Chapter 248 - 248: ...A Child (2)
"The humans of my universe developed strong enough…
...that they were able to kill Father."
"Able to kill… your Father?"
The golden trails of light that still traveled across Hermes's body slowly waned. He had not rested even once, even before their war in his world. From delivering the souls to the Afterlife, to defending his universe to the foreign army that wanted to conquer them, to battling it out with the last remaining Seraph, never once did the light fade from his body.
But now, after thousands of years, he rested.
"Yes."
"But that is… impossible."
"In your universe, yes. Your world is what? An eon? Ours is a thousand times more than that. What you deem impossible might just be rational in ours."
"This one you call the Father, is he your creator?"
"Father is not a He, Father is Father."
"...That makes Father a he," Hermes's form slowly shrunk as he floated near Azrael.
"What is Chaos to you then?"
"I guess you could say she is the Mother of everything."
"And you presume that Mother is a she?"
"...Well yeah, she would be called Father if she wasn't."
"...Hm," Azrael slightly tilted her head to the side as her 4 remaining wings retracted in her back, "I believe that is enough semantics. Yes, the humans of my world were able to kill Father. I was granted the power over life, and I am, as you are, also given the power to be beside where death resides; even if it was in a different universe."
"And so you came to ours."
"We escaped to yours," Azrael shook her head, "It was our last option, to abandon the universe that our Father created."
"These humans that you speak of… how were they able to kill your Father?"
As Hermes asked that question, Azrael slowly lifted her hand; and Hermes, instead of putting his guard up, approached Azrael even closer. Azrael then opened up her palm, and as soon as she did so, a projection of light burst forth everywhere-- showing the events of what happened.
"Father is an ephemeral being, he existed, but at the same time, he does not. Ours is not as straightforward as yours, Father only exists if he needs to… and that is exactly what they made Father do. First, the humans destroyed their homeworld, but they were able to travel to a new one.
This happened over and over again, until what was deemed impossible happened-- they had no habitable planets left to conquer. They were almost wiped out from the existence of the universe, everything would have been reset if they just perished. But Father… Father did not allow them to; they gifted them Wisdom. More wisdom than they already have and had; more wisdom than even we, Father's First Children, have.
Soon, they once again thrived. They were able to form different planets into anything they wished. But once again, in time, they had no universe left to contaminate. Every planet, every star, every asteroid, a human lived and lives. And once again, they found themselves dying, along with the universe."
Hermes's eyes continued to scan the projections that showed the history of Azrael's universe, but it was when his eyes landed on Azrael's face did he truly know how grave the situation became.
"And once again," Azrael continued her story after a short respite, "Father intervened. He gave them more Wisdom; wisdom enough to give the humans the ability to create their own worlds."
"What…" Hermes once again focused on Azrael's eyes. If he wasn't mistaken, then he could see a single tear building up from her eye, "...is that even possible?"
"It shouldn't have been, but Father made it so," Azrael closed her eyes, pushing out the single tear that floated through the expanse of space.
"But I still do not get it," Hermes placed his hand on his chiseled chin, "How were they able to kill your Father, who was able to give them that kind of power?"
"Because they no longer needed him. Father's existence thrived in the need of those who live in his universe. If you gift someone the power to create, then what are they, if not Fathers of their own?"
"But following your story, your Father killed himself."
"...That is not how we see it," Azrael furrowed her eyebrows, "Another eon passed, and the humans were able to go to our domain. And do you know what the funny part is?"
"...I didn't know you guys were capable of funny," Hermes bantered, "When we were fighting back there, I thought you Seraphs were incapable of thought."
"That is irrelevant," Azrael squinted her eyes. The interaction between the two became more casual as time passed; one could even say human.
"The funny part is-- they thought that we were the lesser creature. After thousands of eons, even with all the Wisdom that was directly given to them by Father, they have forgotten who created them. And perhaps they were right, at that moment, we were the lesser creature."
"...They were capable of that?"
"They were capable of more. The roles in which we Seraphs were originally birthed from, they have surpassed. What is I, Azrael the Angel of Death, if there are no deaths to reap? What is Samael if the humans have judged themselves by themselves?"
"..."
"We were unneeded. And so, like what they have done for eons-- they wished to conquer us. But there was one thing they were not capable of, and that is what we did. We traveled to another universe-- A decision made in haste that caused our very extinction. We escaped our world to live, only to die in yours…
...And like Father, we died from our mistakes."
"I do not apologize for killing your kin. You started this war that made my world Fractured," although Hermes's tone was blunt, there was a certain warmth in his voice, "But I would also lie if I say I do not feel your pain."
"We did not start this war, Hermes."
"...What?"
"We sought refuge. We were already wounded, we were tired. Did you really think gods as young as yours had the ability to kill us?" Azrael then waved her hand, changing the sceneries that were projected in space, "We sought refuge in your universe, but you wanted war."
"Is that… Athena?" Hermes looked at the dominant figure that now filled almost half the projections.
"Yes."
"Then… are you telling me that our side caused the destruction of our own universe?"
"I am not telling you, I showed you," Azrael then closed her palms, and with it, the projections instantly disappeared, "And no, it is our fault for choosing a universe as young as yours. Of course, seeing another Celestial would provoke you; you would want to test who is the strongest one."
"But Athena is the Goddess of Wisdom." Hermes reasoned, "She would have negotiated--"
"Have you already forgotten what I showed you?" Azrael did not let Hermes finish, "Father gifted the humans Wisdom; and Wisdom killed Father. Athena is not only a Goddess of Wisdom but also War-- and war stems from greed."
"I… I did not know that we started this."
"You, Hermes, did not start this," Azrael then slowly raised her hand, gently touching Hermes's face, "How could you know, when you were busy doing your duties? We were both responsible for the dead in our respective universe one way or the another. But while I only reap the lives of humans, you were responsible for delivering everything."
"..." Hermes rested his cheek on Azrael's palm, "So what do we do now?" He then said as he looked at the Earth of this universe.
"Your universe is dying," Azrael then whispered, "And if I am right, the humans of mine will find their way to your world soon."
"What!? But you said they were not capable of traveling to different universes?"
Azrael quickly shook her head, "That is true. But it could be different now-- I could no longer presume what they are and are not capable of. But your universe is already dying, whether or not they come will just decide how soon."
"Apollo, Lord Zeus… the others will die?"
"I do not know why your kin is trapped in the Fractures, but one thing I do know is that Fractured worlds do not last long. The Fractured worlds will die, and if your kin is in it, the Fractured world will use their life as nourishment… and slowly, they will perish and there is nothing any of us can stop it. That is just the unspoken law of every universe. In the end…
...only you, Hermes, will be the only remaining Celestial of your universe. We both are."
"Then what do I do now?" Hermes slowly backed away from Azrael, removing her hand from his face, "If I can not save them, then I… have no purpose."
"This universe does not seem to have a Celestial guiding and protecting it," Azrael then looked towards the direction of the Earth, "Once the humans of my universe have come to you, they will find their way here."
"...Are you saying we should protect this universe?"
"No, both of us are too weak to protect anything. You may have not noticed, but my wings have made an influence on the people of this world. They have become stronger, but they are no gods."
"You… want to create a new god?"
"Yes," Azrael floated towards Hermes, once again caressing his cheek, "Through our union, we will create a god that will protect this world."
"...Union?" Hermes, for the first time, stuttered, "You mean--"
"Yes," Azrael quickly nodded, "You are a male, and I am now predominantly a female god. Together…
… we will have a child."