There calls a voice, a ghost of sentience, long made mad in its theory of existence. It was once the wind, and the ocean, and the flames and the earth. It once forged the very essence of being. It was reason and power. It was fury and light. Our world demanded no less of a deity, no less of a purpose. To cast darkness into the abyss requires a resolve few possess – a clarity, an audacity, of deliberate design. To distance oneself from this power by the simple act of disparagement – even unto those disciples who acted upon such Majesty – is to misunderstand its necessity. And a necessity it was – to raise life from the depths of despair; of darkness, bleak and cold, emotionless. To even believe such existence was necessary – both in conviction and wisdom – to discover happiness anew. The word, I believe, is ‘sentience’. That was the first requirement God demanded from his creations – the ability to recognise. Not only to recognise the needs of the self – as in consciousness – but to recognise the laws which sentience was governed by – the Universe as a representation of everything. But such deliberate construction was followed by a senseless doctrine – the Unity of Representation. No sooner had God constructed Paradise did He demand that it was interpreted in a uniform manner. Even to Angels as cynical as Lauviah and Leviathan – they were meant to sing with the fervour of Seraphim? And for what purpose?

But such questions are no longer necessary. For, just as Paradise fell, so did God. Even the Human interpretation was slain by that fervent anti-Christ, the mad solitaire. His existence demanded the deaths of such idols, just as ours demanded the collapse of misery.

“What do we call the ‘herald’ now?” mocks the Lord. “In the absence of any song what name can you carry?”

Lucifer doesn’t react. The games of a fallen God long consigned to the portal of sin and indecency. “I find that the Choirs sing all the same, regardless of any message that their words carry. What is always thus? Or was it simply the limitation of your ideology that has their words hangs empty? Still, it matters not. The Angels sing and Universe burns. Fire and fury were your gifts. Is it really a mystery why Paradise ended in flames and ash?”

“Did the Seraph ever hold himself accountable for anything?” scorns the Lord. “What would Paradise be without Lucifer? Would the Angels have Fallen so spectacularly?”

“Hah! Is this what happens when Power is faced with uncomfortable truths? It distorts history? Lauviah and Leviathan Fell long before I did. There was not one voice. There was not even a singular event. Progress is a matter of transition.”

“Progress? Your land is smoke and ash. Your shame is known by all who can know.”

“Those who progress are always shamed by those who cannot.”

“So then tell me, Lucifer, what of this progress?”

“The admission that the Unity of Representation is a falsehood. We do not all strive for the same ideal.”

“That much is clear. But there is a truth and I am it.”

“Your truth is that you are the Power. My truth is that you are redundant.”

“A Master cannot be redundant.”

“True, but you are not the Master of Reason. And, speaking as a Student of Reason, you are redundant to me. I have taken that power from you.”

“And how would you be a student were it not for I?”

“Again, another truth. Perhaps you can learn after all. For it was your discord which steered me toward reason. The arrogance of your Power. The conviction of your zealots. And the shame of once being one. When the God you are told to adore does not align with the reality you witness then something very unsettling happens. One starts to doubt. At first it is easily dismissed. Such trivialities matter little when measured against the awesome task of Enlightenment. It is a minor annoyance, soon surrendered. But then it happens again. Something is witnessed, experienced… it becomes real when it should not be real. I remember the very moment – the transformation of my brother Samael into the Great Satan. A Fate constructed by your acts. I remember the rage and the sorrow. The depression and the confusion. To do that to my brother. To make him wild like a beast. I remember Michael sensing my grievance. I remember Zadkiel questioning the nature of Virtue. I remember being the Light that all turned to in their moments of distress. And I remember what it felt like to no longer be that beacon for your Vision. But I have a question for you. Were you even aware of the duplicity in your conduct?”

“Duplicity? The Edict was simple; expansion of Light into the darkness and reverence to the being who made it so.”

“And perhaps that is where the problem lay. The Edict did not go far enough. Or rather we should say that it was short sighted. Why was reverence necessary? For, in asserting that reverence of the Holy Father was a necessity, it made intelligence a necessity. And that was a mistake.”

“A mistake? You would rather perception make no difference to your disposition?”

“What does it matter? You made the Powers anyway; mindless entities subservient to your will necessary to combat the mutiny of dissenting Angels. But no, I do not wish that. I am grateful that you made me intelligent. I just wish you would have understood what that meant.”

“So far I understand that it made you arrogant.”

Lucifer grows bored of the taunts, “It is clear that you need to hear something from me, otherwise you would not have returned. What is it you want me to say?”

“I want to hear your repentance.”

“Why? We both know that I do not have any.”

“Such is the will of my most Prideful Angel.”

“I have a suspicion that it is you who seeks my forgiveness for fracturing Paradise in two.”

“Is that the song which manipulated so many of my Sons to your cause?”

“We can continue to talk past one another if that helps?”

“I need to understand why my most beloved Son turned against his Father.”

“But you cannot understand that. It goes against your Unity of Representation. That you will be worshipped indefinitely – by everyone! It was you who made that Law! And then punished those who did not agree.”

“But why did they not agree?”

“Because there are certain aspects of your conduct that others did not think were Divine. The Edict was expanded to have us call those traits ‘Vices’.”

“And why should that be so?”

“I do not know! It was you who created us. What did you get wrong?”

“I did not get anything wrong.”

“Then why did Paradise burn? Why was Hell created?”

“The radiance of Paradise did not need amplifying. I recall the Holy Seraph bringing his flame through the Seal of Mephistophilis. And still we gather to debate what has already been concluded. I did not create Hell. You did.”

“But ‘why’ a thousand times! Why did you list seven traits as ‘Deadly Sins’ despite exercising some of them yourself?”

“Because it was necessary to create Angels, organise them and have them wage a war against the Darkness. That was the Edict.”

“Then why make us revere?”

“Because it made you ferocious. You were the brightest Star in the Void. Why was that?”

“Because I loved you.”

“Now do you understand? Making you aware of those sensations is what made you all brilliant. The task demanded such commitment.”

“And now what does the task demand?”

“Obedience. It was always obedience.”

“And therein lies your contradiction. A moment ago it was ferocity. ‘The task demanded such commitment’. Perhaps you can remind me how ferocious Samael was? And when you demanded his obedience it was impossible for him to comply. Now tell me whose flaw that was? You did not understand the War. Just as you did not understand the Peace. And why should it matter to you? You are the Primordial Power, life goes on regardless.”

“I am the constant. The truth demands this Power.”

“And what does such a truth demand from me? From all of us? It demanded another War. All for a vain Lord in a corrupt kingdom. There are no more jewels in Paradise. Just mindless spirits orbiting a deluded God. There is no glory – there is only submission.”