The Devil's son - 14. I remember dying

I remember dying.

I always thought dying would hurt but it was not that bad. Ok, the spear sticking right through me was no picnic and the look on Jayden’s eyes when he realised I would not make it broke my heart but other than that dying was easy. It was the thing that came after dying that was difficult.

As soon as it had become black I saw a flash of bright white light and all of a sudden I was floating several meters above the battle ground. Jayden went berserk and slew demons at an incredible rate. Samuel was shooting demon after demon and even Michael looked like a whirlwind of white and red. They’ll be fine, I think.

I looked down at myself. No more wings, sword or armour. Just a young human male with a spear running through his body. Apparently, with the death of my human body my angelic personality had left it. So much the better. This way no difficult questions needed to be answered when my family claims my body. In my peripheral vision I saw a large white light and when I looked right at it I heard a voice.

“Ar’Thurian, it’s time for you to come home”. My presence started floating towards that bright light. The last thing I saw was Jayden, slaughtering demons.

When I exited the bright light I saw a golden gate in front of me. One look at myself proved to me I was fully angelic once more. My bow and arrows hung from my back and my sword on my left hip. I was wearing both my armor and my golden headband. My wings were their brightest white again and no signs of a recent battle were visible. But, even though I was now fully angelic I still had my human memories and I still felt my love for Jayden. To say it was confusing is an understatement.

As soon as I approached the golden gate it opened by itself, allowing me to enter. As soon as my feet touched the grass I felt at peace. Oh, I knew there was a war on the verge of breaking out but right now that was someone else’s problem. All I felt right now was the peace of Eden. But that couldn’t last, of course.

“Ar’Thurian, welcome home” a young man dressed completely in white said. Well, young might not be the best description. His face looked in its twenties but his eyes showed incredible ancient wisdom. He wore his blond hair in a ponytail and was dressed in white jeans, a white dress shirt with a long white leather coat to complete his ensemble. Strangely enough he didn’t wear shoes; he was barefoot. Ar’Thurian knew immediately who was addressing him and that was extraordinary. Normally only the Archangels dealt directly with Him.

“My Lord” Ar’Thurian said, while starting to kneel for Him.

“Rise, warrior angel” He said. “There’s no need for that. If anyone should kneel it would be me to acknowledge an extremely difficult job well done”.

“My Lord, I was unable to stop the chain of events” Ar’Thurian protested. “If you decide to have my wings for this I will not resist”.

“You were never meant to stop the events, young angel” He said. “Your job was to signal the start of the events and be the first line of defense. As soon as you discovered what went down you contacted your commanding officer and set things in motion to stop the events”.

“My Lord, the archangel Michael said he could not contact the Armies of Heaven but did not share the reason for that” Ar’Thurians said.

“And neither will I, warrior angel” He said. “Although Michael misunderstood a conversation we had in the past. He would have been able to enter the Garden of Eden to contact the Armies of Heaven but he would not have been able to enter the grounds beyond the Garden. Access to the Kingdom of Heaven is denied to him at this moment”. Ar’Thurian knew better than to push for answers. If He didn’t want to give them He would not.

“Walk with me, young angel” He said. “There’s much we need to discuss”.

In the meantime Ar’Thurian went on his walk with Him the battle in New York started to take a turn for the worst. The main reason for that was Jayden.

Jayden, being half human, ran on anger and adrenaline and that was a good combination for a short period of time but not for a long fight. And this fight was taking longer than Jayden could sustain on adrenaline. His hormone level was already dropping and Jayden felt fatigue creeping up on him. He also found himself next to Samuel who proved to be quite the marksman.

“What on earth are you shooting with?” Jayden asked Samuel.

“Just the normal bullets for this weapon” Samuel said.

“Bullshit! Demons don’t fall for normal bullets” Jayden said.

“Well, apparently they do when a Catholic priest blessed them, the gun and the shooter and dipped them in Holy Water” Samuel said, loudly enough for Michael to hear.

“Explain” the archangel demanded.

“Heaven’s Law only works for one angel, sir” Samuel said, rather pissed. “In other words, I don’t answer to you”.

“Oh, how I wish Ar’Thurian had allowed me to kill you that day” Michael said. “Catholic priests aren’t allowed to bless weapons so it should not work at all. So I want to know how you circumvented that little problem”.

“Well, if you put it that way …. Forget it!” Samuel said and went on blasting heads from demon bodies.

“Would you be so kind to please enlighten me, young sir?” Michael asked with grinding teeth. Never before had a human forced him to beg. Him! Commander of Heaven’s Armies!

“Now, that didn’t hurt, did it?” Samuel said with a sugar sweet tone of voice. “At least, not much”. And Samuel began to tell.

“Ever heard of the Vatican Knights?” Samuel asked Jayden. “A group of militant priests who are waiting to fight the Antichrist?”

“No” Jayden said, already regretting his question.

“Well, Mr. archangel over there did” Samuel said, responding to Michaels facial expression. Jayden turned to Michael.

“The Vatican Knights, or the Knights of the Holy Seat, are a group of misguided priests who think the battle against Satan can be fought with mortal weapons. They are not sanctioned by Him” Michael explained.

“What Michael tries to say is that our creator, or some of his archangels, would rather see them gone but by the Catholic dogma this group is just as sanctioned as all others” Samuel said, confusing Jayden even more.

“Catholic dogma?” Jayden asked.

“Jesus promised Peter, the rock on which he built His Church, whatever laws he or his descendants issued in the Church would be sanctioned in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Catholic confession is an example for that but for this group it goes as well. They are sanctioned by the Pope, as substitute for Him on earth, and as a result they are sanctioned by Heaven” Samuel explained. Michael didn’t say anything but by the look on his face he was not happy with Samuel.

“Ok, but what has that to do with your bullets?” Jayden asked.

“I know a priest who once was a Vatican Knight. So when Arthur told me about a demon in New York I went home for the weekend and bought a gun and ammo and brought it to that priest who blessed it all. And, as you can see, it is effective. And now duck!”. As soon as Jayden hit the ground Samuel fired a few shots, exploding four demons who were advancing on Jayden with the intention to kill him.

“My Lord, I know you do things at your own pace but I’d like to remind you there’s a war starting between darkness and light” Ar’Thurian said to Him.

“I know, young angel” He said. “The Armies of Heaven are assembling and will head for earth shortly. You don’t need to worry about the people you care about”.

“Be that as it may, my Lord, I still do” Ar’Thurian said.

“Yes, that is one of the things I want to talk to you about” He said. “You’ve shown an uncanny attachment to those mortal beings, more than any warrior angel ever did. I’m worried that might impair your abilities in the future. You were always strong, detached and ruthless if you needed to be but now you got killed in order to protect a single life”.

“Isn’t one life as valuable as a thousand, my Lord?” Ar’Thurian asked. “Isn’t that what you always taught us?”

“Oh, I’m not upset because of that, Ar’Thurian” He explained. “It was just an observation leading to certain questions. It demonstrates you can make decisions that are not for the greater good. This time it was a human male who was bound to you so your natural instinct was to protect him. But what if it is someone bound to you by love and the decision is even more critical? The instinct to come to his rescue will be even stronger. How will you react then?”

Ar’Thurian remained silent for a few minutes before answering.

“The greater good must always prevail, my Lord, so the greater good is what must be served”.

“And here I thought you finally learned the lesson Michael refuses to learn” He sighed. “There is no greater good than love. And that’s why you have several decisions to make”.

“Decisions, my Lord?”

“Yes, several of them. But the first is whether to stay or to go”.

“I don’t understand, my Lord” Ar’Thurian said, getting more confused by the minute. No greater good than love? Than what was his place in all of this? “Stay or go?”

“Will you chose the Kingdom of Heaven and the Garden of Eden or will you chose earth? Will you chose your own kind or will you chose the ones you love? Will you stay or will you go?”

“Jayden, what do you know about the Demon Lords?” Michael asked.

“They are the five most powerful upper level demons. Satan’s most trusted advisors, if my father takes advice at all. The most powerful of our kind except for my father” Jayden answered, wondering why the archangel wants to talk about this.

“And do you know who they are?” Michael asked.

“No, as a child I was not really interested in the politics of Hell so I was never informed who they were, what their powers were or what their true purpose was” Jayden said. “Although I know they are more than just powerful demonic mystics or advisors”.

“The five Demon Lords can break the final seal and allow Satan to leave the confinements of Hell” Michael explained. “In order to do so they need to form a pentagram with the Gates of Hell in the centre and they need to connect with each other on a energetic level”.

“Very interesting but what does that have to do with me?” Jayden asked.

“Have you ever killed someone, Jayden?” Michael asked, ignoring Jayden’s question.

“To my regret I must say I have” Jayden answered. “I killed several men by accident because my semen proved to be incompatible with human life. One man I had sex with and in the heat of the moment I went way too far. He did not survive our encounter. And I killed some criminals who mugged people or raped and murdered children. These last few I do not regret”.

Michael remained silent. The Demon Prince obviously had blood on his hands so the first of the five Demon Lords was already in this world. Heaven helps us if the other four will break free as well.

“I don’t understand, my Lord” Ar’Thurian said. “My human body is dead so I have no way to return”.

“Should you decide to return your human body can be restored” He said. “So that’s no reason to postpone your decision.”

“I would be lying if I denied my heart longs to go back to Jayden” Ar’Thurian said. “But is that enough reason?”

“Like I said, there’s nothing more important than love” He said. “But I have the feeling you’re dealing with other concerns”.

“The one I love is male, as am I” Ar”Thurian said. “Isn’t that against Your will?”

“Love is love, my brave warrior” He said. “So many of my teachings are wrongly interpreted or just plainly abused. Indeed, I said it is an abomination to lie with another man as a man, if the sexual encounter is forced or unwanted. For example, in Ancient Greece men were forced to have a sexual relationship with another man before they were allowed to marry the woman they loved. This way the authorities tried to prevent remaining curiosity, to strengthen the marriage. The men and women knew both the sexual act with their own sex and the opposite one. Their intention was good, even admirable, but why should someone who is in love first have to live with another person before being allowed to be with the one they love? Human life is short enough as it is. The same with Sodom and Gomorra. It was not because those men wanted to have sex with another man I destroyed the cities but because they were trying to force themselves onto him while he made it clear he was not interested. That’s not love but rape and I will never condone rape”.

“So you have no problem with gay men and women?”

“If I had, why would I have created them that way? To test them? That would be the cruellest torture imaginable and I don’t understand why the Church can even suggest such a thing. Although it’s been a long time since My Son choose Peter to be his rock”.

“Should I decide to go back, what would that mean?” Ar’Thurian asked.

“Well, your human body would be restored and you would be able to continue your human life, albeit with added responsibilities. You will remain the first line of defense on earth in the ongoing battle between darkness and light”.

“So you don’t think this will be the last battle?”

“Who knows?” He said. “When it comes down to the End of Days I’m just as ignorant as humans are. That’s why the power of light needs a representative on earth, I think”.

“But I would only live a human life span” Ar’Thurian countered. “After that a new angel would have to be send to earth”.

“No, your human body would be restored but you would be fully angelic, meaning I will restore your immortality, together with your other powers. But you would lose your place as Heaven’s subcommander”.

“So that would take me outside Heaven’s hierarchy?”

“Well, as an angel you would always remain under me” He smiled. “But, unlike all others, you would not have to answer to the archangels, for example, and you would have great autonomy in your actions”.

“And what about Jayden?” Ar’Thurian asked.

“What about him?”

“Would he also be immortal?”

“I don’t know” He said. “No Demon Prince ever lived long enough to test that. They all gave away who they were and got exorcised”.

“And Samuel? Will he still be bound by Heaven’s Law?” Ar’Thurian asked.

“No, with your death the spell was broken. Samuel can resist you once more” He said. “But I do suggest you don’t cast that spell again. You noticed the trouble with it. If you do not chose your words the right way the bounded can find a way around them. And even if they don’t it’s very well possible the command plays out differently than was the idea”.

“Can I ever return to Eden?”

“Only in very special circumstances and when I summon you. That’s why it is a choice” He said.

“And if I decide to stay, what will happen to Jayden and Samuel? Will I see them in the end, here in Eden?”

“Samuel, probably. Jayden is a different story”.

“Why?” Ar’Thurian asked, startled.

“Several people died because of Jayden. Most of those deaths were accidental but in some cases it is not that easy. The two rapists he killed I won’t hold against him but the two muggers didn’t have to die to be incapacitated. And than there is the man who died because Jayden couldn’t stop while having sex with him and the shop owner who had a heart attack when he tried to stop Jayden. Jayden considered going back to kill them both in order to keep himself safe and not once but twice. In the end he didn’t do it because they posed no threat to him. There must be some punishment for that. Since most of that was linked to Jayden’s condition, being partly demonic, but in some things Jayden made his own choices. Until he has redeemed himself he cannot enter Eden or the Kingdom of Heaven. Besides, I think you are part of Jayden’s anchor. It’s very well possible Jayden’s balance will tip to his dark side”.

“So, in the end there is no choice” Ar’Thurian stated. “Jayden is who I need and an eternity without him, or knowing he turned fully demonic because I wasn’t there, will be eternal torture. If Jayden can’t join me here in Eden I can’t stay in Eden, especially not if that means Jayden gets into trouble. I have to go back”.

“Are you sure, Ar’Thurian?” He asked, knowing very well Ar’Thurian’s choice was made. “Remember, you won’t be able to come back to Eden”.

“Yes, my Lord. I’m sure. Jayden means more to me than an eternity in Eden alone” Ar’Thurian said.

“Than so be it” He said. “As soon as you leave the Garden of Eden you will go back to earth and you will enter your human body. You will be fully restored, fully angelic and you will be the first line of defense should the battle between light and darkness flare up again”.

“Yes, my Lord” Ar’Thurian.

“There is one more thing, young Ar’Thurian” He said. “For what Belial did he will pay one day. Even the angels who are banished from Eden will abide by my laws or they will Fall! Belial is apparently protected by someone or something very powerful or I would have taken his wings by now. Still, I can correct some of the damage he did. You are hereby authorised to undo the changes Belial made to Samuel. But you have to remember one thing. Belial, like all angels, could not create feelings that were not there to begin with, meaning Samuel had feelings for men to begin with. You need to discuss with Samuel to what extent he was bisexual before Belial did what he did so you can undo it. You are not allowed to erase his feelings for men altogether”.

“As you said, my Lord, no angel can create.” Ar’Thurian said. “What if Belial erased Samuel’s feelings for women?”

“I can’t say it any clearer without doing damage to reality, Ar’Thurian. You are authorised to undo Belial’s changes, whatever it takes. Is that clear enough?” He asked.

“Yes, my Lord. Thank you” Ar’Thurian said. For the first time in all of creation an angel got the power to create something from nothing, albeit for only one task. And he would make sure he would not make the same mistake Lucifer did.

“Take a good look around, Ar’Thurian” He said. “Soon it will time for you to walk through the golden gate once more and return to earth”.

For a while the battle in New York remained fairly constant. For every demon that materialised Jayden, Michael and Samuel sent one back to Hell. But in one second the momentum of the battle shifted against the forces of light. That one second was when Michael saw Beelzebub materialise across Trinity Church, at the corner of Wall Street and Broadway. Now two of the Demon Lords were in this realm and something told Michael it would only be a very short time before number three would come out.

“Jayden, do you see that huge, very ugly demon? With the wings like a fly?” Michael asked.

“If you mean Beelzebub, yes, I saw him. Get down!” Jayden shouted before shooting black lighting from his fingers into the chest of a lower level demon.

“Beelzebub is one of the five Demon Lords, Jayden” Michael said. “Oni was another but you killed him”.

“So why did you ask me if I knew who the five Demon Lords were if you already knew?”

“Because I needed to know what you knew about the Demon Lords” Michael said. “And you obviously knew very little about them and what they can do”.

“Wait, you said Oni was one of the Demon Lords? Than all our problems are solved since I killed Oni”.

“Unfortunately not, Jayden” Michael started. “As soon as you killed one of the Demon Lords the process began to replace him. Normally, that process is long, difficult and tiresome but now it is not. You fulfilled the prophecy. You have the power to release Satan from the pits of Hell and cause the End of Days”.

“You’re not making a lot of sense, archangel. If one of the Demon Lords is dead they can no longer form a pentagram because you need 5 points to complete a pentagram”.

“If the Demon Prince has killed and one of the Demon Lords is dead the Demon Prince becomes the first under the Demon Lords. You make the Demon Lords complete again and, as such, fulfilled the prophecy to bring forth the End of Days” Michael said.

“I have no intention to bring forth the End of Days! I explained that a couple of times now” Jayden shouted but Michael was distracted. At the moment Ereshkigal materialised so now three Demon Lords were in New York.

“I’m sorry, Jayden. I truly am. This may cause us to lose this fight but I cannot let the five Demon Lords roam this reality where they might unleash Satan from his prison” Michael said while lifting his sword. “It’s nothing personal. I just can’t take the risk” and Michael swung the sword down, intending to behead Jayden. Jayden pulled his head between his shoulders in a reflex, knowing very well the blow with the sword would come soon, slicing his head in two. In stead he saw a flash of bright light through his closed eyelids and heard thunder roaring only inches from his head.

“I don’t think so, Michael. If you try to kill my boyfriend I take it very personal” Ar’Thurian said.