As I shuffled through the pictures, I eventually stumbled upon their wedding photo. The two gazed at each other with so much love and happiness in their eyes. Another series of photos featured them on their travels to various places throughout the U.S. and the world.
What halted my progress was a close-up of them sitting in the garden. I looked so much like my mother. I had her auburn hair, though mine was much darker and wavier rather than curly. My facial features were exactly like hers, especially when she smiled. I hadn’t inherited her brown eyes though. I had my father’s green ones, the intensity of the color an exact match to mine. He had dark blond hair and seemed quite tall even though he was sitting. I’d apparently inherited his height too, since I was almost six foot. His smile was just as happy and radiant as my mother’s. You could tell they truly loved each other.
As this was the last picture in the pile, I stared at it for a little longer, absorbing more of the details. I noticed the ring my father wore, the one I now had and never took off, and I grabbed at the cross around my neck, discovering it was the one my mother had on in the photo. This offered me another sense of comfort, knowing I now possessed objects my parents had worn and touched every day.
Their jewelry made me think about the fleur-de-lis necklace. I reached for my duffel and pulled out the necklace, carefully examining the simple medium-sized pendant. I had worn this necklace almost my entire life and only taken it off when my ignorance put Sister Helen in danger. But she was the one who gave it to me in the first place, and discarding it so easily felt like a betrayal to her.
I rubbed my finger against the smooth metal as I tried to think like Sister Helen and figure out where she might have hidden the key. My fingers froze. There was nothing peculiar about the necklace. However, there was nothing peculiar about the lock at first glance either. It was only when Jophiel applied pressure that it morphed into its true form.
Opening the clasp, I slid the pendant off the chain and pressed down on the top point. Nothing happened. I applied more pressure. Again, nothing happened. I did the same on the two other ends and still, no results. I peered down at the pendant again. Pressing my thumb to the bottom of the fleur-de-lis, I applied as much force as I could.
Still nothing.
Maybe this isn’t the key after all.
I brushed my finger over the smooth surface again. As my thumb grazed the straight bracket near the bottom of the fleur-de-lis, the metal moved inward slightly. I applied more pressure to the area and suddenly heard a metallic click as the pendant transformed into a triangle. Shocked, I stared at it in disbelief before realizing I had to go tell the others.
Jumping to my feet, I raced downstairs. “I did it! I found the key!”
The angels all turned as I entered the library.
“Where’s Martha?”
“She went to the store for some groceries,” Gabriel said slowly, his attention focused on the key in my hand.
I approached them. “Oh…well, I guess we can fill her in later.”
“Where did you find that?” Zadkiel asked.
“I had it all along, I just didn’t realize.”
“What do you mean?” Jophiel stepped forward.
I looked at Gabriel. “The fleur-de-lis necklace. Sister Helen gave it to me when I was a kid. I never took it off until the fallen chased me in New York. I thought wearing it would cause more problems. But it was the key all along!”
Understanding dawned on Gabriel’s face. “What made you figure that out?”
I told them about my parents’ room, how exploring it had made me want to search through the pictures, and the pictures reminded me of the necklace from Sister Helen.
“At first, I thought I was wrong because I pressed on every end and nothing happened. But then I pushed in the middle bracket that runs across all three points, and it transformed into that,” I said, indicating the triangular key piece Zadkiel now held.
“Don’t you think it’s time we open the backpack then?” Uriel asked.
Zadkiel glared at him. “You have no sense of what this will mean. The magnitude of it.”
“Oh, trust me, I do,” Uriel assured him. “I just can’t take the suspense anymore.”
“Me neither,” Michael confessed.
Not delaying the inevitable any longer, Jophiel brought the backpack over to where we all stood and placed it on the table in front of Zadkiel. The angel of teaching picked up the transformed lock and ceremoniously fit the key into the grooves. A metallic click filled the room as the gears inside turned about. Ending in a resounding tick, the latch sprung open.
We all stood frozen and silent.
Zadkiel slowly took the lock in his hand and slid it out from the zippers. He carefully placed it on the table and brought his attention back to the bag. Grasping a zipper in each hand, he opened the backpack and placed his hands inside. We could all tell when he latched onto something because the muscles in his arms flexed as he drew the object out.
And then, there it was, right before our eyes.
The book was thick and old. A light shimmered about the gold-plated cover, revealing its divineness. There were symbols on the front, but I didn’t know what they signified.
When I spied a latch on the side of it, I was disappointed, thinking it required another key, but when Zadkiel clicked the fastener, it opened.
My relief didn’t last long.
Zadkiel fastened the latch once again and placed the book on the table, drawing his attention back to the bag.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“There’s something else inside.” Reaching back into the very bottom of the backpack, he fumbled around until his hand caught onto a circular ball of black stone, about the size of a grapefruit.
“Is that what I think it is?” Chamuel asked.
I looked around at the angels, who had all grown quiet and fearful.
“The black onyx sphere,” Jophiel whispered.
“That’s a sphere?” I was surprised one of the all-powerful objects was in our possession.
They ignored me—not because they didn’t want to validate my question, but because they were all so shocked at the sight of it.
I looked around the room at the rings they all wore, trying to figure out who this sphere belonged to. “Whose is it?”
“It’s Satan’s,” Michael answered.
I did a double-take. “Excuse me? This is Satan’s sphere?”
“Yes,” Zadkiel confirmed.
“And I was carrying it around all this time? No wonder he wanted my head! I had his most valuable possession.”
“It makes sense now why the energy radiating off the backpack was so peculiar,” Jophiel said, analyzing the sphere from a distance.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, we all knew the book gave off a powerful energy, but the energy we sensed coming from the backpack was much more…potent.”
“This can’t be good,” I said. “Right?”
“You’re absolutely right, Jordan,” Zadkiel said. “What worries me the most is that someone unearthed it with the intention for us to have it. The gravity of this situation is far more significant than we realized.”
“There’s only one thing that could mean,” Uriel said.
I looked around at them. “Which is…?”
“Satan intends to perform the Union, and there are far more forces involved than we realized.” Michael approached the table, eyeing the book but setting his sights on the sphere. He took it out of Zadkiel’s hand. “We need to retrieve them…all of them, before he gets out of control.”
“That will never happen,” Raphael said. “Father put procedures in place to prevent Satan from getting to the spheres.”
“Yes. The keys being one of them,” Gabriel said.
“I understand.” Michael’s brow creased. “But Satan has outsmarted us.” He paused. “And outsmarted Father for centuries.”
“Meaning?” Chamuel asked.
“We need to
prepare for war.”
35
Jordan
New York State, Present Day
I had come to the same conclusion at Gabriel’s apartment, but hearing the words from Michael made the situation all the more real. He was an angel of power, one of Heaven’s warriors. If he said war was coming, it was.
“Who would have unlocked Satan’s sphere and given it to the Sacrarium?” I asked.
That gave them a moment of pause.
“I don’t know. Unless there’s another one of us from the council here on Earth,” Gabriel suggested.
Michael scoffed. “I highly doubt that. None of them would come here unless it was under extreme—and I mean extreme—circumstances.”
“Aren’t these extreme enough?” I asked.
“No, trust me. Not for them,” Michael assured me.
“Well then, who?” Gabriel wondered.
Michael hesitated. “I don’t know.”
“And for that reason, we need to figure out what’s inside this book,” Uriel said.
“Agreed. It may contain all the answers.” Zadkiel reached for it.
I moved to get closer as the angels watched with grave expressions. They were afraid to open it. Afraid to reveal its secrets.
Zadkiel placed both hands on the book and opened the cover. As he carefully turned the pages, a hush fell over the room. “The Union of the Spheres,” he read aloud, admiring the prophecy everyone sought.
I felt like I was on the inside of an angel sandwich as they all crowded around to peer closer at the single sheet of paper with the power to change their destinies. Their eyes darted back and forth over the prophecy. I couldn’t read it, however, because it was in a language I didn’t recognize. It didn’t look like a human language at all—rather, one that was decipherable to them alone.
At their harmonious gasp, I knew they had figured out something important.
“What?” I asked.
“We must complete the Union no matter what,” Zadkiel said.
“What do you mean?”
“We all knew the Union could grant the beholder immense power, but we didn’t know the spheres must be united and then destroyed.”
At my look of confusion, Zadkiel placed his finger upon the page and read the words aloud.
The Union of the Spheres
Grants power to the one who commandeers
Sovereign Orb and Scepter in hand
They can dominate any land
* * *
For thirteen spheres to unite
Components must be brought to light
* * *
According to an angel’s vision
The Union must follow this precision
Sphere in circle, circle in sphere
Placed together during the twentieth year
* * *
Only the river can locate
The depths where the rocks await
Stone in stone they become one
The place hidden for all time by the Sun
* * *
Thirteen bound in blood by two
From ancient lines born anew
Both must live until blood is spilt
Afterward fighting hilt to hilt
* * *
Time will tell how events come to be
As the route to the spheres is hard to foresee
No matter the path, the Union is completed
Since the Orb and Scepter must be defeated
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I said, annoyed by all the cryptic meanings.
“It probably does, we just haven’t studied it yet,” Zadkiel replied, staring at the words.
“The first stanza is information we already know,” Jophiel said. “There are obviously several other components we did not know about though.”
Zadkiel nodded. “The first stanza explains one can obtain immense power by uniting the spheres, and with the Sovereign Orb and Scepter, they are all-powerful. The next part clarifies how to do this by revealing the necessary components. This is where things start to get confusing, except for the angel’s vision. It must be referring to what Metatron saw.”
He left the table to rummage through a pile of books that were stacked neatly on a chair. These must have been the books he brought with him. When he found the one he was looking for, he approached us again.
“The thirteen spheres need to be placed in the formation of Metatron’s Cube,” he said. “That is what I was telling you about before, Jordan. This formation on paper is thirteen circles linked to each other. ‘Sphere in circle, circle in sphere.’” Zadkiel pointed to the page in order for me to get a look at the mysterious formation. His description was accurate. Thirteen circles were depicted, with lines connecting them all together.
“Metatron drew this?” Michael peered at the page too.
Zadkiel nodded. “I’ll explain later.”
“It makes sense why the prophecy describes it as precise,” Gabriel inputted, noting the intricacy of the design.
“What about the twentieth year?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. Metatron never mentioned anything about that.” Zadkiel’s brow furrowed in thought. “The fourth stanza about the river is trying to indicate the location where the Union needs to take place, but these words could have many meanings.”
“All of this could have many meanings,” Uriel said.
“I know, I know.” Zadkiel shook his head in frustration. “The fifth stanza reveals blood from two individuals must be combined with the spheres. However, I am unsure who these two people are.”
“One must be the holy bloodline,” I said. “‘Ancient lines born anew.’ That’s a pretty ancient bloodline, right?”
Zadkiel looked at me with admiration. “You’re absolutely right, Jordan. That would make a lot of sense.”
“What about the other one?” Chamuel asked.
“It must be Satan,” Michael suggested. “He was born anew when he fell.”
“And then they fight it out. The bloodline and Satan,” I added, putting small pieces of the prophecy together.
“Apparently,” Zadkiel said. “The last stanza indicates the Union must be completed so the Sovereign Orb and Scepter can be destroyed.”
I nodded in agreement.
“I thought we had nothing to do with the bloodline,” Uriel demanded.
“We don’t,” Gabriel said.
“Then, why are they involved in a prophecy that pertains to us?”
“This prophecy doesn’t really pertain to us. We’re only involved because of what happened in Heaven,” Gabriel replied.
“Then, why are we supposed to protect it?” Uriel argued. “Why are the spheres assigned to us? Why are we the ones who must complete the Union?”
“Okay, okay, I see your point.” Gabriel was exasperated.
“What do we do now?” Chamuel wondered.
Zadkiel rubbed a hand over his forehead. “I’m not sure. I don’t know if we should locate the bloodline or recover the spheres.”
“We go after the spheres,” I said. “The Sacrarium is in charge of the bloodline. Let them do their part, and we’ll do ours. Until we all need to come together, that is.”
“That’s a reasonable plan. We’ll follow that unless something changes.” Zadkiel glanced down at the book and grimaced. He leafed through a few pages until he came to a new section. “There’s a page missing,” he said, tracing his finger along the ripped edge.
“What?” My eyes darted to the book.
“What page?” Gabriel asked.
“I’m not sure,” Zadkiel said quietly. “I’ve never been able to look at this book before.” He inspected the other pages. “It seems this section is full of maps.”
“Maps?” I wondered.
Michael pushed his way closer to look at the pages and let out a huge sigh.
“What’s wrong?” Jophiel said, coming closer to assist in the inspection.
“The Nephilim believe this book contains the location of the Watche
rs,” Michael explained.
We all nodded.
“Well, it seems they might be right,” he said.
“How so?” Raphael asked.
Michael pointed to the book. “Whatever page was torn is the last one of this section. And the pages preceding it reveal where the Watchers were sent when they first came to teach humankind. It only makes sense the last page would contain information about what happened after, which is ultimately their imprisonment.”
“Indeed,” Zadkiel mused.
“But who would have taken it?” Chamuel asked. “The only beings who can touch this book are angels. The energy is too lethal.”
At hearing this news, I stepped back.
“I don’t have an answer for you, Chamuel,” Zadkiel said. “It could have happened at any point, whether the book was in Heaven or on Earth.”
Since there was no answer to Chamuel’s question, I asked, “Is that the case with all heavenly objects? Humans can’t touch them?”
“Yes and no,” Zadkiel said. “All of our belongings are created in the Forge from heavenly light. Objects such as our rings and Gabriel’s horn are not lethal to humans because they’re infused with only a minuscule amount of heavenly light.” To demonstrate, Zadkiel held up his hand, drawing his thumb and forefinger together to display the tiny amount of heavenly light contained in their rings and Gabriel’s horn. “However,” he continued, “objects such as our weapons, the book, the keys, and the spheres are lethal to humans because they’re infused with large amounts of heavenly light.” He extended his arms out wide in front of him to exhibit the difference. “That’s another reason why it’s time to retrieve the keys and the spheres. We have been lucky so far that a human has not stumbled upon them.”
“So, when do we leave?” I asked.
“To where?” Michael said.
“I don’t know. Wherever the Gemstone Keys are hidden.”
“You think I’m about to let you journey around the world again before your injuries are healed?” Raphael raised an eyebrow.
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