Chapter 20 Present Aeon
Present Aeon
The high-backed chairs had been removed from the round marble table in the Artisanal Chamber. Only Michael stood behind it, conversing in hushed tones with two of the elder warriors. A large map had been spread across the table’s surface, overflowing its bounds.
Earlier, Luc’s guards had tried to lead him in by force, but he would not be led. He strode into the chamber in a stately manner, with the two guards trailing after him.
His first words bit into the aether.
“What gives you the right to enter my house and abscond with my things?” Luc leveled a severe gaze at Michael. He halted mid-chamber, certain that if he got close enough to Michael he would lose all control of his temper.
With a wave of his hand, Michael dismissed the guards and the other warriors. Soon, he and Luc were left alone in the Artisanal-Chamber-turned-Second-Fortress.
“Your things?” Michael didn’t look up from the map. He placed a wooden marker in the shape of a sword’s hilt on a section crowded with several others. “And who gave you the materials, I wonder? Who has been feeding your endless supply of foolish ideas with resources for the past aeon?”
“Why, you arrogant—”
“Me?! Arrogant?!” Michael snapped his head up. “You are fortunate I haven’t commanded your entire house to be ripped down and given away in parts! What were you thinking?! Going against my explicit instructions and the will of the entire Council?!”
Luc creased his brow. Wait. Did this mean—?
Moving closer to the table, he glanced down at the map. What he’d thought to be a map of Heaven now revealed itself to be a map of Earth. His map of Earth. Which could only mean…
“Earth…It’s been created,” he mumbled, disbelieving. The Creator had liked his idea. He’d implemented it. And here were his blueprints, returned to him.
No.
Returned to Michael. Stolen by him, more like.
Well, that explained the wreckage in his study, the missing prototypes.
“Yes. It has,” the older angel snapped.
“That map is also mine. You have no right to it.”
“This map is the reason we are able to formulate any sort of response to this wildly unprecedented event, and in this chamber, it will stay.” A new wave of fury lit Michael’s eyes. “You, on the other hand, are confined to your house until further notice. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”
“I’ve some idea, yes,” Luc snidely replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
Earlier, he’d been shocked by the Council’s betrayal; afterward, he’d been angry.
But as he stood there, watching every shade of outrage color Michael’s face, he realized Michael must have known about his vision, and for some reason, he hadn’t been able to do anything about it.
And Luc knew Michael, above everyone, would have tossed him into the Void without a second thought.
In the vision, he’d run him through with a sword!
But still, he hadn’t stripped Luc of his position. He’d stolen the copies of Luc’s work, but it didn’t matter. Earth had been created. It was done.
In the end, Michael could do nothing to him, and Luc would make sure it continued that way, vision be damned. He twisted Lila’s crystal around in his pocket, a reminder to never again lose something that was his.
“And what idea would that be?” Michael spat.
“This proves that the Creator favors me over you.” Luc shot him a cocky smile. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“The Creator does not care about you. He does not care about us. He is a fickle being, driven by passing fancies.”
“My, my,” Luc tutted. “And this from His most ardent supporter?”
“The masses do not need to know how dire the situation is, but here is the truth. We are on our own. These new created beings are a testament to that.” Michael smacked his wooden pointer down on the map; it landed in the middle of an ocean.
“You mean the animals?” Luc curled his lip.
“That is most certainly not what I mean. Do you see this?” Michael indicated a spot near the wooden markers; upon closer inspection, Luc knew the area to be the most beautiful garden that would ever exist. Lila had designed it.
“The Garden. Yes, I know it.”
“Yes.” Michael grimaced. “But what you do not know of is the creatures that were given governance over it. It, and the entirety of your new world.” He slid the pointer around in a circle, orbiting the markers.
At this, Luc frowned. He didn’t like being caught unaware, but he had no idea what Michael spoke of. He had to ask.
“Governance?” he ventured.
“We are calling them ‘humans.’ My scouts say they are weaker than us, but more or less intelligent. So far, there are only two, but thanks to your brilliant procreation plan, I’m sure there will be many more in no time at all.
And what then, I ask you? The Creator hardly notices us as it is.
With these new creatures to attend to, will there come a time when He withdraws His power from us altogether?
Leaves us stranded in this place, to be devoured by the Void?
Now…do you understand what you’ve done?”
Luc scoffed.
Was Michael really blaming him for the Creator’s abandonment? For His fickle nature? For…dare Luc say it?…His faulty prophecies?
Luc had designed a perfect world. He had not put those humans there. And he would no sooner have Heaven destroyed than he would destroy himself. But Michael did not care about any of that, and he never would.
However, Luc would not be cowed by the warrior’s inferences. He was still the brightest angel, and Michael would never have cared about him if he hadn’t felt threatened by him.
“I understand that you’re a liar.” Luc hardened his jaw.
“And that even with your warriors and your watchtowers and your strategies and your maps, I managed to slip something by you. Tell me”—he leaned across the table—“without your Creator to back you up…are you really so terrified of these creatures you say are weaker than you?”
Are you terrified of me?
Because you should be.
Michael met Luc’s scornful gaze with one of stone, but he offered no answer.
“Guards!” he cried out, but Luc stormed out of the chamber ahead of his keepers.