The next morning, he slowly began to wake up from a deep refreshing sleep. He could not remember the last time he had slept like this. That he had slept in a normal bed. That in his sleep he didn't have to be on his guard. He felt someone standing at his bedside and blinked a few times before his eyes were fully open.
"Doctor Livingstone, I presume?"
He asked with a smirk. The healer smiled and shook his head for a moment.
"You seem to be doing a little better Alexander."
"Ah you know, not having a hole in your head and being dead does wonders for your health."
With that, Raphael had to snort. He was beginning to like this young fellow.
"I suppose you are hungry and thirsty. Do you think you can sit up straight?"
With great difficulty, Alexander got up but he would be damned if he asked for help and Raphael quickly put two pillows on his back. Alex really couldn't resist and said:
"You know Raphael the people of Earth have found a perfect solution for this problem. Hospital beds, you push a button and the bed itself makes you settle into a sitting position."
"I know, for a while, I even thought about having one made. But other than that, I didn't bother. We never actually get patients here who have to stay. Some bumps and bruises of course but after a short time they can go out again."
Alexander pondered this for a moment and said:
"Must be handy as an Angel. Then how do they get those bumps and bruises? Distracted Angel has no right of way and boom mid-air collision?"
And that image painted by Alexander was enough to make Raphael laugh out loud. The moment he set the little table on Alexander's bed, the Goddess entered with Red in tow.
"Good morning, Alexander, it's not every day someone gets Raphael to laugh so hard."
Amused, she looked at the two of them.
"Oh well, no big deal. Fuzzie Bear's humor isn't understood by everyone either. Right, Fuzzie?"
The healer did like this boy very much and said played sternly to the Goddess:
"My lady, with your permission this patient urgently needs to go back to sleep."
The Goddess shook her head and Alexander heard the girl giggle for the first time and it was the most beautiful sound he ever heard. The Goddess put a hand on his forehead for a moment and closed her eyes.
"Much better Alexander, maybe another day or two of bed rest and you will be back on your feet."
"Complete bed rest?"
"No you may move a little when you are ready but for now only in the infirmary."
"I can live with that. Ha, see what I did there, living. I'm killing myself here. Boom, again!"
Now it was both Raphael and Red laughing out loud, and the Goddess had to do her utmost not to burst into laughter as well. The Goddess asked:
"What would you like to eat and drink Alexander?"
"I'm dying for scrambled eggs, bacon bits, and tomato juice."
He said with a perfectly straight and impassive face with the emphasis on dying but now a snort did escape the Goddess at that last pun. She waved her hand and there was suddenly a large plate and glass on his table. He looked at that which had appeared out of nowhere on his little table.
"Now, that's a neat trick, I so gotta learn that."
"Well, I just came to see how you were doing Alexander. I'll come back later, and we can talk."
He just nodded. Although he wanted answers, he was not really looking forward to the conversation itself. The Goddess was preparing to leave the room when Samantha asked:
"Mom, Alexander could use some company from someone his age, can I stay for a while?"
The Goddess looked at both of them for a moment and nodded:
"Fine, but if Alexander gets tired let him sleep, he needs the rest."
The Goddess left the room with these words. Alexander took in the girl. She was perhaps the same age as him, quite possibly just a little younger. Beautiful long red hair, and some freckles on her face but not overly so, just perfect. And then those eyes, the brightest blue he had ever seen with a shimmer of purple. She wore a simple light blue summer dress but there was also a pale green tone in it that matched perfectly. A discreet necklace with a green stone and a small ring also with a green stone. Samantha was equally absorbing him as he began to down his breakfast. After the first bite, he said:
"Hey Red, are you going to stand there all day or are you going to sit?"
He pointed to the foot end of the bed, and she happily sat down. After he finished his breakfast at record speed, he looked her sternly in the eye.
"Okay spill it..."
"Spill what?"
She asked not quite understanding what he meant.
"Oh not so much, two things. First, in what condition was I when I was found?"
She averted her gaze from him, for a moment she could not look him in the eye and said softly:
"Bad, very bad. You came falling out of nowhere just in front of the palace. Your whole body was covered in terrible wounds and blood, so much blood and so bad that your face was almost unrecognizable."
He shook his head for a moment and said nonchalantly:
"Yeah well, what's new."
She looked at him not understanding. How much pain must have been inflicted on him, how many wounds must have been inflicted on him to react like that?
"Second, how do you make things appear out of nowhere?"
Pleased that he changed the subject, her eyes lit up as she answered:
"Well in Heaven anyone can do that, on Earth only us Celestials. For newcomers it takes at least a few weeks, sometimes longer, to master it. Think of what you want and project that."
He looked at her with a frown for a few seconds and then closed his eyes. With a smirk, he opened them back and winked at her before closing them again. The next moment, a light blue robe appeared on the bed with "Alexander the Great" in small but clearly readable letters at the top left. He then manifested socks, underwear, slippers, sweatpants, and a T-shirt. Samantha sat there watching it with wide eyes and open mouth. With a sneaky smile, Alexander asked:
"What's up Red, seen a ghost?"
"That ... That should be impossible. No one can do that without training."
"Gummy bear, gum drop, nothing is impossible, nothing."
He noticed a wide smile appear on her face.
"Is there a place here where I can get dressed?"
He asked. She pointed to a door not far from his bed but made no move to get off the bed. He got a blush on his face and said:
"Can you maybe close your eyes for a moment until I get in there because I have absolutely nothing on under these sheets here."
She put her hands in front of her eyes after which he stood up and grabbed his things. He just felt her gaze on his back, so he knew that she had secretly glanced at him.
He was barely in the room when he cried out:
"WHAT THE HOLY FUCK IS THIS SHIT!"
Completely forgetting that he was naked, Samantha and Raphael flew into the small room. He stood looking into a mirror and didn't know what he was seeing. Suddenly he realized he was no longer alone in the room but at that moment he couldn't care less about being naked, he had more important things on his mind. Alexander turned to Raphael and with a steely gaze he asked:
"What the Hell? This is not my face, and this is definitely not my body either!"
The healer looked wearily at Samantha and then said to Alex:
"This shouldn't have happened yet that was up to Mom to explain to you. Samantha shouldn't have manifested clothes for you yet."
She replied dryly:
"That wasn't me that was Alexander himself!"
Raphael stood looking at him open-mouthed and muttered:
"Holly Fuck..."
He shook his head for a moment and said:
"I would ask you to be patient just a little longer Alexander. Mom will be back soon."
Alexander considered yelling but then looked in the mirror and stared at himself for a moment. The body he saw was healthy, not malnourished, broad shoulders and muscular for a thirteen-year-old, and above all no longer scarred. A powerful face, blond wild curly hair, and the brightest green eyes he had ever seen.
"Yep, I can wait. After the initial shock, I must confess I like this one better than the basic model I used to have."
Now that he had been seen naked by both of them anyway, he didn't bother anymore and put on his clothes. He wanted to put on the sweatpants but fell on his ass. Tears sprang to his eyes from the pain, and he needed Raphael's help to get back up again.
"Fuzzie, is there a garden here with a bench?"
The healer hesitated for a moment because the Goddess had clearly said that Alex was only allowed to move inside. However, it had clearly been a shock to the boy and fresh air would do him good. He nodded:
"Samantha can show you the way it's not far. But if you need help, please let her provide help."
He just nodded and started walking extremely slowly. Samantha supported him by the arm and led the way. Once they sat on a bench, he manifested a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He chuckled for a moment, and she asked what was so funny.
"Actually nothing you know. On earth most kids do it sometimes, sneak a cigarette. I know it's nonsense, but it gave me a peaceful feeling, a moment of complete freedom in my head, an escape from my reality. My first time was six months ago. Of course, the price for my first few cigarettes that afternoon was a bruised ribcage and the first burn marks of cigarette butts on my back."
He lit a cigarette, and she took him gently by the hand. Right now, neither of them had anything to say even if Samantha would have known what to reply to that statement.
They had been sitting silently on the bench for some time when the Goddess suddenly appeared before them. He was startled for a moment, not used to the fact that a person could appear in front of him out of nowhere. Sarcastically, he said:
"One should hang a bell around your necks. It might save people a heart attack."
The Goddess looked at him rather sternly, and the fact that Samantha squeezed his hand told him that he had quite possibly taken it a little too far.
"I'm sorry Milady for not keeping our agreement. It's not Samantha's fault. Just about the time I went to get dressed, there was suddenly a muscled naked boy in front of me who started screaming like a little girl. However, I realized it was a mirror and so it was myself who was screaming but..."
He pointed his finger at his face:
"This is absolutely not mine. At least as far as I know. Either this body I have now belongs to the afterlife or the body I had when I was alive was not mine. The first option, I don't have many problems with that. The second one? I'm not sure I want to know the answer to that. Well after the first shock, I needed some fresh air."
The Goddess' face relaxed and she got a somewhat sad look in her eyes. She joined him and Samantha on the bench and said:
"This should not have happened yet, but you never cease to amaze us. The speed with which you recover and find your intellectual abilities again is simply unimaginable. And the fact that you do things that take others weeks to learn in just minutes, according to Raphael."
After a minute or two of silence, Alex asked:
"The conversation we have to have will absolutely not please me I suppose?"
The Goddess slowly shook her head and sighed:
"Do you want to talk inside or outside Alex?"
"Outside please."
She manifested a table with eight chairs a little further away.
"Jeez"
He thought:
"If they need seven people for this conversation, what kind of fucking shit is that going to be?"
He slowly got up and with difficulty walked to the table where he plopped down in a chair. Samantha immediately sat down to his left and the Goddess took a seat to his right. A moment later, three men appeared at the table and Alex was startled again:
"I swear, if I'm still here at Christmas I'll hang a bell around the necks of all of them."
This time the Goddess and Samantha did get a smile on their faces. The three men sat down. The man in his mid-forties who had taken a seat next to the Goddess was quite obviously the God. Not as he had pictured God. An older man with a long white beard in a white robe and sandals. This one was impeccably dressed in a three-piece tailored suit with a perfect appearance. What stood out most about him were the mischievous playful preening eyes. Samael aka the grumpy guy he already knew, of course. The newcomer he did not know. He pretty much smelled like military, it just leaked out of his pores.
"You gave us quite a scare Alexander."
Alex looked at the God inquiringly before replying:
"My lord, Milady, Princess, grumbler, and noble stranger, why do I get the feeling that I am lying bound in a guillotine and waiting for the blade to fall?"
"Why would you say that? This is Michael, by the way?"
Asked the God who had heard that the boy had a sharp mind.
"Michael as in St. Michael, commander of Heaven's forces?"
Alex asked, as he ignored the God for a moment and looked the newcomer sternly in the eyes. The latter merely nodded in the affirmative but did not say a word. Alex held his gaze fearlessly for a moment before shifting his attention back to God.
"My lord, I may only be thirteen but even I can read this situation. Eight chairs so there must be two more individuals inbound."
He let it settle for a moment and manifested tea for Samantha. She had drunk it this morning in his room so he thought it would be good. Tomato juice for himself. The four others present watched this in amazement. They had heard from Raphael that he could manifest but that he could do it with such ease was still something to see with their own eyes. Alexander continued:
"The God, the Goddess, and the Crown Princess are present. Samael is somehow attached to Samantha, counselor, mentor, bodyguard, or all three. He would prefer to keep Samantha far away from me but probably got his ass kicked by Samantha or the Goddess or both. He is mad at me for not being able to keep Samantha away from me and I can almost tangibly feel that. Michael is watching me like I'm a bug under a microscope. He is trying to figure out if I am a danger and if so, how he can eliminate that danger, fast. I simply cannot imagine why I, a nobody of thirteen, and let's face it compared to you and your powers I'm a nobody of thirteen. How can I be a danger to Samantha? And it's obvious Samantha otherwise Samael wouldn't be so protective, and Michael wouldn't be looking for my weak spots."
Impressed by the sharp mind behind the bright green eyes, God said:
"You must forgive Samael, he is very protective as far as his little sister is concerned."
"Oh, I don't mind that at all Mylord. As long as he is aware that there is a difference between protecting and choking."
The adults and Samantha got wide smiles at this sentence, except Samael of course. Alexander and Samael's gazes bore into each other. The longer Alex held Samael's gaze without blinking or being impressed in any way by him the redder Samael turned. The two were fortunately distracted before the situation could get out of hand. A silver-gold bubble of light appeared in the garden. The light disappeared, leaving behind a man and a woman. She the epitome of Southern beauty and elegance in a magnificent blue robe. He was tall, broad with a strong but kind face, and dressed in what looked like a dark blue djellaba. With smiles, they greeted those present and took their places at the table. The Goddess spoke:
"Alexander may I introduce you to Aisha and Franklin the Gods of All Creation."
Alexander nodded to them deep in thought. He looked at the Goddess:
"If they are the Gods of all creation, what are you the Gods of?"
I am Salome, my husband is Robert, and we are the Gods of this universe."
He let this information pass through his brain for a moment and suddenly shot upright in his chair. His eyes lit up red with Hellfire and he snarled in a growling voice:
"The multiverse! That means there must still be an incredible number of me being tortured, starved, and killed! What the Fuck!"
Salome manifested a mirror, held it up to him and he shouted:
"Jesus fucking Christ what the fuck is this?"
Robert ignited Hellfire in his own eyes and Alex looked on uncomprehendingly. The God said:
"This is Hellfire Alex. It comes out when you are very angry."
Samantha grabbed his hand and squeezed it letting him know she was there. He automatically began to breathe more calmly and the red in his eyes disappeared. The God continued:
"You can learn to control it. At some point, you will have full power over it and be able to use it whenever you want. You can use it to show people Hell and their fate after death. It is not a pleasant sight to see them react to that."
"As far as I know, my parents have nothing to do with Hell. Although they can rot in it for all I care. So how do I get it and how do you get it?"
Salome knew they were now getting closer and closer to the final act and said:
"Robert is not only the God of this universe but he is also the King of Hell hence he can summon Hellfire."
"Are you implying that my mother somehow had an affair with the Devil, your husband?"
He asked dumbfounded. Aisha interfered in the conversation:
"Wrong father, wrong mother."
"What does this mean? Did those two assholes find me as a baby floating in a basket in the Mississippi and kept me as a toy? And what about these other universes?"
Aisha replied:
"The couple that were supposed to be your parents during your life here on this earth cannot have children in any universe. At most one child, stillborn after which he kills her a short time later."
"And this is true in every universe?"
"Indeed."
"So why do you create the same universe over and over again? You know what the definition of insanity is, don't you? Doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different outcome."
Aisha and Franklin had to smile at this and did not feel offended in the least. She said:
"The origin of the multiverse, the universe, and its purpose we would very much like to explain that to you in full color at some another time. It would take too much time to do it now and you have a lot of healing to do."
"Okay, back to the subject of my parents."
"How it is possible for you to be here? I can show that to you if you let me."
He looked at her suspiciously for a moment with eyes squeezed but nodded after a few seconds. Aisha stood up, walked around the table, and placed her hand on his forehead. In a few seconds, an incredible amount of information flowed into his brain until he cried out:
"Lucifer the fucking Morningstar! MAM eeuww that image you could have spared me, eeuww MAM!"
He shook his head and said:
"Red, quick a gallon of bleach and a skull drill. I need to burn that image out of my brain!"
Aisha said:
"I'm sorry Alexander, I didn't want to show you that image but you completely and unexpectedly linked with me in turn and absorbed a huge amount of information, more than I thought to be possible, like a sponge."
Alex stood up and said to Salome:
"I hope your Angels are not as idiotic as those in the universe I seem to have come from."
He turned to Aisha and said snidely:
"This conversation is far from over!"
After which he began to shuffle away from the table. Samantha looked pleadingly at her parents and her father nodded:
"Go…"
She flew straight and went after Alexander. She took his hand and silently they walked on. About fifty feet further on, he stopped and took in his surroundings. It looked like a lavish courtyard garden of an abbey such as he had seen in a photograph once.
"In the name of everything holy and unholy... This is one giant clusterfuck, Samantha!"
"Since you arrived here my parents never said much Alex. Is it that bad then?"
"My brain is still processing all the information I got in, but it seems to be getting worse and worse."
He lit one of his cigarettes and they remained in silence. When he finished his cigarette, he let it disappear into thin air. Surprised, she asked:
"How do you know you can make things disappear?"
"If you can make things appear out of nowhere it seemed logical to me that you must also be able to make them disappear into nothing. Let's go, the sooner this conversation is over the better for me."
Back at the table, sweat was on his forehead and his T-shirt was soaked through. Sweat from exertion with a body that ached from top to bottom. He dropped into his chair and manifested a large glass of tomato juice. If anyone even noticed it had a good amount of vodka in it, no one let on. After lighting a cigarette, he turned to Aisha and Franklin:
"Correct me if I'm wrong. Aisha, I am far from ready to call you mom by the way notwithstanding my little outburst just now. You are on vacation on Earth, Lucifer is on vacation on Earth, you guys have some fun together and nine months later I showed up."
Both Gods were nodding.
"Normally the body you were in should be infertile and Lucifer as an Angel would normally not be able to reproduce with a human either. Yet I exist and no one can explain why. At least no clear explanation, something vague about Lot caused it."
Again nodding.
"The God in that universe is a rabid tyrant who is killing his children, Angels, left and right, and has locked his own Goddess in a little cell in Hell. That old fool is so frustrated with Lucifer that he is going to destroy that universe sooner rather than later. The only thing he fears is a being like me, a Nephilim?"
Franklin said:
"In very broad terms this is absolutely correct."
He turned to Salome and Robert:
"You have known of my existence from the moment I appeared in this universe. You called Aisha and Franklin and got the full explanation of who and what I was?"
Both nodded yes. Hellfire ignited again in Alexander's eyes, and he spoke steely:
"Where you four completely drunk out of your minds. You..."
and he pointed at Aisha.
"From the moment you were back being a Goddess you knew what happened and what those four idiots had planned after which that plan went haywire. And you..."
Now he pointed at Salome and Robert.
"You knew what I was after their explanation. You knew how important I was to the other universe. And yet the four of you decided together to sit back and do nothing? To leave your own son to this fate Aisha? Are you fucking kidding me! You knew what those two animals did in those other universes and still you let me there! Hands-off policy my freaking ass! The least of the shit that happened because of this is that I was tortured and killed. And that is absolutely the very least of the shit! But what if this hadn't happened? What if I had still been trapped in the wrong body and didn't die until I was very old? An entire fucking universe could have been wiped off the map along with tens of billions of souls! Not to mention the danger I am to Samantha and your entire universe! How dare you put that decision on my shoulders! I'm fucking thirteen. Now I have to go and decide to save a universe or turn my back on billions of souls. And what if I decide to do nothing and want to stay here? Then I'm a potential danger to Samantha. Who's to say I won't grow up to be a psychopathic madman like my grandfather? Who says I am not the literal Antichrist who is going to bring untold destruction to your universe?"
He chugged his glass all at once and turned to Samael and Michael:
"Samael, you're right I'm a danger to your sister! Michael, finish it! Don't take any chances for your sister or your universe. You don't even have to look me in the eye just ram your sword through my back or do it in my sleep. Whatever, but do it fast!"
With those words, he turned and stumbled back toward the infirmary.
"Alex don't say stuff like that!"
Shouted Samantha and jumped straight up and wanted to go after Alexander. Her mother said:
"Samantha stop."
She looked at her mother angrily and said:
"Make me!"
Alexander struggled to move. It seemed like his whole body was on fire. Sweat was running off him. Samantha tried to support him as best she could. Painstakingly he pulled off his robe and dropped it, far too hot. At the door, he could no longer stand and collapsed. His eyes turned away and, in a panic, Samantha screamed for Raphael. The healer looked at Alexander worriedly, lifted him up, and brought him back to the room. After laying him on the bed, Alexander was able to briefly focus his eyes on Samantha with an extreme effort and whispered:
"I'm sorry Red..."
Then things went black again for him. Raphael tore open his shirt and continued to stare worriedly at the bare upper body for a while. He feared they were back at the starting point and that the injuries could reappear at any moment. After a few minutes, they had not, and he breathed a sigh of relief. The healer removed the torn shirt, slippers, and sweatpants and covered the boy with the sheets. The girl with tears in her eyes took a seat next to his bed. She was so very angry with her parents and Aisha and Franklin, and no one would get her out of this room now.
Outside at the table, the mood was subdued. Michael said:
"And that tells us something about Samantha and Alexander. I don't really want to say it, but I will do it anyway; I told you so!"
Samael replied tersely:
"And what is this supposed to teach us about the two of them?"
His brother looked at him icily:
"That as of today your little sister has become our Crown Princess! If you don't see that then you desperately need to get your head out of your ass or resign your role as a mentor! She is no longer a child, she has become a young woman. Get used to it! The time when she runs after you and meekly does and says what you want is over Samael!"
The mentor's mouth fell open. For a moment he did not know what to say. Robert asked:
"And what does it teach us about Alexander?"
"That boy has been through so much and suffered so much and yet he puts himself last, everyone else is more important to him. Thirteen years ago, I did not agree with your plan of action. I warned you that he should not stay on Earth because his soul was in the wrong body!"
Salome asked softly:
"And what should we have done Michael? Kill a baby?"
"What murder? Those animals were supposed to have a dead baby, not a live one. It is because Alexander's soul was trapped in that baby that those monsters had a living child. We should have just let nature do its work and let them have a dead baby! Is it murder if we free a Nephilim from a body where he does not belong? Mom, your part in the decision was based on yourself, as I said at the time. Your capacity to make a decision at that time was based on emotions and not on logic and therefore invalid. Just like now, he would have appeared here immediately in his true form. Alexander could have grown up here with Samantha because they are the same fucking age. You were about to give birth to Samantha when Alex showed up in our universe Mom. I could have played the same role for him that Samael plays now for Samantha. Could have quietly prepared him and given him all the tools he might need to make a decision, his decision. Now he has been exposed to a miserable existence in his short life. I must admit that I feared he would be totally broken spiritually. That his soul would be filled with hatred and vindictiveness because of all the pain and abuse. And yes, I am the only one of you who has followed his life and seen all the misery! Because you remained true to your position of not getting involved. You have no idea what that boy went through! That is why I am pleasantly surprised to see that his moral compass seems to be chiseled in granite. You will no doubt have noticed that his first concern was Samantha's safety. His first reaction when he knew what he was? Sacrificing himself so that he could no longer be a danger. I would almost feel sorry for the God in his universe and a few people in our universe. Because, believe me, his decision has already been made, right here at this table in a split second, when he gave us a verbal pandering. He is going to unleash the fury of Hell on that God and those vile people upon our Earth, and I am not going to put a stone in his way. In fact, I am going to get the stones out of his way so he can do what he needs to do. No Alexander is not a danger to us. He is pissed and I don't blame him at all and you four owe him a sincere apology and much more."
With these words, Michael stood straight. The four Gods looked at him begrudgingly as they realized he was right. Before he left, he addressed Samael once again:
"Brother, as of today Samantha and Alexander are under my personal protection. You can feel free to continue your role as a mentor. But I hereby warn you, put a stone in the way of those two and you fucking will curse the day of your creation! Even Mom and Raffa will have trouble putting you back together!"
The next moment, he was gone. Samael was shocked. Yes, he and Michael had disagreements from time to time because they were both hotheads, but they always worked it out. Never before had Michael physically threatened him let alone in front of the gods. Worse yet Samael did not doubt for a second that his brother would keep his word and that scared him a lot.