Divine Descent

Chapter Thirty-Six

"You are in love with the God of War, my dear."

All efforts to retain countenance fail me miserably. I am left dumbfounded, bewildered, aghast... and momentarily stripped of the ability to produce speech. My eyes timidly overlook the man I'm bound to for all eternity, afraid the revelation will change who I see, but it becomes clear that divinity in my mind has always been somehow apart of him.

So much makes sense with this change.

Elijah de Ricci, a creature of time, always split between redemption and downfall. A man of war, carrying kings and queens through hard centuries in battle. In some ways, the very shape of Earth itself has been molded by this man.

Without victories, without defeats, there would be no progress.

He's always been different. I knew it. Paris and Damien knew it.

Hell, even Samael knows there is nothing about Elijah that is common.

That doesn't mean this revelation isn't a startling one. Jehovah dropped the bombshell only moments ago and since then, I've gawked in silence, failing to rationalize the intake. Emotions are too tame a concept for what I'm experiencing.

It's not just one thing, and I don't just feel it in my body.

It's in the atmosphere, this sense of understanding, of purpose. It's so overwhelming that I cannot manage to focus on one singular reaction. Shaking, I touch the frozen figure, wide-eyed. Elijah's unmarred flesh is cold and smooth under my hand. A great contrast compared to my sweltering touch.

"A god?" I finally breathe aloud.

"Yes."

I glance back over my shoulder to where I know Jehovah stands. "For the light?"

"Yes."

So much. It's so much.

Eventually, I'm able to pinpoint my most devastating feeling while touching him.

Relief.  Devastating relief. 

My forehead rests against Elijah's firm chest, and I cling to the immobile man openly in front of his true creator, letting out a tearful laugh.

"So, this is why he's here then, because he knows."

"He knows nothing of his true origin, Goddess." My eyes reopen reluctantly. "He only knows I have need of him, and that I had the power to bring him to this place, to you. I figured it was best. He'd already begun dabbling in dark occultism. Reckless, that one is."

"Why haven't you told him? If you did, he'd... we'd be able to—"

"What? Kill him?" Jehovah holds up his hands, cautioning my impulses. "Keep in mind Hell must be ruled over, my dear. You kill Samael, and you will take his place. Same goes for your companion. Why do you think Samael's reigned as long as he has? No divine being wishes to bind themselves to such a bleak outcome."

My eyes bore earnestly into his, wary of the way he's almost expertly evaded my question. "Elijah deserves to know who he is, what you're fashioning him out to be."

His lasting expression of caution informs me of a secret he's going to ask me to keep from my partner. Adamant refusal is my immediate reaction. My head shakes while he holds up a single dewy hand, as if that will silence me.

"That knowledge is precious. He mustn't know before his time, Cassandra. He must earn his divinity to the light. He must feel the warmth of the sun and draw it in on his own accord, without the knowledge of what he'll gain from doing so."