with his hand, covered in black and dry demon blood, before he looked back at the angel.
“Back there, on Earth, they told me you were cast out from Heaven because you defined God. That you didn’t want to bow down to his wishes and you brought damnation over humanity. Is that true?”
Frowning and growling, the angel looked up and spat a curse to those living above the Earth. Of course the Host would tell the story in a way to blame him for everything.
“No, my beautiful soul. That’s not how it happened. It’s true that I told God I wouldn’t bow before his newest creation for they were flawed and I could never love them more than God. I was cast out of my home, by my father, my own brother, because I loved God too much. Humans are violent and selfish creatures. They brought their damnation and their fall by themselves. I’m just the easiest to blame for everything that goes wrong for them. A scapegoat, that’s what I am to Heaven and Earth.”
The angel knew he was sounding bitter but to speak about it out loud was... painful. He was still looking skywards when he heard the soul come closer to the Cage.
“What... was your name before you was cast out? Before you fell?”
Looking back at the soul and the spark embedded into it, the angel leaned once more against the bars.
“Samael, I used to be called Samael. I don’t know what they call me these days.”
The soul came closer to the Cage until he could rest his hands against the bars and now they were eye to eye, soul and angel. Samael could see streaks of his own grace glow in these blue eyes watching him and he saw how tired the soul was.
“I used to believe my parents name me Luce. I never really thought about it... until I met the angels for the first time. I couldn’t understand why they resented me so much or looked at me like I’m the worst kind of dirt under their boots. They told me I don’t even know my name and how I was unworthy to stand in their mere presence. What they said about my name... I couldn’t forget it and I started to search for answers.”
The soul closed his eyes but Samael was dying to hear more, to hear his beautiful speak to him and with a heavy sigh, the soul continued.
“I found papers.. .official documents my mother hid away from everyone before she died. She was the one who gave me my name. Not Luce, like I thought but... Lucifer. I wear the same name they use for you, Samael. They call you the Father of Lies, of Demons, the corruptor and the one who’d stolen the Garden from them and condemned humanity to live in dirt and pain.”
Snarling, Samael reached through the bars, and the metal started to glow, and placed his hand on Lucifer’s chest. His soul’s heart was beating fast and as close as they were, the spark of Samael’s grace reached out to the archangel and Samael heard a surprised gasp from Lucifer.
“It doesn’t matter what they call me now and what they think of you. You are here, you heard me, you answered my call. Angels, who should protect humanity and every soul, frown down at you, make you doubt yourself because they think you are beneath them. It’s them who are beneath you. You are so much more, Lucifer, my Lucifer with the shining bright soul. Brighter than any other soul ever walking this Earth. You have been wronged so many times, hurt even more often and but you always get up, you always come back fighting. Let me help you, Lucifer.”
Lucifer looked down at his chest and when he closed his hand around Samael’s wrist the archangel shuddered at the touch. So much time had passed since someone else had touched him.
“You told me... you told me you will help me to find my brother. I know where he is, topside surrounded and always followed by the angels. He gave his life to I could live again. He did the same thing he blamed himself for when our father made the deal to bring him back. He doesn’t trust me anymore, Samael. He locked me up when the angels told him I’m dangerous and cannot be trusted. They made him fear me to the point he told me he doesn‘t see me as his brother anymore. I didn’t know where to go and so I came here. You are the last one who cares about me, when everyone else has forsaken me.”
Burying his fingers in the rough fabric of Lucifer’s shirt, Samael spread his wings wide and snarled only to let his grace surround Lucifer’s soul in a soothing manner.
“How dare they defile what is mine? How dare they spit on you when you wanted nothing else but to use what I gave you as a gift? They are not worthy your salvation or your mercy and neither will they live old enought to regret it. When I’m free again, they will pay for their crimes towards you and neither Heaven, nor Earth, nor Hell will be safe from me. I will find all of them and make them pay. Rivers will drown in blood, corpses will gather in the streets and screams will fill the air when my sword will rain death upon their useless lifes.”
Thunder rolled over the deserted plain surrounding the Cage and Lucifer only held stronger onto Samael’s wrist.
“What can I do to help? How can I free you, Samael?”
Groaning at the sound of his own name on his soul’s lips, Samael tugged on Lucifer’s clothes until Lucifer’s chest was pressed against the bars of the Cage and the distance between them was almost non existent.
“You, you can free me, Lucifer. Agree to join me, allow me, allow us, to become one. I will give you my strength and my powers while you will give me the chance to walk the Earth again and bring fear and terror to those who wronged us. They will fear the sound of our sword drawn from its sheet, they will cower at the sound of our wings cutting through the sky and they will scream in terror when they dare to look upon us. Agree to me, say yes to me, and allow me to join my grace to your soul so we become one and we will never be alone. No one will be able to hurt or separate us again. We will be deadly force and form a world new as we see fit. We will be the new God to a world free of those who wronged us.”
Lucifer looked at him with wide blown eyes and through the spark already embedded into Lucifer’s soul, Samael could feel Lucifer’s arousal and craving to take what Samael was offering him.
“And I only have to say yes to you and you will never leave me again? I will never be alone again?”
Smiling, Samael leaned closer until their lips were almost touching, only the bars of the Cage were keeping them apart now.
“Yes, Lucifer.” Words like a whisper and Samael could feel Lucifer shudder when his cold breath hit his skin.
With heat in his eyes, Lucifer looked at Samael, stretched his arm out and touched Samael’s chest through the bars.
“Yes, then, Samael.”
Their first kiss sealed their union. A union of death and destruction when they rose from the depths of Hell with their wings blazing with fire, their blade cut through everything in their path and they never stopped their ascent to Heaven.
The Armies of Heaven were prepared and already waiting for them... and angel after angel fell to Earth as nothing could withstand the rage of a forsaken soul and the fury of an archangel.