After further inspection I determined that all pendants said the same thing. We fumbled with the chains, finding new and improved ways of wearing it, but we all seemed to settle on the more traditional ways—hanging from our necks or around our waist—because we had to be able to see the writing on the ball clearly.
We were led to the “Angel’s Lounge”, by way of an inner courtyard. We passed a huge white iron gate that was completely covered by a climbing flowering plant. Then we entered a covered area still full of trees, fountains, and sitting areas. Windows that looked into Earth’s events, current and past, lined the walls on one side and a Cherub-sized bookcase covered the other side.
Our little clan found a small portion of the lounge and each of us found something to do while we waited for our assignments.
Dorian, Luz, and Katie were watching one of the windows. The event that the window was displaying was that of a dog who saved a boy’s life by listening to the boy’s Guardian Angel. The animal had courageously heeded the guardian angel’s voice but in the process had given its life to save that of the boy.
Meanwhile, Dane was already sitting down and reading a book. Alex was floating near one of the top shelves next to a female Cherub, who was showing him a particular volume. For her the top row was level with her eyes and she looked enormous standing there next to Alex, who was exactly half her size.
The rest of us made ourselves comfortable. I beat Russell to the only loveseat available, and secured it for Alex and I. Russell glared at me jokingly over the loss of the coveted spot, and had to content himself with a smaller chair. When Nancy glided by, he pulled her onto his lap, and shot me a sly look.
Valerie was pacing back and forth rubbing her fingers together, with a worried look. Then Dorian jerked his head up and looked at Valerie, so suddenly that we all looked at him and Valerie with alarm.
“What’s wrong?” I asked with concern. Their auras had changed colors.
Valerie and Dorian exchanged looks, but remained silent.
“Oh, come on you two. You can’t do that and not tell us. Tess, what are they thinking?” Russell demanded.
“They are not telling me,” I responded.
“Well, what good is your gift, then, if you can’t tell us what others are thinking?” he teased.
“I can only do it if they want their thoughts to be read. All I can discern right now is their aura.”
“So…what does their aura say?” Russell said, now with irritation.
“It says that they are…sad.”
“Sad?” Alex said, as he glided over with a large indigo colored book in his hands.
Russell looked back at Valerie with impatience, then back at Dorian.
With hesitation Valerie explained. “This might be the last time we are all together again. Here I mean.”
“What, in heaven?” I asked.
“Our assignments are coming as we speak,” Dorian continued.
I looked at Alex, uncertain of how I felt about this, and he returned the same look to me.
“Don’t worry, we’ll still see each other, but our clan…we won’t be together like this again,” Valerie said with a sadness I had never detected in her.
“Well…not for a long time anyway. There will be other times, right Val?” Dorian corrected.
Looks were exchanged all over the room. They expressed things we couldn’t utter. An eternity seemed too short a time right now. Ever since we had come together as intelligences, we had all been together. The first beings I saw with spiritual eyes were those that surrounded me now.
“Tess, you’re up!” Dorian said, and turned his head to one side. We all turned to see what he was talking about and quickly got our answer.
She walked as a lioness would on all fours and with the grace that only a feline would possess. Her eyes were set on me, and for a moment I felt like her prey, but then I read her intentions.
She stopped right in front of me, sat back on her hind legs and raised her upper body upright. In this half sitting position she was as tall as Russell. If she were to stand on her hind legs she would no doubt tower over us all.
Her face looked human, yet slightly feline. Her hair was gold, mane like, and fell in long thin dreads below her shoulder blades. Her face was pleasant yet serious.
“Hello,” she said, ignoring our stares.
Still under the spell of the shock, we managed to mumble some form of greeting.
“I am Dayspring and I’ve come for you, Tess,” she said succinctly.
Alex looked at me with distress and I looked back at him a little apprehensively.
“Don’t worry, Alex, you’ll see her again. In fact, I’m sure you’ll work together in some of the Angelic Missions that lie ahead,” she assured. Her knowledge of who we were was a little disconcerting.
I mustered the strength to stand up, but I couldn’t turn to say good-bye. I knew that my resolve would fail me if I did that.
“I’m ready.” My voice broke a little as I said this. Alex grabbed my hand and squeezed it once.
“I’ll see you soon.” I told him, and his thoughts were too much for me to process at this time, so I disconnected before I melted into a heap of nerves.
Seeing that I was ready, she nodded her head to the group as a farewell, put her arms down and walked out of the room in the same fashion that she had walked in.
When we were out of the Angelic Missions mansion, she asked me to get on her back and I did so with some reservation. She ran on all fours at an incredible speed for a short distance and when she gained enough momentum, she leapt into the air, unfurled her wings, and began her ascent. I could have flown next to her, but not at the same speed. This was the fastest I had ever flown!
“Do all spirits who want to be Angels get to be trained by a Seraph?” I asked, trying to make conversation.
“No,” she said with a touch of amusement in her voice.
“Why me?”
“You’ve been chosen,” she said.
“Chosen?” I asked, but got no answer.
She kept flying upward and out of the spirit world that had been my home since Earth was created.
“Where are we going?”
“To the Kokaubeam galaxy—the closest galaxy to the Eternal’s own planet—and the oldest. It is also my own galaxy.”
We flew at a tremendous speed, stars and suns looked like streaks as we passed them. Yet on Dayspring’s back it felt like we were on a leisurely ride around the world.
“Here we are. Shinehah.”
“The sun world…isn’t it your planet?”
“It is.”
This world was an ancient world, yet it looked perfect and new. It was now inhabited by immortal Seraphs, all of whom had been through the same process of evolution that I was about to embark on.
Like all mortals, planets die and go through a process where they come back to life in an immortal and perfect state. Currently on Earth one could find weeds and plants with thorns, even poison. Not here. The whole planet was like a perfect paradise, no thorns, no weeds, no pests—everything bloomed on its own accord as it should. The seasons came when they were supposed to and all creatures lived in perfect peace and harmony. From above I could see all the villages, towns, and cities, they were full of Seraphs going about their business, yet when they saw us flying overhead, they looked at us with curiosity.
“Why are they so surprised to see you?”
“It’s not me they are surprised to see. Humans don’t usually come here—never actually.”
“Oh…I didn’t realize…why is that?”
She found this humorous and chuckled a little. “I guess it’s because most humans don’t know we exist. And those that do are too busy with their own planets to visit us.”
“So a human could come if they wanted to?”
“Certainly! Seraphs love humans, but I’m afraid that a lot of Seraphs tend to view humans as cute little toys, rather than sentient beings.”
“Really…why is
that?”
“Well, the size for one, then the fact that we are older…wiser…more experienced.”
That was interesting. Here we were speculating about them, seeing them as “creatures” rather than intelligent, even superior, beings.
“Do Seraphs see themselves as superior to Humans?”
“No, not superior. Perhaps at some point we might have felt this way, but not anymore. Seraphs used to think too much of themselves, and that’s what got us into trouble in the first place. I’d like to think that we have all evolved past that by now, and that we see all of the Eternals’ creations as equals. You see, Seraphs started out as intelligences, just like you. The only difference is that we were housed in different shells than Cherubs and Humans. Perhaps the Eternals will at some point decide to make other species of humanoids, and when They do, those creations will be our equals too.”
We landed on a hilltop that overlooked a vast city. I dismounted and she shook her torso swiftly. She tucked her wings neatly behind her back and sat on her hind legs.
“I am sure you are wondering why I brought you here.”
“I am.”
“Good! There are a few reasons…one of them is that I haven’t seen my nephews in a very long time…” She smiled a crooked smile and then shook her head, untangling her long dreadlocks.
I just stared at her, not knowing whether she was serious or not.
“And the Eternals want me to train you, because like I said earlier, you have been chosen to perform an important task.” She said this with a more serious demeanor. She waited for all that to sink in then asked, “Tess, do you remember anything about your existence as intelligence?”
“No, I don’t.”
“You were a very unusual intelligence, Tess. In fact, you were not just you,” she said while she eyed me cautiously.
* * * * *
Chapter 19
I looked up at her alarmed. What could she possibly mean by that?
Dayspring looked at me with almost pity in her eyes. “The intelligence that the Eternals encountered was extremely unique. So unique, in fact, that they had only encountered one such case before. But even that case was different from this one. You see, this intelligence was dual, or had two consciousnesses. One was the predominant consciousness, and the other one, at that time, was weaker. How or why this phenomenon happens, I don’t know so don’t bother to ask,” she said as she gathered her dreads to one side of her face.
“I didn’t know that was possible,” I whispered, more to myself than anything.
“Like I said, it is very rare, but they had seen it before. You see, the Eternals don’t create intelligences, they just give them form. Intelligences exist everywhere and all around us. We may not see them as such, yet they are intelligences none the less.
“For instance, animals and beasts are intelligences, lesser than humanoids, but intelligences still. All matter, in fact, has a level of intelligence, the Eternals know how to organize matter and give it a form. Do you follow me?” She peered into my eyes, then I realized that she was trying to discern my thoughts. She seemed to struggle with it, so I smiled and opened my mind so she could discern my thoughts easily.
“As I was saying, the intelligence that you used to be was different, and in fact it was twin intelligence.”
“Wait! I have a twin?” I said eagerly. All kinds of thoughts crowded my mind. If I was a twin that meant I had a sister, and if I had a sister…then I would never be alone!
“Whoa…slow down! You are getting ahead of yourself.” Dayspring moved her arms in front of me. “Just hear me out, OK.”
I nodded.
“You did have a twin, but that is no longer the case.” She looked at me warningly before I could start a fresh tangent. “Let’s go back a bit. The intelligence that the Eternals found was called Agathess. She was dual, as I told you, and she was in trouble. The Eternals had encountered one such intelligence before, my brother and I. We had to be separated as well, thus becoming two. But unlike Agathess, we were very close.”
Did she really say Agathess? I felt numb, and agitated all at the same time, but I tried to keep it together and hear her out.
“OK, before you start to have a meltdown, let me finish,” she said, hoping to get a sign of acknowledgment from me. I nodded again, and she continued.
“After much debating and thought, the Eternals decided to separate the two consciousnesses because they were so opposite to each other. They feared that if they didn’t act, both would be lost with the internal struggle. Agathess was definitely two extremes in one mass, and it was bound to end badly for her. So before formation, they decided to attempt that which had only been done once before.”
“With you and Daystar?”
“That’s right, but our differences were that he was male and I female. In a way it was easier to separate us. But for Agathess, the difference was in natures, character, and disposition—all very hard distinctions to make in separation. But it worked! And once the separation was complete, from Agathess emerged Agatha and you, Tess.” She smiled as if the information she was giving me was a pleasure to hear.
“Was Agatha the predominant consciousness?”
“Yes, she was, but give yourself more credit, Tess. She had the advantage and you didn’t. In fact, the Eternals feared that you would not survive the separation at all, because you were so underdeveloped.
“But you managed to survive, even though Agatha didn’t make it easy for you. She takes pleasure in seeing others suffer, especially you.” She shook her head. “I will never understand that. She purposely kept you isolated from other intelligences and from stimulus that would help you evolve and learn.
“Meanwhile she became a follower of the Second One, who found her torturous pastime amusing.” She rolled her eyes with contempt. “This continued for a while but then something remarkable happened. Another intelligence figured out what was going on, and somehow contrived a way of getting you out of her control.”
“Alex,” I said, grasping onto what seemed like a fleeting memory. It had to be him. He could always find me.
“Yes,” she said, intrigued. “It was Alex. He and Russell organized the whole rescue.”
“So Russell can work miracles. Too bad he doesn’t remember,” I said more to myself than to Dayspring.
“Once you were no longer under Agatha’s control, you thrived. It was incredible to watch.”
“You watched me?” I asked surprised.
“Yes, the Eternals let Daystar and I watch. They thought it might be interesting for us, given our history.”
“Oh, I see.”
“You were great to watch, never a dull moment. You had a knack for going off by yourself and getting into trouble. You were on a mission to experience as much as possible with your new found independence. Better still was watching Alex trying to find you. He’s like your magnetic North, or you his…either way you are very, very fortunate to have him and the rest of your clan. They protected you during that time when you were very vulnerable.”
“Yes, I am fortunate,” I said. My mind was too full of emotion to say anything more. “So what’s this special mission that I have to be trained for? Is she going to be my sister in mortality?”
“I don’t know about that, Tess. That is the Eternals’ territory, not mine.” She turned her gaze out toward the city below, but looked at nothing in particular. “They want me to prepare you. They believe that only you can have a positive effect on her—if you get stronger. Apparently, only you can keep her from the evil that she is capable of.”
“But…what if…” I was going to say, what if I don’t want to spend mortality with her, what if I want nothing to do with her, what if I can’t be a good influence, what if I fail? But I didn’t, I couldn’t say it—Agatha and I were inexplicably tied to each other, and deep inside I felt that she was my responsibility, and I had to try.
Dayspring discerned my thoughts and smiled. “Come on, follow me,” she said and then
turned and started running on all fours toward a meadow.
We came upon three half grown seraphs, who were wrestling each other. Dayspring pounced on them and joined the fight as soon as she saw them. It didn’t take her long before she had them all tied up with their own tails and roaring with laughter on the ground. When they looked over and saw me standing there they quickly stopped laughing and looked over at Dayspring for answers. She told them who I was as she untied them, and they eyed me suspiciously. Once they were free from their own bonds, they paced around me in circles with curious eyes.
“Is it a full grown human?” one of the young Seraphs asked.
“She has a name, Gimel!” another boy protested. “You do, don’t you?” he asked with his face inches away from mine and enunciating every word slowly and carefully.
“T-e-ss,” I responded, imitating him. I meant to be sarcastic, but he didn’t get it and took it as encouragement to keep talking to me that way.
“See! T-e-ss, very nice name,” he said, smiling at me.
“So…is it fully grown, or what?” Gimel asked again.
“She looks grown, but not old,” the third seraph commented.
I looked for Dayspring, hoping she would intercede, but she was down the lane, greeting another female, the mother of the boys I surmised.
“Tess, you idiot! Her name is Tess!”
“All human spirits are made to look like a human in their prime. However, you are not yet fully grown,” I pointed out, trying to take charge of this degrading conversation. They were taken back by my fluid and coherent speech, and remained still with their mouths slightly open, while they processed the new information.
“Sorry, we got off to a bad start. My name is Corban and these are my brothers Gimel and Shomer—they are idiots, so don’t mind them,” the seraph who was closest to me said with a smirk.
“You boys leave the poor spirit alone! She hasn’t even lived yet! She must be scared out of her mind,” the female who was talking with Dayspring said.
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