I
The glistening white cape of The Paladin fluttered in the night sky as he soared away from the wrecked remains of his college and the slowly disintegrating remains of the demon Eblis, who now stood revealed as his father Jonathan Sharpe. He closed his eyes, trying to shut out the memory of his departed father, and felt the sharp sting of Lea’s nails digging into his arm. She was held tightly in his arms, and yet still she was nervous, only calming slightly to look up in disbelief at Connor’s face and realize that this was indeed the man she had known since his childhood, now wearing this costume and flying above the city.
Slowing down and falling gently, Connor’s feet touched down on the fire escape of Lea’s apartment softly and set her down, his hand firmly on her back to keep the poor, stunned girl from falling over. Clumsy and feeling like she was going to pass out, Lea dropped against the steps of the fire escape and stared up at Connor.
“Is it really you?” she finally asked.
Connor nodded slowly as he fumbled with the window before finally releasing the latch and throwing it open. He picked up Lea and stepped in through the window, laying her down softly on the bed as he walked towards the window.
“Wait!” Lea exclaimed sitting up and jumping off the bed quickly. “You…you can’t go Connor. I have to know, you have to tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“Connor…what’s happened to you?”
He stopped at the window; one hand cupped over its latch as he turned his head to face her. She sat on the edge of the bed, her hands neatly folded into her lap, her eyes wide and pleading with him. He sighed deeply and turned to face her, closing his eyes and looking at the ground. A thing line of energy grew along his body and began to spread in an intricate formation, random yet seemingly making some degree of sense, encompassing his tattered uniform until it looked as if it were a broken window, the pieces then falling out and fading out into a thousand shimmering particles, dissipating before they could touch the ground, revealing his dark brown jacket and the jeans and t-shirt he wore underneath them. He strolled over and sat on the bed next to her, and placed his hand over hers.
“Let me start at the beginning…”
II
Far away from the Earth, on a golden road surrounded by enormous clouds, Gabriel stares out into the open longingly. As glad as he is to be returned to Heaven, he finds that he misses flying the Earth, roaming its vast countrysides, speaking with its many people. But deep inside him, he can feel it. He knows he is home, and he would not give it up for anything. And yet, here he stands, outside an elegant building, awaiting an audience with Michael, awaiting to find out what is in store for him next.
Minutes pass and turn into hours, or at least by our Earthly conception they do. For Gabriel, an eternity passes and nothing is missed. Finally, Michael emerges and looks at Gabriel, shaking his head.
“No…” Gabriel says, his voice slightly raised, “It cannot be.”
“I’m sorry, Gabriel. I truly am.”
“Then…what?” Gabriel inquired, “What is to become of me?”
“Gabriel…I’m so very sorry, Gabriel…” Michael spoke, his voice dry and hoarse. “…you have to go back.”
“I…I what?”
“They will tell you more inside, please Gabriel, just hear them out.”
Gabriel turned away from Michael and threw open the large double doors leading into the central chamber of the building, where a group of angels sat in unison and stared at him with knowing eyes.
“Gabriel. We would have words with you.”
“Why must I return to Earth?” Gabriel pleaded, his eyes filling with tears. “I do not wish to leave heaven again! I do not wish to go back! Is my time on Earth not yet complete?”
One of the angels stepped forward, clutching a scroll tightly within his hands. “There are things which you did not know, Gabriel, nor would you have found out had you lived.”
Gabriel threw open the scroll and read it, his eyes growing wider as they took in the words written on them.
“Do you see now, Gabriel? Do you understand why it is you must return?”
Gabriel could not speak, only try his best to grasp what was written on this scroll. If what it contained were true, then The Paladin was surely damned.
III
Lea sat silently as Conner finished relating to her the events of the last few days. Of meeting the new gone angel Gabriel, and gaining his new, incredible powers. Of the tragedy that had claimed so many lives, all at his hands. And finally, of being reunited with his father, who was reborn as the demon Eblis, only to have to kill him.
Connor sat down and looked deeply into Lea’s eyes, clasping her hands in his own. “Are you okay, Lea?” he asked.
“Its just…its a lot to take in, Connor.” she finally spoke, blinking fast to brush away the forming tears in her eyes. “So much has changed…its like I hardly know you anymore.”
Connor leaned in close, holding her head softly against his. “Nothing about me is different.” he whispered into her ears, “Its still me.”
Lea turned to face him and, before Connor could react, gripped his waist tightly and kissed him long
“What now, Connor? Are you done as Paladin?” she asked as she pulled away and laid her head on his chest.
“Not yet. There’s something I have to do.” Connor stepped over to the open window and moved outside it onto the fire escape, his costume forming and sealing his body away from the world.
“What will you do now?”
“I have to get answers. After that, I should find Gabriel and Malochai’s bodies…they deserve a decent burial. I’ll come back, Lea. I promise.”
And with that, the Paladin flew away…
IV
Connor touched down gently on the ground outside the temple of Stefan Wonder and walked through its door, Stefan still sitting in his elegant chair as he watched the Paladin walk across the large floor.
“How did it go, dear Paladin?” Stefan asked, coddling a glass of wine in his hand.
“What was the point of that? Sending me after Eblis…did you know that he was my father?”
“Would it matter? He had to be stopped anyways, and you’re the only person who could do so.”
Connor clenched his fists, trying his best to hide the look in his stance that told everyone he felt like he’d been punched in the gut. “You couldn’t even warn me?! Couldn’t tell me it was my own father?!”
“It did not matter!” Stefan screamed, slamming the glass of deep red wine on the ground below him. “You’re upset!? Angry!? So what!? What will you do to me for this, Paladin?! I am stronger than you could ever dream of being.”
Before he could retort, the roof of the temple was blown apart by a bolt of lighting, streaking down and crashing into the ground, blowing Stefan away and spreading everything in the room, from tables to chairs to the impossibly heavy granite slab Connor had woken up on, blowing them apart to the furthermost reaches of the room, with Stefan himself knocked into an undignified heap of flesh by the doorway.
Connor started towards the door to check on Stefan when a voice from behind stopped him.
“Wait.”
Connor turned and noticed it for the first time. Covered by the furniture, a large symbol of blood, a wicked symbol marked with cruel markings and spattered with blood droppings. And in its center, where the bolt of lightning had struck and charred the ground, stood the angel Gabriel, who for so long had been thought dead.
“Gabriel!”
“Don’t you see it yet, Connor? Your father…this symbol…do you know who that man is?”
Stefan rose from the ground, snarling and gnashing his teeth, flecks of flesh falling off to reveal dark, charred skin that seemed to rise from underneath. “Shut UP, you incorrigible angel!” he screamed across the room, his voice booming louder than ever before.
“Its him, Connor. He let your mother destroy your father. He let your father and mother die. He brought your father back and made him Eblis. He’s been behind this the whole time, Connor, he’s here to make you just as dark and broken as your father became as Eblis.”
Connor turned in disbelief to see the rest of Stefan’s flesh beginning to burn and flake to the ground.
“Connor…” Gabriel spoke, his hand moving daftly to his sword, “…I give you your parent’s killer. Behold, the King of Fallen Angels, Vilnias.”
Sinewy, black arms flexed as Vilnias let out a monstrous howl. The King of Fallen Angels lives again…
TO BE CONTINUED…
NEXT IN ORIGINS…
ACT VIII
REPURCUSSIONS
