Somewhere in the arcades of the aetherial plane a celestial committee of angelic beings sat around a ring in consternation. Human eyes would gaze upon them and see a committee of robed, winged, anthropomorphic figures. All insufferably beautiful, but humanoid—which is an error in perception, but useful for narrative purposes. And if anyone listening could translate Enochian, they would interpret the conversation somewhere along the lines of:

"What do we have to do to get them to realize that this guy is a charlatan? I thought for sure after his last stunt the rest of them would wake up."

Another shook her haloed head sadly. "They so much want to believe in a Grand Fellowship of Light and that it is a club they can be part of."

"It’s all that exclusivity and mystique—gets them every time: the pride. And he capitalizes on it," commented the one robed in the colours of morning.

"That’s not all he’s capitalizing on," the most silver-toned of them muttered.

The purple-robed one sighed, "I just wish we could give them a warning they would understand. They’re following him into his own putrid swamp and he’s claiming it’s the Mountain of Abiegnus."

"They made the choice to believe him. It’s too easy to scapegoat. They have to take responsibility for their decisions," the first one said rather sternly.

"But, Tzaphkiel, what about the girls?" Morning said.

"They were all so young. It was a blatant abuse of power," Purple added.

"He even called on us to bring it about!"

"Can you believe the gall of some people?"

Tzaphkiel nodded, considering the consensus. "The Divine One is Just as the Divine One is Merciful."

"So shall I blast him with a thunder bolt to the a--"

"Khamie, I thought we went over this..."

"Sorry."

"His self-created demons will catch up to him soon enough."

"Until then, how many souls have to become entangled in his lies?"

"We all know he didn’t 'accidently' leave that e-mail box open. He flaunted it, so he could prove he’s still got an operating fire wand."

"I know! Let’s shrivel up his—"

"Khammie..."

"Right."

Meanwhile, back in the material universe...

I can’t believe I bought into all that bullshit. No one has to tell me it was my own vanity. I wanted, needed the illusions to be true, that I was somehow priveledged, that I belonged to an elite class. It’s my failing, not his. Shame on him for taking advantage of sin; shame on me for giving him the opportunity. I just feel bad for Gem and Feyla.

Someday, the Divine willing, they’ll wake up. Feyla will realize that her talents and time are being sucked dry by a selfish old parasite who sadly happens to be the father of her child. And she’ll find the strength to cut him off. Gem will realize that it wasn’t divine intervention that brought them together, that it was painfully mundane, that she was another conquest for an insecure aging fraud. She will look back and see a manipulated ignorant kid who bought the bullshit too. I just hope she’s not carrying his kid by then.