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In the beginning, She made angels.
The angel we are interested in was a certain angel with bright hair, a smile filled with all the mysteries of Space, and a laugh that rang through Space and filled every angel who heard it with joy.
As all angels had creations, so did he. He had seen creations of all kinds, as different as two things could be, yet all were joined by the Love of their creators. His creations, balls of flaming gases and reactions that floated and glowed with his Love, were scattered over Space. He was not an angel who was blessed with the ability to give a Word to his creations—not yet. No angels knew what made Her give the ability, but some angels had been created with it and others had been given it at a later stage, while some still didn’t have it and might never. He had created exactly four thousand and thirty three creations, and was making his four thousand and thirty fourth when he felt a warm glow inside him and just knew. Someone had given his precious creations a Word!
“Star...” He whispered in amazement to his newest creation. “You are a Star!”
His creation—his Star—glowed brighter than ever, so bright it filled the area around them with something bright and happy. He whooped in joy and somersaulted in the air, his wings flapping great big beats as his newest Star glowed brighter and brighter, echoing its creator’s happiness.
You have created Stars, my child, Her voice spoke to him, as bright as his newest star but in a different way. And your happiness has created the brightest Star so far. This Star shall cast light over all the closest planets. What Word will you give your newest Star?
He thought, gazing at his newest Star. He had never created a Word before. He had better begin with a short Word, instead of a long one with lots of letters. The Word came to his lips easily.
“Your Word will be ‘Sun’.” He told his Star, and his Sun cast light over everything he could see. “I have given my Sun a ‘Name’.” He said next, trying out the creation of another Word and discovering that he very much enjoyed it.
From that moment on, he created Stars and Words. He never forgot the feeling of uncontrollable joy that came with someone loving his beloved creations enough to Name them, and he thought all angels deserved to feel that, so he began by searching for unNamed creations and giving them the most beautiful Words he could create. For a while, he got lost in the Emotions Department, and Named ‘Glee’, ‘Hope’, and ‘Care’ before he found his way out. He then discovered the Animal Department, and decided to try and create an animal. He thought long and hard about what his animal would be like, overwhelmed by the variety of animals he had seen, and after a while a kindly angel sitting nearby leaned over and suggested that he make it up as he created it, like many of the animal creators did. He struggled when following that advice, he didn’t seem to have that same ability the others did, and ended up starting all over again after putting some more thought into it. This time, it worked a lot better, and he understood that while other angels created with no original plan, he worked better with a plan beforehand.
“You are an Ostrich.” He told his newest creation, and it preened, flapping its wings.
His first attempt was not what he wanted.
He had planned for his Ostrich to fly, so it could explore Space and love his Stars as much as he did, but he was not used to creating things small, and his Ostrich was too big to fly. He gave his Ostrich the ability to run instead, and Hoped that his Ostrich would be able to feel like it was flying when it ran fast.
“Ostrich?” The angel who finalised the creation of animals repeated dubiously when he heard the Word. He remembered the doubtfulness in the angel’s eyes as he started creating a new animal, and decided to give his next creation a short Name. He had not Named enough creations to make good long Names. ‘Ostrich’ was not as good as ‘Penguin’ or ‘Elephant’. He remembered the Word given to his first creations, and decided to give his Names four letters.
“You are a Dodo.” He told his next creation, much smaller than his last, and was delighted when his Dodo could fly. He created several more animals, and loved all of them just as much as the last.
“You are a Duck.”
“You are a Swan.”
“You are a Dove.”
“You are an Owl.”
“You are a Crow.”
His last animal was a very fast flier, just as he’d wanted for his Ostrich, and to honour his joy, he decided to attempt a longer Name. He thought long and hard before the Word came.
“You are a Falcon.” He told his newest creation, and his Falcon flew in a loop above him, cawing.
He left the Animal Department for a while and spent some more time creating Stars. He visited his Sun and made sure it was bright and glowing as well. Several more angels had created their own Suns, he discovered, and he loved their Suns just as much, because he had Named them.
He created many Words between Stars. He felt a creation of something similar to the Hope he had Named, and he Named it a Wish. He had just Named the feeling he felt while he flew between his Stars (Free) when he first met the angels.
His downfall came faster than he could have ever imagined. It seemed like no time at all before the War broke out, and then he was tumbling downwards, screams torn from his unwilling throat.
Fall fear itch bite heat fire burn huRT PAIN ACHE FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR–
When he was able to think again, he found himself lying on the cold ground in the darkness, agony rolling through him and mainly across his wings. His beautiful white wings that had flown him all across Space... It hurt him so much more than he’d thought it would to see them singed and black, the feathers crumbling and ashy. His next set of feathers, after he moulted, would be glossy and healthy, but still as black as his Crow.
“You know, Crowley, I’ve always said that deep down, you really are quite a nice-“
A flood of memory crashed over him.
Fear heat fire burn hurt pain-
He slammed Aziraphale against the wall and snarled with rage, knowing he couldn’t hide the agony in his face and desperately hoping Aziraphale didn’t notice it.
“Shut it! I’m a demon, I’m not nice, I’m never nice, nice is a four-letter word, I will not-“
“Excuse me gentlemen? Sorry to break up an intimate moment.” He was interrupted, and he allowed the interruption, wishing for a distraction from the memories of flames licking over his wings and burning him all over...
And, deep down, he knew the distraction he wanted was from the memory of those four-lettered names he gave to his beloved creations, and that four-lettered word a certain angel gave to his stars.