The Rise

by Nathan Parks

  “Before we all had to deal with that awful shock, Tanisha, you asked if anyone was familiar with the name, ‘Gobert Thibault.’”

  “That is correct.”

  “Gabriel and I are familiar with that name.” She took a deep breath, “Gobert was a knight who, during my time of being a Guardian to Joan, became a very close friend to her.”

  “Any reason that you can think of that would make his name appear in these journals?” Tanisha asked.

  Leah looked to Gabriel. She was not sure how much she should share; but the Archangel dipped her head, giving her the “go ahead” to share more.

  Leah nodded to Tanisha’s question, “Not exactly sure, but we had already seen how Hecate was turning Watchers; and we believed there was a chance that she was going after Joan’s Watcher. We believed that Hecate had the idea that she could take out a Watcher and a Nephelium at one time.”

  “She did, didn’t she?” Zarius questioned.

  “Yes, but we—meaning the Arch Council and I—had hoped that we would be able to protect Joan. We already had our suspicions that her Watcher was playing both sides, the Alliance and the Fallen. There were plans in the works to smuggle Joan away into hiding. There, we would give the young Nephelium a new life and keep her hidden from the Fallen . . . more importantly, from Hecate.”

  “What does that have to do with this ‘Hobert’ character?” Eve asked, getting impatient with the history lesson.

  “Go-bert,” Leah pronounced articulately as she gave Eve a harsh glare, “was more than just a knight. Throughout history we have recruited unique individuals who didn’t ‘fit in’ due to special abilities that they may have.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” Eve pushed.

  The Vapor paused and bit her tongue for a minute.

  “Isaiah, you wondered if a Nephelium could be a Watcher; and I knew that one could be: Gobert was one.”

  Isaiah raised his eyebrows and let out a low whistle, “Ok! Well, that is interesting. So, is that why he would have gone and visited the Watcher at St. Vincent?”

  “Maybe, but there is more I need to share. Gabriel is the only other person of which I am aware who knows about what I am about to share.

  “Gobert and I were in a relationship. We met when he joined up with Joan. With both of us focused on Joan, we had a mutual passion; and that turned into a mutual love for each other.”

  “Wait! What? You? I never could imagine you actually being in love with anyone but yourself,” Eve mocked her.

  “Eve,” Gene reprimanded her.

  She sat back with a smirk on her face but silent.

  “One of the reasons that the loss of Joan was so hard on me was due to the fact that Gobert and I saw her like our daughter. Don’t get me wrong . . . her parents were amazing, but we spent days and nights continually by her side. We loved her as a daughter.”

  Chad raised his hand.

  As he did, Serenity looked at him and snickered, “What? Are we in grade school now?”

  “No, but I wanted to say something and didn’t want to interrupt.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Go ahead, Chad,” Leah laughed.

  Her laughter created a break in the thick air swirling around the room.

  “Unlike some, I’m not purposely trying to be rude; but what does this have to do with what we are facing right now? I think we all know we don’t have a lot of time.” He paused before continuing, “Don’t get me wrong. I am learning a lot about you that I never knew . . . but just ready to get moving.”

  “Good question, Chad, and I don’t have an answer to that. I was just explaining to Tanisha the reaction I had to that name.”

  Gene pushed away from the table and stood.

  “Chad is right. We haven’t really figured out much more, but I think we need to take a break to get some lunch and then get back at it. We need a break before Hecate or anyone else decides to flip the switch.”

  Everyone stood up. Some stretched while others walked out. Megan quietly woke up each of her children and asked them if they wanted something to eat. The twins both nodded while they rubbed their eyes, trying to fully wake up.

  As Leah started to stand up, Gabriel reached over and touched her hand.

  “I need you to stay for a minute if you would, please.”

  “Sure,” Leah responded as she sat back down and watched the others leave the room. Once she and the Council member were alone, she asked, “What’s up?”

  The Council member stood up and began to walk the room. Leah thought it appeared as if she had a heavy burden on her shoulders. Gabriel turned around and placed her hands on the back of a chair opposite of where Leah was currently sitting.

  “You have always trusted me, Leah. We have worked side-by-side forever, and I would do anything and everything to protect you. You know this, right?”

  The Vapor furrowed her brow. “I do know this. What is this about, Gabriel?”

  “I need you to know that if I were to hold anything from you, it is because I believed it to have been in your best interest.”

  “I get it; and if you know me at all, you know that I don’t like this dancing around. Get to the point.”

  “I am fully aware of how far yours and Gobert’s relationship went . . .”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Leah, stop.”

  She held up her hand to silence the Vapor.

  “We are being real with each other at this moment right here. I NEED you to listen to me. Stop talking and listen.”

  The former Alliance leader gritted her teeth, crossed her arms, and sat back to “just listen.”

  “We know about the baby, Leah.”

  She sat as if in a trance. The moment that Tanisha had mentioned the knight’s name, memories and feelings she had buried for so long came back in a flash. The pain mixed with the pain of the loss of Joan. At that time, she had just wanted to vanish. She had never experienced such soul-shattering pain and agony as she had during that time period in her history. Now, as Gabriel confronted her, it was too much. She stood up, her face red with anger.

  “You know nothing, Gabriel! Nothing! Whatever it is that you think you may know, you do not!”

  “Leah!” Gabriel answered with anger of her own. “You may not be an Alliance member still and Lord only knows if I could be considered a Council member still; but out of respect for all we have been through, you will stop!”

  The Vapor’s fists were clenched as she repeatedly hit the table top next to where she was sitting.

  “I’m not doing this, Gabriel.”

  “You will; and we need you to because there is more information that you do not know that if we keep digging, you will need to know before anyone else.”

  “NO! If you do know anything about the baby, then you are very aware that the baby got sick and died! There! I lost the baby, Gabriel!”

  Chapter Forty

  Silence filled the room . . . neither individual talking and each attempting to find a center focus to calm herself down.

  The Council member finally spoke, but this time her voice was cool and collected. Her tenderness and caring spirit flowed through her tone and words.

  “No, Leah, the baby did not die.”

  Tears immediately filled Leah’s eyes as she remembered the feeling of holding the small baby in her arms and the look on Gobert’s face as they both welcomed a child into the world of Mortals, a child that blended the world of Angels and Nephelium. They had discussed walking away from it all, but they knew that Joan needed them. Then, the baby had gotten sick; and days later as Leah was away at Joan’s trial and subsequent death, the baby had died.

  She returned home, already broken and devastated by watching the young warrior burn at the stake. As she walked into the house, she found Gobert rocking back and forth, sobbing. He explained that their baby had passed away. She had fallen to her knees, unable to bear the weight of the world at that moment; and something within her went numb. If it was possible that someth
ing could die within an Angel, it died at that moment. The rough exterior and emotionless mask that would come to define her was created at that moment.

  She had not even been able to hold her baby again. Gobert stated that the baby had died of an infectious disease, and that the body had already been taken away to ensure the disease would not spread.

  Leah did everything to control herself at the moment. The words that Gabriel spoke sat upon the desert of her soul and refused to take root. She couldn’t let it.

  “What do you mean?”

  We needed you in the fight. Gobert had come to me and Michael and expressed that you both were looking to vanish into the population of mortal man, but we couldn’t have that happen. He did have concern that if it was ever found that a Nephelium and Angel had offspring, it may cause both sides to come after the child.”

  “I don’t understand . . .”

  “Leah, we took the baby. We protected him. We placed him in the care of the Brotherhood.”

  The room spun. She couldn’t breathe. Her chest felt as though it was being crushed. She couldn’t stand. Leah’s legs went out from under her, and she felt herself falling. She grabbed at the chair, but it spun around. She hit the ground hard. Gabriel rushed over to help her, offering support to stand up.

  “Leave me! Do not touch me!” Leah raged. “You were my friend! You had no right!”

  “I am still your friend, Leah.”

  She gritted her teeth and shoved the Council member away.

  “NO! No, you are not!”

  “I am, Leah.”

  The Vapor continued to shake her head “no.” Her son was alive! Had he ever wondered about her? How could Gobert have allowed her to believe he had died? It had torn them apart. She could not deal with the loss of Joan and her son all at one time; so, she left. She hadn’t even said goodbye to him; she just left. She walked away with a new fire that she made sure burned hotly and brightly every day . . . one that kept her focused.

  As she sat on the ground attempting to digest it all, she looked up with anger and pain as something dug deeply into her soul. A realization came over her.

  “I am Eve.”

  “What?” Gabriel asked. “What do you mean?”

  “For the last five years I have been angry with Eve . . . raging mad at her. I blamed her for leaving and got angry at her choice to walk away and allow her bitterness and rage over Alfonso’s murder to be her revenge song. I have done the same thing. I am no different. I walked away from someone I loved out of anger. There has not been a day since that moment that I haven’t used the loss of my son and Joan to fan my vendetta against the Clans, but I see now it was also against the world. The more I fought, the more I blocked out the pain and agony of those losses. If I could focus on leading my team and each mission, then I didn’t have time to focus on the emptiness in my heart. I am Eve.”

  Gabriel sat down beside her. She wanted to hold her friend, but she knew that she couldn’t.

  “Leah, I am sorry. At the time, I felt it was the right choice. Now, I see that we were wrong . . . so wrong.”

  The Vapor’s eyes came ablaze as she looked up.

  “Saying you were wrong is an understatement! Did you ever think even for one moment that maybe if you had just talked to me about staying with the Alliance, I would have? What happened to free will? You and the Council have attacked me over the years for allowing Eve to exercise her free will; and I defended it, even though I didn’t agree with her choices. I never could understand why you blamed me.”

  “I never blamed you, Leah. Guilt was eating at me. I would like to say guilt was eating Michael, also; but now I believe he has had his own motives all this time. As I watched you burn in your gut over Joan all of these years, I knew that the belief that your son had died also burned in you.”

  “I never could say anything because no one really knew, and it was easier to not let anyone know,” Leah shared. “Did he live a good life, Gabriel?”

  “He lived a very long life, but the Mortal genetics from his Nephelium heritage did finally catch up with him. He became a warrior like his parents and lived for several centuries.”

  “Did he ever have a family? Did my son have a family, Gabriel?”

  “He did.”

  Leah’s shoulders sank. “Did I have grandchildren?”

  “Yes. Yes, you did.”

  Gabriel reached out slowly as the Vapor’s body shook. She placed her hand on her friend’s shoulder.

  “I know that this is a lot to take in, but I need you to make sure you are aware of everything.”

  Leah threw her hands up in surrender, “There is more?”

  “Yes.”

  “What now?”

  She would not allow Gabriel to help her up. The Archangel pulled out a chair in which the Vapor could sit, and then she sat down in front of her.

  “I don’t really know a better way of telling you this; so, I am just going to put it out there.”

  “Not sure what else you can say, but go for it.”

  Gabriel took a deep breath, held it, and then let it out, “Leah, Eve is a direct descendant of your son. That was one of the reasons I made you her Guardian. It was my way of trying to make things right.”

  Nothingness . . . just numbness and shock. That was it. The world could have ended, and Leah was pretty sure she would not have even realized it.

  At that moment, the door opened; and Isaiah stuck his head in, “Hey, we need you both out here. We have an unexpected—and some would say unwanted—visitor.”

  Gabriel acknowledged, “Give us one minute.”

  She turned to Leah, “Please, forgive me.”

  “Maybe in time; but right now, I can’t. Hell, I can’t even digest everything at this moment.”

  “Fair enough. Let’s go see what is going on with the others.”

  Chapter Forty-One

  The two team members walked out past the study and into the main area. Nothing prepared them for what they walked into. Leah was sure this day was going to be one of the longest she had ever had.

  “Kadar?” she expressed.

  There standing, surrounded by a lot of angry-looking individuals, was the Nephelium assassin, himself . . . cool, confident, and collected.

  “Hello, Leah. You look different. Did you do something with your hair?”

  She wanted to punch him.

  “This must be the strong and beautiful Gabriel.”

  He held out his hand, but the Council member did not respond. He continued to hold it out for a minute, shrugged, and then dropped it.

  “Now, would you like to explain to us why you are here in Eden?” Eve gritted out.

  She despised everything about him.

  “Let’s just say that I am here to make a deal.”

  “A deal?” Serenity spat. “The last deal we made with someone like you we received the severed head of a Council member as our reward.”

  “That would have been Mantus’ doing. I challenge you to listen to me before you dismiss me. If what I have is not valuable, then I will leave.”

  “Or, you could just leave,” Eve spat out.

  “What is it you want us to know, Kadar?” Zarius questioned.

  “Well, one is that Hecate is dead.”

  That got the reaction he had hoped for. He never liked to hold back . . . well, unless holding back was more valuable in moving his agenda forward.

  “Now that I have your attention . . . all of you are about to have a lot of uninvited guests, and I will be the least of your worries . . . oh, and so is Scintillantes.”

  “What?” Nemamiah gasped. “Who? How?”

  “Follow me, People,” he stated in a grandiose voice. “Denora murdered Hecate and has taken over her house. Mantus not only killed Metatron but, also, his brother. When Dumah was murdered, it was after he willingly gave himself over to his brother; so, his blood was used to release Legion.”

  “Are you kidding? We just took him out!”

  Serenity was sh
aking.

  “Oh, and from what I hear, you all didn’t do a very good job with that, either. Sounds like the other segments of Legion are still present. Denora stated she witnessed a manifestation of Legion in the embodiment of a young girl.”

  Megan gasped, “Victoria?”

  “How am I supposed to know? I am just telling you what I heard.”

  Kadar had them eating out of his hand. This was his game, and he played it well.

  “So now, Denora and Mantus are going to launch an attack with their forces against your home,” he directed the statement toward Gabriel and Nemamiah. “Then Azrael and Legion are coming here.”

  “Oh, I hope my brother tries to attack us,” Zarius spoke through clenched teeth. “I really do.”

  “You don’t have to hope. I am telling you that they are coming. Legion has a squad of well-trained warriors that have sworn allegiance to him. Mantus allowed them to leave the Abyss and join with Legion. They are coming, and they are coming strong.”

  “Why here?” Leah asked, certain she knew the answer but wanted to hear him say it.

  “I guess you all have some ancient pyramid thing that they want to go with the other one they have.”

  “They have a delta?”

  Tanisha looked at her husband. He was just as shocked as the others. He had been certain that the other one had been destroyed.

  “They do, and your brother is certain you have the other one.”

  “What do we do?” Serenity asked.

  “Seems that the battle is coming to us,” Gene stated with no emotion. “Eden will be the epicenter of a victory or loss that will change the future for all Mortal and Immortal, and we are the group that will be the pivot point as to how it goes.”

  “What are you wanting, Kadar?” Eve once again brought up the elephant in the room. “You never do anything unless it benefits you.”

  The assassin laughed and then mockingly displayed shock and horror.

  “Well, you do know me way too well, Sister.”

  She stepped forward, ready to swing at him; but Leah put her hand out and stopped her.

  “No, Eve, let him be. Kadar, she asked a question.”

  “Honestly, I want to live. I want to just do what I do, and I am tired of our kind.”