Heaven. Entrance to the Seventh Heaven.
Standing in front of the gates that would lead to the System Core, the place where the Heavenly System originated from and the residence of the God of the Bible, I could not help but feel a bit of trepidation despite he arduous ritual that Michael conducted on my behalf to let me through.
Looking to the side, I caught Michael's nostalgic look while Gabriel happily stood close to my other side, refusing to let go of my arm, which I did not protest too much about.
By this point, I am about 90% sure about my previous identity in this world.
In the past two months that I spent in Tokyo alongside Azazel the Fallen Angel and his institute of degenerates (Seriously, almonst 70 to 80% of their population has such intense negative karma that it feels like I walked into a world of black smog the moment I activated my karmic sight, with Azazel being the worst of it all), trying to investigate anything and everything, I've come upon a few startling discoveries that have made me question my life on multiple occations.
For one, the fact that my Cherubim Gatekeepers remember serving with Arael as the guardians of the Seventh Heaven for countless eons.
I learned this fact after I sat them down and had a good, long talk with them, along with Empyrean.
Apparently, they remember a time when the Heavens drifted through a 'sea of nothingness' during a time that nobody remembers anymore. They remember fighting alongside 'me' to protect the heavens with the very first angels to have ever been created, such as Helel (Lucifer), Samael, Azazel, and a handful of others, before God created more Angels, which included Michael, Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel, and many other first-generation angels.
They also remember fighting alongside 'me' to the bitter end against Lucifer and his cronies before they were slain through overwhelming numbers that negated most of their strategies.
Aside from these testimonies from my summoned angels, I have also been gathering a lot of evidence from those times by accessing Heaven's System and also taking many ancient tomes and documents from Azazel's institute and his personal collections.
After arduous testing and information gathering, I have reached a point where I cannot deny the truth anymore, no matter how much I wanted to.
I am Arael. Somehow, someway, I am that angel with about 70 to 80% certainty.
This is why I am not protesting to Gabriel, Michael, and the others' close proximity in my personal space.
Because, right now, I do not want to act like an ass anymore, especially towards my potential siblings now that the final bits of proof I need are within my reach.
Looking towards Michael's happy expressions, I could not help but speak with a bit of doubt in my voice.
"Michael, you are not trying to shift your job onto me, right? I still need time to come to terms with all of this, if my hypothesis is true."
The angel that once had golden wings that radiated a tanted divinity, but were now wings of pure white feathers, gave me a charming and innocent smile.
"I do not know what you are talking about, brother."
"....Your wings-"
"It is a coincidence."
"But-"
"A coincidence."
"The System-"
"A. Coincidence."
"...Alright."
This guy! What is up with this sudden switch in his personality? How come that steady and calm angel became a mischievous one like this all of a sudden?
I ignored how Gabriel giggled and tightened her hold on my arm a little bit, making me look into her tender gaze as she continued staring at her siblings and me.
...My instincts are telling me that something fishy is going on here, and my emotions are starting to spike again, but I know that I can't say anything right now without any proof to back up my words.
So, with reluctance, I let go of the issue and walked towards the gate.
"Alright. Guide me through the process again."
Michael nodded as the other angels became a bit serious.
"Alright, brother Aetherion. First, once you enter the Seventh Heaven, you will need to shield yourself with your Light to avoid getting tainted by Father's remnant divinity inside."
"Then, you will need to walk towards the central throne that will be visible to you from the very moment you enter."
"Then, connected to the throne, you will feel tendrils of holy energy headed deeper inside. Follow those tendrils until you reach an orb made of divine metals and energies, protected by various wards and seals that Father personally made. That is the core of the system."
Michael gave me a small cross made of a metal that I did not recognize, not even through my connection to the System.
"This is the 'Key' to the Seals. Without it, you will not be able to access the system. Once you are done, return immediately and give that back to me."
Palming the cross, I felt the same kind of tainted divinity within it that Michael held until yesterday, when he came out of the ritual.
If I were to guess, I would say that he must have transferred his divinity into this 'key' in some way, allowing him to shed his divinity temporarily.
Is that why he is so happy right now? Did he truly hate the divinity he inherited after gaining control of the System?
Shaking my head to get rid of those thoughts, I turned to the gates of the Seventh Heaven.
"What was that ritual for? Michael? Tell me the truth and not that stuff about making it safe for me to traverse it without getting 'incinerated'."
I spotted the way he held a guilty expression for a second before going back to normal.
'So, my guess was right. This guy really did do something else aside from just ensuring a safe passage. How deceptive for an angel.'
"I did not mean to lie to you, brother. I just made a few changes here and there to facilitate things for you."
"...Fine. Let's get to it."
I dismissed his words and headed towards the gate, knowing that I would not get a straight answer from the angel.
Whatever he did, I doubt he would do anything to harm me, given how much he and his siblings love Arael.
'Man. What a complicated situation.'
With another sigh, I just walked towards the gate, which swung open on its own.
'Let's see what this place has in store for me.'
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Watching their brother disappear into the Seventh Heaven, Gabriel turned towards Michael with a slight frown and worry in her eyes.
"Brother Michael, was what you did really necessary?"
Micahel sighed at his sister's words as his illusion of strength fell away, revealing how much his light energy had been lost in the past few days, thanks to the ritual he had performed.
"Yes. Gabriel. It was necessary. The Seventh Heaven is the core of the Heavenly System, but it is also the place of Father's residence. So the energies within are full of pure Light. Light that will corrupt anyone, even an angel, into inheriting his divinity. That is why I had to transfer the divine energy I inherited from Father's throne, along with some of my own energy, into that 'Key' to allow Brother Arael safe passage inside."
"...But, will that be enough? Will he truly find the so-called proof that he wants to find in there?"
Listening to his sister's bitter words and downcast look, Michael could not help but smile sadly and rub her head.
"All we can do is have faith. In Father, who always had a solution for everything, and hopefully stored a solution for this kind of issue within the system core, and in Brother Arael, that he would eventually regain his memories of us and overcome the trauma of that sinister torture that Lucifer subjected him to."
Remembering what their brother Arael had told them about the place he found in the Underworld, and what that magic circle was designed to do after his investigations, the angels could not help but feel the kind of rage that they had not felt since Father's death, making thier wings briefly start shifting to a muted grey before they regained their control on thier emotions.
If Lucifer were still alive, there was no doubt in the angels' minds that they would stop at nothing to make that traitor pay for his actions and for how he tortured their kin and their most beloved brother.
Michael was sure that even Azazel and a lot of the older Fallen Angels would join them in hunting Lucider down since many of them still cared about their beloved brother Arael.
After all, he was the only angel, along with his Gatekeepers, to still call the Fallen Angels his brothers and sisters even after they fell and tried to help them atone for their sins, even if it was largely a wasted effort.
As the gates of Seventh Heaven finally sealed up completely, indicating that Arael, or Aetherion as he prefers being called, had entered the realm completely, the Angels could only wait with faith and hope in their hearts.
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Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1