Chapter 18 – Start of a revolution!
Jezebel watched as Patricia, the Arch of Jamaica, dropped to her knees, sweating in an obvious struggle to resist her command.
She muttered under her breath, "Oh fuck me, this is bad."
She released her command and waited, expecting to be attacked, again. Even here in Angel party central. She was shocked when Patricia, Rose and the other gathered Angels smiled, they looked excited and filled with hope. She raised an eyebrow in questioning confusion. This wasn't the reaction she expected.
Patricia said, "Oh, this is wonderful."
It's wonderful that she can probably order all the Arches on earth? Now she was even more confused...
Patricia hugged her, then said, "Oh, I know what you were thinking, a lot of Angels and Demons will be freaked out when they find out, but not me."
Jezebel said slowly, "I... Am glad you aren't going to attack me, just not quite sure why. Everyone else does when they think I am a threat."
Patricia nodded. "Those beings are short sighted, we are not prejudiced against Demons, that's one of the reasons we warn them and they go into hiding somewhere during the purge. We, meaning the five of us here, hate our masters on the Angelic plane. They are lazy, preferring simple attempts at exterminating a large population every half century instead of actually working on the problem."
"You may be part demon, but that doesn't bother us. In fact after spending a short time with you it is obvious you are a sensual creature, one who would much rather be involved in pleasurable pursuits, not in ruling this plane. I am not afraid of you abusing the power you hold over me, in fact I trust you much more than the Angels who already do hold us under their sway."
Jezebel asked, "Oh, well how does that help?"
She didn't see the connection yet, but she had a feeling she wouldn't like it. She waited while Patricia gathered her thoughts.
Patricia asked, "How do you feel about the purge?"
Jezebel answered without thinking she had long ago come to this conclusion and contempt dripped from her voice, "It's stupid and barbaric, a waste of life to accomplish something that could be worked out with a little foresight and diplomacy between Angels and Demons."
Patricia smiled and nodded, "Now what happens in 50 years when they order it done, and they can't even make you pick your nose, much less force you to attempt genocide. Will that be enough for you? To only save the Demons in North America?
"Then they will also order the other Arch-Angels around the world to kill you, they will not tolerate someone in power they cannot control."
Jezebel sighed. It didn't paint a good picture. She assumed however that Patricia had a point so she continued to listen.
"We know you don't want to rule all of us, but what happens if say, you order all the Arch-Angels to ignore any commands to kill you or launch a purge. You wouldn't be controlling us all, just letting us have free will in regards to that.
"Take it a step further, you could order us to ignore all orders, and over ride any control they hold over us in this dimension. We could govern ourselves, separate from them. Oh they would respond, but honestly what could they do about it? Then we could get with the Demons and make our own rules, our own government. Focus on taking down the rule breakers, and enforcing peace with humanity, instead of pointlessly killing those who just want to live in peace."
Jezebel thought about that for a second, then said, "You are right, I don't want to control people, or rule the world. I just want to be who I am, a succubus that enjoys pleasure and pleasing others. I want my own little corner of the world to live in with Dee and my family and friends. But it doesn't look like I can get that.
"And you are right about what I would do, I would love to free the race as a whole, but not all Arch-Angels will trust me as you do, and will probably try and kill me. And what happens when one starts treating their people like chattel? I would be responsible to stop that from happening, hopefully with some consensus between us all, but ultimately it would be me as the enforcer."
Jezebel shuddered at the thought, but wondered if she truly had a choice, she could not justify letting so many die just to be selfish and live out of the way of everyone. Her conscious would not allow it, but what or who could keep her out of trouble and prevent her from abusing her power. Sandy could, for a time. She could understand now both Samuel's point of view and Patricia's. She could be a nightmare over time.
Patricia nodded. "It will not be easy, first we will have to organize here in this dimension, even remove some of the Arch-Angels who would prefer to stay under the yoke of our dimension, rather than chance following a half demon. Building a government of our own will be a lot of work as well, most enjoy just doing what they want, passing on orders when they have to.
"Sadly unlike you they would rather let countless Demons and Angels die than put forth the effort to lift their hand. The truth is it would be a revolution, and some will die, but in the long run, a whole lot less than the status quo. Unless you control the ones that disagree, but that is a slippery slope, better to end them and let someone else take the power.
"It's a thin line to walk... Either way I will willingly follow your lead. I am more... Ambitious than you are. Once we have a handle here, hopefully before the home dimension notices, we can plan a defense. Also we need to keep you safe, everything will fail if something happens to you."
Jezebel's mind was reeling. It seemed like the difference between doing nothing and allowing the evil to continue, or stopping it only to commit her own brand of evil. Granted less so then what was going on, but what was going on was not really her fault or responsibility. If she took these steps she would then be responsible for what followed.
She would also be responsible for saving perhaps millions of lives over her lifetime, which would definitely lessen the burden of any lives lost under her. She felt Sandy grab her hand and squeeze it. She knew her Witch would always have her back.
Jezebel shook her head, then asked, "So what should be the first step do you think?"
Patricia said, "Without free will we won't know who stands where, I would suggest you order everyone to ignore any orders from the Angelic dimension, thus freeing them from purge requirements. It would also free them to do any number of horrific things, such as taking over a government, or mistreating the Angels they are entrusted with.
"We would need to keep a close eye on them. Replace anyone that went too far, or that comes after you in fear that you will just take over. Free will doesn't give them the right to come for you, or make slaves of others. We will have the responsibility to stop that behavior cold."
Jezebel needed to think on it, it was a huge step. In essence she would be declaring war on the head Angels in the Angelic dimension and making herself a target for greedy evil Angels that were in a position of power here. It could lead to civil war here, or perhaps worse, bleed into the world of humans and start a war there as well. She would have no choice but to give orders to stop them and become exactly what they would fear of her. She didn't think it would come down to that but...
What if she could save lives by ordering a few Arch-Angels to cut it out and avoid a civil war? No, using her powers to free them from the home dimension was a good use of it. Using it to change minds here to make her life easier, even to save lives, was still wrong. She steeled herself to it, but she still wasn't ready. She wasn't expecting this to happen when she left for vacation.
She was supposed to be escaping the responsibility of real life for a week or two, not gaining responsibility for two whole races on the damn planet. But would her ideals let her do any less? She would think on it, the last purge just ended, a couple of days in thought was not too much to spend when she had close to 50 years to get things right here.
She said, "I need a couple of days to think about it, but I don't see much else I can do with what I know now. A couple of days won't matter considering we have close to 50 years to get ready. Sandy, what do you think?"
Sandy said, "I agree with Trisha, Rose and the rest of them here. Your sense of justice will push you to use your power, because now that you know you can fix these long standing injustices and wanton murders you will do it. It is who you are. Oh, and I'll kill any asshole that even tries to hurt you, painfully and with extreme prejudice."
Sandy smiled when Jezebel got hot at her passionate statement about defending her.
Patricia looked at Sandy and said, "Are you truly that powerful?"
Sandy shook her head and said, "Alone, I do okay, with Jezebel, I am one scary bitch."
Jezebel giggled and said, "She really is, plus, her tongue is pure magic as well. Add in Daniel I don't think there is anything she couldn't do."
Jezebel said, "I think it's time to go have some fun, I really think we will go forward with it but I have learned too many shocking things and new ideas this morning. I need to let it percolate, make sure we aren't missing anything obvious, before I start both a civil war here and a rebellion against the home dimension. Sandy is powerful but that won't matter if she doesn't see it coming, let's not be overconfident and rush things."
Patricia nodded. "Sounds good, I will contact a few friends though, let them know what we suspected is true. They can start some things rolling that will take time to come to fruition. Rose can take you back if you're ready to go. Water sports can be fun, and this is your vacation, I just didn't know if we would have a chance to talk later."
Giggling Jezebel said, "That's actually why we came back down, wanted to know if we should come back tonight or if nothing was going on we would stay at the resort."