Archanghel: Tale of the Universe

Chapter 16

I was relishing the moment when I felt so lucky, to have a wonderful mother, friends and guardian. It was all a little bliss, not until we heard a shrieking scream. It came from the other corner. The party stopped abruptly and everybody turned their eyes to the girl, the source of the scream.

She was sitting on the floor while clutching her wrist that was oozing with blood. She had a look of terror on her face as she stared teary-eyed at her wound. Another scream escaped her lips. Asmodeus walked towards her and crouched down. He smiled at the girl.

“Why are you so scared? Isn’t this what you want?” Asmodeus’ voice sends a shiver down my spine. It also made everybody quiet, eerily quiet.

“Wh-who are you?” was the first thing the girl asked. Asmodeus gave her another smirk.

“Why do you look scared, Cheryl? You wanted this, right? You have decided that this was for your own good.” Asmodeus repeated in a low tone. But because everyone stopped what they were doing and got quiet, it was heard loud and clear.

“Where am I? What are you?” The girl once again questioned. Asmodeus sighed.

“You are in hell. You took your own life without remorse. As if it was the most fulfilling decision you have ever made. You choose to walk this path and embrace the demon.” Asmodeus pointed somewhere and we all looked at where it was.

It was a middle-heated woman with a deformed appearance. When Cheryl looked at her, she transformed. From a deranged looking demon, her skin was replaced by normal human skin, her face became human, until she became a human. Recognition dawned on Cheryl’s face.

“Anna?” She called out. “You are... you are a demon?” Disbelief registered on Cheryl’s face as she stared at the one, she called Anna.

She might be her friend. I thought to myself.

“I am a demon, Cheryl. Your best friend was a demon. I didn’t think that you would listen to me, that you would take your own life. You just made my work easier.” Anna smirked at Cheryl, her tone was cold and uncaring.

“No. No, that is not true. You are not Anna. You're not my best friend.” Denial was evident on Cheryl’s face as she shook her head. She also muttered those words to herself as if to convince her mind that she was not what she claimed to be. Maybe this is all a dream.

I can’t help but take pity on the situation that she was in. She had just died of suicide and to learn that her best friend was not what she had known her to be was devastating. It was not that different from when I learned about my father.

Cheryl was crawling away from the crowd of humans and demons. She stood up and put a great distance between her and Asmodeus, as well as her best friend. All the while, Asmodeus was just smirking at her. Kuriel then stood behind Cheryl. He looked nothing like the demons that surrounded her, so relief washed over her. She saw hope when her eyes landed on Kuriel.

No, no, don’t go to him!

“Can’t we just save her?” I finally voiced out when I could no longer tolerate what was happening before us. To my disappointment, Miniel just shook his head.

“It was her decision that had brought her here. In her case, only those souls who regret their decision wholeheartedly are the ones fitted to crossover to the Cosmos and be judged whether to have another life or blessed to be placed in the Abode.”

I saw conflict in Miniel’s eyes and it was a relief to know that I was not the only one who felt pity for the girl. I sighed. Why are these things happening? Why do they need to seduce humans to sin and then give them endless punishment?

“So, you mean to say that all of it was their sole fault?” I summarized what Miniel said.

“Sometimes, people will question the universe when their problems seem endless. They would blame every one of their misfortunes. They would forget about Him when they can no longer find the strength to carry on,” Miniel continued, “They didn’t think all those hardships and problems that they were facing were just trials. Trials to strengthen the faith they had. And all those misfortunes were just the effect of the bad decisions they'd made.”

“It was all just an outcome of their decision?” I summarized to Miniel.

“Well, not all of it, since there are demons who influence humans to do those things,” He clarified.

I almost forgot about Cheryl because I was so engrossed in the topic. I also forgot that we are still in hell and not in some green field having a chat about anything and life. It’s how easy things felt like.

“What will happen if evil disappears completely? What will the world become?” I curiously asked.

“If that ever happens, the world will become a better place. It will be like how beautiful Cosmos is. But sadly, even He can never eradicate evil from its roots.” Miniel gave me a little smile as he gazed at somewhere far away.

“Why?”

My full attention was on Miniel. Upon bearing my question, he looked at me. There was still a small smile on his lips when he answered me.

“Because aside from the plants and animals, He gave every being he made a mentality. He gave humans the will and intellect to have their own decisions and opinions…” He paused, letting the words travel through. It was louder than when it was said and that made my head bow.

That is what Mamang had told me before. The reason why humans were more advanced than any other being on earth was because they have those special gifts. But still, I can’t understand why there are still people who do evil things and get thrown into hell.

As if on cue, my surroundings turned out. I noticed the commotion that was once far from us, now near us. What is happening?

I noticed that Kuriel was holding Cheryl and was assisting her to walk to a place, all the while Kuriel was whispering something in her ears. I caught a glimpse of it when they neared the place where Miniel and I were sitting.

“You need to accept the fate that you have chosen. Just like all the people here.” Is what I heard.

“You really are something, guardian, Miniel. Your name is Miniel, right?”

I jerked my head to look back at the owner of the voice. My eyes went wide upon recognizing his face. Satan. It was not some kind of apparition; Satan was really standing before us. Because of shock, I stood there motionless and was not able to form a coherent word.

“Who are you to use your powers here? Didn’t you know that it was part of the law?” His voice was full of menace as he spat those words to Miniel. “You are an angel but you don’t know how to abide the law? Is that why you were thrown here by your creator? Your creator who knows nothing else but his law and rules?”

I think I know now why people and some demons didn’t want to face Satan when he's angry. He looked frightening as he fired his accusations at Miniel. It made me step back and inched myself at the back of Miniel for protection. I thought Miniel would cower too, but he did the opposite.

“Don’t talk about Him like that! You don’t have the right to even mention his name.” Miniel leveled Satan’s menacing tone with his own authoritative voice. He was not backing down.

“Why? Do you think I care? You are following that kind of prideful and selfish being? If you, all of you, listened to me, we should be ruling the universe instead of being stuck in this hellhole!”

I grasped Miniel’s arms in fear. Miniel placed himself in front of me in a protective stance. Then fear gripped my heart tightly when Miniel nervously looked back at me. My heart pounded as fear crawled up and spread through my body. It’s as if some invisible claw was going to snatch me and do something that I will never like.

+++

“Xandy... Xandy... Xandriel!”

Janus woke up with a jolt. He was huffing as cold sweat traveled down his face and back. He was also shaking in fear and his eyes were wide as a saucer. He felt his heart pound loudly on his ears. He scanned the place. He was still in the hospital room he was admitted to.

A nightmare. It was just a nightmare. He tried to convince himself but it was difficult. It felt so real. It was as if his whole being was there. Janus swung his feet down the bed. He looked for his slippers before he went outside his room.

He was just walking in the silent hallway of the hospital until he reached his desired room. He turned the knob and gently pushed it inside, casting a small amount of light inside the corridor. Janus went inside and quietly closed the door.

Janus approached the bed, Xandriel's new body was still lying on the bed. Nothing changed from when he left her room earlier. There was a small bedside lamp on the table and Janus flickered the switch to open. He reached out to hold her hand and sat down on the chair beside her. He had already got used to the gesture as he always does every time he visits her.

“When are you going to wake up? I dreamt about you.” Janus whispered slowly.

Even though Janus had spent a good amount of time walking through the corridors and trying to calm his nerves and seeing her sleeping form, he still hadn’t shaken off the anxiousness he felt.