Chapter 66 - Calling His Soul Home (Part 2)

The candles returned to their original yellow hue and slightly flickered in the light breeze that blew through the cemetery. This final piece was all Grimald needed to make himself whole again, but he and the women around him knew, this was going to be the hardest one. The piece of his soul that was stuck to that cross was angry, hurt, scarred. Putting this piece back with the rest of him was going to cause pain and anguish, Grimald was going to finally have to face his past and forgive himself. "Alright Grimald. I just want to warn you, this is going to be difficult," Shelta whispered. "You are going to face everything that you tried so hard to forget, all the suffering, all the hatred. You have to be strong and not allow yourself to cower away from it. I won't lie, you soul will probably fight this last piece but when you truly forgive yourself, this piece will fall back into place and you will finally be whole. You will finally be free."Grimald sat quietly trying to mentally prepare himself for the emotional war he was about to face. He took a glance at Alexis and saw her looking at him with a small grin on her face. "You c-can do this Grimald, I kn-know you can""Thank you little one," Grimald replied. Shelta gave him another moment to try and prepare himself before saying, "Whenever you're ready just say 'I call all the missing pieces of my soul to return to me.' Then just like with the rings recount the moment your soul was placed into the cross."With a long deep breath Grimald closed his eyes and exhaled before confidently stating, "I call all the missing pieces of my soul to return to me."This time the candle flames changed from their soft yellow to an angry red. Anyone passing by would have been able to see this bright red color glowing down in the street. Grimald began to sweat as he dove into the memories that have haunted him the last 500 years, the ugly deeds the priest used him for, the agony of having his soul unwillingly ripped away from him, and worst of all, the death of his beloved Alvina. The women watched as his breathing became labored and his jaw began to clench. "Keep going Grimald," Shelta gently spoke. "Remember, none of what happened was your fault. You were a tool used by The Order and nothing more, you had no choice."His hands balled up into fist and his knuckles turned white. Alexis was worried that he was going to give up, that this was going to be too much for him. The thought of him suffering was killing her, but she kept reminding herself that this was for him, this was to give him back his freedom."Come on Grimald, push through, forgive yourself," whispered Sybil.Alexis looked over at the older woman before grabbing her hand in a death grip and returning her gaze back to the gargoyle who was having an internal warfare.Suddenly the candles turned a blood red and the flames began to grow, they kept getting higher until Sybil and Alexis struggled to see Grimald sitting in the middle. "What's g-going on?" Alexis mumbled."He's remembering Alvina's death," Shelta answered.Shelta could see Grimald's eyes darting back and forth under his eyelids, his eyebrows scrunched together in agony and his lips curled into a hateful snarl. His pain was so strong that she could feel deep in her heart, but as badly as she wanted to help him she knew this was something he had to do on his own. Grimald began to shake his head in denial causing Shelta to jump into action."No Grimald! You have to face this, you can't quit now! You are to close, you deserve to forgive and let go!" "No I don't! I killed her! Her death was my fault!" Grimald bellowed."No it wasn't! Look deeper into this memory Grimald! Who gave you the order?! Who wanted to see you suffer?! Did you willing place your hands on Alvina?!"Alexis could feel herself beginning to cry, her tears were dripping onto her lap as she sat their squeezing the life out Sybil's hand. The old woman just placed her free hand on top of their joined ones to try and offer as much comfort as possible."I know it seems like she is being harsh dear," Sybil's pained voice broke through Alexis thoughts. "But he needs to hear this.""I kn-know," Alexis whimpered. Just as she said that the flames seemed to jump off the wicks of the candles and began to circulate around Grimald and Shelta. The flames became one and moved faster and faster creating a constant moving ring around the two as he struggled to let the pain of his past go. "I can't forgive myself," Grimald cried. "Yes you can! Who gave the order to kill her?!" Shelta was demanding an answer, she was pushing because she wanted him to get past this to be whole once again. "I-I-I...""Who Grimald?! Tell me who gave that order?!"The large gargoyle began to sob before he finally screamed, "Balducci! Father Balducci gave that order! I-I tried to fight it, but my body went against every order I gave it!"Shelta felt the relief hit her like a ton of bricks while Alexis and Sybil sat and held their breath."I'm sorry!" He cried. "I tried, but...there was nothing....that I could do." Suddenly the ring of fire was swept into the sky by an invisible wind and turned into a cloud of smoke, everything went dark. All that could be heard was the sobs that wracked Grimald's large body as he clutched the cross to his chest. Alexis couldn't just sit there anymore and was quick to run to Grimald and throw her arms around his neck and squeeze. She put all of her emotions into the hug and tried to give as much comfort as she could to help ease the pain that he was feeling. It only took a few seconds of her holding him for Grimald to wrap his own arms around Alexis small body. For the next few minutes they just sat and held each other.When Grimald's cries quieted, Shelta spoke up. "Well, would you look at that."In confusion Alexis turned to Shelta just find her and Sybil looking behind her. Slowly turning her head to the right she gasped and began gently pushing at Grimald's chest."What is it little one?""Look," she whispered never once looking in his direction.With a confused look the gargoyle turned to see what had his little love so enthralled. What he found was the most beautiful sunrise he had ever seen. After 500 long years, he was finally able to watch the sun rise and the skies change color. Setting Alexis down he stood up and stretched his wings, allowing the sun to caress them and warm them. He knew soon he would have to find somewhere to hide out, but for now he was going to enjoy the peace and the weightless feeling that followed.