The Rise

by Nathan Parks

  “Megan! Stop! You stay here with your daughter!” He looked up at Zarius and Leah. “Keep her here!”

  He rushed back into the room where Serenity was demanding Legion to address her.

  “Legion, he is not yours!” referring to the young boy.

  She gasped as Lano’s body was flung across the room, hit the wall, and fell to the floor. There was still a battle of which form would prevail.

  “Is that Victoria? How?” Chad was mind-blown at what he was watching.

  Serenity would not take her eyes off Legion, but answered, “The only thing I can think of is that whatever it was that she used to take out Legion actually fused them together.”

  “But we had her body! We buried her!”

  “Her physical form only.”

  Growling came from the twisted, limp body of Lano; and then there was a voice that the two recognized quickly.

  “Free me!”

  “Legion, you are not welcome here. You were defeated.”

  “Free us.”

  “Free you? We are going to put you away for good!” Chad growled back.

  Serenity looked at him with annoyance, “Really? You have to growl like him?”

  “Hey, when in Rome . . .”

  “Whatever!” She rolled her eyes as she addressed the demonic presence in the room, “You were not invited in by the young boy! You are not welcome here!”

  The duo felt nauseous as they watched what appeared to be a ripping separation of the two figures that had been fighting for dominance in the same void of space. The figure of Victoria began—for lack of better definition—to shred away from the young boy. Lano’s body lay in a motionless pile up against the wall; and a form of Victoria now stood in the middle of the room, her long, dyed, red hair seemingly being blown around by an unseen breeze. The figure was dressed in a mid-thigh, black latex dress. Her eyes were dark but powerful.

  Chad motioned for Serenity to get Lano. She rushed over and picked up the unconscious body of the boy. While she did that, Chad focused on Legion.

  “Victoria, any chance you are there?”

  The hair on his arms stood up as the female figure in front of him hovered above the floor and raised her arms at waist level. As she did, a black mist formed around her. This took the shape of a congress of ravens. The room filled as Serenity stumbled through the doorway and out of the room, carrying Lano.

  “She is here, but so are we.”

  “Thanks for the obvious, Sherlock!” Chad chided. “I want to talk with Victoria.”

  “She is us now. You talk with us, then you talk with her.”

  “I will not talk with you until I have had a chance to talk with her.”

  The ravens kept diving at Chad. They were not quite touching him; and he stood stoically, unflinching.

  “What do you want, Legion?”

  “World peace, don’t we all?” she said flippantly.

  “Well, at least you have her sense of sarcastic humor,” he thought to himself as he stood defiantly.

  Eve still stayed outside the room, trying to help Serenity revive Lano. Megan was a picture of motherly love and fortitude as she kept her wits about her, attempting to work on her son. As Eve assisted, she felt an overwhelming sense of dread and fear. Fear was not something she had felt in a long time, but it was overtaking her senses. It was almost as if she could feel every nerve ending in her body burning, and she just wanted to run. She held her stomach as the gastric fluids began to burn inside her.

  “I bind you to the Abyss!” Chad yelled out to Legion.

  As he said this, he felt the talons of several of the ravens dig deep into the back of his neck and face. He refused to show any display of pain, but it burned like nothing he had felt before.

  “Did you hear me?”

  “You have no authority over me! You are a Mortal of minimal power!”

  Chad heard a noise behind him. Eve had fallen over, holding her stomach in clearly agonizing pain.

  “She is scared! She is afraid, Chad!” Eve yelled.

  He didn’t want to turn around to look at her. He was afraid if he took his eyes off Victoria, he would provide Legion a chance to surprise him with an attack.

  “What do you mean, Eve?”

  She tried to stand up and was able to pick herself up to her knees. She looked at Victoria.

  “You don’t scare me. I don’t care if you are Victoria or Legion, but I need you to know that I . . .”

  “I know who you are, Nephelium!” Legion spat.

  She became grounded again, and the ravens slowly faded into a dark mist and vanished all together.

  “You are a descendant from Rephaim, daughter of Einar and Ase.”

  She stood stunned. Her shock did not come from the idea that Legion would know her but, instead, that for the very first time in her existence she heard the names of her parents.

  “How?”

  “I can tell you so much.”

  Chad watched as it appeared that Eve had become entranced and mesmerized by Legion. He wasn’t liking what he saw. He stepped in front of her.

  “Eve, he is a deceiver; don’t listen!”

  She ignored Chad and tried to walk past him. He refused to stand aside. With one, quick and powerful move, she slammed both fists into his chest, sending him flying backward.

  “You do not control me or tell me what I should or should not do!” she screamed.

  From outside the room Leah had caught on that the energy had changed, and she turned her attention from Lano to what was taking place inside the room. She watched as Chad went flying backward. She hurriedly stood up and rushed into the room as she watched Eve stand within reach of Legion.

  “Stop, Eve! Chad is right!”

  As she entered into the room, Legion’s attention was distracted. He looked up and saw the Vapor. A hideous grin spread across Victoria’s face. She vanished into a mist and reappeared in a split second in full-on attack mode in front of Leah.

  The Vapor was not a newbie to supernatural battles, and she blocked the incoming swing from Legion. Leah followed it up with a right hook into Victoria’s side. Legion howled and let out a snarl. Before he could regather himself, he felt a searing pain in his back. He swung his right elbow backward, and it connected with Eve’s jaw. She fell backward, but kept her footing. Leah quickly swept Victoria’s leg, and Legion lost his balance, falling to the floor. No time wasted, Eve took the blade that she had plunged into Victoria’s back and came down with a hard strike straight into the figure’s chest.

  The loud fighting had brought Gabriel and Nemamiah running from the Command Center where they had been updating Ki and the Sanctum team. They both rushed into the room as Eve’s knife found its mark. They watched as Legion screamed.

  Both of the Council members pushed Leah and Eve out of the way as they each quickly took position on either side of the writhing Demon. They outstretched their arms toward each other. Each had a pair of translucent wings that began to form from their backs. Their wings wrapped around to the front; and the edges of them touched, creating a canopy that blocked the view of all others as the wings became a solid white. The duo began to chant in an ancient language with which even Zarius and Leah were not familiar. A glow illuminated the room.

  “What are they doing?” Megan asked Isaiah as he kneeled next to her.

  “I don’t know. Never seen anything like it. The scripture has a reference to a similar scene, but I have no idea what they are doing. I just know the Ark of the Covenant supposedly has a statue on top of it that is described like what they are doing.”

  As the two Archangels continued to chant, Megan found the hallway begin to fade. It felt as if she was being transported away. She found herself almost in a dream state, surrounded by light. In front of her, a figure appeared; and she immediately felt tears streaming down her face as she recognized her.

  “Eden, please, my son.”

  “I will take care of him, Megan.”

  The being’s words sl
owly sank into Lano’s mother. She could not control the sobbing. It rushed out like water from a broken cistern. Her whole body shook as she held her son in her arms and rocked back and forth.

  “You promised me that my children would change the world!”

  “I did not lie, Dear.”

  “His time is not up! He hasn’t changed the world!”

  “It is not in the understanding of Mortal minds how, what, or who changes the world, Beautiful Mother. The ways of the universe cannot be fully comprehended.”

  “No, no, no! Please! NO! Do not take my baby boy. Please, Eden! Take me. I have lived my life. If my only contribution to the world is my children, then allow that; and allow me to sacrifice myself.”

  There was a brief expression that crossed over Eden’s face as Megan knelt before her, broken, holding the body of her son.

  “The selfless act of the mother laying down her life for her child is one written within the manuscripts of time and space. It stirs the masses and raises up the fire within warriors.”

  “I will do it. I have lived my life. Please . . . I am begging you . . . please! Allow him to live his life.”

  Eden knelt down and cradled Megan’s chin in her right hand. Her tears were forming a pool in Eden’s hand.

  “Precious Daughter of Light, how pure and strong you have become. You have faced adversity after adversity. What if I told you that you would be able to once again have another child?”

  Megan looked deeply into Eden’s eyes.

  “Another child would be a gift, but another child would be their own joy and beauty to the world. To a mother, a child is her life. Each has their own unique puzzle piece that fits within the heart of a mom; and if that piece is lost, the masterpiece is never complete.”

  With her other hand, Eden softly brushed the young boy’s hair back and looked down upon his face. She removed her hand from Megan’s face and dipped her index finger into the small collection of tears. Gently . . . and even motherly . . . she brushed the boy’s forehead with the precious liquid. She then looked up at Megan.

  “Who will take care of him?”

  “There are people. He and his sister have more family than they can even imagine.” Eden smiled and held out her hand as she continued softly, “Come walk with me. It is time to find rest from the chaos that has been your life.”

  Megan looked one last time at her son and then back up at Eden.

  “My son?”

  “He will have others; and if they are as close as you say they are, they will let him know how much you loved him.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  She bent down and gently kissed Lano’s forehead several times.

  “I love you, Son . . . always have . . . always and forever.”

  Chapter Forty-Four

  The team was focused on the ritual being performed by Gabriel and Nemamiah. The glow began to fade, and the two Council members stepped away. As they did, everyone held their breath . . . and then were shocked at what they saw.

  Nemamiah knelt down and helped Victoria sit up.

  “Young Lady, live and live well. This is your life to live with passion and success.”

  “What the . . .” Chad expressed trying to fight for words.

  Tori stood up and found her legs slightly unstable.

  “What happened? Did we win?”

  Serenity stepped forward and threw her arms around the teenager.

  “We did . . . or at least I think we did.”

  She looked at the two Council members.

  “The ritual we performed is ancient and can be carried out only by a member of the Council. Even in that, it can only be done once by anyone who holds a Council seat. It cuts to the very life source of the Fallen. The segments of Legion are gone—destroyed—in other words, permanently removed from existence.” Gabriel looked at Tori, “So, yes, we won, but you need to understand that you are not what you remember. Your physical existence was destroyed.”

  “What? Wait . . . I died?”

  The teenager stepped back and steadied herself against Serenity.

  “You did; and in some ways, you still are you but now as a spiritual being living in the world that you once resided in as a physical being.”

  “Come again?” Serenity asked as she reached out and touched Tori. “She doesn’t feel like a poltergeist to me.”

  Gabriel laughed, “Yet another myth of Mortals making an attempt to describe that which they do not know. She is supernatural, but not Angelic.”

  “Wow, thanks!” Tori snickered.

  “Tori!” a young voice yelled out.

  Each member of the team turned with smiles on their faces as they heard Lano’s voice. He pushed through them to stand beside his sister who was currently holding Isaiah’s hand. She had not spoken a word since she had been dragged from the room, but she did brighten up when she saw her brother. The young boy didn’t stop to stand by her, though; he ran past them all and gave Tori a huge hug.

  “I didn’t lose you!”

  He smiled a big boyish grin.

  “No, Little Man, I guess you didn’t.”

  She bent down and returned his hug. He pulled back and looked at her with a face of innocence.

  “My Momma is sleeping; but when she wakes up, we can ask her if you can take Lada and I out for a walk.”

  His statement made Eve turn in confusion to see where Megan was. The group standing inside the door blocked her view, so she pushed through to see her once-best friend lying peacefully up against the wall, her eyes closed and body motionless.

  “Megan! No!”

  She rushed over and immediately checked for a pulse, but there was nothing.

  She turned back to the Archangels, “Can you do something? Can you bring her back like Victoria? Please!”

  “We can’t. We used the ritual on Tori, so we will not be able to do it again.”

  Lano walked up to Eve and put his hand on her back.

  “She is with Eden.”

  “What?”

  “She asked Eden to take her instead of me.”

  Eve wilted. She embraced Megan and held onto her. She wouldn’t cry because Megan wouldn’t have wanted that. She didn’t want to dwell on the thought that she had thought for five years that she had lost her best friend only to find out that she had not. No, regret would not bring her back; and it would distract her. She gently released her friend’s body and kissed her.

  “Rest, My Friend. We will take it from here.”

  She stood up and took Lano by the hand. She looked into the faces of the twins as Lada walked up and took her other hand.

  “I will tell you so many stories about your mother, but what I want you to know right now is that your mother was the best sister a girl could have.”

  * * * * *

  “I remember being in the room with Legion and knowing that I was gone—done. I felt my life slipping away, and I knew that I couldn’t let him take out anyone else.”

  Victoria relived what she remembered from the fight with Legion that had taken her life.

  “I activated the grenade thing you gave me, and I felt a searing flash of pain. Everything was extremely bright as if I had been placed inside light itself. I heard voices but none that I recognized . . . and then imagine if you were in the brightest room ever and in one corner you started watching as a gray shadow appeared. The gray began to slowly seep into the white . . . similar to what it looks like when a paper towel begins to soak up a spill. The more it soaked into the room, the darker the gray became. Soon I found myself standing basically in a spotlight . . . and then total darkness.

  “In that darkness I could hear the scurrying of footsteps all around me, then laughter. It was all around me . . . and yet, not. I realized that I was once again facing Legion head on, but something was different.

  “Soon, I felt scratching and clawing at my skin. I fought back this time. The difference that I felt was fear—not necessarily fear within me but outside of me. He was scare
d. We fought for what seemed forever, but soon I became tired and exhausted. I felt a rush of attacks that must have knocked me unconscious—well, if that can happen to someone who really isn’t alive in the first place.

  “He possessed me again. I still fought and I never fully gave up to him; and that is when I first saw Lano.”

  “You saw Lano?” Eve inquired.

  “Yes,” Tori nodded. “He was bathed in a soft light and was playing by himself. He talked into the shadows, and another young boy’s voice answered him. The light in which he was playing would vanish often, and then he and the light would reappear . . . but each time, I saw that Lano changed. He was becoming more of a shell of a child.”

  “Legion was preparing him for possession!” Zarius angrily stated as he slammed his fist down on the Command Center table.

  “I believe he was. I didn’t understand any of it, but I knew that there was no way I was going to let Legion get that little boy. When I tried to get to Lano, he would vanish; but each time I tried, I saw that I was able to get closer to him. However, I just couldn’t get his attention.”

  “Did you ever see Lano being harmed by Legion?”

  “Yes. These black ravens would come out of the dark and attack-fly at him, scratching him.”

  “That would explain the injuries we found on him; and if Lada got close enough to Lano when Legion was attacking him, she got the overflow of the fight,” Leah spoke out loud but more to herself than to the other two.

  “Time didn’t matter. I felt that I had been gone for so long—at the same time only minutes. Then I saw Legion step out of the darkness and grab Lano. The screams that began to come out of that little boy I will hear forever.

  “This lasted for a few minutes, and then Legion started talking into the darkness. Everything went black, but the screaming still echoed all over. Then, it was as if someone woke me; and I was looking up into the faces of Gabriel and Nemamiah.”

  Zarius let out a long breath, “Well, in whatever form we get to have you, we are thrilled to have you back, Tori. I wish I could say you have returned to bliss and quiet, but that is far from the truth.”

  “Yeah, Serenity and Chad told me a lot about what you all are dealing with.” She looked at them both, “May I go lay down for a bit? I’m so tired, and my body hurts.”