“But there is now?” I ask. “How did all those portal shards become that big mirror? It doesn’t look like it’s ever been broken.”
“I’ll get to that, but first you must understand that an oracle was born to this world, an angel who could hear the voice of God. All angels were always born and dwelled in God’s light, but none knew anything other than God’s goodness. They did not have any direction beyond that until the oracle came.”
“You?” I ask.
He raises an eyebrow. “Rynne or Valor must have told you I am the current oracle.”
I nod.
“However,” he says, carrying on, “I’m not the oracle who started the change in Ilenima. That oracle was my mother. She rallied the angels behind her and they set out to find every shard that makes up the completed Peacekeeper you see today. The shards melded together as if they were always meant to be one piece, and that is why the mirror appears faultless.”
“So now any immortal going into my world has to be screened by angels.”
“That is correct.”
“So Arsen and the other demons in my world have been there since before the Peacekeeper was pieced together?”
“For most of the demons in your world, that is the case. For Arsen, it is not. With the Peacekeeper under angel control, a war between angels and demons erupted. Angels won and brought with their victory peace and order. Demons began living their lives either in servitude to light or they were allowed to carry on as they have among themselves while under angel supervision and rule. All demons were kept under strict rules after the war.”
Bitterly, I ask, “Is there any point to demons? Why were they allowed to live if angels won? All they do is bring pain and suffering.” I place my hand over my crystals, feeling their warmth as I try to get rid of the unpleasant emotions that are interrupting the peaceful feelings I’ve found here.
“Genocide of any kind is far from God-like,” Cassius says simply. “And there is a balance to be kept.”
“But demons are only darkness, aren’t they? There’s nothing good about them. Why would anyone want them around?”
I feel this pit in my chest like a black hole. It’s all the hate I have for Arsen and what he did. Why should he or any other demon be allowed to live? They kill and hurt. Arsen killed my parents.
“Balance, Tasia. Demons were brought into this world alongside angels. Their presence is a part of this world’s balance. That is why they still exist. Even among humans there exist people so tainted by darkness that they are equal to demons and are as irredeemable. Once affected by a certain amount of darkness, there is no room for redemption. God tests those who profess to live only in the light with demons and the darkness that makes them up. Even angels,” he says with a dark undertone I’ve never heard in his melodious voice.
“Like, fallen angels?” I ask quietly. “Is that a real thing?”
“It is. An angel tainted by darkness to the point of no return has fallen, and there is no coming back.
“That sounds really unfair,” I whisper. “Why would God do something like that to the angels who serve him?”
“Not only angels, but the humans who serve and live in light as well. Those who would bend to darkness and then choose to dwell in it or even defend it are not worthy of God. The effects are different from angels to humans, but the result is the same. Humans are beings that can choose light or darkness. Angels are beings of light, but that light can betray them,” he says.
I shake my head. “This is a lot to take in, but you’re basically saying that if angels killed all the demons in their control, they’d be the ones paying the price because the demons aren’t disrupting any sort of balance. It would be an act of malice rather than an act in the name of justice or balance.”
“Yes. We do what we have to do to preserve the light.”
“Then how is my world so out of balance right now? Why are there so many monsters?”
“Your world is a large reason why the previous oracle, my mother, was sent to take charge of Ilenima. Demons were tainting your world to the point light was almost nonexistent, so my mother began by cutting off their access to it. That act alone trapped some demons in your world, but it kept many more out. However, those left in your world have continued to spread their evil by creating monsters, cursing humans with their demon blood, but most of those demons were wise enough to lie low after witnessing the power of angels. It wasn’t until Maelstrom came that balance was once again disrupted.”
“Maelstrom?”
“The demon who brought about a demon uprising while my mother was the oracle. He was also Arsen’s father.”
I frown. “What happened?”
“Another war. Though it was a much smaller scale, Maelstrom was very powerful, full of all the life he’d stolen from countless numbers of humans, angels, and demons. My mother fought and killed him, but she destroyed herself in the process. Arsen was newly born at the time. Enough blood had been shed, and he himself had not committed any crime, and so he was allowed to live with the other demons, under and in servitude to angels. However, he ended up following in his father’s footsteps, a series of events that led him to your world where he has stayed ever since, hunting angels there and keeping darkness strong.”
“Is Arsen really that powerful?” I ask.
Cassius nods. “And I don’t have the angels to spare to fight a war in the mortal world while keeping this one in balance.”
“That’s why you need our help,” I say. “The EEA’s.”
“Yes. You and the EEA will bring your world back into the light.”
I stare at my shoes, my toes barely touching the floor. “You said your mother was the oracle before you, and you said Maelstrom was Arsen’s father. If you’re immortal, how does all of that work?”
He replies, “We’re immortal in that technically we can live forever, but that does not mean we are impervious to death, and we are born much the same way you are.”
“Then is there even an afterlife?” I ask, thinking about my parents.
“There is, but the details are unknown even to me.”
I let my crystals tumble through my fingers as I feel their strange warmth wash over my skin.
“The crystals in Ilenima are capable of immense power,” Cassius notes.
“I know,” I say. “I don’t know where I’d be without these crystals. Thank you.”
“It’s not only the crystals themselves. It’s because of how they’ve been tamed. Your crystals favor and exude light, love, protection, happiness.”
“It’s too bad I’m such a nervous wreck,” I say with a laugh. “Even these crystals can’t help me all the time.”
“I can tune the white diamond to better suit your needs.”
I suddenly clasp my fingers around the heart-shaped diamonds, afraid of the idea of parting with either of them. He didn’t say I had to give either of them to him, but if he’s going to tune them… I don’t know what that means. All I do know is that if they aren’t on my person, their power seems to fade quickly.
“Do not fear,” Cassius says. “Unlike your world, this one is not haunted by the spirits of the dead. Even without your black diamond, you will not be bombarded by them. However, I only need to see your white diamond. Do not fear.”
As soon as he says that, I feel at ease and slip both crystals off my silver chain. Maybe the fact that ghosts don’t hang around here explains why as soon as I got to this place I felt unusually peaceful.
“You really don’t need both of them?” I ask as I hold my crystals out to him.
“Your black diamond is perfect already,” Cassius tells me, as he carefully plucks the white diamond out of my hand.
My black diamond heats up to the point it almost burns my skin when his hand is near mine, but it stops as soon as Cassius’s hand moves away with the white diamond. I look between Cassius and the black diamond. He’s only focused on the white one now in between his fingers. Like he didn’t notice anything. Didn�
��t he feel the heat too?
“I think this diamond wants you,” I say, feeling stupid right after saying it. Can crystals have feelings? The crystals from my world certainly can’t, but it’s not like I know that much about the crystals from this world.
Cassius glances at me as he rests the white diamond in his palm. “What makes you say that?” he asks.
I hold the black diamond out to him and feel it burn hot again. I take his empty hand without thinking, and place the black diamond in his palm. I immediately watch his face, searching for any sort of reaction. He looks at it, but he doesn’t react.
“Perhaps you are simply becoming more in tune with the power it was imbued with, the light it resides in,” he comments as he gives the black diamond back to me.
“Cassius,” I say as I rub the black diamond between my fingers, “If souls don’t mingle here, that means you really can’t tell me what happened to my parents, can you? I’ve been trying to find them, but I haven’t been able to. I find other souls instead. I thought for sure my parents would come to me if I opened up to that world. Why haven’t they?” Every time I talk about my parents, I feel like crying. It’s still such a fresh wound, like it happened yesterday. I try to ignore these feelings most of the time, but they creep up on me every now and then.
“I am sorry. We take care of the souls of the living. When one dies, that soul enters a new jurisdiction.”
“You really can’t help me find my parents,” I conclude.
“I’m afraid not.”
I feel a couple tears crawl down my cheeks. Hurriedly, I wipe them away, feeling embarrassed. Then I start babbling—a bad habit.
“I think they must have moved on,” I say. “They’ve had months to find me, talk to me. They could have stayed to reassure me, but they didn’t. They moved on. Maybe I should be happy, but knowing they didn’t choose to stay for me is probably what hurts the most.”
Cassius brings his hand to my cheek as he places his thumb under my chin, gently guiding me to look at him. “I understand your hurt. Losing those you love is painful. However, you are still moving forward. You being here, learning about your destiny, and being willing to help your world, will prevent what happened to you from happening to anyone else. Once demons are banished from your world, light will reign. No, it will not take away the pain of your loss, but it will fill a new space in your soul.”
“I do want to help everyone,” I say. “I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t at least try.” I pinch my black diamond in between my fingers. “Or maybe I’m just selfish. I joined the EEA originally because I wanted the strength to kill Arsen. I hate Arsen so much, Cassius. Does that make me a bad person?”
Cassius places his hand on top of mine, enclosing the black diamond between our palms. He says, “It does not make you a bad person, Tasia. You are human, and humans have much to learn. Your hate and anger toward Arsen is understandable, and you’ve just told me you want to help the other humans in your world. You are not a bad person.”
“How are you so warm?” I ask, noting his palm, and the black diamond as well.
“The warmth you are feeling comes from light.”
“It’s beautiful.”
I flush. Does it sound like I’m hitting on an angel? Oh, man. That totally wasn’t my intention. Besides, Rynne is the only angel I want…
“It is,” Cassius agrees, ignoring my obvious embarrassment.
“This whole place is warm,” I say.
“Because it is all light.”
Cassius takes his hand away from mine and hides the white diamond in both of his hands. Then he holds his hands flat together and places them in front of him as if in prayer.
“You said you feel anger and hatred for Arsen, but is that all you feel for him?” he asks.
“No,” I whisper. “Sometimes I get this weird feeling that… makes me wonder how I could ever hate him. Sometimes, I feel I might like or even love him. Stupid, right? He killed my parents. He’s done so many terrible things.”
Cassius presses his hands more firmly together, squeezing the white diamond trapped in them. He says, “It is not stupid. It’s his side of the bond at work. What do you feel for him right now?”
“I’m…” my voice breaks. “I’m feeling confused. Arsen saved me when those monsters almost destroyed everything. I would have died if he wasn’t there.”
“That was the work of your side of the bond,” Cassius explains. “It had nothing to do with what Arsen wanted.”
“You’re right,” I say. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“What you are thinking is only natural, but you must remember to hang on to the truth. You hold more power in this relationship. You are the one in control.”
He finally unclasps his hands, takes mine, and places the white diamond beside its partner. The white diamond practically burns my palm when it touches my skin, but it’s a welcome sensation that seems to clear my mind.
I am the one in control.
“Cassius, Rynne told me how he became an angel. Does a human have to be dying before an angel will even consider turning one of us?” I ask quietly.
“Not at all,” he replies. “That simply happened to be Rynne’s case. Why do you ask?”
“Would it be possible for you to make me into an angel too…? Someday. If I decided I wanted it.”
“If yours and Rynne’s love holds true and you both decide that is what you want, I will grant you that.”
“R-really?”
He smiles and says, “It is late.” He stands up in a smooth motion that doesn’t even cause the bed to bounce. “You need to rest.”
“I still have a lot of questions,” I say.
He turns to me. “I’m sure you do, and there will be time to ask them. Now rest.”
I fix my crystals back around my silver chain and pat the fluffy comforter. I ask, “Are you sure it’s okay for me to sleep here?”
“Certainly.”
I stand up and pull the comforter back, suddenly feeling tired as I look at the comfy bed. I can’t wait to cocoon myself inside. I think I’ll actually sleep all night, based on how peaceful I am feeling.
“If you would like a change of clothes while you sleep, you may borrow any of Valor’s in that closet. They won’t fit perfectly, but they’ll likely be more comfortable than what you have on,” Cassius informs.
“Valor’s?” I say, shocked. “You and Valor share this room?”
“Yes, she is my confidant,” he says quickly. “I will explain more to you later, but for now, rest.”
He glides over to the door before I can ask anything else. He opens and shuts it with hardly a sound, leaving me alone in this beautiful frosted glass room bathed in moonlight. I’m alone now, but it doesn’t feel like I am.
WHISPERS ABOUT WHAT happened last night have circulated throughout the base, making it impossible for me not to know that Arsen was here, practically at the front door. I guess some hunters got a peek at what happened and made sure to spread word quickly. Whether the purpose was to cause dissent or not, I’m not sure, but that seems to be what is happening.
Tasia is gone. The oracle came for her yesterday, and she was the one who apparently sent Arsen away. Now the hunters are wondering what’s going on and if she’s secretly an angel too. Many of them want out. All of this is too much for them.
Then there’s Miguel.
“Can you believe what’s going on here?” I hear him saying to a large group of hunters gathered in the gym where I’ve been trying to workout, but have been getting an earful of rumors instead. “These so called angels just waltzed in here and scared everyone into submission and now they’re making decisions on their own! They ‘took care of’ some demon outside yesterday, Arsen or whatever, but they didn’t kill him. The only good demon is a dead demon. What are they planning really? What if they’re demons themselves, trying to bring us false security before wiping us out?”
“Miguel,” Sherri says in a soft but chastising
tone, “If they wanted to kill us, wouldn’t they have done it already? And they don’t feel like demons or monsters or anything of the sort. Nothing that hurts those creatures bothers them at all either.”
“Whose side are you on?” Miguel scoffs.
“Yours mostly,” she retorts.
“I’m not comfortable with them here,” another hunter speaks up.
“None of us are,” Miguel agrees.
I decide I’ve heard enough. I’m sick of hearing them bicker back and forth. I told the confidant she needs to include humans more, give them their agency. I know she hasn’t been forcing anyone to do anything, but these hunters are all too scared to confront any angels. They want to continue talking behind others’ backs and speculate rather than learning the facts. They’re bitter. They want things to go back to the way they were, but that isn’t what the future here holds.
As soon as I’m near the group, they go dead silent. They must’ve thought they were being quiet enough for me not to hear them, but they were wrong.
“You’re all obviously dissatisfied with everything going on,” I say.
No one looks me in the eye—not even Miguel.
I continue, “You’ve all been fighting monsters on your own this whole time. You were still fine when you learned the threat had gotten bigger. You were fine when you learned about demons and even managed to take one down as a group. It was just an expansion of everything you’ve been doing up to this point. This is the life you chose and you accepted that things could get harder, but still you kept fighting. Now angels have come to assist you, and you hesitate. Why?”
“Why have angels come now?” Miguel demands. “All this time we’ve been fighting on our own, and now angels are here to help save the day? Why now, liar?”
I flinch at the word “liar.” I say, “I did what I had to do. Obviously you people can’t handle knowing the truth about angels, so it was the right thing to do, but the threat is too large for you now. We had to show ourselves. Even though you never knew it, angels have been fighting alongside you all of this time, unseen as guides in people’s lives. They have never abandoned you and neither has God.
The Pull of Destiny (Undying Love, Book 2) Page 9