=======

Their mother's journal failed to adequately express fire of Lilith's touch. To writhe beneath her is to know such exquisite pain and ecstasy that no words are sufficient to describe it. At first it seemed weird that she'd be doing it with Arielle, her sister reluctant as well, but as they are manipulated and twisted in the sheets it becomes hard to distinguish one from the other. Lilith's pure light sets difference to contrast, yes, showing how Valerie and Arielle are different, but it also reveals where they blur one into the other. Sometimes she feels long hair spilling down her back and sides when Lilith holds her up, her body hard, other times she's got short hair with a soft, plush form. It seems as if there's two Liliths, but in fact there's just one glorious red-maned goddess who makes her eat out her bliss and vice versa in an ouroboros of divine pleasure. There is just one Araqiel, and burning wings spread from her back, eyes open across her body, and she sees.

This is but a shadow of what is.

Valerie was right. They are two different people.

Arielle was right. They are one person.

They were both wrong.

The error was in thinking that Araqiel was ever so simple as to be encompassed by such basic human terms. She is no human soul, and a single angel can encompass multiple distinct identities without contradiction, forging complicated links that are transparent to a human's eyes but clear to the pure intellect of angels - or the Knowing practice, if you know how to look.

In this moment of self-union, her anxiety - Arielle's anxiety - is assuaged as she understands this deeper truth. She had, all this time, continued to view herself as an aberration despite Valerie's kind efforts, but now she sees that their separation is not an error but a feature. By diversifying the self, they gain new perspectives that one viewpoint alone could not have, and by being connected they are able to share in a union most other people cannot understand.

That is the deal their mother made with Lilith - the part they knew is that their full divine self could not endure cut off from the Supernal. By sheathing both halves in human flesh, they protected it, and forcing them to gain enlightenment all over again allows them a path to return.

What's new is understanding that it doesn't end there. When they return home, it will be as Araqiel - but they will not disappear. Indeed, the grand gambit wasn't just to survive, but to return stronger than ever before. Their higher unified soul will be a true god, and as Archmages they will each have the potential to not only match their old capabilities but exceed them.

As each of the Watchers achieves this divine Ascension, they will gather power with which to challenge the Exarchs who imprisoned the old gods.