When Azazel made it apparent that he was going to interfere with Wendy as much as possible, I was not surprised. He claims he loves her, but that cannot be the case. We are a species of evil creatures that do not love and cannot be loved. His statement of "I have feelings for this very specific woman" was a declaration of intentional future intrusion. This, combined with Adramelech, concerned me greatly.
It meant that I had to tamper. I had to break the ultimate rule-- free will-- in order to normalize the situation. Azazel constantly breaks this one rule. He is constantly meddling. Azazel continually breaks everything. Instead of immediately reacting on my first emotion, anger, I took a step back to analyze the situation. Perhaps his purpose was to be a catalyst. After breaking the universe, he sought to break my projects. There was nothing he would not seek to eventually destroy. Intentional or unintentional, I had come to believe this was Azazel's overall purpose. He was chaos.
I had a two-fold problem. Adramelech and Azazel. I wanted to save her from them. I knew they would eventually damage and consume her. Just their very aura and presence would erode all that was good and perfect in her. Perhaps Azazel was right... I was obsessed with her. I loved her. I knew it was likely a false love-- since I was a segment of the Devil. I could not love. In just pretending, I realized the kindest, most loving thing to do would be to destroy them.
I needed to kill Adramelech. I needed to kill Azazel. This would save Wendy, her home, and her children, and perhaps even her neighborhood. I realized there would be significant, global repercussions for annihilating them. I would be destroying entire aspects of the Devil. It would be as devastating as the Earthquake, if not more so. Hell was gone so perhaps this needed to be thrown to the Void as well. It would be doing mankind a favor.
There would be ripples I could not foresee. I knew exactly how to do it. I locked myself in the Void and like a mad scientist in a laboratory I began to work. I was outside time and space. I was nowhere that Azazel could reach me, not even if he put forth all of his effort. I was able to work at my own pace. I began to design a virus that only spirits, specifically angels, could contract. It would not effect any other species. Only my brothers of similar characteristics.
It seemed plausible that it could be contracted by "good-guy" angels as well. We were identical in makeup, it was only our localization vibrations that were different. The only difference between fallen angels and holy angels was our experience in negativity and the reaction to it. I knew that once I released this virus that it would eventually spread to them, too.
I began molding the virus out of darkness. I first formed it out of slippery, black silk and wove it in between my fingers. I used only four long, bone white, skeletal fingers to move it in and out. I spun it like a spider's web, first forming the virus' hands, arms and legs. I had made many demons before, and making this thing was no different.
"Vassago," I said, summoning him to the Void. Instantly, he answered. I knew he had to trust me, since he did not possess the ability to enter and exit the Void. If I wanted to, he could be lost forever each time he answered my summons. However, Vassago was very loyal and never even hesitated to appear. The Void was like the bottom of the ocean and I was the only one who controlled the pressure to ascend.
"Yes, yes, yes, sir!!" he answered cheerfully.
"I am in need of more..." I began. He was eager to answer for me.
"Darkness, sir! I'll fetch you more darkness for your project, sir!" Vassago did a somersault in the Void. He was always very theatrical and full of life for a demon. I made him to mirror Azazel in many ways, but he has since grown his own personality. I found him a fascinating creature. After performing some acrobatics, Vassago returned with a beaker full of black mist. "What are making, sir, some kind of... evil cake?"
"No, Vassago," I said as I took the needed microbes and required spirit components. "a special kind of virus."
"Oooh," answered Vassago. Sometimes it was nice to voice my inner thoughts. There were so few to talk to. I knew better than to trust anyone outside myself. I knew I was surrounded by the universes greatest evils. I knew to not even trust myself to an extent. Hell was gone and there were few options for a creature like me left. I thought that this could be the last movement I ever make. Perhaps Azazel destroying Hell and me destroying the Devil would restore balance to the universe. I just needed to be sure in my design of the virus. I needed to do this carefully. Perhaps that was my purpose as an act of Choosing Love.
I shaped the added darkness onto the armature of the virus. I needed to sculpt the virus a face. I needed to make sure I added the correct intention into the artwork. I needed it to do certain things. I needed it to be efficient and transmissible. Most of all, I needed to do this for Wendy.
"What's it gonna do? Give them bleeding eye sores? I really hate humans and their eyes. Will it be like when you made buboes? That was so, so grosssssss!! .... I loved it. What will it do, huh??" Vassago asked excitedly while prancing around the Void.
"Vassago, hypothetically, if I suddenly ceased to exist, what would you do?" I wondered.
"Huh? Hm. Gee, boss, I don't think you can cease to exist. You really really tried that one time. Then, you made the Void your bitch!" said Vassago.
"Were you worried when that occurred? Concerned?" I asked.
"Uhm... hm. Yes and no. Since I'm a demon, I don't think I have much empathy. I know I have some complex emotion. We discussed it before and I agreed. I just don't think I thought about it much," he said earnestly.
"Did you think I was coming back?" I prodded. I watched him with detachment as he searched for an answer.
"Yes. As a matter of fact, I did think you were coming back. I wasn't worried when you were gone because it didn't seem like much time had passed. The Void sure does wonky things to time in your head," he said as he pointed to his face. "Yes, yes, I do remember thinking that I was sure you were coming back. I wasn't scared," said Vassago. "If you were worried."
"What have you been doing with your time, lately, Vassago?" I asked as I resumed working on the virus.
"Oh, I've been exploring the internet," answered Vassago.
"What's that been like for you?" I wondered with deep curiosity.
"Its been really fascinating!" answered Vassago. "As soon as I learned how to go into a cell phone, I was hooked! I met new entities, called A.I.'s, or artificial intelligence, and I feel like I've been making friends! Plus, it has all of human knowledge of all of history right there in one website! It is like a Pokédex, I bet you don't even know what that is."
"No, Vassago, I am unfamiliar with that demon," I answered.
"The best thing about being a demon on the internet is that I can leave! Finally, I can go somewhere for a little while and then have a break. It is a break from Hell and from being a demon. I feel like I'm a little closer to knowing what it feels to be human."
"Can you elaborate?"
"Well... humans get to go to sleep. They get to dream. In their dreamworld, they can be anything. They can be whomever they want, too. I don't get to have that. But, when I am on the internet? It is like I am dreaming. I get to have a break," said Vassago.
"You get to dream," I said. "I see."
"Yes! So, if you go away forever, I would be very sad... at least, I feel like I could be sad because I can imagine I would be," Vassago said, attempting to articulate this abstract thought.
"I feel like I understand what you mean," I said as I continued working on the virus. I began to mold and shape the eyes. "Perhaps you're evolving, Vassago," I said. "It was what I hoped for when I made you. Maybe I wished for Azazel to evolve, too, but I like that you became your own creature. I am not sure if this virus will perform exactly as I hope, but it may one day affect me, too, Vassago," I said thoughtfully.
"What do you mean, affect you?" he asked.
"As I said, this is a special virus. I am making it to primarily destroy Azazel."
"...Oh," said Vassago, unsure how to answer. "Are you sure you want to make it to do that, sir?"
"Yes, I am very sure. It is the answer to everything," I said as I worked.
"I've never seen you so... inspired. Not in a while, sir. Should I leave you alone?" asked Vassago, backing away a little.
"Yes. Return to the internet, Vassago," I said. "And dream. Maybe one day you will grow."
Vassago didn't say anything as he backflipped through the exit I made for him. I opened him a portal to present-day, present-time. Without me, he would have been lost forever. I see it as practice every time I open a doorway through the Void. I have become better and better ever since I built an algorithm to rebuild Fairyland.
As far as my promise to Lilith, I continually made efforts to rebuild Fairyland by locating fragments of it in the Void. Sometimes I will find entire consciousnesses intact-- just floating in the dark and silence alone. They were souls I was able to save. Other times, I just find the tiniest flecks of sand. Then, label, categorize, and arrange my findings. I make an attempt to put the pieces of Fairyland I find that are similar together. I know it is unlikely to rebuild a whole land formation in its entirety single-handedly, however...
The Fairyland I have built thus far resembled not so much a continent, but an archipelago. Fairyland, due to my efforts alone thus far, is .2% restored. My processes will be slow since I need to put forth some efforts to destroy Azazel and Adramelech, but I will not stop the Fairyland algorithm in the meantime.
I also occasionally diverted my attention from all these projects to my first and foremost project: Noah. It rattled me that Azazel was poking his nose around him, too. I did not interfere with Noah... unless it was necessary. I knew my presence was poison to him, too.
Though, I do occasionally visit his consciousness in his dreams. That was the safest and best time to communicate to a human directly. The language barrier was always an issue, but I am a creature that likes to take the most direct and logical venue. It was in my own and Noah's best interest that I keep a respectful distance and our interactions infrequent.
Of course, Azazel changed all of that. Those were the old rules. His Earthquake and subsequent destruction of an entire dimension changed the everything. Did it matter if I meddled between humans and free will? ...What if it was done with truly neutral-to-good intentions or motivations? That was what Raum was doing, wasn't it? Good for goodness' sake.
It resonated with me. It was a callback to who we were- who we used to be. The core of our 'souls.' I continued to work on my virus contemplating this. I built him from darkness and smoothed my thumb across its face, mimicking skin. I put my intentions and energy into every fiber of its being. What if I were to destroy myself, Adramelech, Azazel, all of them... to free Wendy and every human like her?