Months in the Future
Ray was at home. Outside he was heralded as a hero. He did not appreciate that people praised him in place of God. He cherished the anonymity he received inside his own home. Celia had come to visit him recently. She had been the one female presence in his life he cherished. She heralded from the orphanage that had once been his home. He did not remember the place but she always paid yearly visits to see how he had been doing. She had stopped visiting a few years back but when she returned the day before he could let himself slip back to his childhood. Remarkably she hadn't aged a day since he first remembered her. He could speak to Celia about his faith, his beliefs, fears, his weaknesses. He told her about Cassie. He didn't dare tell her that she was an angel or perhaps even Celia would have had him committed. Some secrets were to be kept. When Celia questioned him about his power, however, Ray was taken aback.
"I can help you, Ray, in whatever way you need. I understand the anguish of not knowing where you truly belong, what you truly are. But at the end of the day, you are a servant of God as we all are and our foremost duty is to Him and to his cause of righteousness."
Celia's words took Ray back. "What are you hiding from me?" he asked her.
"All will be revealed in time Ray but it is up to you to choose your own destiny." She said cryptically and then stood up to leave.
"Please come back, Celia. I need you." Ray begged her as she reached the door.
Celia turned back and smiled. "I shall be back, son. May God be with you," So saying the door closed behind her. Ray knew it would be fruitless to look out the window for her because she would have disappeared by now. She had always disappeared so after every visit.
A knock brought back Ray from his memories. He walked to the door to find Celia standing in front of him. Something was off about her though. "Ray Sutherland?" she asked and then gasped in horror.
Ray noticed that her eyes were blue like his instead of the purple that was Celia's. "You are not Celia I presume," Ray stated unsure. Celia's name brought both surprise and recognition to her eyes.
"How do you know my twin sister?" she asked.
"She is my Godmother" was Ray‟s reply. "If you did not come on behalf of Celia may I know what your purpose here is and what may I know your name is?"
"I am Ariella and I am the messenger of the house of Raphael where Cassandra Sutherland currently is," she said.
On hearing Cassie's name Ray's face lit up with a smile. With Samael vanquished, perhaps Cassandra thought him worthy of her now. "Please come inside."
"Thank you"
Ray offered her a seat and a glass of water. He was eager to hear of his wife but his manners told him to treat the messenger with reverence first. "Please calm down Mr Sutherland. I am not used to being so much taken care of" Replied the guest. She was looking down unable to meet his eyes.
"You bring me news of my life, my wife. How can I not treat you well?" Ray retorted.
With a deep sigh, Ariella began, "When Cassandra left you she was with child." She paused to let the information sink in before she proceeded. "Three days back she has given birth to a mortal child, your son." A smile soon split Ray‟s face in half at the news. He couldn't contain himself but he calmed himself down to listen to the messenger. "Cassandra is at present a guest at the house of Raphael, the Angel her parents had chosen to be her mate. She wishes to fulfil her parent's last wish. For that, she needs to be redeemed as a carrier which entails her forsaking her mortal child. The child is to be exiled to earth to live as an orphan."
Ray suddenly stood up. He had heard enough. "My son shall not live the life of an orphan while I am alive," Ray growled.
"I expected as much. To be honest Mrs Sutherland did not send me here. I came of my own volition. I was denied my right of motherhood by the Gracious Lord to serve some other purpose. I do not wish for a child to live without knowing his parents." She said.
Ray nodded. "Can you bring me the child?"
"That would be stealing Mr Sutherland. I have no right over your child and Cassandra doesn't wish to face you. What I can do is I can send you to your child but the rest is up to you."
"Ariella, I am grateful to you for your help. "
"It is only my duty to God that I serve. In my own heart, I believe that Angels are furthering themselves from God in their vain attempt of being God themselves. That day comes in the life of all creatures, even humans. Humans, however, have one redeeming quality in the eyes of the Lord. It is their faith. May God help you but know this I can only provide you with a one-way ticket into our dimension. You will have to forge your way back here with the help of someone I cannot approach. Celia is your Godmother. She along with her husband will help you. I can give you my teleporter and one of Celia. The first will help you to travel to your son and the other will take you to my sister. Once there you will be helped for it is the house of Michael, benefactor of all humans."
"How will you return if you give me your teleporter and how it is that you have my Godmother's teleporter?"
"I will wait for you till you return. I have no one in either dimension that will miss me. As far as my sister's device is concerned I stole it from her almost a century ago when she was betrothed to her husband. She accused me of stealing but I never confessed. I have lived a cursed existence for my sin. It is time I undid my evil deed. My sister has been so kind to me but never have I been able to see eye to eye with her. Will you please beg for forgiveness on my behalf?" tears rolled down Ariella's cheeks. Ray reached out and touched the drop of water with the tip of his finger. Then he brought it to his lips and kissed it.
"Tears of repentance are one of the purest substances in all universes and that of an Angel is even purer. The Lord is forgiving of sins if you repent. Your repentance ensures your redemption. As a son of the Holy Father, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, I declare you redeemed. Be at peace. Your sin is forgiven you." So saying Ray folded his hand and prayed in front of her. Ariella saw his skin gleam with light as a rainbow halo appeared over his head. If anything Ariella knew this was not a mere mortal that Cassandra shunned. But she had no way to tell her that being a mere servant of the house that Cassandra was soon to rule.
"I shall now take my leave. Please make yourself at home." Ray said after finishing his prayers. He lost no time and started for the Sixth heaven. Ariella saw the light around her and realization dawned on her. The resemblance to her love Michael made her question her faith on her master. Did Raphael lie to her?
Ray soon found himself in the sixth heaven. The soil there was purple, no doubt a royal colour in the land. Everything surrounding the place had a royal feel. Large courtyards and fountains and massive gateways looked as if he were in ancient Greece. He saw winged creatures around him everywhere and decided the best way to find his way here was to simply go and ask. He summoned his wings and asked the first angel he saw the whereabouts of Raphael's dwellings. He was easily led. Once in front of the house of Raphael, it was not difficult to find his son for he had been wailing with hunger while the mother failed to realize her son‟s needs.
"He is hungry Cassandra," he heard a voice speak. He did not see the face to which the voice belonged. He looked inside the door to notice Samael or whom he thought Samuel at first but no Dark aura surrounded this creature. That is when the realization came to him that Raphael and Samael are twins. The Angel went away leaving Cassie to feed her son. Ray hid in the light around him. It was another of his gifts to assume invisibility that Cassie had granted him, or so he presumed. Soon Cassie left lying down her sleeping infant son in a cradle.
Ray tip toed up to him and assumed his form. As soon as he saw his son he gasped. His son, like him, was covered in tattoos of the same vibgyor colour as he was, only his did not depict rain and clouds and rainbow but rather all form of life from insects to reptiles to the resemblance of man. The child opened his eyes on hearing his father's voice and started giggling. For a moment Ray had a doubt. Was this Angel child better left off among the angels? But everyone other than him failed to realize his powers and he was soon to be exiled. Ray took out the other star from inside his coat and pressed the centre. Soon he was teleported to another realm altogether.
What Ray assumed at first was that he was home. There were farmers tilling the soil in large farms all around. There were birds flying in the blue sky. There were some cows grazing in the distant green fields. The only thing that told apart this realm was that the farmers hovered a little above the ground and that there were no clouds in the sky. No one had a prominent wing in this realm so he called back his own. He went to the first farmer that he saw and asked him in the ancient tongue of angels where Michael lived. The creature stared at him. Then another one of them came forward and whispered into his ears. Realization dawned on him and he pointed to an old farmhouse down a winding path. The sun was glaring down by now and his son had woken up and was crying. Not able to calm him down Ray called forth rain. The farmers standing around him looked on in wonder as the rain started to soothe the crying child. The child laughed and around the just sown fields blossomed with fresh yield. Ray looked in awe at his son. The farmers got excited and carried Ray up on their shoulder. That was how he was brought to the court of Michael.
The court was empty. Ray climbed down clutching his son and went over to the porch. Outside the porch lay a vast garden with every flower in the world and in the middle stood a swing and on the swing sat a girl of no more than twelve. Behind the girl, a man stood pushing the swing. He looked like a man with blonde hair and wide shoulders. His feet were placed firmly on the ground. Beside him stood a figure Ray recognized. "Aunt Celia," he called out.
Celia as well as the man and the child turned back to find him standing on the porch. If Ray was surprised on seeing Raphael‟s resemblance to his twin brother the sight of Michael blew his breath away. A darker shade of blonde and darker blue eyes but the rest was his splitting image or was he his splitting image. The man looked at Celia and then towards Ray. Celia's head was bowed down. Ray went closer to his doppelganger only to be introduced by Celia, "I present to you your son, my Lord. He is the Godson of mine whom I speak of often"
Both men gasped at the news. Neither knew of the other‟s existence it seemed. "But how?" mouthed both father and son when Celia asked them both to be patient for the whole truth.