Chapter 42 - Nonpareils
2205 Words
Chapter 42 - nonpareils
Unknown POV
present time -
I break into the mortal realm. This has gone far enough for too long. I'm beginning to question if it was the right decision to give werewolves so much free rein. They were supposed to keep a balance. But now it seems they are the reason why the scales are tipping to the other side. They are always led astray because of heightened emotions, and their natural predisposition to solve everything with violence. Not a surprise considering their origins. Come to think of it, emotions are the biggest flaw of non-celestials. Emotions in spite of logic have led to the downfall of great races.
Time, as how mortals experience it, does not work the same way for us. To describe it using mortal words, we experience everything, everywhere, all at the same time. Our faculties for observation allow us to perceive everything from the sub-atomic to the galactic.
But the divine rule is that we cannot intervene or influence what we observe. It's a rule that my dear brother has taken too much liberties bending; and as of late, with the werewolves failing to keep their sworn duty, things are propelling towards his favor.
I close my mind to the rest of eternity, and focus on the newest Eternal, falling to her knees as dark matter spills out of her. I’ve been watching all of Lucifer’s creations. I call them, "The Unbalance" and there have been several attempts throughout the millennia, but only once has he successfully created an Eternal.
In the peripheral, the two werewolves whose lives are so intertwined with hers—they are the most prominent catalysts of change in her past, present and possible futures—are trying to reach for her, even after they have thwarted her attempt to imbibe the life force of their brother.
I find their involvement in this whole affair rather interesting, particularly the descendant of the Lycan king. The werewolves of this epoch have forgotten their Lycan roots, and their obligations that grant them their freedoms. And yet they continue to thrive, their sworn duty reduced to culture and tradition of co-existing with the humans. It has actually served them well throughout the centuries, but this time, failure at stopping the eternal realization of her true purpose will ultimately bring about their doom.
Lucifer has played the long game, and he has indeed played this out right.
“Show yourself brother. There's no need to hide, you know I can sense you.” As I utter the words, dark matter oozes from a tear in the fabric of reality, opening up to allow through a grim figure in the shape of a man, a silhouette of the absence of light.
“Must you be so dramatic brother?” I ask him.
As he approached the black outer layer peels off with every step, falling to the ground in what appears to be clots and patches of dried blood. Lucifer appears to me as he was before his banishment—the perfect angel, every inch of him sculpted to perfection by the God himself.
“Brother.” he nods to me in acknowledgement. He stops beside me without making eye contact.
“Congratulations should be in order. You have finally accomplished the rebirth of an Eternal.”
“Not yet.” His voice was menacing. Echos from all directions reverberate with his speech. “You wouldn't be here if I was so successful.”
“You knew I would come. I always come.”
“That you do. Which begs the question, 'what now, brother ?' Are you going to slay this one just like you did the others?"
“The eternal is not quite like the others. Those that came before were merely unbalanced; they merely disrupted the order. This one is an Eternal. I would if I could, to comply with my sacred charge. But I think you know me all too well and expected my actions. No, brother, this time it's different. SHE is different."
He smiles at me. I can’t reciprocate because I have no emotions. I merely look at him, knowing full well that he is teasing me, seeking my confirmation for what he has done. I also cannot lie, I will say what needs to be said.
“He is not pleased. You are giving false hope to the others. The outcome of your actions will set a precedent that will make them think that they can walk among his favorites. He has created worlds for them for a reason, they need to stay where they are."
My mention of the others brings disgust to his face. "I spit at the other worlds. We are far superior than them and yet we cannot have what they have. I will get what is due mine, and it is just right that the others should claim what is rightfully theirs, as well."
“You envy them but amongst all of us you spend the most time with them. Only you taint their minds, brother. Be happy he didn’t smite you yet and erased you from existence.”
"You're so full of righteousness, you can't help but state the obvious!" He laughs, then his face becomes less trustful. "So, tell me brother. You cannot lie, right? You're only ever allowed to intercede when the balance is broken. None has been done now."
“Ah brother, you planned this well. You cannot hide from me that your vengeance has never ceased. The Lycan prince—” I point to the boy nearest to the Eternal. “—his presence in this whole debacle signals to me that your revenge is near fruition.”
His eyes wander to the boy and I can see the hate in his eyes. The boy resembles the Lycan king, after all. "My vengeance doesn't stop with him. You know this. I am cursed to walk all eternity bearing hatred. The destruction of his kind will not satisfy my hunger, but it will be the start of the end.”
My poor brother. If I had been blessed with empathy I would feel sad for his fate. I do understand what empathy meant, though. For us nonpareils we are forever fulfilled. The reason why we feel nothing is because we are full with God's love.
“Did you call me out here just to gloat? To talk about my curse, or how you figured out my plans of revenge to the Lycan prince, or how you can swoop in and kill my Eternal creation? Why, exactly, did you call me out here for?" Unfortunately for my brother, when he renounced the Light, he also lost the gift of sight, the ability to see all possible outcomes of a timeline.
"I summoned you to warn you and your legion. Where before I have just killed your unbalanced abominations; now I intend to enforce balance. The final straw is this Eternal. Should this go where I see it going, it will be the end of all that you have worked so hard for. It will be the end of your Legions, and ultimately it will be the end of you, brother. This doesn't just end with her."
He smiles once more. “Oh, I was counting on it brother. We have all been waiting for millennia for the nonpareils to come back into this domain. So send in your gods. I have my own. When you drove me out, divine blood was spilled. The time is nigh that it shall be so again. But this time, it will be from your veins.“
Oh how my brother likes to talk. He talks the grand talk, confident that he has the final word. He does not have the sight anymore but he predicted this encounter. He waited for this exact moment when I summoned him, he saw how I would lay before him what the Light plans to do. And he reveals his grand plan to take us down—he knows we know all—but to have the ability to actually pull through, he cannot stop boasting about it. His pride always gets the best of him.
There is one thing he did not predict, though.
I inhale the air deeply, and as I do I take shape and form. Lucifer's eyes widen. This he did not expect. It is not lost to him that the only time nonpareils take form is when they are about to intercede.
He tries to get in another word, but even before he moves he is sent back. How he arrived plays back in reverse; the dried blood on the ground floats up and wraps around him, and the dark matter that tore reality pulls him back and returns him to his world.
When my form was complete, I press my hands together and a bolt of light scorches through the skies. I pull my hands apart and the dark matter that was forming around the Eternal girl dissipates into nothing.
My form merges into the present, no longer in the in-between. I feel the forces of the physics of this world. Gravity gives my form weight, my body occupies space, and time starts to move in the same pace as it used to before I broke into the fold.
I stand in front of the Enteral, watching her as she lay on the ground. Her skin was burned from the dark matter that she clearly cannot control. I wave my hand over her and the skin heals. Dried blood falls to the ground in patches, similar to her Dark Father's.
“Who the hell are you?” The one named Xavier spoke.
“Not hell, but heaven. I am Micheal of the nonpareils.“ I expected they would be confused, but the introduction was necessary.
“A non-pa-What now?" The other Alpha asks.
"It's pronounced, 'nahn-puh-REL'. And it means, 'having no equal'. If I am to refer to your werewolf lore, I am a Divine One."
"You're Michael... the archangel?" The Lycan prince is so perceptive.
"I have been called that. But just Michael is fine."
“You got to be kidding me.” The other says.
“I find it strange that you’ve accepted that you're up against demons and Lucifer himself but you have trouble accepting my existence. “ I arch my eyebrow, but my eyes are still on the Eternal.
“I'm sorry it’s just hard to believe seeing as you look like..”
“Like one of you. I felt it best to avoid exploding your heads. Now as much as I want to have this conversation here, maybe it's best we return to your chambers, your majesty." I wave my hand towards the Lycan prince."And once the eternal has woken, I’ll explain myself. I tend to find it quite irritating to be repeating myself on occasion.“
“Xavier, did he just refer to you like you're a royal?” The one called Dameon still looked confused.
“Your friend is the Lycan King's direct blood line. It’s been dormant for millennia. It’s finally awoken in him. That makes him a Lycan prince. That's why that heathen couldn’t exorcise your wolf when she tired."
Their eyes betray their confusion.
"I see I would need to use more—modern terms." I motion them closer to listen. "The heathen I'm referring to is the one you call the Elder Witch. She revealed to you truths through visions. And you felt pain in the process, am I correct?" The Lycan prince nods, but clearly his eyes still do not trust me.
"That was her price. She wanted to exorcise your wolf. She felt the power you have through your ancestry, and wanted it for herself. What she didn't expect was it is literally embedded in your DNA. She couldn't take it even if she wanted to."
“She wanted my wolf?”
“Yes. Did you think she just gave you what you wanted without anything in return? Nevertheless, she failed. And here you are, still able to fulfill your destiny.
"We are wasting time here. I don't really need your approval to move the Eternal. But I am asking, because respect befits your lineage."
“You aren’t going anywhere with her and Xavier.“ the other Alpha interjects.
“You. You have a part in this too. So we all are moving, now.” With a snap of my fingers the matter around us blurred, enveloping us, and in the same breath we are transported to the Lycan prince's home.
The sudden quantum transfer got the werwolves hurling vomit. It was as expected, unavoidable for bodies unused to it.
The Eternal was still unconscious. She lay peacefully where I transported her to the couch. I ignore the hurling werewolves as I finish reorganizing the matter around us, blurring our existence to mask our location from others who do not dwell in this world.
When I am satisfied with the wards I put in place, I turn back to observing the Eternal. Could she really be the one? Is her arrival synonymous to the end of what we started?
- Writer
