Revelations [malexmale]

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

"Come see, come see what has been created by our Holy Father. See what His power and His love can create."

Gabriel's words were the narrative that I heard as I stood in the Garden of Eden for the first time as a teenager. I was still mortal, still young. I had no powers, not even wings. I was much smaller than Gabriel, but Michael matched my height perfectly. We wore our matching white silk robes that brushed the ground without attracting filth. Gabriel had told us Father was granting the angels the first look at the new holy grounds, the Garden of Eden, as he called it.

And what a sight it was... The sun was shining, its golden rays pouring through the tree leaves, sprinkling on the brilliant green grass, the stone walkways. Trees of every kind I could think of grew there, some bearing fruits, others flowers, some seeds. Flowers of all colors and colors I'd never even knew existed before. Bushes and grasses. And the glorious life that was teeming within from the birds that sang sweet songs to the fish that danced and twirled in the crystal clear waters of ponds and streams and rivers.

"It's beautiful," Michael whispered at my side, his sapphire blue eyes scanning the Garden in awe. I couldn't even bring myself to speak words. It was glorious. It was far more beautiful than we'd ever suspected. Even Gabriel seemed at lost for words as he stood over us, taking in the landscape, his curled black hair falling becomingly around his young overjoyed face. Even tears welled in his eyes.

"This Garden is our piece of Heaven to the new creations," he whispered, making me blink and look up, "Father will breathe life into a new race of mortals who shall live and die here before being transported to our true Heaven. This glory and this beauty is untainted, unscathed, by the horrors of the other worlds. Do you understand?" He turned his gaze to us and we nodded together.

"No other creature will be allowed to dwell here, but those our Father deems worthy," Gabriel explained, "There will be no war, no brutality, no hatred, no cruelty here. Our mortals will be gifts, unlike the mortals created by the others."

"Why did the other gods create mortals if they are so brutal and cruel?" I asked. Michael scowled at me.

"Were you not listening during Raphael's lecture?" He asked. I looked to my feet sheepishly and Gabriel laughed softly, kneeling down before me and taking my hands into his and giving them a firm squeeze.

"Their mortals had no hope. Their mortals did not have a father who loved them as ours loves us. They became corrupt because of this. Mortals need guidance and hope from a father who loves them unconditionally as ours does. Fret not, my sweet brother, you will see. Father makes no mistakes. These mortals will be our brothers and sisters, and we must protect them and love them, as our Father does." Gabriel had leaned forward and touched his lips to my forehead before rising to his feet, giving us free reign to play and frolic in the Garden for as long as we pleased.

Well, at least until our next joint lesson.

The Garden had been a shining gift of beauty back then.

Unfortunately, when anything was neglected, it would shrivel and wither away.

The Garden we arrived in was not the Garden I had stood in that day so long ago.

The trees were all bare of leaves, nothing more than dark skeletal branches trembling in the cold breeze that swept through the place. The flowers were no more, just stiff brittle stems caught between mounds of unkempt dirt and rocks. The waters were dark and murky. The sky was clouded over. The stone pathways had been swallowed up by the overgrowth.

Gods, in a terrifying way, it reminded me of what had become of the Paradise realm my Father had lived in with his consort. How His heart must have shattered to pieces when He realized He was repeating history. It broke my heart to see that something He held so much hope for was nothing more than an abandoned junkyard.