Heaven had no heartbeat.
It existed in perfect silence__ vast , endless , untouched . A realm were nothing questioneed , nothing desired, and nothing disobeyed.
And she was it's soul.
Aureila was not born the way mortals were.
She was created -- woven from light, mercy and absolut order. How presence softened and judgement itself. Her wings glowed with a calm radiance that had never known shadow.
Angles bowed when she passed, not out of fear , but reverence .
She was Heaven .
She had never lied.
Never hated .
Never loved.
Love were unnecessary where perfection ruled.
Until the day Heaven spoke her name as a command.
Dsecend."
The word echoed through eternity.
Aurelia stood before the celestial Gates, her white robes unmoved by wind, her wings still.
Below her stretched the abyss-- Hell, burning and endless, alive with fire and screams. A realm Heaven had created to punish, never to understand.
"You will observe him", The voice of heaven said .
The Devil grows restless."
Aurelia lowered her graze. "And if he becomes a threat"?
There was a pause.
"Then you will end him".
For the first time since her creation ,
Something unfamiliar stirred within her chest.
Not fear .
Curiosity.
Hell was loud .
It breathed pain, Chaos,and fire. As Aurelia
descended , flames bent away from her light , refusing to touch her.
Demons froze were they stood. Whispered spread like poison through the air.
Heaven has fallen.
She walks among us.
At the centre of Hell stood a throne carved from black stone and bone-- ancient, feared, untouched .
Upon it sat Azreal.
The Devil.
He was not the monstrous. He was terrifying in a quietor way-- sharp features, dark eyes heavy with centuries of range and boredom.
Shadows clung to him like living things as he watched her approach .
"Well", he said lazily, rising from his throne, "this is unexpected".
Aurelia meet her graze without bowing .
You are Azreal.
His lips curved into a slow , dengerous smile. "And you are far too bright for this place".
Fire curled at his feet as he stepped closer.
"Did Heaven finally decide to look him in the eyes"?
"I was sent to observe", Aurelia replied calmly.
"And to decide".
The smile vanished.
"Decide what "?
"Whether you are evil by choice", she said softly, or by design".
Silence fell over hell.
Azreal stopped inches from her . His shadow swallowed the ground beneath her feet, yet her light did not fade.
"Mercy like yours is dengerous here,"
he warned .
Why?" Aurelia asked .
"Because Hell destroys everything pure."
She did not step back .
"Then why," she asked quietly , do I feel no fear standing before you?"
Something flickered in his eyes-
Brief, unwanted.
"You should", he said. " I am the devil".
"And i am Heaven".
Fire and light twisted between them,
neither overpowering the other.
Azreal leaned closer, his voice dropping into a dengerous whisper.
If you remain here, Aurelia," he murmured, "you will fall."
Aurelia looked into the eyes of the being she was sent to destroy.....
.....and felt something she had never been given a name for.
"Then", she said softly, "perhaps falling is not the greatest sign".
For the first time in eternity , the devil did not smile.
And far above them, unseen,the celestial Gates began to close.