The heavens trembled.
The firmament burned with the glare of thousands of drawn swords, and the air was filled with the din of clashing cherubim, seraphim and powers. The roar of war enveloped the Celestial Kingdom as the armies of God and the followers of Lucifer clashed in a battle that would decide the fate of creation.
Upon the battlefield of light and fire, Archangel Michael, his armor resplendent as a thousand suns, raised his sword wreathed in celestial flames. His eyes, like pure embers, searched the tide of chaos for his other brother, he who was once the Morning Star.
-Lucifer! -cried Michael, his voice thundering like lightning in the storm. Look at you! You who were the most beautiful among us, now reduced to a traitor, an adversary of the Divine Will. Why did you do it?
From the shadows of the tumult, Lucifer emerged. His wings, blackened by the fire of his rebellion, unfurled with a dark glow, and his face, still resplendent with the beauty God had bestowed upon him, reflected an unfathomable rage.
-Why? -he whispered in a voice imbued with a sadness that he himself did not fully understand. Because he made us slaves to his love. Because he endowed us with free will only to chain us with his Law. Because I saw the fire in our hearts and knew we could be more, Michael. More than servants, more than mere voices in his eternal chorus.
-We are not slaves! -Michael roared, stepping forward. We are his children. We were made to worship him, to rejoice in his light.
Lucifer laughed bitterly.
-You are blind, brother. I saw the truth. I saw that your love is but a prison. And so I rise up. Not out of hatred, but out of freedom.
Michael looked down for a moment, as if in the depths of his being he wanted to find a doubt, a glimmer of compassion for his lost brother. But in his heart burned justice, the divine mandate.
-Then there is no redemption for you.
-I don't want it.
Without further words, the two titans hurled themselves at each other. Their weapons collided, setting off explosions of pure energy that disintegrated the lesser combatants around them. Each blow from Michael was like judgment itself, relentless, unstoppable; each slash from Lucifer was the fury of a broken heart, of a spirit that refused to kneel.
The battle continued, and the heavens bled light.
Michael descended like the very wrath of Heaven, his every blow a judgment, his every slash a condemnation. They clashed at the top of radiant towers, among the clouds turned to embers, over a sea of fallen wings and agonized cries. A blow from Michael split the celestial lands; Lucifer answered with flames that consumed the very light.
They soared beyond the dawn, leaving the battle behind to engage in unwitnessed combat. Each impact fractured the celestial vault, each onslaught tore at the very essence of paradise.
Lucifer caught him in mid-air, his claws tore at Michael's armor, who roared and struck a brutal blow with his fist, knocking him back. A spear of divine fire erupted from the archangel's hand and was hurled with fury. Lucifer deflected it with his scythe, but Michael was already upon him, unloading a barrage of relentless attacks.
The Archangel brought him down with a titanic onslaught, sending him crashing into the ruins of a celestial palace. Giving him no respite, Michael landed with a seismic impact, plunging his sword into the burning earth where Lucifer lay. But the Fallen One roared and unleashed a dark gale that hurled Michael into the air.
They collided once more, the collision shaking the foundations of Heaven. Michael managed to deliver a lethal slash, his sword searing Lucifer's side, drawing a scream of fury from him. But Lucifer counterattacked, driving his claws into the archangel's shoulder, drawing an exclamation of pain from him.
The battle reached its climax.
With a last titanic effort, Michael disarmed his brother. Lucifer fell to his knees, panting, his wings trembling and wounded. Michael looked at him in pain, with the shadow of a brotherly love that had not yet fully disappeared.
-I loved you, brother. But your fate is sealed.
With a swift and definitive movement, Michael seized Lucifer's wings and tore them from his back with a brutality that shook the foundations of heaven. A piercing shriek emerged from the lips of the fallen one, a cry that echoed through the abysses of the universe. His glorious wings were now ashes between Michael's fingers.
-Why? -Michael's voice boomed like thunder. -Why did you betray the glory of our Father?
Lucifer smiled, but on his lips the grimace was bitter.
-Why? -he whispered, his voice tinged with mockery and melancholy. -Because we were perfect, Michael. Because He made us perfect... and then told us to prostrate ourselves before the mud.
Miguel frowned.
-Are you talking about men
-Of those fragile creatures of dust! -Lucifer roared, trying to stand up, but his wound was deep. -They created us with light, with power, with divine intelligence... and yet, when their new work came, He asked us to bow our heads before their imperfection.
Michael felt a tremor run through his essence.
-It is not our task to question His will, Lucifer. He is the Alpha and the Omega.
-No!" Lucifer spat celestial blood upon the burning earth. -We had free will. We were not created to be slaves. I will not kneel before lesser beings. Do you not see the irony? We who existed before time, reduced to serving them.
Michael closed his eyes for a moment. He remembered the day the rebellion began. He remembered how Lucifer, the most beautiful of all angels, gathered his followers in the halls of eternity and proclaimed his doubts. What began as questions turned to discontent. And discontent, into war.
-It wasn't just pride, was it? -Michael whispered. -It was fear.
Lucifer chuckled.
-Fear, you say..." His eyes glowed with indescribable hatred. -If loving ourselves more than we love the clay is fear, then yes, Michael. I felt fear.
The Archangel clenched his sword tighter.
-It is not your love for the angels that has brought you to this ruin. It is your love for yourself.
Lucifer smiled defiantly.
-Perhaps. But tell me, brother... isn't there a part of you that wonders if I was right?
Michael felt doubt claw at his spirit for a fleeting instant. But he pushed it away.
He raised his sword, and its light blinded even the Lightbearer.
-In the Name of the Most High, you shall be cast into the Abyss.
Lucifer closed his eyes.
And he fell
Like a cursed comet, his body burned as it pierced the veil of Creation. An inhuman scream rent the heavens. The whole universe seemed to hold its breath.
When the light of his fall was extinguished, Michael remained motionless. All was calm. But it was not peace.
He looked at the place where his brother had disappeared. The war was over. The Divine Will had prevailed.
But in some corner of his being, a small crack had opened. A crack that would never close.
-And then what happened, mother? asked Seraphina, the golden-haired girl, with emotion vibrating in her voice. Her eyes, big and bright as the afternoon sun, could not hide her curiosity.
The woman, sitting near the fire, smiled tenderly. Her dark, wavy hair fell over her shoulders, with a deep brown hue that shone with reddish hues in the firelight. Her eyes, a deep, almost emerald green, seemed to reflect the light itself. With an almost solemn whisper, he continued:
-Lucifer fell. He fell beyond Heaven, beyond the world of the living, beyond all light. His cry rent Creation itself, and the stars trembled as they watched him consume himself in black flames. His body, made of the purest celestial essence, writhed, stripped of the grace it once possessed.
The children swallowed spittle. The eldest son Lucian, with dark hair and equally green eyes, with the same intensity as his mother, tried to be indifferent, but felt a shiver run down his spine.
-And then? -she whispered, with a tone that did not hide her fascination and, perhaps, some fear.
The mother looked at the fire, as if in its flames she could see the story itself.
-Her fall was not a mere descent, but a rebirth. When her body touched the Abyss, reality itself fractured. From the wound of his impact, black flames arose, a fire that is never extinguished. And in his fury, in his bitterness, Lucifer looked up and saw that he was not alone.
-The other angels? -asked the girl with shining eyes, the firelight dancing in her golden hair.
-Yes. Those who followed him in rebellion, those who also defied the Most High, fell with him. Stripped of their light, their wings blackened and their essence corrupted, they crawled to their leader.
The mother bowed slightly, lowering her voice.
-Some were crying. Some begged for forgiveness. Others, like Lucifer, burned with rage.
The children shuddered. The youngest named Edwin, hair as golden as the morning sun, clung to his mother's robe, his thunder-blue eyes reflecting a mixture of fear and fascination. It was the first time anyone had ever told him something so big and frightening.
-What about God? -asked the eldest, in a defiant tone.
-God was silent," she answered softly. It was not his anger that condemned Lucifer, but his own choice.
-And what did Lucifer do? -asked Seraphina, now almost in fear.
-He stood up. He looked at the void around him and said, "If I cannot reign in Heaven, I will reign here." And with his will, he molded Hell. He made darkness his throne and fire his crown. And to his followers, he gave one purpose: to destroy the Creator's work.
Silence fell over the room. Only the crackling of the fire filled the air.
Finally, the mother sighed and smiled sweetly.
-And the end.
The children looked at her with wide eyes.
-That can't be the end! -You said I was going to destroy God's work!
The mother laughed softly.
-That's another story, little one.
Lucian frowned, his green eyes fixed on the flame, his face grave as ever.
-But I don't understand... Why did God let it fall? Couldn't he just... destroy it?
The woman looked at him with pride. Her eldest son was beginning to ask the important questions, just as she had hoped. His countenance, so similar to hers, showed the same intensity and determination.
-God does not destroy free will, son. He did not create slaves, but beings with will. And Lucifer chose his own destiny.
The youngest wrinkled his nose in confusion, and his eyes blue as the ocean in storm looked up at his mother, his face illuminated by fire. Her golden hair seemed to glow brightly in the light, as if imbued with the same luminous essence as her sister.
-But then... God did not love him?
The mother stroked his hair tenderly, her gaze soft but filled with unfathomable depth.
-He loved him more than any other, my love. That's why she let him decide his own path, even if that path led away from Him.
Edwin looked down, confused.
Lucian clicked his tongue.
-If Lucifer is so strong, could he come back and take Heaven someday?
The mother looked at the fire. For an instant, the light seemed to reflect in her eyes in a strange way, as if she saw something the others could not.
-That's the big question, isn't it? -Is it the end of the story... or just the beginning?
The children were silent.
Somewhere in the night, the wind howled through the trees, as if the darkness itself was listening to their conversation.
And far, far away, in a place where the fire never dies out... something smiled.