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Mar. 6th, 2011 09:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thefirstfallenAriel had yet to find the fact that Raziel had used more than simple words to hide parts of the secret. Parts of the secret were hidden in directions, in sound and touch and a divine sensory ability. Ariel was not just being shown the truth, he was being tested beyond all imagining. And Raziel was pleased by his pupil's progress.
But it reminded him - it had been 3000 years since he set in blood the riddle to his secret, as well as the mythological Keys that were now attributed to Solomon. Had all the clues remained intact? Raziel bid Ash a fond goodnight, and slipped from their bed to whisk himself away to a place he knew well.
It was the bank of the Euphrates, near the Syrian border in what was now called Iraq. Years of struggle and war had changed a great number of things about the world, and this region was no exception. He took five hundred measured paces to the west from the west bank, and three hundred more north, before he found himself in a winding trail through the desert cliffs. He stood before the cliffs, and heard the wind rush through them, and he smiled in relief as he heard the wind hitting the walls -- he chose this location for a reason, because the sound of the wind as it blew through the canyon sounded as if it spoke the ancient syllable for secrets, the first syllable of his name. He followed along the canyon floor in the desert until the auditory trick could no longer be heard, and felt the eastern wall of the cliff. Time had eroded it, but he could still make out the energy of his secret. It was then that he set to climb. It wasn't a particularly steep climb up to the mouth of the cave, but it was far easier to get there from the bottom of the canyon than when he'd first been there. Once he arrived at the mouth of the cave, he summoned his flail, tucking it into back pocket, before walking in, being prepared should any beast or violent man had settled in the cavern for shelter.
The cave was still very much as it had been thousands of years prior. Down into the tunnel he went, noticing from the rock wall that he used to guide himself, and the ground beneath his feet that nobody had bothered to spend much time in here. Even bats refused to nest in this cave. He had to crouch after continuing down for a quarter mile, and that's when he hit the fork in the cave's path. The right path would open up to a pit from which there was no mortal escape, but the left path was the proper one. Raziel continued on, running his fingertips lightly against both walls, and after fifteen more minutes of walking hunched over uncomfortably, he could stand upright once again. He could hear the dripping of mineral-saturated water in the expansive cavern, and he knew he'd found his hiding spot. He ran his fingers along the left side of the wall and took the path around to where he'd carved out ancient symbols in the dry stone. They had survived, untouched and likely unseen, but when spoken with an Angelic tongue, with the inherent power of them, they produced another two sets of words. One was purely able to be felt coursing through one's mind, no matter the native tongue, You. Yourself. Your own person, your own being, your spirit, your body, your power and mind and strength, all of you, You was what would come to a person if they found it, and the other was a simple carving that had been hidden from sight - it was impossible to see, for Raziel had put a glamour on it that held fast all these years, and it was merely meant to be touched to be understood. The word, translated into English, would be along the lines of Are.
It was the first two words of the puzzle. Together, You are was enough of a puzzle and confirmation all in itself to baffle anyone who had stumbled over the cave and the secret words within it, but those who had come looking for it after finding more of the words - Ariel, for example - could put them together into the riddle to finally solve what Raziel, Azrael, and Jesus all had known for so long.
Raziel smiled a little and decided that hell, Ariel hadn't likely found the cave yet, so why not leave a little gift for his pupil? He summoned a fine bottle of brandy, and a box of the brand of cigarettes that Ariel had taken up smoking, leaving them on the floor just under his carvings. That done, he returned to Uruk, and went to his library to read.
Perhaps proud of Ariel was a little bit of an understatement, he mused as he settled into his chair. Perhaps he was not just proud, but entirely delighted.
But it reminded him - it had been 3000 years since he set in blood the riddle to his secret, as well as the mythological Keys that were now attributed to Solomon. Had all the clues remained intact? Raziel bid Ash a fond goodnight, and slipped from their bed to whisk himself away to a place he knew well.
It was the bank of the Euphrates, near the Syrian border in what was now called Iraq. Years of struggle and war had changed a great number of things about the world, and this region was no exception. He took five hundred measured paces to the west from the west bank, and three hundred more north, before he found himself in a winding trail through the desert cliffs. He stood before the cliffs, and heard the wind rush through them, and he smiled in relief as he heard the wind hitting the walls -- he chose this location for a reason, because the sound of the wind as it blew through the canyon sounded as if it spoke the ancient syllable for secrets, the first syllable of his name. He followed along the canyon floor in the desert until the auditory trick could no longer be heard, and felt the eastern wall of the cliff. Time had eroded it, but he could still make out the energy of his secret. It was then that he set to climb. It wasn't a particularly steep climb up to the mouth of the cave, but it was far easier to get there from the bottom of the canyon than when he'd first been there. Once he arrived at the mouth of the cave, he summoned his flail, tucking it into back pocket, before walking in, being prepared should any beast or violent man had settled in the cavern for shelter.
The cave was still very much as it had been thousands of years prior. Down into the tunnel he went, noticing from the rock wall that he used to guide himself, and the ground beneath his feet that nobody had bothered to spend much time in here. Even bats refused to nest in this cave. He had to crouch after continuing down for a quarter mile, and that's when he hit the fork in the cave's path. The right path would open up to a pit from which there was no mortal escape, but the left path was the proper one. Raziel continued on, running his fingertips lightly against both walls, and after fifteen more minutes of walking hunched over uncomfortably, he could stand upright once again. He could hear the dripping of mineral-saturated water in the expansive cavern, and he knew he'd found his hiding spot. He ran his fingers along the left side of the wall and took the path around to where he'd carved out ancient symbols in the dry stone. They had survived, untouched and likely unseen, but when spoken with an Angelic tongue, with the inherent power of them, they produced another two sets of words. One was purely able to be felt coursing through one's mind, no matter the native tongue, You. Yourself. Your own person, your own being, your spirit, your body, your power and mind and strength, all of you, You was what would come to a person if they found it, and the other was a simple carving that had been hidden from sight - it was impossible to see, for Raziel had put a glamour on it that held fast all these years, and it was merely meant to be touched to be understood. The word, translated into English, would be along the lines of Are.
It was the first two words of the puzzle. Together, You are was enough of a puzzle and confirmation all in itself to baffle anyone who had stumbled over the cave and the secret words within it, but those who had come looking for it after finding more of the words - Ariel, for example - could put them together into the riddle to finally solve what Raziel, Azrael, and Jesus all had known for so long.
Raziel smiled a little and decided that hell, Ariel hadn't likely found the cave yet, so why not leave a little gift for his pupil? He summoned a fine bottle of brandy, and a box of the brand of cigarettes that Ariel had taken up smoking, leaving them on the floor just under his carvings. That done, he returned to Uruk, and went to his library to read.
Perhaps proud of Ariel was a little bit of an understatement, he mused as he settled into his chair. Perhaps he was not just proud, but entirely delighted.
