by Jorge Silva
“Why not?”
Ignacio stood up and began to climb the stairs.
“Do you think it’s alright to tell your mother that you invited a friend over to stay the night?”
Gabriel said yes without thinking much of it. It seemed like a good excuse.
Except that he didn’t have any friends.
4
Gabriel thought that it would be impossible to sleep, but he realized that he had been wrong when his alarm woke him up. With his eyes still closed, he thought that what had happened last night had been a dream, but when he opened them he saw Ignacio sitting on the floor, dressed in his school uniform. His wet hair showed that he had already showered.
Gabriel had gotten used to having cereal every morning, but today was different. His mother served them pancakes covered with syrup, while she smiled as she hadn’t in a long time.
She didn’t ask many questions about Ignacio spending the night, and she also didn’t question that he had arrived after she had fallen asleep. In fact, she didn’t even bother to comment about the stains on the carpet. Gabriel could guess the reason. The only thing that mattered to his mother was that, after such a long time, her son had a friend.
Ignacio poured himself a second cup of coffee while he spoke with her. Gabriel noticed that he gave his pancakes to Night under the table.
Gabriel hadn’t exchanged this many words with his mom since the funeral and he was quickly reminded of why.
“Perhaps you don’t know, because you just started at his school this year,” she said to Ignacio, while she stopped washing the dishes for a moment. “But last year Gabriel’s father died of cancer.”
She explained how they had discovered the illness too late, when there was nothing that could be done. How Gabriel had gone to the hospital every day after school, just to play guitar for his dad.
“Every night, before bed, Gabriel knelt in his room and prayed for his father to recover.”
Gabriel got up, annoyed with his mother, who talked about the death of his father every time she got a chance. Wouldn’t it be easier for everyone if she never brought it up? With great effort, he resisted the desire to make her cry and only said, “And it didn’t do anything, because God doesn’t exist.”
He climbed the stairs and went to take a shower. Even though his parents’ marriage had fallen apart a few years earlier, and Gabriel only saw his father on Sundays, it had still hurt to lose him. They had shared a love for music and animals and, according to his grandmother, also shared the trait of being distracted in school.
While he got dressed, he tried to make sense of everything that Ignacio had told him the previous night. The beings from Otherworld were looking for him because of what he carried inside, but he still didn’t understand the importance of the Phoenix. The only thing that Ignacio had told him was that they needed to go see someone named Tiberias, but Gabriel still didn’t know why; he was beginning to feel the weight of so many unanswered questions. Although, he was used to it after neither the doctors nor his mother could explain with total honesty what happened to his father.
By the time he went downstairs, his mother had already left for work. She had left them both a packed lunch and a note saying how happy she was that he had made a new friend.
Ignacio was sitting in the same armchair as the night before.
“You’re wrong,” he said, getting to his feet and heading for the door.
“About what?”
“He exists.”
“Oh?” said Gabriel.
Without turning around to look at him, Ignacio continued, “But He doesn’t listen to us.”
5
“How much longer?” asked Gabriel, trying to warm up.
Ignacio had said that they would have to go to another city, almost one hundred kilometers to the Southwest, where Tiberias lived in hiding.
He hadn’t wanted to respond to a single question until they were en route, and Gabriel was growing tired of his silence. He had agreed to follow him in part because he was confident that Ignacio could protect him; the stains on his carpet stood testament to that. But the most important reason was that Ignacio had assured him that if he stayed home he would put his mother at risk. Therefore, the best thing he could do for her was to leave.
Even though the trip would have taken just over an hour by bus, they went by foot. Ignacio explained that they couldn’t risk being attacked by Shadows in front of innocent people who could be injured in the encounter.
Gabriel blew on his hands and rubbed them together. It would be a long walk. On top of being cold and tired he was also terrified. It was a fear unlike any he had ever felt in his life. He was fifteen years old, his father was dead, and Shadows disguised as men pursued him.
“Why are you and the Shadows looking for the Phoenix?”
Ignacio, still walking, finally answered Gabriel.
“Do you recall what I told you about this Realm existing for humans and Otherworld for us?”
Gabriel nodded but said nothing.
“A long time after these two Realms were created, another was brought into being. The third and last of the Realms of Creation. One that also belongs to humans, but only upon dying.”
Gabriel’s heart began to beat a bit faster. Was it possible that his father still existed somewhere? Was there something beyond death? In the past few days he’d seen ashes turn back into paper, swords appear from nothing, and men dissolve in a mysterious fire. Why not believe in that?
“Heaven?” he asked.
Ignacio sighed. Gabriel saw how he shook his head, seemingly not knowing what to say. He walked a few steps farther.
“It has many names, but in your language they call it Hell.”
Gabriel stopped walking. Ignacio put a hand on his shoulder.
“We should get to Tiberias as soon as possible. He’ll be able to help us.”
Appearing strong in front of Ignacio didn’t matter to him anymore. Gabriel cried now, as he hadn’t since the burial.
“Are you telling me that my father is in Hell?”
Ignacio sighed again. Clearly this was a subject that he preferred not to discuss, but that didn’t matter to Gabriel. He needed to know. Lowering his head, Ignacio replied.
“Along with all the souls of the humans who have died.”
“Aren’t there good people? People who go to Heaven when they die?”
“What you know as Heaven is part of Otherworld,” Ignacio explained. He began to walk again; without looking back, he continued. “And He doesn’t let humans into His Realm.”
Gabriel ran to catch up. “You’re telling me that when we die all humans go to Hell? That we’re all condemned just because we are human?”
“You want to know why we’re looking for the Phoenix? It’s the only being in Creation that can enter and leave any Realm, including Hell. For some reason, Order doesn’t seem to block its passage.”
“And what does that mean?”
“Only you can answer that.”
Ignacio sped up and Gabriel followed him. Even though he tried to ask him more, especially regarding Hell, his classmate made it clear that he wouldn’t speak about it again until they reached Tiberias.
“Why? Why can’t you tell me anything else?” Gabriel pleaded, kicking a stone along one side of the path.
But Ignacio didn’t answer that question either, and continued walking in silence.
After a few hours, it started to rain, and soon they were soaked through. Gabriel looked at his watch again.
The sun had sunk behind the horizon, but he noticed that he could see fairly well in the darkness. Ignacio explained to him that because his soul had merged with the soul of the Phoenix, he would see the world the way that those from Otherworld saw it.
Gabriel looked around, searching for some other difference between his former sight and his newfound one. However, apart from the fact that his vision wasn’t limited by darkness, he couldn’t perceive anything out of the ordinary.
; “Isn’t it hard for you to sleep with so much light?”
Ignacio smiled and said, “In Otherworld we don’t sleep.”
Gabriel was about to ask him something else when he saw them. This time it was five men who appeared not to be touched by the light.
“Can you defeat five Shadows?” Gabriel asked him. Given the ease with which he had seen Ignacio defeat three of them, he imagined it wouldn’t be that difficult for him to do the same against five.
Ignacio summoned his sword and stepped towards Gabriel, offering him the hilt.
“Yes, but I think it’s better that you begin to remember,” he said with a smile. “I won’t always be able to be at your side to protect you.”
The Shadows were getting closer and closer. Gabriel took the sword and noted that it felt light in his hand. He couldn’t discern what material the blade was made of, as it was already alight with flame.
“I’ve never used a sword.”
“You haven’t,” said Ignacio, crossing his arms. “But the Phoenix has.”
Gabriel knew that the fight hadn’t been as graceful and quick as the one he witnessed the night before. The first strikes that he made were tentative, as he tried to remind himself that these weren’t men. They were Shadows. Beings from Otherworld.
Upon finding themselves under attack, the Shadows called forth black spears that they brandished with uncommon strength. Just like Ignacio, they could make their weapons appear out of nowhere. Without needing to think, Gabriel was able to block their attacks. It was as though something told him where to move, how to place his hands, as if his body remembered hundreds of fencing lessons and thousands of battles.
Yet it wasn’t only his ability with the sword that surprised him. He felt more agile and stronger than before, easily dodging the Shadows’ attacks and repelling their spears without trouble. He didn’t take long to defeat them.
Ignacio stepped up when the five bodies were on the ground. Once more, he placed his hands over each one, making them disappear in the fire that he seemed to control with his will. They hadn’t left more than a trace of dark stains on the highway, very similar to the ones that were left on the carpet the night before.
“Not bad. Although there were a few moments where they almost had you,” said Ignacio, holding out his hand for the return of his sword. “You’ll keep getting better as you permit yourself to listen to more of the Phoenix’s memories.”
Ignacio left the trail then, heading into the nearby forest. Gabriel followed him, distracted, mentally reliving his first fight. He was happy to have come out on top, and above all being able to use a sword as he had only done in his dreams. What would Emily think if she had seen it?
When they arrived at a clearing, Ignacio lit a fire. Even though they didn’t need light, the cold of the night was making itself felt and they needed to dry off.
“Try to rest. When you wake up we’ll get back on the trail and after a few hours we’ll reach Tiberias.”
Ignacio had loaned him his jacket to use as a blanket, but he was still shivering. He thought that his classmate hadn’t seemed at all uncomfortable due to the temperature. Did beings from Otherworld feel cold?
Before he fell asleep, he caught a glance of Ignacio turning around to put his shirt next to the fire to dry. On his back he could see two large scars. “Who could be powerful enough to hurt someone like him?” Gabriel thought.
6
For a second he thought that he was awake, since the first thing that he saw was a forest. But, in contrast to the place where they slept, this place was full of giant trees, much taller than any he had seen in his life.
Gabriel knew immediately that this wasn’t simply a dream. He was seeing something that had happened ages ago, something that the Phoenix had experienced.
He was standing in a small clearing. At his side he saw a winged being who wore grey armor and fought with a flaming sword in his hand. He realized that he was also carrying a sword that, like his armor, shone like the dawn. He turned his head, and could see that he too had wings.
A dozen men surrounded them, all covered in armor that appeared to be made out of leather, their faces filled with anger. They carried wooden spears, dull metal axes, and swords that, although they didn’t shine as his, appeared sufficiently sharp to accomplish their goal.
Even though they were severely outnumbered, he felt no fear. Next to him, the being in grey armor appeared to be smiling. With an impressive speed reached by their powerful wings, they threw themselves into the attack.
Gabriel woke up; his body was covered in dew, and he saw that Ignacio had already put out the fire and was ready to leave.
“I think you should call your mother.”
Between the threat of the Shadows and the search for answers from Tiberias, Gabriel had completely forgotten that he hadn’t told his mother anything. But what could he say to her? And how long would he be away?
“Tell her that you’ll stay at my house for a few days, and that you’ll go to school with me.”
“Days? I thought we only had a few hours left to reach Tiberias.”
“Yes,” said Ignacio. “But I don’t know if we’ll be able to return to your house. At least not right away.”
He felt so safe with Ignacio that he sometimes forgot how serious the situation was. He hadn’t thought about calling his mother. He had trusted what Ignacio had told him. While Gabriel wasn’t at home, while the Phoenix wasn’t there, his mother wasn’t in danger. But he couldn’t help but be afraid for her now. When it came down to it, the Shadows knew where he lived.
“Don’t worry about her. They’re not interested in a human like your mother, just in finding the Phoenix.”
“Does everyone read minds in Otherworld?”
“Some have that power. Very few.” Ignacio put on the jacket he had loaned Gabriel. “I don’t. I just understand the way that humans think.”
Gabriel took a few steps away and called his mother; she was furious with him for not having come home all night. Even though he tried to make excuses, he wasn’t very good at it, and his mother could tell that her son was hiding something from her.
“I’m going to stay with Ignacio for a few days... Yes, I’ll walk to school with him... I brought the books I need, don’t worry... No, I don’t know when I’ll be back. I’ll call you tomorrow... Mom... I love you.”
He hung up. What he’d told his mother while saying goodbye wasn’t a lie; he did love her. But since the death of his father, their relationship had made that difficult to see. He had more chores at home, and he rarely saw her, since she had to work much more than before to pay all the bills. Besides, he couldn’t help but think that if she hadn’t decided to divorce his father he wouldn’t have gotten sick.
They walked almost an hour without speaking. Gabriel had learned by now that Ignacio preferred silence, but he was very intrigued by what he had seen. He could no longer wait.
“I had another dream.”
Ignacio looked at him without saying a word and kept walking.
“There were a lot of people surrounding two winged beings. I think they were angels. In the dream I was one of them.” Ignacio stopped walking but remained silent. “The weird thing was that it seemed to be a battle between angels and humans. Aren’t angels supposed to protect humans?”
Ignacio started walking again at a faster pace.
“One of the angels was wearing grey armor and even though the people had weapons, he didn’t seem at all frightened. In fact, he was smiling.”
“Azrael.”
“Huh?”
“That’s what they call me.”
Ignacio spoke to him then about that battle, one of the many hundreds that occurred in the war between Yahweh, who the humans called God, and Lucifer, also known as the Devil. That terrible war was Armageddon. The humans had fought on the side of Lucifer. Among the combatants on Yahweh’s side were Azrael and Gabriel, two archangels, inseparable since their creation.
“My mother
named me Gabriel for the archangel.”
“I know, she told me while you were in the shower.”
“Did she tell you about the dream?”
Ignacio smiled.
“Indeed. How an angel had told her that she should name her child Gabriel. Although, to tell the truth, the message was that her child would be Gabriel. During Armageddon the Archangel Gabriel was destroyed, but he returned reincarnated as the Phoenix, the one being capable of flying between the Realms. Two thousand years ago was the last time that he joined with a human. Now he’s done it with you.”
“I’m the Archangel Gabriel?”
Ignacio pointed to his companion’s chest.
“You carry his soul, fused to yours. But you’re not him.”
Ignacio remained silent in front of the door to Tiberias’ house. Before he could ring the bell, the door opened, and on the threshold a provocative woman appeared. She looked at them for a moment, surprised, before shouting into the house, “There are some kids at the door!” as she walked out and got in her car without saying a word to them.
Ignacio gestured for Gabriel to enter. There appeared a man in his thirties, who was wearing nothing more than a robe. He looked at them attentively with eyes as clear as the sky, before breaking into an ample smile.
“Azrael!”
“Gabriel, this is Tiberias,” said Ignacio, who was also smiling.
“Gabriel?” asked the man, while he stared at him at length.
“Gabriel,” replied Ignacio, walking into the dining room and sitting down at the table.
Ignacio wasn’t human, but there was nothing about his appearance that made that evident. In fact, he had been Gabriel’s classmate and no one has suspected a thing. The only tip off that he was not like the rest were those eyes, something in them was ancient, more ancient than anything Gabriel had ever seen.
But Gabriel didn’t need anyone to tell him that Tiberias wasn’t human. There was something about him, in how he moved and spoke, that made it clear. It was as though he was disguised as a human being, pretending to be one without quite succeeding. Gabriel also noticed something familiar about him, something that worried him. Tiberias’ face remained dark despite the light that filled the room.