by J. J. Egosi
Lucifer sighed before grinning. “Oh, well. That just means I’m ahead of schedule. Not a problem.”
Michael’s eyes glowed even brighter and his hair grew longer, falling below his shoulders. He then unfurled two more sets of wings from his back, just before a burst of light blinded the battlefield.
“The light. It fucking burns!” Lucifer grunted, covering his eyes.
Feeling the darkness return, Lucifer caught his breath and opened his eyes to a Michael of a different caliber.
“An etherial angel.” Lucifer smiled. “It’s about time.”
“Time, indeed,” Michael replied. “Now, it’s time to end this battle. But before I do, there’s one more creature that must be called to the battlefield.”
“What did you just say?”
Lucifer gasped, watching in utter shock as a purple ring appeared around Michael’s finger.
“You have a titan ring?” Lucifer’s shock quickly turned into a grin. “Now, there’s something I didn’t see coming. Too bad you can’t use it.”
“That’s what you think!” said Michael, raising his scepter.
Lucifer’s face succumbed to a flustered expression as he watched the skies quake with the presence of the guardian behind the ring.
No, he thought. He can’t.
“Mighty slayer of dwarves and ruler of orcs, I beseech you. Grace this veracious battle with your unwavering strength, so that together we may emerge victorious. Come forth! Obelisk, titan of the third dimension!”
A towering beast broke from the earth. A mountain of bulky muscle in grey metallic skin, with no head on its neck; simply a stream of teeth surrounding its circular jaws like a vortex, where its head would have been.
“I know this beast. This is the orc king that singlehandedly defeated the dwarfish army but lost its head as a result? But how did you come across such a beast and how you can summon it?”
Lucifer gulped. His breath heightened as the titan’s shadow loomed over him.
“I am the creator god, Lucifer. There’s nothing I can’t do! That also goes for all those that stand beside me. Including my titan. Now, Obelisk! Show Lucifer and his legion what it truly means to be king!”
“What it means to be-”
Before Lucifer could finish his thought, there was shaking upon the land. So violently, he nearly fell over. The headless orc stormed forward and hurled his fist at Lycanthrope’s face. The werewolf’s eyes glowed a bright red like Lucifer’s.
“Lycanthrope, counter with Transylvanian howling right now!” He demanded.
The werewolf nodded before unhinging its jaws. With its paws clenched, it was ready to silence its opposition.
Michael smirked. “It seems it’s your memory failing you this time.”
Lucifer’s eyes widened. A realization even he’d forgotten at that moment sank in as he gazed at the menacing aura permeating from the headless orc.
“There’s a hierarchy among the titans,” Michael began. “The higher the number dimension from which it derives, the stronger it is.”
“How well you recall.” Lucifer sneered.
“In other words, the titan of the third dimension has absolute superiority over the titans of the first and second dimension,” Michael said.
“So it does,” Lucifer replied. “Strong pieces, as I’m sure you also remember, aren’t enough to win the battle. Nor does it make a king.”
He had blurred recollections of great wars taking place many years ago. High in the heavens where blood shed from both sides, as demons and angels collapsed under the fervent will of their respective rulers. The animosity was sustained in the end, but a new enemy was now forged in the angel army.
“You’ll see the sort of king I am right now!” Michael shouted.
Obelisk swung at Lycanthrope, breaking the air as it did so. The werewolf attempted to counter with its howling attack. Its counter fell on deaf ears just before taking the full force of the headless orc across the face.
Lycanthrope nearly collapsed from the pummeling blow. Shortly after, Tiamat came to its defense. The great vulture beat its wings to slow the headless orc down. Like a wall, Obelisk persisted. With its other fist, it struck Tiamat across the stomach. It squawked to the heavens in agony. Tiamat and Lycanthrope continued to berate their opposition with a myriad of attacks with few successful, for even they knew the hierarchy of titans could not be broken.
Lucifer stood there, watching both his servants take a vicious beating by Michael’s titan. They grew bloodier by the second.
“Oh, I already have.” He began. “I know just what sort of leader you are.”
After several minutes passed, Lycanthrope and Tiamat stood beside one another, panting and screwing crimson on the ground. As it pooled through the grass, Obelisk stomped forward with a bellowing groan, as if preparing for its final attack.
“You saw that potential when you made that proposition. Now, it’s come back to bite you.” Michael replied.
The serrated teeth within the headless orc’s vortex of a cross-section spun like a turbine. Growing fast as the winds intensified.
“Obelisk, go. End this battle by wiping out both of his titans with your jowls of demise!”
Lucifer watched the new titan with despair as it grabbed both of the other titans with its glove-like hands.
Meanwhile, the strength seeped back into the girls. One after the other, they creaked their eyes open, breaking from their unconsciousness and waking to the chaos.
“Michael. What is that?” Isabella mumbled. It must have been like some sort of dream to her, but to Lucifer, this was a petrifying reality. “What is that brute doing to my titans?”
“Your titans? You stole them from my friends. And when this is over, they’ll be coming back to us. Now, my beast, feed upon these titans and rid my foe of his ambitions. With haste and without hesitation!”
“Outrageous! Those titans will never fit inside its mouth,” said Lucifer.
“Let’s find out,” Michael said.
Lucifer trembled from Michael’s unshakable confidence. “That’ll never work. You fool!”
“You’re forgetting Obelisk has other secret abilities.”
“What other abilities?” Lucifer demanded.
“You’ll see.” Michael grinned.
The beast shoved both titans down its gullet-like shoulders, expanding its body like a giant balloon.
“That beast. It’s about to”—
“That’s right. It’s about to combust,” Michael finished. Obelisk could not devour both titans, no matter how hard it attempted to force them down his chasm-like gullet. It powered through anyway and exploded, taking the two titans down with it.
The vicious explosion left the battlefield shrouded in the guts and gore of the three dimensional titans.
“An angel? Able to summon a titan?”
He regained his composure and smiled.
“This was illuminating, to say the least. However, this means our convocation this evening is over. I must proceed to the next phase of my plan now. A plan that is guaranteed to succeed,” Lucifer said to himself before backing into a blackened portal. Behind, its shadows resembled a void.
Michael called out to Lucifer. “Get back here and fight me, you coward,” noticing Lucifer’s exit.
“The entrails of the titans may return to their rings to be summoned again, but our war shall persist through any sea of blood.”
“It’ll continue right now!” Michael shouted.
“We’ll meet again soon. And when we do, I assure you I won’t be as merciful,” Lucifer said with a grin before completely vanishing into the shadows.
Chapter 9
The Beast Of The Wetlands
M
ichael watched the manifestation of the void Lucifer’s presence once filled, fixated and wondering when he’d next return.
You may have escaped this time, Lucifer, but you won’t be so lucky the next time I see you. And I’m sure we will meet again.
> Michael watched the last of the void vanish. He took a deep breath as the sun rose, before returning to his human form. With his original state came the disappearance of all the debris created by the explosion of the three titans.
He then turned around to see his friends limping up to their feet, in a fit of groans and winces.
“You guys? You’re alright!”
He rushed to their aid with excitement and joy.
“Hey, did you see that? I scared that destroyer god straight back to the pit he crawled out of,” said Michael with a hearty beam on his face. “On top of that, I have some really exciting news about this vision I had and what it could mean.”
The girls looked away from him, not with resentment or frustration, but with expressions of discomfort on their faces.
“You, know. You could act a little enthusiastic. I know I didn’t kill him, but I think I scared him a bit. Also, did you see that titan I summoned out of nowhere?” he said, nearly jumping with delight.
“Yes, we did, Michael,” Julianna said with displeasure.
“Hey, is it something I said?” Michael said. “Are you still mad about me for not telling you earlier?”
“Get away from us!” Isabella snapped, cold as hail.
“There are bigger issues than you concealing his name from us,” said Julianna.
“What do you mean? Did I do something wrong?” he wondered.
“I’ll tell you what you did. You performed familiar magic,” said Alexa.
“Yeah. And what’s so wrong about that?” he asked.
The girls looked at each other, unsure of who should speak up next and how to approach the matter with him.
“Michael, only demons can perform familiar magic,” Ursula said with concern in her voice.
“What?” Michael asked with bewilderment.
“Let me clarify,” Alexa began, “familiar magic is the most forbidden and powerful form of magic to ever exist, and there’s a reason for that. Only demons are granted the ability to perform it, as the darkness within them has evolved them to do.”
“So, what are you saying?” Michael’s lips quivered.
“I’m saying the archangel should be the last person who can perform such magic!” Alexa yelled.
“Okay. So, I performed demon magic. What’s the big deal? It’s not like I used it to hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it,” he argued.
“That’s not the point, Michael. Only demons are granted the ability to use that magic. It’s not that you shouldn’t use that magic, it’s that you shouldn’t even be able to. Unless”—Julianna began.
“Unless what?” Michael said. The trembling in his voice grew.
“Unless you’re actually a demon!” Ursula interjected.
Michael’s eyes widened. It took every fiber of his being to maintain his composure in the face of the accusation. He looked at the distrusting gazes around him before taking a deep, calming breath.
“I see. You think I’m a demon because of the titan I summoned. I know that looked bad, but you know I’m not a demon. I’m an angel. The archangel and creator god, Michael. You have to believe me!”
“Throw around all the titles you want, Michael. Just answer this; how do we know you’re not secretly working for Lucifer?” Julianna said.
“What? That’s ridiculous. Where did that even come from?” Michael replied with astonishment.
“Well, for one, the fact you possess one of the seven titans. It only makes sense he lent you that one for this very purpose. To take us down,” said Alexa.
“That’s insane! You four are my friends,” he said.
“He makes a good point. I’ve known him a long time and I don’t think he’d be capable of something like that,” Isabella interjected.
“I’d love to believe him so much,” Julianna said with a sullen gaze.
“Then, believe me. Please,” he said.
“But I have to know why you had that ring, and how you could use it, Michael,” Julianna pressed.
“Guys, please.” A cold sweat cascaded down Michael’s shaking face. He felt the accusations weighing down and had no answers to lighten the burden. “I’m not”—
“I’m sorry, but this is all a bit too disconcerting for my taste,” said Alexa.
“Would it help if I handed the ring over?” Michael dug into his pocket to reveal the ring. They all stepped back with cautious glares.
“I think the damage is already done, Michael,” said Ursula.
The girls’ made up their minds. They turned from him and walked away. Their abandonment of him brought tears to his eyes as his heart ached with remorse.
Michael would not give up just yet. He chased after them. “Where are you going?”
Alexa looked over her shoulder and said, “It’s best we keep our distance for now. At least until we can figure out just the sort of person you are.”
“The sort of person I am?” Michael recounted their evening by the campfire and the discussions they shared. “You know who I am.”
“…but do you, Michael?” Alexa stopped in place. Looking over at Michael as he gulped nervously from her icy glare.
“Figure out why it is the archangel can use demonic magic and cast forth a titan thought to be in Lucifer’s possession,” Alexa continued.
“When you do, you can come and find us,” Isabella added.
“But, you know the sort of person I am.” Michael insisted.
Alexa took a deep breath. “I thought we did.”
“I would never hurt you. Just listen.”
Biting back her anguish, Alexa turned her attention forward before nodding. She didn’t bother to look at him.
“Wait! You’re all seriously leaving me behind?” Michael said.
“I’m sorry, Michael,” Ursula said with a tear running down her cheek. The girls released their wings and flew away.
By the time the sun fully rose, Michael could no longer see them. They had completely disappeared. He dropped to his knees in disbelief.
“They left me all alone. No.” In his mind, he could hear Lucifer’s chuckling. It scratched at his mind like rusted nails.
“And it’s all because I summoned that stupid fucking titan!” Michael smashed his fist into the ground.
Michael remembered the many days and nights he spent wandering his home village in the Dark Realm. They grew identical with each passing thought. The same scowls of derision from passersby. The same belligerent shouts from those who refused to welcome him and the same isolation he felt in his own home.
Tears rushed down his face. “I can’t go back to who I was. I can’t.”
He recalled the day he slammed his fist against the glass and the blood that spilled from his fingers.
I haven’t felt that way for even a moment. Not since I welcomed them all into my life with open arms.
Michael recalled the joyous days he spent capturing the elementals with Julianna, along with the day Isabella joined them on their mission. There were hardships, but their company made them easier.
Though his time with Alexa and Ursula was far shorter, one of his happiest moments was healing their broken bonds because he saw much of himself in them. So much of his loneliness and desperation. Now, it was all he had.
“I should have treated them better. I should have listened when they asked me to train. I should have been more open about my feelings.”
He recalled each morning that they painstakingly woke him up. He would roll towards the other side with a groan, still smiling with the presence of someone by his side. Someone who cared.
All they wanted was the best out of me. They even went out of their way to help me when I drank my potion. And I repay them by using demon magic?
Michael struck his fist down at the nearest rock. Blood spilled just as it did that day against the glass.
And now I’m back to where I started. But why do I feel even worse?
His mind raced with the visions he saw of that familiar estate. The sight of him callin
g forth a titan he’d never seen locked in. He soon began to question it all. What it meant and how he came to know all this. And how he forgot it.
Just who the fuck am I?
He looked up at the beating sun and screamed out of rage.
I’m alone. More than ever before because the person I am is becoming almost impossible to recognize.
Michael curled up in a ball as memories of his childhood flooded in. The memories of his adoptive parents beating him. The shouting he received from Isabella. And the world’s refusal to let him in.
Why does this keep happening? Is this what fate has for me? Eternal solitude? That can’t be all I have to live for!
He laughed to himself, shaking his head.
I won’t give up that easily. Not this time. I won’t seek solace at the end of a liquor bottle. I’ll earn back their trust if it’s the last thing I do.
He rose to his feet and dusted himself off. He looked into the direction the girls flew—into the woods ahead of the open fields.
The golden horizon hanging over the branches was as warm as the winds around him were cold.
His wings were strained from the battle, so he knew it was best to get started before the sun set again, fully aware of how long it could take to find them.
Whatever it takes, no matter how much I need to beg, I’ll find a way to get back in their good graces.
He took the little he had on him and walked towards the direction in which they flew, hoping they had made no turns.
The girls advanced into the woods, entering a murky swamp-like region with pools of water around and branches hanging inside. The trees echoed with the croaking of frogs and the groaning of alligators. The pungent scent of the swamp filled the air, making their stomachs churn.
“Was it a good idea to leave him behind? I don’t think there was any malcontent behind summoning that titan,” Ursula said. She recalled the sincere look on his face before they left him. She choked on her tears as more sympathy built in her.
“You’re probably right. I think that innocent and somewhat dimwitted side of him will always be there,” said Julianna.
“But this whole being a god and twin brother ordeal will take a lot of time digesting. As will his connection to that titan,” said Alexa.