Page 55 of Metatron
“Hardly lying. No one ever did ask if Satan and I were one and the same,” his smarmy reply.
My lips went into a flat line. “Semantics. You taught the angels the devil was the enemy.”
“To give them purpose.”
“But you never let them fight,” I insisted.
To which Tron muttered, “He didn’t want his armies destroying each other. So, he kept us always on guard, always watching out for the big bad devil and his legion.”
“And it works,” Satan-now-looking-like-Elyon stated. “The angels keep busy and are titillated by our close encounters with Hell.”
“What do your demon princes think of that?” Tron questioned.
“They are too dumb to figure it out. And the few that aren’t and question why the legions haven’t crushed Heaven since we’re never too far apart? They are never heard from again. Alas, I have to use a more elaborate charade when it comes to angels. Public executions work poorly on Heaven, hence why I banished you.” Elyon’s lips twisted. “You were supposed to fly your choir to the ends of the universe and never bother me again. How ironic that, instead, you handed me the biggest treasure. A forgotten planet, ripe with resources.”
The more he spoke, the more every single religion unraveled. “The whole Heaven and Hell thing is a scam,” I stated.
“More like a machine. Each section has its use. Heaven provides me with obedient angels who seek out worlds with potential. They cultivate the flocks. They gather the suul Heaven needs, and when those flocks evolve and begin chafing or trying to overthrow, Hell sweeps in and the harvesting occurs.”
“You purposely had us lead innocents to the slaughter,” Tron whispered. He ducked his head as he struggled with the role he’d played.
I glanced at Elyon, so smug and superior. With reason, I could concede. His powers appeared infinite. He could create. Change. Kill. Yet he also relied on mundane things, too, given how many machines I’d seen in this place. Hell wasn’t like the cantorii that provided everything its crew needed. Then again, I imagine the difference had to do with effort and the amount of power needed. Like a car, you could drive fast and often, giving all your friends a ride, paying out the nose for gas, or you could use it economically, enjoying the fruits of owning the car but keeping the cost reasonable.
The gas in this case, suul. Elyon needed it to maintain his powers. So how did we cut him off?
Could we get him to spill his secret? Maybe reveal his weakness? A dumb plan, but my only one. He’d been cocky thus far. Would he also brag?
“Quite the con you’ve been running. And to think it’s all about to end.” I poked his ego with a threat.
As predicted, Elyon snorted in disdain. “The reports on humans are true I see. Brash. Bold. Stupid. Weak. You think your puny technology can defeat me? I am GOD!” He held out his hand, and lightning danced from his fingertips. He flung those jolts at me, but they didn’t connect. A feathery wing cracked open in front of me in protection. A glow surrounded Tron, a shield against the electricity.
The lightning strike stopped, and with the wing in my way, I could only hear Elyon say, “You removed your HALO.”
“And long past due. You must think you’re so clever using it to suppress our natural ability,” Tron declared.
Wait, what? I glanced at his head to see he’d managed his shield without the HALO he usually relied on.
“Its removal explains the dip in power,” a musing Elyon stated. “But before you get excited, I can still pull in more than I need. So don’t even think of attacking.”
It took me a second to unpack what he meant. Tron figured it out a millisecond before me.
“The HALOs feed you our magic.” Tron sounded sick.
“It’s much easier than touching a person to siphon.” Satan, because only that evil fucker would sound so proud. “The angels with the gift of a HALO are the strongest when it comes to converting suul into the holy spirt I use for miracles. They feed me constantly.”
“That’s why you rarely leave Heaven. Once the angels find out what you’ve done—”
“They won’t. Do you really think you’re the first to discover the secret?” The wide smile swallowed us in depravity. “None ever live to tell. The question is, how do you want to die? Quickly? Slowly? I like the latter because it involves torture first. And before you think it just the stoic kind where I whip you bloody waiting for you to beg, instead, I like to mind fuck as the humans would say. I am thinking, in your case, I’ll make your woman fall in love with me.”
“It’ll never happen,” I huffed.
“Oh, but it will,” the devil said in a smooth voice, and his appearance changed again, to a man in his thirties or forties, raven-black hair, features pale, wearing a dark suit, handsome as sin. “I am a master of seduction. Think of how you’ll feel when I have her begging me to take her and agreeing but only if we fornicate in front of you.” The handsome devil offered a smile to Tron.
“Never.”
“As if I hadn’t heard that before. Even the smartest and strongest can be seduced.” When the devil’s gaze shifted upward, I followed it to see the angel in the cage, standing at the slightly bent bars, big enough for me maybe, but not someone with wings. She stared and said nothing, her expression blank. Did she hate the devil, or had she reached a point past that to an apathy so strong she no longer reacted? It made me pity her.
As if sensing my thoughts, her gaze shifted to me and narrowed. A shiver went through me. Definitely not apathetic. Simmering rage existed within, coiled tight and waiting for its moment. Could she help us? I didn’t see how since we had no way of getting her out of the cage. I highly doubted the devil would let Tron have another go at the bars. Pity her HALO, acting as some kind of restraint, wouldn’t let her save herself. I wondered if it were gone, what she’d do.