Keepers of Memory,
I spoke to the Great One this day. I went to Heaven, and I spoke to him, and he rewarded me for my service, and told me to protect my swarm. And I don't know for sure if that was an assignment or advice --
The only reason I have for not thinking that it is an order is that I would dearly like it to be my assignment. This may cloud my perceptions.
After I spoke to the Great One, I went to talk to William. He is, keepers, a butterfly -- his heart is open and his wings are colorful and I intend to use him well. He will be a Soldier of the Great One, and when he dies, he will come to the Savannah for a time before he climbs Jacob's Ladder.
I spoke to Shannen -- a baby ladybug, I could swear it, the woman is as dangerous as a blade of grass -- and concluded that she was not in danger. However, she was concealing something from me -- I do not know what. I find this remarkable, and rather upsetting. Impossible that the Wise One of the Flowers or her Servitors could do wrong -- so she must be protecting someone. -- I will not pursue this matter further, I think; I should not like to put her in an awkward position. But someday, I will know.
I returned to Mazpatiel's house fairly late. There were three angels of Judgment there. One was Jordan, who was like a tunneling ant -- he never allowed himself to rest. One was Jada-dan, a potato bug, and the last was Maasiai, one of the fluffier moths. You would think that the other two would be drowned out by Jada-dan's presence, but (like many potato bugs) Jada-dan was mostly quiet and off by himself. Jordan's energy was the dominant force in the group. I had a great deal of fun teasing him -- the advantages of a clear conscience!
We discussed Bellman's, a place of Nightmares, and Eduardo showed up and talked, and then Daimon came out and talked, and then Lilith came by and talked.
The Game has captured the Prince of Dark Comedy. Lilith, who is a -- a -- a -- Okay, look. Lilith is not a bug. She is a Demon Princess, and a human, and she matches none of the Ten Thousand Kinds. She came to tell Daimon that the Lilim were being recalled -- that she had separated them from the impending war in Hell, except those with a current Geas. And she hugged Daimon and told him it would be okay.
Later, Daimon told horrible lies about what happens to demons who become angels. It wasn't his fault; someone had told them to him.
I offered to help him rescue the Prince of Dark Comedy. If I should die, it will most likely be there, in Hell, where I never wish to go again. But it is my doom, my Fate, and my Destiny. At least, that's how it seemed at the time.
Why should Heaven, or my replacement, care about a war in Hell? We are at war with them, are we not? Isn't this a good thing?
Listen carefully -- not you, Keepers, I know you will, but my replacement. There is no suffering that is not our affair. There is no war that is not our affair. There is no injustice, no hate, and no sorrow that is not our affair. Even for the angels of the Great One, this is so. There is no such thing as a *judgment* we can cast upon them, a punishment which we can say is fair. Even the Fall, even the exile to Hell, is and must be a thing the Fallen do to *themselves*, and we must *fight* it with every breath of our being. If we must scatter our forces, cast away our lives, our fortunes, even our *natures* -- then we must.
That is what I tell myself, when I think on what I have chosen.
I don't think you will agree.
But that is why I am here and you are not.