* * *
"And so it is done," Mikhael said. His head remained bent as he spoke. His eyes still watched the ground beneath his right foot. "Sammael and those that would side with him have been banished, never to return to the heavens. It is a woeful time brothers, but the purge was unavoidable."
I could hear it in Mikhael's voice. He was torn about what had just taken place. I wanted to offer him comfort of some kind, but I couldn't pretend that I knew what he felt. In fact, besides confusion, I wasn't even sure what I felt. I had so many questions, but before I could speak I found out that I wasn't the only one.
"What did they do?" Azazel asked. His voice was deep with emotion. He was visibly upset; his cool demeanor and analytical manner had left him. I remember hoping that Mikhael wouldn't be offended by the way in which the question was asked, but he didn't seem bothered by Azazel when he answered. I got the impression that he was planning to tell us all what happened, regardless if anyone had asked him to or not.
"We seraphim do not rely on faith," Mikhael began. "We have none." There was an audible gasp from the Watchers, myself included, in response to Mikhael's declaration. He was patient and let the murmuring desist before he continued. "Faith is an act of trust or reliance in something despite having no material evidence to support your belief. You Watchers assent to the truth of what is declared by Gabriel, Raphael, and myself, because of our supposed authority and truthfulness. You have faith. There are humans on Earth who have never seen the Uncreated, an angel, or even witnessed anything remotely divine, yet they have already established a set of teachings based on their belief in a transcendent reality-our reality. They have faith." Again there were murmurings. This time Mikhael was not as patient as before.
"I will tell you of the humans in a moment," he declared as he raised and then lowered his arms in a quieting gesture. It worked. Calmness ensued, and for the first time since Mikhael began speaking, I noticed that the rest of the host was gone. Only Raphael and Gabriel remained alongside Mikhael. There was no sadness in the eyes of the new viceroy's companions. Those two seemed unaffected by Sammael's fall.
"We have knowledge of celestial things," Gabriel said, "and we always have since the moment of our creation."
"Sammael also had this knowledge," Raphael added. "He was the first to which it was granted."
"The Uncreated reached into his center and removed a part of himself," Gabriel said. "It was from these particles that he fashioned Sammael, Mikhael, myself, and Raphael. We are undiluted-born of the same substance as the stars and the Father himself. We are an extension of Him . . . tiny pieces of God."
"And when you have that knowledge, when you know that what you serve is real and you have looked into the face of your creator," Mikhael said, "then faith by definition ceases to exist."
I understood. The three remaining archangels had always been excellent teachers. And Mikhael was right; I would believe anything that they told me.
Raphael was next to speak. "Sammael, and those who follow him, are guilty of unforgivable sin. They know the Uncreated intimately and they know his will, yet they choose to stray from the path that he has laid out for them because of their pride. They will not receive mercy or salvation. Ever."
"You all heard Sammael mention man, did you not?" Mikhael asked. "He called them clay people, and he did not hold them in very high regard. But he was wrong. They are not made of clay, and they are exceptional. Tragic yes, but still exceptional."
"But most importantly they are the chosen of the Uncreated," Gabriel said. "That's what Sammael could not accept. He thought too highly of himself. He could not stand the idea of being no more than a shepherd of man, whom he deemed a clearly inferior creation. And so he refused to carry out the will of the Uncreated, and now he is banished for all time. All because of terrible, sinful pride."
The three of them continued on for quite awhile, working as a team, and explaining to us about humans, Sammael, and where it all went wrong. I could tell that it was important for them to explain themselves. What I couldn't decide is whether they were trying to convince us that their actions against the fallen angels had been justified, or if their confession was purely therapeutic and meant for no one other than themselves.
Either way I was satisfied with their version of what took place. From the very first time that Sammael had visited us, I knew that he behaved differently from the other archangels. He was a good instructor at times, but that's where the similarities between him and the other seraphim ended. I always thought of him as flawed and arrogant, and I always presumed that the rest of my brothers must have felt the same way. Surprisingly, I was learning now that some of the other Watchers held him in a much higher regard than I did.
"You tore him from his home just because he disagreed with the Uncreated?" Again it was Azazel. "Were we not created with free will? Are we to suppress all contrary thoughts?"
His line of questioning was making me uncomfortable. I had never considered challenging the authority of the archangels, but Azazel spoke with an accusatory note in his voice and seemed dissatisfied with the seraphim's explanation. I feared my brother would be next to ride the maelstrom if he persisted with this impudence.
Mikhael, however, would not be baited. He chose to ignore Azazel and continue his explanation of the human condition. "Sammael has always made it clear to all that he was the first being shaped by the Father. He is mistaken. During the time of the expansion, when the Uncreated amplified and separated himself to begin forming the cosmos, he laid the foundation for the eventual emergence of humans. He did this before any angels, including Sammael, were formed. A goodly amount of time, even when measured by heavenly standards, did pass before the Uncreated judged the humans evolved enough to be enlightened, but whereas we archangels feel the passage of time only minutely, the Uncreated is truly timeless. And so enlighten them he did. Of all that is now, has been, and shall be, mankind has always been at the center of the Uncreated's vision. They were always first, and we were made to serve them. Sammael could not accept that reality."
"He enlightened them how?" Azazel asked. Much of the anger had left his voice, and relief spilled over me when he spoke.
"By revealing himself to them," Raphael answered. He was grinning at me even though it was my brother who asked the question. "He chose a pair of humans and made a covenant with them. First, he filled them with more particles of himself and they became aware. Right away this influx of fire gave them advantage over every other strain of human on Earth-they are to be the dominant line. The Earth shall one day be populated only by the generations of this pair of humans. He then offered his guidance, protection, and love in exchange for their piety and that of their descendants. They could not refuse him."
Murmuring erupted throughout our group. Others were asking questions now-their curiosity piqued by the talk of humans. I heard someone inquire as to where this Earth was that Raphael made mention of. Another voice wanted to know why these humans weren't residing in Heaven with the rest of us. One of my brothers even asked aloud to see the humans. I remained silent even though my own interest was heightened.
"Turn and look Watchers," Mikhael said.
It was the pool again. A new vision had revealed itself across the surface. This scene was unlike anything we had ever been shown before. It was raw, beautiful, and gripping. The whispers and muttering stopped completely as my brothers encircled the pool and stared, completely enthralled, into its divine waters. Before Mikhael even told us what we were looking at, I knew the name of this new place. It just seemed to fit.
"That's Earth," he announced.
As I smiled knowingly the scene in the pool shifted and it continued to do so long after my grin had turned to slack-jawed wonder. Images of the planet-great oceans, towering mountains of stone and ice, deserts of red sand, canopies of green-flashed across the pool and burned themselves into my mind. I was enamored from the start.