by E. S. Mercer
"Why don't you do it?” Noita muttered under his breath. “You are the almighty!” He knew his snarky comment was wrong the moment he said it. But, he couldn’t take it back and he now found himself levitating in midair, with an imaginary hand crushing his throat.
“I did not release your mouth for you to mock me,” Hyperion announced, letting him go. “Please remember that.”
“I won’t forget,” Noita said, rubbing his neck. “I just don’t understand what the purpose of this is and why I am the one doing it!” “I need her distracted and out of the way so I can do what needs to be done,” Hyperion replied. “Everything we have tried up until now has failed and I don’t need her stopping me.”
“Why do you need to destroy everything? What is the purpose of that?” Noita shot back, “What did any of those people out there do to deserve this?”
“Oh, that’s right,” Hyperion scoffed. “You love the mortals even more than my brother ever did.”
“And I don’t think any of this should involve them,” Noita replied.
“You wouldn’t understand if you tried,” Hyperion answered, arrogantly. “But I need her weak and this is the only way.”
He walked over to his throne and sat proudly. “Besides, all greatly laid out plans require a great sacrifice.”
He slouched a little bit, demonstrating a careless attitude towards it all. “I’ll never be able to defeat her as long as all this exists. To win, I must change the playing field.” “And we must die for you to get what you want?” Noita asked.
“Either by my hand or hers,” Hyperion responded.
“That makes no sense!” Noita cried, standing firm against his King. “She wouldn’t destroy us just to get to you! There is no need for any of this!”
“Maybe setting this in motion will be enough to weaken her and you might get lucky and survive it,” Hyperion scoffed. “Either way, I will win.” Noita sat back down and reluctantly got back to work. Hyperion insisted that he would know if Noita was not doing what he was tasked to do and would obliterate him if he tried anything, and the witch valued his life more than anything. So, he did what he was asked and hoped that somehow in the middle of it all, he could find a way to warn me without my father ever noticing.
*****
“Good afternoon sleepyhead,” Michael whispered as he kissed my forehead. “You’ve slept most of the day.” “You found me?” I asked, rolling over and jumping up to hug him. But as I opened my eyes and noticed my surroundings, I realized nothing had changed. “Nope,” I mumbled, “I’m stuck in this place.”
He pulled away confused and disappointed. “Stuck? You feel stuck with us?”
“No, that’s not what I mean,” I replied, adjusting the covers. “I just had a bad dream, that’s all.” I paused, confused by my own answer. I meant to explain exactly what I was feeling, but the bad dream excuse kind of just fell out of my mouth. He smiled, kissed me on the cheek and told me dinner was waiting for us. Gabriel had prepared a feast in honor of Leviathan’s visit and he couldn’t wait to eat it.
“Oh and it’s ok,” he said, leading me out to the dining room, “I expect you will have nightmares for a while after what you went through.”
“What did I go through?’ I asked.
He smiled again, ignoring my question and pulling my chair out while motioning for me to sit.
“I’m so glad to have Levi with us tonight,” my mother announced as I sat down. “I can’t wait to see him, it’s been so long.”
“We have dinners with Leviathan now?” I asked Gabriel, who was sitting beside me. “Is this new?” He slid his hand under the table and gently started stroking my leg. “You ask so many questions love. Just sit back and watch and things might come back to you.”
I gritted my teeth as the doorbell rang, just before I could tell him exactly what I thought about his reply. And even if I had tried to tell him, my mother’s screeching as she ran to the door would have drowned me out. While I waited for her to come back, I played around with the silverware, running my finger across the smooth cold silver, wondering why it felt so real. I could smell the aroma of the cooked duck in the oven and the warm rolls that sat in a basket in the middle of the table. As I took a sip of the water Gabriel handed me, I could taste the crispness of its purity with the hint of lime he had squeezed in it earlier.
“Maybe this is real,” I thought to myself. “I question it, but it feels real.”
“Look who is here!” Seraphine announced, coming back to the table.
As I turned around to greet him, I spit my water all over him and the woman he had brought with him. “Sabine?” I asked, bouncing out of my chair. “Is that you?” I wasn’t one hundred percent sure it was her, but underneath the perfectly styled hair, heavy layers of makeup and expensive couture outfit, I saw a face I was sure I recognized.
“You know my girlfriend?” Leviathan asked, handing Gabriel a bottle of wine. “Small world!”
He leaned in and hugged me as tightly as he could. “So glad to finally meet you sister.”
“We’ve met before,” I replied, agitatedly. “Recently.”
“Maybe in our dreams,” he chuckled, pulling back to look at me. “I can’t believe I am going to be an uncle!”
“Can I rub it?” Sabine asked, pushing her way in. “I just love pregnant bellies. I keep telling Levi I can’t wait to have one of my own!”
“Um, I guess,” I muttered, staring at her. “But what about Constantine and Ksenia?”
“Who?” she asked, looking at Leviathan. “Do you know who she is talking about?”
“No, not at all,” he replied, clapping his hands and turning to Seraphine. “I am hungry mother, let’s eat!” So as they started laughing and catching up, I sat quietly picking at my food and wondering how long this charade of a life was supposed to last. I might have bought the reality of it for a while, but as soon Sabine said she didn’t know Ksenia or her father, I knew I was some place I was not supposed to be.
“You seem preoccupied,” Leviathan remarked, reaching across the table to get my attention.
“Yeah, sorry,” I said, putting my fork down. “I’m just trying to make sense of things.”
“Of what?” he asked.
I started folding my napkin nervously trying to avoid eye contact. “Of all this, it just seems so surreal.”
“It is glorious! The fact that we can finally be a family again makes me so happy!” he said, getting out of his seat and coming towards me. Michael saw him coming and eagerly moved to allow Leviathan to sit next to me, who quickly leaned in to give me a hug. “None of this is real,” he whispered, pretending to kiss my cheek. “Father has taken me and mother prisoner to help make this dream seem real.”
“What?” I whispered back.
“He is manipulating us in our sleep,” he replied. “Just go along with it all until I can figure something out.”
“But mother…” I started to say.
“Don’t say anything to her,” he said, squeezing me tighter, “there is something off about her. She isn’t herself.”
“Are any of us really ourselves in this place?” I asked.
“No, but she really seems different, I just can’t put my finger on it.” he replied, heading back to his seat. After dinner, the men retired to the library for a drink as my mother and Sabine took to the kitchen to clean. I was instructed to take it easy, as my mother took me out to the sun room so I could prop my feet up and stare at the city as the sun went down. As she lifted my feet up to place a pillow under them, I looked over towards the bookshelf and noticed a door which seemed to be bolted from the inside.
“Where does that go?” I asked, pointing to it.
“Oh that?” she said, never looking up. “It was locked when we got here and we were never given the key. I think it leads to the basement.”
She handed me a cup of tea and a magazine. “Never thought to ask what was down there. Never really had a need to know.”
“Well, I want to know,” I re
plied, putting the tea down so I could try and get up. “I want to see if I can open it.” “You can’t!” she cried in a panic, pushing down on my shoulder. “I mean…” she stuttered, trying to gain her composure, “you are not supposed to be on your feet that much.”
“The door is six feet away, Mother,” I argued, trying to fight her grip.
“It’s far enough,” she scolded. “Sit and digest your food and we will try in the morning, ok?” she pleaded. “I promise I’ll help you figure it out.”
“Fine,” I said, grabbing the magazine. “But I’ll try and get it open with or without you.”
“I am sure you will,” she said, kissing my forehead, “you were always a stubborn one.”
*****
“How the hell are we going to wake him up?” Uriel asked, running her fingers through Gabriel’s hair. “None of us can heal him.”
“But he healed me,” Zara said, sitting in the back of the truck. “I was nearly dead.”
“What do you mean he healed you? We don’t have that power,” Uriel snapped.
“Oh, that’s right,” Zara whispered, slouching in her seat. “I forgot.”
“Forgot what?” Uriel demanded, turning to face her. “You better spill it child!”
“I can’t,” Zara answered. “It’s not for me to tell.”
Uriel adjusted Gabriel’s head on her lap and turned father around, “it’s not like he can very well do it, can he?”
Zara gulped as Uriel glared, waiting for an answer. “How do we know that what you need to tell us, doesn’t affect how we handle him?”
“You don’t,” Zara muttered. “You just have to take a chance.” Of course, that answer did settle with Uriel. They already had a tumultuous relationship and Zara’s secrecy was not helping the situation at all. But if she was going to tell anyone what she had found out, it sure wasn’t going to be their sister. Uriel bit her tongue, knowing that Zara wasn’t going to back down, turning back around and begging Ramiel to drive a little more carefully.
“I’m doing the best I can,” Ramiel barked. “There are just too many things popping up in the road to drive straight.”
“Well try harder!” she retorted, smacking the back of his seat.
“Oh, oh!” Michael cried, interrupting them. It took him a minute, but he realized what Zara meant. “Oh, my gods, it all makes sense!”
“What does?” Uriel begged.
“Everything!” he replied. He slid forward to make sure Raphael in the front passenger seat could hear him. “Gabriel is not Samiel’s son.”
Raphael and Ramiel stared straight forward in complete silence, trying to understand what their brother had just said, while Uriel on the other hand began flipping out about it. “That is ludicrous! Mother would never!!!” “Mother may not have had a choice,” Michael argued. “Hyperion always made it clear he had a thing for her.”
“That’s because he created her for him,” Raphael interjected. “When she turned him down, he made Seraphine to look just like her.” Ramiel took his eyes off the road to watch Uriel’s reaction in the rear-view mirror. The news may have shaken him a little, but her tantrums always amused him. Of course, he probably should have paid more attention, since buildings were popping in out of this realm sporadically.
He looked back at the road moments before a large stone building appeared twenty feet in front of them. “Brace yourself,” he cried, slamming on the brakes. They quickly locked up but the truck tires refused to stop, causing them to skid right into the side of the building.
They were all strong enough to keep themselves from flying forward, but little Zara, who was not wearing her seat belt, was launched over the back seats and straight into the center console and dash board.
But that wasn’t the worst part of it all.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Michael cried, climbing out of the vehicle. “Of all the buildings, in all the realms, on all the streets?”
“What the hell?” Ramiel added, following behind him.
“No, no, no, no, we can’t be here!” Uriel yelled out the window. “Get back into the truck and let’s go.”
“What is this place?” Zara asked, holding her head as Raphael helped her out of the truck.
“Our father lives here,” he answered. “We grew up here.” “And you aren’t afraid?” Zara asked, wiping the blood out of her eye.
“No,” he replied. “I’m not. I probably should be, but I’m not.”
“There is nothing to fear, I assure you,” Samiel said, coming around the corner. “I’m just as stunned by this as you all.”
Uriel, carefully laid Gabriel’s head on the seat and demanded that Zara to keep watch of him while she joined her brothers.
“Now that I’m here, I implore you to hear me out. I think it’s time we talk,” Samiel pleaded. “There is nothing to talk about,” Michael barked, drawing his sword. “Last time we saw you, you were handing us over to Leviathan, like we meant nothing to you.”
“I understand,” Samiel replied, bowing his head. “And I have no excuses, other than the fact that I was blinded by jealousy and rage. I lost myself to a horrible place.”
“And now you are cured?” Michael retorted.
Samiel took a couple steps forward to get closer to his son but Michael, still hesitant of his father, took a step back. “No,” Samiel replied, “I just realized that using my children was the wrong thing to do. Your mother would never have approved.”
Raphael walked up to Michael and gently pushed his brother’s sword down by his side. “What changed your mind?” “She did,” Samiel said, pointing to an empty space beside him. “She begged me to find a way to work together. She informed me that we need Gabriel to help us wake Evangeline.”
The siblings, who were now all standing together, turned and looked at each other with a little bit of confusion and a lot of concern.
“He is talking about Mother, isn’t he?” Ramiel whispered to Raphael. Raphael nodded, trying to look past the vacant space, hoping maybe he could see an apparition, or even an outline of someone standing next to Samiel.
“Please,” Samiel begged. “Please let me have Gabriel so we can wake Evangeline to help us.”
“You can’t have him,” Uriel blurted. “He is barely alive and besides, he isn’t even your son!”
Samiel looked passed his children, as Zara’s movement caught his eye. “She told you, did she?” he asked, pointing at her.
But Uriel answered with a question of her own. “Is it true?”
“It is,” her father replied. “But it isn’t his fault. We can’t blame him.”
“We don’t,” she barked. “Where is he anyway?” Samiel asked. “I need to speak to him.” Although they could see a genuine need in his eyes, none of them were quick to answer. They weren’t sure of his intentions and became less convinced of his need for peace as Lilith and her brothers come around the corner to join them.
“Back off!” Samiel ordered, seeing her out of the corner of his eye, “I need them.” “No, you don’t,” Lilith replied, watching as his children steadily became more defensive. Their posture was threatening and since she wasn’t too fond of them anyway, she welcomed a fight. “They have done nothing but cause you pain. My brothers and I have everything under control.”
“Please,” Samiel begged again, ignoring her. “Please let me see him. I will let you all come with me, so you can see my intentions are true.” “Do you still have Evangeline?” Michael asked. “The original, yes,” Samiel replied. “Since Hyperion has the copy, your brother is the only hope I have of waking her up. I need her to stop what he has set in motion. If she doesn’t you will all die!”
“If you do this, your father will ascend to the throne!” Lilith announced, suddenly realizing how an alliance might help. It wasn’t her first choice, but they could be a means to an end. “We will be able to take back what is ours!”
“We?” Uriel growled, creeping towards her father’s lover, “There is no we, wh
ere you are involved!” “We are only a couple blocks from the Manor,” Raphael declared, hoping to avoid a fight between Uriel and Lilith. “If you mean what you say, bring Eva to us and we will work together on getting her and Gabriel to wake up.”
“Fine,” Samiel agreed. “But I must ask, why are you refusing to tell me what condition he’s in? It’s not like I can’t figure it out!” “It would be a waste of time to tell you things you already know,” Michael cracked, walking away. “You have one hour or we’ll assume you don’t want our help.”
Samiel nodded as he turned around and waved Lilith off. “Please just stay out of all of this. You are going to ruin everything!”
“Why would I do that?” she asked, sheathing her sword. “You have been in no condition to lead. You need my help.”
“Not when it comes to my children,” he retorted. “That you stay out of!”
“Fine,” she said. “Do what you wish, but if the Praetorian’s attack, I will be the one leading the Praesidions against them.”
“Fair enough,” he replied. “But we will not need them if this works.”
Chapter XIV
The chaos around the Manor couldn’t drown out the sound of panic that resonated through its walls. Alstair had called upon the Annunaki soldiers to help aid the few remaining Praetorian guards they had on their side. With no understanding of what they were going to face, they awaited orders while speculating amongst themselves.
“Samiel has asked for our help,” Raphael announced, standing in front of the Renaldi’s, Renu and the Council. "I feel we should oblige.” “It may be your duty as his son, but we are under no obligation to help the Cimmerian,” Renu replied. “I served his brother once and look where that got me. I will not side with your father.”
“I am not asking for you to take sides,” Raphael retorted. “I am asking for you to allow him in so that he can provide us with what we need.”
“And that is?” Renu asked.
“Evangeline,” Raphael replied. “He is desperate to wake her and we need her. If we work with him, we can finally have her back.”
“How do you know she will be willing to work with any of us after all this?” Alstair asked. “Would you if you were her?”
