Jean Luc cries out desperately.
Gemini grins in delight.
The sound of his son’s pain angers L’girra. He speeds through the air and crashes into his brother. He seizes Gemini by the neck and shoves him into the wall. “Let him go!” he growls.
As the golden, electric sphere sparks and hums to life to surround the two brothers, Gemini keeps his hold over Jean Luc’s neck, dragging Jean Luc backward with him. Then quickly, Gemini’s other hand releases Jean Luc’s wrist. With it, he strikes his palm directly onto L’girra’s nose and breaks it.
The sound of the cracking bone of his face, and the accompanying sting and flash of pain instantly shocks L’girra. Releasing Gemini, he staggers backward.
Gemini heals Jean Luc’s arm just to again twist it, and then vigorously tug it behind the poor man’s back. He states plainly, “You’re going to tell me more about the vial, dear brother, Lugalgirra.” Then, he adds, “After I give him misery through broken bones and torn joints, I can start scraping away his mind.” As Gemini waits for his brother’s response, he gradually pulls Jean Luc’s wrist and twists it higher and higher up his back. The muscles and tendons in Jean Luc’s shoulder stretch taut, and the shoulder joint begins to separate.
Jean Luc yells in agony.
L’girra recovers from his daze, and then quickly heals his broken nose.
Jean Luc cries out once more.
“Ok. Ok! Stop!” L’girra concedes with an outstretched hand. Then, he hastily bargains, “I’ll tell you the very little I know from the very short vision I got.” He adds, “But you need to stop!” There was not much more he could do. He could attack his brother once again, but they are too evenly matched, and their fight could be endless. He cannot transport Jean Luc far away, because Gemini is now concentrating on Jean Luc, as he is with Paige.
Gemini eases his pull. Giving a slight nod, he waits.
L’girra explains, “Alright. You know that I went down the face of that cliff in Israel. My bar-atri fought you guys off and gave me time to find what I was looking for. And I heard you and your soldier up there fight against her.”
Gemini interrupts, “Let me just say, she was quite the opponent, well skilled and worthy of my blade.”
“Well, I hope she got a few good slices into you!” L’girra exclaims. He then continues recounting, “After a long way down, there was a small crawl space dug into the cliff. I went in. It was just big enough for one person at a time to go through. It was pitch-black. I really don’t know how long it took me, but eventually the crawl space opened up into something like a small, dark cave. And I just sat there waiting and waiting.”
“Waiting for what?” Gemini asks.
L’girra hurriedly shakes his head, “I don’t know. Maybe I was just waiting to make sure you guys were gone so that I could do something else. I don’t know. But after that, the vision ended.”
Gemini tilts his head to the side. Without looking at his brother, he asks, “And that’s all?”
“That’s it. I didn’t get any more after that.” L’girra truly did not know much more.
“Well then, let us pursue an alternative path,” Gemini says, after carefully reading L’girra’s face and emotions. “Let me fill in some gaps in your memory. Before you left your family in France to go to war, in order to perform your feckless duty for God and country, you spent time seeking this vial. There was a time in which you knew exactly what was in it and what it could do. You researched it. You looked for it.”
Gemini slowly squeezes his arm around Jean Luc’s neck once again. His hand pulls up on the old man’s wrist, putting tension on the arm and shoulder. He continues, “Could you have written that information down? You gave your research to someone, didn’t you? We are immortal, but when we are reborn, the memory paths in our brains start anew. And you, you knew that this is how we are. And so, how else do we recover what we once knew, other than by recording it and passing it to posterity or even to ourselves, in some unique way, for when we are again reborn?”
Gemini tugs harder on Jean Luc’s wrist.
The pain in Jean Luc’s shoulder becomes unbearable. He feels it spread throughout his arm, neck, and upper body. Jean Luc pleads, “Please stop!” Tears start to fall down his face.
Now that Gemini has established the point at which he can make the old man crumble, he notes it and stops.
L’girra blurts, “I don’t know if I wrote it or gave it to anyone! I don’t even know if I researched or tried to find it!
“Oh, but dear young Jean Luc may certainly know,” Gemini says. Then, he leans his mouth over Jean Luc’s ear and whispers, “What else did your kind, loving, but misdirected father tell you before he left? Did he give you anything?” Gemini pulls up on Jean Luc’s wrist again to the point where he knows he can put the man in agony.
Jean Luc cries, “I don’t know! I was too young! And I was angry with him.” Jean Luc remembers the softened leather attache case his father gave him, before leaving their vineyard in Saint-Emilion and going to war. But he does not dare reveal it. Instead he pleads, “There were many things I didn’t want to believe or remember! Please stop!”
Jean Luc’s pain is too much for L’girra to bear. His fists clench and his whole body tenses. He yells, “Stop! You prick! He doesn’t know!”
With a fiendish grin, Gemini says to his brother, “Oh, but he does, L’girra. He does. I can smell it in his sweat and feel it with each quake of his bones.” Leaning his mouth again over Jean Luc’s ear, he says even more softly as he pulls even harder, “Pray, tell kind uncle now…what did my worthless brother tell you?”
Suddenly, Gemini’s mind breaks a bone in Jean Luc’s leg.
Snap!
They hear the dreadful sound escape from within the old man’s flesh.
Jean Luc screams, and then loses consciousness. His limp body falls to the floor.
Gemini lets Jean Luc drop, but maintains his hold on the old man’s wrist.
L’girra, with all his fiery anger and all his godlike might, snarls, “Leave my son alone!” His voice blows out every window in the apartment, it rumbles and cracks the walls of the building, and the ground beneath quakes in fear of an angry god.
The power in L’girra’s anger creates a small fracture in a gas pipe at the stove, and the fumes begin to hiss and escape. Without delay, the strengthening wind outside spays rain into the apartment, through the broken windows, tussling and mingling with the spreading gas.
An instant later, L’girra propels himself through the air, to collide into his brother with the force to smash Gemini into pieces.
But before L’girra can reach him, Gemini slows down time. He can see the fierceness in his brother’s eyes and feel the rage from the hot breath of his mouth. In order to escape the inevitable collision, he darts aside.
For L’girra, the tempest and volatility of the moment activates a memory. As time slows further, Gul’s words from their earlier sobering conversation play clearly in his mind. Gul earnestly tells him:
“Be wise to the words of your brother - he is a master of manipulation. But you too have other skills of your own. Even though you do not remember them, you have moments and experiences from thousands of years that are still deep within you, part of your soul and cannot be unwritten. Pray that God will reveal them to you.
“And listen closely, to defeat your brother you must become unpredictable. Fight Gemini in a way that is unknown to him. His nature is more angelic, and yours is more human. Set aside your own angelic nature and fight him as a human.”
Gul looks down and fixes his gaze upon the Mesopotamian-styled knife. Before reading what is inscribed upon the blade, he tells L’girra, “God gave me these words in a dream, and He told me to keep them close for the arrival of the right moment.” In somber tone, Gul recites the inscription etched upon the steely reflective blade.
Quickly, L’girra focuses back on Gemini. Sensing the slowing of time his brother created, L’girra quickens time in or
der to counter Gemini.
Their powers nullify, and time continues unabated. The head-on crash proceeds.
But Gemini’s speed and agility allows him to prevent a dead-on hit. Their shoulders collide, and L’girra’s body glances off of Gemini.
Suddenly, the memory of Gul reading the blade’s inscription triggers something miraculous in L’girra. The apartment diffuses from both of the brothers’ visions. Around them, the dark, rainy city of Paris disappears. The clouds evaporate, and the half-moon above gives way to an intensely bright, shining sun replacing it.
The brothers see themselves in the heat of a desert.
Standing still on the warm sand, a short distance away from Gemini, L’girra eyes his surroundings. There is nothing but the endless sea of sand from horizon to horizon. Faraway, however, he spots the faint outline of pyramids.
They are in Egypt.
L’girra has the appearance of an ancient Egyptian: his hair is shaved down to the scalp, his face is also shaven, his skin is darkened by years of living under the desert sun, and the only clothing he wears is a wrapping around his waist.
On the other hand, neither Gemini’s appearance nor his clothes have changed. Gemini has no memory of this environment, this era, or of his brother. Concerned, he asks, “Who are you, brother?”
L’girra tries to answer, but something within him has taken control. It is the strong, overpowering personality of the Egyptian whom L’girra now appears as, and the Egyptian does not allow L’girra to speak.
Unlike L’girra, he is emotionless; he is single-minded, focused, and unshakeable.
The Egyptian speaks to no one.
Between the forty years in which Moses left the land of Pharaoh, and then returned to free God’s people, the Egyptian was a protector of the Jewish slaves in Egypt.
L’girra was the Egyptian thousands of years ago.
The Egyptian’s face reveals nothing, yet his mind quickly and strategically evaluates Gemini, already devising a plan to overcome him.
Gemini maintains a separation between himself and the Egyptian. He knows his own strength lies in utilizing his angelic abilities from a distance, regardless of the skills of his unfamiliar foe.
The Egyptian is the aggressor; he is first to attack. He flies keenly, just above the sand, to strike Gemini.
Attempting to avoid him, Gemini dodges diagonally and flies into the air.
But the Egyptian immediately changes direction and pounces on Gemini.
They clash in midair and quickly tumble and fall to the ground.
The Egyptian wastes no time. Even before the two hit the ground, the Egyptian maneuvers his arms and legs to enclose Gemini in an unrelenting lock. As they careen into the ground the Egyptian whips Gemini’s head and sinks it into the sand.
Trying to get himself free from the Egyptian’s clutches, Gemini smashes his elbow into the Egyptian’s jaw and drives a fist into his ribs.
But the Egyptian flawlessly maneuvers his body and slides his arms around Gemini’s neck. He quickly tucks Gemini’s head under his arm and flips Gemini’s body completely backward. The move almost breaks Gemini’s neck.
The Egyptian’s speed is phenomenal, his tactics superb, and his apprehension beyond extraordinary. He is a master in the fighting technique of grappling.
Throughout the combat, L’girra’s own personality is subordinated to that of the Egyptian’s. Even though L’girra knows what is happening, he is now only subliminally present in his own mind.
The Egyptian is in complete control of L’girra’s body.
As the fight continues, L’girra hears the sound of Jean Luc waking and moaning in pain. He wonders why he can hear it.
An instant later, L’girra realizes it: he is still in his son’s apartment. He and Gemini are, in reality, battling in the present and not in the past.
The scene is only a projection within the minds of the twins.
Suddenly, the desert sand and hot sun vanish from both L’girra’s and Gemini’s eyes, replaced by the reality of Jean Luc’s beaten and broken apartment.
But what remains is the persona of the Egyptian. He is the one whom Gul has said that God may reveal. Even though L’girra does not remember himself as the Egyptian, the Egyptian is a part of L’girra’s history, a part of his soul, and he cannot be unwritten. Being miraculously triggered to the surface by Gul’s recitation of the words inscribed upon the blade, the Egyptian, like a dominating yet protective second personality in L’girra mind, now fights for L’girra.
The twins find themselves on the floor, strenuously fighting near the kitchen table.
Soon, Gemini begins to smell the gas seeping out of the cracked pipe, within the stove. With the Egyptian grasping him, Gemini uses all his might to raise himself to his feet. Seeking to further damage the pipe, he vigorously spins the Egyptian around and shoves him backward into the stove.
The crack in the pipe significantly widens.
Spinning back around, the Egyptian does not allow any physical separation between the two of them. Grabbing Gemini’s forearm, he clings onto Gemini, forcing him to remain human. Then, he too smells the gas and realizes what Gemini has done, but he is unsure of what Gemini may be further attempting. Wanting to distract Gemini from what he may be planning, the Egyptian quickly has L’girra speak.
With emotions already stirred, L’girra snarls at his brother, “This vial you’re trying to find, you want it so it can give you the power over all things, don’t you?!” Shaking Gemini, he adds, “This is all for your need to manipulate and control people, isn’t it?!”
Looking into L’girra’s eyes, Gemini says calmly yet mockingly, “Wanting to become my psychiatrist again, brother?” Quickly, Gemini tries to peel off the Egyptian’s grasp.
But with each removal of a grip, the Egyptian counters by touching Gemini with a foot, leg, or arm. The Egyptian’s constant touch ensures that the twins’ powers are nullified. Their godlike nature is suppressed while their humanity is locked in combat.
L’girra replies sarcastically, “Yeah, let’s do that. How about taking a seat on my couch?!”
Abruptly, the Egyptian slams Gemini down on the floor, and lands on top of him.
Glaring down, L’girra continues, “Comfy? Good! This desire you have to control people’s lives doesn’t sound like a desire anymore…it’s more like a need.”
Trying to pry himself free, Gemini says, “With the sweet taste it gives, its call is difficult to suppress. You said you know what it is. You’ve felt it. So, you know the euphoria it releases in your brain.” Vehemently struggling, Gemini is finally able to stand once again.
With the Egyptian still grappling and clinging, L’girra admonishes, “Euphoria?! So, it’s a drug to you, Gem. An addiction! With your power over people, you say you’re giving them a facade that they’re in control, and instead you control them. But actually the facade that’s created is the one around you. And instead, this drug has control of you!”
Suddenly, the Egyptian feels a cold wind. Darting his eyes to the side, he sees a broken window. Down below it, water from the cold rain gathers into a pool, expanding and inching its way out and already reaching Jean Luc.
Furtively, Gemini glances up and gauges his distance from the hanging light above the kitchen table. Then, looking into L’girra’s eyes, he acknowledges, “Well said, Lugalgirra. That is the crux of it all, isn’t it? And it is a painful day when one discovers it, but at that moment, is it not already too late to correct one steps?” Then, he adds with an eerie calm, “Once such a thing has control of you, not many options remain.” Using all his effort, Gemini drags the Egyptian with him to the side, and his body shoves the table away. Stretching out his hand, Gemini grabs the lamp fixture above him and vehemently yanks it down.
With abrupt speed, the light fixture drops below the level of the table, pulling the wiring from the ceiling with it. Suddenly, the wire pulls taut, and then the fixture snaps off, exposing the bare live wire.
The sou
nd of shattering glass upon the floor pierces Jean Luc’s ears, and he soon comes back to consciousness. Awakening, he tries to move but a surge of unbearable pain bursts from his leg, spreading throughout his entire body, and he yells in anguish.
Losing balance, Gemini staggers back and crashes into a wall. With the Egyptian pinning him against the wall, Gemini reveals, “There is a cure I seek for this, brother, and this night I will have it.”
As the energetic wind sways the hanging wire to and fro, the tip of the wire touches the stove and immediately sparks, causing the swirling gas to ignite into a plume of fire that almost reaches the brothers. But the whoosh of flame is fleeting, as the hasty wind and the moisture from the rain quickly disperse it.
With steely eyes of determination, L’girra exclaims, “Not tonight, G! Not ever. It’s no cure, and you’re lying to yourself!”
Behind them, at the opposite side of the kitchen, Jean Luc feels the cold, pooling water now completely drench his body. He sees the pool begin to stretch out toward the center of the kitchen, making its way to the broken glass of the shattered lamp and the wriggling wire above it.
Outside, the dark entity watches the twins entangle themselves in violent struggle.
From the periphery of his vision, Gemini notices it. With cunning thoughts, Gemini says to himself, Very good. The dark entity needs to see this heated conflict, because my deception of it has begun.
With gas building up again above the stove, the swaying wire, once more, swiftly glances against the stove’s metal, sparking and igniting the gas into whooshing billows of fire. But again the flames are fleeting.
Gemini realizes that the explosion he desires to create cannot be achieved.
Mustering a powerful tug, the Egyptian pulls Gemini away from the wall and thrusts him down to the floor.
As he falls, Gemini sees the water surrounding Jean Luc. Careening, he snatches the wire from the ceiling, yanks it further down to touch the floor, and then sets it free.
Now loosened, the wire makes contact with the strewn droplets of rain on the bare floor and begins to lively jump with snapping sparks of electricity.
RB 01 Through Flesh & Bone Page 69