Apocalyptic Au - Tumblr Posts

Not so fast!

oh boy, these action scenes really eat up a lot of time. ok, emotional scenes eat up time too. but man, i wish i could be faster. i hope i have not gotten lost in this chapter :D und falls es untergegangen ist. ich schreibe diese fanfic ursprünglich auf deutsch und übersetze sie dann auf englisch. ich lade sie aber immer zeitgleich hoch ;-)

Lore I -  The Beginnings Of Destruction

<-------(Lore I)-------«

The Armageddon AU deviates from canon on one particular yet important point: the Demon King never went into his slumber.

The Demon King is still the active ruler of Devildom, and as such Diavolo has not assumed his canon status as the de-facto ruler. This means that RAD and the Exchange Program were never created.

Without Diavolo's leadership and efforts to create an understanding between the three realms, the resentment between the Devildom and the Celestial Realm continued to fester. After millennia, this culminated into a second war between the angels and the demons. This time, each side has one clear motivation: to eradicate the other once and for all.

The Armageddon has started- an ultimate fight between good and evil.

»-------(Lore II)------->

Lore II - A Disrupted Balance

<-------(Lore I)-------«

In their strive towards complete and total conquest, both the Celestial Realm and the Devildom began to bolster their power. In an attempt to banish the shadows, the Celestial Realm needed to shine brighter than ever before. And in order to drown the light, the Devildom needed to summon vast darkness. With both realms attempting to take the upper hand of the now-imbalanced ring of power between the realms, each side began to take drastic collateral damage.

»-------(Lore III)------->

Lore III - A Scorched Celestial Realm

<-------(Lore II)-------«

The Celestial Realm, though always bright, has gradually grown to be unbearable due to the immense influx of power. Sunburns turned to heat blisters, which then turned to burn scars.

Most angels have developed severe damage to their eyes.

Many of them, their eyes are completely destroyed. Not only are their eyeballs themselves seared until they were mere crimson spheres, but the area around their eyes is red and raised in scar tissue. These angels have no sense of sight anymore. Though these are by far the most disturbing-looking, in one way these angels are lucky: due to all the nerves being burned, they are not in pain. Simeon is in this category.

Others suffered moderate burns. They have burns on certain areas of their eye, or the burns on their whole eye are minor enough that they have retained at least some sense of vision. Many of these angels suffer severe pain from their injuries, severe enough to make many to beg Father to have their eyes removed. Father refused, as an agonized soldier is more useful than a blind one. Many of these angels took matters into their own hands, preferring the temporary agony of removing their eyes themselves to the constant pain of keeping them. Raphael is in this category, but elected to keep his eyes.

And some, the luckiest of the bunch, had minor burns. Their vision tends to be quite blurry, but they can still make out fuzzy shapes, colors, and movement. This includes Luke, whose strong protective magic kept his vision miraculously in tact. However, Luke hides his vision at Simeon’s demand to avoid recruitment into the war.

Because of this, most angels wear blindfolds. Many angels' eyes are too far-gone for the blindfold to be hindering them in any real way, and they don't want others seeing their scarred eyes and discovering their weakness. They'd rather the demons think they're fighting with their eyes closed in an arrogant statement of “I can defeat you even with my eyes closed” rather than discover the dire truth.

Most angels also have most of the feathers of their wings scorched off, making it nearly impossible to fly.

»-------(Lore IV)------->

Lore IV - Hell Frozen Over

<-------(Lore III)-------«

After flooding the realm with the power of unimaginable darkness, Devildom was in just as dire a state as the Celestial Realm. Even the strongest of light sources hardly make a dent in the darkness anymore. It is, for all intents and purposes, pitch black.

After being overtaken by frigid darkness, the Devildom froze over. Most demons have blackened splotches all over their bodies, especially at their hands and legs, due to frostbite. Unable to see and with most life killed off in the freeze, surviving demons were left without anything to eat. Out of desperation, many turned to cannibalism. Many demons bear bite marks from their fellow demons on a blackened, emaciated body.

Due to the starvation and the constant darkness, a lot of demons have gone completely mad.

»-------(Lore V)------->

Armageddon: What Is This AU?

The Armageddon AU is an apocalyptic alternate timeline of Obey Me in which the exchange program was never created. This page is dedicated to all the juicy details of this AU that people (mostly me) cook up in our free time. Any and all contributions, whether it be headcanons, further lore development, speculation, art, or fanfiction, are wholeheartedly welcomed.

Be aware that this AU, by nature, is extremely dark and contains disturbing subject matter that may not be suitable to everyone. No punches are pulled here; this is an apocalypse.

~~~

To keep away from one intimidating essay, the main timeline is split up over a series of Lore Posts:

Lore I - The Beginnings of Destruction

Lore II - A Disrupted Balance

Lore III - A Scorched Celestial Realm

Lore IV - Hell Frozen Over

Lore V - Power-Sick

Lore VI - The Move to the Human World

Epilogue:

Lore VII - The Rise of Rebellion

Lore VIII - Within the Wreckage

Lore IX - Rebuilding the World

~~~

There are also Character Files, which detail the roles of specific Obey Me characters in this AU:

Character File: Simeon

Character File: Luke

Character File: Satan

Character File: Michael

Character File: Raphael

Character File: Diavolo

Regarding MC

Character File: Mephistopheles

Character File: Solomon

Character File: Thirteen

~~~

Other info:

How to Contribute to the AU

~~~

Lore VI - The Move to the Human World

<-------(Lore V)-------«

With the Celestial Realm and the Devildom becoming nearly uninhabitable, it wasn't long before the war moved to the Human World. The first to move were the demons, fleeing the neverending cold and starvation to live with witches they worked with. The angels soon followed- on paper, they were simply going to hunt down the demons, but in reality, they had been waiting for the excuse to flee the blinding light.

Even despite the dire circumstances, the war was pushed onward. Father went as far as to insist no angel could leave the Celestial Realm unless they were going as a soldier, pressuring otherwise peaceful angels to pick up their swords to escape a burning fate. Demons fought just as viciously, their desperation driving them to the same extremes. It became common for demons to slay angels and demons simply to eat them.

The warring angels and demons brought the same havoc of their homelands into the Human World. Battles flattened cities, and humans were killed by bands of starving demons or kidnapped to join the forces. Humanity, enraged by the destruction wrought upon their world, declared war on both the Celestial Realm and the Devildom. Now, the war was officially three-way.

»-------(Lore VII)------->

Lore V - Power-Sick

<-------(Lore IV)-------«

Along with the undeniable effects of the bolstered magic on the realms as a whole, specific angels and demons were particularly vulnerable to what has been dubbed power-sickness. Power sickness is typically found in the ranks just below Father and the Demon King- so, Diavolo, Barbatos, and Michael. Power sickness occurs because these demons and angels have strong enough powers that amplifying them is dangerous, without being powerful enough that their bodies are able to handle this increase in power.

In angels, this manifests as an extreme fever, as though they’re burning from the light inside them. Their body will begin to glow and radiate a heat that makes others around them uncomfortable, but is only a true danger to themself.

In demons, this manifests as intense cold. All body heat seems to vanish, replaced with an unnerving cold that brings dread to anyone who comes in contact. The surroundings of an afflicted demon will appear darker, as though they are radiating the darkness inside of them.

In both, chronic pain and lethargy are common symptoms.

»-------(Lore VI)------->

Helldown Day and the Canon Power Balance

So, a large part of this AU has to do with the power balance of the realms being severely disrupted and altered. My canon basis for the fragility of the magic balance was originally the Ring in season two, but I just remembered that Helldown Day exists. Helldown Day is a far better example, in my opinion. While The Ring showed how the power of the realms in general can go horribly awry, Helldown Day shows explicitly that the magic of each realm must be regulated.

If Helldown Day is needed to protect the three realms in canon, then imagine how horribly awry the magic would go not only if Helldown Day were abolished, but the realm’s magic was intentionally bolstered each and every day?

I find it very interesting to think about the implications of Helldown Day in the context of this AU.

Character File: Simeon

If I were ever to write a fic of this AU, my protagonist would definitely be Simeon.

As mentioned in the lore, Simeon is completely blind. He has no sense of sight, not even for distinguishing light and darkness, and his face is scarred over where his eyes formerly were. He wears a white blindfold to cover these scars.  In addition to his eyes, he has also sustained other damage, being covered in scars from popped heat blisters. His wings are charred, and only useful for flying short distances. Most of the remaining feathers on his wings have been turned black from soot.

Despite this, Simeon remains mostly independent. He utilizes many of the same tactics as other angels to compensate for lack of sight, and has remained an apt and reliable soldier for the Celestial Realm. Though, he does use Luke as a seeing eye dog sometimes.

He remains his usual smiley self instead of sinking into self-pity over his new-found disability- moping won’t bring back his sight, after all. He makes do the best he can, accepting that he can no longer see.

Simeon resides in in a military camp in the Human World, where he serves in the war along with Raphael, Michael, and other angels. He also smuggled Luke to this camp to protect him from the desolation of the Celestial Realm.

Though Simeon is a celestial soldier, he isn’t exactly loyal to the Celestial Realm. Deep down, he realizes that if the war continues as it has been, there will be no one left alive to claim victory. He is also extremely hesitant to fight Lucifer and his brothers again, should he encounter them in battle. Simeon has ended up breaking numerous rules to protect Luke- first, hiding the fact that Luke can still see from other angels so Luke wouldn’t be sent to war, and then sneaking Luke out of the Celestial Realm as a civilian once he realized the war-torn Human World was safer than what had become of the Celestial Realm. He’s at a point where he’s broken quite a few rules and isn’t afraid to break a few more. He won’t admit it, but he’s just a few hairs off from “fuck it”.

visual by @kitto-katsuu

Character File: Luke

Out of all the major angel characters, Luke is the least scathed. His protective magic shielded him from the worst of the Celestial Realm’s power, leaving him with only skin-deep injuries. He has mild scarring on his face, arms and legs from sunburn, but his eyes were spared any real damage, leaving him one of the only angels left with fully functional vision.

As such, Luke views it as his responsibility to help his fellow angels who have lost their sight. He overexerts himself trying to be the eyes of others, attempting to make up for his guilt- maybe if he’d thought to put one of his protective blessings on his friends, they would have been spared.

Though Luke wants to do everything he can to help the angels around him, Simeon sees Luke’s sight as a danger. If Father were to find out Luke could still see, Luke would be sent into war. It wouldn’t matter that he was only a child; Father had no qualms about throwing a ten-year-old into the bloodbath of war. As such, while they were still in the Celestial Realm, Simeon made Luke hide the fact that he could still see by making him wear a blindfold in public at all times- much to Luke’s indignance. The two frequently got into arguments over this.

However, Simeon later lightened up on this rule, after he was drafted to go fight the war in the Human World. By this point, the Celestial Realm had become so horrifically marred by its own power that even Luke was beginning to suffer the effects, and Simeon ultimately decided that Luke would be safer in the Human World than in the Celestial Realm. As such, he smuggled Luke into the Human World when he was sent down to battle. After this, Luke resides in the military camp with Simeon, where he helps the soldiers with tasks that require his vision. Due to not being an official soldier, Luke is not burdened with the dirty work that the other angels are. He does not go into battle or carry out war-related missions. This is, once again, by Simeon’s order. Whereas the two used to argue over the blindfold, now they argue over whether Luke can charge into battle with his comrades.

Most all the angels in the military camp are aware of Luke’s sight by now, but it’s extremely taboo. Everyone knows, but no one dares speak of it. They accept his help and say nothing of it. None of them want to say anything that would incriminate themselves if Father found out about the secret that was kept from him. And, quite frankly, all of them were too uncomfortable with breaking the rules in such a way to even want to acknowledge it.

If this were pre-war, most of these angels would have definitely ratted Luke and Simeon out to Father, but by now most of the angels are at a similar point to Simeon. They’re beginning to lose their faith in Father after seeing the destruction of their homeland, and some have even stopped caring overall, knowing deep down that none of them would survive no matter how well they followed the rules. Even Raphael is at a point where he’s beginning to doubt Father, so at Michael’s request he let the situation with Luke slide and turned his cheek. Luke’s help was also very useful to them because he could see, so they didn’t want to lose that resource. Overall, everyone had reasons to be quiet, and Luke’s position became one of many uncomfortable, unspoken truths across the camp.

As the exchange program does not exist in this AU, Luke has never met demons asides from some hostile encounters here and there.

Luke has not spoken with Michael in quite a while, as Michael has isolated himself for reasons that will be delved into in his character file. I’ll leave it up to speculation whether Luke knows why, and how he feels about it.

Solomon character file!!!! It will be very intresting and annoying at the same time for him in the au!

Hi, thanks for the feedback!! 

Though, unfortunately I’m not too comfortable with my interp of Solomon. I don’t know him well enough to try my hand at a full-on character file for him yet.

Considering he’s the only human character and this AU demands human involvement too, I will have to get around to him eventually (even if he isn’t quite HUMAN human). But now is not the time.

If you want some information on Solomon though, I did make a post a little while back vaguely explaining some things with him. He’s probably extremely confused by the whole situation, and doesn’t exactly have a good source of intel.

We see it mentioned in Season 3 that Solomon does business with Michael and has been doing so since long before the exchange program (which is where this AU diverges from canon), so Michael would probably be the first person Solomon asks about the whole situation. But due to some... circumstances with Michael, which will be delved into in Michael’s character file, there’s no way Michael is actually answering his phone for Solomon, much less meeting with him. Diavolo isn’t exactly available either (again, this will be delved into at a later date), Asmodeus isn’t exactly in a situation to be texting his boyfriend either, and Father and the Demon King are just plain uncooperative. So Solomon is meeting a lot of dead ends trying to figure out what’s happening. He’s definitely picking up on the magical disturbances, but no one’s telling him what exactly is going on. Which, everyone’s silence is arguably even more concerning.

I have to say, this might just be part of the “me not knowing Solomon well enough” thing, but I think Solomon would be less interested/annoyed and more genuinely concerned. I know he’s not the type to really get all sentimental over others, especially prior to meeting MC and Simeon, but the Armageddon is something that threatens the very existence of the three worlds. Solomon can’t exactly continue his magical studies and whatever else he does if all three worlds are completely annihilated. He can’t continue making pacts if there are no demons left to make pacts with. And I doubt he, as an immortal, wants to be completely alone in the universe after Father and the Demon King have destroyed everything in their wake. I think this situation is dire enough to bring out some real concern in Solomon. He’d probably have a desire to get to the bottom of it not just because he’s interested or because it’s simply an annoyance, but because life as he knows it depends on it.

After all, the closest thing we see to the Armageddon in canon is the situation with The Ring. Solomon definitely seemed pretty concerned over that whole situation. And the Armageddon is around that same degree of destruction and certain doom, if not far worse.

If Solomon does have a role in this AU, I imagine his role would be very similar to his role in Season 2 in canon- tirelessly researching to try to figure out what the hell is going on and fix it. Though, here he’s probably hitting a lot more dead ends due to having no one to help him.

Character File: Satan

Along with his brothers, Satan was drafted into the war long before it ever moved to the Human World. The seven became more close-knit than ever during that time, growing extremely protective of one another. In particular, they grew incredibly protective of Satan. This was Satan’s first time ever fighting in a war, after all. His brothers were all seasoned warriors from the Great Celestial War and the previous war between the Celestial Realm and the Devildom, while Satan was completely inexperienced. During this period, Satan was treated as the youngest in all but title.

Satan was beyond frustrated at what he perceived as being babied, leading him to be one of the most aggressive soldiers in battle in attempt to prove to his brothers that he was not to be underestimated. His vicious wrath, sly cunning and undying motivation to prove himself quickly made him notorious among demons and angels alike from very early on in the war. What made him all the more dangerous was his weapon- he wields the Hellfire Blade, a sickle-shaped sword that catches fire with green flames whenever its wielder is filled with adrenaline.

As this flaming weapon provided heat and light in a place that was growing colder and darker by the day, it was heavily sought after. However, because it could only catch ablaze during its wielder’s adrenaline rush, this meant it was only useful when Satan was angered. This led to Satan’s brothers repeatedly provoking him, further straining his relationship with them.

Like his brothers, Satan spends most of his time in demon form. He needs to be ready to use his full power at all times, after all. However, his demon form has been altered slightly. His anatomical features such as his horns and tail have remained the same, but his clothing has changed. He’s scrapped the boa- too easy to get caught on something in battle. He also scrapped the belt for similar reasons, and now wears a tight black trenchcoat to protect him from the blistering cold of the Devildom. He also wears armor, the most notable being black pauldrons covered in sharp spikes.

Though initially zealous about the war effort, Satan has grown to doubt the war more and more as he has witnessed more of its effects. The first time he truly felt that something wasn’t right was during a battle in the Celestial Realm, where he saw how worn and weary the angels were when he and his brothers had just gotten there. The scene of burnt, blinded angels with scorched, tattered wings stuck in his head, and from time to time resurfaces and makes him think. Another defining experience for him happened after he returned to the Devildom, where conditions got so bad a demon used Satan to commit assisted suicide. A demon endlessly provoked Satan until he lost control and flew into a rage, swiftly killing the demon, and when Satan calmed down and went to loot the corpse (hey, resources were scarce) he found a suicide note in the demon’s pocket. Though Satan has killed many people in his time, the fact that this demon actually wanted to die and used him to achieve that stuck with him.

By the time the war moved to the Human World, Satan’s focus had become less and less on winning the war and more on trying to simply survive and protect his brothers. They were all in poor shape and simply trying to keep themselves and each other alive. Even so, Satan’s fighter tendencies still rear their heads when an opposing force attacks the brothers first; he’s an absolutely ruthless defender who will make sure anyone who dared attack him or his brothers paid with their life.

Due to the absence of the exchange program or any real communication at all between the realms, the angels didn’t know Satan existed until his appearance in battle. They still have no idea he’s Lucifer’s brother/son, and I imagine it will be quite the bombshell when they find out. 

Character File: Michael

Despite having not made an official appearance in canon yet, Michael has quite the role in this AU. I dare say his story in this AU is one of the most disturbing and tragic.

Michael suffers from power sickness, but his struggles don’t end there.

Michael is the most powerful Archangel and leader of the Celestial Realm’s legions, making him Father’s most powerful weapon of war. However, as we have seen thus far, the Celestial Realm isn’t satisfied with the power it has and is seeking more. As such, Michael wasn’t enough. He needed to be improved. Upgraded.

In his attempts to turn Michael into the perfect supersoldier, Father created an abomination. Michael’s form was warped into what could be compared to the most terrifying of the biblical angels. Two golden rings of eyes circled around his head, replacing the now nonexistent eyes on his completely smoothed-over face. More eyes peered out from between the feathers of his four wings, wings that were now permanently set ablaze. Smaller golden rings of eyes encircled his hands and ankles like shackles, and he has four arms instead of two. There are also disembodied eyes floating all around him, which he can move at will, using them almost like camera drones. Despite his mouth being smoothed over with skin like the rest of his face, Michael can still somehow speak, in an echoey and ethereal voice that brings chills to those who listen, a feeling that they are hearing something they shouldn’t. But no, Michael can’t eat, which as you could imagine is absolutely devastating to someone like him.

Despite his shocking appearance, Michael’s mind has remained unaltered. He is still the same person, the person who doesn’t want to fight Lucifer and his brothers. He is ashamed of what has become of him, and isolates himself from the other angels whenever he can. He is only really seen when he’s fighting in battle, and even then it’s hard to get a good look at him. He flies high in the air, keeping a distance from his fellow angels who cannot fly high anymore due to their scorched wings. He never speaks to his fellow angels anymore, having Raphael give orders in his stead as Michael himself focuses solely on fighting the opponent. When not in battle, he hides himself away in a dug-out cave underneath the camp. As the only person granted access to Michael’s hideaway, Raphael is the only soul that has heard him speak in a long time.

Due to being able to see (really well, given all the eyes he has) and the unimaginable level of power he has been imbued with, Michael is a very important soldier in the war and does fight on the front line. However, he only does so out of necessity, because he needs to protect his fellow angels and because he’s afraid of what Father will do if he doesn’t follow his orders. Michael dreads the day he encounters Lucifer in battle, and has grown to doubt Father after all he has done to him.

Character File: Raphael

Raphael acts as the current general of the Celestial Legions, and spokesperson for Michael. He retains relatively good vision- albeit rather blurry- but at the cost of constant burning pain in his eyes caused by large red marks from corneal burns.

As Michael has become a recluse who only speaks to Raphael, Raphael has to serve as a middleman conveying Michael’s instructions to the other angels. He has also taken up the position as leader of the legions in his superior’s stead, taking charge and giving orders of his own when instructions from Michael are not available. Raphael is the only angel with the ability to pass through Michael’s magic barrier into his hideaway, and visits Michael every night he can and stays for hours. What they do or talk about is a secret to all other angels, and if any angel asks anything about how Michael is doing, they will get a brutal punishment from a very angry Raphael.

Raphael tries his best to honor Michael’s wishes and always keep “What would Michael do?” in the back of his mind, but due to his own nature is a far more militant and harsh leader. It is commonly said that Raphael is feared more by his own soldiers than by the enemy. The combination of Raphael’s chronic eye pain, Michael’s current condition, the war itself and Raphael’s new responsibilities as Michael’s stand-in has resulted in Raphael becoming far more high-strung and vicious than usual due to the sheer stress. For all intents and purposes, he’s completely lost his mind.

Raphael has also begun to doubt Father due to what he did to Michael, but suppresses these thoughts out of shame. This leads him to further double down on his strictness with Celestial Realm rules in an attempt to prove to himself that he’s still a good angel. Any behavior that can even vaguely be construed as impure, unholy, sinful, or out-of-line will receive extremely harsh punishment. He’ll take any and every excuse to take out his newfound insecurities on others, going out of his way to find new reasons to brandish his spear. Actions that might be completely overlooked and forgiven one day may suddenly warrant being tied up and tossed to a hungry pack of demons the next, the hypocrisy of which going to show that Raphael is just looking for excuses to indulge in a self-righteous power fantasy to escape his reality.

In order to cope, Raphael has also convinced himself himself that, once the demons are defeated, the Celestial Realm will be restored to normal, even though in reality it is far beyond any reasonable hope of repair. He insists that if the angels fight hard enough, they can earn their eyesight back as well, and when they win there will be no reason to keep Michael in his current form so he will be returned to normal as well. He spends most of his free time pacing in circles around his quarters speaking prayers. Everyone with a sense of self preservation knows not to bother him when he’s doing this. 

I can imagine Raphael having one hell of a redemption arc. He’s clearly a tyrant with a whole bunch of screws loose, but perhaps someone can get through to him. Perhaps someone can help him see that he needs to confront his doubts and true feelings if he wants to save Michael. After he comes to terms with the reality of the situation and accepts how he truly feels, once he realizes that things don’t have to be this way, he could end up playing a crucial role in taking down Father- he is a hitman, after all. His closeness with Father and his skills in assassination could be Father’s downfall. Not to mention how angry he’ll be at Father for deluding him for so long and putting Michael in such a state.

Armageddon timeline confirmed?

(Context, he’s referring to the Celestial Realm and the Devildom. This scene happened in the devilgram “The Glory Days”.)

This scene is why I like to consider this AU just another one of the countless nameless timelines Barbatos oversees in canon. So, this entire page is just one big headcanon I guess. Maybe Barbatos even warned Diavolo about the existence of this timeline or smth.

I’ve added links in each of the lore posts to the previous and next posts in the lore series, to make the lore easier to navigate. I’m also working on a special Lore VIII and Lore IX- though those won’t be leaving my drafts for a loooooong while, as they’re essentially an epilogue to this AU.

(Additional content taking place at any point in the lore will still be created and accepted after the epilogue, this AU project is never going to officially “end”. I just want to make sure all the major stuff is out there for context before releasing all the lore, and I want to give you guys some time to digest the current lore before continuing.)

Texting

(Takes place over the course of Lore II through Lore VI. Major characters: Solomon)

MICHAEL

-------------------------

Solomon: [Hey, Michael.]

Solomon: [How is everything going?]

Solomon: [I’d like to meet with you soon. I have some concerns I’d like to bring to your attention.]

Sent 127 days ago

Solomon: [Michael?]

Solomon: [I know you must be busy, but I really think this meeting is of top urgency.]

Sent 126 days ago

RAPHAEL

-------------------------

Solomon: [Hey Raphael. Is Michael busy? I’ve been trying to get in contact with him for a few weeks now.]

Sent 102 days ago

Solomon: [I need to meet with him to discuss some pretty urgent matters, but he isn’t answering his phone. I’d really appreciate it if you could tell him to call me.]

Sent 100 days ago

Read 91 days ago

SIMEON

-------------------------

Solomon: [Hi, this is Solomon the sorcerer. I was wondering if you could get me in contact with Michael? It’s important.]

Sent 88 days ago

Simeon: [Hi, I’m sorry to say Michael isn’t available right now.]

Solomon: [I understand; he is quite busy after all. When will he next be available? The sooner the better.]

Simeon: [He isn’t taking meetings outside the Celestial Realm at all right now, I’m afraid. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a more satisfying answer.]

Sent 61 days ago

MICHAEL

-------------------------

Solomon: [There have been a concerning amount of angel sightings in the human world. It’s all over our news. Isn’t interference with humans strictly against the rules? What’s going on?]

Solomon: [Michael?]

Solomon: [Michael?] Sent 29 days ago

Solomon: [Michael, New York City has just been flattened. I went to take a look, and found strong traces of both demonic and angelic magic at play.]

Solomon: [Maybe “traces” isn’t the right word. It was too strong for that.]

Solomon: [Did you and the Demon King himself duke it out down here? Because that’s what this strength of magic is indicating to me.]

Solomon: [Actually, no. No offense, but I’m fairly certain neither of you could physically handle exerting this amount of power at once.]

Solomon: [I really think we need to have a meeting to discuss this. The humans are freaking out.]

Solomon: [Michael?]

An Unexpected Visit

(Takes place between Lore VI and Lore VII. Major characters: Solomon and Thirteen. ~1200 words)

MICHAEL

-----------------------------

Solomon: [Michael?]

Solomon: [Michael?]

Solomon: [Michael?]

Solomon: [Michael?]

------------------------------

It had been one hundred and eight days exactly since Solomon had sent his first mildly-panicked message to Michael. Exactly one hundred and eight days that Michael had ignored him. No, not ignored him. The messages didn’t show up as “read” like they had with Raphael. It had been at least one hundred and eight days of Michael not checking his messages.

No one else was responding to messages anymore, either. Solomon had tried reaching out to Simeon and Raphael again, only to be met with silence. He’d tried contacting Asmodeus, who he’d been sure would have called him immediately to explain everything, eager to talk to him again... only to be met with silence. Day in and day out, Solomon had been surrounded with silence.

Today was no exception. Once again, Solomon got no response.

Solomon sat at his desk, his drooping, tired head held up only by the hand obscuring half his face.

What is going on?

The words rattled in his head like an obsessive chant, holding him together just as much as they were destroying him. It was all he could think about anymore. It was shattering his brain and holding it together with weak glue.

It had started out with the power of the realms. Solomon had detected major disturbances in the power balance, disturbances that continued to fluctuate over the days. One day, it was the Devildom being more powerful than the Celestial Realm and throwing off the balance; the next day, it would be the Celestial Realm. At that point, Solomon had been worried, but not concerned.

He got concerned when the power jumped a tenfold. Then twenty-fold. Soon, thirty-fold. Before long, Solomon had to ask whether it was possible for either realm to sustain these power levels safely, even if they were in balance with each other.

The answer was no.

Every bit of research Solomon had done pointed to the obvious. The power levels he observed were not safe nor sustainable. Either his power estimates were innacurate- and his magical intuition had never been wrong in his two-thousand-year life- or something was very, very wrong.

Books littered the floor, pages dog-eared and spines cracked from books held open by the floor. Papers were strewn everywhere, a vast sea of white and aged beige leaving hardly a crack of wooden tile left. Sections of floor that were exposed bore large footprints, worn into the wood by countless hours of pacing.

None of it had gotten him anywhere. Well, nowhere useful. All of it gave him more and more reason to be concerned.

The sorcerer dug his nails into his face.

What now?

Crash.

The sound of shattering glass rang through the air.

Solomon froze up, considering the possibilities. Was it an aggressor? Was it some angel or demon, finally ready to give answers? Or some human looter taking advantage of the chaos?

It wasn’t long before a familiar voice rang through the hall.

“Solomon!” It was Thirteen. And she sounded none too happy.

Despite her angry tone, the sorcerer breathed a sigh of relief. If Thirteen was here for another game on his soul, perhaps he could get some sense of normalcy, even for a second. Maybe seeing Thirteen’s indignant pout of defeat could cheer him up, even just slightly.

“I’m in here.” He called out, standing up from his desk, pushing out his chair and turning to face the door.

Fast, light footsteps pattered down the hall, followed by the whoosh of sliding paper.

“Wha- AAAH!”

Thunk.

The reaper was sprawled out on her stomach on the floor, having slid on Solomon’s carpet of research papers. The wind was knocked out of her for a moment before she vigorously pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, and then to her feet.

“Hey!” She yelled, lunging herself forward a few steps in his direction. “What was that about?! Setting traps is my-” She paused, her green, lizardlike eyes widening as her head tilted slightly to the side. “You don’t look so good.”

She wasn’t wrong. The sorcerer’s eyes were sunken and weary, drooping into dark circles from countless sleepless nights. He’d lost weight- he’d forgotten to eat a fair few times while studying. The absolute mess that was his workspace certainly didn’t help.

“I guess not.” Solomon said with a frown, stepping away from his desk.

“Uh, anyway...” Thirteen said with an awkward blink, before her tone hardened once more. “I came here to ask you what the hell is going on.”

“If this is about what I think it’s about, I wish I knew.” The sorcerer said soberly, casting his eyes across the books and papers scattered around the room.

“All my candles are burning super fast now.” Thirteen said. “It’s insane. Usually they burn at a steady pace, but now I have candles that were nearly full the other day rapidly burning below halfway! The death rates have been ridiculous! Do you understand how hard it is to be a reaper, even when conditions are normal? Trying to keep up with all of this is so aggravating! What’s going on?! Is this some prank?!”

For a moment, Solomon just looked at her with wide eyes. Then, with a soft sigh, he lowered his head into his hand. The only thing the wise sorcerer could utter was, “Fuck.”

“What the hell kind of answer is that?! Tell me what’s going on, now!” Thirteen stepped toward him.

Solomon shook his head grimly, taking a step back and looking back up at Thirteen. “Something is seriously wrong with the power balance between the realms, and both the Celestial Realm and the Devildom appear to be launching attacks on the Human World.” He explained.

“Okay, the attacks explain the deaths. But what about the candles burning so weirdly? Usually, I’d know far in advance if something like this was going to happen!”

“Magic is woven so deeply into the three realms that any disruption of it can prove dangerous. With the magic of two of the three realms severely skewed, it’s likely they’re suffering immense consequences. With how high the Celestial Realm and the Devildom’s power are right now, I’m surprised either realm is even habitable; no being should be able to withstand that much power asides from God and the Demon King themselves. This power boost only started a few months ago and very likely wasn’t meant to happen, so it has severely interrupted the lifespans of angels and demons alike.”

Thirteen’s eyes widened.

“Now that I think about it, it was getting quite cold in my cave. I couldn’t help but feel something was off” She frowned. “I guess my cave was somewhat sheltered, and I hadn’t left it at all the past few months until I teleported to the human world to come get you.”

“I have to say, I’m flattered you came to me first.” Solomon said with a smile that immediately earned him a nasty glare from Thirteen.

“It’s not like that!” She protested. She took a deep breath and composed herself, “It’s just… you’re the most powerful sorcerer around, right? I figured that if this wasn’t just some prank by you to make my job harder, then you’d at the very least be knowledgeable enough to help.”

“Unfortunately, you may be disappointed.” Solomon replied with a bitter smile. “I’ve been researching this every since the first signs, and I haven’t made much progress. Everything I’ve read points to bad signs, and it doesn’t help that I can’t get any information out of anyone.”

Thirteen scoffed. “Well, you’d better find something soon, sorcerer.”

“Say, Thirteen...” Solomon cracked a smile. “How would you like to work together on this?”

Thirteen’s eyes widened, and for a long moment, she was silent. Eventually, she let out a soft sigh and stepped toward him.

“Fine.”

Lore VII - The Rise of Rebellion

<-------(Lore VI)-------«

With the Celestial Realm and the Devildom destroyed and the Human World on its way, it wasn’t long before voices began to cry out, “enough is enough.”

Even the most loyal of the angels began to doubt Father as they watched everything they stood for collapse around them, and the demons began to realize that their own king was a bigger threat than the Celestial Realm ever was. The war had become nothing more than an ego-brawl between Father and the Demon King; they didn’t care about their subjects anymore.

As more and more people realized this, rebel groups began to form in opposition to the war. Two of the most prominent were the Celestial Resistance and the Royal Alliance of Diavolo.

The Celestial Resistance, led by Simeon, was a rebel group made up primarily of angels who had defected from the Celestial Legions, though they would later gain the support of the seven brothers and others. The Celestial Resistance mostly focused on the best interests of angels, and as such the overthrow of Father was their main priority. All else, including dealing with the Demon King, came second. Many within the group believed that the fight against Father was the battle of angels and former-angels alone, being opposed to the involvement of humans and natural-born demons. Compared to the Royal Alliance of Diavolo, the Celestial Resistance had much greater fighting prowess, as most members had been archangels and seraphim. However, the group had weakness in their lack of diversity- due to the vast majority being angels, the Celestial Resistance could often come across as narrow-minded. This issue would only grow worse as the more conservative angels joined the rebellion- eventually, the Celestial Legions would entirely disband due to Michael and Raphael’s defection, giving the remaining members- most of which were still very conservative- little choice but to follow their former leaders into the rebellion. There was also infighting- Lucifer and his brothers made things complicated, plus the angels were unsure how to get along even with each other without Father unifying them. Their leader, Simeon, was very aware of these issues and tried his best to rectify them. The addition of Lucifer and his brothers to the team also helped sway the Celestial Resistance in a more inclusive direction that would eventually allow them to ally with other rebellion groups.

The Royal Alliance of Diavolo, or RAD, was a much more diverse group, with a more unanimously open-minded approach to the war. This group was made up of humans, demons, and angels alike who sought refuge in the sanctuary Lord Diavolo created in the human world. The group was primarily made up of lower-ranking angels and demons as well as humans- less powerful beings who had needed Diavolo’s aid to escape their situations. Most were refugees rather than trained fighters. However, what they lacked in strength, they made up for in passion and cohesiveness. Royal Alliance members are far more used to working together across species boundaries than the Celestial Resistance, and did so well. Despite the vast range of backgrounds, all Alliance members had a strong loyalty to each other. They built up a strong sense of brotherhood and comradery through their shared efforts to survive the war, and almost any member would lay down their life for another without hesitation. All of them are highly loyal to Diavolo, as many owe him their life. The Royal Alliance of Diavolo would later become a blueprint for society post-Armageddon, as it was the first real example of humans, demons, and angels living together harmoniously and successfully.

For a long while, these two rebel groups functioned without knowing of the other’s existence. However, when their existence came to light, the two were quick to reach out to one another and work together to determine a course of action. Eventually, the two groups merge to form the Equinox Coalition. 

The Equinox Coalition, co-led by Simeon and Diavolo, was the ultimate band of humans, demons, angels and even reapers opposed to the war. Their namesake comes from their core philosophy: There must be balance between the darkness and the light.

The Equinox Coalition would later be joined by the United Forces of Humanity, a collection of the human world’s military forces that had originally formed to resist the invasion of the Human World.

The Equinox Coalition expands its goals far beyond the fight against Father, also seeking to take down the Demon King and explore all possible avenues for a more balanced future. By the end of the Armageddon, all major Obey Me characters will have joined the Equinox Coalition.

»-------(Lore VIII)------->