Angeline gazed with awe at the tiny seal in my hand. Slowly, she reached out and took it in her hand. Then I gently grabbed her wrist and lifted her hand up to her forehead. I pressed her seal on her forehead and smiled.
“I love you, Angeline,” I said with a smile. “Say hi to Lexie for me.”
Angeline smiled back as she held her hand against her forehead. “I love you too, Zach.”
The seal started to glow, and Angeline’s eyes were shining. “I’m ready….” her young voice was merely a whisper.
Angeline closed her eyes and her body started to glow. She went limp, but she was hovering higher and higher. I raised my head and watched as my sister was taken up to the sky. She was glowing like a Christmas angel. I watched with happiness as she ascended, and then disappeared from my sight.
Then, by the power of the Holy Spirit, I also vanished.
Somehow, Christ helped me understand what I was doing. I had sealed my sister, and now her spirit would end up safely in Heaven without having to meet Death.
I was very thankful for my sister. Like me, she was the devil’s child. Unlike me, she had made it to Heaven. I was happy for her. One day, I would join her.
Now, I had to find the angels and have them take me up to Heaven again. I had to prepare for the battle against the Beast.
Suddenly, a strong thick wind carried my spirit off the surface of the Earth and I was blown into the exosphere. It was terribly stuffy up here, and extremely hot. When I looked below, I could see the entire Earth. It looked so small since I was so high above the planet. It also looked very frail and dirty. An ugly red haze surrounded its axis and flames were burning across the lands. The seas were tumultuous and destructive. I could clearly see the way they were washing away every bit of land.
I looked around myself and noticed my five guardians were accompanying me in the hazy atmosphere over Earth. There were only four of them, and each was hovering over four corners the Earth. Their arms and wings were outstretched, and they seemed to be holding back the treacherous winds that were thundering behind them.
“Grenada!” I made my way over to the top left corner above the Earth. She had a narrowed look on her face as she tried hard to keep her place without letting the winds blow her away. A barrier of light surrounded her small angelic body and held back the thundering winds.
“What do you want, boy?!” She hissed. “Can’t you see I’m trying to—”
“What’s going on? Where are Jenna, Cain, and the SoulBirds?” I was frantically gazing around.
“Ach! They’re back in Primal, preparing with Hannah, Michael and the others! You should be up there too! What in the world are you doing here?!”
I frowned. “Well, I was helping my sister with something.”
On the northeastern side of the world, Annabelle had her arms and wings stretched out to form a light barrier to hold back another set of winds. “Hang in there, Zach! We won’t be long!” She cried. “We’re almost done!”
Hoshinda’s loud voice called to me from the southwestern part of the world as she held the wind back. “Brace yourselves! I probably have the strongest wind behind me! Bah! I need Bernardo to help me with this!”
The fourth angel on the southeastern part of the Earth was Saint Tyler, and he said nothing as his multicolored eyes watched me from all the way across the Earth.
Grenada shifted and grunted in front of me. “Ach! Bernardo!” She was looking over my shoulder at the angel approaching me from behind.
“Come, boy!” He shouted. “Your SoulBird’s down here, waiting for you! Go with him!”
And he took my spirit down to the surface of the Earth, and we rushed across the vast land until we arrived at a rocky, hazy region where streams of water boiled across the land. We met up with Dewey, who was back in his earth type SoulBird form. Jenna and Cain were behind him.
“What are you guys doing here?!” I yelled. “You’re supposed to be in Heaven!”
“Hah! I tried to tell them, but they wouldn’t listen!” Dewey said. “Apparently, these spirits care about you too.”
“We’re here for you,” said Jenna. “We know you’re going to need help getting out of this messy planet, so we’ve come to help you find your way back up. It’s dangerous down here, Zach. Your father is very active here.”
“Oh please,” I rolled my eyes. Did they really think I was that helpless?
I ducked as a fireball shot over me. I heard angry grunts in the distance. The cry of hellhounds surrounded us.
“Ahh!” Screamed Jenna, grabbing my arm. “Let’s get outta here!” She dragged me across the fiery land and headed toward a tall boiling mountain.
“Wait!” Cain cried after us. “Don’t go that way!”
I looked up into the sky above that mountain, and I saw that Annabelle was struggling to keep herself in front of the winds.
“Zach! Jenna!” She cried. “Move it! I’m about to release this wind!”
And the light barrier disappeared. The four angels folded their wings and lowered their arms. The winds were released. The gusts came from all four directions of the Earth and formed a huge tornado that surrounded the entire planet. The sinners were sucked into the eye of the huge tornado. Grenada swept down and grabbed my spirit. Jenna still clung onto my hand and was carried up in the air with me. Dewey and Cain gathered with Bernardo and Annabelle and followed us as Grenada pressed against the swirling wind.
Finally, we escaped the strong currents of the wind. We were hovering over Earth, and were gathered beneath a hazy red cloud over the planet.
“Zachariah,” Grenada hovered forward. “I’d like you to meet Herald and Muriel.” She introduced me to the two angels that were awaiting us atop the cloud. These two were the two angels who were accompanying the five guardians when they were aligned together in Heaven. They hovered forth and bowed to me respectively. “They aren’t your guardians, but together with the five of us, we are the seven chosen angels of God.”
I looked at Grenada, Annabelle, Bernardo, Hoshinda, Tyler, and Herald and Muriel. They all gazed at me with warm looks on their faces. I felt a sense of admiration for them. They looked noble and valiant. I started to feel thankful that my guardians had an important role in Heaven, with these two angels. The seven of them were the seven angels of God.
Dewey snickered. “Now Zach’s glad to see that his guardians have some significance after all.”
“Shut up!” I hissed, giving the SoulBird a nudge with my foot.
The air started thundering. The circling currents beneath me were starting to pull me back into the atmosphere of the Earth.
“Zach!” Jenna yelled as she noticed my spirit drifting away.
“Wahh! Heeeelp!” I cried, covering my head and kicking my legs. I could feel particles from space circling me. The tornado that surrounded Earth was also pulling in outer flecks in space. I felt like I was lost in a blizzard in Primal.
Suddenly there was a loud growl behind me and a red beast escaped from the top center of the tornado.
The Beast circled me and whacked my spirit out of the currents. I tumbled in space and spun around to face the Beast. It stared straight into my eyes and I nearly fainted with horror. It was the Satan Beast. I recognized the terrible creature from that moment in the temple of Harg, except it was ten times scarier to face it up close. It looked ready to devour me. The seven heads were all glaring at me, each drooling with sticky blood and dark green goop.
A tall spirit rose from behind the head with the smallest horn. I froze at the sight of Lucien the Higher. On his shoulder was the terrible devil earth type SoulBird, Aracto. My father was eying me maliciously.
“Hm-hmm, welcome home, son.” He growled slyly. “You like the new pet I’ve brought for you? Meet Nero,” he gave a pat on the small horn of the seven-headed Beast. “He’s been waiting to see you, and he’s missed you very much.” Lucien’s eyes flashed. “It’s time for you to go home, my son.”
The Satan Beast was glaring at me w
ith seven pairs of voracious, monstrous eyes. Each eyeball looked like terrible red crystals covered with dried blood. It raised its fiery red tail, ready to crush my spirit. Its tail was glistening with metallic scales. I was too shocked to move out of the way.
But there was a blast from the atmosphere above us, and a blurry light struck the Beast’s back. Michael and the angels were back. About two-hundred angels were rapidly surrounding the Beast and striking it with bright swords and harpoons.
Hannah grabbed my shoulders and pulled me away from the Beast.
“Oh, Zach!” She hugged me. “I’m so glad to see you! I knew you’d make it!”
I found myself hugging her back, feeling happy and relieved. Behind her back, Dewey, Grace, and Pete were battling against Aracto to distract him from helping the Beast fight against the fierce angels.
Lucien was nowhere to be seen. He had disappeared and the Beast was left to battle the band of angels on its own.
“Zach….” Hannah let go of me and stared with awe. “Y-you still kept my rosary. Can you see the body now?”
I looked at my cross. Sure enough, the body of Christ was still there. It was shining brightly as it had ever been.
“Yes…..it’s always been there, hasn’t it?”
Hannah smiled warmly and nodded, giving me a hug again.
Finally, I watched as Aracto gave a piercing shriek. Dewey’s beak had pierced his heart, and Aracto suddenly disappeared into thin air.
Then I aimed my rosary at the Beast, and watched the light shine straight through its chest. The Beast let out a loud monstrous roar of horror, and then tumbled down into the Earth. It was caught in the tornado currents that surrounded the planet, and then it was spinning around the entire Earth. Red haze surrounded the planet each time the Beast completed an entire round. Pretty soon, I felt hot air surrounding me as soon as the red haze nearly surrounded the entire bottom part of the planet. The Beast was pulling me in.
I panicked and screamed.
“Ahh! Hannah, help!” I kicked and thrashed, but the hot force was too strong. Hannah widened her eyes and reached out to grab me, but a hand smacked her forearm out of the way.
“Oh!” Hannah gasped and turned to face the evil spirit that was hovering beside her. It was my father.
“Excuse me,” Lucien spoke politely, though his face was streaming with blood and his eyes were filled with fury. His head looked ready to explode. “This is my son. You angels understand that family matters are important. He belongs with me…and my wife.” And Lucien turned to face down at me with evil malice in his eyes.
As soon as his gaze focused upon me, I felt my spirit start to ebb away. I nearly fainted.
But suddenly, a small light was approaching Lucien from behind. It was an angel with light green hair, dressed in a silky, shiny green robe. He was looking at me over Lucien’s shoulder.
I looked into his green eyes, and then recognized the spirit as Dewey. I gasped and felt the force release me. Instantly, the green angel swept over Lucien and grabbed my spirit in his arms. Everything turned black and blurry as I squeezed my eyes shut and held tightly to my soul-mate. I pressed my forehead against his chest and felt hot tears streaming down my face. My heart was beating just as fast as his.
And when I opened my eyes to slits, I Lucien gazing at us with shock. Then he disappeared into thin air.
Chapter Twenty-Nine-
As soon as Lucien and the Beast were gone, my entire vision had gone black and I could no longer feel the comfort from the green angel’s spirit.
But then I heard a soft giggle, and I saw Lara in her air-type SoulBird form. She was flying over my head. “Come on, Zach!” She was flying higher into a beam of light that led to Heaven.
My spirit followed her through the light, and then I stopped. I watched as she flew toward the distance, and entered the gates to Heaven. I couldn’t go in…not without the Lord‘s permission.
But my vision still stretched. I watched as Lara entered through the gates, and transformed from the air-type SoulBird into a spirit into a human form with six wings and the head of a human-monkey.
She accompanied a small young angel at her side, and I saw my sister, Angeline. She was hovering with her at her side. She turned around to see that I was standing from a distance away.
“Hi, Zach!” She cried. “I see you!”
My spirits rose. “I see you too.” And I waved back.
Angeline giggled. She skipped her way through the gates and came up to me. She looked pretty in her light pink gown and her lovely white wings. “Thank you so much! Heaven is so wonderful. The angels are so fun and friendly! Thank you!”
I was more than welcome. I would miss my sister, but I knew I had the chance to join her soon. The Satan Beast had been defeated, and I was finally safe…for now.
I asked her a question. “Hey….where’s Micah? Isn’t he here?” Micah was always by Lara’s side, but I didn’t see the angel anywhere.
Suddenly, my vision washed away and then I was in a strange land where the hills rolled around me, covered in white, thick fog. It was as if thick white clouds were hovering over the ground.
Micah was flying away, in his air-type SoulBird form.
I hurried after the SoulBird as quickly as I can.
I followed Micah all the way to the top of a hill, right under a sun and moon. Lexie was waiting at the top.
“Lexie!” I was overjoyed to see her spirit. Her blonde hair hung straight and nicely above her shoulders. She wore a white gown like that of an angel. I hurried up to her and the both of us hugged. At the top of this hill, I felt like we were the only two in this world, even though I hadn’t figured out which world I had entered. The sky was dark above us, but the sun and moon were still quite visible.
Lexie looked into my eyes. “Oh, Zachariah….I knew I’d see you again.” She breathed happily. Her beautiful blue eyes always lifted up my spirits, and I gazed into them with happiness.
I laughed. “Really? I thought I’d never see you again! Are we in Heaven?”
Lexie smiled and shook her head. “Zach, we are in the land of Purah.”
My smile instantly vanished. “Purah?” I blinked. “But that’s a layer in Purgatory.”
Lexie giggled. “Of course it is, you silly!”
“Ahh! Don’t tell me your spirit is stuck in—”
“Calm down, Zach,” said Lexie. “I was the first spirit to meet your sister in Heaven.”
“Then what are you doing here?!”
Lexie sighed. “Aren’t you happy that I am here, Zach? The Higher David—who is Higher One in Purah—has allowed me to become a High One in one of the academies in this layer. It’s amazing, Zach! Now we can see each other in our dreams more often!”
I blinked a couple times, and then breathed. “Oh! Awesome…that’s awesome.”
I looked around. So this was Purah. It did feel cool and breezy up here. In the distance, I could make out a trace of thick white clouds that were probably surrounding Mount Genova at the top of the seventh stage.
I looked at Lexie and smiled. But suddenly, she wasn’t smiling anymore.
“Zach, I’m sure you’re dying to know how Death and Hades managed to kill me first, and not your sister,” she said.
“Well, I am now.”
Lexie looked into my eyes. “A few years ago, when I was fifteen, I had an accident.”
“Oh, an accident?” I looked at her carefully.
“It happened in the year 41,028, when I was living in Jerusalem.”
I gasped. “That’s the year I was born…”
She nodded. “A young man, whom I had known since I was merely a child, had been crazily in love with me. And to be honest, he was very dashing…but he had the most obstinate personality. On my eighteenth birthday, he had proposed to me.”
I frowned and felt my face turn red. “Ah, how classy.” I mumbled.
“Well, I did say no,” Lexie was speaking quietly. “And then he committed suicide.”
Lexie huffed. “I saw his spirit today…he had a golden bird in his hands.”
I widened my eyes, but I let Lexie continue.
“I was so curious. It must have been the golden SoulBird. I stepped outside of the Ark to get a closer look, but as soon as he saw me stepping out of the Ark, he pointed at me and a beam of light came from the bird’s beak. It hit me, and struck me unconscious, and I was easy prey for Death and Hades to pick up when they arrived. Luckily, Micah rescued me and brought my spirit to Heaven, before Death could steal my spirit.”
I flinched and stared at her with awe. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Damien Black…”
Lexie nodded, widening her eyes. “That’s his name. So you’ve already heard of him?”
I suddenly broke out into laughter and Micah winced, hovering off to give me a flap of his wings.
“What’s your problem, boy?” Said the SoulBird.
Lexie crossed her arms and gave an indignant look. “Honestly, I don’t think it’s very funny that we both know Damien Black. That man is a beast.”
“Oh, no it’s just that…..” I had a lot to say about Damien. “Damien was a Medium in Bhad. We attend the same academy together.”
Lexie gasped. “No kidding!”
“He and I are like rivals in the academy. He’s the academy’s jock. And he disappeared with one of the golden SoulBirds after it hatched in my hands.”
“Ah, so that makes sense,” said Lexie.
“Damien is still on the face of the Earth,” said a new and familiar voice.
Lexie and I turned to see that a shadow was coming up to us on the hill.
I gasped and felt my heart sink. “The Shadow Man?” I whispered.
Lexie looked at me. “Who?”
Then I breathed a sigh of relief. The shadow came forth under the dim moonlight on top of the hill, and revealed the figure of Jesus Christ.
“Oh….” Lexie breathed with astonishment and let go of my hands. She had never seen Christ face to face like this before.
The Purgatory Saga #1: People of the Fire Page 32