HAGEN: 1. Revelations

by Jadhe HAMILTON

  She still didn’t realize she was lying in Lawskey’s arms. A deathly silence fell upon the Congregation: the Decision-Makers hadn’t expected such an extreme reaction from her. They had all underestimated her pain. No one dared say word.

  They waited a long time for the seraph to regain her senses. Nonetheless, she remained far away, as if her spirit refused to return to her body.

  Then, after an interminable silence, One of the Sages spoke, addressing her directly:

  “Didn’t you know that Thece isn’t dead?”

  Once again, silence fell on the Assembly. Lawskey looked at Diane hopefully, but she didn’t react, her absent eyes were still wide open, staring into oblivion. In desperation, he broke down in tears before the Decision-Makers. This great seraph, usually so strong and proud, was now sobbing uncontrollably. He thought he had lost her forever.

  The Sage spoke again, hoping that Diane could hear him:

  “We already know what happened to Nina: Thece was badly wounded by a demon during your intervention in the convent. Moreover, you successfully accomplished the mission entrusted to you, and for this, We would like to congratulate you...”

  Despite the Sage’s praise, Diane remained completely motionless, her gaze lost in an impenetrable sea of despair, while Lawskey struggled not to burst into tears again.

  The Sage continued:

  “When We heard that you were ready to surrender to the Congregation, We understood that it was a testimony of peace on your behalf. After fleeing your responsibilities for over two hundred years, you were finally ready to surrender yourself to Justice. We were aware of your sacrifice, even though We couldn’t have imagined the extent of your suffering. Thus, as a sign of respect and gratitude, We have already taken the initiative of saving Thece.”

  The Sage turned to another marble angel:

  “Bring him in.”

  The marble angel disappeared into the darkness of the cosmos as if he were entering another dimension. He reappeared a few seconds later, followed by a tall angel with hazel-colored wings speckled with red and orange. The latter was advancing steadily towards Diane. When his bare feet touched the ground, the muscles of his thighs and calves appeared perfectly sculpted. He had the nose of a Greek god, and fine, luscious lips that aroused passion. Aware that each step brought him closer to the seraph, he placed his penetrating blue eyes on Diane, his thick, black, disheveled hair giving him a dark and impetuous appearance.

  When he was only a few inches away from Diane and Lawskey, Lawskey got up with a heavy heart to return his protégé to the one she had chosen. The two angels were face to face for the first time. Thece, who was only a legionary, was just as impressive as the seraph. Lawskey didn’t let him out of his sight as Thece took his place without even acknowledging him. Thece’s attention was solely for Diane.

  Kneeling on the ground, he picked her up in his arms. Feeling her so close to him after all this time, he had to clench his teeth so as not to allow his pain to submerge him. He buried his face in the neck of the motionless seraph whose warmth he was feeling for the first time in centuries. No one around them dared to intervene. Diane hadn’t reacted to Thece’s contact. Her soul had fled. She could no longer feel, nor could she hear.

  Intent on not letting her go, Thece straightened his back and knelt down in front of her, holding her firmly by the chest and resting his forehead against hers. At that moment, he felt as though a distant flame was about to be extinguished. She was present and yet so far away.

  In an extreme effort of concentration, holding her face in his hands, he connected his mind to the seraph’s. Immediately, he felt an attraction, as though he were being drawn into the universe where Diane had taken refuge. He saw himself immersed in a deep nothingness, where a small spark struggled to reawaken. Gradually, through the contact of their two beings, the spark’s glow intensified. Its radiance grew as he approached her, until it became as pure and dazzling as a celestial star. There she was. And before she could even realize it, he was kissing her passionately in front of the Congregation. Diane was back. Their fiery kiss could have lasted for hours if One of the Sages hadn’t called them to order.

  Embarrassed, Diane slowly pulled away. She was exhausted. Thece got up immediately and helped her to her feet. Sensing that she was still very weak, he held her in his arms as the Sages spoke. Lawskey, who was standing beside them, could no longer breathe. A young Sage spoke:

  “We think Diane needs time to regain her bearings. Today, her amnesia was partially lifted. Little by little, she will continue to remember. And when the time comes, We will call her back to Us. There are still some dark areas that are yet to be resolved. In the meantime, We advise you to rejoin your earthly bodies so they don’t starve to death, even if We know that the archangel Sofia watches over you like a mother.”

  Thece bowed solemnly as he showed Diane out of the temple. The seraph bowed in turn, before following him out. With the legionary’s strong arm around her waist, she bathed fully in his aura. They walked silently down the steps, too moved to speak. Diane looked at each stair without saying a word. Could this really be happening? After all this time. He was still alive. Overcome with a powerful feeling of sadness and love, she stopped in the middle of the staircase and looked at him with her soft hazel eyes: “Thece.”

  Thece stopped and turned to her. They looked at each other for a long time. At last. They had found each other again. She had found her soul mate. Reunited again, they would stay together for eternity.

  At the top of the stairs, Lawskey, tortured by what he saw, watched them leave. This unique and extraordinary seraph had been taken away from him by a lower-ranking angel, and there was nothing he could do about it. Yet, his love for her was no less profound than Thece’s love. Quite the contrary. Lawskey could have made Diane a queen if she had given him the chance.

  Unable to walk beside them, he waited until they were at the bottom of the staircase, before he too left the Congregation’s temple, choking in despair. His mutilated heart reminded him deep down in his bones of how alone he really was... And he hadn’t even received a thank you.

  Chapter 19

  “Thank you for agreeing to come.”

  “Thank you for agreeing to see me again.”

  Sitting side by side on a bench in the Tuileries garden, Tara and Victor didn’t dare look at each other. Uncomfortable, they found it easier to look at the trees, the passers-by, the fountain... than to look into each other’s eyes.

  Finally, when Victor couldn’t take it any longer, he suddenly turned to her:

  “Tara, that girl...”

  “I don’t want to know. That’s not why I called you here.”

  There was deep sadness in Victor’s eyes. His physique, strong and vigorous, contrasted greatly with the feebleness he felt in his heart at that moment, as he waited to find out why Tara had called him here on this early spring morning.

  Even if she pretended otherwise, she was still madly in love with Victor. Only, despite his numerous messages testifying that he had cut off all contact with the sulfurous green-eyed brunette, she was still unable to give him her heart.

  Nonetheless, and despite her initial determination, she couldn’t help but reconsider:

  “I received your messages,” she said, avoiding his gaze.

  “I left her Tara. It’s over between us.”

  “While I was gone, I thought about you day and night... When I saw that you’d replaced me so quickly...”

  “Don’t get me wrong Tara. I’ve known Vitalie for years.”

  “I didn’t need to know her name...”

  She fell silent; her heart ached. Now that she knew her name, this woman seemed more real than ever.

  “She must be very important to you,” Tara said, in a painful voice.

  “I’ve made up my mind Tara, you’re the one I love.”

  “How long have you been seeing her?”

  She turned to Victor and looked him straight in the eyes, but he remained si
lent, refusing to answer.

  “I’m listening,” she insisted.

  “If I told you...”

  “I want to know the truth.”

  Victor decided to be honest, even though he apprehended her reaction:

  “I can’t even count the years.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I feel like I’ve been dating her ever since I was born.”

  “What do you mean by that?” repeated Tara, who felt her heart splitting in two. “More than years? Decades? Is she your childhood sweetheart?”

  “You could say that...”

  They both went silent. Devastated, Tara turned her head towards the fountain so Victor wouldn’t see that she was crying. She told herself that she wouldn’t have had a chance anyway. How could he ever love her more than Vitalie anyway...? She had no chance against a childhood sweetheart. She had made the right decision by deciding to leave him... Only, now that Victor was so close to her, she no longer had the desire nor the courage to part with him.

  She wiped her tears as he wrapped his muscular arms around her.

  “Leave me alone,” she ordered, reluctantly trying to leave his embrace.

  “Tara, I love you!” he cried, refusing to let her go.

  His words devastated and confused her. She burst into tears in his arms and hid her face against his chest. She loved him too, but she couldn’t stay with him. At least not for now. His relationship with Vitalie, as well as Diane’s reunion with Thece had left her completely disoriented. She felt lost among all these couples.

  “I can’t compete with a childhood sweetheart!” she exclaimed between sobs.

  “I left her Tara. I’m in love with you. I’ve made up my mind.”

  “So have I,” she said, slowly rising. “I can’t be in the middle of such a strong relationship. And I’ve been completely confused myself for the past few days anyway... We have to stop this...”

  She felt her heart fall to pieces as she uttered those words. Trembling, she looked at Victor whose eyes expressed such excruciating pain. She found him so handsome.

  Unable to resist him any longer, and for fear of falling back into his arms, she turned her back on him and began to walk towards the exit of the gardens. Then, in a broken, tear-filled voice, Victor asked:

  “Is it because of your mission?”

  Tara stopped dead in her tracks, short of breath. He continued:

  “Your blood-red wings. And your strength, that of a seraph. It was only much later that I understood why you’d disappeared. When I saw you outside my door that night, I knew that you never intended to leave me. It was your angelic mission that forced you to do so. It was my mistake not to understand sooner...”

  Tara was petrified. She listened to him without turning around. How could he have known all that? Her wings, her rank as a seraph... Who could have told him?

  “How long have you known?” she asked, finally turning to him.

  “From the beginning,” Victor confessed, lovingly. “It’s hard for me not to see you as you really are.”

  “How is that possible? And you never told me about it!”

  “I thought it wasn’t my place to bring on this discussion.”

  Moved, Tara looked at him with love, but not without a slight apprehension.

  “What’s your angel’s name?” Victor asked, curious.

  “Diane,” she said in a trembling voice.

  “It’s a beautiful name...”

  “But it’s too late Victor. Diane loves someone else.”

  “Another angel?”

  “Yes.”

  On these words Victor got up to join her, armed as usual with his charming smile, still as seductive as ever:

  “That’s because you haven’t given me a chance to seduce her yet...”

  Tara felt herself melting. Nonetheless, she took a step back and confessed everything:

  “You don’t understand Victor! Diane has committed very serious crimes! Now I risk being destroyed by the Angelic Congregation! My staying will only cause you pain!”

  “What do you mean?” asked Victor, who had become livid. “Are you in danger Tara? Is it the Rulers of your world who want to annihilate you?”

  “Yes... I’m waiting for their verdict. Anything can happen now...”

  She felt the tears welling up in her eyes as she lost herself in Victor’s frightened gaze.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promised, holding her hands tightly in his. “My family and I will protect you, I give you my word.”

  “Victor,” she replied, moved by his naivety, “you and your family can do nothing against my Leaders...”

  Suddenly, as Victor opened his mouth to reply, a woman’s voice called out from behind them:

  “Tara!”

  Surprised, Tara gasped as she looked in the direction of the voice. It was Nina, looking at her in dismay.

  “Tara, what are you doing?” the coach said as she approached them.

  “Who is she?” asked Victor, who was instinctively suspicious of the woman who had interrupted their discussion.

  “Victor,” Tara articulated, freeing her hands. “This is Nina. Her angel, Thece, is Diane’s soul mate.”

  Victor was outraged. Dumbfounded, he didn’t respond, staring at Nina as if death itself was standing before him.

  “Tara,” continued Nina, ignoring him royally, “come on, we have to go home.”

  “I’ll go home when I feel like it,” replied Tara, avoiding the hand with which Nina attempted to grab her arm.

  “Tara,” insisted Nina, refusing to leave her with Victor. “What are you doing? You know that Diane and Thece...”

  “Exactly Nina!” Tara cried out, tired of all these stories. “Diane and Thece is Diane and Thece. Right now, we’re talking about me!”

  “But you are Diane!”

  “I love him Nina! I love Victor, accept it!”

  Then, for the first time since she had met her, Tara knew that she had hurt Nina deeply. She was immediately overcome with remorse, not daring to say another word. Nina replied in a broken voice, almost choking:

  “No Tara... He’s not the one you love... Look how much he resembles Thece...”

  “Enough!”

  “Thece is the one you’re loving through Victor. Now that you know the truth, stop kidding yourself.”

  “You,” commanded Victor, “I’ll ask you to start minding your own business.”

  “Unlike you,” replied Nina, staring at him defiantly, “Thece would never have deceived her.”

  Victor didn’t know what to say.

  Tara’s heart couldn’t bear any more. She pulled her arm out of Nina’s grip and ran towards the Seine.

  “I hope you’re happy,” Nina said, stabbing him with her eyes.

  “Tara’s in danger, she needs me!”

  “Tara doesn’t need you. Stay out of our lives.”

  Victor, who had never seen Nina before and new nothing about her, looked at her in amazement, refraining himself from telling her off. Finally, it was the coach who turned on her heels first, judging that she had no more time to lose in the presence of this smooth talker who thought he could protect Tara better than Thece.

  In tears, Tara had taken refuge on the banks of the Seine. She didn’t know what to think or who she was anymore. She needed to be alone, to find herself. She didn’t want to think nor be accountable to anyone.

  “Tara.”

  Exasperated that she was being followed like this, she turned around abruptly, only to discover Nina, looking at her apologetically.

  “Tara, we need to talk. You’ve been avoiding me ever since we got back from the Sphere.”

  Annoyed, Tara dried her tears and stared out over the river, refusing to talk.

  “Tara...” continued Nina, as she sat down beside her.

  Understanding that Tara didn’t want to talk to her, she sat silently by her side.

  The water of the river flowed by peacefully, contrasting with
the torrent of emotions flowing through Tara. The sky was blue and cloudless, and despite the cool air, the morning sun deeply penetrated their bodies, warming them up.

  “I know you were attached to him,” said Nina in a soft voice. “But you saw it yourself... you felt it in the depths of your soul... This man can’t destroy the love that unites us.”

  “What love?” Tara replied coldly, looking at the whirlpool that had formed in the middle of the river. “Diane loves Thece. And me, I love Victor. And you Nina, nobody loves you.”

  Aware of the violence of her words, Tara didn’t dare look at the coach, not wanting to see her reaction. Nonetheless, she sensed her suffering. Although she regretted her words, she preferred not to let it show, still staring coldly at the river that was flowing beneath their feet.

  “How can you say that to me...”

  Tara flinched. She had heard the tears in Nina’s voice... Was it really possible? Confused, she turned to Nina and saw her tears streaming down her cheeks:

  “Everything I’ve done since I met you, I’ve done for you. No one in the Universe loves you more than I do...”

  She burst into tears. Tara looked at her, feeling terribly guilty and not knowing how to respond. Seeing Nina so unhappy made her suffer too.

  “When I saw you that night in the bar,” Nina continued, drying her tears, “my heart stopped. And when I saw you again the next day in Nicolas’ office, I still didn’t dare believe it...”

  Tara held her breath. Nina was referring to their meetings at the Hotel Costes and at Cesucom.

  “I had been looking for you for centuries, not even knowing if you were still alive. When I saw you there, so radiant, a sudden peace came over me...”

  She fell silent, catching her breath before continuing, in a daze:

  “But when I realized you didn’t recognize me, I knew you had forgotten me...”

  Nina was filled with emotion. Her facial muscles tightened as she tried her best not to burst into tears again. She continued in a choppy, high-pitched voice: