It was a place that was nowhere and everywhere; at a time that was nothing and everything. A place where time and distance had no existence. And in the midst stood a winged figure, waiting. As he waited, he thought back to the events that had happened over the past few days, deaths which he knew were on account of supernatural intervention, unlike what the humans believed.

He stood on the edge of nothingness, his back to the direction his visitor would materialise. There was no expectation or fear of being betrayed, his rigid stance merely hinted at slight curiosity; there had been only a few times that his presence had been explicitly requested for. And though the angel had seen, heard and done many strange things in its long life, the request surprised him. It had been aeons since they had spoken, alone, without the attendant oneupmanship game that they had been playing from eternity. Earth had not been easy for either to win and the stakes kept rising but that was what made the battles interesting.

"Long time, right?"

At the words echoing his thoughts, the angel turned around to look at his visitor, his impassive face betraying no emotion as it answered, "Well said, though I have to note that you continue to dress in the fashion of earth. Still quite frivolous, I must say. "

His visitor smiled, he always preferred to dress as per the prevalent fashion standards of Earth, which varied across the ages and in line with the religions that dominated that era. It made it easier for him to blend with the humans though he would admit that it was partly because it riled the angels. His smile broadened as he answered, "I only dress as they do, but you manifest in a form that most humans presume you to appear in. Do I detect vanity?"

There was an imperceptible flutter of the dazzling white wings and the visitor knew his comment had struck home. But loathe to press the issue further, he kept quiet; if the angel preferred to look like a church mural, complete with the flowing blue robes and white gleaming wings, it was not his concern. His task was difficult and he wanted to get over with it as quickly as possible before they battled over fashion choices.

He took a deep breath and spoke, "Spare the boy."

At those words, the angel could not conceal his surprise, his visitor rarely asked for favours and never one for saving a mere human. Arching one pale eyebrow he asked, "Certainly unexpected. What happened, your heart suddenly turns warm and solicitous for puny undeserving humans? Your words, not mine."

"Better that than possessing a cold soul like yours. And you do not have to do it for free, I would not like to owe you any favours."

The was a blur and the angel closed his palm over the thing that his visitor had tossed at him. It was nebulous and slowly solidified to a hard crystal. And that was the third surprise. He did not have to see it to know what it was; a vial of the clearest and finest crystal containing the purest essence of one of the seven virtues. An essence extracted only when severed from the soul by a living soul who completely believed in the righteousness of the act.

"He sacrificed his life, surrendering hope, but we could not harvest it. Which is nothing unexpected, considering how difficult hope is to hold on to. It was a selfless act and as per the laws, deserves some reciprocation. Save the boy."

The angel watched him turn around and walk away, sure that his request would be granted. That rankled and he called out, "Lucifer Morningstar, while your gift is appreciated, in the interests of fairness, I have to admit that you have wasted an expensive favour. The boy would have lived, even without your intervention."

Lucifer halted in mid-stride, he had gambled on that possibility and this would now work to his advantage in their future battles. Without turning around, he replied, "In that case, Archangel Michael, most righteous of all angels, you owe me, big time."

It was after Lucifer had disappeared that Michael held up the vial to see which virtue he had been given to trade for the boy's life. And got the final surprise of the day, the vial held a scintillating essence, made up of two contrasting hues, the brilliance of azure mist mingling with the shine of stardust. The pivotal of all virtues, consisting of equality and fairness, the cardinal virtue of justice.

He understood why Lucifer was so sure of what he would do. Michael grimaced as he recalled Lucifer's parting words, it was the truth; his righteousness was as innate to him as Lucifer's deviousness. That was the way they were and nothing would change it.

Though he could twist it.

Michael gleaned into time, more specifically the days over which Lucifer had been busy; he really should have paid more attention to his brother. He had put an angel to watch over the mortal, a rookie who had almost given away his presence one morning and had startled the mortal. The rookie had been pulled out, admonished and was yet to be replaced. Michael had not thought that Lucifer would act so quickly. But to give Lucifer his due, he had timed the deaths at the probable points, with very little cosmic disruption. Luc had managed a brilliant synchronisation of time and death, which was the reason why he had not realised what Luc was up to, for the souls had been harvested by Death himself. Michael would have admired the entire scheme, albeit grudgingly if he had not seen the anguished wreck that Luc had left behind. He shook his head, the humans' infinite capacity for being stupid when it came to love never ceased to amaze and anger him. As his fists tightened, the vial dug deep into his palm.

He uncurled his fist to stare at the vial with its beautiful raw essence. And then he smiled; he could do something similar to what Luc had done, yet differently. Death was irrevocable in most of the cases but time was amenable, a teeny nudge here and there, and history was altered forever. He grinned when he finished, Lucifer could not deny the beauty of what he had done. Justice gained, justice delivered; it was worth his brother's ire when he would realise that he had been denied his puppet's soul.

There was just one last thing to be done, one final whisper before this chapter could be closed.

Thursday, December 20, 2018

It was three days later that Raghuveer returned to the conscious living world. Three days of being plagued by dreams of cold fire that burnt him and hot tears that singed him. More than seventy hours of tossing and twisting as visions of death haunted him and conflict raged within. Memories ravaged his mind and guilt racked his nerves yet he could not deny the cold calm voice he had heard, 'Of all human emotions guilt is the most useless. Regret is good though remorse is better. Remember that, mortal and make the most of the life you have been given.'

Being alive never felt better, he thought, after a hot bath and a steaming cup of filter coffee. Despite his right arm in a sling, an aching shoulder and a mind full of contradictory memories, he felt good. Good enough to find answers, even if it meant confessing his adventures to Khaleed. And the true friend that he was, he listened without a word, though Raghuveer could make out the disbelief that flashed on his friend's face.

The silence that followed worried Raghuveer, he was aware that his narrative would sound far-fetched but Khaleed looked troubled rather than bewildered.

"I am not going to dispute anything you have said, I have known you long enough to know that you lack the imagination to create this tale. And before you start protesting, let me complete. For the past two weeks, you have been sick, medically sick. Remember that call you made to me the day I was travelling back from Ajmer?"

Raghuveer nodded, wondering how that call had any bearing on his tale but waited for Khaleed to continue.

"That day you came to the doctor in a cab as your shoulder was hurting and you could not drive. I drove you home and since it was late and you seemed unwell, I stayed back. That night was the first time I found you in the park and you did not remember how you reached there. When it repeated the next day and your shoulder kept troubling you, we insisted that you meet a doctor. Do you remember?"

The blank expression was answer enough, Raghuveer had no recollection of the same.

"The Xrays revealed a hairline fracture, and he advised your arm to be kept in a sling to prevent further damage. He also said that you were in pain and you would not be able to use it to the full extent. Also because of your repeated exposure to the chill, you contacted a lung infection, which was similar to the earlier stages of pneumonia and he advised complete bed rest. Do you understand what this means?"

As the facts sank in, Raghuveer was flabbergasted, it was not possible. What Khaleed was saying was that Raghu had been confined to the bed, too sick to move. But then what he had done and witnessed over the past few days could not be a product of his fevered imagination. And yet, Khaleed had no reason to put forth such a story either.

He burst out, "Wait a minute, if what you say is correct then what about all that I experienced? It is not a dream, damn it, I know what I have done. I killed six people in cold blood, just because the Devil wanted it. And yet as per you, there is no way I could have done anything? How is it possible?"

Khaleed did not try to clear his confusion, that could wait, he wanted answers of his own, "We will sort that out later, you still have not answered why you tried to kill yourself. I have told everyone that it was an accident, that you should not have tried to clean your weapon when you were so stressed out and unable to use your dominant hand. It helped that the barrel was jammed but I know what you tried to do. Why? Do you know it was nearly impossible to convince Kamakshi otherwise, she has been distraught with grief and guilt. "

It was the harshness that goaded him to reply, he had never heard Khaleed speak that way, a mix of anger and pain, of disappointment and disbelief. But he still baulked at telling the full truth so he mumbled, "Because in the circumstances it was the best choice, I was not going to do what he wanted and since that would surely negate what I had done, I..."

"Tell the truth, Raghuveer, do not trying lying to me."

"The last person I had to kill was you."

It was a whisper but the anguish carried through. Khaleed grasped Raghuveer by his shoulders and forcing him to look up, demanded, "So why did you not?"

"Are you crazy, you are my friend, my partner in crime and"—

"But then I have always considered Tarun and Trisha to be my children. Ameena and I stopped trying to have a child when we realised that we could be parents to Tarun and Trisha. So how could you think I would not give my life to save Tarun's? How did you think you could choose me over him?"

Raghuveer spoke, in guilt and shame, "Because you are a better man than I am. And because with you as a friend, I can face a future that does not have Tarun in it. But I can never face anyone if I had taken your life. In the end, I would have done what I attempted to do and it would have been worse for you would not be around."

For a long time, both of the friends simply sat in silence, unsure of what else could be said but grateful for the other's presence.

So the 'angelic' intervention changed facts but not the truth. Was that unexpected? I would love to know what you think. Do let me know.

Thank you for reading,
Nyna