Chapter six- Moses

God took favor in one particular human, at one point. She had a great plan for this human, and he would help save a large number of Jews and other slaves from the Egyptians cruel ways. The Prince, surprisingly seemed alright with this.

"What does it matter? I get all of their owners anyway. She can have all of those other filthy humans. Though I greatly despise them, any human who uses cruelty and torture towards their own kind makes my job easier about destroying the world and all of these insignificant, bothersome creations." he would shrug. It did not make too much sense to me, for God surely had the greater number, but what did I know? I was only a sub-form of demigod. I wasn't all god or demon, but neither was I part human at all. All angels, demons and myself were this way.

Moses had accidently killed a man while saving an old man from death by a whip. As I collected the fallen man's soul for Hell, I saw him running away from everything he ever knew. He seemed to be ignoring God, though he did not know yet that She wanted him.

"Aod," God asked of me a little after this incident.

"Yes?" I bowed.

"Humans cannot hear the voice of God, as I am sure you know, because the power of my voice would kill them..." She started.

"This is true." I answered Her.

"I would like you to go down and talk to Moses for me. Tell him that I want him to go back to the Pharaoh and demand that he set My people free. If he refuses, I will be with him always with my power, and I will warn the Pharaoh of My awesome might ten times. The tenth, the most horrible of all. I will do this until he agrees." God said, smiling down upon me. "Pretend that you are me. Word it to your choosing. Then, promise a land to those people who follow Moses out of Egypt where it is flowing with milk and honey. They will share with where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live, if you remember?" I nodded.

"How am I to go about doing your biding?" I asked.

"You are creative. Find your own way. I trust you, as you trust me." God touched my shoulder lovingly with a spirit-like hand.

"As you wish." I bowed to Her, and left Heaven's Gates.

It was just morning on Earth when I went out to where Moses was watching sheep. I knew what I was to do, for any good Shepard would surely not let a sheep go lost. I went over to a runt of a lamb and guided it away from the flock. I had gotten Moses' interest. He started to follow the lamb.

I lead the little creature all the way back into the mountains where I ended up in a cave. There was a lone bush in there, and I had to act quickly. I changed my body into a new type of matter that cannot be found naturally on Earth. It is like fire, but at the same time all spirit. It felt cool to the touch and would not burn. I could feel holiness fill the room. To have a sense of true holiness is a gift rarely found among anyone other than angels, demons or gods.

I heard the man's footsteps echoing throughout the cave as he pursued his lost sheep which stood calmly off in the next cavern over. I felt that it was necessary for him to be barefooted for that would make him feel true presence of God.

"Do not come any closer." I said through the flames, and Moses jumped to a halt in fear of the mysterious voice coming from the fire. "Remove the sandals from your feet, for you are on Holy ground." he immediately did so without question. "I am the God who was worshiped by your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." I looked out at the trembling man before me as he hid his face. Looking through the fire, was almost like looking through a veil. The same secrecy and safety felt behind it, yet the clarity of looking through glass.

"Who are you?" he managed, and stuck his staff into the fire. When it did not burn, he held his hand there. With a gasp, he pulled it back. I paused, remembering that I was supposed to be God at that moment.

"I Am, that I Am. You need not know anything else.

"There are many I have seen of My people who are suffering slaves to the Egyptians. I have heard their cries of my name for help for their mistreatment. I feel sorry for them, and I have come down to save them from the Egyptians.

"I will bring them out of this land, where they will travel to a new country that I promise to them. The land is flowing with milk and honey, and is to be shared with those who already live there; the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

"I want you to go to the Pharaoh and demand that he set My people free. You will lead them to this land I have promised. Do you understand?" I paused to wait for his answer.

"But, who am I to go to the Pharaoh and lead your people out of Egypt?" he wanted to know. I could tell that he still feared.

"I will be with you, and you will know that it was I who sent you when you worship me on this mountain after you have lead My people out of Egypt." I assured him.

"I will tell the people of Israel that the God their ancestors worshiped has sent me to save them. What if they ask me of your name? What do I tell them?" he seemed easier now, but still had fear exhausting out of every pore in his body.

"Tell them that I am the Eternal God, I am the Lord. They will listen to you, and I want you to go tell the leaders of Israel about the land promised. Pharaoh will not give in right away to letting go of his slaves, so I will punish him until he does so. Mind you, the tenth is the worst of all. Pray that he gives in by then. I will lend you all of my power and be with you when you lead My people out of Egypt. You see that walking stick in your hands? Use it to preform great miracles."

And with that, the burning bush went out, leaving Moses looking several years older than he had been before hand, and he took the lost sheep back to the flock. My job was done.

I continued to reap after this incident, my numbers increasing more and more. I though I might even run out of wall space back at home, but I hadn't yet. They were covered with scratches and marks however. I could hardly even see the rock's original sandstone color in some places. I don't know how, but which ever mark I would point to, I'd know who it was and where they went after they died. I'd know their height and age, and life goal. I would pretty much know everything about them. There were various things I did not know, like how many hairs were on their head. Only God, their creator, knew that.

Then, God sent for me again. I slashed into the starry sky with my scythe and a portal opened up inside of the rip. I launched myself inside it and then ended up outside the Gates of Heaven. I easily let myself in. Then I spotted Gabriel; he was showing some of the newer angles and cherubim and seraphim where to go. I walked over to him.

"Gabriel," I bowed my head to him.

"Hello, Aod. How are those souls lately?" he asked.

"Good." I answered. "God sent for me, do you know where She is?"

"Yeah, here. I'll take you there." Gabriel smiled at me, and shook his head to the side to get his overly curly brown hair out of his face. Before long, we arrived to where God was leaning over an open space in the clouds. "Here we are. Hey, God."

"Oh, Gabriel, Aod. Hello, thanks Gab." She got up and waved at the Head Messenger Angle and he saluted her before leaving.

"Aod, here. Look with me." God went over to the open space in the clouds. This was what was known in Heaven as the 'Seers Pool'. It did not have water in it, it was more like a hole in the clouds that you could look down on Earth, or anywhere else in the Verses from. You would just think about where you wanted to see, and who you wanted to see, and it'd show you. Only certain beings in Heaven or Hell could jump down into the Seers Pool and land on Earth right in the place you were looking at in the Pool. I was one of them, though I had no need to do so. I could just as easily get there my usual way too.

I looked down into the Pool and saw Moses and Egypt. They were on the ninth warning to Pharaoh, and everyone was miserable. The Pharaoh Ramses was a very stubborn man who was determined to win. Little did he know about what horrors and sadness the tenth and final warning would cause him.

"Aod, do you see all of the misery that has befallen all of them? The Jews because of their unfair treatment. The Egyptians who are suffering the most because of Ramses' stubbornness, and then Ramses himself who is watching his nation be destroyed. He had waited so long for this. When he finally sees his long lost adopted brother, who was by far his favorite, he is told that he must willingly give up what has become his life. I do feel sorry for him, for he is only human. But all of this is necessary for the future of the Jews and everyone else. Unfair punishment such as this should never happen. Pharaoh will regret all that he has done after this final warning." God said, and then smiled sadly at me. "And you, my sweet Aod, this is where you come in. You will be the tenth warning to Pharaoh."

"Me?" I asked Her, and she nodded. "But, what can I do?" I did not yet know what the last warning would be, though I did know it had to do with death. Was I to take the life of Pharaoh? God gave a sweet little laugh.

"Now, now my sweet Aod. You will go down into Egypt and anyone who has not put lambs blood upon their door posts, you will take the first born sons. Leave Pharaoh alive, however." God told me.

"Yes, Lord." I bowed to Her, and started to walk out, but then I turned back for a moment. "Nightfall on Earth?"

"Yes. And thank you so much for your help, Aod. I do not know where I would be without you." God smiled and I then left. I had not seen the Prince in some time now, so I decided to visit Hell while I waited for nightfall on Earth.

"Prince?" I stood outside the Gates of Hell and let myself in. He hurried over to greet me as I came in. He was smiling.

"Aod! Look at it. Hell I simply booming. I never realized how many humans were destroying their own lives!" he cackled menacingly. "Come, let me show you the system. We're awaiting the mother load of Egyptians after your reaping."

I followed the Prince over to a table where Kitten sat wearing reading glasses. She held a red quill in her hand and scribbled down names of people who had just entered Hell on a long scroll of parchment.

"Hello, and welcome to Hell. Give me your name, and I will give you your housing–." she looked up. "Oh, hey sweetie. Aod, hello! I haven't seen you in a while, oh watch out." she gently scooted me over an inch or so as a jet of flame shot up from the floor. "We've been meaning to fix that."

"Kitten, map plez." He said, and she pulled out what looked like a little travel guide. "Thank you. Ah, here we are. Off to the Egyptian housing! Slave Owners Circle. This way..."

The Prince of Darkness and I walked through the Circles of Hell until we reached Slave Owners Circle. Many of the houses meant for the Egyptians were shaped like mini pyramids.

"So? Eh, eh?" he nudged me with his elbow. "What do you think? And there are traps in there too. A nice welcoming present I think."

"Very creative, Prince." I admitted and smiled at him.

Before too long, I said my goodbyes to both the Prince and Kitten and I headed out of Hell on my way to Earth.

I had a very big job that night, so instead of being one being and going to one house at a time, I separated myself into a matter not found on Earth. Not like the cold fire that did not burn, this was more like a mist, but in the same sense it was completely different. It had rained in Egypt that day, and so I became like the fog that settled in by the Nile. In this form I was able to visit every household in Egypt; turning away from everywhere that had lambs blood on the door posts, and going into the homes of those who did not.

One of these households was Pharaoh's. His beloved first born son was calmly sleeping in his bed. I sent some of the misty substance that was part of me inside of his mouth and then it acted as a hand that grabbed his soul from the inside of his heart and pulled it painlessly out of his body. As I pulled out the soul, he let out one last shallow breath that was almost like a sigh.

By the end of my reaping, my bag was full of souls. Only a few of them were going to Heaven because they were too young to have been to sinful. They still had their innocence.

I stopped by Hell first, for the most souls had to go there. The Prince was waiting eagerly at the Gates for me.

"Aod! That bulging bag looks promising. It does have infinite amount of space, does it not?" he asked opening the Gate for me. I slipped in and nodded. "Oh, goody! Come on then, let them out."

I opened up my bag and gently placed the glowing orbs of souls out in the air. Soon, the very confused and tired and plentiful souls solidified and looked around Hell, wondering where they all were.

"Welcome!" the Prince boomed out in their language. They all went quiet and looked at him. "You all are in Hell. The Underworld. Congratulations! You suck at life! It's not all your faults either. Your parents didn't have to have first born sons. They didn't have to have children at all, which brings us to why their parents had them and so on until we reach the reason for God creating humans to begin with! This is Her fault, Gods. That and the fact that your Pharaoh was so stubborn. Oh yeah, there's only one God. There would be two, but I was banished to be a Demon. How much does it suck that you all were worshiping and giving your lives to other Gods that didn't even exist? I bet it hurts." the Prince said, and the men before him were glaring at him, and some looked close to tears. "And thanks to Aod here, your lives were ended. Your suffering gone. All misery ended, well except for what is going to become you here in Hell. Don't get me wrong, I do love those who make my job easier, and let's just face it! You all made the lives of others, your own kind miserable! You watched them starve and die while you did whatever you damn well pleased! Don't worry about missing your families. They'll all be here soon enough." just then, a large man in front jumped at the Prince and the Prince just snapped his fingers. He was completely unmoved as chains instantly came up out of the ground, catching the man who had burst out around the ankles. He came just barely out of reach of the Prince.

"Anyone else?" The Prince looked around, but no one said anything. "Very good. Now, your housing!" he jumped down from his plat form and walked over to Kitten who he put his arm around as her tail snaked up and tickled his cheek. "You, in the chains. Are you going to be a good little sinner now?"

"Yes..." the man heaved. He was breathing heavily on the ground.

"Good boy." and then the Prince snapped again and the chains went away.

After I was sure that everyone had gotten into their housing, I decided that it would be a good idea if I went home.

The following day after Pharaoh had decided to let the slaves go after the loss of his son, and then after they had all left changed his mind, Moses was at the Reed Sea. The waters were parted and he was leading the last of everyone going to the land that was promised to them across the land.

I was watching as God and the Prince were watching from the Seers Pool what was happening; each were cheering for a different side.

"Come on, Egyptians! Go get 'em!" the Prince cackled.

"No, no! Don't be a jerkface... whoops!" God smiled as She had lit a match and dropped it down upon the scene. She dropped the smile on Her face whenever the Prince looked back at her.

"This is unbelievable! What was that all about? You cheated!" he cried. While his back was turned, God stuck Her tongue out at him.

"What was what? It was an accident, obviously. Plus, God does not 'cheat'. All is fair in Love and War." She grinned at him, and the Prince had a look on his face that looked as if he had been slapped.

"An accident? How do you 'accidentally' drop a match?" he cried out. "You don't even smoke! I'm out of here. You're cheap!" and with that, God laughed at him as he stormed out of Heaven.

"Aod, come take a look!" She said, and I leaned over the Pool. The match had turned into a pillar of fire and was holding up Pharaoh's army while Moses made his way across the Reed Sea. Before long, the pillar died away and Pharaoh's army went galloping away in their chariots after the Jews.

"They do not seem to bright. Their chariots will get stuck in the mud." I said, looking down at the scene. God laughed.

"Yes, it would seem that they should've thought about that." and after She said that, we watched as the Egyptians got out of their stuck chariots and ran after the Jews. The Jews now had reached the other side of the sea, and God looked down. "One, two, three..." and then the waves that had been held up came crashing down upon the entire army. They all drowned down below, and I could see their ghosts walking around under the water very confused. The only one that had been left alive from the army was Pharaoh himself. He fell down to his knees on a rock.

"Moses!" he cried to his brother who only watched his suffering from the other side and did nothing. What could he do at that point?

"God," I wondered. "Why are we vanquishing the miseries and sorrows of the Egyptians if it was the Jews who were treated unfairly? Why would we make them live on in such pain while the Egyptians pain was ended so quickly, though they had a lot less of it than the Jews?"

"That, my dear Aod, is an excellent question. Though it ends all suffering on Earth, they will be tormented to no end I do not think in Hell, and those who go to Heaven, good for them; though it ends all suffering, there is something to life that makes them very happy, and it is difficult to explain." God said.

"Do you understand them?" I asked, however I knew it was a stupid question. She had created them.

"Yes. I do, and at the same time no. I do not completely know why desire powers them so strongly; temptation. Probably Prince's doing." God sighed.

"I do not, I am afraid. I find them very peculiar indeed." I told Her, and She laughed.

"Yes, that they are. Well, you should probably gather up those lost ghosts." God pointed out, and I nodded. I then dived down into the pool where I then splashed into the Reed Sea. I swam down to its depths to gather the souls of the dead Egyptians. I did not need to breath, for it was one of the mechanisms that helped make me who I was. I could adapt to anything.