"Awaken, Liora!"
The voice was melodic and powerful. The sort of voice that she could have listened to for centuries and still taken in with a keen delight. Parents spoke in the same voice to their children, albeit even this could not compare to the sheer love expressed by the sublime words. "Awaken, Liora!" Warmth soaked into her face, poignant as love, and her eyes flickered open for the first time to gaze upon the radiant joy of heaven. A smile stretched across her aspect.
Yawning, Liora stretched until she could feel her sinews creaking, then she leaped from her mattress of clouds. The being that had awakened her, God, stood several feet away, obscured by his attendant angels, the seraphim. Each of them had six wings, two concealing their countenances, two concealing their feet, and two carrying them on the ceaseless streams of divine wind. There was something vaguely unsettling about the seraphim, despite their obvious devotion and righteousness. They felt so callous. So alien.
"Why do you hide yourself from my sight?" she inquired, both mystified and uncertain. Am I at fault? Or is he like this with everyone? Liora couldn't remember doing anything wrong. She had existed for less than five minutes for crying out loud. Perhaps I'm not to his liking, she reflected despondently.
"You have committed no transgressions as of yet. However, like most of our creations, you are too distant from the depth of our glory. Were you to glance upon us, you would succumb to madness. For we ask you, who is like God? It is only through love and through mercy that one may sit before the likes of us."
Liora blinked, her eyelashes fluttering like dandelions as the breeze changed directions. "Love..." she muttered, "I beg your pardon, but what do you mean by love?"
"When you perceived that we had hidden ourselves from your view, you felt a sense of despair. You were fearful that we might be displeased with you. Is this not correct?" The seraphim drifted closer to where she stood, swirling like gilded electrons around the divine nucleus. A purple eye peeked out at her with benevolent indifference.
"Yes," the angel admitted in a tremulous tone, "I didn't know what would happen. You might have sent me back into nonexistence. I wasn't scared, though. My emotions were more complicated than that."
"Emotions?" The voice sounded amused, as though she had told a good joke. "We have given you one of all the passions that are possessed by mankind. Love. No others will be necessary in order to fulfill your function in this universe. What you felt earlier were the pangs of love. When you thought that you had earned our ire and that we might send you from our glorious presence, the love within you whimpered and called out for our forgiveness, our magnanimity, the reciprocation of your love with our love. The last of these is the eternal dialectic."
"Love," Liora repeated softly, "May I ask whether it is possible to love other beings? I presume that I and my fellows, whom you surely fashioned prior to myself, exist to serve and to praise your light and your love. My soul tells me it is so. Should I trust it also with all loves that I might entertain?"
A guffaw emanated from the midst of the seraphim, gruff and fatherly. "Our daughter, you speak of loves when there is only one love, the love which springs from us. It is all that you feel, as you will learn in due time. Love is not jealous. It is all-encompassing."
"Still," the angel urged weakly, "Should I trust the movements of my soul?" She could feel the breeze brushing lightly against her wings, ruffling the feathers until even her skin was tingling. Her soul had a breath too, the same breath, in fact. The divine breath. Yet, it was somehow different. More like a crystalline pond stained by moonlight, its halcyon beauty interrupted only by the ripples in the water. This breath was more palpable, more vital than anything her skin could ever feel.
"Keep faith with us," the voice replied, "Love us. Praise us. That is your purpose, and nothing else." As the deity spoke, his attendants began to chant their eternal song, a perpetual ode to their creator. Listening, Liora was tempted to sing in response or to call out to someone. Who, she could not say. She felt herself being pulled inexorably forward, towards the vertigo of the dancing seraphim, drawn by the tempo and majesty of their song. "Enough!"
The song died instantly, sending a chill through the angel's substance. It was as though all the warmth, all the love, had been drained from her. The sepharim had begun to drift into the horizon, moving at an impossible pace. They weren't walking. They weren't even flying. "How-" Liora started to ask. It's not important, the voice interjected, "Though, you shall learn in time. It is our will that it should be so, and our will is always realized."
"You will be the last daughter molded by our hands, and much beloved by us. We are all-loving. We are also just. What is love if not justice? What is justice if not love? What is an angel, a man, a god without these traits? A trifle thing, devoid of purpose." Then, the seraphim vanished, leaving a residue of blinding light.
"What?" Liora mumbled, utterly perplexed at how confusing a person God was. "That made absolutely no sense..." An electric shock pulsed through the angel's right pointer finger and through her body, causing her to collapse into a heap atop a soft, cool clump of grass. "Us damn it!" the voice swore, "Well, it is within our power to damn everything, but that's not the point! Stop interrupting! We were trying to create a mood. Angels! We swear! They're always ruining everything. What's a god to do? Anyways, look to Lucifer for guidance. We've got more godly things to do than teach an angel how to get her wings. Our friend Moses is throwing a rave at Mt. Sinai tonight, for instance. It would not do to keep him waiting. A God is never early or late, but always arrive exactly when he is needed. Bye, now."
The voice was melodic and powerful. The sort of voice that she could have listened to for centuries and still taken in with a keen delight. Parents spoke in the same voice to their children, albeit even this could not compare to the sheer love expressed by the sublime words. "Awaken, Liora!" Warmth soaked into her face, poignant as love, and her eyes flickered open for the first time to gaze upon the radiant joy of heaven. A smile stretched across her aspect.
Yawning, Liora stretched until she could feel her sinews creaking, then she leaped from her mattress of clouds. The being that had awakened her, God, stood several feet away, obscured by his attendant angels, the seraphim. Each of them had six wings, two concealing their countenances, two concealing their feet, and two carrying them on the ceaseless streams of divine wind. There was something vaguely unsettling about the seraphim, despite their obvious devotion and righteousness. They felt so callous. So alien.
"Why do you hide yourself from my sight?" she inquired, both mystified and uncertain. Am I at fault? Or is he like this with everyone? Liora couldn't remember doing anything wrong. She had existed for less than five minutes for crying out loud. Perhaps I'm not to his liking, she reflected despondently.
"You have committed no transgressions as of yet. However, like most of our creations, you are too distant from the depth of our glory. Were you to glance upon us, you would succumb to madness. For we ask you, who is like God? It is only through love and through mercy that one may sit before the likes of us."
Liora blinked, her eyelashes fluttering like dandelions as the breeze changed directions. "Love..." she muttered, "I beg your pardon, but what do you mean by love?"
"When you perceived that we had hidden ourselves from your view, you felt a sense of despair. You were fearful that we might be displeased with you. Is this not correct?" The seraphim drifted closer to where she stood, swirling like gilded electrons around the divine nucleus. A purple eye peeked out at her with benevolent indifference.
"Yes," the angel admitted in a tremulous tone, "I didn't know what would happen. You might have sent me back into nonexistence. I wasn't scared, though. My emotions were more complicated than that."
"Emotions?" The voice sounded amused, as though she had told a good joke. "We have given you one of all the passions that are possessed by mankind. Love. No others will be necessary in order to fulfill your function in this universe. What you felt earlier were the pangs of love. When you thought that you had earned our ire and that we might send you from our glorious presence, the love within you whimpered and called out for our forgiveness, our magnanimity, the reciprocation of your love with our love. The last of these is the eternal dialectic."
"Love," Liora repeated softly, "May I ask whether it is possible to love other beings? I presume that I and my fellows, whom you surely fashioned prior to myself, exist to serve and to praise your light and your love. My soul tells me it is so. Should I trust it also with all loves that I might entertain?"
A guffaw emanated from the midst of the seraphim, gruff and fatherly. "Our daughter, you speak of loves when there is only one love, the love which springs from us. It is all that you feel, as you will learn in due time. Love is not jealous. It is all-encompassing."
"Still," the angel urged weakly, "Should I trust the movements of my soul?" She could feel the breeze brushing lightly against her wings, ruffling the feathers until even her skin was tingling. Her soul had a breath too, the same breath, in fact. The divine breath. Yet, it was somehow different. More like a crystalline pond stained by moonlight, its halcyon beauty interrupted only by the ripples in the water. This breath was more palpable, more vital than anything her skin could ever feel.
"Keep faith with us," the voice replied, "Love us. Praise us. That is your purpose, and nothing else." As the deity spoke, his attendants began to chant their eternal song, a perpetual ode to their creator. Listening, Liora was tempted to sing in response or to call out to someone. Who, she could not say. She felt herself being pulled inexorably forward, towards the vertigo of the dancing seraphim, drawn by the tempo and majesty of their song. "Enough!"
The song died instantly, sending a chill through the angel's substance. It was as though all the warmth, all the love, had been drained from her. The sepharim had begun to drift into the horizon, moving at an impossible pace. They weren't walking. They weren't even flying. "How-" Liora started to ask. It's not important, the voice interjected, "Though, you shall learn in time. It is our will that it should be so, and our will is always realized."
"You will be the last daughter molded by our hands, and much beloved by us. We are all-loving. We are also just. What is love if not justice? What is justice if not love? What is an angel, a man, a god without these traits? A trifle thing, devoid of purpose." Then, the seraphim vanished, leaving a residue of blinding light.
"What?" Liora mumbled, utterly perplexed at how confusing a person God was. "That made absolutely no sense..." An electric shock pulsed through the angel's right pointer finger and through her body, causing her to collapse into a heap atop a soft, cool clump of grass. "Us damn it!" the voice swore, "Well, it is within our power to damn everything, but that's not the point! Stop interrupting! We were trying to create a mood. Angels! We swear! They're always ruining everything. What's a god to do? Anyways, look to Lucifer for guidance. We've got more godly things to do than teach an angel how to get her wings. Our friend Moses is throwing a rave at Mt. Sinai tonight, for instance. It would not do to keep him waiting. A God is never early or late, but always arrive exactly when he is needed. Bye, now."
. 