"Sinking", continued (1/15)
Jan. 14th, 2005 02:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalNotes: In Nomine, PG-13 for mild language.
Another full Council session, almost, Laurence observed, from his seat at the head of the chamber. Only Zadkiel was missing, for obvious reasons. Even if the crisis in Children was not enough reason for all Superiors to be in attendence, the sheer novelty of the session being called jointly by Micheal and Dominic would have attracted their complete attention. Myself included.
He rapped his gavel, and the chamber quieted. Laurence then rose t ohis feet and addressed then. “Lord Micheal, Lord Dominic, What brings you to call the Council together at this time. Do either of you have news concerning our brother, Christopher?”
Dominic rose to answer. “Yes, Lord Commander. We have discovered the servitor whom Andrealphus seeks, in exchange for Lord Christopher.”
“Is that possible?” Laurence asked in surprise. “Is it a recently redeemed Lust servitor?”
“No, Lord Commander. Nor a demon in confined by us.” Dominic motioned towards the front of the Council chamber, where the door opened to reveal Zadkiel, and a smaller figure in an enveloping cloak.
“Who then? Identify yourself, angel,” Laurence commanded.
The figure threw her cloak back, revealing a Mercurian with tired, sad eyes. “I am Retzel,” she said, “Mercurian Angel of Parental Love, Servitor of Andrealphus, Mercurian Archangel of Love.”
Servitor of who? Laurence thought in disbelief, as the Seraphim Council suddenly erupted in babble. He banged his gavel twice to restore order, and the chamber settled down reluctantly. “You are mistaken, Retzel,” he said. “You can not serve Love. Andrealphus has Fallen, and his old servitors either have Fallen with him or are dead. Whom do you truly serve?” How can you serve, how can you even be here?
“After Andrealphus’ Fall, I was given to Eli, who hid me away when My Lord, in his madness, began to hunt down his old servitors,” Retzel replied. “When Eli chose to Outcast himself, I was then given to Christopher. But I have never sworn myself to them, nor accepted their Attunements. I serve Love, even when Andrealphus does not.”
Laurence stood in shock, attempting to digest these revelations, and to contain his anger. Hidden for so long. She was given to Christopher, before he was an archangel? Eli and Christopher must both answer for this deception.
“And now, with the aid of Christopher’s Fallen servitor, Druiel, Andre now knows that Retzel survives,” Zadkiel concluded. “Now Andre wants Retzel in exchange for Christopher.”
“That is not an acceptable solution, Zadkiel,” Laurence said. “We will not make deals with the Horde, especially not a bargain that trades one angel for another.”
“Then what is an acceptable solution, Laurence?” Micheal said sharply. “We are severely short on options at this point.”
Laurence’s voice dropped to a growl. “You know that there are sometimes no acceptable solutions.”
“All that I know, Laurence, is that sometimes there are solutions that we’d rather not face,” Micheal answered, in the same low tone. “But they are there, and they must be considered. Hiding them away in the dark does no one any good.”
“Are you seriously asking me to authorize handing an angel to the Horde against her will?”
“Not… not against my will, Lord… Lord Commander,” Retzel said softly. “I know, in my mind, if not my Heart, that Andrealphus has Fallen. I know what will face me should I turn myself over to his hands. But if it will save Christopher, who has protected me against him, then yes, I will trade my freedom for Christopher’s life.”
“Retzel,” Laurence said as gently as he could manage, “you are not in your right mind.”
“Do you deny the Truth of her words, Laurence?” Dominic asked, with deceptive calm.
“She speaks Truth,” Laurence admitted, “but that does not mean it is a wise Truth.”
“Don’t even try to start a debate about wisdom, Laurence,” Micheal snarled. “You dug this hole for yourself when you refused my request for a raid on Shal-Mari. Retzel is offering to do the most Selfless act I can imagine, for the sake of a Superior who has sheltered her for a mere fifty years. It’s her choice.”
All eyes in the Seraphim Council were centered upon him. I am Lord Commander of the Host, assigned here by God Himself. I dare not falter. “And if I should order her to remain in Heaven?”
“Then an Archangel will die by your actions, Lord Laurence, rather than perhaps be saved by another’s,” Dominic said, his voice devoid of any emotion. “And your actions will be Judged, as Micheal’s were so long ago.”
“Your Word is synonimous with Honor, Laurence,” Micheal said, the anger in his voice fading. “You are a Malakite, whose existence is defined by Oaths of Honor. Look into yourself, Laurence, and tell me what honor there is, in letting a comrade be destroyed by his enemies, when you could have prevented it.. I pissed my honor away when I was called Commander, and did not speak for moderation when the Host was in a fury. You still have time to step back onto the right path.”
“Every action I take, must be for the good of the whole, Micheal,” Laurence said, the chains of honor that bound him suddenly growing fearfully heavy.
“Then place the matter to a vote then,” Dominic advised. “Should the whole agree that Retzel be permitted to sacrifice herself, for the sake of an Archangel we know to be flawed, who’s Word we know to be tainted with blood and dishonor, then perhaps we should let the error be made. For Christopher will at least be within Judgement’s reach, should I wish to bring him to trial.”
“You suggest a majority vote?” Laurence asked.
Micheal began to nod in a agreement, but he froze in shock as Dominic said, “No. Full majority.”
“Full?” Micheal shouted.
“Yes,” Dominic said firmly. “We must all agree to this course. Otherwise Christopher and his Word will remain tainted, even if he is found innocent in a trial. If only one Superior distrusts him, then that one will be the seed that will crack and destroy the Word of Children, whether or not that is what he intends, for only through complete trust and love will Cristopher properly heal, and take his place again among his peers.”
“Agreed then,” Laurence said, and pretended not to hear as Micheal spewed a series of half-whispered invective into Dominic’s ear. He rapped his gravel sharply again, and stood to face the Council. “I bring this matter before the assembled whole of the Seraphim Council: Should Retzel, Mercurian Angel of Parental Love, in service to… Andrealphus, be permitted to exchange herself for Christopher, Cherub Archangel of Children’s freedom?” Then for no reason he could have articulated, he added, “Let the roll be called in reverse order.”
He began to call out the names.
“Zadkiel?”
“Yea.” Predictably.
“Yves?”
“Abstain,” came the answer from the eldest of them, his smile beautific, his actions unknowable. The Council chamber rumbled a moment in surprise, but Laurence rapped the gravel and said, “An abstention is not a negative vote, that is tradition. We will continue. Novalis?”
“Yea.”
“Michael?”
“Yea.”
“Marc?”
“Yea.”
“Litheroy?”
“Yea.”
Laurence cleared his throat. “I defer my vote, until the rest have been counted.” The chamber rumbled in discontent, but he continued.
“Khalid?”
“Yea.”
“Jordi?”
“Yea.”
“Jean?”
“Abstain,” the Archangel of Lightning said. “I do not have enough data on this situation to reach an acceptable conclusion at this time.”
“Very well. Janus?”
“Yea, man.”
“Gabriel?” He paused, looking up at where the mad Archangel of Fire spun near the Chamber’s ceiling. “Gabriel, how do you vote?”
“The Whore will die, and only a dark shadow will remain of the Child.”
“I… think… that might be accepted as an abstension,” Dominic advised.
Laurence nodded in agreement. “Very well. Eli is absent of course. Dominic?”
“Yea.”
“David?”
The Malakite Archangel of Stone, and Christopher’s creator, stood up slowly, ponderously, from his chair. “I vote Nay.”
“Goddamn you, David!” Michael shouted, his voice rising about the Council’s din. David stood silent and unmoved as Retzel began to weep, while Michael and Zadkiel accused Stone of all manner of perfidy.
It took over a minute for him to restore order again, the Council settling into a stunned, angry silence. Laurence cleared his throat and asked, “Lord David, for the benefit of those who voted, and who might have wished to have voted in Christopher’s favor, might we persuade you to explain your action to them?”
“Children is a flawed Word,” David said, his voice low and rumbling with utter conviction. “We knew this from the start, and yet we allowed him to take it, and then build upon it. I made a mistake when I stayed silent during his confirmation as an Archangel. Shall we permit him to return to us, flawed, broken, and possibly dissonant? He should have been Outcast as soon as he began to babble information into the Horde’s ears.”
“He was upset about Druiel’s Fall,” Novalis pointed out. “He was not thinking clearly. Striking with a hammer at a mistake will not correct the error, but only break the hand of the one who made it.”
David’s face, set hard in determinmation, did not change. “My vote stands.”
Michael grabbed the handle of his axe, as if to draw it forth and smite David right there, but Dominic stayed his hand, and the Archangel of War sat back down, his eyes seemingly boiling with anger.
“The vote is not unanimous,” Laurence noted, “so by agreement Retzel must remain in Heaven, safe from Andrealphus.”
Zadkiel bowed her head down in defeat, and even Michael looked terribly weary and lost.
“However, I will remind you all that Council votes are merely advisory. Ultimately, decisions that might affect the Host as a whole are my responsibility, for good or ill. So therefore, I choose to veto the Council’s decision, and allow Retzel to do as she sees fit.”
Zadkiel’s raised her head, her eyes wide with surprise, and Laurence even had the rare privilidge of seeing Michael rendered speechless.
“Make no mistake, I still think that the price we are paying to return Christopher to us is too high. I believe that Retzel’s long self-incarceration to avoid Andrealphus’ gaze has rendered her quite mad, and incapable of seeing the grim tortures that lay before her. I do not Truthfully believe that Christopher will be capable of maintaining his Word as before. I do believe that he will have to be brought to Trial for the grave mistakes in judgement he has made. I beleive he might even Fall. But even knowing that, it is not our place, as Micheal said, to prevent someone from making a Selfless choice, however futile it may be in the end. For in the end, that is the difference between Heaven and Hell, the need to do what we believe is right, no matter what the personal cost.”
I am the Sword, wielded by God. A fine sword, a strong sword, is made to bend, so that it does not break.
Another full Council session, almost, Laurence observed, from his seat at the head of the chamber. Only Zadkiel was missing, for obvious reasons. Even if the crisis in Children was not enough reason for all Superiors to be in attendence, the sheer novelty of the session being called jointly by Micheal and Dominic would have attracted their complete attention. Myself included.
He rapped his gavel, and the chamber quieted. Laurence then rose t ohis feet and addressed then. “Lord Micheal, Lord Dominic, What brings you to call the Council together at this time. Do either of you have news concerning our brother, Christopher?”
Dominic rose to answer. “Yes, Lord Commander. We have discovered the servitor whom Andrealphus seeks, in exchange for Lord Christopher.”
“Is that possible?” Laurence asked in surprise. “Is it a recently redeemed Lust servitor?”
“No, Lord Commander. Nor a demon in confined by us.” Dominic motioned towards the front of the Council chamber, where the door opened to reveal Zadkiel, and a smaller figure in an enveloping cloak.
“Who then? Identify yourself, angel,” Laurence commanded.
The figure threw her cloak back, revealing a Mercurian with tired, sad eyes. “I am Retzel,” she said, “Mercurian Angel of Parental Love, Servitor of Andrealphus, Mercurian Archangel of Love.”
Servitor of who? Laurence thought in disbelief, as the Seraphim Council suddenly erupted in babble. He banged his gavel twice to restore order, and the chamber settled down reluctantly. “You are mistaken, Retzel,” he said. “You can not serve Love. Andrealphus has Fallen, and his old servitors either have Fallen with him or are dead. Whom do you truly serve?” How can you serve, how can you even be here?
“After Andrealphus’ Fall, I was given to Eli, who hid me away when My Lord, in his madness, began to hunt down his old servitors,” Retzel replied. “When Eli chose to Outcast himself, I was then given to Christopher. But I have never sworn myself to them, nor accepted their Attunements. I serve Love, even when Andrealphus does not.”
Laurence stood in shock, attempting to digest these revelations, and to contain his anger. Hidden for so long. She was given to Christopher, before he was an archangel? Eli and Christopher must both answer for this deception.
“And now, with the aid of Christopher’s Fallen servitor, Druiel, Andre now knows that Retzel survives,” Zadkiel concluded. “Now Andre wants Retzel in exchange for Christopher.”
“That is not an acceptable solution, Zadkiel,” Laurence said. “We will not make deals with the Horde, especially not a bargain that trades one angel for another.”
“Then what is an acceptable solution, Laurence?” Micheal said sharply. “We are severely short on options at this point.”
Laurence’s voice dropped to a growl. “You know that there are sometimes no acceptable solutions.”
“All that I know, Laurence, is that sometimes there are solutions that we’d rather not face,” Micheal answered, in the same low tone. “But they are there, and they must be considered. Hiding them away in the dark does no one any good.”
“Are you seriously asking me to authorize handing an angel to the Horde against her will?”
“Not… not against my will, Lord… Lord Commander,” Retzel said softly. “I know, in my mind, if not my Heart, that Andrealphus has Fallen. I know what will face me should I turn myself over to his hands. But if it will save Christopher, who has protected me against him, then yes, I will trade my freedom for Christopher’s life.”
“Retzel,” Laurence said as gently as he could manage, “you are not in your right mind.”
“Do you deny the Truth of her words, Laurence?” Dominic asked, with deceptive calm.
“She speaks Truth,” Laurence admitted, “but that does not mean it is a wise Truth.”
“Don’t even try to start a debate about wisdom, Laurence,” Micheal snarled. “You dug this hole for yourself when you refused my request for a raid on Shal-Mari. Retzel is offering to do the most Selfless act I can imagine, for the sake of a Superior who has sheltered her for a mere fifty years. It’s her choice.”
All eyes in the Seraphim Council were centered upon him. I am Lord Commander of the Host, assigned here by God Himself. I dare not falter. “And if I should order her to remain in Heaven?”
“Then an Archangel will die by your actions, Lord Laurence, rather than perhaps be saved by another’s,” Dominic said, his voice devoid of any emotion. “And your actions will be Judged, as Micheal’s were so long ago.”
“Your Word is synonimous with Honor, Laurence,” Micheal said, the anger in his voice fading. “You are a Malakite, whose existence is defined by Oaths of Honor. Look into yourself, Laurence, and tell me what honor there is, in letting a comrade be destroyed by his enemies, when you could have prevented it.. I pissed my honor away when I was called Commander, and did not speak for moderation when the Host was in a fury. You still have time to step back onto the right path.”
“Every action I take, must be for the good of the whole, Micheal,” Laurence said, the chains of honor that bound him suddenly growing fearfully heavy.
“Then place the matter to a vote then,” Dominic advised. “Should the whole agree that Retzel be permitted to sacrifice herself, for the sake of an Archangel we know to be flawed, who’s Word we know to be tainted with blood and dishonor, then perhaps we should let the error be made. For Christopher will at least be within Judgement’s reach, should I wish to bring him to trial.”
“You suggest a majority vote?” Laurence asked.
Micheal began to nod in a agreement, but he froze in shock as Dominic said, “No. Full majority.”
“Full?” Micheal shouted.
“Yes,” Dominic said firmly. “We must all agree to this course. Otherwise Christopher and his Word will remain tainted, even if he is found innocent in a trial. If only one Superior distrusts him, then that one will be the seed that will crack and destroy the Word of Children, whether or not that is what he intends, for only through complete trust and love will Cristopher properly heal, and take his place again among his peers.”
“Agreed then,” Laurence said, and pretended not to hear as Micheal spewed a series of half-whispered invective into Dominic’s ear. He rapped his gravel sharply again, and stood to face the Council. “I bring this matter before the assembled whole of the Seraphim Council: Should Retzel, Mercurian Angel of Parental Love, in service to… Andrealphus, be permitted to exchange herself for Christopher, Cherub Archangel of Children’s freedom?” Then for no reason he could have articulated, he added, “Let the roll be called in reverse order.”
He began to call out the names.
“Zadkiel?”
“Yea.” Predictably.
“Yves?”
“Abstain,” came the answer from the eldest of them, his smile beautific, his actions unknowable. The Council chamber rumbled a moment in surprise, but Laurence rapped the gravel and said, “An abstention is not a negative vote, that is tradition. We will continue. Novalis?”
“Yea.”
“Michael?”
“Yea.”
“Marc?”
“Yea.”
“Litheroy?”
“Yea.”
Laurence cleared his throat. “I defer my vote, until the rest have been counted.” The chamber rumbled in discontent, but he continued.
“Khalid?”
“Yea.”
“Jordi?”
“Yea.”
“Jean?”
“Abstain,” the Archangel of Lightning said. “I do not have enough data on this situation to reach an acceptable conclusion at this time.”
“Very well. Janus?”
“Yea, man.”
“Gabriel?” He paused, looking up at where the mad Archangel of Fire spun near the Chamber’s ceiling. “Gabriel, how do you vote?”
“The Whore will die, and only a dark shadow will remain of the Child.”
“I… think… that might be accepted as an abstension,” Dominic advised.
Laurence nodded in agreement. “Very well. Eli is absent of course. Dominic?”
“Yea.”
“David?”
The Malakite Archangel of Stone, and Christopher’s creator, stood up slowly, ponderously, from his chair. “I vote Nay.”
“Goddamn you, David!” Michael shouted, his voice rising about the Council’s din. David stood silent and unmoved as Retzel began to weep, while Michael and Zadkiel accused Stone of all manner of perfidy.
It took over a minute for him to restore order again, the Council settling into a stunned, angry silence. Laurence cleared his throat and asked, “Lord David, for the benefit of those who voted, and who might have wished to have voted in Christopher’s favor, might we persuade you to explain your action to them?”
“Children is a flawed Word,” David said, his voice low and rumbling with utter conviction. “We knew this from the start, and yet we allowed him to take it, and then build upon it. I made a mistake when I stayed silent during his confirmation as an Archangel. Shall we permit him to return to us, flawed, broken, and possibly dissonant? He should have been Outcast as soon as he began to babble information into the Horde’s ears.”
“He was upset about Druiel’s Fall,” Novalis pointed out. “He was not thinking clearly. Striking with a hammer at a mistake will not correct the error, but only break the hand of the one who made it.”
David’s face, set hard in determinmation, did not change. “My vote stands.”
Michael grabbed the handle of his axe, as if to draw it forth and smite David right there, but Dominic stayed his hand, and the Archangel of War sat back down, his eyes seemingly boiling with anger.
“The vote is not unanimous,” Laurence noted, “so by agreement Retzel must remain in Heaven, safe from Andrealphus.”
Zadkiel bowed her head down in defeat, and even Michael looked terribly weary and lost.
“However, I will remind you all that Council votes are merely advisory. Ultimately, decisions that might affect the Host as a whole are my responsibility, for good or ill. So therefore, I choose to veto the Council’s decision, and allow Retzel to do as she sees fit.”
Zadkiel’s raised her head, her eyes wide with surprise, and Laurence even had the rare privilidge of seeing Michael rendered speechless.
“Make no mistake, I still think that the price we are paying to return Christopher to us is too high. I believe that Retzel’s long self-incarceration to avoid Andrealphus’ gaze has rendered her quite mad, and incapable of seeing the grim tortures that lay before her. I do not Truthfully believe that Christopher will be capable of maintaining his Word as before. I do believe that he will have to be brought to Trial for the grave mistakes in judgement he has made. I beleive he might even Fall. But even knowing that, it is not our place, as Micheal said, to prevent someone from making a Selfless choice, however futile it may be in the end. For in the end, that is the difference between Heaven and Hell, the need to do what we believe is right, no matter what the personal cost.”
I am the Sword, wielded by God. A fine sword, a strong sword, is made to bend, so that it does not break.
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Date: 2005-01-14 09:45 pm (UTC)