Veiled (20 page)

“
We’ve all had a hard time
of it!” Eros said with irritation, bringing Agatha’s thoughts back
to the present situation. “None of us can say that once the Second
One was cast out, we didn’t feel a little…confused,” Eros
continued. “All those do-gooders, out there, trying to make us
train and prepare for mortality.

“
We’ve all been fighting
as hard as we can to remain true to our promises. And for some of
us…well, we’ve been trying to come to terms with what we really
are,” Eros finished and looked pleased at his compelling
words.

“
You are right, Eros, it’s
been hard. But she has taken particularly long to get here. What
makes you think that she has completely relinquished her hopes and
ambitions?” the tall female asked.

Eros started to speak, but
Agatha stopped him. “I will speak for myself, Eros.”

All eyes were on her
now.

“
I won’t explain myself to
any of you,” Agatha said with rancor and authority. “You will get
neither motive nor justification for my actions. All you need to
know is that I am here now, and as far as my loyalties and where
they lie, you need never worry about that.”

“
On the contrary…my
Queen,” the spirit with the gurgling voice said with sarcasm. “We
do worry about your loyalties, because you did betray us once
already. Or are you suggesting that your decision to become a
mortal was planned?” His mouth formed a tight forced
grin.

Agatha wondered if she
could get away with lying now. She could claim that it was planned
and she had done this out of true devotion, but would they buy it?
And how could she explain her indecision? On the other hand, if she
told the truth she would never be worshipped as she once was. She
would be seen as weak minded and unreliable.

Agatha had not looked at
anyone yet, her gaze had been fixed on some distant spot at the
back of the cave, just an inch above everyone’s head, but now—to
make a dramatic point—she looked him straight in the
eye.

“
You are limited in your
understanding of the Second One and his plans. You think that he
would have let you go that easily, with no supervision?” she
declared with authority.

Shock registered in his
aura, he believed her.
Good,
Agatha thought.
Now they
will answer to me,
she hoped, but not all
auras looked convinced.

The tall female approached
Agatha and peered closely into her eyes. “How do you explain the
delay, Queen?” Her voice was trite.

Agatha avoided her stare
and cast her gaze back at the previous spot at the back of the
cave.

“
As I said, I will not
explain myself. It is sufficient for you to know that I had reasons
and now that my mission has been accomplished, I have come back to
lead the fold.”

Eros looked both confused
and amused. He knew full well that Agatha’s struggles had been real
enough, like his. But now…she was not just trying to get back in,
she was trying to get back to where she once was.

“
Eros?” the tall female
shouted. Eros looked at her as if he had been pulled out of a
trance.

“
Yes, my Sovereign?” he
said with amusement in his voice.

“
Is this true? Did you
know about this?” she demanded.

“
Uh…no, my Sovereign, but
I have been with Agatha—I mean—my Queen, quite a bit since
the…council and she did seem like she was trying to endure
something…um…unpleasant,” he lied. What had he to lose anyway? If
Agatha did manage to pull this off, he might just get to move up a
bit in the chain of command.

Agatha smiled with pride as
Eros continued. “It would certainly explain why she was going to
all those classes. She was gathering useful information. And she
did seek my companionship quite often, which only proves her need
for a “trusted” companion, for I never saw her seeking friends
among the…”

“
Quiet!” shouted the tall
female, as she turned to the other hooded spirits and they huddled
in one tight circle, whispering hurriedly amongst
themselves.

Agatha had a wide smile
across her face. She was still being watched by other spirits who
were quietly floating about the bottomless cave. She didn’t dare
look at Eros, for fear of betraying her deceit.

“
Very well, Queen. You
have convinced us of your…mission. You may now be part of our
clan,” the tall female declared.

Agatha relinquished her
stiff pose, and assumed a more relaxed demeanor. She softened her
face and glided to the suspended island.

“
Eugenia,” Agatha said
casually, making it a point not to call her Sovereign. “It is very
kind of you to accept me into your clan. Yet I find it ironic that
you call it
your
clan, when in reality I am your Queen. I realize that you had
to create some sort of ruling force in order to establish order but
you will no longer need Sovereigns now that your Queen has come
back to reclaim her place.” She turned to face the spirits in mid
air.

Anger flashed across
Eugenia’s face. “How dare you!” Eugenia exclaimed,
livid.

“
How dare you, Eugenia,
question your Queen!”

Seeing that Eugenia was the
only one challenging Agatha’s claim, Eros threw himself at Agatha’s
feet hoping that others would follow him.

“
I am here to follow,
Queen,” Eros said vehemently. Agatha cast her eyes down, and a
wide, self-satisfied grin crossed her face.

Eugenia looked at Eros,
wild with rage, and back at Agatha, and then she narrowed her eyes
and softened her face. Slowly she backed away toward the former
Sovereigns and consulted with them once more.

“
They are deceiving us.
They have contrived this in order to…” Eugenia
whispered.

“
I don’t think so Eugenia.
She has always been our leader, always at the Second One’s side.
It’s only natural that she’d want to resume that role,” one of the
Sovereigns said.

“
But, but…surely you don’t
mean to relinquish all we have achieved here?” Eugenia
whined.

“
Let’s see what she can
do,” said another male voice.

“
I can’t believe you are
falling for this. She had a change of mind and then another and
now, you are just going to let her come over here and take over?
You were not even sure she was truly changed!”

“
There’s only one way to
be sure. We’ll watch her and see what she does.”

Defeated, Eugenia backed
away and turned to face Agatha once more. Her eyes were stern and
cast down, unwilling to meet Agatha’s proud and exultant
face.

“
The council of Sovereigns
has decided to follow the Queen once more. Please accept our humble
service,” one of the males solemnly declared. Then they bowed down
to Agatha, and the rest of the spirits in the cave followed their
lead.

* * * * *

Chapter 17

From above, the Eternals
looked down on the secret gathering with pained looks on their
countenances. They said nothing—out loud—but they communicated
still.

“
I had hoped that she would
continue on the path she was on.”

“
Yes…she was so
close.”

“
I see no hope
now.”

“
Not in this existence. Her
path leads her away.”

“
I agree.”

“
Adjustments must be
made.”

“
She will have to go with
the only one who will never fall prey to her. She could also rein
her in.”

“
She is not
ready.”

“
No…but she will
be.”

“
We will have to help her
be so.”

“
I will contact
Dayspring.”

“
Tell her it’s urgent, time
is of the essence.”

“
It will be
hard.”

“
But necessary.”

“
It is done, she is on her
way.”

“
Very well…that is all we
can do for now.”

* * * * *

Chapter 18

The classroom was set up
like a theater. The stage had its curtains closed, and the podium
placed in the center of the stage was the only object visible from
this side of the curtains.

Spirits all around us were
chatting with excitement about the prospect of becoming Angels.
Suddenly, and to everyone’s surprise, a melodious um was heard. One
by one all the spirits quieted down to hear the sound—held, as it
were, in suspension.

As the chatting voices died
down, the um grew in intensity. The spectators were now in complete
silence and eagerly waiting for another variation to that beautiful
sound. Then the curtains parted and the Choir of Angels was
hovering in space with our rotating planet in the
background.

I was so awestruck by the
choir that I didn’t even notice the giant female Cherub taking
center stage.

“
Earthlings,” she
announced in a sonorous voice, “the purpose of this class is to
introduce all the different types of Angelic Missions. If you have
met all qualifications, and still wish to sign up, you can do so at
the end of this class.” She then proceeded to explain each Angelic
Mission in great detail.

When she was done with her
explanations she introduced the Heads of Angelic Missions. They
were the Choir conductor, a tiny Cherub even by human standards,
two more human spirits from other planets, and an impressive
looking Cherub with white hair that hung loose down the middle of
his back.

After all the introductions
were made, the Eternals approached us by way of the window. They
were rolling forward on what looked like a trailing cloud that
seemed to be emitted by the two Cherubs that flew in front of them.
They also were accompanied by the same two Seraphs that had been
with them before, the male and female that looked alike.

The Eternals flew over the
top of the Choir and landed right in front of them. Now the room
was in complete silence. We were all looking expectantly at the
Eternals, who looked pleased.

“
Dear spirits, before you
volunteer for Angelic Missions, we would like for you to meet
Drymus and Kerubiel, and the twins Daystar and Dayspring. They have
been assigned as Earth’s Heralds and Sentinels. They have been
guarding Earths heavenly treasures since its creation.

“
They have guarded the
entrance to the tree of life, they are responsible for keeping
hidden the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, ancient Scrolls and
several other objects and Temples that we would like protected and
preserved. They also aid us in several missions of high importance
where their special abilities and powers are needed. And now they
would like to make a small display of their abilities, as is
customary at this occasion.”
The Cherub
that was standing with the Heads of Angelic Missions came to the
Eternals’ side. Then, together with the other guards, they placed
themselves at both ends of the stage.

With a sudden movement and
before any of us were ready, Drymus and Kerubiel, the two Cherubs,
took out a pair of swords that they had kept between their wings
and threw them up in the air. At that same instant the Choir began
to sing.

As the swords spun in
circles they came to life, looking like giant circles of fire. One
of the Cherubs looked amused like he was having fun, and the other
looked more serious as they caught their swords and started a
heated sword fight.

I could see Alex and
Russell sliding forward in their seats. They were so exited they
could barely stay down. The Cherubs flipped and flew as they
exchanged friendly blows. Then as suddenly as they had started they
stopped the fighting and started swinging their swords with one
hand and throwing them up into space again. Swiftly they caught the
fiery weapons and they engulfed themselves in a white fog,
disappearing completely from view. Right then, the Seraphs burst
into flames and they too became indistinguishable from the flames
that encircled them. All I could see from where I sat were two huge
fires that tumbled and rolled. Slowly the flames died down and the
two Seraphs looked amused as they faced each other in a crouching
position. They were grinning and looked like they were ready to
strike—and that’s just what they did. The female leapt into the air
and then the male did, too. As their bodies met they rolled on
empty space until the female came out on top. The male Seraph
smirked and with a new effort tackled her over onto her back. The
wrestling continued and when neither one seemed to clearly take the
upper hand. They separated and burst into flames again.

Russell was one of the
first ones to stand and clap his hands. Soon the whole group of
future Angels were on their feet and clapping.

The Choir, whose music had
given a dramatic background to the whole presentation, had ended
just as suddenly as the presentation had, making the whole
production even more spectacular.

“
This is
so
cool!” Russell kept
repeating.