Archangel Raphael loved humans. He sincerely respected them and believed that humanity was their greatest creation, even if the Darkness had managed to seep into their essence. Art, science, technology—all of it was the creation of humans: from the primitive spear to the most complex computers. To Raphael, humans were dual: containing both Darkness and Light, they could be both "good" and "bad," and Raphael believed his main duty was not only to watch over the world of men but also to guide them. It was he who had once suggested creating churches, promoting faith in God, which humans later called religion. And it was he who came to those who desperately cried out to God for help, but this understanding did not come to him right away.
For many, many years, Raphael studied humans, silently watching them and desperately trying to understand his own creation. Adam, the only "man" who retained only pure Light within him, was completely unsatisfactory to Raphael, who sincerely believed that the Light should be an ideal—sinless, perfect, and infallible. Raphael considered himself to be just such a being, yet each time he was bitterly confronted with a cruel, stubborn reality: their own brother, Lucifer, had made a mistake. A huge, monstrous mistake. One for which he was not… not killed only because God himself had saved him then, merging Darkness and Light within him.
At that time, Raphael, who disliked violence like the other Seraphim (except for Michael, perhaps), was ready to step over his own principles to cleanse this world of the living proof of his own error. He wanted only to prove to himself that they, the children of God himself, creatures of pure Light, were still as perfect as before. But… their Father's intervention changed everything, forbidding them from resolving the issue so simply.
For many years after that, Raphael cursed Lucifer, hated and despised him, yet desperately tried to understand him. And he failed every time. This made Raphael despise himself as well, for Lucifer was their Father's favorite son, and his ideas, though often seeming foolish, even childish at first, turned out to be brilliant upon closer examination. And to admit that another of his brother's "brilliant" ideas had brought Darkness into their perfect world… was difficult. As was admitting that he, Raphael, a perfect being in his own opinion, could not understand WHY he had done it.
He never asked Lucifer himself about it. Moreover, he never spoke to his brother at all after that transgression, simply fearing he would lose control and once again reveal his own imperfection. Though he never admitted this, even to himself.
Adam, their son, created in the image and likeness of the Father himself, the man who was supposed to lead all of humanity into a bright, beautiful future, turned out to be completely different from what Raphael had imagined. In his mind, this was a creation akin to God himself, with the exact same worldview and character. But their child was different. Many deeds that "perfect" beings would never do, in Raphael's opinion, Adam did, seeing absolutely nothing wrong with it. And this made him, Raphael, hate himself even more. For in trying to create an ideal, he had created one who was infinitely far from that "ideal," which meant his work was also imperfect, and… It was then that Raphael, for the first time in his life, allowed the thought that even the Seraphim could make mistakes. If Lucifer's act was incomprehensible to Raphael but forgiven by their Father, then the "imperfection" of his own creation was immediately obvious. At that time, Raphael simply dismissed all these thoughts and continued to help his brothers and sisters maintain this fragile world.
And then came the War with Hell. Raphael simply did not know what to do. He, like any other Seraphim, knew perfectly well WHAT the Darkness would do to them if they descended into Hell. But how could he help the terrified inhabitants of Heaven? And at that very moment, the "imperfect" Adam, as he had seemed, began to act. He gathered an army, led the angelic host, and… won… In that moment, Raphael suddenly understood that their child, though he behaved completely differently from how he had imagined, might very well be that very ideal. For many years after that, Raphael continued to observe Adam. But after that war, he seemed to have returned to his old self, completely losing the majestic image in which he had appeared before the terrified Seraphim during the War. "Could it be that Adam's own nature is also dual?" Raphael thought then. "But there isn't a drop of Darkness in him, so why?"
A long time had passed since then, and finally, Raphael decided to act. His own understanding of the ideal was cracking at the seams, and so the Seraphim decided that if humans were imperfect, he could try to make them so! The opening of churches, numerous miracles created by his power, and… Adam, who unexpectedly wished to participate in it all. The Seraphim decided to trust his "son," hoping that he would once again become that same hero… Adam then took another name, assumed the appearance of a newborn child to a simple woman who could not have children, and began to "change the world." In those moments, Raphael hated his son, who, while drunk, would stage some incomprehensible, vulgar circus. And what about his turning water into wine during another one of their drunken parties? How did he even manage to get so drunk on ordinary wine?
A long time passed after that, and the church, which Raphael had so long and diligently guided, began to change. At first, Raphael didn't even realize something was wrong. Then he turned his attention to human society and was horrified—people were rapidly degenerating! The church was immediately informed, but when Raphael looked at the world of men again, he realized with horror that his own church was ALREADY worshipping the Darkness. It was then that Raphael lost his composure for the first time, remembering how Adam acted in similar situations.
He slaughtered everyone who had even a drop of Darkness in them. Humans called it the plague, but Raphael didn't care what they called the Seraphim's punishment. The wary attitude from his brothers and sisters also bothered him little. He was worried about something else: his own imperfection.
On that day, he finally admitted that even he was far from the title of a perfect being. But on that very same day, he decided he would do everything to ensure that humanity still came to the Light. And though they were imperfect, the Light would accept them too. For had it not accepted him, who so often erred?
Many years passed, and the disgusting trend began anew: people started degenerating again. Science developed, many bright minds were born, but society itself grew worse and worse. Again his arrival at the church, again desperate attempts to prevent humanity's mistakes, and again—Darkness within the church itself. Now, only a small handful, but at the head of the church was some mad occultist who had sold his soul to the Darkness.
On that day, Raphael fought the very Darkness that all the Seraphim feared so much. And he won. He burned out the remnants of Darkness from his own being, destroyed the Darkness he could reach, and annihilated all those who preached this horror. Humans again came up with some scientific explanation for his punishment, but Raphael didn't give a damn. For even the insignificant specks of Darkness that had fallen on him then were almost enough for his complete takeover. And to prevent such a thing in the future, he began to visit humans more and more often, helping them and giving orders to the church, which had finally begun to act.
This continued for many years, until another rebellion from Hell occurred. Lilith led an army of immortal sinners, demanding an immediate meeting with Adam. After a short but bloody battle, for which the sinners, for some reason, were completely unprepared, Heaven won, but Lilith still managed to meet with Adam. The result of their meeting was some kind of agreement, because of which that lost child now had the full right to rest peacefully on one of the remote islands in Heaven. This, of course, did not sit well with Raphael, but he was willing to accept it for the sake of peace. And after only seven years… Adam changed.
At first, Raphael didn't believe himself. It was the same sudden, radical change as when the War had begun. He even cautiously asked his brothers and sisters, but they, it seemed, noticed nothing. It appeared his years of observing the first man had led to him being the first to notice these changes in him. And it would have been right to tell the others, but… Adam seemed to have become better. Nothing major, but… a little thing here, a little thing there, and now, before Raphael stood a creation that was truly acting for the good of the Light. A being close to his own ideal, so similar to their Father… This was not the same Adam. But this was the Adam that this world and all its inhabitants so desperately needed. Hearing Sarakael's words at one of the meetings, Raphael finally decided to trust Adam once more…
POV Adam
"Adam…" Sera arched a delicate eyebrow, looking at me with a faint, barely noticeable disapproval. So what? Don't I have the right to kick open the door to the Council Hall? Oh, this Heaven with its prim and proper manners. "You asked to convene the Council…" she continued as I, ignoring all of it, walked forward.
"Yep, one second," I flew over to Raphael, who widened his eyes slightly at my action, looking at me in surprise. I held out a pastry to him, which he took purely on instinct. "Good man. Without you, I'd still be dealing with all these problems," I winked at him and descended to my seat in the middle of the hall.
"Ahem…" Sera cleared her throat loudly, breaking the slightly strange atmosphere. "So?"
"Alright. On today's agenda, I have several important issues, primarily concerning Earth," I adopted a more serious expression, then looked around at the silent Seraphim. "Eve is inactive. Today, I teamed up with the local church, and in the near future, a proper propaganda campaign will begin on Earth, promoting a righteous lifestyle and discrediting Hell. I think this will have a very good effect on the general population of Earth."
"…" Sera, glancing briefly at Emily sitting next to her, turned her gaze back to me and nodded silently, as if to say, "continue."
"As of now, I have confiscated all the angelic steel from the humans. But I would like you to perform your magical song and dance again and completely cleanse the Earth of it. Just in case."
"Angelic steel? Why was it even on Earth?" Emily immediately interjected. I gave her an encouraging wink to calm her down. Without it, the poor thing would have just sat there silently listening, so terrified had one Dark bitch made her.
"Angelic steel is the perfect weapon because it's a metal imbued with the very concept of Death," I explain to the kid, and immediately catch an indignant look from the head of the Seraphim. Heh, she doesn't want this little one to know things she considers "unnecessary." Sorry to disappoint her, but I'm definitely not going to stay silent. "It was on Earth so that humans could independently fight against the demons that infiltrate their world and kill them daily," I shrugged.
"Adam!" Sera intervened, noticing the genuine shock on her sister-daughter's face (they have a very strange relationship).
"Sera, I'm afraid Em already knows enough that you should be afraid to withhold any more information from her."
"Knows? What did you tell her?" the Seraphim rose slightly from her seat, fixing me with her demanding gaze.
"Sera, don't," Emily interrupted her, suddenly appearing beside her. "Adam is not to blame for anything."
"Eve has infiltrated Heaven," I interject, and immediately get the exact reaction I wanted. Everyone is in shock. More accurately, they're shell-shocked. Fucked, even. Absolutely fucked.
"And she 'revealed' some of our secrets to this little one. I think it's no longer very reasonable to restrict her access to information. You don't want just anyone to be able to manipulate her so easily, do you?"
"Okay, let's start from the beginning. And… Emily, I… I would like to talk to you after our meeting… Are you okay with that?" a sad, almost pleading look, in which I could see genuine fear even from a distance, was fixed on the youngest of all the Seraphim.
"No…" the girl replied quietly, glancing quickly at me. Well, at least she's not mad at Sera, so thanks for that. Thanks to me, of course.
POV Raphael
Adam has pulled something off again… Just something else. I can't even find the words to describe the circus that took place in the Council Hall today. I understand perfectly well that it's normal to show emotions. And even at such important, official meetings, it's sometimes impossible to do without them. I myself have, at times, been unable to control myself, like last time when the conversation turned to Adam, but now…
Never mind all this news about the world of men. Even without consulting anyone, Adam acted correctly. I probably would have done the exact same thing myself if I had all the necessary information. Except, I trust humans a little more. But all his dealings in Hell… It was just… Again, I can't find the right words. The censored ones, at least.
A catalog of all sinners, eternal, total surveillance of their actions, discreet help for those who still have some chance of redemption… And he managed to pull all this off in no more than six months! Adam, with Sarakael's help, was able to create an entire network that uploaded real-time information about which sinners NEEDED to be exterminated, and which ones were not to be touched! And all this was determined by thousands of stealth drones that constantly scanned Pentagram City, weeding out the worst of the worst from the general population! And our dear brother didn't even warn us about it! Not a single word that something like this was even being prepared! How am I supposed to understand that?!
And the fact that Eve somehow managed to infiltrate Heaven… Learning about that was more than just "unpleasant." But feelings are one thing; the real question was "what the fuck do we do now?!". Create another barrier that, as usual, will be effective for a few hundred years, max? Not the best idea, especially considering Adam's own assumptions about Eve's Concept… Removing all the shadows in Heaven is like treating the symptoms, not the disease itself. The question was rather what needed to be done to prevent an army of Darkness from appearing in Heaven, not coming up with countermeasures for Eve herself.
And now we have to extract all that angelic steel again, but this time from Earth! Ugh, my head is already aching from all this. Why do I have so much damn work?!?
POV Adam
"Why do I have so much work?" I sighed heavily, feeling the gentle, soothing touch of my beauty's hands in my hair. I was lying on our sofa, shamelessly occupying Lute's lap, complaining to her about my difficult archangel life.
"You did great," she encouraged me. "And I have a reward for you, my hero." Then I felt a slight movement and, before I could even open my eyes, I received a gentle but insistent kiss on the lips. Well then, it seems I already know exactly how I'm going to spend this evening.
What would I do without my valkyrie?...