Archangel Michael stared at Griffin in silence.

“The soul recognized me as someone else,” Griffin said.

“Yes, I know that. Are you telling me you followed that soul because of a case of mistaken identity?”

“What if it wasn’t?”

“What in God’s name is that supposed to mean?”

“When he told me who he believed I was, I got a flash of some images.”

“Images? What images? Your recordings didn’t show any images,” the Archangel failed to hide his surprise, which seemed to be mixed with fear.

“I saw an image of a red rose, and then one of a woman. I had Emma run a search of all my past missions, looking for a woman named Emma Hartley, or any woman resembling the one I saw in those images. But so far she found nothing. I’ve never collected a soul that used that name or matched the woman’s description.”

“Ok, you got a flash of images. What’s so special about them? Why did they make you chase the soul into Hell?”

Griffin looked down to the ground and started running his index finger in the sand, forming random meaningless symbols, “Well, for some reason I feel as if those images were memories. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I am sure of it. They were memories.”

“Have you ever considered that the memories you saw belonged to the soul you collected?”

“But I never searched his thoughts, Michael. I didn’t have time to go over his entire life, and anyway I didn’t plan on offering him a Reaper’s Choice. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t, there was no choice I could offer him with the ending he had.”

“Who did the soul think you were?”

“Some guardian Angel his family believed in. Nathaniel is the name he called me.”

Had Griffin not been looking down, following his fingers as they crawled across the sand, then he would have seen the expression of worry and fear that briefly flashed across the Archangel’s face. “Didn’t you ever have a case of mistaken identity when Haron trained you?”

“Yeah, most of them thought I was Haron because of our resemblance, but no one ever saw me as something completely different like that soul did today.”

“How do you know what that soul saw when it looked at you?”

“He spoke about a legend his family has, about a couple named Nathaniel and Emma. He was sure I was that Nathaniel who apparently lived a long time ago.”

The Archangel turned pale but quickly regained his composure and continued, without revealing to Griffin his concerns, “I have never heard of such a case before, however, there is a possibility the memories you saw belonged to the soul you collected. I will need to investigate the matter further before I can be sure.”

A shadow passed over them and caught their attention. They looked up and saw a team of Cherubim.

“I see Cherubim never rest, always patrolling Heaven’s borders,” Griffin gazed at them until they vanished into the horizon.

“The Council of Twelve has ordered them to double their shifts and Cherub-power ever since you returned from Hell.”

“Why is that?  Why is everyone on such high alert?”

“The Council fears Lucifer will retaliate for having a soul stolen from within the walls of Hell.”

“And for how long do they intend to keep this up? There is no way Heaven can keep operating like this.”

“I think we will learn for how long soon enough,” Michael pointed to the sky.

Griffin looked up and saw about twenty Cherubim heading to shore from the Dusk Sea. They landed on the beach, just behind the Archangel and the leader moved forward towards him.

She was about four times the size of a human, with four wings and four faces. A set of wings always seemed to cover her hands and the other was used for flying. The Cherubim team all shared the same four types of faces, human in front, ox on the left, lion on the right, and an eagle at the back. Griffin noticed that although they shared the same animal faces, each had unique characteristics distinguishing it from the other.

“How was the mission, Magdalena?” Michael stood and walked towards the leader.

“Successful Archangel,” Magdalena took a bow before continuing, “Lucifer sent a convoy to meet us halfway above the Dusk Sea.  We delivered the Council’s message and moments later we were given a scroll as a reply to the Council,” Magdalena showed Michael the scroll.

“Have you forwarded the message?”

“Yes, the Devil has agreed to continue with normal procedures, but promises the same does not apply for Griffin. He vowed he will one day find him and send back his reset soul.”

“Well, at least the rest of Heaven can go back to working as we used to. Thank you, Magdalena, proceed with your mission.”

The team of Cherubim took off at amazing speeds and with a blink of an eye they were gone.

“Griffin, if you want, send me a message with all the details about this Emma Hartley and I will request to be given the memories of the last soul you collected and compare them. I will see if the memories belong to the soul. Perhaps they somehow transferred to you when you touched it.”

“I will do that,” Griffin stood up and wiped sand off his robe, “Thank you Archangel.”

“No problem Griffin, but you’ll have to excuse me now, I need to go and check on the rest of my team. You just focus on doing something about not breaking the rules,” Michael took off before Griffin could reply.

Archangel Michael was out of Griffin’s sight when he pulled out his scroll and started writing a message to the Council of Twelve.

‘My Lords, Council of Twelve,

I am afraid the situation with Griffin is worse than we thought and I fear he will soon discover the truth if he continues down this path.

He is determined and I don’t believe I have persuaded him to give up his search for Emma. It is just as when we first discovered him, hopelessly wandering the grounds over Hell. He does not know what his aim is, but he will do anything and everything in his power to reach that unknown goal.

Although both Archangel Gabriel and I disagree with your course of action, we will proceed as you see fit.

Regards,

Archangel Michael.’

His shield vibrated shortly after and he found the Council’s reply on his scroll.

‘Archangel Michael,

We understand and share the concerns of the Archangels. Some of the Council members seem to agree with you, but there are too many variables for us to predict how he will react.

We need to delay him until we are sure we can control the situation. Due to Griffin’s special circumstances, we must proceed with caution.

Regards,

The Council of Twelve.’

”I understand his nature allows him to be greater, and at the same time more dangerous, than any of Heaven’s entities,” Michael kept moving towards the city of Heaven. “But we should have followed God’s example and placed our trust in their kind. Not try to protect him like an undeveloped soul. If he responds with anger and violence when he learns the truth, it will only be because he will be filled with hatred towards us. And his feelings will be justified,” Michael shook his head, trying to remove that possibility out of his mind and focused on his flight. “We can only hope that his bond with Emma will be strong enough to redirect his fury someplace other than Heaven.”

Griffin stared into the twilight that expanded over the Dusk Sea and allowed his mind to be carried by his thoughts, piecing together what bothered him.

“Would you like me to compile all the data you gave me about Emma Hartley and send them to Archangel Michael?” Emma asked.

“No.”

“No? What do you mean no?”

“I have another idea,” Griffin had decided to defy the Archangel and seek answers to his questions elsewhere. “Send a message to Archangel Gabriel and ask if he can meet with me later today.”

“Why?”

“Because Emma, I got the flash of images before I chained the soul. Michael studied my memories very carefully, that I am sure of, and he wouldn’t have missed the fact that I never touched the soul directly. I have a feeling Michael knows more than he let on. Just do as I ask, please.”

“As you wish.”

Griffin flew towards Heaven’s main city, taking the time to plan his next move and figure out what he should say to Archangel Gabriel.

The story continues in:
Kingdom of the Red Rose
(Episode 15 of 62)
Chapter Six: Recalling the Beginning
(Part 1 of 3)

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