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“SOMEONE’S BEEN BUSY,” Pris observed as the van doors opened in the Kratos’ driveway.
“How’s that?” Frank asked from the front seat of his van.
Clara had released her chair from its locks and turned to face the open door of the other van. They had left Carl at the hospital, with the promise he would join them after his shift. Frank’s miraculous recovery was enough of a flashing neon light illuminating odd happenings without the head custodian being seen leaving with that same patient.
“The front door is closed,” Ham interjected from his place where his chair was tied down behind Pris in Marrisa’s van.
“Well, shouldn’t it be?” Frank asked quizzically.
“No, when we left, the front door was laying on the floor in the living room,” Marrisa finished.
“Ah, the explosion,” Frank supplied. “The one in which I was almost killed, and Marrisa in turn killed a top-level demon,” he finished, as if discussing a slight change in the weather.
“Uriel vanquished Berith back to the realm of the condemned,” Raquel supplied in turn.
“It is nearly impossible for any of my Father’s children to be killed,” Clara informed him. “Only He can actually cause them to cease to exist. This is why Father had to condemn them to the other place.” As she spoke the term, Clara’s body literally quivered in disgust.
“So, your brothers and sisters are immortal and invulnerable, kind of like Superman?” Ham quipped.
“We don’t use terms like immortal, because we have no reference,” Raquel responded. “We are in fact eternal; our Father made us so when He created us out of the essence of the universe, which He himself created by His will.”
“This is probably not the right time to ask, but if your Father, He whom we call God, created the universe and all which is in it, does that mean you don’t live in this universe?” Ham asked expectantly.
“You are such a bright young man!” Raquel beamed enthusiastically. “Even my Father’s prophets took years to grasp this as a concept.”
“The prophets didn’t have comic books,” Pris snarked.
Ignoring her quip, Raquel turned to Hamilton very seriously and asked, “And where do you suppose we live instead?”
“Well, gee, if I had to guess, I’d say....another dimension?” Ham answered hesitantly.
“Pin a prize on that young man’s chest,” Raquel crowed.
“Ah, I think you mean, pin a medal on my chest? Or give me a prize?” Ham offered.
“Yes, yes, your colloquialisms continue to elude me occasionally,” Raquel admitted. “Regardless, we in fact live in a dimension which is nearly pure energy. Father used a small fraction of that energy to create this universe, in this dimension.”
“He was hoping it too would be eternal, but alas, it allowed decay to enter when my oldest brother was jealous of Father doting on His new creations.” Raquel’s face fell for a moment remembering her love for her fallen brother. “Lucifer said they were weak, and frail, and easily swayed. Father reminded us all then that our charge was to watch over all of His creation for as long as it continued to exist.”
She paused, and a distant look stole across her face. “It was part of the cause for the great battle, where Brother and Sister fought Brother and Sister for dominion of our realm. Father could have easily stopped it, but chose to let it play out to test our resolve and see how much we had learned in the eons since we had been created. He was disappointed in Lucifer and many of his followers, so He banished them to the other place for all eternity.” Again, Clara’s frail frame shuddered in revulsion.
“Your reaction leads us to believe it’s a pretty terrible place,” Frank remarked.
“It is a place of no beauty and no light. It is eternal darkness, and my Brothers and Sisters grope about blindly. They call to us unceasingly across the chasm which none of us can span, and it wears on us.” Raising her head, Raquel looked at each one of them in turn. “That is until recently, when some of your brothers and sisters began calling to them in the pit of darkness; inviting them into your existence.”
Shaking her head, she continued the tale. “Who among them is strong enough to resist surcease of their torment, if only a brief respite from such eternal torture? And so, they come into your realm, with twisted spirits bent on revenge against our Father for their rejection. They cannot come unless invited, and they have no influence while here, yet they would destroy your very existence, were they capable.”
“But, if they can’t have any influence in this plane of existence, how is it Berith was able to fight Uriel?” Pris asked curiously.
“Just like angels, as you call them, can have almost no influence in this plane, so neither can the fallen ones,” Raquel replied. “But those of the prime essence like us, those of Father’s original creations; we can wield words of power in this realm.”
“I don’t understand; I thought God created all the angels?” Pris replied.
“Actually, Father taught all my Brothers and Sisters how to make imitations of ourselves, so we would not be lonely,” Uriel interjected. “After the first million of your years, life amongst the few we were became boring and repetitive. Those which we created you know as angels.”
“How many of prime essence did God originally create?” Ham asked insistently.
“There were originally 48 children of our Father, and only one has ever actually been annihilated by Him; he was Qemuel,” she concluded sadly. “After that, Father swore to never destroy another of us; thus the banishment. But that is a long story, and for another time.”
“So, how do we ever hope to stop them?” Marrisa asked fearfully.
“Understand this,” Raquel said firmly. “The vessels they possess are still just as mortal as ever. If you do anything to them you would to any mortal, they will be cast back into the pit. Only the original creations can resist such lethal forces, and not entirely. Total destruction of the host can cast them down as well. It is usually only one of my Brothers and Sisters of the Realm who can do so.”
“So, let me make sure I’ve got this straight,” Frank cut in. “If it’s just a demon, one of the creatures of the pit, we can send them back by killing the vessel. But if it’s a higher-level demon, you have to do it?”
“Not exactly,” Raquel replied. “I said you could send them back by destroying the vessel. Doing sufficient damage so they cannot repair the vessel before it enters into decay.”
“How long is that?” Frank asked insistently.
“How long can your bodies exist without breathing?” she asked in return.
“The common school of thought is, the brain begins to die after about 4-5 minutes without oxygen,” Frank explained. “There have been reported cases of it being much longer, especially when the body is frozen or seriously chilled. But, 4-5 minutes is a good starting point.”
“Hey, speaking of freezing, it’s really cold out here. And, I’m really freaking out with all this killing and decay talk about other people,” Pris rejoined. “Plus, I feel really exposed, sitting out here in the van,” she finished. “No insult intended on your abilities,” she added, looking at Raquel.
“None taken, and Priscilla is right,” she said. “We should move inside and continue this training. There is scarce time, and much to impart.”
Marrisa, who had been sitting on the floor of the van next to her daughter, lifted her head up and looked behind Frank’s van.
“Speaking of security, someone’s out there.”