Up for Debate Ch. 01

"But other people won't buy that kind of crazy nonsense, will they?" I asked.

"Not usually, no, and at a subconscious level your followers will understand that," Lucifer replied. "They will try to bring people to you directly, allowing you to use the cross on them."

"And so the cult grows," I surmised.

"Just so," Lucifer confirmed.

I held my silence for a moment, processing everything Lucifer had told me. "So Grace is going to start inviting people to talk with me about masturbating while praying?" I finally asked.

"At this stage, no," Lucifer answered. "While she might feel a desire to see other people learn, at the moment it is not strong enough for her to act on it. Even if it were, she'll always retain her normal hesitancy to not bring up taboo subjects in polite company."

"That's good to hear," I commented. "I guess I can stop and she'll just have a weird quirk she'll have to explain to her future boyfriends."

Lucifer frowned at me. "Don't run from your actions," he repeated from the start of the conversation.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"I see what you really are, what you desire: control," the angel said. "You've lived your life with the dreams of others projected onto you, and wish that you were able to force people to see things as you do. Now you can do that and so much more."

"More?" I echoed.

"With the power I grant you, you can become so much more than a teacher to your followers," Lucifer explained. "You can become an authority figure, someone whose commands they'll happily obey, whose goals and desires they see as their own. The power that others have tried to hold over you is within your grasp."

I sat on that toilet, mouth agape, staring at this angel whose existence I had only just learned about that day.

"OK," I said.