Cult of Asmodeus au for those interested
Archangel Michael was told to test Adam and Eve forever ago, however he did too well at tempting Adam into disobeying God, tempting him with the fruit and Lust. God got angry because his golden child did something bad, even at his own order. Because of the technicality of sinning at God's command he wasn't fully damned nor allowed to stay in heaven. The other archangels also turned against him. His name was changed from Michael to Asmodeus and his punishment was to never be known as Michael again and many of his actions would be attributed to others to erase his memory as much as possible while a different archangel assumed the identity of Michael.
Asmodeus wanders the earth and has gone through fits of sin and trying to regain his divinity but it seems like God is ignoring his actions. He isn't even allowed to speak the truth of his identity because God ordered it to be forgotten. Through Gary he learned about John, who Asmodeus saw as the only person who could understand him between the religious trauma of one action damning you out of Heaven and fighting so hard to redeem himself.
If John could redeem himself then Asmodeus reasoned he would be able to help him. And even if he couldn't, he wanted John for company. Asmodeus frustrated God enough that God would speak to him and managed to talk God into an "impossible test" for his priest.
If John could put the pieces of his identity together and figure out Asmodeus is the true archangel Michael then Asmodeus can have his divinity back, even if God won't allow him in Heaven. In addition, if Asmodeus' faith is correct and John can do it then he will get John's soul, partially out of spite, partially because he sees John trapped in the same way he is and the only way for either of them to be somewhat happy is to be free of Heaven and Hell.
God only agreed to this deal because God was so sure John would fail and by extension Asmodeus would be purged from reality that he saw no way for himself to lose. He even allowed John to eat the fruit of knowledge, however it opened John's eyes a bit too much.
He was more open to visions, more receptive of hints, and the longer he spent with Asmodeus the more he realized Asmodeus wasn't the same horrible demon as all other demons he's had to deal with. Asmodeus still has grace, still misses Heaven despite all the bitterness, still worships the lord as angry as he is at God. He managed to piece things together and recognize Asmodeus as the former archangel Michael and God was far from happy about it.
God had made the same mistake as John and sold an innocent life away, God had gambled with a soul and lost. And John was blissfully unaware that he was never meant to succeed, only told that the demon requested purification from him and God assured him to just do his best. He did his best. He did the impossible even.
And for that God made John, and by proxy Lisa, saints now gifted to Asmodeus due to their souls being connected.
After the shock wore off, they decided that since God, and the church, would never want them, and being immortal they can't go to Heaven or Hell, Asmodeus would begin a "cult" where they practice religion but it's a more "relaxed" version where people are told how to sin and still get into heaven as long as they don't do anything extreme. God hates it, but the trio is doing good by making being religious feel more realistic to more people.
Garcia is very torn about the situation. John did do so good as a priest he became a saint but was banished out of Heaven and Hell, being his mentor it's one of the most heartbreaking things to see him try so hard only for this to be his reward. His faith in a just and fair god has been completely shaken but he's trying to cling to whatever makes sense to him.
John grieves for a long time about it before accepting that he does have absolute freedom and can let go of a lot of religious trauma he's been holding onto since childhood, both from Miriam and the church itself with how extreme they can get. He tries to assure others he's okay but he's still angry at god for betting with his soul. He doesn't resent Asmodeus because God never should have made that deal and if anything Asmodeus has been very kind and seems equally horrified that things ended up so messy.
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