Reformation

Absolution had expected that reforming a global spanning religion that had billions of followers would be a monumental undertaking but he did not expect how tedious it would all be. Yes, the greatest theologians of the land were here but that didn’t help and, in fact, it actually made things so much worse. So there he was, sitting atop the Ark with Asia by his side while surrounded by his Archangels and people as they bickered about their grievances against one another. Not even Asia’s comforting pat could help take his mind off what was happening before him.

He had to remind himself that the same people he was trying to unite hated each other but it didn’t stop him from pinching the bridge of his nose, “Enough!” He yelled out, cowing even the most ardent and fiery of the bunch to silence.

“While I understand that you all have your grievances you still have a task at hand,” He reminded them, pausing for a bit before he continued, “Now, since you guys can’t decide on how we should start this, let me set up the goal for the reformation.”

There was really no going around it, if he needed them organized in a timely manner, he needed to get involved himself. Yes, he wanted them to decide for themselves but it would take far too long and he couldn’t be bogged down here.

Holding up three fingers, he then started, “I want three things done by the end of this week. The first thing I want you to agree on is how you all want to be organized together. I don’t care if you hate each other, but I do not want you to be divided by such frivolous lines such as how you worship me. All of you will be under one banner one way or another.”

They were divided and it would simply not do. He needed them united as one and their combined worship of him wasn’t enough. Thankfully, his followers had taken his lesson with Asia to heart as one of them immediately raised his hands, “Do you have something in mind?” He questioned the man who was sweating as he slowly stood up,

“Must it be a centralized authority, my lord? While we do want to be united under one banner, we do have disagreements on how we want to be organized,” The man asked, giving Absolution pause. Did he really need them to be centralized?

“No, it does not,” With a shake of his head, he answered. A centralized authority might not be the best course of action.

“Can it then be a loose union perhaps?” The man then suggested.

“You know, that’s a great idea. Somebody write that down,” Absolution praised the man who smiled as he sat down once more, “You can even keep some of your doctrines. You might be all divided but you must stand together as brothers and sisters,” He lectured them.

He waited for the murmuring and whispers to die down before he continued, “The second thing I want you to do is cut down on some of the unnecessary teachings and laws as well as give context to the laws that were established thousands of years ago,” Much needed context was lost in the complicated, multi generational game of translation telephone but now that was going to be fixed.

“My lord, what are some of the unnecessary laws that you have in mind?” Another man asked for clarification.

“I’m glad you asked. Some of the laws encoded in the holy books were the cultural laws of the hebrews. Those laws were useful in far more barbaric times, but now they are longer needed. Not all of you are Hebrews so you can scrap that,” He explained before he started stroking his chin. He could just keep the old laws and give them modern context but he could also take a far more radical approach.

With a goal in mind, he then pushed on, “Actually, I’m scrapping most of the laws entirely. You guys have some well defined laws and are doing great without my church having to guide you all so let’s remove most of those laws. I approve of the separation of the church from the state and as much as I can see some of you wanting a theocracy, it's best that the affairs of mortal men be their own.”

While having the church meddle on the affairs of government could give him far more power, he did not need it to further influence his people.

His attention was soon called upon a finely dressed Imam as the man asked, “Does that mean we can no longer have a caliphate my lord?”

He shook his head in negative as he answered, “A caliphate is just no longer viable in this day and age. Back when people were much more savage, such a central authority would be needed but now people are enlightened,” It was a relic of a bygone era, and as much as people dreamt of having one it simply would not work in such a modern setting. Having one around would be akin to a dictatorial government.

Speaking of the right to rule in his name, he had one topic he had to touch upon, “I will no longer bless kings and give them the right to rule, but I will bless the laws of your people,” He quickly brought up. It should be the law that the people believe in that should empower the government, not him.

There were some that were disgruntled by such changes, but he was not one to step back. This was one thing he had set his mind on and he was only giving up tasks and responsibilities that were no longer his to do in the first place. His people had already grown to take care of themselves.

Powering through, he shifted the topic to the third and final task he had set for them, “The last thing I want you all to do is learn to forgive each other because this will be a long week if you don’t,” The time frame he gave them was short, but he thought that putting them under pressure would help speed things up, “No one is getting in or out of the tent city until the task at hand is complete. Got it?”

Everyone nodded even as some looked at their neighbors uneasily. Either they all killed each other by the end of the week or they’ll come up with something. It was a toss up on which is more likely but he had faith in them, “Any more questions? Good, you have all the time in the world to finish this, but don’t go on tangents or Asia would be disappointed,” He asked once more before he gestured at his four winged companion.

Stepping down from his perch, he then lifted up the lid of his Ark and pulled out one particular stick before he handed it over to his newest angel, “Asia, whack them with this stick if they get rowdy.”

“E-eh?!” the flustered girl shouted as she fumbled around with Moses’ staff. His priests shied away as the staff hissed at them. Was he cruel to tease them like this? Yes. Was it funny? Most definitely.

-x-x-x-

It was tedious, yes, but they had a week to prepare before this meeting and they did have a rough idea of what they all wanted. The unification of the church had been a pipe dream for some of the major churches for a long time so they were ready for it. Yes, he wanted a unified church but he did not want an all encompassing central authority, thus the council of priests was established. In the end, however, his people got their act together and came up with something brilliant.

On the second day of his meeting with his followers the Abrahamic Council was created. Stylized as a parliamentary system with him as the head, it was to be the sole governing establishment of the church. There were going to be a thousand seats all in all in this council with each seat representing a tiny fraction of the population of the flock. So long as that denomination had at least 0.1% of the population, they would get a seat.

There were also some considerations, such as the Jews who were severely under populated, but due to their sheer age and history they still got a seat. He tried to get everyone a seat, but some denominations were just too small. In the end, the council was dominated by the Sunnis, the Catholics, the Orthodox, and the coalition of Protestant churches.

It certainly has its flaws given how it gives more power to the bigger denominations, but more seats means more of the budget comes from them. More responsibilities, not just power was given. It also served as a compromise as the Council would serve only to direct the major issues that his followers wanted to pursue such as diplomacy, military affairs, and research to name a few. At least now they had direct dialogue with each other. Hopefully, it’d serve as a catalyst for further integration between the various sects.

With the church essentially united for the first time in a thousand years they could move on to much more productive areas of discussion. Unfortunately, there were times that his followers went off on tangents and he himself was sucked in.

-x-x-x-

One of the first things that got brought up was the topic of what it meant to be a priest. While he would have chalked it off and had each denomination do their own thing, he had to pause as having a baseline on being a priest would help in giving them all something in common. So he sat there, listening to how they’ll go about it. He only intervened when the topic of women in the priesthood were brought up by the protestants.

“Female priests are now allowed!” He declared as he placed his foot down just as their voices were raised. He was immediately met with cries of protest from his far more traditional worshippers.

“But-!” an Imam cried out in protest only for him to be silenced as Absolution raised his hands.

“Do you want to hear what the ancient Israelites said when I brought up the topic of priestesses?” He threatened as he dug up memories of his meeting with the Isrealites in this very mountain. He smiled as he was met with looks of confusion, “It starts off with them saying how girls have cooties and impure…” He trailed off much to the horror of the rabbi’s who looked towards the imam pleadingly. Even the Protestants themselves cringed as he brought up the muted illusion of the ancient Israelites.

Thankfully, the man couldn’t stand the second hand embarrassment as he relented, “... No, my lord,” The man whispered as he sat down and with that he cut off the memory. Oh the Israelites’ arguments were far more nuanced, but he didn’t have to tell them that. After all, he was merely correcting ancient wrongs that were long overdue. The fact that he liked seeing priestesses did not affect his decision, not at all!

“You are all equal in my eyes. Don’t you forget about that,” He then admonished them lightly. While people could try to justify the superiority of men, in the end they should be treated as equals.

He wasn’t one to put them down all the time so he decided to throw them a bone, “You guys can get married as well” He declared much to the shock of some of his catholic followers. “Look, I did not force my Rabbi’s to be celibate nor did I make my imam’s celibate so why should you? While Celibacy does have its merits as a spiritual practice, I do not want it to be a requirement,” He pointed before elaborating further on celibacy, “I’m not forcing you to take on the vow of celibacy but if you still want to go through it, I’m not going to go against you.”

There were murmurs of agreement and he could even see sighs of relief among some of the cardinals. Naughty, but he did say that celibacy was no longer a requirement. His attention was soon called upon once more as a man brought up another topic, “Speaking of marriage my lord, are the vows made by nuns binding?”

He was about to shake his head only to pause as he felt Asia’s expectant gaze upon him. He turned slightly and saw the girl fidgeting as she held the staff. The eager and expectant look the girl had was just too much to resist so he did the next best thing to answer his question, “Yes… a woman can still make a vow to me when they do not want to get married to another,” He said, obfuscating his answer to cover his ass.

“But that does not answer the question my lord,” The man pointed out, but he was not having any of it.

“Moving on!” He blurted out as a blush crept up his face, much to the annoyance of Asia who pouted after not receiving a straight answer as well as to his followers' amusement as they gave him encouraging smiles and thumbs up. Bastards, the lot of them.

-x-x-x-

“My lord, how many wives can a man truly have?” A man finally questioned him as they navigated through the intricacies of marriage. Man was truly such a horny creature, he should know for he once was one after all.

To this, he answered the only answer worthy of such a great question, “Yes.”

He was quickly met by a swift bop on the head by a flustereds Asia as she and the rest of the female angels blushed up a storm while his male followers nodded in appreciation. He received it as he snickered at their expense. “... Truly, your wisdom is profound,” One of them praised him.

“A woman can also have as many husbands as they want,” He then declared, catching everyone off guard. Asia looked like she was about to faint as she tugged at the collar of her dress. If he was to declare harems were to be a thing, he’ll have it be both ways. Let it not be said that he did not follow what he preached.

“Oh my,” The normally quiet and reserved Raziel whispered as she brought up her long sleeve to cover the smile she had.

He snorted at their reaction as he then asked them, “Good luck on getting them all to agree though. They are still your wives and husbands and do you really want to go with all the effort of trying to get all of them to agree just to have more people to make love with?”

Harems were high maintenance as it didn’t just add onto the complexity of a relationship, it multiplied it. Still, he wasn’t going to be a killjoy about it as there were some instances that such a relationship can work, especially with where he was. So long as they were not being immoral about it, he was not one to deny his followers such simple pleasures.

-x-x-x-

All this talk about marriage quickly led to another topic, that of interspecies marriages, “Yes, you can marry any species. Angels, Devil, Yokai’s, hell, even goddesses if you somehow can. So long as you can make them agree to my worship, go for it!!” He encouraged them much to their delight as they nodded eagerly. It’s not like human traits were buried, it’s always dominant. This would also serve as a way for him to spread his worship and, thus, his protection and blessings upon those outside of humanity. He dreamed of a cosmopolitan religion accepting all.

“What I don’t care about is what gender role you wish to play,” He then segwayed as he broached upon the topic of gender. It was a hot button issue given how homosexuality was seen by his people but frankly, he did not care.

“What a person does in the bedroom is not something we meddle with. If they decided to become bottom, so be it. Top? No problem. What I do have problems with is age. So long as it's not too extreme, I will approve,” He then said as he brought up the one topic that he had problems with.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“But that excludes us from marrying long lived beings,” One of his priest’s brought up. He did have a point at least.

“Of course, there should be a case by case basis but what’s important is the maturity of the species,” He agreed as they further elaborated on how such things should be handled. It eventually all boiled down to maturity of said individuals.

-x-x-x-

With all the talks about marriage, sex was inevitably brought up. Of course, there are times that he ind, “Yes, extra marital sex is a thing before marriage. After marriage, it becomes a group decision. You will regret it if you don’t have the right attitude to it,” He declared. Was he playing fast and loose with such things? Yes. Why was he removing the taboo on it? Simply put, having no taboo on it made it all the less exciting for those that treat it as a thrill.

“That does not mean you can go fuck whoever you like. Have some common sense here. There will be consequences. You have condoms for crying out loud! Use them!” He was quick to warn them, much to embarrassed nods. He might be lewd but he was being reasonable about it.

“Also, I will allow the separation between couples. As sacred as marriage is, there are times when you guys really fuck up so much that it’s best for both parties to just part ways,” He then said as he blitzed through another hot button topic. With how things were it was simply unavoidable. Best to set it off now rather than have it fester and linger.

“That’s… quite reasonable my lord. While I do have reservations about it, we shall follow your words,” A catholic cardinal relented.

-x-x-x-

Eventually, the topics of sexuality and marriage soon ran out and they could move on to other pressing matters, “My lord, what do you mean when you say suffer not the witches to live?” an exorcist asked as the topic of magic was brought up. Magic in DxD was quite the interesting thing. Why was there no magic that stemmed from his authority? Turns out, there is.

“It’s a mistranslation,” He clarified before further elaborating, “I am not against magic practitioners, in fact Solomon was quite powerful with the ones that I taught him. I’m just against those that use magic to be assholes and assholes in general. Poisoners, necromancers, all the evil stuff is something I will not tolerate. Magic to heal and create? Magic that’s actually useful for mankind? I say go ahead.” Of course, magic was a tool so technically all magic could be used for good, but he was getting ahead of himself.

“You taught Solomon magic, my lord?” A rabbi asked excitedly. When Solomon asked for his Wisdom, Genesis did not hold back.

“He did ask for my Wisdom,” He replied with a cryptic smile. “Which reminds me, I’ll probably work on something in the future. Having your most talented magicians go to the devils needs to be fixed.”

That was another thing that was bugging him. Why were devils and other pantheons the sources of magic? Why were his followers left behind? Yes, magic could be extremely destructive in the wrong hands, but was he going to deny them such a powerful tool? They will burn their hands but how else were they going to learn when handling such a powerful force.

-x-x-x-

Everything was discussed, even the very commandments themselves were brought up. They were the cornerstones of his religion, the very tenants that all his people follow. As simple as they were, there were still some holes left to cover and now he was here to fix that, “I’m revising the ten commandments! I’m adding several new ones! Now listen closely,” He shouted as his followers stopped what they were discussing and listened intently to what he had to say.

Clearing his throat, he said, “First new rule, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself’," While it seemed innocent at first, it was an all encompassing command. Hate was to be discouraged and there were a lot of acts of hate, even in the very priesthood that worshiped him. Discrimination, sexism and plain old racism (or should it be specism?) to name a few. Did you really love your neighbor if you did them wrong?

His followers of course were more than happy to agree as they nod along. Counting down, he continued, “Second new rule, ‘Thou shalt seek enlightenment for God works in mysterious ways’.” This, on the other hand, earned him looks of confusion and uncertainty. He was quick to follow up and clarify as he added, “The world is your oyster. Explore it, master it, but don’t go breaking it too hard and yes, breaking physics is totally ok.”

Almost immediately a young deacon raised their hand and he couldn’t help but smile as they asked, “My lord, why is the speed of light a thing?”

From his memories, he wasn’t the one that created the world. He was merely a result of it along with his fellow gods, but this was well within what he knew from his time at the throne, “Because things would get fucked really badly otherwise,” He replied before he reached for his pockets. Pulling out some lint, he formed a vacuum atop his palm before forcing the lint to collapse in on themselves. From the lint he made stars as he had them dance along his palm.

With a prop in hand, he lectured them, “Ok, let’s go with your formula of E=mc^2. If you tweak the value of the speed of light, things are far more energetic and traveling much faster. It just sounds that the universe would be in fast forward until you go look at the stars and see that fusion isn’t working correctly,” With a simple tweak in the local space, the small start vibrating until it tore itself apart in a violent pop breaking his audience out of their stupor, “Also, do you really want some asteroids zipping around at 1.1c?” He then added as he waved off the temporary vacuum he made. It was a miracle that reality itself could still hold itself together with all the things going on inside.

“...You make it sound that the universe runs on spaghetti code my lord,” The deacon muttered.

He gave the deacon a long hard stare before he asked,“When is it not?” As much as it pained him, this universe was held together by hopes and dreams, literally. Clapping his hand, he smiled once more as he added, “Now that concludes my science lesson.”

He didn’t dwell too much on the revelation as he made his final commandment, “As for what my final rules shall be, ’Reflect upon my words and see its true meaning’.”

Overall, his experience with his followers felt like he was pulling a tooth. It was a necessary pain to organize the titanic religion he now headed. At least the discussion here was civil, unlike his judgment upon those that supported the Hero Faction.

-x-x-x-

With the discussions on laws coming to an end the time for judgment was now at hand. There before me were the condemned and the guilty, those who supported the Hero faction. Thousands knelt before him, some beaten and bloodied while some trembling in fear yet unharmed. One thing was universal, however, and it was that all of them came before him in chains.

Surrounded by the multitude they were made to kneel on the hard ground at the base of the mountain with nothing but rags to cover them. They came in all shapes and forms, from the lowly scribes up to the bishops and even some cardinals among them. The catholics were not alone as every last denomination was represented before him. From the far off lands of the east to the new world, to the deserts and mountains of the cradle of civilization, and even to the new world itself, none was spared from such a purge. They who wronged him were gathered and now they must be judged.

As he stared at the gathering before, he asked one thing, “Why?” Why did they support such an organization? Was it ignorance? Was it misguided faith? Was it desperation for salvation? He needed to know what pushed them to such acts. As one, they cried out and spoke true in their hearts. None dared lie as they basked at the light of the heaven itself as it shone oppressively upon them.

“I did not know that they would stoop this low my lord!” Most of them cried. These were the ignorant and there he forgave them for they did not know better, but he kept quiet.

Others, meanwhile, showed that they were simply misguided, “I thought I was doing what was right, my lord. It was supposed to be for the greater good but now I see that I was wrong. Please forgive me!” A couple of them cried. They were those who were those who lost faith but could still be redeemed. They merely wanted what was best and chose to close their hearts to what was righteous.

Then came those who stood proudly. They who stood up with their heads held their heads high and proclaimed to the world, “They deserved it!”

Silence befell the gathering as they stared at these proud few, these horrible creatures. There before him was the dark heart of humanity. While most repented, they merely smiled as if they were students showing their teachers the work that they had done, “Speak your mind now or forever be damned for all eternity,” He spoke out, in vain hope that they merely lied, that they really didn’t mean what they said.

Alas, they showed just how hate could utterly corrupt and twist those that believed they are righteous, “They deserved it! Every one last one of them! They are the witches that poison, demons that corrupt, heretics that disobey, you should see through their lies and be done with them!” One of them cried, a balding, well built man cried out with such vitriol that he was taken aback.

With a sad smile, he asked them once more, “Is that really what your heart says is true? Do you not feel guilty for those you have condemned to die? Do you not feel pity for the innocents that you have dispoiled and subjected to cruelty?”

What another asked broke what little illusion he held for them, “What innocence my lord? There is no innocence in them, they are but monsters to be destroyed or tools to be used,” One of them answered.

“Your hatred for those not like you has turned you into the very thing that you hunted down, monsters,” He whispered as the man looked at him in confusion. Walking to the ignorant, he beckoned them to stand up.

“You who are merely ignorant, go, return to your flocks and reflect upon what you have done. The blood of innocents now stains your hands and from now on you shall wrap your hands in red cloth,” He sentenced them. While he could be unforgiving and ruthless, he stayed his hands for them. He let them back into the flock, but they were now shamed for their actions.

Moving on to the misguided, he reached down from the ground and grabbed a handful of red clay. He clenched his hands, letting his nail dig upon his palm until the blood of his avatar mixed in with the fine dirt. With the liquid in hand, he marked their foreheads and they cried out in pain as a curse was laid upon them, “For those that have been misguided, I give upon you the mark of Cain. Forever shall you walk this earth till the weight of your sins no longer taint your souls.”

It was a heavy punishment as well as a gift upon them, “You who seeked to protect mankind at any cost shall now protect it with your bodies and soul. So long as I deem it, you shall find no rest. Go! Walk upon this earth and seek out the weak and the innocent. You shall become their sword and shield. The church might provide you food and water but you will find no sanctuary within,” He condemned them to never ending torment. Some cried out for clemency but they were forced to walk into the unforgiving wild with all the supplies they needed to return back to civilization.

Finally, he stood before the proud few and he had little words for them, “To the unrepentant, I grant you mercy,” He judged them as he turned his back upon them and walked away to his tent.

He was met with silence until it was broken by the blood curdling scream of pain, “My lord! What have we done! It hurts, it hurts so much!” They begged him as he turned around once more and saw what he had done. The people who stood up were now rooted in place as their legs turned to salt. Flesh crystalized while blood flowed into their transmuted flesh.

“This is my mercy. You who had abandoned your humanity and indulged upon unspeakable sins all under the guise of following my words are no longer fit to be humans,” He replied as what little control he had for his hatred broke, “I curse you! You shall be stripped of the humanity you so callously tossed aside and live out your lives in torment till judgment day.”

He was a merciful god, but only for those that deserved it.

-x-x-x-

In the end a dozen or so pillars of salt now stood before his followers. The screams of agony they held in their final moments forever immortalized as they became something that was neither living or dead. He had them divided and carted off to all the corners of the world and ordered them to be displayed inside the monasteries and convents that trained his future followers. Those who wished to follow in their footsteps needed only gaze upon them.

As horrible as their fates were, he felt both cathartic and hollow inside. Did he really make the right choice? He asked himself as he closed his eyes and reached out for those that had passed on under the care of Michael. Feeling the thankful gaze of those that died directly from the actions of the so called heroes set his heart as ease as they passed on to the next big adventure.

Returning back to the present, he smiled as he walked up to his followers. It was now the 7th and final day of this gathering. He and his followers had been cooped up and now it was time to let them all go, “It’s been a long week, but we managed to finish a preliminary draft in that time!” He declared and was met with cheers and applause. They themselves looked tired and weary, with most of them sporting dark bags beneath their eyes.

The Core tenant of the church had been reaffirmed with the 10 commandments, or rather the 13 Commandments now, and most of the issues are now settled. Overall, it seemed like a good start. With the institution created, he could finally sit back and get to other pressing matters. All that was left to do was consecrate it and make it binding.

“My high priests, come forth!” He called out to the same priest that had met him at the start. The pope still standed with them, if a bit humbled, a bit wearier looking. The smile he sent him lifted up what little spirit he still had left after the ordeal.

“We answer your call my lord,” They knelt before him once more.

“The original tablets of Moses?” He asked as he held out his hands. Immediately, the levites came bearing the Ark of the covenant with them. Walking up to the ark, he reached inside and pulled out the original tablets that Moses carried.

He raised them high up in the air before he smashed them upon the ground. The old and heavy stone broke in twine, much to the horror of those that stood before them. He merely smiled as he reached down and picked up the pieces. With stone in hand, he remade the tablet and codified the changes he made. The cracks were still visible but they were mended by the same silvery metal that Sacred Gears and Holy Swords were made off, “With this act, I renew my covenant with you my people. From the remnants of the old I shall carve the new laws of my people and their faith in me shall be reforged,” He declared before he gave the new tablets to his followers.

“Rise my people for all of you are my children!” He then cried as he tossed out his hands and he was received with an even louder cry of jubilation. With those simple words, he dispelled the myth of a specific race of people that would serve as his people.

Turning his attention back to his priests, he then reached inside his pocket and pulled out a dozen rings, enough for every major denomination, “As promised, you shall all receive gifts,” He said before dividing the rings and giving them each a ring. He might have ripped off Fate when it came to making these rings, but it served well to show that he had no favorites among them, “With these rings, you shall have my blessing. So long as you have faith in me, they shall be your sword and your shield. Use it wisely,” It wasn’t much, but they served as powerful conduits for his power. So long as they had faith in their heart, they could call upon his system to perform his miracles in his stead.

“Now rejoice for today is the day of Sabbath. Rest your weary souls and make merry for tomorrow shall be full of new challenges,” With those words, he ascended and left his congregation.

Finally, after a week of work, he could finally do less of it. Storing his angelic body for later, he slumped into his chair. He had sent off Asia to keep those he gave sanctuary company. He reminded himself that he needed to go to them later. For now, however, he would rest.

It would soon be cut short as he felt Sandalphon’s presence enter heaven once more. Making a beeline for his throne, the youthful looking twin to Metatron knelt before him as he gave him the news he carried, “Father, Azazel has received your message.”

“Ahh, good. I take it that he is amenable to talk?” He asked

“He is willing to negotiate,” His angel replied.

He let out a sigh of relief. That was one less problem he had to deal with. It seemed that the bridge between Testament and Azazel was still present and had yet to break down. Now all he had to do was mend the bridge and he’d have all the extra angels he needed for the upcoming battle. But first, he needed to actually meet with his wayward sons and that meant breaking whatever wards he had.

He reached out for a passing cloud and fashioned it to a picture in the likeness of Gabriel wearing almost nothing. Sandalphon squawked in surprise as he averted his gaze but even he almost couldn’t resist as the tiniest of blemishes appeared in his wing before it turned pure white once more; another problem he had to deal with in the future. Slipping the photo inside an envelope, he then gave it to the seraph, “Sandalphon, give your brother this letter. Tell him that if he ever wants to see what’s inside this envelope he must agree to meeting me before the negotiation.”