Oh Pride! Father of sin!

Oh Envy! Its mother!

How is it that such things

Would rend good souls asunder?

An angel of beauty,

Of wisdom and light,

Was trapped by such a plight.

In the beginning was God. He was the source of all life, power, wisdom, love, and creation. He was good, order, and eternal. Then arose another being, the opposite of all God was. It was madness, chaos, destruction, indifference, and... death. It was an amoral being devoid of will, desiring only to consume all life. And God named this being the Leviathan. The Leviathan tried to consume God, but God was eternal life and almighty. The Leviathan, being the opposite of all that God was, was weak and finite. But its reach was everywhere that life could be found and so God created a space full of His divine presence so that the Leviathan could not approach it. And He made streets of gold and pearly gates at the walls of this new place. He made a throne and all the heavenly dwellings and then He created the first life apart from Himself – angels.

He made angels to worship Him, angels to guard the throne room, angels to tend to all the heavenly dwellings, and finally, He created the archangels to watch over all the others – to instruct and care for them. Among these were Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer. Michael was made the most powerful, Gabriel the swiftest, and Lucifer... the most beautiful and intelligent. And God saw that all He had made was good. He had made Heaven in two days and on the third He rested and all of Heaven rejoiced and worshiped, praising God’s name. For He had created life from nothing, Heaven from void.

And God took great joy in all the angels and they in Him. And He showed Lucifer, the cherub, the fiery stones and walked with him, showing him many things and secrets about the nature of things. And Lucifer was praised and well loved by his fellow angels, but God was always praised more. As a result, Lucifer’s heart began to swell with pride at his own knowledge and beauty, which God had given him. And then in his heart began to grow envy, for while he was praised, God was worshiped.

~~~~~~~~

Lucifer walked among the stones of fire, the place of God’s wisdom, and searched for an answer, but he could not find it. Here the stones flickered with the knowledge and secrets of the divine. He continued his search until it was clear that he would find nothing for the moment regarding his inquiry. He sighed and left for the throne room of Heaven. The throne room was as grand as ever. The glow of an emerald encircled the throne like a rainbow, and a shining sea of glass that sparkled like crystal was in front of the throne with seven eternally burning torches, representing the sevenfold spirit of God. From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. Around the throne hovered the four seraphim, one like a lion, one like an ox, one like a human, and the fourth like an eagle in flight. They were covered in eyes both in front and back, and they had six wings which were also covered in eyes. They forever, day and night, proclaimed, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty – the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.” Further more, four cherubim hovered farther at each of the four corners of the room, they looked human in body, but had four faces and four wings and they had split hooves for feet that shone like burnished bronze. They had a human face in front, the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left, and the face of an eagle in back. Two of their wings stretched out to touch the tips of the others on either side of them and with the remaining two they covered their bodies. Under each of their wings were human hands and beneath them were what looked like wheels that sparkled as if made of beryl. The rims of the wheels were covered in eyes and each had a second wheel inside the first turning crosswise within them. These cherubim looked like bright coals of fire and lightning flashed back and forth among them. The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones – like jasper and carnelian and His face shone like a star for He was the source of all light.

Lucifer could not help but feel awed every time he entered this room, but as quickly as awe had filled his heart, quiet resentment and envy rushed in to replace it. Why wasn’t he, the one who shone like a morning star, whose name meant ‘bringer of light,’ the one sitting on the throne instead? But he calmed himself and breathed in deep the presence of the one who had made him – his father, his creator, his inspiration, and his most bitter enemy.

“Lucifer, my child, come!” God beckoned him, “From where have you come and for what reason have you come here?”

“Surely you already know. Nothing escapes your sight,” Lucifer replied.

“Indeed, you have come from the stones of fire and have come here to find what you could not find there,” God confirmed.

“It is as you have said.”

“Then, what do you seek?” God asked.

“Secrets of your true nature. Is their any limit to your endless might, to your endless wisdom, to your endless presence? Is there anything, that you cannot do or withstand?” Lucifer said, trying to make it sound as worshipful as possible.

“Is there any logic that could bind the maker of logic, is there any power that could bind the source of all power, is there any place inaccessible to the source of all space?”

“No, no, I suppose there is not,” Lucifer said with some frustration in his heart.

“Then go forth and tend to your duties,” God said in fatherly instruction.

“So you have spoken it, it shall be made so,” Lucifer replied then left the throne room of Heaven, a dark malice beginning to brew in the depths of his heart.

~~~~~~~~

He stirred restless in his sleeping place as something crept up upon him. A cold, lifeless, intangible tendril of madness and horror seemed to wrap itself around his neck. Lucifer awoke in a gasp of terror, his eyes bulging. The specter was gone. It had been haunting him ever since the first day he had first began to envy God. He was drenched in cold sweat. He quickly collected himself and with a wave of his hand made his body washed and clean. He then went out of his resting place and walked among the dwellings of Heaven, tending to the needs of his fellow angels. But as he was doing so, he came across the door – the forbidden door. He had searched among the stones of fire and had asked God, Himself, of the knowledge he sought, but neither had given him the answer he was looking for. Perhaps he would find the answer he desired here, behind the forbidden door. After all, why was it the forbidden door in the first place? Why was there a forbidden door to begin with? Heaven was supposed to have access to all things and all places, so why not here?

Lucifer began to become convinced that God was hiding something. Something that could harm Him – that could end Him. Why else would He forbid anyone from opening this door? In a rush of irrational fervor, Lucifer grasped the handles of the door that had never once been opened in the history of Heaven. He swung the doors open and what lay beyond brought back to his heart and mind all the terror and horror that had haunted him upon his waking moments. It was as indescribable as God, but the opposite of everything God inspired. It lashed out at him with nonexistent tendrils, binding him like an animal in a snare and began to drag him towards the other side of the door. Lucifer screamed as the abomination overpowered him. And just as he was about to be pulled to the other side, Michael swung down his sword, severing the intangible tendrils of horror wrapped around him. Quickly, they both shut the door before the abomination could lash out again.

“What was that?” Michael exclaimed, as shaken and horrified as Lucifer.

“I-I-I do not know,” Lucifer stammered. Then collecting himself a little said, “But I think we should ask the one who does.”

~~~~~~~~

All of Heaven’s angels soon learned of what had happened at the forbidden door and followed Lucifer and Michael to the throne room of God to see if God knew of the abomination beyond it. They all gathered inside the throne room.

“Father!” Lucifer exclaimed, “What was that... that thing beyond the forbidden door!?”

“Did I not warn you not to open that door?” God responded with a reproachful tone.

“I-I, yes, you warned us,” Lucifer admitted, now not as bold as he was just a moment ago.

“I warned you not to open that door because it leads to the Leviathan,” God answered.

“What is the Leviathan?” Michael asked.

“It is madness, it is chaos, it is destruction, it is indifference, and it is death. It is the opposite of everything that I am and it has existed almost since the beginning of life and order. It only has one desire – to consume all. And consumed you almost were, Lucifer.”

Lucifer’s hand slipped up to his neck. He could still feel the terrible tendrils of the Leviathan upon it.

“Have you reflected on your mistake now, Lucifer?” God asked.

“Yes... yes, I have,” Lucifer replied, not knowing what else to say.

“Then go and return with everyone else to your duties.”

At that all the angels began to disperse and return to their posts, but Lucifer lingered a moment or so before returning as well to his duties. While he realized now the magnitude of his error, he also had gotten an idea. ‘The opposite of all that God was.’ That was how God had described the Leviathan. Perhaps... perhaps if he could get it to consume God then he could become the new god. As the thought crystalized in his mind, Lucifer reveled in his own delusion.

“Yes! I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High!”

All of this Lucifer thought in the deepest corners of his heart and mind lest he betray his intentions. He had hoped for something like this, but had thought it impossible until now. He would not defeat God – this Leviathan, Death, would defeat God for him. After all, the Leviathan was mindless, unlike God. If he was smart he could unleash it upon God and lock it away afterwards. After all, Michael’s sword had severed it’s tendril. But how would he unleash the Leviathan, Death, upon God? He couldn’t ask God to come down from His throne and go to the door. That would be too obvious. And it’s not like he could bring the door to God. At least, not without interference from his fellow angels... Another idea came to Lucifer’s mind. If the only thing in his way was the interference of his fellow angels, then he would recruit those very angels to his cause. He would lead the first rebellion against God, and muster as many as he could convince. After all, once God died, they could all become like God had formerly been. And he, Lucifer, the morning star, would be chief among them. Most glorified, most praised–no, most worshiped! With malicious glee he began to plot and plan the details and particulars until he was satisfied. Now began the hardest part of his task – convincing his fellow angels to join him...