But I was still sad that we cannot stay together. I just got my brother back, and I was losing him all over again.
"Can't I go with you?" - I asked. He just shook his head, and the smile faded a little from his lips.
"No, I am sorry. You belong here for the moment, and you have to complete your training. Believe me, I would take you with me if I could, but we still have to see what the Consilium thinks about this whole thing. I mean you and Iris were sentenced to death once before, and there are no promises that this death sentence had been taken back, just because they believed it had been carried out." - He sighed. - "I will go back to Skydown, and confront Father about this. I know he would be happy to hear that this time I found you for real."
"Were there really that many fakers?" - I asked.
"You wouldn't believe..." - He smirked, and stroked my hair. I rubbed my face against his palm. It was rough from the years of training, and the fights he had been through. I wanted to know even more about him, since we missed out so many years... I just couldn't believe he was here, and I could feel his warmth on my skin.
"Take care, and don't get into any trouble, alright?" - I felt tears well up in my eyes. Why is this so hard to say good bye to someone I just met?
"I'll try, but promise me you'll work hard, and by the time I come back, you will be strong, and a skilled Nephilim." - He hugged me tightly. My tears rolled down on my cheeks.
"Will you be gone for such a long time?" - I asked. He tightened his arms around me. I couldn't breathe, but I couldn't care less. I sobbed on his shoulders, and I felt a sudden pain in my chest. I've only know Cassiel for five hours, but I felt like we have known each other for years by now.
He put some distance between us, and reached into his bag. He handed me a book.
"This is the history of our family.... well kind of. In the holy grounds it lives on as a fairy tale. They think it's just made up, but I know you will find the truth in it. I have to say that this isn't really a happy ending story for most of the time. But we can still make it end well." - He wiped his nose in his sleeve - yuck. I took the book, where a page was marked with a sticky note. - "That is the tale of Spiritus and her son... the most recent. Even our names appear in the story, but I had a feeling that it wasn't finished when I read it. "
"Thank you." - I smiled, and wiped off my tears.
"Well I guess this is good bye, Spirit." - He sighed, and threw his bag over his shoulder.
"I prefer a 'see you soon'" - I smiled. I hugged him for the last time. - "I love you, brother."
"I love you too, sister." - He said. - "See you soon."
"See you soon" - I said as well. He kissed my forehead, and then just walked away. His figure disappeared around the corner. I ran after him, but by the time I turned around the corner of the corridor, he was gone.
I went back to my room, and sat down on my bed. Cassiel was alive, and he will come back. I know he will...
But right now, all I had left of him was this book. The pages were dark yellow at the beginning, but lighter at the back, they got whiter and whiter... I guess that this book had been modified over the years...they added pages to it.
I opened at the sticky note, and a letter fell out from the pages. I took it in my hands, and a very calligraphic handwriting on the top said "Dear Spirit."
So this was for me...? I began reading, with my heart pounding inside my rib cage like trapped hummingbird.
Dear Spirit,
You must be a beautiful little lady by the time you read this. I am the head Skydown, and the Sub Consilium as well, however, I would give up any office I have just to have a chance to turn back time, and stop all the disasters that happened to our family.
You must understand that I had been forced by the Head Consilium to take this office, and I cannot leave without their permission. I am living someone else's life... if I could choose my ways, we would have never been separated.
I know this is hard to believe but there wasn't a moment in the past years, when I didn't think of where you are, or what you are doing... I regretted so many things in my life that I cannot make right, but there is one thing I might can change.
You are reading this, so you were found. This, however doesn't mean you are safe. My heart is breaking to ask this from you, but please, do not seek Skydown. You will be killed if you come here, unless the Head Consilium decides otherwise. Keep that in mind that we cannot communicate, and we cannot meet... it is forbidden for me to do so, and you might be the one to be punished for my mistake, like it happened long ago, a couple months after your birth.
Truly, I am sorry for what my decisions caused. I can't ask for your forgiveness, but I hope that one day you will look at me with no hurt in your eyes.
I wonder if they are still the color of emerald, like they used to be....
I love you, Spirit, and as a father, I promise you that I will find a way to make you part of the Princeps Clan again.
Sincerely,
Your loving Father, Ambriel Princeps
1999, March 23
He wasn't a cold man... at least not in this letter. But it was written two years after my birth.. I wonder if in the past 15 years changed him really that much. I wish I could communicate with him some way, but I hope that he will keep his promise, and work this out.
Because I want him to be like a father. I never had parents that I can remember of. I never had a father who taught me how to ride a bike, or helped me get my driver's license... I never had a mother, who would teach me how to do my makeup, or how to cook.
That was taught to me by the people surrounding me... they were a family in some ways, but not every way.
"No, Father. My eyes are no longer emerald." - I whispered. I had brown eyes now, and I have no idea how is it possible to have green eyes at birth and then brown eyes for the rest of your life.
Unless I am not the real Spirit Princeps, but that wasn't really a possibility. I was who I was.
Even if he said not to look for him, my heart was set on meeting him. Oh if that would be such an easy task. Why can't the things just work out like they are supposed to?
I picked up the book again, and began to read.
In a far away land, where people were peaceful and gentle and the power shimmered in all of them, there was a girl. Her heart was set to somewhere she could't reach: to a forbidden world, where people were humans, living by their own rules, and more free than she could ever imagine. But it wasn't in her power to pass through to the other world.
She was powerful, and was a well respected warrior on her land. She was the daughter of a Prince, and she grew up up in the holy grounds. Her one and only wish was to see the land outside of the walls of her own world. She have read so much about what's outside, and at nights, when she wasn't at training, or fulfilled her duties as a royalty, she would sit at the roof of the castle, and reach towards to setting sun, wishing that she could be free, like the humans.
She was ready to give up everything just to be like them.
Her name was Spiritus Princeps.
Eventually, she got what she desired, and the Head Consilium set her on charge of the patrols in the land of the living, where her duty was to get the land ready for the celestials to build their residence, to have a Sub Consilium, which would take over the ruling of the magic world among the humans, and set the balance.
The chosen place was near a village. Mountains surrounded the valley, and the forest was filled with animals. It was a perfect spot.
Spiritus destroyed the evil spirits with the help of the patrol members she had chosen by herself.
While she was in the valley, she became friends with the villagers, but kept her identity as a secret due to the law all angels must follow. The villagers saw her as a great hero, and they took good care of the patrolling group, as a way of thanking them for saving the village from the demons around.
A villager named Devon Waters became precious to Spiritus. He was the second son of the Chief of the Village. Love bloomed between the two of them, and the fruit of their love began to grow under Spiritus' heart.
The Head Consilium didn't take that as a good sign, and as a lesion, they sent the Executors to destroy the village. They did so, killing every each member of them, burning every house to the ground, and feeding every animal to the nearby wolf-packs.
The Lord of the Princeps family took the child from Spiritus right after the birth, and forced his daughter to marry a Lord from another high rank family.
However he did not have the heart of killing his first Grand-daughter, so he kept her by his side, raised her as an orphan, never telling her who she really was. She grew to become a great warrior, and eventually Lord Princeps assigned her to be his bodyguard.
She was named Mitis Nephilim, the first half-blood that became acknowledged by the Consilium itself, the first one to earn the place among the members of the new Sub Consilium.
They built the residence of the Sub Consilium upon the remains of the old village.
Mitis was assigned to find all the Nephilims alive in the human world, assemble them, and teach them her ways.
Spiritus gave birth to the Successor of the Princeps family, his name was Ambriel. He grew up to be the most respected man in the Sub Consilium, which was eventually named Skydown.
Mitis met a Fallen Angel on her search, named Remiel Throne, and together they built an Institute for the magical creatures, who cared to serve the celestials, and they were meant to build a community with strong bonds between all the creatures and the Consilium.
This place was named the House of Shadows.
Ambriel Princeps was set on the position as the ambassador between the Institute and the Consilium. He spent several years in the Institute, but on his way home he never arrived at Skydown.
Ambriel took a rest in a city, named Santa Fe, and met a woman, who was aware of who he was.
She was the daughter of a Nephilim, however she didn't inherited enough angelic blood to be a nephilim herself, but she was a courageous woman. She went by the name Farrah Glimmer.
To the surprise of the Consilium, Ambriel announced that he gives up his office as an ambassador, and resigns to live among the Living. Spiritus, her mother begged him to stay, and to chose carefully of his future, but all of that were ignored, all her warnings weren't enough to stop him.
Ambriel beget four children, two boys - a twin, and two girls. The sons were named Ariel, and Cassiel. The older girl was named Iris, and the youngest daughter was named Spirit in honor of his mother.
The Consilium punished him by forcing him back to Skydown, and killing his wife, and two daughters. He fought to protect the family he wasn't supposed to have, but failed. The twins however were taken with the young Lord, and were trained to be the best fighters they can be. Eventually they were sent out to the world as messengers to every House of shadows, to deliver messages from the Consilium. Lord Princeps took his office as an ambassador back, but he never left Skydown again.
Some years later, rumors began to spread about the Princeps daughters being alive.
Sometimes the tales are true: we were alive. But why did my father named me after my grandma... that sound so old-school, and boring. I think the name Mitis would've fit me way better, since I was a Nephilim, not an angel after all.
But the fact that Spiritus was ready to give up everything she ever had just to become a human made me wonder. Were the magical places that boring? I wouldn't think so. Maybe to someone like me, they were exciting, because I have never seen such stuff, but to people like my grandmother, who grew up among those things it was just another pain in the butt.
Still I find it extremely unbelievable that the Holy Grounds were that 'awful'. However I felt sorrow for the villagers. They did not deserve the punishment.
That's how it always is: if a noble makes a mistake, the commonest suffer, I guess. At least that's what you can see in the history books all over the place. Due to this 'tale' it wasn't any different in this world either.
A knock on my door awoke me from my deep thoughts of analyzing the story.
"Who is it?" - I called out. The door opened, and Morgen appeared in a black sleeveless shirt and loose, light gray sweats. His tattoos were shown off nicely in that outfit... He held a bottle of water in his hands.
"Aren't you ready? It's Tuesday. We train on the beach, like we discussed. The sun is setting so it's not that hot anymore." - He said. I quickly ran into my bathroom, and changed into spandex and a tank top that I use for yoga most of the time... but that was all I could find. I pulled on my running shoes, and grabbed a sweater and a bottle of water.
"All set." - I came out while struggling with pulling my hair into a pony tail. Morgen raised an eyebrow. - "What?" - I asked. He took me by surprise by his unexpected reaction. He usually just turns, and goes, when I get ready. Now, he was standing and staring at me. - "C'mon dude, say something! Do I have a spot on my top?" - I looked down, but my top was freshly washed.
"Nah, you just always wear long pants, so I don't really get what's with the spandex all of the sudden." - He said.
"I like them.... they are comfy." - I explained, but my cheeks flushed. - "If you want I can change into yoga pants..." - To the offer, he just shook his head.
"No, it's fine. Now, let's go!" - He said. We walked down the corridor, and bumped into Rider. Our kiss flashed through my head, and I was too embarrassed to even look into his eyes, so I just waited while the Morgen and him finished discussing whatever they were talking about, and we could get going...
But right when I thought I got away without making a total loser out of myself, Rider grabbed my hand at the last minute. I turned around in surprise, and he used my surprise against me: before I could do anything our lips met, and he kissed me passionately.
I was so shocked that I didn't know what to do. I just stood there like a complete idiot.
When the kiss -and the damage - was done, he didn't back away immediately, but whispered into my still open mouth - "We are not finished, sweetheart."
And with that, he walked away. I just stared, but couldn't move. Morgen had to drag me after himself. Well great.. I was too shocked to even return the greeting that I received when we crossed the living room. I was basically just floating after Morgen, not knowing what the hell should I do, and wondering what he meant by that 'we are not finished'. That could be meant in so many ways!! Like we weren't finished with the discussion we had before I purified him, or we weren't finished with the purification, or we weren't finished as friends... or talking, or kissing... gaaahhh I am so confused!!!
"Snap out of it, will ya?" - Morgen hit my head playfully while we sat in the car. He was driving, and I was sitting beside him with my legs pulled up. - "I don't want you wander around on the beach like that..." - He said.
"Which beach are we going to visit???" - I asked with an excited voice, but deep inside I wanted to ask him to turn the car around, and let's skip the training today... I wanted to digest the whole situation with my brother, and everything that had happened in the past days.
Morgan drove around the block, and turned towards a splendid view.
"Say hello to Hermosa Beach!" - He smiled as he parked the car.
"This is amazing!" - I said with my mouth open. We jumped out from the car, and walked to the water.
"Okay, now... There is that palm-tree not far from here... I'd guess it's about 40 yards. We will run the warm up distance from here to there. From there, I want you to race me as fast as you can. The finish line will be at that dock, alright?" - He barked the instructions at me. I nodded, and clapped my hands together. He was a tough trainer, but today he was going easy on me. I wonder...
We began to jog side by side, but I could feel his body tense as he was preparing himself for the 'race' which was totally ridiculous, since no matter how I tried, there was just no way I could beat him. It's true that my time improved in the last couple days, but he was jut out of my league.
We passed the tree, and began sprinting side by side. About two yards before the finish, I laughed out loud, partly because he wasn't actually racing me - he was jogging on beside me, pretending to try - and partly because the fresh ocean breeze felt amazing combined with the warm touch of the setting sun on my skin. Oh dear, I loved LA. Morgen playfully messed up my hair, and he laughed too. We grinned at each other like two complete idiot... and that was the milestone, where we became friends from strangers.
After that day, we were more than friends... we were best friends.
We sat down on the sand, catching our breath, and stared at the last rays of orange-red light, and just listened to the ocean. I was relaxed, and now I understood why he didn't push me, nor made this a long, and tiresome training: he meant to ease my stress with this rather than work on my speed, or my balance, or reaction time, or any of those things. And I was happy that he did so. Because for the first time, I had a friend who understood me without words.
"Thank you." - I smiled at him. He nodded without even looking at me. I guess our friendship was the best for both of us... he wasn't into talking a lot, and I didn't feel like pouring my heart out to anyone right now. Just conceal, don't feel, right? Don't let it show... Yep, that was a quote from Frozen.
"So, you won." - He smiled, but I couldn't tell if he was smiling at me or at the ocean.
"Just because you let me." - I smirked, and he finally looked at me.
"I actually didn't." - He said. The smile froze on my lips.
"What...?"
That was such a shock to me... so he wasn't holding back? No, that's a lie! It was impossible to believe. We went back to the car, and drove back to the house. We said our good-nights, and I wandered back to my room. My body felt unusually light from fatigue, and all I wanted was a good night sleep.
My skin smelled like salt, sun, sand, and sweat... sounds gross, but I loved it. It's such a shame that it will fade without leaving any scent on my skin when I take a shower...
I stepped into my room, and I found Rider sitting on my bed, reading the book that Cass left here for me.
"What are you doing here?" - I asked. - "You know what? Don't answer. I need a shower."
"Want me to join?" - He offered with a mocking grin on his full lips. I threw my water bottle at him - which he caught without any effort. He never failed to amaze me with how swiftly he could move.
"Screw yourself." - I murmured, and slammed the bathroom door.
The shower felt amazing. The semi-cold water ran down my skin, leaving a refreshing trail. I scrubbed the sand off my feet, and out from my hair. The soap I just got from Iris a couple days ago smelled like peaches and yogurt - do not make fun of me, I like to smell like a dessert, ok?! - and the scent of jasmines in my shampoo made me relax even more. I quickly washed it off, so I didn't risk falling asleep in the shower... that would be embarrassing, especially with my nosy friend in the other room.
I rubbed my wet hair with a pink towel I grabbed off from the closest shelf, and dried my body. I pulled on my pj shorts and a large t-shirt with unicorns on it.
I went back to the room, and to my horror, Rider was looking at my drawings in my Sketchpad. That wouldn't be a bad thing if I wouldn't have sketches of him in it... while I had several visions of his past, I captured some that I liked, and there were some with him just standing, white wings spreading from his back...
He was at a picture of a lion, so he was still not at the part where through our bond our memories were shared. I quickly snatched the journal from his hand, and threw it on the bookshelf, and shielded the way to it with my body. Rider raised an eyebrow.
"Do you really think I cannot get it if I want it." - His arrogant tone was so annoying...
"Don't you dare..." - I made a face, because a malevolent smile spread across his lips. He hugged me, and tried to reach for the sketchbook, probably thinking that I am too distracted by how close he is, or I can't see through this obvious plan.
"Oh, please. I am not that oblivious!" - I said, and tickled him. That was one weakness I figured out about him through the memories.
"That was an unfair move." - He took a step back, quicker than lightning.
"Look who's talking." - I raised an eyebrow. He raised his hands as a sign of surrender. - "Okay, so what do you want from me. I am tired so just spill it, and get going."
I sat down on my bed, and pulled my legs up, then pushed them under the blanket. Oh my oh my, I just wanted to sleep so badly!! He sat down beside me, and pulled his legs up, like I did a moment ago, and before I knew it, he was right beside me.
"Ahh, I don't have the humor for this right now..." - I sighed. But he ignored me, and just turned off the light. Rider's body was so warm, and the scent of his cologne filled my nose. It was a nice smell, but now I will smell like a man for god knows how long - boy cologne was the hardest scent to get rid of. His arms embraced me in an unexpected hug, and for some strange reason, I felt safer than I ever did in my entire life. I was so tired that I didn't have any more energy to complain.
"Sweet dreams, Spirit.." - I heard while I floated halfway between awake and asleep.
"Good night, Angel..." - I mumbled. His chest shook, and I wasn't sure if he was crying, or laughing. He kissed my forehead , and I just drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.
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