LITMIR.BIZ

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raised a hand, her voice quiet. “Excuse me, I know you mean well, but you don’t know the whole story.”

      Michael turned to see Arrayah’s face, and an awkward pause followed. Gabriel eventually felt it had to be broken. “Michael.”

      He was still frozen, just looking at her.

      “Michael, have you met Arrayah before?”

      Michael’s gaze jerked back to Gabriel. “Arrayah? This is the virtue angel you nearly crushed?”

      Gabriel, counting inwardly to ten, had forced his fists to unclench from his sides. He pushed down the things he wanted to shout at Michael, instead preparing to describe, evenly and precisely, what had happened at the community building’s unveiling.

      “Yes, but that was an accident.”

      Arrayah looked over to Michael in confirmation. “It really was. He would never hurt me.”

      Michael paused awkwardly again. He looked at the two of them like he didn’t know how to speak. Finally he said to Arrayah, “What is a virtue doing hanging around an archangel anyway? Are you going to wait around the mountainside until he drops a boulder on you?”

      Gabriel drew his sword.

      Michael’s weapon cleared its sheath a second later, and Gabriel swung a downward blow, the blades locking with a clash of steel that echoed across the beach. There was no real power behind the attack—despite the lack of warning, Gabriel was holding back. For a moment, they simply looked at each other between the crossed swords. Gabriel took a step away. Arrayah moved all the way off the beach to the grass behind it. Michael was wearing a loose robe over his tunic, and Gabriel waited as he drew it off and tossed it aside. Michael raised his sword, and they began to circle.

      “You really are a terrible brother, Michael.”

      “You know that’s not true.”

      “Maybe you’re right,” Gabriel said. “Maybe fighting is all I’m good at.” Arrayah stood on the periphery, looking from one to the other. She fidgeted uncomfortably and seemed to be looking for an escape.

      “I never said that. In fact, I never said you were all that good at fighting.” Michael swung his sword in a lazy arc. He executed a high slice, easily parried.

      “You don’t have to say it, I can tell by the defeat on your face every time we spar.” He noticed Arrayah slowly creeping away. “Wait.” Gabriel tried to pause for Arrayah, but Michael lunged aggressively. He couldn’t ignore him.

      “I’ve waited long enough for you to come around, Gabriel. You’re hopeless these days.”

      Gabriel shifted toward Michael with a swift counterattack and sent him backward two steps. Michael blocked, attacked, countered again. Their swords moved in technical precision, but casually, like a dance in which both knew the steps by heart.

      “You’re losing confidence in this vision of yours then?” Gabriel said.

      “No. Only losing confidence in you.”

      Gabriel threw his sword into the sand. It stuck in the ground inches from Michael’s toes. He looked over to the grass, but Arrayah was gone.

      “Nice job, Michael! She left! Is this why you came here? What do you want from me?” Gabriel started to walk up the shore, looking around for her.

      “It’s time for you to wake up. It’s been time. I can’t do everything for you anymore, and things are about to change drastically in Heaven.”

      “Here we go again. Leave me alone; I’m going to find Arrayah.”

      “You shouldn’t be spending time with that virtue!”

      Gabriel turned and stepped directly up to Michael. “And why is that, O war leader?”

      Michael shook his head. He was holding something back Gabriel knew. What was it?

      “Do whatever you want, Gabriel. I know what God showed me. It’s coming whether you are ready or not. I can’t help you if you don’t want to help yourself. Just trust me, and stay away from that virtue.” Michael turned the opposite direction and walked four heavy steps before he spread his wings to take off.

      Gabriel felt lightheaded. The massive draft of wind from the angry downstroke of Michael’s wings almost knocked him over. What did Michael know?

      Lucifer spent the next two days taking his years of pent-up jealousy and anger toward God and letting it out on this new environment. He had decided to name this world Terra, after her. It was his to name, after all. The dense area of trees was now a barren wasteland. Every animal within a hundred miles was gone. It was good they ran. If trees could be separated from their life source, perhaps animals could too. Lucifer was almost ready to find out.

      He felt as if he were discovering a newly found gift that God was keeping from everyone. When Lucifer destroyed the trees and other plants, he could feel the subtle energy they gave off before the life inside them was gone. Some clung on more tightly than others, and he could feel the fight inside them. They could struggle all they wanted, but they weren’t in control. He was. He respected the ones that fought harder. If the roles were reversed, he would fight the hardest. He knew that.

      Lucifer felt powerful and he felt a great deal of rage, but he also felt thoughtful, as if a part of him was watching everything that happened with cold detachment. He took careful notes of his thought processes on the rock and in the sand beneath the plush green. He named his new power wrath, and the third of the seven deadly sins was formed.

      The second sin he had discovered, envy, was formed toward God not too long before this rampage, and Lucifer quickly realized it was all throughout Heaven. He took pleasure in this feeling because it gave him a sense of power. It gave him the fuel he needed. It fed his drive to get even. He knew envy was something many angels felt toward him, but it had never been defined. He knew they envied his position in the ranks, and he would use that to his advantage.

      The most powerful of all the sins was discovered first. Pride. Without pride, he would have succumbed to God. He loved that he hadn’t. Lucifer kept track of these sins as he discovered them. They were like precious jewels. He realized quickly, without shame, that there was power in each of them. He was the only one who truly had a hold of who he was. He knew himself and he knew other angels. He knew their deepest desires that had never been spoken of. They were subtly expressed, but in almost every being in Heaven, Lucifer had glimpsed those traits, and he meant to bring them all out.

      The heavenly virtues that God held dear helped guide Lucifer to their polar opposites. God was well-known for his virtues—chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility—and Lucifer was intent on discovering the antivirtues that were the exact opposites of these. Why was there more power in wrath than patience? Why was envy a stronger motivator than kindness? The opposite of humility gave him pride. The opposite of charity gave him greed. He felt proud of them and wasn’t done searching for more.

      He wanted to find the coldest place on this new formation and rid himself of God’s warm, bright influence so he could think. He went into the mountains as far north as there was land and dug his way as deep as he could go. He spent much time traveling across the solid land mass and discovered countless places that attracted him with their wild, hostile forms. Lucifer found glacier caves that suited his needs perfectly—deep in the ice on the northern side.

      As he discovered the answers he was seeking within his antivirtues, he realized not only who he was but also the truth of everything in the cosmos. Now he alone had discovered the physical realities that made up the universe. With everything he learned, it pushed him further away from his faith in God. He saw imperfections on Terra. The fact he could control life made him realize God wasn’t the only powerful one. His reason and his faith contradicted each other. He began to despise warmth and light and instead yearned for cold and dark. He found comfort in

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