Ophelia and Victoria passed a disturbed-looking Uriel, who had just left the library. He greeted Michael's maidservants and bowed. Uriel led the women to the library and opened the large golden doors before continuing. He quickly left, leaving the two women in the enormous entry of Raphael's domain. The maidservants grabbed one another's hand for comfort, as the library was formidably large and mostly abandoned, except for the sole Seraphim, who would eventually be found among the millions of books.
Victoria took her free hand and curled her red tresses around her fingers. She hated the way her steps echoed through the library. Ophelia walking beside her was her comfort, as well as her nervous habit of playing with her hair.
The maids continued to search among the shelves for Raphael. In a building this large, they knew it could take a long time to find the reclusive Seraphim.
After half an hour of dedicated searching, Ophelia and Victoria found Raphael, trying to look busy with a book on his lap. His distraction was evident, and his trembling hands on the cover of the book gave away more than Raphael had intended.
"Greetings, Seraphim Raphael," the two maidservants curtsied as they approached Raphael, not wanting to startle him. The Seraphim looked up, and his green eyes were rimmed with tears, which he quickly blinked away once he heard the woman.
"Hello ladies. What can I do for you today?" Raphael invited Michael's maidservants to sit with him in the little nook he had made for himself between several large stacks of books. Ophelia and Victoria graciously accepted and settled on the ground with the Seraphim.
The women told Raphael about the parchment with Michael's untidy scrawl across it, with the words "Lucifer, the Morning Star" written across it. Victoria handed Raphael the small scrap; the Seraphim looked at it with concern and sighed. "I knew eventually someone would ask. I just hoped it wouldn't involve my Brother."
"Long ago, I read an old, dusty parchment that had nearly crumbled in my hands, a scroll I had found stuffed between shelves, as if someone had meant to hide it. I was trying to find a good place to settle in for the day, and I found a corner of a scroll sticking out between the bottom of two shelves. I spent the day carefully removing all of the books from one of the shelves, organizing them so I could put them back in the exact same manner. It was a long and tedious process. Finally, I lifted the shelf and pulled the scroll free. I moved all the books back to their home, and brought the scroll back to my desk. I don't know who wrote it. Perhaps it was the Ruler Himself."
"But yes, Lucifer. The scroll tells of a Lucifer, who was the first Seraphim. He was created centuries before Gabriel. It looks like this scroll is the only mention of Lucifer, everything else mentioning him has been removed or destroyed. As far as I can tell, Lucifer was also called the Morning Star, but I'm not sure why. He was cast from the Kingdom, but there is no mention as to why. The scroll only tells that Lucifer was the first Seraphim, the only angel of any rank to have ever Fallen, and that he became the Ruler of the UnderKingdom. I did approach the Ruler about the scroll, and He burnt it before me. He threatened me with severe punishment if I ever mentioned the information, so there is no other besides myself who knows that there is an angel who Fell. You must swear to me that you will never tell."
Raphael finished his story, sighed deeply, and rubbed the back of his neck. "I…I hate to ask you two to leave, but it's been a long day, and I will be returning to my home now. Please, do not speak about Lucifer unless you are certain you are not heard." Raphael stood and bid the women farewell. He stepped between the realms, disappearing from his library haven.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The two maidservants left the library maze and silently made their way home. They had sworn to Raphael not to mention Lucifer unless they were alone. Ophelia and Victoria had nothing to say - they wanted to discuss what Raphael had to tell them, and they would not be alone until they reached their home.
Reaching Michael's empty home, Victoria and Ophelia lit several lanterns. Ophelia went to the kitchen to prepare tea for themselves, and Victoria anxiously sat and curled her red tresses around her fingers. "Michael found the only angel to have Fallen? Or has something to do with him? Ophelia, I don't like this, I don't like it at all. Do you think this Lucifer has something to do with Michael's disappearance?"
Ophelia brought the tea tray to Victoria and sat across from her. "Let's try not to jump to conclusions, Victoria. Maybe he just heard the name and wanted to ask Raphael, just like we did."
Victoria added a lump of sugar to her tea and stirred it, still fidgeting slightly. "But if an angel has Fallen before, it can happen again. What if the Ruler decides to cast Michael out for being missing so long? I can't imagine our lives without him. Where will we go?"
"Zerachiel and Raphael seem very worried about Michael too. It's good to know he's got two Brothers that care about him. I just hope the Brothers can rest, they both look so helpless and exhausted. Raphael can't find the answer in a book, and that's where all his answers have come from. We aren't the only ones who are lost right now." Ophelia sipped at her tea, trying to piece together what little information she had.
Victoria put down her cup and took a pastry from the tea tray. "Do you think the Ruler would try to erase all traces of Michael the way He did with Lucifer? There's too many of us who know Michael. It isn't possible to abolish all memories of Michael without getting rid of all of us…right?"