DxD : Emiya Shirou

He set the bible down onto his lap and traced the engraved title with his fingers. 

"So from the very beginning I wanted to know, what made them so special. What was it about them that had captivated even the All-Mighty himself. That is why I look for them in these pages."

...

He leaded tilted back his head and peered up into the sky, and I swear at that very moment the sun began to shine brighter as it came out from behind a cloud, "Let me tell you a little story." He began.

"Once long ago when the world was still young and new, God gathered all of his creations before them and asked 'Who among you will carry the burden of free will?'

"At the time, every creature was under Gods commands. They followed his will to the letter, never questioning nor disobeying. God however was saddened by this as it meant that they did not follow him because they desired to but because they could not comprehend doing anything else. 

While all of his creations can make choices of their own, they can never go against anything he has decided on, not even to question a single command.

"Thus he created the ability for his creations to choose and named it 'free will'. But then came the question of who to gift it to, as free will was not something to be treated lightly, as in many ways it was as much of a curse as it was a gift.

"So when he gathered all of his creations he turned first to his Angels, creatures of light so beautiful and noble that he has chosen them to act as his voice. He asked them if they desired the gift but they replied, 'No Lord, we are your servants, your will and voice. We desire nothing more than to continue to serve you as such.'

"He then turned to the mountains themselves, those that can lift the weight of the earth with ease, he asked them if they desired the gift but they replied, 'No Lord, we cannot lift such a burden. Even our mighty shoulder will collapse under such a weight.'

"Again and again God asked his creations and each in turn rejected his gift. That is until he reached the humans.

"When he asked man if they would desire the gift, they answered "Yes Lord, we would gladly bear such a gift." And then God rejoiced, for at long last he would have someone that would choose to follow him.

"When God dispersed his creations back to where they belong, he returned the humans down to earth and watched over them. As he did, so did all of the inhabitants in heaven came to watch as well, curious about what these humans would do with their free will.

"At first the humans continued to live their lives as normal, seemly unaffected by their gift of free will. That illusion however was quickly dispelled barely an hour later. 

One of the humans had found himself in a position where he had to make a choice. It was an important decision, one that could potentially affect the rest of his life. 

So using the intellect his species were famed for combined with his new found free will, he quickly decided on what to do. Do you know what he did next?" He lowered his gaze towards mine as he asked me.

I shook my head, "No idea."

A sardonic smirk graced his lips as he said, "The human turned towards the Heavens and yelled out, 'Lord, tell me what to do!'"

I couldn't help it, I broke out laughing. The idea was so funny because I could picture it happening. It was such a human thing to do I'm surprised I didn't see it coming. When I finally collected myself I found him smiling indulgently at me.

"That, son of man, was the exact same reaction that the rest of Heaven had. I along with many of my Angel brethren laughed at the sight. 

We believed that our Lord had chosen wrongly, that the humans were unworthy of bearing such a gift. We all turned towards God to tell him so but held our tongues when we saw him.

"Father was not laughing, nor was he upset or in any way angry. He merely watched down upon the humans with the same infinite patience he always had for his children. So we decided to say nothing and turned back towards watching the humans.

"The human, not receiving his reply, turned back towards the heavens and ask the Lord once again. Then again, and again, and once again. Over and over he repeated 'tell me what to do' rather than even attempt to figure it out for himself. 

After a long while, it finally dawned on the human that the Lord was not going to reply. That's when the prayers for help turned to curses of hatred.

"He cursed his name and insulted him in every way he could think of. All the while, God didn't react; he merely continued to watch over him silently and patiently. 

At last his insults ran dry and after yelling out that he did not need God or his help that he can decide on his own he left and did just that.

"Over the centuries the very same scene repeated many countless of times. Man would ask for God to command them on what to do and when they received no answer they cursed him before trying to solve their problem on their own.

"At first it was almost painful for us in Heaven to watch. You humans kept stumbling around, making the same mistake time and time again, only to start over and repeat them with each new generation. 

Many of the Angels turned away, unable to bear watching any longer. Father however continued to watch, never once did he ever stop watching over your kind.

"Then one day, something different happened. Man began to learn. It was the most remarkable thing I had ever seen." At my look of confusion he elaborated, "You must understand when God created us Angels, he made us perfect. 

We were unchanging beings, an eon can past and we would behave no differently than we did the day we were born. Why would we? God made us perfect, and perfect we remained.

"But you human, you changed. You grew, you became more than what God made you to be. More than he intended you to be. Through your own will and abilities you have surpassed even Adam and Eve, the humans who God crafted with his own hands. And you did so with no help or guidance from the Lord.

"Quickly, that change continued. I watched as mankind learned. How their once endless failure began to turn to success, mistakes became lessons to be learned. 

Eventually man grew in number until they became so large that they spread all over the globe, outnumbering any other race. Even then they did not stop there; as such an accomplishment was not enough to satisfy them.

"Man, despite all the years, still remembered the splendor of Heaven and tried to match it. They tried to create a Kingdom of their own to rival it. The gathered all the riches and the greatest craftsmen in all their lands and began to build a city to try and rival God's own. A 'Kingdom of Heaven' I believed they called it.

"They failed of course. But just like at the start, they kept trying over and over again…And while they still failed they kept getting better and closer to Heaven's splendors. One needs only to look upon the wonder that was Camelot to realize that." I barely restrained myself from flinching at that name.

He let out a sigh as he lost himself in memories, "I thought for sure they were about to succeed but I never got to find out if Father's faith in them was right, as alas they were stopped."

"By who?" I prompted when it didn't look like the Angel, who pretended to be a man, was about to continue. While I had no idea why one of Heaven's soldiers would wanted to speak to me, I had to admit I was curious to hear what he had to say.

"Devils." He answered. "You have to understand that back then they were different than what they have become today; they were truly vile and evil creatures. They still are mind you, but back then it was in an entirely different level. So much so that the current Lucifer would sooner spit at them then call one of those filth kin.

"That was the start of the Great War. God did not want to interfere with the affairs of Mankind because he wanted to see them grow. To witness them fulfil their true potential that even God himself could not predict the limit of. 

That was why he never answered their prayers for guidance. He wanted earth to be free from the influence of both Heaven and Hell so that Man can grow unhindered.

"So when he witnessed the Devils encroaching in the domain of Man, corrupting them and twisting their minds, he went to war to protect them. And the rest," he shrugged sadly, "was as they say history."

He looked back up at the clear blue skies, "Still, I've always wondered what would have happened if the Devils had not come. How far would mankind have reached?"

"Humans are not all that great you know." I told him, feeling a little bit ashamed at my original race and at the truth of my words. "I have seen some commit sins that even the most coldhearted of Devils would shy away from. Atrocities so horrifying, that it would make you lose all hope in humanity."

He nodded knowingly at that. "That is true. Even I cannot deny those words. It is why I have always compared humanity as a whole to the night sky."

I frowned in confusion, "In what way?"

"An endless darkness. The night sky is dark and foreboding, it blankets the world and would cause even the bravest of souls to despair, and what little light you do find is always outnumber by the ever encroaching darkness, fighting a battle that it will eventual lose.

"The human soul, no humanity as a whole is like that – pitch black. There are so much lies, hypocrisy, betrayals, hatred and rage that it stains their very souls black. 

It is why when I look over the sea of human souls all I can perceive is a near endless sea of darkness. It is enough to paint the entire sky black and the few good souls, those flickers of light that shine so bright are so very far apart."

He shut his eyes for a moment before turning and staring right at me, "But do you know what is the first thing that I always think of when I imagine the night sky?"

"What?"

"The stars, "he looked back up to the sky as if he was staring at the very sky he spoke of, "I think of the stars.

"Why is it that when we think of the night sky we do not picture a pitch black sky but a sea of shining stars? The human soul is like that. Flicker of lights on a backdrop of darkness. Our eyes can't help but be drawn to them, captivated by their light.

"Even though we know that the darkness is infinitely more than the light, one limitless while the other limited. That between each radiant star there is a near endless nothingness that divides them, yet when I think of space, when I think of the night, all I can picture are stars.

"They captivate me, those lone few that shine. They draw my eyes to them so that I no longer notice anything else but them. And I love them for it.

"To me humanity is not the many who do wrong, but the few who do right despite how very hard it is to do so. And they do it for no other reason than it is right. That is why I adore humans." He turned to look at me, "Humans like you."

I shook my head at the Angel, "I'm no human, not anymore at least."

He gave me a proud beaming smile, one that reminded me so much of Kiritsugu that I felt my heart ache, before standing up and walking towards me.

"You are," he said when he stood before me. Slowly, he reached out and pressed his open palm onto the middle of my chest. 

"Even though your flesh has been corrupted by them, I can see past it and peer into your very soul. And what I find there is the spirit of man blazing so brightly that it outshines all but one other that I have seen before."

Before I could even think of stopping him, he took off his cross and placed it around my neck.

I reflexively grimaced, shut my eyes and braced myself for the burning pain…that never came? I slowly pried open my eyes and looked down on the silver cross that rested on my chest, glinting innocuously in the sunlight.

OK. That should have hurt me, a lot at that.

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