A man wearing a fancy leather trench coat strolled towards a nondescript storefront. His coat made his shoulders seem broader, and the leather was made to curve over his shoulders. It was solid brown leather, more like armor and less like cloth. Ornate inscriptions and designs in the leather ran across his back and shoulders. His clothing was black, he had black hair and dark eyes, and he looked a bit shady. He walked up a few concrete steps to a double glass door of a diner.
Glancing around at the half full restaurant, he walked in and took the first booth to the right. He looked a bit nervous and a bit bothered, likely a common feeling for him because of the way he carried himself. He got hot and took off his long leather coat and hung it on the hook beside the booth. Previously hidden by his coat, a pair of wings were revealed at his back, if you could even call them wings. They looked dilapidated, broken, useless, withered, as if they were not used and could not be used anymore. The wings seemed to bother him, but again, he had just gotten used to it. He waited and was wringing his hands together.
Soon, the person he was waiting for showed up. He was a handsomely pale man with white hair and sparkling blue eyes. He had ordered an espresso served in a small porcelain mug with a matching white saucer and brought it over with him. Sitting down at this pre-arranged meeting and taking off his coat, beautiful white wings were revealed. They weren’t very noticeable to a random passerby, but if you focused, you could see them. The nervous man noticed his companion’s wings and had a visible gagging response. White light glowed around the second person, and he started speaking.
“Hello Luc, what’s up?”
“I’m having a really hard time. It’s just not fair. Why did this have to happen?”
“You’re reaping the fruit of your decisions, man, or like a man, I should say.”
“I guess. How can I accomplish my goals when He’s against me like this. You know, He has it out for me. He’s stacked everything against me. It’s just not fair. He should be the one to fight a fair fight.”
“Like you should be the one to talk about fairness.”
“Hey, everything I do is legal… or mostly legal.”
“Exactly.”
“Well, you’ve got it good. He likes you. Just watch out, or He’ll turn on you like He did to me. I still can’t believe He kicked me out. I wasn’t trying to displace Him. Can’t He see what I was doing? I could make more people worship Him!”
“You still don’t understand, do you?”
“Understand what, Gabe?”
“Understand Him, His heart.”
“I don’t think He has a heart.”
“And you do?”
“Yes, my heart is big and welcoming. I welcome all. No matter what their religion or creed is. I am a universalist. All can come to me. Not so with Him. He makes everyone funnel through His Son.”
“What’s the problem in that?”
“It’s just that, you know, what if someone wants to come another way?”
“Your way, you mean?”
“Well, sure, shouldn’t God honor that?”
“When it goes against His very nature? I don’t think so.”
“Well, let’s change subjects. Just talking about Him makes me anxious.” At this remark, he shuddered and looked the other way.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“I have some plans coming about soon, and I want you to give me a little bit of leeway.”
“Why?”
“I need it to play out a certain way in order to accomplish my plans, and if you intervene, they may not come out the way I want.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“I have a job to do too, Luc. You know I have to clean up your messes all the time.”
“But don’t those messes really reveal their black little hearts?”
“Sometimes they do. They have a choice, just like you do.”
“My choice has already been made, Gabe. I know that; you know that; He knows that. But these silly little humans still have a choice to make. I just want to show them what they’re choosing, give them an alternate choice, a better choice, in my opinion, but whatever.”
“The choice of death is not better.”
“It won’t always mean death, not for those who are loyal to me.”
“You really think so? You really think you can defy His word?”
“Ugh, I hate His word. And His Son. Yes, I do think I can go around His word. I’ve been developing strategies for many years. I’ve found loopholes, you see, loopholes around His word. It gives me great freedom.”
“You’re deceiving yourself, angel.”
“I’m not an angel anymore, Gabe, not like you. I don’t have to serve at His beck and call anymore. I’m not constrained to His bonds anymore. I’ve got freedom! And I will conquer this world and rule them with my rod… of gold, not that silly iron thing He has.”
“You will rule with a rod of gold? How so?”
“I can lure them in. They’ll all choose me over Him; you’ll see. And you might even choose me and my kingdom over His, especially when you see the great display of my power.”
“Oh, I bet…” His eyes rolled, and his comment was thick with sarcasm.
“You mock me, Gabe?”
“You have convinced yourself of a lie, Luc. You, the master deceiver, have deceived yourself. Can’t you see it? You’re delusional.”
“I don’t think I like your tone, son of righteousness!”
“Is the truth so hard to hear?”
“That’s your truth. I have mine.”
“What happens when your truth is proved false?”
“It won’t. At least, no one will see it. I make it true, even if it isn’t. That’s the beauty of the whole deal.”
“Uh huh…”
“You just can’t see it with your beautiful blue eyes. Black is the new light. It’s coming into style. And you can’t stop it. No one can!” Luc looked up, closed his eyes and gave a hearty, maniacal laugh. Then he became self-conscious as people looked on and quieted down. “Anyway, I will succeed. He can’t stop me. I’ve become too powerful.”
“I think I’m done here. I’ll see you in battle. We’ll see who’s stronger. Light always scatters the darkness; it’s just the way it works.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ll prove you wrong, Gabe. Go worship that ‘thing’ and watch me fulfill my own destiny!”
“OK, see you around.” Gabe gathered his coat and walked out of the diner, amused.
“Good riddance. I’ll show him. I’ll find someone close to him and rip ‘em apart. Ugh, I hate this place.” The dark, fallen angel left the diner, too, and flew off to fulfill his self-given destiny of stealing, killing and destroying.
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