Heaven
Loud cries echoed throughout Heaven, fierce crowds marching against each other.
Angels marched against other angels.
Azazel led the first crowd, trying in every way possible to maintain at least a minimum of civility and avoid an escalation of the conflict. He was the only one with enough authority to intercede for himself and his brothers.
These angels he led had failed, they had sinned, and despite his initial complacency, their creator did not have infinite patience.
Azazel, one of the archangels, was of course one of the first and most important, his influence spreading to others and causing a mass fall of angels.
The creator simply watched everything happen, separating the worthy from the unworthy. Separating the wheat from the chaff.
And now it was the day of judgment, the great flood would affect the whole world, killing the children of the angels, the nephilins, and sinful humans. While his unfaithful servants would be expelled, purged forever to the deplorable earth.
Meanwhile...
A pure and beautiful angel approached a building unassumingly, ignoring and being ignored by everyone around him. His six pairs of normally impressive wings did not attract attention today.
Everyone had more interesting things to do...
The building was far from ordinary, supported by large marble pillars, its door large enough for giants and dragons to pass through easily. The guards were there as usual, anxious but waiting.
However, when they saw the angel, something changed.
"Things are complicated in the main square and we need reinforcements. Leave your posts for now and let me guard the vault until the replacements arrive." The guards looked at each other for a few moments, not knowing how to react. If it had been anyone else, they would have ignored the orders and even considered it a conspiracy.
But this was Haniel, one of the archangels, an angel on the same level as Azazel and Michael. One of the few people who had authority in this chaos.
"But sir, you are much more powerful and important than us, I can't see why we should go and leave you here." Haniel nodded gently and immediately explained himself.
"If people started using force, the entire Heaven would be destroyed. Both Michael and I, as well as our father, want to end things peacefully. Just use moderate force, you understand? It wouldn't be moderate if we fought." They were soon enlightened and saw the sense in his words, but Haniel wasn't finished.
"And there are also many precious things back there in the vault. If Azazel goes crazy and tries something, no offense, but I doubt that just the two of you will be able to stop him. It's better for me to stay here, or at least someone stronger. Do you understand?" As they spoke, a small explosion occurred in the square.
The screams got even worse, and sensing an imminent conflict, the guards quickly ran to try to help.
Smiling kindly, Haniel waited for them to move away and opened the vault doors.
Closing them before anyone could peek in, he immediately began walking down the hallway.
Along the corridor, several altars adorned with gold and jewels stood out, above each of them an item floated slightly.
But none of it was valuable enough for him.
"Azazel must be crazy to sacrifice everything for a few busty women. Honestly, there are so many beautiful women around here, and he wanted those ones... truly a small-minded man." Sighing, he approached the end of the corridor.
"God created and empowered his angels, established the system of his faith, and much more. But the vast majority do not know how he created or empowered them..." His cheerful laughter filled the room as he looked at the source of divine and angelic powers.
He approached one of the altars, on which a small white die with red dots floated gently, wrapped around it a small white snake with red eyes.
The die never stopped spinning, and the snake was not dead either, its curious eyes analyzing him but continuing to spin around the die, its white skin full of curious marks full of meaning.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? Destiny in physical form, bad luck and good luck, blessings and inevitable calamities. Don't you think so, Gabriel? Michael?" The two angels stood behind him with complex and hurt expressions.
"It's not what it looks like, right? Haniel, you wouldn't do that, would you?" Gabriel was the first to speak, her feelings speaking for both of them. Michael remained silent for a few moments until he gathered the courage to speak.
"It's been a difficult day, please don't make it even harder." Haniel agreed softly.
"It's really not easy to expel our brothers, I understand your pain Michael, and I really have no intention of falling too, nor of hurting you even more." Haniel's serene voice had the power to calm any heart, the angel was known to be one of the most friendly and calm.
"So why are you here? Why do you want the dice of probability? Why do you want to control fate?" His nerves were on edge, things had almost gotten out of hand.
However, Haniel just shook his head in denial.
"I don't want the dice of probability, nor do I want to control destiny. That would be completely insane. Honestly, your head is in the clouds, Michael. You need a nice hot bath right now." The words continued to try to calm things down, and they almost succeeded.
"No one can control destiny, not even our father could. The most he could do was influence it a little, and he is, well, him. What could I do? Nothing, I would say." Anger and sadness soon gave way to doubt in the angelic hearts. Gabriel sighed with relief but still asked.
"Ahh, I'm glad you think so, it brings me great relief to know that. But then what are you doing here, especially now? Sorry if I thought nonsense, my head isn't in the best shape today either, but it seemed to me that you took advantage of the chaos to break in and take the dice."
"Yes, yes, I still need to explain myself, ahahaha. I took advantage of the situation to come in here and admire the dice once more... and you know, whenever I see it, I remember something..." The two angels were in high spirits, Haniel really did handle the dice frequently.
"Destiny is too powerful to be controlled, neither gods, nor angels, nor men can control it. Luck is the other side of misfortune, trying to bring more luck only attracts more calamity."
"Possessing the dice will only bring more disaster upon us, we lost Azazel this time, and next time? ... and of course you don't need to tell me that no one will agree with me."
"So I'll make things easier for both, I'll just pick him up and carry him away in the middle of the chaos." Michael advanced with his spear of light.
Haniel had gone completely mad.
He hadn't fallen; he was worse than a fallen angel.
Haniel simply felt the gaze of the serpent that waited silently for its freedom and grabbed it along with the dice.
"I trust in fate..."
He never tried to stop the attack.
Suddenly, the vault door exploded, fallen angels fighting in the square, and part of their power caused the door to fly toward Michael, hitting him.
The dust prevented Gabriel from seeing where he was, and Haniel's location was lost.
Without waiting any longer, Haniel flew away from the battlefield and made his way out of Heaven.
"That's how things ended this time, but it won't happen again, ever..." Descending to the human world, a heavy rain falls and with it countless black-winged angels fall with tears on their faces.
They were rejected by their own creator.
"Ahaha, what a timely moment of fate, no one will find you under the water, your location will be lost forever." He laughed dryly as he dropped the dice with the snake. "And they say I'm the crazy one..."
Some of the fallen angels soon noticed him laughing out of nowhere and became enraged, approaching abruptly with spears in their hands. He saw the blow coming, but what did it matter?
Unlike the fallen, he understood that everything had a price.
Luck and bad luck, Karma and Dharma.
"Everything has a price, and this is the price of my sin..." Soon the spears impaled him, causing him to fall into a sea of tears.
The only exceptions were those born of destiny.
Those blessed from birth by fate.