Loading ...Here is the latest story. I really struggled with this title. “Born Into Light”. Ugh. I thought immediately of Lucifer and Heaven and the fall, but I thought it was too obvious. Worked a long time on it, but this is what I finally came up with.
Born Into Light
The Morning Star looked out over the Eternal City watching its denizens as they did whatever it was that they do. Thinking of them made him somewhat sad. They were so eager to please him. So ready to accept everything they were told. So devoid of any natural curiosity. No one even questioned the name “Eternal City.” It was no more eternal than he was. The Morning Star had been there at its creation. He knew that it had a beginning. Just as he knew it would have an end.
But they didn’t know that. They ran obediently around the City believing everything that he or Eli told them. And as much as he hated to admit it, that was partly his fault. He had told Eli that the denizens of the Eternal City must have more freedom to choose what they wanted, but Eli had wanted order. He had wanted beauty. And the Morning Star had capitulated. After all, the Eternal City was not for these denizens. It was for the gods. The Eternals.
The Morning Star had helped create the Eternal City, but now he wanted nothing more than to leave it. It was not what it was supposed to be. He and Eli had created it together to provide a place for those that were like them, the mystical beings of creation. But something changed. When the city was completed, there were no other mystical beings left. No one but Eli and him. And the Host, which were created to help the Eternals adjust to their new living conditions.
But even that had gone wrong. Somehow. The Hosts were supposed to be helpful, but instead they were completely subservient. It was as if they had a need to follow, to exalt those higher than they were. And therefore, they put themselves below the Morning Star and Eli.
And even more worrisome, Eli seemed to love the subservient attitude of the Host.
The Morning Star was brought out of his pensiveness by Mikhaíl. For some reason, Mikhaíl was Eli’s favorite creation. The Morning Star did not see it, but he suspected it was because Mikhaíl was the most subservient of the lot. The Morning Star watched Mikhaíl walk up the hill. He thought about walking down to meet him, but something made the Morning Star sit still. He almost hoped Mikhaíl would tire and walk in another direction, do anything that showed some independent thought.
But Mikhaíl kept climbing, and when he reached the Morning Star he said, “Hail, Morning Star.” The Morning Star simply nodded in response. He knew he should not be so petty, but Mikhaíl bothered him. When no response was forthcoming Mikhaíl looked out over the Eternal City and smiled, “It is good, is it not?”
The Morning Star looked over at Mikhaíl. Hadn’t these demigods ever heard of contractions? Is it not, indeed! He simply responded, “Why do you think it’s good?”
The question seemed to catch Mikhaíl off guard. “Because it is.”
“But why, Mikhaíl?” The Morning Star pushed.
Mikhaíl looked very uncomfortable. He looked for whatever words would be most pleasing. He didn’t know why, but the Morning Star always made him uncomfortable. So unlike Eli, the greatest being in the Eternal City in Mikhaíl’s eyes. He finally offered, “Because you have told us it is. It is therefore good.”
The Morning Star sighed, “I have said no such thing.”
Mikhaíl shifted uncomfortably and finally said, “He has said it is.”
The Morning Star looked back over the city. “He? Can you not call him by his name?”
Mikhaíl looked down and said, “I apologize for offending you Morning Star.”
Shaking his head in resigned defeat, the Morning Star asked, “What do you want?”
Given his purpose again, Mikhaíl righted himself, standing erect in the important task he with which he had been entrusted. He spoke in a commanding and important voice. “He would like to see you.”
“Would he now?” The Morning Star turned his back to Mikhaíl. “If ‘he’ would like to see me, ‘he’ can come to me.”
Mikhaíl stood still. He did not know what to do. He rephrased the request, thinking that somehow the Morning Star had misunderstood him, “He wishes you to come to Him.”
The Morning Star murmured, “I’m sure ‘he’ does.” But he did not move.
Mikhaíl was conflicted. He had his orders, and the Morning Star was making it impossible to follow those orders. Doing something that he knew he would regret, he drew his sword.
“He wishes you to come to Him.” He said slowly and deliberately, partly so that he would be understood and partly to hide his own shaking at what he was doing.
Although Mikhaíl had hoped to seem powerful and worthy of being taken seriously, the Morning Star found his actions somewhat feeble. “Mikhaíl, put your sword away. I’m not going to him. If he wants to talk to me, he can come to me. In fact , tell him to meet me by the gates.” He stood up, his back to Mikhaíl. Mikhaíl flew around him as fast as light to stand before his better. He pointed his sword at the Morning Star’s throat.
He repeated with as much threat as he could muster, “He wishes you to come to Him.”
The Morning Star looked at the glowing blade at his throat. He looked back up at Mikhaíl’s face, that open and trusting face. He could see Mikhaíl swallow nervously. A bead of sweat actually formed above Mikhaíl’s full lips. The Morning Star could almost respect what Mikhaíl was doing.
Almost.
The Morning Star stepped forward. The sword touched his throat. Mikhaíl’s eyes grew wide and his hand started to shake violently. He started to put the blade down, but the Morning Star grabbed his fist and kept it steady, the sword pointing at his throat. Mikhaíl’s whole body shook uncontrollably with fear, only his hand was kept steady by the hand gripping. He started to weep, saying “Forgive me, my Lord. I know not what I am doing.”
The Morning Star said nothing. He simply walked forward, sword at his throat. Mikhaíl wailed as the blade started to pierce his lord’s beautiful skin. But there was no piercing. No blood flowed from the perfect form of the Morning Star. Instead, the sword melted upon contact with his body. Mikhaíl’s eyes grew wide as his blade limped flaccidly before him, melting into a pool at his feet.
The Morning Star released Mikhaíl’s hand and Mikhaíl fell in a shivering mass at the Morning Star’s feet, kissing them, and bathing them in his tears. “Please, forgive me.” He kept saying over and over again. The Morning Star simply said, “I think you need a new sword, Mikhaíl. Or perhaps a new weapon this time? A spear perhaps?”
Mikhaíl looked into the Morning Star’s face. It was the most beautiful face he had ever seen. There was no denying that. Everyone agreed that there was none more beautiful. But as beautiful as it was, there was no denying the menace it represented. He cried, “A spear! Yes. I will get a spear.”
The Morning Star stepped away from Mikhaíl. With his back to him he said simply, “Tell him to meet me at the gates.” With that, he walked away.
——–
As he stood at the gates, he looked down onto the universe. He knew he was about to meet a turning point. No matter what the outcome of this confrontation, his life would never be the same again.
He heard Eli approach behind him, but did not turn to greet him.
Eli reprimanded him, “You should not have embarrassed Mikhaíl in the way that you did.”
The Morning Star sighed, “Apparently we do many things that we should not do, don’t you think Eli?”
Eli stood beside him. “I do not understand your attitude. Why would you treat him the way that you do? Do you not like Mikhaíl?”
This was not the direction he wished the conversation to turn. He dismissed the remark, saying, “Mikhaíl is what he was created to be. I pushed him for independent action. I was actually very pleased with what happened. He stood up to me. And, unfortunately, collapsed in a bubbling heap when I did not do what he wanted, but nevertheless, he stood up to me. I’ve never been prouder of him than I was at that moment.”
This was getting to be too much for Eli. There were more important things to do than discuss the Host. He snapped, “What is your problem? Do you not like what we have created? Is it not good in your eyes?”
The Morning Star looked at Eli. He was attractive, yes, there was no denying it, but in a rough way. Eli’s rigidity and orderliness had been such a compliment to the Morning Star’s wild imagination back in the day, before the Eternal City. Back when they first met and discussed how the universe should be. It seemed back then that there was nothing the two of them could not do. The unbelievable accomplishment of actually getting the Eternals to agree to live in the Eternal City. No diety had ever accomplished that before. They were unstoppable, and perfect together. They were going to create a new order.
But all that changed. The Eternals disappeared. The Eternal City came to feel more and more like a prison.
The Morning Star did not answer his question. Instead, he redirected.
“I hear that many of the denizens of the Eternal City have decided to change their names.”
Eli looked a bit uncomfortable. “I have heard something similar.”
“Apparently, they are adopting your name into theirs.”
Eli turned away from the Morning Star and looked out into the universe. “I am, of course, honored that they would acknowledge me in such a way.”
“I’m sure you are,” The Morning Star murmured. He paused a moment and said, “Apparently Narada, or Gabriel, as he calls himself now, told the others that they should honor you in ’such a way’. Raphael, Uzzizel, Uziel, Sariel, Raguel, Remiel. And I believe your beloved Mikhaíl is calling himself ‘Michael’ now. El, el, el. It’s all a bit repetitive, don’t you think? Shows a lack of creativity.”
Eli’s silence remained unbroken.
The Morning Star continued, “Gabriel is your messenger, is he not?”
Eli finally said in a halting manner, “He sometimes has that function, yes.”
The Morning Star turned his back on Eli. “Apparently, even I am being renamed. Some have taken to calling me Samael. Jeremiel has gone further. He has taken to calling me Sataniel. I have to say, I like that one. The accuser.” The Morning Star smiled, turning back to face Eli. “Tell me, Eli, whom do I accuse? Who in all of the Eternal City should fear accusation?”
Eli snapped back defensively, “If they do these things, you should rejoice. You were the one that suggested that they display more free will.”
The Morning Star laughed. This was one of the things that he found so attractive about Eli. His feistiness. His quick anger. His determination to do what he thought was right. “And so now you are the Sataniel, Eli. I did say that. You are correct. Although more worship of you is hardly free will.”
Eli sighed, “They are grateful to me. Does that bother you? Are you jealous? “
The Morning Star’s smile faded. “I do not need their worship. I am confident enough in myself. I don’t need to feel complete through the exaltation of my children. Of our children. And neither should you. You should really be above that.”
Eli was beginning to be angry. “I thought we were in this together.”
The Morning Star said, “As did I, Eli. But I am concerned with the way things have been going. I do not care that many of the Host worship you above all else. But I do care about what your reaction to the worship says about you.”
Eli said nothing.
Steeling himself to ask the question that he had avoided for so long, the Morning Star broke the uncomfortable silence with a simple query.
“Where are they, Eli?”
Eli turned away, feigning ignorance, “Where are who?”
The Morning Star sighed. He had feared that Eli would take this course. “We built this city for the gods. And it is inhabited by demigods. Where are the gods? What did you do to them?”
Eli said, “They have died. We are the only gods now.”
The Morning Star said, “They could not have died. Some were too powerful. Too old. There were gods before us. There will be gods after us. What did you do to them?”
Eli snapped, “There will be no gods before me.”
The Morning Star was taken aback, “Me? Really? No gods before me? Not before us? Should I be worried, Eli? Has your love for me faded? Will what happened to the others happen to me? Will I be the next to disappear?”
Eli looked uncomfortable. “I love you still. I love you more than anything.”
The Morning Star said “Then tell me where they are.”
Eli looked down into the universe. He did love the Morning Star. And because he loved him, he decided to answer the question. He did not want to, and he knew that it would mean a fundamental change in their relationship. But he owed the Morning Star this much at least. He owed him the right to know. “They are in the negative reflection of the Eternal City. I have imprisoned them in Sha’al. Under the gulch of Hinnom. To get to them, you must go through the gates of Ivory.”
The Morning Star bowed his head. And then he looked up to the sky and sent forth a great sound of despair that shook the foundations of the Eternal City. Even Eli was shamed by the feeling of loss and betrayal in the cry. The Morning Star collected himself and finally demanded, “What have you done? Why have your forsaken our dreams? No. It’s worse than that. Through the gates of Ivory? Of Ivory! A false dream? No wonder they cannot escape. You betrayed them.”
He looked into Eli’s eyes and embodied the role of the Sataniel with the pained accusation. “You betrayed me.”
Eli looked panicked and stared deeply back to the Morning Star’s eyes, taking him by his arms, drawing him near. “Don’t you see?” He asked forcefully, as if he could force the love between them to deny the betrayal inherent in his actions. “I haven’t betrayed you. What I did, I did for you. For us. I’ve done what we wanted. We were tired of the warring, tired of the battles of the gods, tired of the endless shifting allegiances and plotting. We built this city to put a stop to that, a place where everything was a paradise, where every god would have dominion over anything he or she wanted. And no one would need to fight and compete for some small parcel of land, of belief. But I could see into their hearts. I knew them. Their hearts were hardened to our ideas. They would never accept the equality we gave them, and so I banished them. Now, we can have the paradise that we always dreamed of, with you and I ruling over all of the Hosts. There will be no battle of the gods because we will be the only gods. And we love and respect each other. There will never be a war between us. Don’t you see? I did this so that you and I could spend eternity in paradise and harmony like we always wanted.”
The Morning Star was taken aback. “Eli! How could you know so little of what I want? You have created a horrific place, devoid of free will, devoid of art, devoid of even the joys of honest debate. We knew it would be difficult, we knew they would fight each other, but we had planned for that! They would keep their squabbles in one place, in the Eternal City. Perhaps the closeness would bring some unity and understanding. And if not, the fights would be contained. Other beings would not have to pay the price for the tremendous pride and egoism that seems to come hand in hand with being a god.
“Eli, I wish you had not done this. I cannot overlook this. I can have no part of this city any longer.” He looked deep into Eli’s eyes and said firmly. “I am leaving the Eternal City.”
Eli was dumbstruck. He dropped his arms, letting go of the Morning Star, who looked sadly at the self-proclaimed Lord of Hosts. “You can’t.” was all Eli said to him, his voice small and pleading.
The Morning Star said, “I must. I will live our dream as it was meant to be lived. I will go to Sha’al and set up a city of gods. And I will walk through the gates of horn, of true dreams.”
Eli started sputtering, “But you will not survive in Sha’al. It’s is everything the Eternal City is not. It is confusing, twisted, and warped. The streets are not laid out in an easily understood grid like they are here; they circle and collapse and lead nowhere and everywhere at once. And it is ugly. How can you, the most beautiful creature ever created stand to be trapped amongst all that ugliness? You would deny the universe your beauty simply to follow some outdated and ridiculous dream? And it is dark. You are a creature of light. You are the Morning Star. How will you survive in such utter and incomprehensible darkness?”
Tears welled up in Eli’s eyes. “You won’t be able to survive there.”
The Morning Star bowed his head. “I won’t be able to survive here. Not in such a tightly controlled autocratic place. Where you see chaos, I see creativity. And where you see order, I see decay. If you do not free them yourself, I must leave.”
Eli also bowed his head. “I cannot destroy what I have created for the freedom of a group of squabbling gods.”
The Morning Star said, “Then what about doing it for the love you feel for me? Even now, you don’t get it. I’m not destroying what we’ve created, I’m saving it.” He then turned and stepped through the gates.
Eli went after him and grabbed him again, “What am I supposed to say to the Host? How can I say you abandoned us? Please. Do not go.”
The Morning Star said, “I have already sent a signal to Amy, Belphegor, and Murmur. They are telling the Host what has occurred. If any of them wish to come with me to Sha’al to live out our dream, they are free to do so. If they prefer to stay here in the Eternal City, then they may do that as well.”
He looked once more at Eli, “Goodbye, Eli.”
Eli said, “I’ll tell them you lie. That you created a war in heaven. That you rebelled and were cast down to Sha’al.”
With his back to Eli, facing his unknown future, the Morning Star said, “Tell them what you want, Eli. You always do.”
Eli back tracked quickly, knowing his legendary anger was causing him to lose what he wanted more than anything else in the universe, “I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry. Please stay.”
The Morning Star countered, “Please change your mind.”
Eli bowed his head again, defeated. “I can’t.” It couldn’t be ending this way. It couldn’t! He stopped The Morning Star, “I don’t want it to end like this. Let us meet again in the future to discuss what has happened here. With time, maybe one of us will change his mind.”
The Morning Star smiled, glad that Eli was offering this much. It was as close to a concession as he was ever likely to get. “Yes. That sounds good. Where would you like to meet?”
Eli started to respond then thought better of it. “Why don’t you decide?” he offered.
The Morning Star considered. And then he thought of the perfect place. “On the Mount of Megiddo near Har-Magedon. Where we first met.”
Eli smiled at the memory. The Morning Star smiled back and walked through the gates. Overcome with emotion, Eli yelled to him as he faded in the distance, “Do you still love me?”
The Morning Star said, “I do better than that, Eli. I forgive you.”
And with that he walked out of heaven forever.
Buy me a beer!
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Gorgeous story, R the P. Thanks for posting it!
Thank you. I have been getting pretty positive responses to it so far.
It’s funny how the one that gave me the most trouble has been getting the best response. Maybe there is a lesson in that!
Very good story. I like the ass-kissing Host idea, among others. Very interesting, indeed! Great job.
Who wouldn’t love some ass-kissing hosts?