Epilogue

Yah sat in the glowing, white room in a simple white chair and contemplated the cracks that had formed.

Some of them were hairline cracks, spiderweb thin, whereas others gave glimpses of darkness, or fire, or thick, red blood running in a river. It looked as if the blood would run right through the wall and drip onto the pristine floor, but it did not.

With a wave the cracks would disappear, but they would be back.

They always came back.

Yah remembered the vastness of being one with everything, of knowing everything, past and present, with time having no meaning.

Yah also remembered the loneliness.

It had been a simple thing to break off a little piece of themselves and form something else from it. It had been simple, and infinitely satisfying. So they had broken off even more little pieces of themselves, and eventually they had created beings, but still something was missing. They had wanted to give others choice. They had wanted to let people have their own free will. So it had been done.

Eventually, Yah was all that was left of that infinite being before time. Yah knew they were the only ones to remember time before it became time; they were the last tiny piece of that infinite essence.

They also knew that this… experiment, this creation—the infinite being who had begun it all had not intended it to last forever. Things that were ripped asunder were meant to be joined together again.

Light could not exist without darkness, and darkness was nothing without light. There was no heaven without hell, and no hell without heaven.

Yah was not that infinite being anymore, though. They had seen all the good and the evil in mankind, and in angels and demons, and they were not ready to see the experiment over with.

They felt the pressure change slightly, and with a wave of their hand, the cracks disappeared so that only a pristine, blindingly white room remained.

The dark figure who appeared amidst the light made Yah's chest ache.

"Ah, my love, are you counting cracks again?" Luce asked, and Yah merely sighed.

He walked over, and a chair appeared for him to sit in. They could not touch; the cracks would more than likely fracture all the afterworld were that to happen, but they could be near each other, at least. A few more cracks would not matter.

"Let us see them, then," Luce said, smiling a bit.

Yah waved a hand, and the wall in front of them became an image of Limbo. Adam and Minos were laughing with Pandora and Arioch. Adam sat on Minos's lap, and after they finished laughing, Adam tipped his head back for a kiss, which Minos gave. The grumpy look never left his face, but there was a softness to it now.

Yah waved a hand again, and there was Gabriel and Asmodeus. They were in a high school classroom, with Gabe standing at the board pointing at a character list and talking while Asmodeus stood in the back, watching him with rapt attention. When an errant student happened to pull out a cell phone, Asmodeus casually strolled over and tapped the desk, which had the student sliding the phone back into their pocket. Yah saw a look pass between the two, even as Gabriel never broke from his lesson to the students.

"They are happy," Luce stated.

Yah did not need to answer. Luce knew the answer.

"How many cracks are there now, my dearest and oldest friend?" Luce asked softly.

Yah almost didn't answer, but eventually they said, "Three hundred and eighty two."

"Well then, it seems to be working." Luce paused then before continuing. "However, that was the Divine Weapon of the Almighty in Michael's hand," Luce said softly.

"Yes," Yah answered.

"Someone works against us, then. Someone seeks the end of days we so diligently hope to avoid," Luce murmured thoughtfully.

"Or someone seeks to keep heaven and hell completely separate," Yah responded, looking over then at Lucifer. Their perfect opposite. The other side of them. The first and last piece of themselves; the piece they missed and yearned for the most.

"Oh, Yah," Luce sighed, reaching a hand out but stopping before they could touch.

"Letting souls join with their missing pieces—it is closing the cracks. It is making it easier to be here, as well," Luce added, and Yah noticed the pain on his face.

Easier, perhaps, but the devil did not belong in heaven, and it was painful for Lucifer to be here. Yet he always came. He had always come. Yah knew he would always come, even if it tore him asunder.

Who will be next?" Luce asked. "Kushiel has suffered long enough from being in between, I think. Perhaps we can throw him in the way of the missing piece of his soul. He, more than any other angel, has sacrificed much for this existence."

"Although," Luce continued, "it might be wiser to search for who works against us. I would hate for Kushiel to lose his chance because of someone's machinations against our plans."

"Arioch, then," Yah answered. "Vengeance and chaos shall be needed to unearth a traitor in our midst, and it has already been set in motion. His mortal soul already seeks vengeance for being misled."

Luce nodded once, then stood to leave.

"It may not work," Yah whispered. It pained them to admit it, but since they had formed this plan, the future was… hazy. They had given up much to allow mankind free will, and they were no longer the infinite being that existed before time itself. All-knowing and infallible became problematic when one attempted to circumvent one's own plan.

Luce merely smiled at them. "Ah, my love, have faith in yourself. I have faith in you. I always have." With a last look of longing, Luce was gone, and Yah was alone again.

They could hear the calls of angels and mortals, and they knew there was work to be done. So much work, always.

But perhaps, if all things went according to plan, they would not always bear the burden alone.

With that thought, Yah looked again at Gabriel and Asmodeus, who appeared to be having lunch now. They sat behind Gabriels' desk, their knees pressed together, sharing a sandwich. They talked and laughed, casually touching one another on the arm, the knee, anywhere really. Their faces were calm and filled with love. Between them, Yah could see a bright shining light where they had joined together. They had chosen one another, and Yah could see their souls bound together in that choosing.

Free will. Such a tricky thing.

Yah sighed, and made a motion in the air to call forth the archangel Gabriel. There was a message to be delivered.

It was time for Arioch to be put in the path of free will.