Jack (jackissuperfly) wrote in pup_prompts, @ 2008-09-27 07:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | prompt 7 |
Who: Lucifer, God, Adam, and Eve. In the Beginning.
From: Technically undertherainbow, but it could pass for an original short story.
By: The Illustrious Jack
Prompt: Obedience
How Adam and Eve were rejected from Paradise is a question often debated by scholars. Many of them place the blame squarely on Lucifer's, The Devil's, shoulders, and they are at least partly correct in that. It was Lucifer, who would become the Devil. At the time, however, it was Lucifer, who was an Angel.
The Tree of Knowledge had been Lucifer's idea and he was proud of it. The idea was simply that Man was created with free will, and then had it taken away as quickly as it had come after Lilith had used her share and then some. Rare for an angel, Lucifer was fond of free will. He suspected it might have had something to do with having been created first, before God had had any ideas to draw from besides Himself. In a sense, Lucifer was as close as it was possible to being God without actually being God. But regardless of the reason, Lucifer loved free will, and he had wanted to spread it around.
And then Michael, petty, shortsighted, stupid Michael had interfered. "If Man is to have free will, then he should be able to choose not to have free will. It should be... an informed choice." And so God had created the tree, and told Adam and Eve to stay away from it. Given that Adam tended to listen to the last thing he was told and Eve didn't even like apples to begin with, nothing was likely to ever happen. Michael's arrogance had annoyed Lucifer to the point that, if Michael had had a throat, Lucifer would have invented choking.
Lucifer walked through Eden that day. Technically he didn't have to walk, since he could be everywhere at once, but Lucifer was fond of manifesting. It was another thing that set him apart from his brothers. He enjoyed Paradise, but he would never have wanted to live there. Adam was the favorite and anyone smarter, stronger, or cleverer than he was tended to be unwelcome. Poor Lilith. Created with too much brain for her own good. Lucifer did his best to swing fortune her way since she'd left, but in truth, he didn't really have to. Lilith didn't need Adam, didn't need God, and didn't need Lucifer.
While lost in his reverie, he came across what he thought of as his tree. He took an apple hanging from a low branch and bit into it. Both sweet and tart at the same time. It was, Lucifer realized, a metaphor. He was impressed, especially since metaphors had only been invented, oh, three days prior?
A snake came along and wound its way up the tree for no particular reason. Possibly just because he thought it would look cool (coolness having been thought of less than an hour before). He felt bad for Eve just then. Whenever she got the chance to name something, it generally ended up with a better name. The phoenix was a good example. The unicorn. The dragon, the dragon he was particularly fond of. Adam came along and called the unicorn a "horn horse," but both Lucifer and Eve would know the real name. He couldn't quite recall what she'd called the snake when she'd had the chance. Adam could never remember what he called things from one moment to the next, and the poor snake had spent three embarrassing weeks as "penis-lizard."
As if she sensed him, Eve walked by. The figure had been a good idea, Lucifer thought. It had worked on Lilith as well. And he really did like the breasts. The breasts had been brilliant. Puns hadn't been invented yet, but the Angel of Light calling things "brilliant" put them well on their way. Eve eyed the tree, remembered that it was forbidden, and walked away. "Oh, come on," said Lucifer, more to himself than anything else. Eve stopped and looked around.
Somehow she missed the glowing naked fellow with wings and instead looked at the snake, who was hanging on a low branch. "Did you say something to me, serpent?" Ah, serpent, that was her word for snake. So much better than "penis-lizard." Even if she was dumber than a pile of serpent skins, she was definitely his favorite occupant of Eden. She lacked Lilith's pride, but she made up for it with curiosity.
Lucifer opened his mouth to say, no, it had been the only other being present that had vocal chords, but realized his opportunity. Instead he said, "Yes. I was just saying to myself that it's a shame that Eve isn't eating one of these apples." He hissed a bit on the sibilants, just for good measure.
"God said it was forbidden," said Eve, as if she were explaining something as physically binding as gravity.
"So? If it were truly forbidden, it wouldn't be here. The world is a huge place, and he put the tree here, right within your reach." Eve was dumb, but curious. Lucifer saw the look in her eyes that suggested her amenability to breaking the rules.
"God... said..." But it was a bit less absolute now.
"Look, you love God, don't you?"
"Of course."
"Why?"
"Because He told me to."
"The fruit of this tree will give you knowledge. The power to learn things on your own. Free will. And then you can decide to love God by your own power. And it will be a truer love than the one you feel now." He should have felt a twinge of guilt for taking advantage of Eve's love, but a desperate hope had gripped him. He would impart free will onto Man. Well, Woman, but he liked Eve better anyway.
"So... if I eat the apple, I will love God more? But might I love Him less?"
Maybe she was brighter than he thought. On the other hand, she was talking to a penis-lizard. "It's possible," admitted Lucifer. "And it's possible that you will be punished for this. But you must simply know yourself. If you do this because of your desire to really know God, then how could you possibly love Him less?"
She took the apple in her hand. Lucifer could have sang. "I don't really like apples," she admitted. "And I fear punishment. But for God..." And she bit into it.
Contrary to popular belief, she did not immediately clothe herself. In fact, that came much later, when she experienced "cold" for the first time. Instead she just gasped and marveled at the world around her, and at the flow of sensations that went through her body.
"How do you feel?" asked Lucifer. He came out from his hiding place--seeing him, Eve felt lust for the first time.
This was in addition to guilt--she had broken the word of God--and joy--she could feel the love for Him grow. "I feel..." she paused, searching for a word. "I feel like... I feel... I feel!"
Lucifer smiled brightly--literally, in his case--and opened his mouth to suggest what she could do with her newfound knowledge.
History would have been very different if Lucifer had been able to continue speaking with Eve. More matriarchal, for one. However, he was summoned to Heaven, and being summoned to Heaven is an instantaneous experience: one moment, he was feeling the breeze running through his feathers, and the next he was feeling nothing and everything at once.
In an instant, he was once again infinite. And Michael was there. Of course, if Lucifer was to be infinite, then Michael would have to be somewhere. Adjectives are fairly useless when referring to Heaven, but for the sake of sanity, one should pretend otherwise. God, too, was "there," His all-seeing eyes focused on the two of them. "Let me tell you about a woman named Lil--oh."
The sad thing about Michael was that he was convinced that he was holier than any thou you would care to name. "You have defied the Word of God!" said Michael, divine wrath pouring off of him."
The sad thing about Lucifer was that he was convinced that he was smarter than any thou you would care to name. Both of them were very right and, at the same time, very, very wrong. "On the contrary. God never said anything about not telling Eve to eat the apple. I would know. He likes me better than you." If he'd had a tongue, Lucifer would have stuck it out.
"She will lead Adam to the tree. They will know evil. They will no longer be pure. They will be ejected from Paradise. Is that what you wanted?" The unspoken insinuation that Lucifer was jealous of Man hung in the air.
"You're a prick." The angelic tongue had no word for genitals, as most of them didn't bother, but that was the nearest approximation available without going into a metaphysical anatomy lesson.
The Seven Deadlies hadn't been laid out yet, so Lucifer's pride and Michael's wrath went more or less unnoticed. Still, somewhere in his magnificent brain-like center of being, God was making notes. "Enough." God's voice was like hearing something said a million years ago and having it only just reach your ears. "Tell me why you did this."
With a look at Michael, Lucifer said, "I felt that their free will was going unused. Eve knew she would be punished, and she knew what would happen. As best she could, given the circumstances. I felt she deserved... an informed decision."
"You--!" Michael began, but Lucifer refused to be interrupted by the rage of a clearly lesser being. "I was created on The First Day to bring light. I did. Not all light is the kind you see."
God said nothing, but merely smiled. He often did. What it meant was almost impossible to say. It was all part of some divine plan, Lucifer figured. And if everything he did was part of the divine plan, who was he to stand in the way of himself?
God manifested on Earth. The Metatron, who was enjoying some of the fermented fruit on the far side of Paradise, was dragged from his post so that Adam and Eve could be evicted without their brains turning into a sauce.
Some time later, while Lucifer subtly influenced Man (Woman, again, but Man would take credit for it) into developing fire, Michael just glared. "One day, the Lord will see you and yours for what you are."
"Oh, I have no doubt about that." He smiled at Michael, and at seeing such a smile, a wiser angel would have fled for the relative safety of Heaven. "The question is, what will He see?"