Divine Coregency IV: The Escape From Heaven is the fourth book in the Divine Coregency Saga, and acts as a prologue to the original trilogy. It explores the backstory of the two archangels Stan ("Malak") and Harry and their struggles against Celius, and the intervention of Catherine ("Merle Moéthie").
Maya was a nymph who gave birth to a young archangel, Stan. Maya died in childbirth and entrusted the baby Stan to the care of the boatman, Harry. Harry, who was only ten years old, raised Stan like his younger brother in a place called Haven, an oasis on the edge of existence. There, inside the volcano and cave, he taught Stan all he needed to know about nature, morals and the laws of the Universe. One day, Stan discovered a tunnel leading from the caldera of the volcano and Harry warned him against following this tunnel, fearful of the knowledge that might corrupt the young Stan. Eventually, Harry relented and told Stan the story about a revolutionary and a war in Heaven.
Some years later, Celius arrived at the volcano and announced to Harry that the time had come to make Stan his young apprentice. Despite Harry's protests, Celius whisked Stan away into the caves with the promise that together they would have the power to create worlds and govern over them like Gods.
Celius and Stan travelled through the caves and stopped off at three gateways/portals on the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. Eventually, they reached it in the evening, and shored their boat against a grand mansion somewhere on the banks facing the city that floated on a mountain in the middle of a great expanse of water.
Celius took Stan by boat into the city at the centre of Heaven but Stan was dismayed to find that it was completely decimated, abandoned and in ruins. Celius explained to Stan that there was a Great War and that all of the angels and archangels had escaped into the various worlds and realms that were interconnected by this central kingdom. Celius took Stan into a magnificent library filled with orbs, and explained that each of the orbs linked to a specific planet (or "Wanderer") - a world of its own - and that together they would have the power to create these worlds using a legendary furnace known as "The Athanor".
Over the coming months and years, Celius taught Stan everything he needed to know about the "Great Art" - The "Magnum Opus" - of alchemy and creating time and space out of nothingness. He took him to visit his latest world "Mars" - a red, barren planet topped by white snowy icecaps. However, despite being enthralled by the power of travelling to these worlds, Stan only desired to return to Haven because the teachings of his brother Harry were all he knew. Stan and Celius had a disagreement and Celius pointed out that Harry is a dangerous man; it's because of him that all of these ghosts exist, all of these trapped souls that are neither here nor in the next world because they didn't desire to live nor progress to heaven, and so just lingered on the shores of life. Celius manipulated Stan into thinking that Harry was a toxic, deprecative influence, and warned him to stay away.
Nevertheless, Celius gave Stan an empty orb, and gave him the liberty to create his own world. Stan did so and created a small, modest rocky planet, which he called "Mercury". But Celius was not impressed with Stan's efforts and encouraged him to create more worlds. He was frustrated because Stan was a slow learner and by this time they could have created and populated multiple worlds by now. But Celius realised he must have patience with his protege.
Over the next few years, Celius introduced Stan to a world known as "Venus", a tropical paradise covered by sparkling oases, lush emerald rainforests and pristine mountains. This world "Venus" was inhabited by a race of men known as "Venusians" who dwelled in the treehouses of the canopy. As a learning task, Celius requested Stan to settle on Venus and integrate himself among its folk, so he could understand how civilisations balance themselves. At his request, Stan set up base in one of the tree palaces and began to learn the language, traditions and customs of life on Venus.
One day, Stan was out in the meadows, writing in his journal, when he discovered a young girl (Vanessa) who had fallen into a well. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that a wide fissure had opened up in the middle of the ground and that the girl had fallen into it by chance. Stan immediately reported this to Celius but Celius wasn't concerned, and only mentioned that the world had structural integrity problems and that it was slowly dying. Stan, concerned, tried to persuade Celius that he could save this world and that it was in his power, but Celius had other concerns, concerns that were greater than the fate of this trifling planet Venus. Stan persisted and eventually Celius did make some changes to the planet. He made the clouds thicker so that rain would fall more heavily. But rather than providing moisture and hydration to the arid jungles, the clouds produced toxic rain and also trapped the sun's heat so that the planet ended up boiling like a greenhouse.
Stan returned to Heaven and confronted Celius about Venus, calling his intervention "careless and irresponsible". This angered Celius so much that he moved Mercury closer to the sun so that it got blackened and burned by the star, such that life could not proliferate. Celius and Stan had their worst argument ever and Stan left the room. Some hours later, Celius woke up in the library to find its orbs smashed up in pieces everywhere and realised that this destruction was his doing. He also recalled that he had argued with the boy some hours earlier. By this point, Stan had already escaped Heaven and was making his way back to the caldera in Haven.
Unfortunately, Celius caught up with Stan and trapped him in the caves. He (with the help of his assistant) imprisoned Stan in Heaven. Stan found himself in a bleak, desolate chamber, and managed to use an old abandoned stonecutter to break through an archway into another chamber. In this chamber, Stan found an old crumbling pedestal, upon which floated an orb he had not seen before - a turquoise blue, green and pearly white orb - known as "Earth". Realising it was a trap, Stan stole himself against this orb but eventually decided to travel there.
Stan emerged in a cave on an offshore island and boated across to a mainland. There, he found a lush, green coast of olive trees and poplars, with various stone temples and acropolises. He wondered into one of these temples and found a pool, in which he decided to swim. But because Stan couldn't swim, he ended up almost drowning and was saved by some of the inhabitants.
Stan woke up in a wooden hut, surrounded by lamps ladies looking on, concerned. One of these lamps ladies sat in the corner of the room and Stan noticed her eyes before falling asleep again. When he awoke this lady was watching over him again, and she introduced herself to Stan as Catherine. She admitted that she'd dreamed of a dead man floating in the water and now he was here.
Stan and Catherine stealthily escaped through the countryside of Earth, stealing against the watchful eye of Celius, who was rumoured to be in the vicinity. Catherine explained that she was a student of Celius and that he was teaching her the art of creating worlds, but she felt powerless under his tyrannical influence. Stan relayed to her his own experiences of Celius and the destruction he wreaked over Venus. Catherine showed Stan the world that she had created herself - The Moon - and the two travelled there where they viewed the Earth from a distance and began to fall in love.
Some months later, Stan found a despondent Catherine in the meadow. She told him that Celius had proposed to her and that she had no choice but to marry him. Together, they decided to conspire against Celius and sever the connection between the Earth and Heaven so that the Earth could develop on its own course rather than being determined by Fate. Unfortunately, during this process, Celius moved the date of the wedding forward and Catherine esteemed that he must have realised that they were conspiring against him.
At the wedding, Stan perceived Catherine to have betrayed him, but it was all an act. At the last moment, Catherine trapped Celius and collectively the two of them drove him away from the Earth. Catherine then led Stan to a hidden place on Earth, explaining that none other than Harry had provided a new haven or safe place for them to reside until the return of the Divine Coregency. This place was known as "N'Veer".
Catherine and Stan settled with Harry and Vanessa (who had escaped from Venus to be Harry's bride) and the two archangels and two mortals lived happily ever after on N'Veer for several thousands of millennia.
Maya was a nymph who gave birth to a young archangel, Stan. Maya died in childbirth and entrusted the baby Stan to the care of the boatman, Harry. Harry, who was only ten years old, raised Stan like his younger brother in a place called Haven, an oasis on the edge of existence. There, inside the volcano and cave, he taught Stan all he needed to know about nature, morals and the laws of the Universe. One day, Stan discovered a tunnel leading from the caldera of the volcano and Harry warned him against following this tunnel, fearful of the knowledge that might corrupt the young Stan. Eventually, Harry relented and told Stan the story about a revolutionary and a war in Heaven.
Some years later, Celius arrived at the volcano and announced to Harry that the time had come to make Stan his young apprentice. Despite Harry's protests, Celius whisked Stan away into the caves with the promise that together they would have the power to create worlds and govern over them like Gods.
Celius and Stan travelled through the caves and stopped off at three gateways/portals on the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. Eventually, they reached it in the evening, and shored their boat against a grand mansion somewhere on the banks facing the city that floated on a mountain in the middle of a great expanse of water.
Celius took Stan by boat into the city at the centre of Heaven but Stan was dismayed to find that it was completely decimated, abandoned and in ruins. Celius explained to Stan that there was a Great War and that all of the angels and archangels had escaped into the various worlds and realms that were interconnected by this central kingdom. Celius took Stan into a magnificent library filled with orbs, and explained that each of the orbs linked to a specific planet (or "Wanderer") - a world of its own - and that together they would have the power to create these worlds using a legendary furnace known as "The Athanor".
Over the coming months and years, Celius taught Stan everything he needed to know about the "Great Art" - The "Magnum Opus" - of alchemy and creating time and space out of nothingness. He took him to visit his latest world "Mars" - a red, barren planet topped by white snowy icecaps. However, despite being enthralled by the power of travelling to these worlds, Stan only desired to return to Haven because the teachings of his brother Harry were all he knew. Stan and Celius had a disagreement and Celius pointed out that Harry is a dangerous man; it's because of him that all of these ghosts exist, all of these trapped souls that are neither here nor in the next world because they didn't desire to live nor progress to heaven, and so just lingered on the shores of life. Celius manipulated Stan into thinking that Harry was a toxic, deprecative influence, and warned him to stay away.
Nevertheless, Celius gave Stan an empty orb, and gave him the liberty to create his own world. Stan did so and created a small, modest rocky planet, which he called "Mercury". But Celius was not impressed with Stan's efforts and encouraged him to create more worlds. He was frustrated because Stan was a slow learner and by this time they could have created and populated multiple worlds by now. But Celius realised he must have patience with his protege.
Over the next few years, Celius introduced Stan to a world known as "Venus", a tropical paradise covered by sparkling oases, lush emerald rainforests and pristine mountains. This world "Venus" was inhabited by a race of men known as "Venusians" who dwelled in the treehouses of the canopy. As a learning task, Celius requested Stan to settle on Venus and integrate himself among its folk, so he could understand how civilisations balance themselves. At his request, Stan set up base in one of the tree palaces and began to learn the language, traditions and customs of life on Venus.
One day, Stan was out in the meadows, writing in his journal, when he discovered a young girl (Vanessa) who had fallen into a well. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that a wide fissure had opened up in the middle of the ground and that the girl had fallen into it by chance. Stan immediately reported this to Celius but Celius wasn't concerned, and only mentioned that the world had structural integrity problems and that it was slowly dying. Stan, concerned, tried to persuade Celius that he could save this world and that it was in his power, but Celius had other concerns, concerns that were greater than the fate of this trifling planet Venus. Stan persisted and eventually Celius did make some changes to the planet. He made the clouds thicker so that rain would fall more heavily. But rather than providing moisture and hydration to the arid jungles, the clouds produced toxic rain and also trapped the sun's heat so that the planet ended up boiling like a greenhouse.
Stan returned to Heaven and confronted Celius about Venus, calling his intervention "careless and irresponsible". This angered Celius so much that he moved Mercury closer to the sun so that it got blackened and burned by the star, such that life could not proliferate. Celius and Stan had their worst argument ever and Stan left the room. Some hours later, Celius woke up in the library to find its orbs smashed up in pieces everywhere and realised that this destruction was his doing. He also recalled that he had argued with the boy some hours earlier. By this point, Stan had already escaped Heaven and was making his way back to the caldera in Haven.
Unfortunately, Celius caught up with Stan and trapped him in the caves. He (with the help of his assistant) imprisoned Stan in Heaven. Stan found himself in a bleak, desolate chamber, and managed to use an old abandoned stonecutter to break through an archway into another chamber. In this chamber, Stan found an old crumbling pedestal, upon which floated an orb he had not seen before - a turquoise blue, green and pearly white orb - known as "Earth". Realising it was a trap, Stan stole himself against this orb but eventually decided to travel there.
Stan emerged in a cave on an offshore island and boated across to a mainland. There, he found a lush, green coast of olive trees and poplars, with various stone temples and acropolises. He wondered into one of these temples and found a pool, in which he decided to swim. But because Stan couldn't swim, he ended up almost drowning and was saved by some of the inhabitants.
Stan woke up in a wooden hut, surrounded by lamps ladies looking on, concerned. One of these lamps ladies sat in the corner of the room and Stan noticed her eyes before falling asleep again. When he awoke this lady was watching over him again, and she introduced herself to Stan as Catherine. She admitted that she'd dreamed of a dead man floating in the water and now he was here.
Stan and Catherine stealthily escaped through the countryside of Earth, stealing against the watchful eye of Celius, who was rumoured to be in the vicinity. Catherine explained that she was a student of Celius and that he was teaching her the art of creating worlds, but she felt powerless under his tyrannical influence. Stan relayed to her his own experiences of Celius and the destruction he wreaked over Venus. Catherine showed Stan the world that she had created herself - The Moon - and the two travelled there where they viewed the Earth from a distance and began to fall in love.
Some months later, Stan found a despondent Catherine in the meadow. She told him that Celius had proposed to her and that she had no choice but to marry him. Together, they decided to conspire against Celius and sever the connection between the Earth and Heaven so that the Earth could develop on its own course rather than being determined by Fate. Unfortunately, during this process, Celius moved the date of the wedding forward and Catherine esteemed that he must have realised that they were conspiring against him.
At the wedding, Stan perceived Catherine to have betrayed him, but it was all an act. At the last moment, Catherine trapped Celius and collectively the two of them drove him away from the Earth. Catherine then led Stan to a hidden place on Earth, explaining that none other than Harry had provided a new haven or safe place for them to reside until the return of the Divine Coregency. This place was known as "N'Veer".
Catherine and Stan settled with Harry and Vanessa (who had escaped from Venus to be Harry's bride) and the two archangels and two mortals lived happily ever after on N'Veer for several thousands of millennia.
