“Did I seriously sleep that long?”
“Yes. You needed it. If you’re still tired, you can sleep in the car, but for now, you need to get ready.”
“On it,” I said, getting out of bed.
As Gabriel walked out, I gathered the few things I had taken out of my duffel and went to the bathroom to freshen up. When I’d finished, I picked up my duffel and the backpack and headed out of the bedroom.
“Good morning,” Zadkiel greeted me from the living room, where he was rearranging the books inside his chest.
“Morning,” I replied. “Where’s Gabriel?”
“He went down to the car to load his luggage.”
“Should we meet him down there?”
“Only if you’re ready.”
“I’m ready.”
“All right.” Zadkiel secured the chest and handed me a foil wrapped burrito and a bottle of juice. “This is for you. It’s not much, but Gabriel wanted you to have breakfast.”
“That was nice of him to think of me. But why is he so worried about my well-being? He constantly makes sure I’m eating and sleeping, but I’m not a little kid. I know how to take care of myself.”
“I know that. Gabriel does too. But since we do not eat or sleep, it’s easy for us to forget others require such things in order to survive. He also feels responsible for you and wants to make sure you’re taken care of. Essentially, it’s Gabriel being Gabriel, so get used to it.” Zadkiel chuckled. “If you think he’s bad, wait until we find Chamuel…”
“What kind of angel is he?” I asked.
“You mean, what’s his vocation?” Zadkiel clarified.
Remembering his comment about taking in information and being open-minded, I said, “Yes, that’s what I meant.”
“He is an angel of the home, so caring for others is something he excels at.”
“I see. In other words, the nurturing and nourishing is only going to get worse?”
“Exactly,” Zadkiel said, exiting the hotel room with his luggage.
I followed him as we made our way downstairs to the lobby. Through the glass doors of the hotel’s main entrance, I saw Gabriel waiting by an SUV. We approached him and loaded in our bags.
“You have your food, right?” he asked.
“Yes.” I held up the burrito and juice.
“Good.” Gabriel strolled around to the driver’s side, which was on the right side of the car, and I hopped into the back seat since Zadkiel was in the front.
After getting the GPS to work, Gabriel put the car in drive, and we were off. As we drove, I sat in the back seat in utter silence, staring through the window at the city. There were skyscrapers of various heights, much like New York, yet the main difference was the beautiful coastal surroundings. The sky was a clear light blue, the ocean a clear cerulean. I wished we could stop driving and spend a day at the beach, but unfortunately, we had a mission to accomplish.
Realizing this was a good time to jot down all the new angelic information, I reached for my duffel and pulled out my notebook. I made charts and lists, mainly of keywords that kept being thrown around, and when I was done, the digital clock on the dash revealed we were only one hour into the drive. I thought the task would have taken longer. Sitting in the quiet, I was already growing restless.
“Can we turn on the music or something?”
“Oh, you had to say it,” Zadkiel complained.
“Say what?” I wondered, as Gabriel fiddled with the stations.
“Music. It will be our undoing.”
“How so?”
Classical music sounded through the speakers.
“That’s how so,” Zadkiel groaned. “All he listens to is instrumentals.”
“That’s not entirely true,” Gabriel defended. “I do prefer them over vocals though.”
Staring up at the ceiling of the car, I wondered how long I could take Gabriel’s music. Two hours into the ride, it was killing me.
“Can we turn it off now?” I asked.
“Please?” Zadkiel begged.
“Fine.”
The car was thrown into silence once more.
“If we can’t listen to music and no one is going to talk, what am I supposed to do?”
Zadkiel turned in his seat to face me. “There are some word puzzles and things to keep you busy,” he said, indicating a plastic shopping bag on the floor next to me.
I looked inside to find word searches, mad libs, and adult coloring books with colored pencils. Thinking this was some kind of joke, I studied their faces in the rearview mirror. Nope. They were completely serious.
“Why don’t we begin my training instead?” I suggested. I was not about to waste this opportunity with word puzzles when I had Zadkiel and Gabriel together without any distraction.
Zadkiel eyed me. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“On the questions you are prepared to ask.”
Wow, no pressure. I wracked my brain for the correct thing to say. “The Book of Prophecies,” I said finally, recalling the name. “What is it, and why does Satan want it?”
Zadkiel smiled as if I had just won points in some normal game families played on road trips. “Ah…that’s a good question. I see you want to cut right to the chase.”
“Does that mean I passed?”
He laughed. “Yes. Are you ready?”
Hurriedly, I scrambled for my notepad and pencil. Pushing the top to release the lead, I poised my writing instrument over a clean sheet of white lined paper.
“As an angel of teaching,” Zadkiel began, “I have access to most but not all of the divine wisdoms that reside in Heaven. The Book of Prophecies is considered one of those wisdoms. I have only seen the pages of the book once, and I was not allowed to read any of them because the book contains information so powerful it is restricted even to an angel of teaching.”
“What kind of information?” I asked, writing this down.
“The book foretells things that could be. Things with the potential for enormous power that can match that of Father’s and possibly overthrow it. However, unlike other prophecies, the prophecies in this book are things that could be, but that doesn’t mean they will be.”
“Where do these prophecies come from? How did they originate?”
Zadkiel was clearly impressed by my questions and nodded his head in approval. “They originated the way everything else originated.”
“You mean, they were created by God?”
“No. I mean their origin was already set before the very fabric of this world was created.”
“How is that possible?”
“That’s something I cannot answer. All I can say is, they are called divine wisdoms for a reason. They involve many cultures and faiths.”
“I see. And what does this all have to do with Satan?”
“Before the war in Heaven, objects went missing, the book being the first. In hindsight, it’s understandable since this book held the knowledge to gain insurmountable power. No angels other than the angels of teaching were supposed to know about it. However, Satan—or Samael, as he was known then—did know about the book, and he also knew about the insurmountable power. Because of this, accusations were made, and Samael was one of the accused.”
“Why?”
“Because not only did he know things he shouldn’t,” Gabriel inputted, “his disposition also changed. He was openly expressing his defiance against Father.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel.
Zadkiel placed a hand on his shoulder as a gesture to calm him down. “What Gabriel said is true. Satan’s disrespect for the order of things made him the most plausible suspect. The book wasn’t the only thing missing. The Castle Key disappeared as well. It unlocked the castle tower in High Heaven, and the object residing in that tower is known as the Sovereign’s Scepter. It’s a required item for a particular prophecy.”
“The one used to gain insurmountable power?”
“Yes.”
“Befo
re you go on,” I said, “could I ask some clarifying questions?”
“Of course.”
“High Heaven? What is that?”
“Heaven is divided into many realms. The one inhabited by angels is split into three: High Heaven, Middle Heaven, and Low Heaven. The First Choir dwells in High Heaven, the Second Choir in Middle Heaven, and the Third Choir in Low Heaven.”
I nodded my head in understanding since Gabriel had already explained this system to me. “So, the archangels live in Low Heaven?”
“Correct.”
“All right. And since the book and Castle Key led to the scepter, and the scepter was needed for a specific prophecy that promised power, it was obvious Satan was the one behind all this?”
“That’s what we thought at the time. The fact Satan himself went missing for a short period also acted as evidence.”
“Where did he go?”
“We don’t know. But his intentions were clear on his return, when he attacked High Heaven mercilessly in order to obtain the scepter.”
I took notes as quickly as I could, so absorbed in writing that Zadkiel’s next words surprised me.
“Satan wasn’t really the one who started all this.”
“What do you mean?”
“Before the worst of the war began, Gabriel discovered a fellow angel of music had stolen the book and Castle Key with the aim of going after the scepter. However, this angel was working for someone else, and his fear grew so strong he could not complete the final theft for her.”
“For her?”
“For Lilith.”
“Lilith? Isn’t she some kind of demon or something?”
“Lilith is many things, but a demon isn’t one of them,” Gabriel said.
“Although, some would say she’s demonic,” Zadkiel added.
“If Lilith isn’t a demon, what is she?”
“She was the serpent in Eden, and she knows many things because she presumably took from The Tree of Knowledge.”
Gabriel scoffed. “She doesn’t know many things. She knows everything.”
“Very true, brother,” Zadkiel agreed. “Yet Father never told us more than that, so there could be more to her story.”
“Wait, wait, wait… The serpent who tempted Eve?”
“One and the same.” Zadkiel nodded.
“How is she not a snake anymore?”
“That’s where our story aligns itself. You see, as archangels on the council, we were given duties others were not. One of them was to check on Eden. The thirteen of us shared this responsibility equally, and when it was Satan’s turn, he went but came back changed. Right after that, his defiance began.”
“So, Lilith was to blame?”
“We believe so. She had the ability to tempt Eve—why not Satan too? It makes the most sense. There is only one thing that could have unleashed her from the form of a serpent.”
“Which is…?”
“A holy weapon made from heavenly light in the Forge. Each angel of power is gifted such a thing. If Satan encountered Lilith in Eden, and she tried to attack him, it would be a natural response for him to defend himself. When he went on his excursions to the garden, he never went without his sword. Neither did Michael. Their swords had the ability to release her, and that’s probably what happened—Satan struck her with the blade.”
“Okay, that makes sense. But you said there was another angel behind the thefts. That would’ve been when Lilith was still a serpent?”
“Right. It would seem this other angel—Araziel was his name—was going to Eden as well,” Zadkiel continued. “You must understand, the garden was unlike anything we had seen before. I’m sure the garden’s allure drove him to visit even though he wasn’t supposed to, and whether in the form of a serpent or not, Lilith has the ability to tempt. She likely persuaded Araziel to do her bidding.”
“More than anything, I’m sure Lilith wanted to be released,” Gabriel cut in, “and I believe she thought she could use the scepter for this purpose. However, when Satan released her instead by striking her with his sword, her ambition did not stop. She still wanted the scepter, presumably to harness its power. But unknown to her was the influence she had over Satan.”
“It must have been strong,” I mused.
Zadkiel nodded. “While she might have realized she’d polluted his mind, she didn’t fully grasp the hold she had over him. He was so linked to her that her ambition became his, which is why he went after the scepter even though he hadn’t stolen the other objects. But what you must learn about Satan is that he only acts for himself. When he sought the scepter, he too wanted to gain insurmountable power and overthrow Father.”
“If they both were so close, what prevented it from happening?”
“Us,” Gabriel said.
I wasn’t expecting that. The two angels in front of me were not angels of power. The circumstances in Heaven must have been dire for them to join the battle.
“Well…us, and the fact Father hid the scepter away,” Zadkiel added.
“Where did He put it?”
“We don’t know. But when Satan discovered it wasn’t in the tower, his anger overtook him, and Michael was able to capture him. With their leader out of the way and the fact Father arrived to enact punishment, the rest of the fallen submitted. As for Lilith… Well, Satan stole her thunder, so to speak. He went after the scepter before she could, but she didn’t give up. She arrived on the battlefield and killed Araziel, the only angel to tie her to all these transgressions. However, the Seraphim captured her before she could escape. Father then sent Lilith to Hell with the rest of them.”
“What happened after that?”
“I’m not entirely sure. All I know is, Satan and the fallen have grown too strong. We have no idea where Lilith is or what she is doing.”
Zadkiel paused in his story to gaze out the window. I was glad for the break. All this information was hard to process.
I yawned and tried to fight against the sleepiness as I wrote everything down. “This is all so…interesting.”
“You’re tired,” Gabriel said, glancing at me in the rearview mirror. “Rest now. There’ll be time for more questions later.”
I was about to protest and ask more, but the drowsiness of jetlag overtook me again, and quickly, my eyes were forced shut.
17
Jordan
Australia, Present Day
When I woke up, another two hours had gone by. I rubbed my eyes to focus my vision. It seemed we were driving through a more residential area now, passing row upon row of single-story homes. The GPS said we were in Merredin.
I reached over to retrieve my notebook and pencil, which had slid off my lap, then read through my notes, waking my mind from slumber.
When my brain was functioning properly, I asked, “What’s the prophecy for insurmountable power called?”
Zadkiel jolted in his seat, not expecting me to be awake.
Gabriel chuckled. “Did you really think he would be quiet for long?”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Am I annoying you?”
Gabriel glanced in the mirror to determine my mood and smiled when he realized I was joking. “Of course not.” He turned to his comrade. “Perhaps you should continue your story.”
Zadkiel nodded. “The prophecy is called the Union of the Spheres.”
I jotted down the title and listened as the angel of teaching continued.
“What I have not told you is that something else was required in addition to the scepter for the prophecy to come to fruition. That something is the Sovereign’s Orb.”
“Isn’t that what they coronate kings or queens with? You know, the ball they hold in their hand? Don’t they use a scepter too?”
“Both the orb and scepter are very similar to that, yes. While a coronation orb typically signifies power, the orb I’m referring to actually gives power to whoever wields it. A power that can destroy as well as create. A power that provides control and dominance. The Sovereign’s
Orb isn’t easy to come by. There is a process involved, one Satan did not know about. However, I’m positive Lilith knew about it.”
“Couldn’t she have revealed it to Satan?”
“Perhaps, but Lilith reveals only what is needed for her to persuade others to her will.”
“What he means is, she doesn’t play all her cards at once,” Gabriel said.
I nodded. “So, she’s deceptive and manipulative.”
They both looked amused at my summary.
“Yes,” Zadkiel said.
“All right. What is this process, exactly?”
“Overall, the process is what it sounds like—the Union of the Spheres. Quite literally, the spheres are solid, round balls of stone about the size of a grapefruit. I’m sure you might have encountered something similar before. Humankind tends to sell such objects in gift shops and the like.”
I nodded my head in recognition.
“There are thirteen spheres, each forged out of different gemstones.”
“One for each council member?”
“Indeed. The spheres were created when the angels were created. We did not know Father initiated the council in order for us to control the spheres, but that was His intention. He assigned a particular gemstone to each of us.” Zadkiel grabbed at his right hand and slid the ring he wore off his finger, holding it up.
I leaned forward in the back seat to see it.
“This ring signifies which gemstone I have control over. Each of us has one.”
I glanced at Gabriel’s right hand, and he raised it so I could inspect his ring. “You said the ring was able to locate the others because they were forged of the same fire.”
“They were, but their connection goes far beyond that,” Gabriel said. He returned his hand to the steering wheel, and Zadkiel put his ring back on.
“I see. And when the thirteen spheres come together, they make the Sovereign’s Orb?”
“Actually, yes. The process of combining them together is based on the placement of the spheres as well as their location. I’m unsure of where the Union needs to happen because I have not read the prophecy, but as for the formation, the spheres need to be positioned in a certain shape known as Metatron’s Cube. It’s quite hard to describe. I will have to show you a diagram of it at a later time.”
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