Let Justice Be Done Ch. 71

"I'm sure you already know the story." God began. "Job was a pious man tested on his faith on a bet between me and Lucifer, but that's not the full details. For starters, Job was also the first wielder of Telos Karma."  

"Isn't that the fate controlling Longinus?" Raguel's eyes widened.

"Probability manipulation. Fate is something different." God clarified. 

"Is it?" Raguel's face crunched into confusion as he tilted his head. "So what's Titania's power then?" That thought jumped into his head. 

"Right, I suppose I should explain all those concepts, you will have the full context." God nodded to Himself. "For starters, anyone that tells you they are controlling 'Fate' definitely means they are controlling probability. No one can control fate, trust me, I know and I tried." 

Raguel furrowed his brow in confusion. "What is fate then?"  He asked for clarification. 

"Fate is a story," God shrugged with a smile. "It's your story." Raguel tilted his head, so God continued. "Think of fate as having two version, the personal and the collective. Personal fate is the individual story of a person, while the collective fate is the historical story of the world."

Something about that statement tickled at an idea in Raguel's mind.

Personal and collective. Isn't that like... Then it came to him. The psyche! The personal unconscious and the collective unconscious.

"Is there a relation between fate and the psyche?" Raguel asked in interest.

God grinned. "Glad you noticed that." God let go of Raguel, as they both stood up. 

God pointed with his arm once more and another screen opened up, this one of the world of the present time. 

"Raguel, I want you to use your soul sight while looking at the horizon, as if looking at the world at a grander scale. You did it once in the Snow World but were confused a bit by Mab being there." God instructed, and Raguel felt his Father's power running through him as he did so. 

"What the fuck!?" He shouted in surprise.

Raguel saw a giant one-eyed warrior marching from Europe to Britanna with non-descript warriors behind him. He saw multiple giant warriors fighting across hundred battlefield. No, they were Ares. Multiple of him. 

He saw giant women, some as wise women holding staves and apples providing wisdom, others as whores deceiving and luring others, men and women, with their poisonous beauty and words. 

He saw animals and monsters roaming around, fighting each other even without meeting. 

And there was of course a giant robed holy figure, that was simultaneously suffering on a cross, yet wasn't and walked the earth preaching peace, while also throwing down divine smiting.  

And there were endless thousands of these figures across the world, like a living painting. For a moment Raguel thought some epic supernatural magic war had started while he and his Father were away. 

Yet the longer he looked at the figures, they felt less real and more of a manifested ideas. The warriors, the women, the animals, they weren't powers manifested, but symbolic figures given form. It's why he couldn't recall what they actually looked like the more he thought about them. He knew and understood what they are, but none of the figures had distinct details. 

He saw the figure of Arthur Pendragon rising and growing very slowly over the lands of Briton, holding a shining blade, and shadowed noble figures behind him. He saw a giant Roman Emperor over Europe shrink as he broke into two, with one half breaking further into different people all warring and fighting, while the second half holding itself in place to stay in one piece.

It felt like watching the Sea of Souls but one that had shapes and forms made of people and animals, unlike the Astral Sphere itself which was formless and conceptual. 

"That," God spoke. "Is the Collective Unconscious. I suppose you can call it the Psychic Sea if you wished for an easier term use." 

Look further down from the big figures, Raguel could see the Psychic Sea connecting to each and every living thing. 

No, that's not quite right. It's not connecting to them, they are connected to it. People, living beings form it. 

"So," Raguel tried to formulate his thoughts. "This is the collective psychic field you mentioned before, right?" God smiled and nodded. "You told me every person's psyche is made of two parts, the conscious and the unconscious. The unconscious contains our shadow, the parts of ourselves we repress or do not address, and it is important that we integrate the unconscious content within our shadow, to grow as a person, or it will rule us and we'll think that's how things are, and we can't change it."

"Correct." 

"But our psyche is also external?" 

"Within the unconscious lays another aspect which projects outward. This is what allows you to relate to other people. You know when you meet someone for the first time, you have an idea of who they are?" Raguel nodded. "In the beginning, when you are interacting with someone, you're interacting with that idea that you formed in your head, but if you don't integrate that projecting factor, you won't learn and come to know that other person, because you'll only have the idea of who they are in your head, never knowing who they actually are." God explained. 

"This projecting factor is the shadow?" 

"No, rather it would be..." God seemed to look away for a moment, like searching for the word, then his eyes widened as he found it. "Anima and animus."

"Why two words?" Raguel tilted his head. 

"Think of it as the inner woman for a man, and inner man for a woman. Usually when you meet someone of the same sex you project yourself onto them, then you strip away that projection as you come to learn who they really are. But when you meet someone of the opposite sex you project your idea of them, which makes you self-conscious as if a mirror is reflecting things back at you, till you strip away that projection and see the actual person underneath."

"Why is this more pronounced when meeting someone of the opposite sex?" Ragual raised an eyebrow.

"Because of relatedness." God replied. "Meeting something familiar because of relatedness makes the reflected idea less intense, but meeting something new, different and opposite, makes that mental reflection more intense."

"Ooookay," Raguel looked on with wide-eyes, as he rubbed his temples. "What does this have to do with the unconscious and everything else?" 

"Why, everything." God chuckled. "What our psyche projects outwards we use to relate to others, but as I said, this doesn't meant it's true, as you still need to learn who other people are, as you come to know them."

"So if your shadow isn't integrated, you'll project your flaws and come to hate those people for things in yourself, or fear and resent them for things in you that you didn't realize or want to admit." Raguel raised his hands up and nodded, coming to understand the idea. 

"Yes, now apply those same concepts to humanity as a whole." God said. 

Raguel's eyes widened at the thought. He looked back to the Psychic Sea, and focused on the real living people. He saw their connection to the Psychic Sea, the figure of Ares possessing one of the warriors in a battle. The warrior fought with more bravery and skill, his instincts seemingly sharper than they were before. Raguel tried to sense if there was some magic possession, corruption or something, but didn't find anything.  

"Remember, the Psychic Sea isn't real. It's all metaphors and symbols that you just now can see." God clarified. 

"So...what? The collective unconscious gives us our instincts?" Raguel asked. 

"Yes, as it built and grew from all living things, it gave humanity their innate instincts, like how babies know how to breastfeed, or why humans instinctively have a fear of snakes, or serpentines in general." 

"And spiders?" Raguel shuddered. 

"And spiders," God nodded in amusement. 

"So where does fate come in?" Raguel wondered, wanting to see the connection now. 

"I told you fate is a story, right? And how do all stories end?" Asked God. 

"...With a 'happily ever after'?" Raguel joked. 

"With death." God said with an amused smile. "Or rather a finality. The thing is though, while all fates are the same, the details leading up to that point can change drastically at any point. Looking at someone's shadow, you can divine their future and you would be correct, if that person does not self-reflect and integrate their unconscious. You can look into the collective unconscious and divine the future of a nation, or a future war, etc." 

"Is that what Seers and Oracles do?" Raguel realized.

"Sure," God rolled His eyes. "Honestly, they are just the people in the movie theater that just spoiling the middle parts or the ending."

"Pffffthahahaha," Raguel snorted and laughed. 

"What important to note," Raguel focused at the more serious gentle tone of his Father. "Is that just because someone had 'read' ahead and saw a future part of your story, doesn't mean they know the events leading up to it, or the context. They look at the symbols and metaphors of the Psychic Sea and translate it to their mortal limited mind, that doesn't mean they get thing 100% accurate." 

"So, that's what prophecies are? Looking into the Psychic Sea and seeing what will happen?" Raguel asked, remembering his own prophecy. 

"Giving a prophecy may seem like the fate written within your shadow is now more assured and may come true, but that doesn't have to be the case." God said with a kind smile.

"Wait, it doesn't?" Raguel looked up with hope. 

"Your story is being written by you in the end. Sure parts of it are written before hand by the world, but if you don't like your ending, just change it. The story will go in a different direction, and be longer, with the ultimate end being the same, but it's still your story." Said God. 

"So should you study the Psychic Sea to predict your future?" Raguel asked. 

"No," God shook his head. "Doing that would be the same as looking into the Mirror of Erised, you will just waste your life away, looking at what could be and trying to interpret it." 

"So you should just...choose to change your fate?" Raguel asked with some doubt. 

"Well, it is your fate." The Creator said with a chuckle. "If you take it as your own, you do not become a slave to it, and can then shape it. But," He warned. "You can only do so when you take responsibility for your actions and your life."  

Raguel took a deep breath and centered himself. "Okay...okay," he nodded to himself. "Why is there a giant...Odin and...Arthur in the Britain side of the Psychic Sea?"

"That's not Odin."

"Huh?"

"Look closer," said God. 

Raguel did so, and did a double take. "The Germanic people?"

"The Saxons, the Anglos and others, yes." God nodded. "It's not Odin, but people that worship the Norse Pantheon as part of their identity and culture, moving into Britain. As for Arthur, he is a rising figure among the hearts and minds of the people of that land, thus is becoming more prominent in the Psychic Sea in that area. Look, there is even you." God smirked and pointed out. 

Raguel look, and wished he hadn't, as he covered his face. 

Yes, there was a figure of him in the Psychic Sea area of Britannia. It was a mighty figure wielding a giant glowing lance of light, with an overly exaggerated masculine physique, that would make more sense on Uriel than on himself. Also a massively exaggerated-- 

"Oh God turn it off, turn it off." Raguel cried out, waving one arm, while covering his eyes with the other. God chuckled and closed the screen. "Is...is that people think I look like?" He asked in a horrified tone. 

"That's the idea they have of you." God seemed to enjoy His son's embarrassment.   

Raguel took a while to compose himself, as he thought about everything he learned. The two sat down facing each other once more. 

"Okay," the Archangel finally spoke. "So fate is either your life that you take control of, or is controlled by your unconscious and ultimately ends with death, because that's where your story will stop."

"Yes," God nodded. 

"And Collective Unconscious is like, the story of the world, showing people's motivations and desires, or rather where they come from and where they are headed." 

God nodded again. 

"So...are you always ruled by the unconscious in some form?" Raguel asked, feeling a bit pensive. 

"Not if you achieve your True Self," God said, making Raguel sit up. "Integrating your shadow is a continuous process, but if you successfully manage it, you will achieve The Self, who you are in a complete form, without anymore unconscious parts to influence or rule you. And within the Psychic Sea would be just you. Not part of another idea, not controlled or influences by worldly forces. It will be just you as an independent being that truly and completely rule your own self, holding your fate and self-determination in your own hands." God let out a relaxed sigh as He smiled. "And if you had not guessed, that wasn't always the case with me." 

Raguel's eyes widened. "...What was your shadow?" He asked, as thinking back, he didn't see his Father within the Psychic Sea. He saw humanity's idea of his Father, but God Himself, Raguel didn't see. Raguel just saw Him. 

"I am the Perfect God," He began. "And mankind are the Perfect Humans, I didn't understand why then, they were flawed and couldn't be forced to be moral." God waved his arm, as the most beautiful painting appeared next to them. "Perfection isn't being all good, or benevolent. Rather it is to hold all multitudes of a concept."

The painting showed a story of a knight in despair, struggling yet succeeding to rise up and face a great darkness. No, a great enemy, a great dragon, and for it, the knight was more noble and heroic. 

The painting gave Raguel hope, awe and excitement, as it was everything he wished to see at the moment. It was, "Perfect," he said.  

"Yes," God said, bringing Raguel's attention back. "The thing about Perfection though is that it's never complete." Raguel looked back and the painting seemed after it was moving, while not doing so. There was a maiden far away from the battle, and the more Raguel watched, the more the image changed, giving him the story that invoked the feelings he wanted and needed. "As you can see, this painting will give any viewer the image they want, invoking any emotion they wish to experience. In a sense, it is the perfect work of art, yet the endless variables within it, makes it so it's never a complete work." 

Looking around, Raguel noticed the painting didn't have borders, it never seemed to end. 

The painting changed and now it was a knight and a lady holding hands, looking down and smiling in sadness, yet relief. The painting remained as it is. 

"This painting however, regardless of your opinion is a completed work. It has a start and a finish. Regardless of how much meaning you can derive from it, it has a finite amount of ideas you can pull out, thus it is Complete."  

Something God said clicked in Raguel's mind. Perfection is to hold all multitudes, all aspects of a concept. To be virtuous is to do good. To do or be good, you have to choice to be so, thus you need to be capable of choice. 

But to able to choose...you need to be capable of evil. Raguel realized and look at his Father in alarm. 

God nodded at the realization. "Tell me, Raguel, if you have a machine that can always choose the 'correct' option in a situation, no matter what, and it can collect an infinite amount of data, and just use the new data to pick the 'correct' option when given a new or the same problem, can you say that that machine has wisdom?" 

"No, it's a machine..." Raguel said promptly, then elaborated. "It's just following its programming."

"Then what's the difference between that machine and a being with wisdom?"

Raguel struggled, as he could see the two being the same. 

"What does wisdom allow you to do?" God offered. 

"Self-reflect." Raguel's eyes widened. "You..." He paused to gather his thought. "You have the capacity for wisdom by self-reflection. Through self-reflecting and introspection you gain wisdom." 

"Correct," God nodded and smiled. "But first in order for your self-reflection to begin, you need you have your flaws addressed, you need to have them reflected at you so you can acknowledge them." 

Raguel sat up, paying very close attention as he felt everything coming together. God waved his hand one last time, and a screen showing the past opened up. 

Immediately Raguel noticed a difference in his Father. No, not his physical form being male, that wasn't as important as what he saw in His soul. One, it was the fact that he could see His soul at all. Two, he saw God's shadow, or rather his Anima within the Psychic Sea.  

"Job was the first wielder of Telos Karma, I wanted to see what a human would do if just given the power to manifest all their desires." God smiled with love and pride. "And Job was near perfect. He had a loving home, a love family, wealth, prosperity, not only for himself, but his community, his people, even anyone who visited or interacted with him. He was a paragon of virtue if there was one." God then huffed with a sad smile. 

"I was joyous and proud of him, using his powers for good whenever he did. In those days the Great War wasn't in full swing, and whenever Lucifer challenged me, if he couldn't win a physical win, he'll try to win a spiritual one. I don't think even he understands why he does it, he just want a victory, any victory over me." 

Raguel listened patiently. 

"So he challenge me about Job's virtue, about how he was only faithful due to all his prosperity, his family and wealth. That without those things, like many humans down with misfortune, he would surely curse me... So I allowed it, saying he can take anything of Job's except his life because I was sure of Job's victory...Looking back though, I was using him to test myself." 

"Using him? How?" Raguel blinked at that. 

He looked at the screen to see God taking back the Telos Karma, and Lucifer cackling as he proceeded to make Job's life hell. He killed his livestock, killed his children and riddled him with disease, boils covering Job's body that he cut out with pieces of broken pottery. 

Job's friends and wife did not help, only adding to his suffering. His friends telling him he must have done something wrong. Even his wife telling him to curse God and die so he doesn't have to suffer more. 

Yet Job didn't. He held on to his integrity, sure of his innocence. Then he continued providing the appropriate sacrifices and prayers, worshiping and loving God almost in defiance of his suffering, as he marched on through his life.  

"At that point, after looking into the future and see the threats of Trihexa, and the Evie Etoulde Gods, the gods from another reality that would threaten our world and universe. Seeing the state of Heaven and humanity being stifled, I was considering using all my power, not just to seal away Trihexa till humanity could grow, reaching apotheosis and defeat it, but also be able to fight against the foreign gods and have the self-determination to not be swayed by them.

"However, doing so...I would not be around to witness the result. I did not know if mankind will succeed in defeating suffering and despair. I simply had to believe they would." God's lips thinned as He watched Job's suffering once again. "Thus I wanted to see if someone, anyone would have the will to hold onto that faith, when the result would be unknown. When they don't know if there would be an end to their suffering or how long they must hold on, would they still have faith? Would they care?"

Then something Raguel didn't expect happened. 

Job through his piety and virtue, his souls seemed to glow. Not just to it's original shininess but beyond it. 

And then the part of Job just wishing for an explanation for his suffering happened, God appeared in a whirlwind, condemning Job's friends for making accusation on His behalf to Job, ready to strike them. Only for Job to ask for their mercy, which God granted before turning to Job and scolding him for questioning God's designs. 

Yet that wasn't what held Raguel's focus, what did was the Anima of God, entering Job's body and reflecting his light back to the Almighty. 

Raguel understood at that point, Job was more virtuous than God, as he still kept his virtue even before such an incomprehensible powerful being. God displayed his full might and power before Job, to show Job's ignorance, yet again Job showed reverence and humility. 

And what Raguel focused on was that, in that moment Job had no shadow. What was reflected in the Psychic Sea was simply Job's True Self. 

Raguel didn't want to think it, but he thought, No wonder God is displaying his full might. Against an opponent greater than you, you fight holding nothing back. Although it was not a physical fight, but a moral one. 

"A fight Job won. I got more than I bargained for, and realized I was wrong. I self-reflected and saw my errors." God spoke next Raguel, as he patted His son's head. "And after that as reward to Job's faith, and the gift he had given me, I returned his family and fortune and doubled them."

"Yes," Raguel smiled at first before frowning and looking away. "But...he still lost first children, and his wife."

"What are you talking about?" Raguel turned to look at his Father in confusion. "I just said I doubled them." 

Raguel looked back to see all of Job's children resurrected and returned, and even new ones from his new wife. 

"You gave him a harem?" Raguel asked bug-eyed. Yes, it was fair, but that was not the ending he expected. 

"I mean two wives and twenty children isn't exactly what people think of as a harem, but basically yeah." God shrugged. 

"Right," Raguel huffed, smiling and he shook his head. "I forgot which world I'm in." Raguel then frowned. "What about the part where Job said he would whip his wife a hundred times?"

The scene changed, and Raguel saw Job hitting his bare wife playfully with some grass in the bedroom--

"MOVING ON!"

The scenery changed once more, then Raguel saw God standing back in Heaven at his Throne, looking at His hand and thinking deeply. 

Then God and his anima, his shadow fused--or married as seen in the Psychic Sea--resulting in the form Raguel knew, before He descended down into a ball of Light, incarnating as a human. 

"So that's!" Raguel turned to his Father with a look of amazement. 

"Yes," He smiled and nodded. "At that point, I was ready to create my Son, to live and die, limited as a human."

The story of Jesus played out before Raguel, echoing and spreading through the Psychic Sea, as it touched the lives of millions in the real world. 

"And through that life, I was able to start the path of humanity's ascension, not through force, but by giving them an example." 

Raguel saw Longinus with a conflicted and reluctant look stand before Jesus, before the Son of God gave him a smile and a nod. 

Longinus stabbed his side, and as blood and water pour. Water that Raguel knew was the Aqua Doctrine.  

"And through my human death, I started the seal that stands to this day against the Apocalyptic Beast," Raguel turned to God in shock, then looked back as the screen showed the Beast within it's cage. "And when this thousand years ritual is finished, the Embodiment of Suffering will be all but defeated, only the last step, humanity's ascension will be left." God placed a hand on Raguel's shoulder, looking at him with love, kindness and endless belief. 

"And that will be your purpose Raguel. Not free them from suffering, but help them realize their True Self, integrate their shadows so they are unbound by the Collective Unconscious but reflected in it, only as who they truly are, Masters of their own Fate. Destiny being their will."

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AN: Finally! Fuck, it's over. Next chapter some downtime, then Tuilelaith, then whatever comes next. 

Edit: Fuck me, I forgot to underline all the God quotes.