Chapter Twenty
Marie
Marie walked through the halls, familiarizing herself with the house she was going to live in for the next few months. She felt safe within these walls, protected, but it wouldn't last long. They were all in danger.
She walked out the front door to take in the forest smell and bumped into someone who was painting on the side of the house. The only thing was, it was with invisible paint.
“Can I ask, what are you doing?” Marie said.
“I'm camouflaging the house, warding off evil,” the guy replied.
“But there's nothing there,” she was confused.
“I'm using fluorescent paint; paint that can't be seen unless under a blacklight. This way it looks like nothing is there, but there are actually symbols all over the house.”
“I even had him paint them on the trees,” her uncle said coming from around the corner. “Thanks Marquise. Finish these and you're done for the day.”
Marquise nodded and went back to work. Her uncle came toward her. “This way, if anyone with harmful intentions tries to pass through our woods, their powers will be incapacitated.”
“But what if they were human and they don't have any powers?” she asked intrigued.
Her uncle and Marquise laughed. Marie didn't get the joke.
“I think we're tough enough to take down some humans if we needed to.”
They walked toward the back of the house, down to the underground facility to watch some of the angels train. They made it to where the land area was and Marie saw a girl that couldn't have been no more than thirteen years old. She had long reddish hair, tied up in a ponytail with emerald green eyes and full pouty lips. She might have been five-five in height. She actually looked like a little angel.
The girl looked at Marie and squinted her eyes. She studied her face and Marie did the same.
“ Do I know you? ” the girl asked in Marie's mind. Marie was startled. She was only used to hearing Brenton all the time.
“I don't think so ,” Marie replied.
She shrugged and then turned back to what she was doing. She was about to spar with a tall, blonde bulky guy. His hand could easily cover her face completely. He had a sword that was the same height as the girl, but she didn't look concerned. Marie was still wondering why she would ask her that question.
“Wayne,” she said in the cutest voice. His eyes immediately shot forward. “I need your sword. Give it to me.”
Marie was stunned, knowing this would never work, but the Irish looking blonde hesitated, contemplating on what to do. He then gave her the sword, which she could lift with no problems. He stood dumbfounded, trying to figure out what happened.
“What? How did she do that?” Marie asked her uncle.
“Jewel is our little charmer. She descended from the angel, Semjaza. He was known for enchantments, getting what ever he wanted just by talking. Jewel can talk anyone into doing anything when she wants. Even just being around her, people bend to her will without knowing why.
Wayne has the earth lineage, from Araqiel. He can control any form of earth, but he's been wanting to get better at hand to hand combat, swords and obviously, deflecting charmspeak; right now, that is his greatest weakness. Either way, he is a tough cookie to crack with a temper to match. Just be glad they’re on our side,” he smiled.
Wayne finally came out of his daze and saw Jewel laughing.
“Guess you'll see it first hand,” her uncle said pushing her back.
He stomped on the ground and it rumbled. Jewel's eye got wide and she started to back up slowly. Marie could tell she was trying to reach his thoughts, but it wasn't getting through to Wayne. He was already aware this time. She took off running in the opposite direction.
Wayne raised one hand in the air and the dirt underneath him detached from the ground. He balled both hands into a fist and got down as if he was about to run. The block of dirt he was on started to move forward, following Jewel.
She ran frantically, zigzagging through the field, but it wasn't helping. Wayne was gaining on her. He splayed his hand out and dug it into the dirt and used it as a steering wheel. His hand turned left and so did the patch of dirt. He was about to pass through some monkey bars, but instead of ducking down, he jumped up and lunged over the bars and back down to land back on the dirt.
He got close to Jewel until they were side by side. He bent down and scooped her up in his arms. His hand shot straight out with his fingers extended, the dirt slowed down. He closed his hand once more into a fist and the dirt crumbled. He jumped off, with Jewel in tow, and slid to a halt.
Marie was nervous for the little girl. How would she get out of it this time? Her question was answered when Wayne put Jewel down, patted her head and smiled. He didn't look as intimidating after all. She gave him a high-five and they walked away.
“That was intense,” Marie spoke.
“Well this is an intense time. Everyone is stepping up because we are running out of time.”
“I have so many questions.”
“I know, let's get started,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
He led her back into the house and into a library. Marie circled the room, analyzing the space. Being an avid reader herself, she could get lost in here.
“Have a seat.”
She did as she was told.
“First things first, you need to know that fire can be a friend or a foe. You experienced the bad side of it already. Rage is the highest form of use, has the potential to do more damage, but its harder to control. You don't want to feed the fire rage on a consistent basis, you will be trapped inside of it and the fire will consume you.”
“What do you mean by feeding the fire?”
“Think of it as a human being, it has a life of its own. It lives and breathes. When you nurture it, it becomes attached to you, does exactly what you tell it to. What do you think happens to a kid that is taught bad habits all its life? It grows up with those same bad habits, even if you try to change it, it is hard to control. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, but how is it that I can produce fire,” she said looking at her hands. “I mean, from what I understand, there aren't many who can.”
“To be honest, we have yet to figure that out. There are some theories, but most of them can't be verified since you and your mother are the last living fire starters.”
Marie was at a loss for words. She had never imagined she would be a part of something so legendary. She and her mom were the last ones. It was an honor.
Her uncle was very elaborate with the information. She learned so much history about her ancestors. Angels, some of which, were thirty-six feet tall, the average being fourteen to sixteen feet, were mighty warriors. They had used their skill and intelligence to build the pyramids and a lot of the other historical monuments we know about today.
Before their powers were diluted, angels could levitate, used mind control and had remote viewing capabilities. But since their gifts had been divided so many times, only a few of them could still perform at that level.
Even though they had not retained all of their powers, they were still stronger than humans. They lived longer, their bodies could heal faster, and they were extremely intelligent.
Marie went into detail about the dreams she had when she was younger. Every once in a while, a vision or two slipped through the block and she saw actual events of the past. She told him of the floating words and the extra layer of another reality that appeared in front of her from time to time.
Her uncle explained that she was actually dream traveling. It was a vision, but the reason she could remember it so clearly was because she was there living it as it happened. It was the way they stayed connected to each other. And was intended to ensure their history didn't get lost or rewritten.
Their dreams were fluid, the two eras constantly connected through them. It was like a tour through time within a lucid state of sleep.
Since the block had been lifted, Marie's memories had begun coming back to her on a consistent basis. She only got bits and pieces of their past, but it was enough to fully understand what had happened.
Dreams of the fall of her ancestors became clear. Even the flood that took out the sirens and the angel's children. She was younger then, so none of it meant anything of importance to her. She, therefore, quickly dismissed them, especially with her mom's help.
Learning about her heritage made her feel empowered for some reason. She always thought of herself as a weakling, an awkward nerd of some kind. She never fit in well at school; she was smarter than the other kids, better at sports, and taller than everyone – even some of her teachers. Destiny was the only one who looked past all the things she thought were faults, and became her best friend.
Now, finding out she was a part of a race of angels was exciting. It would definitely have helped if she had known this before, and all those years of torment could have been avoided. But as long as she was here now, she would get past it.
She and her uncle talked all night and into the evening of the next day. They stayed in the library reading old text and learning the rules. She didn't realize the time had passed so quickly.
Her brain was on overload from all the information, but she didn't mind it. Learning was the one thing she knew she was good at, and this was worth the time and effort. She was just hoping she would be worthy of the legacy that had been left behind.