Lucifer Damned (Morningstar Book 3), Percival Constantine [electric book reader .txt] 📗

is the lie,” he said, very simply. “He was never real. There is no great, cosmic power behind the universe. The universe is simply random and chaotic. But the seraphim felt that not even their own brethren could handle this truth. It was, simply put, a method of control.”

The crowd became silent, the weight of the realization slowly dawning on them.

“And when Lucifer learned it, he chose to maintain that secret because he feared what would happen if people knew. In fact, he told me as much himself.”

Now the crowd responded with anger.

“So why are we preserving these outdated, archaic structures of authority?” asked Raum. “The Fallen are no better than us because they were once angels. The rebellion was just Lucifer’s way of taking control for himself. He wanted the same power as the Divine Choir, and so he turned on them to grab that power for himself!

“Well, no more. Because now, we are going to march into the center of Hell. We’re going to go right up to that fucking tower of his, and we’re going to tear it down!”

The crowd erupted with cheers.

“Spread the word! To those you know in the realms! Let them know the truth of Lucifer’s lie! Let them know the hypocrisy of the Infernal Court! Let’s rip apart this charade and replace it with something new!”

The demons continued to shout and Raum gestured forth. They began their march towards the center of Hell, where they would do exactly as he said. And Raum waited until the last of them had left. Then he returned to the caverns to visit his prized prisoner.

Lucifer hung on the chains, anger written on his face. “You’re a fine one to talk. You rile them up, then let them go off and fight the battle you’re too afraid to fight yourself.”

“On the contrary,” said Raum. “I’m a man of the people, Lucifer. And I’m going to join them in battle. But before I do, I wanted to leave you with a little parting gift.”

Raum held out his hands and small spheres of light appeared, flittering out from his palms and growing in size. In the light, Lucifer could see scenes of demons gathering in different realms.

“Did you like my speech? I hope so, because now it’s being received by my followers throughout all of Hell. And they’re going to show it to others,” said Raum. “There’s a whiff of rebellion in the air, Morningstar. And you have the privilege of watching it on these orbs. You get to sit there as everything you fought for comes crashing down.”

“And then what? What will you do once the tower is gone and the Hell Lords have been removed? Hold free and fair elections? Allow yourself to be stripped of power?” Lucifer scoffed and shook his head. “Somehow, you don’t really strike me as the type who’s willing to submit to a peaceful transfer of power.”

“I’ll do what’s necessary for the people,” said Raum.

“Right, and who decides what’s necessary?”

Raum didn’t answer. Lucifer gave a nod.

“That’s what I thought. You may think me a hypocrite, and in some sense, you could be right,” said Lucifer. “But what does that make you?”

“I hope you like your accommodations, because you’re never going to leave,” said Raum. “You get to watch as my armies tear down your world and build up my own. You’ll see The Fallen executed for crimes against their people. But I’m not going to kill you, Lucifer. I want you to remain here in this cave—alone, powerless, chained. Forced to do nothing but watch as I take everything that was once yours.

“Because that’s exactly what you did to me when you tossed me into your little prison as if I were just some insignificant piece of garbage.”

Lucifer scoffed. “That’s because you were just some insignificant piece of garbage. Still are, in fact.”

Raum’s eyes narrowed in anger. He backhanded Lucifer. The Morningstar’s head was rocked by the blow and it left a mark along the side of his face. He stretched out his jaw a few times to try and work it through the pain.

“Enjoy the show, angel,” said Raum, hissing that last word. “It promises to be a good one.”

Raum left Lucifer alone in his cave. The pain Lucifer felt from the blow was nothing in comparison to what he was watching unfold on the little screens Raum had conjured.

The armies marched across the Badlands, gathering more as they moved closer to the center. Riots had broken out across the different realms, and the forces commanded by the Hell Lords were struggling to regain some sense of order. But even amongst their own security forces, Lucifer watched as open rebellion gripped the land.

Lucifer was witnessing the end of the Hell that he had built. But he had brought this all upon himself. He thought back to that fateful day when he encountered Metatron for the first time. That tiny little angel had warned him, even back then.

“I know you want your freedom, but this path will only make you even more of a servant to the Choir.”

Did he know, even back then, what would happen if Lucifer rebelled? The final words Metatron spoke before Lucifer dismissed him and went off on his arrogant quest now rang loud in the Morningstar’s memory.

“For every action, there is a reaction. What you are thinking of doing has never been done before—never even been contemplated before. There is no way to know for certain what the result will be.”

Maybe he didn’t know precisely what would have happened. Maybe there was no way for Lucifer to be warned about this. But Metatron knew that something would happen. After The Fall, Lucifer had reflected on the Scribe’s warning. At the time, he simply assumed Metatron had been talking about his exile into Hell.

But in retrospect and after everything that had happened since, it seemed Metatron was actually talking about this moment right here and now. Raum was right about one thing—Lucifer was a hypocrite. He spoke of