Unbalanced: Freedom Angel's Oct 2010 Vignette

[Dr Archeville]

October 27th (Wednesday)

Temptation To Be Good

Heyzel walked into St. Stephen's and found the lord of Tartarus waiting for him. The angel of Freedom paused a beat, sword flaming into life as he saw the smirking armored figure taking his ease before the church altar, a goblet of wine in hand, before suddenly his eyes narrowed. This was not what it appeared to be; but was it ever with these old 'gods' and their minions? "Is the son of Cronos reduced to taunting his enemies by shadow?" The image of Hades, for that was all it was, smiled at him.

"Ah, but must we be enemies, Heyzel?" The shadowy form rose from the altar, angel and reflection of a god all that moved and spoke in the darkened church in this late hour. "I've followed your movements closely since you arrived in this city." The god of death strolled down the aisle with a relaxed look on his face, hardly glancing up at the great stained glass windows on either side. "We may differ on who made the universe, but we have far more in common than your half-divine teachers may have led you to believe."

"I find that difficult to believe, sir," said Heyzel with automatic courtesy, debating his own abilities to strike down this false image before anything dire could happen. You had to be _watchful_ with the Olympians, he'd been warned as a cherub, and listen with both ears to their promises. Especially with this one, with his cthonian empire so close to the Adversary's, so close to the depths of corruption. They circled each other in the nave, Hades' reflection connecting directly to the shadows around him. "Your people and mine have been at odds for 2000 years."

"True," said Hades, "and if we're being honest with each other, I plan one day to burn all the temples of the god of the Israelites to the ground." He made a little gesture at the church, but then focused again on the angel. "I know not even I can lie to you, son of Jeanne d'Arc," Heyzel blanched briefly at his mother's name, "so I trust you with that knowledge."

"And why should I not strike you down for those words?" replied the angel evenly, a halo of glowing radiance around his head. "And lead _my_ people to the depths of Tartarus and once and for all put an end to millennia of tyranny?"

"Because you can't," replied Hades with finality. "I know about your mission, angel of freedom. The Heavenly Host await orders from a Creator many of them have never seen, waiting for a day that may never come. If they could have stormed my fortress, they'd have done so two millennia ago. No, you're all alone in this world, abandoned by your maker and those who should be standing by you. Just. Like. Me." He laid an illusory hand on Heyzel's shoulder, between his flowing black hair and wings, and the angel didn't pull away. "You know of the war I'm waging against my enemy."

"Yes," replied Heyzel. "Others have become aware of it as well in recent days. I doubt either of you will succeed in your efforts to master control of the city."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. But with YOU as my ally, son of Heaven, my victory is assured." Hades had managed to surprise the angel, at least, and Heyzel fought back a look of wide-eyed shock at the offer. "Is it so strange to speak so? You, servant of a god of law, me, master of the Underworld? You can't really expect that Samedi, some mongrel god of slaves and peasants, will have anything kind for your people if he wins, do you? You know the revenge the loa want against the armies of Heaven. If he wins, he'll take it."

"But _you_ have promised the same dire fate for the children of Abraham," replied Heyzel, pulling away from Hades. "Wouldn't a practical man side with the weaker of the two, or neither, the better to make sure that the forces of right stay victorious in the city of Freedom?"

"Perhaps, Heyzel, but we are not men. The blood of gods and saints are in your veins, boy, and I am the grandson of the earth and sky. Picture it." He made a gesture, and a shimmering image appeared along the darkened church wall, a bright and shining city laden with columns and statues, looking like Rome before the fall. "A world where the gods of law and kings rule! An empire of Heaven on Earth, where sin and vice are punished where all can see and know right! In a millennia or two, there might be war between us. But isn't it worth the chance now?"

Heyzel stared at that shining city on a hill, feeling an odd lightness beneath his feet, and a brush of vertigo for a moment, as he considered his options. "You offer a world without freedom. A world where Heaven and Olympus are a kingly empire, with no more goodness than any other realm of fear and power, where the souls of men and women are ground beneath a jeweled cross and burning mountain. No, sir." He turned to Hades and said simply, "Your days have ended, false god. You will not get them back through the children of Abraham, any more than through your own servants. I say unto thee, get thee behind me."

Hades' face curled in anger, hellish flames beckoning to his hands...but then he shook his head, and simply smiled. After all, he wasn't there at all. "So be it, son of Heaven. But know this. When the walls of Heaven burn, and the children of Yahweh are dragged to my realm begging an absent Creator to save them, I will remember you and yours most of all." He vanished in a gout of flame, leaving Heyzel alone in the church. It was a long night.