by A. J. Rand
The look I turned on Gabriel was cold. “Is this true?”
He wouldn’t reply, which gave me my answer.
Okay. I had moved into the realm of pissed beyond belief. I took another sip of coffee, not trusting myself to speak. Father David was glowering at Gabriel. The good Padre was in about the same state I was. I don’t blame him. Gabriel was a part of what his whole religious belief system was based upon, and he wasn’t happy with how that element was moving. Chaz came around the kitchen counter to stand by me. He gave my arm a little squeeze for support.
“Fine.” I set my cup of coffee down on the kitchen counter. “I will still go with you to the Crystal City.”
“What?” Sariel was in a state of outraged shock.
“Yeshua, are you sure––?” Wow. Even Father David was concerned now about my going.
Ke’s expression was unreadable. Gabriel’s look was smug. I was about to wipe that smugness right off his angelic face.
“But only on the condition that the ban on the Grigori is lifted. I will not go without backup.”
Gabriel didn’t even bat an eyelash. “No. It is not possible.”
“Then I guess you can tell the Thrones that my visit is not possible.”
“You cannot be serious.”
I leaned in toward him, my eyes glittering with the full force of cold anger. “Do I look like I’m kidding, Gabriel?”
“I cannot authorize it. I do not have the authority.”
“Then come back to me when you can, because nothing less will make me go with you.”
“They will never allow it.”
“Why are you doing this?” Ke asked, trying to read my expression.
I held fingers up, ticking off my points. “One, because I will have the power to make my own decisions. I will not have that right taken away from me, as much as it would be great to put the blame solely on the angelic hosts if everything goes to pieces. Two, because I now have this excess crap running through me that I have no clue on how to control. It doesn’t do me a whole lot of good to have it and not be able to use it if it’s needed. So I need the Grigori there to teach me how––or help me to remember how––whatever, it needs to be done.”
I turned to Sariel. “And don’t think this pushes me over to your way of thinking. You have pissed me off in ways that no one else has ever managed to do before. I’m not asking Gabe, here for a permanent return of the Grigori, and certainly not for the entire host of Grigori to show up en masse at the Crystal City. I wouldn’t buy it either, in his position.”
My eyes met Gabriel’s. “What I am asking is for ten Grigori, Chaz and Father David.”
The Padre started shaking his head. “No, Yeshua, it is not my place to join you.” His expression was wistful. “As much as I would love to make the trip, I don’t feel that’s where I need to be. My place is here, making other preparations.”
I nodded. “Fair enough, Father. I trust your judgment.” I looked back to Gabriel. “Eleven Grigori, then, plus Chaz. That gives me a full complement of thirteen. I think that’s a fitting number for the fallen guardian of the Thirteenth Gate.”
Gabriel looked at me, studying my intent. I think he fully understood at this point, that I wasn’t going to back down.
He nodded. “I believe I can authorize that much. It will not be pleasant, but I am willing to put myself on the line for that request.”
I shrugged. “Works for me. If it helps, you can place the blame fully on my shoulders. I’m willing to accept it. Let them know right up front that it wasn’t a request, it was a demand––a non-negotiable one.”
Sariel was frowning. “Only eleven––?”
“Don’t push it. You and Ke are two of those. Pick the other nine from the group in the dreamscape last night. Don’t switch your players in the middle of the big game. It’s not a smart move.”
“Me, Yesh?” Chaz was looking at me with concern. “I can’t do a lot to help you. Maybe you should consider an extra Grigori?”
I gave him a smile. “Don’t you want to go, kid?”
His eyes widened. “Oh no––I want to go more than anything. I would just rather make sure you’re safe.”
I nodded, in full agreement. “That’s why you’re coming, Chaz. Out of everyone here, whom do you think I would trust to be straight up with me? Gabriel? The Grigori? Not a chance. Especially since Father David’s not coming, I want you there. I trust you kid. Maybe more than I trust myself right now.”
“Sure, Yesh. I’ll be there for you.”
I turned back to the rest of the room. “So, when do we leave?”
“Now. Too much time has passed already.” Gabriel stood up, firm in his decision.
I laughed, looking down at my bathrobe and morning state of disarray. “How about I go throw some clothes on first?”
* * *
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I came back out from getting dressed. I had on full leather, as usual. I wasn’t going to get dolled up for this meeting, no matter how important the Thrones were. And I’m pretty sure they were at the top of the angelic food chain. I just couldn’t recall the exact order of the hierarchy. It had been a while since those studies.
Sariel was gone by the time I was ready. I assumed that meant she was handpicking the Grigori who would be going along. I had a pack thrown over my shoulder, with a few things gathered that I might possibly need. But since I had no clue as to what I was getting myself into at this point, it might not have even been worth taking along. I didn’t even know how long I would be gone, but I suspected it was at least an overnight trip.
Chaz must have thought the same thing, because he had a pack sitting next to his feet. The kid looked almost shell shocked, and it made me feel bad. I almost told him he didn’t have to go, but I really needed him there with me. He had a way of being my eyes and ears, and sometimes my thinking cap when I went off half-cocked. Looking around at the others gathered in the room, and thinking back to the interactions of the last couple of days, I knew Chaz’s level head would be needed to help me sort through things. I guess that doesn’t say a whole lot for my temperament, if I felt the best thing to keep me in line was a twenty-year-old kid.
Everyone stood up when I entered the living room. Father David came over to me, putting his hands on my shoulders and holding me at arms length. He stared at me a long time with compassion in his eyes.
“Be safe, Yeshua. Come back to us.”
I gave him a lop-sided smile. “I plan on coming back, Padre. I’ll let you know what you’re in for when you finally make the trip.”
His return smile was warm and genuine. “You do that.” He pulled me into his embrace, holding tight while he whispered a prayer for safety in my ear. “Don’t forget, Yeshua. You have free will. They do not. Make your decisions wisely––I get the feeling you hold our fate in your hands.”
I pulled back. “No pressure, eh, Father?”
But the unsettling feeling of the truth of his words sank to my stomach like a stone. What was I thinking? I had no right to be making this kind of decision for the rest of the world. The enormity of the thought made me want to throw up. But I swallowed and steadied myself, giving a nod to Gabriel.
“I’m ready.”
Gabriel answered by stepping forward and holding his hand out in front of him, away from where everyone else stood in the room. A slight shimmer rippled in the air, and then grew to brightness. Within seconds, a mirror-like surface resembling the Gate I had seen in my dreams reproduced itself in miniature in the middle of my living room.
I tried to cover my nervousness with flippancy. “What? I don’t rate a chariot of fire like Ezekiel?”
Maybe I was a little disappointed outside the sarcasm. Here I had thought I might get my once in a lifetime chance to fly. Oh well, things were the way they were. I stepped to the Gate. Gabriel held out his arm in an indication that I should step through. I shook my head.
“Uh-uh. You first, and then Ke––Chaz and I will bring up
the rear.” I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t stranded in angel land without at least one of the Grigori. I wasn’t trusting Gabriel to hold to his word. Maybe it was overly suspicious on my part, but I wasn’t taking any chances.
Gabriel gave me an unreadable look, but did as I asked. Ke glanced at me with a touch of nervousness before stepping through the Gate. I guess he had a right to be nervous. He was going home after how many years of exile? I’d be a bit edgy about the whole thing, too, if I were in his place.
I looked to Chaz, who was dancing nervously from foot to foot. “Ready, kid?”
He nodded. I turned back and gave one last look to the priest.
“Goodbye, Father. See you on the flip side.”
Father David smiled. Chaz and I gave each other one last confirming glance that we were ready to do this, and stepped into the Gate.
I’m not sure what I had expected, but it was as simple as walking through a doorway. It was almost anti-climactic. One second I was in my living room, the next, I found myself staring out over the Crystal City. Of course, that was a climax all its own. The sun was bright overhead, yet the City was bathed in the familiar indigo light I was used to seeing in my dream. The whole thing was just as surreal as the dreamscape, though. And I knew the view well. A nervous glance over my shoulder confirmed the feeling. We had just come through the Thirteenth Gate.
A shimmer on the surface of the Gate told me something else was coming through. I stepped back quickly, almost bumping into Ke. Sariel walked through the Gate, followed by ten other angels, that I assumed were Grigori. I thought some of them looked familiar from the dreamscape last night, but I couldn’t be sure.
Everyone was crunched into a single crowded space, and it took a moment for me to realize why. A host of angels circled around us, stopping us from moving further into the City. The expression on their faces, and on the faces of the Grigori matched each other in stone stubbornness. Gabriel went to speak with the angels blocking our way. He’d better do this right, or I was throwing myself back through the Gate. I grabbed onto Chaz’s arm, just in case I had to pull the kid back through with me.
A high-pitched squeal echoed through the air, bringing surprise to all the surrounding faces. The next thing I knew, I was being driven to the ground under the weight of a body. Arms wrapped tightly around me in a big hug. I wanted to push away, but I was afraid of hurting the wings that flapped rapidly in front of my face.
It was a minute before the pressure eased up and the person holding me pushed back to smile at me with her cherubic little face lit up in delight. I frowned, trying to remember––
“Arianna?” The name came from out of nowhere, but I knew I had spoken it right.
“Ithane!” She squealed again, and threw herself back into a hug, as though not wanting to let go.
For what it was worth, I guess I had come home.
Chapter 18
Someone actually took pity and helped to pull the way-too-hyper cherub off from me. It was Sariel. The Grigori female now had Arianna to one side of the Gate and was talking to her in soft, gentle undertones. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but it seemed to settle her down.
Gabriel was talking to the gathered angels in undertones, too. I could tell his tone wasn’t as gentle as the one Sariel was using with the cherub. To each their own, I guess. It didn’t matter one way or another to me, as long as it worked.
Chaz edged in a little closer. I didn’t blame him. Looking around, I could see all these beautiful winged beings. And yet, there was coldness to that beauty. These certainly weren’t the creatures of love and light I grew up seeing depicted in pictures and statues. There was an underlying darkness to them that was a bit unsettling.
Come to think of it, I seemed to recall the images of heaven being all light and fluffy, too. This place was not shrouded in either light or dark. It was a lot more somber than I had ever imagined it as being. But the surroundings seemed fitting for the beings that stood around me. Creatures of neither darkness nor light, they just were.
Chaz leaned in to whisper in my ear. “This place is a bit creepy, don’t you think?”
“Oh yeah.” I whispered back.
Then I stopped to think about it. This wasn’t heaven. Who was it––Sariel? Gabriel? One of them had said something about this being an in-between place. If that were the case, and the Crystal City was in place the last time the Angels had their war where Lucifer led the rebellion of the Fallen Ones, then some of the upset of the angels made sense to me.
Humans were given free will, where the angels were not. Obviously there had to be some amount of free will going on with them, or the rebellion of the Fallen Ones would never have taken place. That was an interesting thought to ponder. Humans were also given the plush, light-laden place to hang out in for eternity, if the stories of heaven were to be believed. The angels were given the dusky streets of the Crystal City. If this were the reflection of the principle of as above, so below, then some of the hell on earth manifested itself here on these streets.
No wonder there had been a rebellion. The thought hit me with amazement. It matched up with the constant civil unrest that was a mainstay of the earth plane. Not to mention the continual struggle of the upper class to keep the lower class in its downtrodden place. I shook my head. I couldn’t believe I was actually feeling sympathy for Lucifer. I must be out of my mind. This place was having some kind of an effect on me. It was the only thing that made sense.
The angels blocking the way to the Crystal City were starting to stand down. They weren’t going away, but at least they weren’t preparing for a street brawl here and now. The looks on their faces were unfriendly, and I saw a few hostile glances sent my way. Hey––I was asked to come here, and not given much of a chance for refusal. I’d be gone as soon as I was done. I didn’t want to be here any more than they wanted me here. A mutual bond of dislike was formed in those early moments.
Gabriel came back over to me, but his look was not a happy one. “Let us go. The Thrones will be expecting our arrival.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Whatever you say.”
Gabriel stared at me for a long moment. I’m not sure what he was looking for, or if he found it, but he finally turned and led the way down into the Crystal City. Following along behind him, so many thoughts raced through my mind, that I didn’t even pay attention much to the city around me. For instance, all of these angels had wings. Where were Gabriel’s wings? Was it because of his still being in human form? If so, why had he not shed his human form before entering the Crystal City? Sariel must have, she had a full set of wings flowing down behind her shoulders. They were not the beautiful white color of most of the heavenly host that met us at the gate. Her wings were a soft, powder grey, tipped in black. That was the same for most of the Grigori. Their wings were varying shades of white to grey, but none of them pure white.
The other angels, those from the Crystal City, had wings of white, but every once in a while you could see a flash of color in their wings. I had a feeling that it meant something, but couldn’t imagine what that could be. Arianna walked along side of Sariel, holding the hand of the Grigori. She kept staring at me with those wide, child-like eyes. It was disconcerting and heart wrenching at the same time.
Part of me wanted to scoop her up and hug her. The other part of me was creeped out. This was the being from the nightmares that had haunted me from my earliest memories. If what I had seen in the full version through Ke were true, she was also the cause of my demise as a Grigori. I’m still trying to decide if maybe she hadn’t done me a big favor. Looking around at these so-called higher beings, I couldn’t help but be glad I hadn’t spent the last millennia or so having to deal with them. I’d been around them for less than a week and they were already getting under my skin.
“How big do you think this place is, Yesh?” Chaz asked with quiet awe as we walked for what seemed like forever through the streets.
“If I had to guess, I’d say it was huge.”
He cracked a smile. That was good. After being met with such a warm reception, I was beginning to regret having dragged the kid along to wherever here was. Another idea struck me and I almost kicked myself for not having thought of it earlier. What was I thinking, bringing Chaz to the Crystal City? If they found out he was one of the Nephilim from the Fallen Ones––I shuddered, not even wanting to finish the thought. I stood up a little straighter, showing as much strength as I could muster. The kid was under my protection and anyone that wanted to get to him had to go through me first.
My thoughts continued to wander until we arrived at a large, even colossal structure. I was betting it was close to dead center in the city. Outside the enormous ornate double doors that barred entry, Gabriel finally stopped. Without turning, he stood there for a moment. While I watched, his form began to blur. I thought it was a trick of the light at first, but then a second Gabriel moved away from the first. The second Gabriel had wings––full, beautifully pure white wings, the tips of the feathers seeped in blood red.
The winged Gabriel turned to the first Gabriel. But the first one no longer looked like the Gabriel I had seen. He was still about the same size in body, but his hair was shorter, his shoulders a bit more stooped, and his face bore no resemblance to the Gabriel that had been with me this whole time. The mark was gone from his neck.
It dawned on me that this was the human host that Gabriel had taken. The over powering aura of the Archangel must have changed the outward appearance of the man to fit his own image. Interesting. The thought had never occurred to me.
The human looked up at Gabriel with confusion in his eyes. Gabriel looked down and met the man’s gaze. He placed the palm of his hand against the man’s forehead, holding out his arm to catch him when he sank into a blissful, unaware state of sleep. Without even straining himself, Gabriel lifted the man gently into his arms and laid him down on a bench outside the doors.
