Divinity: Immolation: Book Three (The Divinity Saga) (13 page)

Suddenly, others were readily agreeing with him.

“If you think that you’ll be free to do as you please because you’re a fallen, then you’re mistaken. You will become subject to Morning Stars’ whims just like the humans!” Edanai returned.

“Then so be it. Why should we care this much about the humans when they don’t even care about themselves and their own futures?” Someone else asked.

“It’s not that they don’t care. They are unaware and they are nearly powerless to stop it. They will need our help.” Rahab offered.

“That is the job of Elohim, all of the ninth and tenth level Archangels, and the Seraphim soldiers, isn’t it?”

I looked at Aliks who affirmed nothing. His expression was difficult to gauge but I was interested in his response to that too.

“And why is he here anyway? What does he care about our situation? They do nothing to stop or help!” A female shouted, referring to Aliks.

“Why do you think he joins us now?” Rahab commented in Aliks defense, which I found noble.

Aliks shifted, apparently surprised by Rahab’s words on his behalf, even though that wasn’t why Rahab chose to speak in defense of his kin. I could tell that he wanted to say something himself but he was weighing his options in the presence of so many Fallen.

I opened my mouth to add to Rahab’s words, only to be cut off abruptly.

“Because we need to work together. We don’t have many anymore, all you have to do is just look around. But we do have two things that Morning Star and his massive army will never have.” A voice suddenly answered.

I turned to look because the voice literally stunned and filled me with renewed hope.

Though he stood way off to the side, far away from Aliks; Mac, Nay, and Ry had materialized onto the edge of a cliff, adjacent from us. Ry glanced over at me with a cocky smirk and continued to speak, “Resilience and compassion amongst each other.” He finished.

The miracle of Ry’s change of heart and his words weren’t the only things that I took thankful note of, it was the expression that gently came over Aliks’s face as he gazed over each one of us after hearing our words. I’d never seen that look upon any angels face before, especially regarding the fallen.

XVIII: Starling

T
wins. I still couldn’t believe it. A mixture of several different emotions, thoughts, and scenarios all invaded my mind at once. First and foremost, was that it wouldn’t be long before I started to show and I was going to be huge! Should I be seeing a doctor for regular check-ups or something? Like an obstetrician? I wondered. I guess I’ll leave all that up to Cam. After all, this wasn’t a natural or common thing for a superhuman and a Fallen, was it?

I wanted to make it a point to call and talk to the girl who was my best friend but I wasn’t ready to do it just yet. I needed more time to try and reclaim some memory of the level of our friendship. Even though I felt close to her, I still felt like a complete stranger at the same time.

Judging by the sun peering over the horizon in all its brilliant salmon pink, gold, and crystalline blue glory, I’d say we had barely made it back just in time.

Cam stored all the jewelry and clothing that he acquired for me, while we visited the quaint planet of the Luminae, at his place before taking me back to the shore of the Eternal waters. There, I cracked a hall portal gem and quickly ran through after a long, romantic kiss good-bye, or at least until next time.

This time, I allowed no one the time or chance to stare, or wonder about my whereabouts, let alone why I was literally racing back to my room. I also didn’t want to allow any of the elemental pets time to start gathering and trailing behind me either.

The breakfast bells began to toll, just as I finished freshening up and dressing.

I made it.

I wasn’t hungry, so I had some time to kill before first class…with Spencer. I wondered how everything went down after he came to. Does Jamie really have my back? I was still really confused about her actions, and really unsure about her story regarding Devlin.

I thought about Cam and his vision of our twins. Lifting my shirt I glanced down at my abdomen and smiled to myself, trying to picture what it would soon look like distended. Speaking of, the terror of having to confess still weighed heavily on my mind. How much time was Ilka going to give me anyway? I didn’t know but I’d better not assume I’d have another day. How was I going to do it? What would happen then?

I studied my aura in the mirror. To my utter shock and surprise, the dark areas were…gone. It was back to its brilliant white glow, like it was when I first arrived. Now, I was really confused. I had no idea what that meant or why. Nothing had changed, had it? If anything, I had expected it to be even darker
but it was quite the opposite.

There was a soft rapping at my door that made me jump slightly. I assumed that everyone was already in the dining
hall, so I wondered who it was.

With a hand on the knob, I leaned close to the door first and asked, “Who is it?”

“It’s just us, open the door.”

It sounded like Lorelei.

“Us?”

“Really, Starling?”

I smiled. That was no doubt, Scarlet. I opened the door and they both stood there with wry expressions.

I took a cursory glance around them for any elemental pets, noting that there were none. Thank goodness.

“Where have you been all night?” Lorelei asked.

“What do you mean?” I played dumb.

“We stopped by to see if you wanted to go to Lorelei’s because we planned on having a girls’ night thing and you were gone.” Scarlet explained.

“Oh, yeah…I went for a walk by the Eternal waters and I guess I must have fallen asleep out there.” I hated lying about that to them.

Lorelei’s face twisted into a questioning look. “You’re weird, Starling. That’s kinda risky, I don’t recommend making that a habit. Hey, you’re aura is back to normal! That’s great!” She then beamed as she studied the space around me with a smile.

Relieved, I smiled appreciatively.

Scarlet nodded in agreement, “Yeah, finally. I admit, I was getting worried about you myself. I would have done an exam for you but I’m still under apprenticeship.” She smiled.

I forgot that Scarlet was a succor too. Why couldn’t I have gone to her to be examined?

“Anyway, you heading to breakfast?” Scarlet then asked.

“In a bit.”

“Well, maybe we can do the girls’ night tonight, unless you have other plans.” Lorelei then suggested.

“Um, no, no plans yet.”

“Cool, say tonight? Let’s meet behind the training fields, same as last time.”

“Yeah, sure.” I agreed.

“We’re gonna grab some food. Do you want us to wait for you?” Scarlet asked.

“No need to wait, I’m ready. Let’s go.” I said easing out of my room
and closing the door behind me.

I didn’t want to eat but I figured that going along for the company to catch up with everyone, especially Durien, was exactly what I needed now that my aura had returned to normal.

“Everything good?”
Cam asked.

“Yes. Even my aura has returned to normal.”

“Really?”

“Yeah I know, it’s bizarre. What do you think it means?”

“I’m not sure. That’s really strange but definitely a good thing for you.”

“That’s for sure.”

“I have some things that I’ve been asked to do, so I may not be around for a bit.”

“Some things you’ve been asked to do?”

“I’ll explain what that means later. If you need me though, all you have to do is speak. It won’t take me but a moment to get to you, okay?”

“Okay. Be careful. I love you.”

He laughed softly.
“Don’t worry. Same thing goes for you. I love you too. I’ll see you soon.”

To my pleasant surprise, Durien was already at the table with Anthony and Gabe. He wasn’t eating though. It looked like he might have been waiting for me. He smiled big and stood up once I joined them at the table. Lorelei and Scarlet made their way to the food line.

“Morning, guys.” I waved first.

“Morning. You look a hundred percent better, aura and all.” Anthony replied.

“And minus your trail of elementals too.” Gabe joked and they all chuckled.

I flashed a wry smile.

“Trail of elementals?” Durien asked.

Anthony waved a hand, “You had to be here, man.”

Durien shrugged and then turned to me with a smirk, “What’s up, girl? Glad to see that you made it back.” He said, wanting to give me a hug but unsure if I’d allow him to. I initiated the hug first.

“I’m sorry about…” He began to whisper.

“It wasn’t your fault at all, so don’t worry about it. I’m back and that’s all that matters.”

“I’m actually curious to what all you saw and had to do to make it back.” Gabe then asked.

“Man, I’m sure she’s tired of re-telling that story. Just let it go.” Durien replied to my surprise.

Once we both sat down, I couldn’t help but wonder why Durien didn’t ask me that very same question out of curiosity too. I found his reaction and what he said to Gabe in response to his question really odd.

~~~~****~~~~

I still wasn’t used to seeing Spencer in the position of being a teacher, especially given everything that’s happened up until today. I wondered how Jamie had soothed over his bruised ego after having knocked him out and what she told him about my whereabouts. I take it she made up something good because from the looks of it, he had no idea where I was or had gone, and if he did then he surely hasn’t mentioned it.

Spencer’s gorgeous eyes rested on me several times throughout his lecture, as if he had something other than the lecture at hand on his mind.

I hated this.

It felt like school, like…college. The memory was validated with the items that Cam had shown me. A sweatshirt with a college logo was among the various items that he took from my apartment in the mortal realm. I had been a college student and I was sure that I didn’t like it then either.

There were three more
new risers in here, including myself but I was the still the only one who had already been branded. I wondered what the holdup was on getting theirs done.

“Does anyone know why your memories are erased?” Spencer then asked.

No one made a move to raise a hand just yet and I kept my eyes down, doodling on the blank notepad in front of me.

The first class had been an introduction and tour of the hall. During this class session, we were all given maps of the spirit realm, a guide to the hall, along with conduct rules, and a manuscript that listed all the different types of beings here in this realm; including their descriptions and abilities.

I laughed to myself. I felt like I was reading some sort of players guide to an MMORPG game, like World of Warcraft or something.

A light-skinned girl with gorgeous green eyes and a natural, reddish colored afro, raised her hand.

Spencer pointed to her, “Erika.” He addressed.

“Is it so that we aren’t reco
gnized by people that knew us?”

Spencer appeared to think about her answer and then nodded. “Close. It’s more like the other way around, actually. It’s so that we’re not distracted by any past baggage, hurts, or knowledge that would deter us from our purpose. That includes your mortal fears of darkness and all of the monsters that are part of it. Good answer though.” Spencer flashed a dazzling smile at her.

She nodded. “Has there ever been a case where someone did remember their mortal lives?” She then asked.

Spencer’s eyes flicked over to mine for a second, which made me shift slightly in my seat. I averted my eyes back to studying the map of the spirit realm spread out before me.

“Not likely.” He answered.

His response made me pause, already feeling his eyes on me but I didn’t even bother to look up at him.

That’s wrong. It happened for me.

“Once you’re trained, any interaction that you have with any dark fallen must be on the basis of defense. That means that you don’t attack, especially in the human realm, unless you’re being physically threatened or attacked first.” Spencer then began.

“Wait, I thought we’re supposed to be protecting humans.” A guy in the back commented.

Spencer raised a finger and then gestured at all of us in general, “We are, but what we are— what all of you are as warriors and are meant to do, will be crucial in the inevitable aftermath of what’s to come. That is our ultimate purpose. We can’t afford accidental and premature deaths. However, if a demon is doing something that could cause detection or harm towards humans, then by all means take care of it if you are able to.” Spencer backed up to the slate board and began writing something.

When he stepped away, the words.

‘Apocalypse = Invasion of Darkness’ was written on the board.

“Many of you, though you obviously don’t remember, had either constant visions or dreams about what this means when you were mortal,” He pointed to the board “Everyone’s experience may not have been the same, minus the common thread of being able to see things of this plane or things that normal humans can’t see or hear with the naked eye and ear. That’s all natural and expected. As a mortal, many aren’t even aware of the existence of anything otherworldly, let alone its power.

We were remade in order to forget all that would and could compound our fears once we arrived here, because we can’t afford to be or show fear in the presence of darkness, even though we may feel it. They count on and feed off of it. Superhuman and immortal or not, the only thing we have as warriors is unity, each other, and our wits.

That’s why physical training and classroom instruction is so important. Though you were chosen, you still have the free will to choose. As you all sit here, you have chosen the path of light. And sadly enough, the reality is that many of your counterparts have already chosen darkness because it was easier and incredibly tempting. We refer to them as dark divines and their numbers grow steadily every day.” He paused to connect eyes with me again.

Spencers last two statements left an air of stunned silence to hang in the room. Dark divines. Was that who we were about to fight out there after the whole clubbing disaster? They were humans like us, and they all bore brandings similar to ours but theirs had been black.

“Starling, what do you think about that?” Spencer then asked me on purpose, seeing that I wasn’t really paying attention.

All eyes and heads turned to me expectantly.

“About what?”

He smirked. “About still having the free will to choose.”

Now I got it. He was asking me on purpose and I was not in the mood for this, especially in front of a class full of new risers.

In my most disinterested expression of annoyance I answered, “It means just that. Choosing is defined by actions, which makes
you what you are, not titles.”

I got a few whispers of agreement but mostly everyone just looked at me with wide-eyed curiosity.

“That’s — quite true. Can you elaborate on what you mean by that though?” Spencer replied, looking at me with suspicious intrigue and silence as if trying to read the thoughts behind my words.