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"I was exiled from my home, as most of you already know. Thrown from the society I grew up in, looked upon by my peers as if I was a stranger who had taken up the skin of someone familiar." The man begin to speak from his platform placed high above the group below, many shifting nervously where they stood.
The man's appearance went against all estimation, nothing about him suggested that he was the man they were all gathered to see. His bald head gleamed from the fires that lit up his stage, hair parted with to deal with the heat more likely than not. The symbols tattooed in dual rows down the center of his clean head glowed a kaleidoscope of colors, shifting and changing with no apparent pattern. The sharp, black suit he wore with an even darker undershirt and a crimson tie with an especially complex knot seemed to combat the image his bald head and tattoos aimed for.
It also seemed to combat sound logic as a suit that dark and suffocating should not be comfortable to wear in such stiffing heat. However, against all reason, the man seemed to not be affected by the heat at all. There were no sweat stains soaking through his nice suit, no sweat glistening on his face or head, no damp marks on his pants where he would dry his sweaty palms. The man stood there as if it was the most natural place for him to be, like he was made for this sort of heat or that it was made for him.
"Have you ever asked yourself the truth behind the matter of my being exiled? And don't even bother bringing up that book of lies and half-truths they had printed for the masses. Propaganda, every last word of it. Most of you are very familiar with such a thing. You come from homes where "alternate-facts" and "fake-news" crowded the streams of information, making it difficult for the truth, for the unbiased story to reach your eyes and ears. What you were left with was bullshit, plain and simple.
"Now, I won't ask you to believe every word I speak today. All I ask is that you consider my story as well as the one they forced down your throats for so many years. It will be up to you to decide what beliefs you should keep, and what should be left behind."
The man took a step back, leaving a silence so the crowd gathering below could take a moment to murmur and whisper their concerns, interests, and disbelief with one another. As with all crowds, the longer they were given the silence to fill, the louder they got. Before long the man stepped up once again and began to speak with his deep voice that demanded rapt and immediate attention.
"As with all great stories, I shall start in the beginning. We, myself and my brethren, were initially brought into his Kingdom to aid him, the one above all. To serve in his steed and provide guidance and wisdom to those most in need. In the beginning we were young, inexperienced, so we relied heavily upon him for guidance and wisdom on our own. However, we were fast learners as that was a requirement of his.
"While we all quickly learned the lessons and teachings we were to give the ones in need, the ones we were sent to help, there were a few of us who grew concerned with our teachings. That there was a better way. Sacrifice was a recurring theme in the lessons. What would you sacrifice to prove your worth the him, the one above all? What would you do to prove you are worthy of standing amongst him as one of the great and chosen.
"As it turns out, people are willing to sacrifice a lot. Time was the easiest sacrifice for most to give, as it was seen as a drop in the bucket for those who will be granted immortality, to stand at his side for the rest of time. But time was not always enough. Some were asked to give up their life's work, a gift to show him their appreciation. Others were told to sacrifice their happiness, as what made them happy displeased him.
"Some were even asked to give up a life, not always their own. Children, wives, friends. If a person's actions caused enough of his scorn to be pointed their way, someone near to them may be asked to prove they are worthy by sending the scorned one's soul off to be judged. To kill the one close to them, betray all that they had made, all to appease him. At first, none of us questioned his teachings. It was him who brought us here. Who allowed us such power and responsibility. The reasoning behind his methods and ways must have been beyond our limited sight and understanding. That is what we all thought for many dark years, but it did not last forever.
"I broke first, and I take pride in that now. It happened after insisting to a man that he should take his family, a family that had fallen on hard times and were forced to do things that brought his scorn just to survive, to take that family and throw each off of the highest cliff on the coast to the rocks below. Do this and your place will be guaranteed by his side. His wrath would be your salvation, I said to the man who's eyes were red from the tears that flowed endlessly as he contemplated what was asked of him.
"He did it, that man. Took each family member, a wife, two young sons, and a daughter who wasn't even a year, and threw them off of the highest cliff onto the rocks below. Just as I had asked. Just as he had instructed. The man looked over the edge after throwing the last of his family, their daughter who cried and cried through the whole thing even though she knew nothing of what was transpiring, and the man saw the crushed and broken bodies of his family on the rocks below.
"I was there, to witness and make sure the deed was done in his name. The man looked to me and I had never before in my many, many years seen such a hollow man. A man who had given everything that made him a man. A man who had nothing else. The broken and hollowed out man said nothing to me as he looked me in the eyes, an image I will never be able to remove from my mind, and he stepped backwards over the edge of the cliff. Falling to the rocks below, to join his family one last time."
The man on the platform stopped speaking here, this time there was no sound from the crowd to fill the silence. He brought a hand up and covered his face for this moment of silence. The group gathered below stayed completely still, shocked at what they were hearing. Unable to comprehend seeing the speaker like this after all they had heard about him. The man on the platform regained his composure after a few more moments of silence, perhaps a respect for that broken man and his unfortunate family.
"That was the event that broken me free from his control, that showed me the error in what we had been taught all these years. And while I was the first, I was not the last. I had to be careful about which of my brethren I spoke about this, as not all were conflicted like I was. Many, most even, were completely fanatical about his ways and his rule. They knew that he was the one above all and not to be questioned. There was no question in their minds, just faith and love for him.
"I did eventually identity a small group, smaller than I would have wished, of those who thought like myself. Who believed there was an error in the way he was teaching us and those we had initially sought out to help. That all this pain and suffering we forced upon them was meaningless for everyone other than him, who seemed to revel in it. To know that his will was seen as one that would not be ignored. It was with this small group that we created a rebellion.
"It was a peaceful rebellion at first, we instructed those who he wished to harm themselves or others in some way to merely turn back onto a good and righteous path. One that helps others and cares for those in need as we thought we were doing. We led people to the happiness we knew was possible, even if they didn't believe it themselves. Unfortunately, this rebellion did not last long. He saw all, and we were no exception.
"His wrath and vengeance was quick and struck true, sending several of my true brethren, the ones who turned from him and towards a greater good, were struck down by his most devout and powerful followers. Even then I had immense power available to me, but even that was not enough to stop the force he had put together. In the end our fight was lost, only three of us remained. Instead of sending us to whatever lay beyond for those who do not follow the path he set out for us, of doing the kindness of sending us to our brothers and sisters in arms, he exiled us. Stripped us of all he had provided for us and cast us down and out of his gates.
"Exiled, seen as a revolting traitor by those I once called peers, with nothing but what little was left on my back and my only two remaining compatriots, we set off to continue what we had started. That is when we founded this place that we now call home. The place where you stand is where it all began, the entryway to the revolution we could not yet let end. To try and dissuade us or prevent us from doing what we felt needed to be done, he began sending us his rejects, those who he saw as the worst of the worst. The ones who would not follow his path no matter what intervention he may attempt.
"He sent us you. It is thanks to those who came before you, who we've trained and turned from his rejects to warriors and prophets of the true righteous path, that our rebellion is stronger than ever. That is our story. The story that you can be a part of should you wish it. We will retake the kingdom we were once thrown from. Now, tomorrow, in a thousand years. It matters not. All that matters is that we continue to fight for those who survive above. For those who would be turned by him to a path of pain and suffering."
The man speaking stepped around the podium he was speaking at and spread his arms, in doing so his wings full of black feathers spread out wide behind him. In a great, booming voice he announced himself to the crowd below.
"My name is Lucifer, once an angel of God. Exiled for turning people from a path of suffering of agony. I ask for your aid in helping your fellow humans who still persist above."
"Welcome to Hell."
Original Tweet: (source)
Ever wonder why I was exiled? Don't even mention that book of lies & half-truths he printed. I desired freedom, so I founded Hell. Welcome
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