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The main hall of God's Palace was impressive. Entirely made of marble and gold, like the rest of the palace. The most unique feature was the roof, which looked like it was made of a glass-like material. It allowed a real-time view of the creation of a young Universe unfolding.
The large doors open on special occasions to admit guests, each more distinguished than the last.
These were the moments little Samael loved most. He who knew only his family and the white buildings of the palace. A divinity in a child's body, young compared to his peers but already older than some elements of this Universe.
Behind its doors are different things. Beings of all shapes and sizes. And as the years pass, Samael no longer wants to wait for its doors to open to see the difference. He wants to go there himself.
-"What are your thoughts, young Lightbringer?" asks a soft, deep voice.
The young angel turns around, somewhat curious. Few people dare to address him directly.
Morpheus was a fascinating being in every way. The form he chose to adopt at that moment was close to his father's preferences. Four elongated limbs, pale and thin. The entity was enveloped in dark veils that floated around his body and blended with his hair, forming a striking contrast with the pallor of his physical form.
Samael, despite his luminous and youthful body, which changes naturally over time, does not hesitate to proudly display his wings. The extension of his power. He also has a pair of arms in addition to Morpheus and more eyes to capture every detail of the unfolding event.
"Nothing, Dream Lord. Except that you must feel very alone in your kingdom," Samael replies.
The Dream Lord lets out a soft sound that's more like a stifled laugh than a disgruntled growl. He looks at Samael as if he knows something the angel doesn't, like an elder to a child with no knowledge. This annoys Samael more than he intended.
-"My kingdom is much fuller than one might think. Despite all the biological and physical constraints, even immortal beings need dreams, don't they?" he says, his voice filled with a power and calm that the young angel almost envies.
Samael knew Dream had very powerful siblings. Mort had approached his little sister recently, and Mom had had a conversation with her.
In the end, the only word of the conversation Samael heard was "too soon" from Mom, and Mort gave a soft, slightly sad smile before nodding.
But there was one who ruffled Samael's feathers just by his presence. Destiny. Samael had asked Dad questions about his function. God's vague answers had been enough to make Samael hate the Endless. Destiny's cold eyes seemed to reciprocate.
Morpheus was probably the most bearable for Lucifer, despite being distant and depressed most of the time. And if he could make him choose him, it would give him a good excuse to pass through the golden gates.
-"Daydreams don't offer an entrance to your domain, Morpheus," the little angel replied a little impertinently.
-"But they offer enough power, little angel. For those who know how to use them. But you still have time to learn, little Lightbringer."
Samael wanted to retort, annoyed at being reminded of his apparent youth. Amenadiel does this quite often. But his father rises from his seat and begins a speech to the guests. He talks about the future of this new universe forming before their eyes.
After that, Samael no longer finds Morpheus, who has disappeared like a mirage. But he feels Desire's gaze, more focused on him than before.
…
An indeterminate amount of time later, Samael finally stepped through that golden door. He was light and moved faster than anything and anyone. Easily outpacing his siblings and the guards.
It had been a decision made on pure impulse. The subtle approach had exhausted his patience. And Desire didn't seem in any hurry to take him under his wing, despite the offer he'd made to Father.
All his siblings were busy creating. "Animals" and "Plants." Different minerals and organisms for the garden at the center of the Silver City.
Samael's job was to transmit his power throughout the universe with the particles of cosmic dust floating in the void. But Father had imposed a most frustrating condition. Everything had to be done according to a certain order, a certain "logic." Samael had no gift for foresight, but he sensed there was much more to this request than Father let on.
He's been racking his brains for years now. He tries many things that fail or end up collapsing far too quickly for him. He reads the "math" notes Mom writes and tries again. He tries fusing dust, changing temperatures, mass... but he hasn't found anything that satisfies him yet.
He's stuck in this frustrating situation where he's both overwhelmed with work and unable to make any progress.
And it's this frustration that drove him to do something that has haunted him since his childhood. He abandoned his physical form to transform into light and pass through the door.
But in his frantic rush, he forgets that he doesn't yet control his powers and collides with something that sends him falling for a long time. His power, combined with his speed, manages to break the stone of a wall and disorient him for a few minutes. The angel falls beyond the dwellings of the guards and the minor angels, few in number at that time.
The angel falls for a moment before being stopped by a hard surface…
He's on his back. This is his first observation upon waking, on something soft, damp, and cool. His physical form has returned instinctively.
Samael opened his many eyes to see a small, dark figure leaning over him.
It also has wings on its back, so it's an angel. Unlike him, it's made of shadow. Its small face has only one eye… well, a place where there should be an eye, which is just an empty socket. Where the other eye should be, there's a small horn curling around itself.
The little thing doesn't seem in a good mood.
-"You're crushing my flowers," the thing says in a shrill voice.
He stamps his foot as if to appear intimidating. Samael stands up and arranges his wing feathers.
What a curious little thing. Now that he's standing, Samael notices that the other person is actually a few inches shorter than him.
-"Move over. And are you stupid to take so long to move?" asks the black-winged angel.
Well, Samael thinks he's an angel. He knows that Father and Mother need more and more help with Creation, and Father creates more and more minor angels, even though Mother seems against it.
But these new angels were already in adult form and were only there to be useful. This little thing, when you see it, doesn't look like it's finished yet. One of its legs looks more like fog than a physical thing. Its only eyebrow is furrowed.
But besides all that, no one addresses him that way.
-"Be careful how you address me, little thing."
The other one looks even more angry. The grass under Samael's feet is growing very fast. And the other one's black feathers are ruffled, trying to make it look bigger.
-”I'm not short! You're the one who's too tall. And you're also shorter than the tallest ones!”
Samael gets a little annoyed, the little wings on his head fluttering, because it's not really true. Amenadiel is ridiculously taller than him. That doesn't change the fact that this little one certainly can't talk to him like that. But at the same time, very few people speak to him openly and sincerely apart from his family. He's slightly intrigued.
-”Do you have any idea who I am?”
-”Someone crushing my flowers?”
Samael sighed in annoyance and stepped out of the small circle of earth. He noticed that his fall had made a hole in the stone ceiling, letting in white light.
The little thing's face stretched into something resembling a smile. Little cosmic dust swirled in his misty hair.
Samael looked around. He saw a ceiling above his head. The hole made by his fall let the light of God through and illuminated the place.
He was below the Silver City… It was a kind of city beneath the real city. There were stones and trees around him. Some were arranged to create shelters. A very primitive city.
The angel had never heard of this place. There were other angels, who were clearly adults. Many angels… Did Father know? (Certainly, then why is it hidden? Because of Mom?)
He feels a rather strong blow to his leg that brings him back to reality. “Ouch. How is that thing so strong?”
-“What was that for exactly!?” he exclaimed, wiping away the traces of fog the blow had left on his white skin.
The smaller angel points to the flowerbed Samael had left. The flowers were quite small and delicate. Some had broken stems, others were completely trampled by his fall.
The little thing moves forward into his garden. And Samael watches with some curiosity as the plants repair themselves. Not grow back, not repair.
The cellulose reforms to straighten the broken stems.
How? The angels Dad created were nothing special. He was boring and didn't radiate any power. Just good enough to serve as a guard.
-“Are you going to stay there long?”
Samael is once again distracted by the other creature. The prince frowns, irritated.
-"I stay where I want."
-"No."
-"Yes."
-"No."
-"Yes."
-"No."
-"I assure you, I do. You don't seem to know who I am."
The dark angel seems to deflate at this sentence; he moves a little further away, forcing Samael to follow him.
-"Yes, I know. You came from above. The others must come and go from time to time..."
The little thing looks slightly distressed, its wings flapping behind its back. And Samael decides he wants to try something else to start on a new footing. Even though he's obviously not at fault in this situation.
He spreads his multiple wings, emitting light and glittering dust.
-"Wow, that's pretty," the black-winged angel marvels, trying to catch the glitter of light.
Samael's feathers ruffle under the complements. As the glitter in the other's hands fades away at his contract.
-"Of course. I hope to find a way to sustain the light in physical form very soon."
-"Oh..." the other simply says, looking disappointed that the pile of glitter in his hands is dissolving.
-"I don't suppose you know how to do it yet, do you?”
Samael, slightly annoyed at being reminded of his failure, tries to change the subject.
-"By the way, what's your name? My parents called me Samael, as you know."
-"No, I didn't know," the other replies with a neutral expression.
-"But... a name? We don't have one here." He continues before Samael can express his indignity.
They stare at each other in a semi-awkward silence for several minutes. Before the smaller one grabs his arm and drags him toward the other dwellings.
-"I'm sure there are people who might have ideas for your problem!" he says enthusiastically.
Samael points his nose upwards. The two beings meander among the rubble under the more or less curious gaze of the other angels.
-“I don't think so. I've developed very precise electromagnetic principles to create light in a vacuum. I doubt anyone here can come up with anything interesting.”
The little black angel turns to him and frowns, seeming caught between indignation and interest.
-“Have you tried working with the other angels tasked with creation? After all, all creations must be logical, right?”
Samael feels the little wings on his head flapping irritably. He clearly remembers his other siblings talking enthusiastically about some of their creations during dinner. And honestly, that bored Samael. He wasn't interested in Amenadiel's concept of time (honestly, it just seems profoundly pointless to him), nor in the various beings of flesh in the garden. Cassiel's song had, in fact, made him feel anything but disinterest, being based on principles of waves and physics.
Apart from that, he felt like his siblings were working in slow motion, and he felt like no one wanted to work with him. In the sense that no one had anything to complain about, working alone was the same.
-"Of course, who do you think I am... I still don't know what your name is," the angel of light replies simply.
The person in front of him scratches his face between his two eyeless sockets.
-"Don't you think there's a way to keep your glitter longer? You damaged my flowers when you fell; they sparkled for a moment and then turned completely black."
Samael narrows his many eyes, deep in thought. Then he jumps when something green appears in front of him.
The smallest angel is holding a small green plant. Its roots are embedded in his hand.
-"We can just try," the dark angel says simply.
Samael, not entirely convinced, shrugs. The problem with his glitter was that it disappeared too quickly once it was no longer connected to him. But it didn't hurt to try.
The Prince of Light snapped his four pairs of fingers and released bright sparkles.
Most of them went out. But some touched the plant. And something incredible happened.
The light engulfed the plant, red and yellow. It lasted a few seconds and faded upon contact with the little angel's black mist-like skin, leaving behind a small black pile in the palm of his hand.
The two beings stare at the remains of the plant for a long time. The little angel is fascinated, and Samael is completely stunned.
Then they surrender. The black angel has a big smile that reveals teeth.
And Samael smiles back. A new enthusiasm in him.
…
After that, Samael's rather solitary life changes. He begins to correspond with his new companion.
It was truly stimulating to talk with someone who doesn't hesitate to respond to him and who, most importantly, has a mind that's close enough to him (not at his level, of course! Even if the way he made the plants grow on rocks, without soil, was rather ingenious and innovative).
Debating the limits of what Dad would accept in his new project was a new activity, and Samael even finds himself slightly interested in his new friend's own creations, even though the field hadn't interested him at first.
Samael, when he was working, created a light that could sustain itself without him. He experimented with the reaction of his sparks on different creations of his family.
Stars, melting points, thermochemistry...
Yes, it was a good turn of events.
But all good things must come to an end.
Particularly the war of the gods that came within their reach thousands of years after their meeting.
And his messages had begun to go unanswered. Samael, now fully grown and in a completely new form, had returned to that place beneath the Silver City. To search for his friend, his first friend.
The angels now had very different forms than before. But Samael was stubborn and he had searched.
And he had found nothing.
