The rain had abruptly stopped, and the sun was already all out shining its might. Gramps scratched his forehead disapprovingly. Vera started laughing loudly, and Erik surrendered his smoldering cup of tea back on the table. We were at my balcony in our thick clothes and sweater for the cold rainy morning.

“Well, there you have it. The weather wouldn’t want us to have our little tea party.”, claimed Vera.

“We should be having some iced cold beer.”, I told them.

“None for me, Theo.”, said Erik.

“One for me, grandson.”, stated Gramps.

“And none for you, too, Theo. I just received communication; you have another package to deliver.”

“What is it this time?”, I asked Erik.

Erik handed me a crystal ball containing flames. “Fires of hell.”, he plainly uttered.

I took the package from him and checked the recipient’s name. It was Ethaniel Pateros. Under the name was a special instruction. Delivery to be done out of body. “Copy that.”

“That would mean, Ethaniel’s awareness must still be on standby.”, explained Gramps.

“That doesn’t mean he is behind. Hell, that doesn’t mean anything.”, Vera defended him.

“Hey, all I meant was, no spark of awareness yet.”, was Gramps rebuttal.

I scanned my fingertips through his name. He did not feel like he has not yet had his spark of awakening. He felt like someone who is already doing a lot of consciousness work and helped a lot of other soul personalities. In my vision, I saw him standing alone next to a tall golden gate. I proceeded to slip myself out of my body and occupied my own vision.

“Ah! Messenger!”, he waved at me. He looked like those posters for a guardian angel but with long black hair, and minus the wings. He was wearing an armored gladiator attire. His aura was very welcoming. “You are just in time, my friend.”

“Great. Here is your package, Mr. Pateros.”, I handed him the crystal ball containing the fires of hell.

“Thank you so much, Theo. This package you delivered came from my mentor. He no longer plays in this time and space dimension. And hopefully, I get to go there in my next sojourn. But, for now, you can be part of our show.”

“Wait, what?”, I tried protesting at him, but I was already surrounded by many other soul personalities. They were crying out loud and in pain. They were groaning and moaning in suffering. Their clothes were torn out. They were wounded. Everyone around me was in anguish. Ethaniel smashed the gloved box to the ground, and it released the fires of hell. It was scorching hot. I looked at myself and I was also wearing old torn clothes. My skin was melting. The Being next to me had one of his eyeballs popped out, leaving one of his eye socket empty. How did this happen quickly?

Calm down, Theo, you are in a play. Act your part out. I heard Erik’s advice.

I gave it my loudest tormented scream as if I could no longer take another second of bathing in fire. “It hurts! It hurts! I wish I have been good when I was alive!”

Oh God, that is just dreadful. It was Erik.

Hey, it’s seriously hot here. Perfect time for an iced cold beer.

I was also hearing Vera and Gramps laughter in my head. I searched for Ethaniel and spotted him as the creature with huge horns sticking out of his forehead. He was also immense in size. He was standing five meters tall. His skin was bright red in color. Gone were his angelic features. His face was full of bottled-up anger, eons of resentment that he carried so graciously. I went a bit closer to him while still screaming myself in pain. One Being got ahead of me. His skin was also melting.

“Boss!”, he called out to Ethaniel.

Ethaniel stared at him long and hard. Picked him up easily with one hand by his torso and used the other hand to tear him apart. He ate the head part of the Being and threw him back to the fire.

Never mind. I’ll be hysterical here on the side.

On the other side of the golden gate, a chariot arrived pulled by six white horses. One of the most beautiful angel I have ever laid eyes on stepped out. He had chiseled jaw, the bluest eyes I had ever seen, and a long blond hair. He was also standing at least five meters tall. He held out his wings stretching them out at three meters wide on each side. He was wearing an armored Roman Emperor wardrobe. The gates opened and Ethaniel gave a loud thundering laugh.

“Michael! To what pleasure do I owe you?”, he asked.

“I have two for you, Lucifer.”, Michael calmly answered.

Two souls reluctantly stepped out of the chariot. One was male, the other one was female. The male was wearing tuxedo and the female was in maid’s uniform.

“Only these two? Tell your God, Michael, to hand me over the entire Earth. That will save you the trips on going back here.”, stated Ethaniel.

“You know we can’t do that. We have a simple agreement. Good guys up, rotten ones here, remember?”, explained Michael.

“Everyone on Earth is evil. Everyone is taking advantage of someone for the money. They worship money, not your God. Look at that guy.”, Ethaniel pointed out to the one in tuxedo. “Didn’t money feel good and comfortable?”, he taunted the guy.

The guy was beyond terrified. He was looking around at his new home. “I can’t believe it. Hell is real?”, he asked trembling.

“Yes, Diego Montenegro, sugarcane plantation owner, more like inherited it from your dead wife’s family. Of course, you killed her.”, proudly exclaimed the devil and laughing. He took Diego closer to him and his skin started melting.

Diego began crying out in pain. “Oh, my beautiful soft skin!”

“Ooh vanity! I am so honored to have you in my arms, my son! And, of course murdering your wife for the money.”, Ethaniel proclaimed and proceeded to kiss him on his forehead. His lips burned through his skin. Diego screamed some more, every inch of him was burning. “You also made your servants lives pure hell, treated them like your slaves. I love you, my son.”

“I thought there should be repentance and atonement for my sins! Please, I do not want to spend my eternity here!”, Diego begged Michael.

“This is my retribution. Killing you was one of the biggest pleasures of my life.”, said the woman in a maid’s uniform.

The devil’s eyes shimmered in pure delight. “So, tell me, Celia Macanes, what else have you done in your life?”

“Well-.”, she began.

“Hold on. Excuse me, darling, just a moment.”, the devil took Diego’s arm, held him up and tore him slowly inch by inch. I heard his skin and bones cracking apart. His blood was gushing out all over the place. Diego cried and screamed in intense pain. He was feeling every tear, every fracture, and every burn. When Diego was in half, the devil ate his head in full contentment and satisfaction. He threw Diego in the middle of the fire along with the screaming souls. His head remerged and he continued to melt. It was like bathing in acid and fire at the same time.

“I better go. I am needed in more important matters.”, said Michael.

“Wait, you’re just going to leave me here?”, the woman demanded Michael for answers. She could not believe it. “Aren’t you going to fight for my salvation? I went to church every Sunday!”

“Oh! Proceed, my love.”, the devil urged her as if it was music to his ears.

“I’ve done many volunteering work. I gave a percentage of my pay to the church. I fed the hungry! Even though I was tired from working in that man’s mansion, I was still spreading the word of God. Compared to Diego, I have done so many good deeds for others. I read my Bible every day!”, Celia claimed.

“Oh, come on, Michael, aren’t you going to redeem this woman?”, the devil mocked.

“Thou shall not kill.”, was Michael’s reply. “Judgement isn’t yours to make. Even the wicked have their roles to play. And suicide? You know that is unacceptable to the church.”

To Celia’s anger, he snapped at him. “I’ll kill that man again if I was given the chance.”

“Take care, Celia.”, said Michael softly as he exited the gate and went back to his chariot.

“Unbelievable.”, Celia mumbled. “Decades and decades of service to the church and this is what I get? Where is my damn retribution?”

The devil opened his arms wide to welcome her. He was proudly smiling at her. “Oh my, my, my- self-righteous, judgmental, resentment, and murder, and of course a hell lot more. Come here, my darling!”

Celia refused to move. She stood there and stared at him. She started to tremble. I felt her anger dissipated and turned into fear. The devil was walking slowly towards her, and she knew what was about to happen. He was going to mercilessly devour her head and be thrown to the fire.

“Please, no. I don’t deserve this. I’ve done so much good in my life. I’ve done so many sacrifices! There is no justice.”, Celia started weeping. “Please, please, make this all stop. God, please, I miss my babies. Can I see them first, please?”

“I am not your genie. I do not grant wishes. Stop making a fool out of me, you dreadful self-righteous mortal.”, the devil stated in an escalating tone. He raised his hand to grab Celia’s frail body, when a blinding light appeared. We all closed and shielded our eyes. It was too immense. It took a minute before Celia opened her eyes. Tears were rolling down her face. She looked around and to her surprise, the fires of hell were nonexistent. The suffering Beings were gone. I was back in my original clothing, plain blue shirt and dirty white shorts. Ethaniel, too, was back to his original angelic appearance in gladiator attire. His devilish look was gone.

“What happened?”, Celia asked. “Where’s hell? Am I being transported to heaven?”

“Those are only concepts you made for yourself, Celia.”, Ethaniel told her. “This is it, what you call afterlife. Here, you can choose whether to have your life review, go to other planets, or harness your power of creation. You can also be part of the sun, be in a planet without physicality, or whatever you want, Celia. You can also rest and explore space.”

“What happened to Diego?”, Celia asked.

“The one you saw was an actor. He may have been evil to your eyes, but even the wicked have their roles. Without them, the world will drown in complacency. The real Diego is on another afterlife play. He deeply believed in the concept family. His family members are the ones reorienting him.”, Ethaniel stated.

“He isn’t suffering? No hell for him?”, Celia could not believe it.

“I’m afraid no.”

“That’s it? No justice? No retribution? None of those? Really? None of those?”, Celia was flabbergasted.

“There is only forgiveness here, Celia. Here, all is forgotten. This is why revenge movies are satisfying for soul personalities who had been quite accustomed to Earth. Let me ask you, would you like to experience a different reality or go back to Earth?.”, this was Ethaniel’s offer.

Celia could not believe what she was hearing. “So, I can spend my time racing the stars and jumping from one galaxy to the next and just observing?”

“Yes, but don’t take eons, you’ll be hunted down to be back on the track of progress. You can also help us out greet others by the gates and give them that sort of welcome in accordance with their belief system.”

“Oh, that was all a play.”

Ethaniel nodded. “If we don’t do that, we find it hard to penetrate through your consciousness because the religious belief system that runs in you was so rigid, we can’t easily override it without serving it first to you.” Ethaniel laughed and winked at her.

“You portrayed your role well.”, Celia teased.

“Oh please, I played the role of the devil too many times.”

“What else have you played?”, she asked intriguingly.

“Moses, Muhammad, Allah, Buddha, Krishna, Jose Rizal, I’m quite versatile, you know.”, Ethaniel answered.

“Have you played God?”

“The personality? No. The closest thing I played the role was a blinding light or the voice.”, Ethaniel said with a chuckle. “You know, God is everywhere. What we are in right now, swimming in the ethers, this is all God consciousness. We are part of this all. These God particles, they become your signal lights every time you call for help. You were asking for so much. We did a little play for you. Help you remember that you are powerful, Celia. As within so without, you are what you believe. You weren’t left clueless; just don’t let the state you are in control you. You are the power behind it. Without you, the state will have no life. So, have you decided your next step?”

“I’d love to harness my power of creation.”

“We have a special planet for that wherein you can create from minerals to stones, mountains, lakes and oceans.”, Ethaniel was excited for her.

“No, I want to do it back on Earth and I want to see my children again.”

Ethaniel smiled in contentment and pride. “Alright, then, let’s bring your consciousness back to your physical form before they bring your body to the morgue.”

“What about that special planet you talked about?”, Celia asked him.

“For babies. Earth is hardcore. Mind your thoughts, feelings, and inner talks, Celia. Once you master it, Earth would be a preschool to you.”, Ethaniel gave her a wink.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, Messenger.”, Ethaniel told me. “I hope you enjoyed the show.”

“I did. That was quite a show. Thank you very much.”, I said to him.

“This is what I do when my physical garment falls asleep. My soul personality does not have a recollection of what I do, I am his higher self.”

“You are still on standby on Earth.”, I realized.

“Yes, the famous NPC, background character. I am though, in constant communication with myself trying to ignite that spark of awareness. My entire soul lineage is also with me, helping him have this soul awakening of some sort. Can you do me a solid?”, he pleaded.

Ethaniel woke up and was still wincing his eyes. He felt tired and still sleepy despite going to bed early last night. He reached for his phone and checked the time. He needed to be at the office before nine. It was seven in the morning. He needed to wake up, but he was feeling lazy. He hated himself for being so lazy, tired, and procrastinating all the time.

“Why the hell am I tired, I just woke up?”, he mumbled to himself.

“That’s because your higher consciousness has been busy all night helping out other souls.”, I told him.

Ethaniel opened his eyes widely and his heart was pounding so hard. “What the hell? Who are you?”

“Ethaniel, look around you.”

His room was disappearing in front of him, and it seemed as if he was being transported to another place. In a quick second, the walls seemed transparent. He placed his hands to feel them, but it went through the walls.

“This is not real.”, he said. He slapped himself. “Oh my god, I am awake. Make this stop!”

We were back in his room in a an instant. He was still panting.

“Are you okay?”, I asked him.

“What have you done?”, he demanded.

I was back in my backyard balcony along with my family. They were having some cold drinks. Vera and Erik were drinking their water. Erik was topless from the heat as well as Gramps. Gramps was holding a bottle of beer. Vera was in her light clothing, a shirt, shorts, and flipflops.

“See, I told you he was not behind. Who knew that little NPC is a Greeter at the Gates.”, Vera said.

“I rest my case, granddaughter.”, said Gramps.

“He’s also now got his spark of awareness. Thanks to the handicraft of Theo. Celia, too, her spark is shining so bright.”, Vera added.

“How’d you know?”, Gramps asked Vera.

“I am feeling and seeing the sparks. It’s always a thing of beauty, a sparkling diamond in the vast coal mine.”

“Vera, we are waiting for you to become one of us.”

“No.”

“This is not a negotiation.”

“I call free will.”

“Think about it, please.”

End of part 8. Thank you so much. Enjoy your day.