Rise of the Saruvim of Glory

[Daniel Thomas Andrew Daly]

Rise of the Saruvim of Glory

By

Dan Daly

© 6178 SC

Number 1

Krimlock

'Your son,' said Lucy Smith.

'I've had one at last,' replied Grimlock.

'What is his name?'

'Krimlock,' replied Grimlock.

Lucy stared at him.

'How old is he?' asked Shelandragh May.

'4,' said Grimlock.

'Does he look like you?' asked Shelandragh.

'His mother is an angel. He looks like her. Wolfgang said he was Saruvim.'

'Saruvim?' asked Lucy. 'A Saruvim Angel?'

'There numbers are not yet complete,' said Grimlock.

'Will he dress in black like his father?' asked Lucy.

'Most Saruvim dress in black. Like Saruviel,' said Grimlock. 'They are mostly goths as well. Emos galore in that world.'

'Don't I know it,' replied Lucy.

'I have dressed him in black. His mother requested that be the clothing of choice. She shops mainly in some of the Supermarket Franchises owned by Saruviel. Most of the Ketravim do.'

'Is your wife into magic?' asked Lucy.

'She dabbles a little,' said Grimlock. 'But she is mostly lethargic. She allows me to do all the work in the house. By her grace.'

'Typical Saruvim,' said Shelandragh.

'Yes, they are like that for the most part,' said Lucy. 'I've met some special ones. But most are ordinary.'

'That suits me well,' said Grimlock.

'Why am I not surprised,' replied the witch Lucy Smith.

The End

Grimlock's Agenda

'I shall form,' he paused dramatically. 'A Geo-Science Conglomerate,' said Grimlock, quite proudly.

'Sounds fab,' replied Lucy Smith.

'Daniel's shit?' queried Mandie the Wtitch.

'Yes. Daniel's shit,' replied Grimlock soberly.

'Daniel comes up with a lot of shit,' said Lucy.

'Usually shit as well,' said Mandie.

'It will be a magical conglomerate,' said Grimlock, quite proudly.

'Sometimes its useful shit,' suggested Lucy.

'Mostly crap as far as I am concerned,' replied Mandie.

'It will be dedicated to growing schools of witchcraft and wizardry all throughout Eternya and developing the culture, even more so, of our fine craft,' said Grimlock, quite proudly.

'7DF was ok,' said Lucy. 'But his father started that anyway.'

'Old Daniel,' said Mandie. 'That old fox. I remember him. He was keen on me once. A very long time ago.'

'I am open for members in 'The Grand old and ancient Empire of Wizarding skill and sophistication,' said Grimlock, again, quite proudly.

'I can never work out, though,' said Lucy. 'Whether Daniel the Seraphim is his son or grandson and whether Callodyn the Cherubim is his son or grandson. The data is always confusing and misleading.'

'They change the story from time to time,' replied Mandie. 'Retconns away history, and leaves us befuddled.'

'Are you girls listening to me?' asked Grimlock.

'He's cute though,' said Lucy. 'Daniel Thomas Andrew Daly. I could do him.'

'Dream on,' replied Mandie. 'He only really likes his twin and that Mary O'Donnell girl.'

'I take it you are contemplating my most gracious offer,' said Grimlock.

'Pity,' said Lucy. 'I often feel this connection to him. Like he's family or something.'

'Fascinating,' replied Mandie.

'I wonder what's for dinner,' said Grimlock, out loud, thinking what his wife might be cooking.

'You're inviting us to dinner?' queried Lucy to Grimlock, eyes lighting up.

'Sounds great,' said Mandie.

'All official members of the Grand old and ancient Empire of Wizarding skill and sophistication are entitled to dine with their sovereign warlock overlord on occasions,' replied Grimlock.

Both girls gave him one of those looks.

'We're having cheese macaroni I think' said Grimlock, defeated.

'Fine, I'll join, Grimmy,' said Lucy.

'Count me in, then,' replied Mandie.

Grimlock grinned, and his mind was on his impending glory.

The End

The Mountain

Prologue

.....Time passed in the world. And the madmen lived, and the madmen breathed their words. And they put up a trademark sign on everything and everyone. And then, one day, Saruviel climbed a mountain on Eternya, a large mountain, overlooking an American City, and he found an undiscovered cave in the mountain, for it was a new part of Eternya, only settled recently. And Saruviel hollowed out the mountain, privately, having acquired the land, and built his citadel. It could house the Onaphim, the Oraphim, the Ozraphim, the Seraphim, & the Cherubim of Eternity, as well as some of the Ketravim and Saruvim. And there were those of Infinity chosen also, as well as those of heaven, and others of the faithful amongst the children of men. And Saruviel built his mountain in this world, far from the centre of Eternya, a place which sin had yet to permeate deeply, and he gathered the children of destiny, and they didn't object, and they came to live in the mountain, and the mountain was sealed off, and the administrator assigned a position at the top of the mountain, on the small abode, where he could dwell, and interact with both the mountain community, and the real world. And the Mountain was cut off, in time, from memory by the populace in the city below, for it had become owned by some or other corporation, and then that was accepted, and the borders of stone wall around it were rarely bothered with by youths anymore, and time passed, and it was forgotten. And then the sin, which Saruviel had seen coming, caught up with the world around the Mountain also, and the Administrator watched, and managed the Mountain's legal standing in the community, and after a while no more public servants ever drove up 'Castle road' to the top of the mountain to the Administrator's house, and it was left in peace, and forgotten. And time passed. But inside the mountain, a rare youth was allowed to be born, and this youth grew up one day, and wondered what their world was, and what was beyond his world. And this is his story.

Chapter One

'Don't be a dumb arse bitch,' said Callodyn to Taylor. 'We're here for practically forever.'

'So you say,' replied Taylor Swift.

'Why?' asked Katy Perry. 'Why the hell stuck in this labyrinth for all time to come?'

'Not technically all time,' said Saruviel, walking up to them in the basketball arena of the Mountain. His footfalls had been soft - they hadn't heard him coming.

'It is likely, in my projections, that war will come one day. Inevitably. It's the nature of sin. Angelkind - mankind - is doomed. Sin grows each generation, and while many repent, it is winning the war. Only the lucky ones will get through this mess.'

'Don't forget babe,' said Callodyn, looking at Katy. 'I've prayed for you over a billion times, babe. Using scripture babe. Don't forget babe.'

'Why she's still around,' said Saruviel, now looking at his noteboard.

'And me?' asked Taylor, innocently.

'Way over a billion too,' replied Callodyn.

Taylor came up to Callodyn, and kissed him on the cheek. 'Thanks. But the world outside will be fine in the end.'

'The calm before the storm, Tails. Don't be so naive,' said Saruviel.

Taylor glanced at Saruviel, but backed down. 'If you say so, Alexander.'

Saruviel looked around the basketball rink, taking notes, looked at the lights, and turned to them. 'Dinner is in half an hour. Don't be late, kids.'

'Yes, bosserino,' replied Callodyn.

'Yes Sir,' said Katy, dramatically saluting Saruviel as he left.

'Very funny Luladiel,' said Saruviel, and was gone.

'I'm stuck in a mountain,' said Luladiel. 'With Callodyn the Cool and Saruviel the Tool.'

'I like it. Can we release,' said Callodyn.

The three of them burst out laughing.

* * * * *

'Rosemary's baby. It will be the beast itself,' said Callodyn. 'I couldn't take the risk. Saruviel will be completely pissed off. I mean, I know there are spare dormitories and everything, and we have enough material in the food-soil recycling plant, but bringing a baby into 'Haven'? Are you sure, Daniel?'

'Taylor won't mind. Just slip her one. Whether its a boy or a girl, it will be new life anyway. You can be the giver of new life, Callodyn,' said Daniel the Seraphim.

'I'm not sure she will smile at the joke,' said Callodyn. He sat there, in his dorm, Daniel sitting next to him on his bed, and thought it over.

'Well, yeh. I suppose. I mean, we've all been here 300 years now, and its getting kind of monotonous. Have you cleared it with the old man, though?'

'I got clearance with pops instead. Old Cyril. He gave me a wink, and said good idea.'

'Fine, fine,' said Callodyn. 'Up to me to do the dirty deed, then, is it?'

'Call her Rosemary as well. It will turn her on. She likes those jokes at the moment. Katy teases her with them all the time.'

'Fine,' replied Callodyn. 'A dad again, huh? Wonder what Kayella will say?'

'I'll handle that,' said Daniel the Seraphim.

Daniel had a mission. Daniel the Seraphim had an ulterior motive. He wouldn't share that with Callodyn, but it involved the child, and the seeds of thought he would sow in that child. To get them, in the end, out of this damn prison of Saruviel's.

* * * * *

Ice Cube, famous rapper, boy in the hood, movie star, was in a mood.

'Babe, I'm frikking trying to concentrate. Don't disturb me.'

'Come on hon. You haven't given me any for days,' said the female rapper 'Jazelle'.

'The woman's a complaing, so we can't play fuckin dominoes,' said Snoop Dogg.

'Ohh, its ok honeybunch,' said Luladiel to Snoop. 'But a woman needs a satisfying too, you know.'

'Right, I've got the double six,' said Ice Cube, and laid it down.

'Damn,' said Snoop Dogg.

'Damn? queried Ice Cube. 'We're the only fuckers playing this game? Who the fuck else would have had the double six? We've been through the entire pack.'

'Damn,' said Snoop Doog,' and laid down the Six and Five domino.

And the game rolled on.

Callodyn showed up. 'There you are KP. Hanging with the niggers.'

'Fuck you white honkey,' said Ice Cube.

'Forgive me. The African American's,' replied Callodyn.

'Better,' said Ice Cube.

'I mean, that is so much bullshit,' started Callodyn.

'Here we go,' said Luladiel.

'First its not politically correct to call the former slaves Negroes anymore, and we have to start calling them Black Americans. And then that goes out of vogue, and its African Americans. And then it goes back to Black Americans. It's all fuckin hypocrisy to me,' said Calldoyn.

'Just call us the Boys in the Hood,' said Ice Cube.

'Well boys, dinner is ready,' said Callodyn. 'And we're having fried chicken.'

Ice Cube looked at Snoop Dogg. Their eyes clicked.

'That sounds good,' said Luladiel. 'Now fuck of Callodyn. My man is going to take down the cubester.'

'In your dreams,' said Ice Cube.

'Fascinating,' said Callodyn, watching them. 'Amused by Dominoes. A game for simpletons,' and he walked off.

'I'm gonna play the five and six on your ass,' said Ice Cube.

'The bro has not worked out I just played the damn thing,' said Snoop Dogg in response.

Ice cube laid down the five and one.

'He's a gettin desperate,' said Snoop Dogg, looking at his dominoes.

'Just play the frikkin game,' replied Ice Cube.

* * * * *

'Are you sure you're not in the mood,' said Callodyn.

Taylor was sculpting in clay, a new model, which she was undecided whether she would keep and add to her large collection in her art room, one of the new lower level rooms in the Mountain, the last 25 years work. It was a large private art room she had afforded in the basic 'Credits for Good Works' money system they had designed, which dictated divine favour, and she had spent her credit on getting a private art room. She looked at Callodyn. 'Well, if you insist.'

'I'd never insist with you sweetie. But I'm in the mood.'

'Ok,' she replied. 'Why not here?'

'In the art room?,' said Callodyn. 'Somebody could come in.'

'Don't you love me?' asked Taylor. 'Would it be an embarrassment?'

Callodyn, being a man, walked over to her and started kissing her, and she undid his zip, but he couldn't get it up.

'Not in here,' he said softly. She opened up her shirt, and showed him her bra, and undid it and said 'Scared?'

Finally he rose a bit, and they were magic for a while, and when he said 'Don't sweat the condom,' she was so in the mood she forgot to even question.

4 weeks later.

'Yes, you are pregnant,' said the Cherubim doctor to Taylor.

'For, fuck's sake,' she said softly, correcting her outburst.

'May I ask who the father is?' asked the doctor.

'A real bloody thorn in the flesh,' said Taylor. 'Callodyn of course.'

'So call the child Thorn then. A good name, either for boy or girl.'

'Damn it,' said Taylor, getting to her feet. 'I will.'

And she did.

Chapter Two

'Your'e frikkin pregnant!' exclaimed Ice Cube to his rapper girlfriend Jazelle. 'How the fuck did that happen?'

'Well, you stack your cock in and came up my ass,' she replied sarcastically.

'Man,' said Ice Cube. 'First Thorn comes along, and the community is in an uproar, and Callodyn is on sewerage work duties for the next century, so they gonna bust my ass down for sure.'

'I told you to put the condom on, idiot,' said Jazelle.

'For fuck' sake,' said Ice Cube.

About 8 months later young 'Jakindwel the Saruvim', alike 'Thorn the Saruvim' was born. Wolfgang, the theophany of God, had declared that Thorn was a Saruvim angel, and the new addition of Ice Cub's son, would be Jakindwel the Saruvim.

'There will also be a redheaded angel born soon,' said Wolfgang one evening. 'Pepper, she shall be called. Pepper the Saruvim.'

Gloryel's pregnancy, thus, came as no great surprise. She admitted to Sariel later on, but didn't want that to imply anything.

And thus the Mountain had a trinity of new bloody, who quickly became friends in their youth, and, as they grew, a lot of eyes resting upon them, especially Thorn, Destiny, once more, got to work.

* * * * *

'It's just a simple question from the board, Jembla. Who founded our Corporation?'

'The Guild was formed a long time ago,' replied the secretary to the President. 'I started low in the organisation, and we worked in basic wizarding and witchcraft industries, essentially bookstores, which the founder had knowledge on. What we developed into over time never shifted from that as our foundational business, even though we are in a million fields these days. But we're a spiritualism organisation at our core.'

'Fascinating,' replied the suit, disinterested. 'Who the fricking fuck was the founder?'

'A Father and Son team. Grimlock and Krimlock. It is all they were never known as. I met them on occasion.'

'Right,' said the suit, tapping those names into his pad. 'And where can I find them?'

'God only knows,' said the misty eyed Jembla, thinking back over her ancient life.

'You're wonderful,' said the suit. 'I'll look into it myself. Thanks for the names.'

And he disappeared, and Jembla sat there a moment, looking into space, thinking on life.

She got home. She tried the water supply. Dirty shitty as usual. It was like this everywhere now - every bloody city of America had shit water, and literal shit on the streets, and shit everywhere. And everything had gone to shit, really. There were leaders who claimed to be gods. They were corrupt. There were leaders who said they had solutions. They lived in rich mansions, and never left to see the lives of ordinary people. There were leaders who said 'The future has endless possibilities'. They were the ones she looked at a bit to start with, but they were mostly hippies and drugusers these days. Not much of an inspiration any more. The world had gone to shit, Zaphon had fallen a while ago, and the Children of Destiny? Dead, probably. God had left the building, so it was said in the booze halls and drinking establishments. He'd had enough of the sins of men.

Jembla was a Saruvim angel. There were a number of them, living in the world. Many had disappeared a long time ago - sort of cut off practically in a day, from the rest of them, gone, nobody knew where. They'd never known, and it was starting to be forgotten, as life went on. She wondered, from time to time, whatever happened to the children of destiny. But she was not sure if she even cared about that that much any more. The world had gone to hell. Perhaps they had just gone when the getting was good. Saw it coming, most likely. Living out on Venus 1 Billion or something. God only knew.

But Jembla had a life, still to live, and she persisted. What else could you do, huh? You had to keep the faith in the end.

* * * * *

'Saruvim, Saruvim, Saruvim. Who's afraid of a Saruvim Angel,' said the teen.

'Fuck all,' said his buddy.

'Nobody's afraid of us,' said Pepper. 'We're lowly Saruvim in the hierarchy, down on the lower levels, and nobody gives much of a care.'

'The Fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom,' said the teen, Thorn Daly, Callodyn's son, the Saruvim angel, in a polished English accent he was putting on.

'And we shall fear the Lord in service, master,' said his buddy, the Saruvim angel Jakindwel, in a snivelling servile voice.

'Come on. Let's see where the tunnel goes,' said Pepper.

'We're deep now,' said Thorn. 'At least 30 levels deeper than we've ever been. I don't know how far down this place goes, but nobody is down on these levels. Just store rooms and things are all we are finding. And great big machines and stuff.'

'It's what keeps it all running,' said Jakindwel. 'Our world.'

'What IS our world?' asked Thorn.

'Home, I guess,' replied Pepper. 'Why do you ask. It's all we've ever known.'

'I know there is world out there. They say so, occasionally, if you ask them. They say its a world we left behind, because it was going bad.'

'So we live here,' said Jakindwel. 'We're the lucky ones, I guess.'

'Do you wonder if they are lying to us?' suggested Thorn.

'Why would they lie to us?' replied Pepper, as they opened another large door, to find yet another archive filled with all ancient possessions of the community. There were probably thousands of such archives on these lower levels.

'I don't know,' said Thorn. 'Look, everyone probably believes it all. Saruviel's word is sacresanct with everyone, and the administrator lives out in that real world from time to time. Perhaps we could, you know, find a way to his place. Go out into the world. See it all.'

'You're crazy,' replied Pepper. 'I like it here. It's a simple life, and I've been told it was challenging in the outer world to start with.'

'What's life without a challenge?' asked Thorn.

'A whole lot easier,' replied Jakindwel. 'Would you look at all this shit. They must have lived forever to collect all this crap.'

'It's the impression I get also,' replied Thorn. 'Well, should we do it then?'

'What?' asked Pepper.

'What dude?' queried Jakindwel.

'Follow Saruviel to his abode. Find a way in and visit the real world,' said Thorn.

'We'll probably need food in the real world,' said Pepper. 'Did you think of that.'

'They use money,' said Thorn.

'Do you have any money?' asked Jakindwel.

'I have this,' said Thorn, holding up an ATM card. 'It's dad's. A St George Bank card. You use it to get money. He told me about it once.'

'How do you use it?' asked Jakindwel.

Thorn looked at him. 'Uh, I. I don't know. Just show somebody the card I suppose.'

'Brilliant,' said Pepper. 'We'll need food, and drink. And we might need to leave in the day, because apparently there is a sun and a moon, and it is dark in the night, and light in day.'

'Good idea,' said Thorn.

'Ok, I'm in,' said Jakindwel. 'It will be a new adventure anyway.'

'That's the spirit,' said Thorn. 'Pepper?'

'And leave you two to get into all the trouble without me? Don't count on it. We should try this weekend. After Sunday morning breakfast.'

'As good a time as any,' said Thorn.

'Well, lead on then, fearless leader,' replied Pepper, as they continued on exploring the sub-levels of the mountain, a new plot hatched for a brand new adventure.

Chapter Three

It was Sunday morning, and the three of them were dining with the oldest of the Seraphim and Cherubim, as they often did.

'He's enjoying his pork crisps,' said Pepper. 'Wish they'd give me pork crisps. But noooo, they are reserved for the elite. Very expensive. A full month of chores just to afford a single pack.'

'Shaddup,' said Thorn, eating his reconstituted milk and wheaties. 'We follow him all morning. Often he's away after this breakfast, and I'm guessing he goes to the Administrator's place.'

They sat, chatting, eating their breakfast, and the canteen came and went with activity, Saruviel eventually rising, and wandering off. They followed him, out of sight, way down the corridors, till he turned an unusual left they had not noticed before, and vanished out of sight.

They came up the left turn.

'It's a dead end,' said Pepper. 'Where did he go?'

Thorn started examining the wall. 'I don't know. Look for a lever, or something.'

And so the three of them starting pushing at this and that parts of the wall, till Thorn pushed a pannelling section on the side of the wall, and the wall in front of them slid open.

'Fancy that,' said Pepper. They ventured inside, and it was lit, and found a staircase with strange light, leading upwards. They followed it several levels, and came to the end, with a window, with blue beyond it, all lit up.

They managed to peek through it, standing on tippy toes.

'It's all blue,' said Pepper. 'And what's that. Greeny bluey sort of stuff. At the bottom.'

'The blues the sky,' said Thorn. 'That's what dad told me. The greeny bluey stuff is nature.'

'Nature,' said Jakindwel.

'Nature,' repeated Thorn.

'Well, let's try this door,' said Pepper. Pepper pushed against it, and suddenly an alarm shot off.

'What the hell do we do?' exclaimed Pepper, but it was too late. Suddenly the door opened, and Saruviel was there. He looked at them, alarmed as could be, but then softened.

'Now how the hell did you three find your way up here. You know this is forbidden, don't you?'

'That's the world out there,' said Pepper, pointing at the window. 'Isn't it.'

'Nature is beautiful,' said Saruviel. 'Mankind isn't. I'll have to have altered the way to access this stairwell. Can't have you coming up here at will. Now you three go back, ok. I'll talk with each of your parents. This place is off limits. People don't come here, because they don't want to come here anymore. They want to forget for now. So go home.'

'Why do they want to forget?' asked Thorn, soberly.

'Because of what it was like. In latter times. And what its slowly becoming. Its coming to an end, out there,' said Saruviel. 'It's why we are in here. Now get back home, NOW!'

And they obeyed, but Thorn looked back for a moment, and Saruviel just nodded softly at him, and was out the door, and back into the Administrator's abode. Jakindwel and Pepper had gone, but softly Thorn retraced his way back up the steps, and looked once more out the window.

'Nature,' he said to himself. 'What is nature?'

And then he was down the stairs, back to his friends, and back off on their mad adventures once more.

* * * * *

'See you later,' said Jetydosa the Saruvim, to his buddy, and walked out of the bar, finished with his lunch break, back to work. Jetydosa was a janitor, in the upper levels of the Mountain, mostly doing routine machines maintenance, and cleaning bins and things. Most things ran themselves as part of 'The System', but there were still things a Janitor did, mostly tidying up and the like.

He came to the basketball arena, and walked down to the back corridor, which led to a janitor's private domicile. Nobody came down to the back corner of the arena, and he was always on his own. But suddenly Saruviel was there.

'Yo, boss,' said Jetydosa.

'We have some teams playing a grade game soon,' said Saruviel.

'Yeh, it's that time of the year,' said Jetydosa. The main team knockout comp initiated took a century to run each round, and there were 8 rounds before the 2 centuries finals. A game only happened once a year because of it.

'Thorn Daly is playing today,' said Saruviel. 'He's on the team in white.'

'Right,' replied Jetydosa.

Saruviel produced a key and smiled at Jetydosa. He walked to the far back of the Janitors office, cleared away some carpets leaning against a wall, and revealed a door.

'Fuck,' said Jetydosa. 'I didn't even know that was there.'

Saruviel put the key in the lock, opened the door, and left it ajar slightly.

'When the game is ended, Thorn will be coming here looking for you,' said Saruviel.

'Right bossman,' replied Jetydosa.

'You will be in the local cafeteria. You will not be here.'

Jetydosa gave him a puzzled look, and then Saruviel left.

When Thorn came looking, he couldn't find Jetydosa anywhere in the Janitor's room. 'Where the heck is he?' he asked to himself. And then he noticed the door at the back, slightly ajar. 'Never seen that before,' he mumbled to himself. He walked over, peered through, and walked in. It was a bare concrete floor, with plasterboard walls, unpainted, right in front of him. The corridor went to his right, and he followed it, till it turned from their leftwards, and lead to a bank of dirt. And there, on a hang, on top of the dirt, another one. A Window again. Looking blue also. He came up to it. There was a latch, and he decided to dare it. He pushed the latch, and managed to push up the window, despite its stiffness. And he looked.

And there he was, on the side of a mountain, with bush all around, and greenery. But he could see, through the bush, downwards. And down there, at the bottom of the mountain - a sprawl of buildings. Everywhere. With lights, which were partially lit, for it was a little bit dark. Night must be drawing near. He heard voices.

'Yes, bossman,' said a voice. It was Jetydosa's. He looked into his heart. It was now or never. He dared it. He climbed out the window, looked around, and looked downwards, and was gone, quicker than a Jack rabbit, off to the world below, to find out just how 'Real' the 'Real World' was.

And then, at the place he'd just left, inside the window, an administrator dressed in black. And the administrator smiled, puffed on the rare ciggie he had brought along, and cursed the cold wind, closing the window, back to his own world.

And a Child had escaped the Mountain.

Chapter Four

Jembla looked at the lad. He must be 15, 16 maybe.

'What's your name?' she asked him.

'Thorn,' replied the lad. He looked hungry and thirsty.

'Are you a street vagrant?' she asked the boy in her back yard.

'I.........I don't know,' he said.

'Are you hungry?' she asked him.

He nodded.

'Can I trust you?' she asked him.

'I guess so. What kind of question is that?' he asked her.

She looked at him more closely. He looked - different. He spoke differently. Politely, which was rare for his generation.

'Come inside,' she replied. 'I'll give you something to eat.'

She opened her back door, and he tentatively approached and followed her inside. She put on a frozen microwave dinner, and gave him a bottle of coca cola.

He looked at it, picked it up, and looked at her with a curious look.

'Open the top. Twist it,' she said.

He tried twisting the cap, but was doing it the wrong way. 'The other way,' she said. He did so, and some spurted out, and he dropped the bottle. She picked it up and gave it to him. He took a sip.

'Bloody sweet,' he said. 'It's delicious.'

'First time you've drunk Coke?' she asked him. He nodded.

The dinner was soon ready, and he ate ravenously.

'What's your name?' she asked him.

'Thorn,' he replied.

'Where are you from?' she asked him.

'The Mountain,' he replied.

She nodded. 'Well, dear Thorn. I don't know what the Mountain is, but shouldn't you be getting back to your parents? They must be worried sick.'

'I want to know what the real world is like,' he replied.

'And you don't live in the real world, I take it?' she queried.

'The administrator teaches us all that it is going to hell,' said Thorn.

She looked at him. Obviously a cult of some sorts. But, even then. Was the kid wrong? The world was going to hell. Slowly, every day, things got worse. Perhaps a cult, as bizarre as it may sound, was salvation these days. Perhaps something even Jembla the Saruvim needed.

'Are you a born again?' she asked him. He gave her a quizzical look. 'Are you Amish? Jewish?' she asked him.

'I'm just me,' replied Thorn.

'And what is the Mountain?' she asked him.

'The mountain there,' he said, pointing in a direction.

She looked, towards the wall, and put two and two together. Castle mount. The mountain she was at the base of. There was an old road, Castle drive, which was sealed off. She'd run past it a million times jogging.

'You live up on the abode on Castle mount?' she asked him.

'No,' he replied.

'Then where?' she asked.

'In the mountain,' he said.

'In the mountain? What, inside the mountain?'

He nodded.

'Mmm,' she said. Now that was something you didn't hear every day. 'Why did you leave the mountain? Do you have family there?'

'We all live there. The community. God and the Archangel Michael and Saruviel and the rest of us. The world - this world - is doomed, they tell me. We are waiting till everything is finished.'

Jembla looked at him, soberly this time. There. There was the answer to her question. What had happened to the Children of Destiny. She made a decision.

'I'll teach you. For a while. And show you this world. And I think I'll let you know the answers to your questions. And then you will be going home.'

He nodded.

'And you might just have a guest coming with you,' she replied.

Thorn looked at her, and nodded, and sipped on his coca cola.

* * * * *

'When people first noticed them gone, well. Well nothing much was said. They had gone off to one of the upper worlds with God, so it was believed. It is sort of like levels, the heavenly universe, were the higher up, the holier it supposedly is. But you get stories from the Realm of Infinity, which is near the top, that there is not much of the original children left their either. Did people care? Yes, they did. But after a while the news reports stopped coming on the issue, and life, well. Well it just sort of went on anyway,' said Jembla, mildly sarcastically.

'We'd run to the mountain,' said Thorn. 'Saruviel's mountain.'

'Looks like it,' said Jembla. 'From then I noticed it. A change. A change in the spirit in the world. A sort of dullening. A quiet, gentle sort of melancholy entered in, which soothed you in a strange way. But it's death. I know it for what it is. I sense it for what it is. It's a deathly, ghostly, dark and quiet spirit. It gives you a sort of chill. As if life had moved on, and that you could play the game, and keep the faith, but who were you kidding. Hell, I'd had boyfriends since that time, and family occasionally. But I left off eventually, and didn't bother anymore. A lot of them are gone now. Dead. A lot of my kids. Just dead. Drugs. Suicide. Venereal disease killing them off. They say Babylon fell a long time ago. Well Zaphon did too, and that was the death knell of everything.'

'They speak about Zaphon,' said Thorn. 'Occasionally. It was the heart of the Realm of Eternity.'

'Pretty much,' replied Jembla. 'Eternya is the eternal world, and it goes on forever. But Zaphon sort of ruled everything in its own way. God in home above was the pinnacle, but Zaphon was his throne. It's corrupt there now. Fallen. Full of hypocrisy and false politicians, each claiming the authority of God. Nobody takes it seriously anymore.'

'Sin,' said Thorn soberly, looking down at his meal.

'Something like that,' said Jembla.

'What's the future of it all?' asked Thorn. 'Where will it all head, when all is said and done?'

She looked at him. She picked up the remote, and turned on the TV to a news channel. 'Watch,' she said.

After a moment 'Southern News,' came on. There was a report on animals, and then a major report. More on the war between a Japanese dominion and a Chinese dominion in southern Eternya.

'Nuclear warfare?' queried Thorn, at what the report was going on about.

'They killed each other. Trillions of lives lost in a nuclear holocaust between the warring dominions. It's been news for months. Treaties have been signed since then, but it was the biggest holocaust the world has ever seen.'

Thorn watched as reports of the devastation and refugee and food programs continued on.

'And I don't think that will be the end of it,' said Jembla. 'The world is going to hell in a handbasket.'

'Will you.......show me some of the world. I'd like to see what it is like out there,' said Thorn.

'Sure,' she replied. 'We'll go see a movie or something. Do you know basketball?'

He nodded.

'I'll take you to the local courts. You can watch the kids. You'll see what they are like. You'll see what I mean.

Thorn nodded and watched the news soberly. He had some answers, now. Some answers as to what the real world was like and, apparently, the wisdom of Saruviel. And he was starting to think that maybe that wisdom was not as crazy as he thought it might have been. Not as crazy at all.

Chapter Five

'New hope comes one day,' said the character.

'Bullshit,' said the villain. 'The World is fucked,' and so the movie went on, and the action was intense.

'I like what she said,' said Thorn, eating fries in the McDonalds cafe in a mall in the city, near the cinema they had just been to.

'What did she say?' asked Jembla.

'About how hope comes one day. Maybe there is still hope for the world. Maybe, when all the shit has had its say, mankind will get over it and start again.'

'We all like to dream, Thorn. I live in a very real world, though. With very real truths. Believe me. VERY real truths.'

Thorn munched on his fries, and drank his cola, and looked around. 'They don't seem so bad,' he said.

'They're not,' she replied. 'I guess the world is ok. But I think we both know where it is heading?'

'Why do you want to be so negative about it? Why not start again. Teach hope. Teach a positive message. Take on the darkness?'

'Do you know how farming works?' she asked him.

He shook his head.

'Well,' she began. 'A farmer plants seed. In Winter at times, and waits. Till summer. Till harvest. By then the crops have grown, and he reaps his harvest. You see the food grows, but it grows till it is finished, and then you reap. But whatever has been sown, believe me, that is what you will reap.'

'Your point?' he asked.

'A man reaps what he sows. Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind.'

'Book of Joel or something,' replied Thorn.

'Something like that,' said Jembla. 'The darkness sowed evil a long time ago. Before this world is done it will reap its darkness. There is no changing that. Good intentions? Great. You won't change the power of sin.'

'Then what do you do about it?' he asked, looking right at her.

'What Saruviel did, I suppose,' she replied.

'And start again at the end of it all,' he said softly. She nodded.

'Look, I love my life. And this world a lot of the time. I know a lot of good people. But even there I see the desperation. And the hollowness of it all. The hollowness of our politicians and leaders. The hollowness of my employers. The hollowness in this world. There was a heart in this world, once. But it left.'

'To start again later. When the devil has reaped his whirlwind,' said Thorn sarcastically.

'You get the picture,' she replied.

'Where too next?' he asked her.

'Well I better get back to work for the rest of the week, but we'll go to that basketball court on the weekend. You can see the kids. Meet a few. See what you think.'

'Fine,' said Thorn, looking around. Looking at the people, wondering what was in their heart. What was in the heart of this hollow world.

* * * * *

'Yeh, Justin,' said the kid. 'What the fuck!' he exclaimed, as a basketball hit him in the back of the head. The youth, Justin, retrieved the basketball and went back to his game. 'Shitheads,' he yelled to his buddies. 'Gonna kick yer frikkin asses.'

Thorn watched them playing around for a while, and then walked back over to Jembla, sitting on the benches, watching the kids play.

'Well?' asked Jembla.

'They're pretty rowdy. Very sort of lively kids. Justin was telling me his dad beats him every night. To keep him inline. Sounds way too strict to me.'

'I'm not sure if he's being strict,' replied Jembla. 'Child abuse stories are a dime a dozen in this city. At work we've had that many employees having trouble with kids and getting in trouble with the cops. Some of the times, though, the cops don't even bother. They just let the abuse go on. Leave it to the parents is their philosophy these days.'

'He asked if I wanna get high? What did he mean?'

'Drug use,' replied Jembla. 'It's rampant here. Probably everywhere in America, though.'

'What's wrong with medicine?' asked the puzzled Thorn.

'It's not exactly medicine. It gives you a rush, but wrecks your system. Overdose on them and they can kill you. Drugusers don't live long, you know.'

'I see,' said Justin, looking at the kids play, again, somewhat disillusioned with what he had been finding out.

'And people just don't care?' he asked, looking up at the dark skin of the older woman he had started to become friends with.

'People care,' she replied. 'But they just don't really know what to do. And nobody has any answers. Those who claim they do, well. Well they end up the problem in the end anyway.'

Thorn stood there for a while, and then sat down, watching the kids. He picked up his can of Coca Cola and sipped on it. 'It smells everywhere,' he said. 'In the city and all around here. I mean, there is shit eveywhere. Don't they clean the streets?'

'First sign of decay,' said Jembla. 'Council workers stop doing their jobs properly. With the lack of business and taxes those are some of the first things to go. A lot of it is every man for himself these days, and you watch your own place, and don't concern yourself with society so much anymore. Nobody wants to deal with it. Nobody likes it, but they aren't prepared to pay the kind of money to deal with the situation. And everyday more and more public services bite the dust. One day it will just be the corporations who rule, and business.'

'So when religion fails, business takes over,' suggested Thorn.

'Politics takes over from religion,' said Jembla. 'Its the new drug people want instead of obedience to God. Then I think its business, because people want a decent nest egg.'

'And when business fails?' asked Thorn.

'Gangs. Little Hitler's, who run a gang, and rule broken down cities. Ruling by the power of the gun, and nothing much more.'

Thorn took that soberly.

'And after that, probably the end of society,' said Jembla. 'Disease will probably kill everything in the end. Plague, or something, as sin becomes sick at the end of its work.'

'You fill me with so much hope,' said Thorn sarcastically.

'The way of the world, kid,' said Jembla, and lit another cigarette, watching the kids fighting, which had just broken out.

'I'm not sure if I'm liking this world at all,' said Thorn soberly.

'Thinking about going home then?' asked Jembla.

Thorn just looked into her eyes. The look was answer enough to that question.

Chapter Six

'I don't think,' began Thorn. 'That I am impressed with God.'

'What has God got to do with it?' asked Jembla.

'He made it all. He should have planned it out from the start. Got his plan right. Not let sin conquer everything.'

'Judgement Day is as old as the hills,' said Jembla.

'And it still sucks,' said Thorn, getting to his feet, and walking to the TV Set. He looked at her. 'Life is hopeless. I mean, later on, when we start again, who is to say it won't happen all over again.'

'Nothing,' said Jembla. 'Except experienced souls. Wiser souls. Souls who know history and how it turns out. Souls who have learned how to address it.'

'You hope,' said Thorn.

'I hope,' replied Jembla.

Thorn sighed. This was the dilemma he was going through. His life dilemma. There was part of him which questioned. Which questioned the Status Quo. Why did his home choose to live as they did? What was wrong with the real world? Well now he had his answers to that question, but he wasn't any happier. Would he be stuck now, in the mountain, for the next million years? A slave to dim lights and recycled meals? It wasn't much of a life in many ways. He'd experienced the real world now, and despite its flaws, it offered something. It offered a lot of something. Freedom.

'I guess I just wanted to be free,' said Thorn. 'To live my own life. On my own terms.'

'Everyone wants that. But with freedom comes responsibility, Thorn. And not everyone chooses to be responsible.'

'Don't I know it,' he replied.

'Look on the bright side. If you go home, you'll know now. You'll know why the chose to separate. The realities of it all. At least you have that much.'

'Thanks,' he said. 'But I wanted more than that.'

'What? Vindication for your questions. Vindication of living in the real world. Go ahead. Live in the real world. You don't really have to go back you know. They probably won't come looking in the end.'

'No,' he said. 'They probably won't.'

'Then you've got a decision to make.'

'Again, don't I know it,' he replied. She nodded softly in response.

'I'll leave you alone for a week or so. Give you time to think. You can stay here, ok. Whatever you decide. I've grown fond of you, and could use the company. But if you go back. If you decide. Will you let me come with you?'

He looked at her. 'Sure. I guess. I guess they won't mind.'

'I won't say anything to anyone. I haven't, you know. Told about you or where you are from. I've kept that to myself.'

Thorn was almost depressed, and went off to the guest bedroom. He sat there, thinking, and noticed a bible. He picked it up, and opened to a passage.

It was in Isaiah. Isaiah 46:10. It read: 'Declaring  the  end  from  the  beginning, and  from ancient times  the  things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.' 'Gee, thanks God,' he said sarcastically. 'Now you tell me.' Silence was his only reply.

* * * * *

He'd given it a lot of thought. What would life be beyond the Mountain? Sure, to start with, living with Jembla, probably great. She was a really kind lady, and he could explore this world. See Eternya, see it all, see the grandness of God's creation. He could do all the sorts of things they talked about, like going to a beach, rowing down a river, and exploring forests or climbing a mountain. He'd done that already, well climbed down one, and it was an intense experience. This living world had so much to offer him. There was some really cool food, not like the recycled stuff at home, and the stuff grown under the sunlamps. And there was so much - freedom. So much to do in his own time, and call his own shots, and be his own boss. Family, even. But perhaps he had that back in the Mountain, one day, thinking of a certain redheaded bestie. Sure, it would go to hell eventually, but he could life a full life before then, and see the world. See it all. But the more he thought it over, the more he reached a conclusion of things. What was the point, in the end, of delaying the inevitable. One day, when this old world had run its course, and broken down, and old Jehovah pulled the rug under form everyone, he would only go back home anyway. Back to the mountain. And admit he was wrong. And admit Saruviel was right. And the more he thought on that, and the more he realized how much he was missing home already, the more he knew he wouldn't stay anyway. That he was going home, after his brief romance, and that would be that. Just the way the cookie crumbled.

'Ok,' he said to her, one morning. 'We'll go home.'

She nodded. 'Let me put my affairs in order. I'll resign, and say I'm going off to see the world on a long break, and............. And I'll just disappear. With you,' she said.

'With me,' he replied.

He enjoyed his final few days, and watched TV, and drank Coca Cola, and they saw another movie, and had MacDonalds again. And it was going to be hard forgetting MacDonalds. But such was life.

'Are you ready?' he asked her, one evening, after she got home from work.

'Now is the time,' said Jembla.

'Now is the time,' replied Thorn Daly the Saruvim, son of Callodyn and Taylor, angels of eternity.

And they locked up. And Jembla gave her home one long, last look. And they were off.

Back to the Mountain.

Chapter Seven

They climbed, and it was harder going up than down, obviously. But he found the window after searching, even though it was well hidden by the bushes. And he managed to open the window, and they crawled through, and he closed it behind them.

Jetydosa noticed the footfalls.

'It's me. I'm back,' said Thorn.

'Thought you might be,' replied Jetydosa.

'Uh, I brought someone.' Jembla stepped into view.

'Oh,' said Jetydosa, a little shocked. 'You better make yourself both known to Saruviel pronto. Did you close the window and lock it?'

Thorn nodded.

Jetydosa stood, walked to the door, and took the key, and locked it. He put the carpets back against the door, and looked at Thorn, holding the key up.

'You won't be needing this again, will you?'

Thorn looked at the key, and sighed. 'No. No, I guess not.'

'Then get. And don't you go making trouble again, Thorn Daly. Don't you go making trouble again.'

* * * * *

'Yes, I remember you,' said Saruviel. 'You were young. It was a long time ago.'

'I do remember,' said Jembla. 'Vaguely. What's life like? Here? Here in the mountain.'

'Sedate, mostly,' replied Saruviel. 'I guess its your home now as well. So I'll let Throne introduce you to everyone. I'm sure he'll show you the ropes.'

Jembla nodded.

'One last thing,' she said. 'Why didn't you choose me? To start with?'

'Honey,' said Saruviel. 'How long is a piece of string?'

'Oh,' she said. 'Well, never mind.'

Thorn showed her around the mountain, and she found her feet for a while, and enjoyed the company of Thorn and his two besties. But soon enough she found Jetydosa, an old Saruvim who seemed familiar, who she had first met coming into the Mountain. And they became friends. And the friendship was good.

And soon Jembla was at home in the mountain.

And a lad had found his answers. But he was not completely satisfied yet.

Not completely satisfied at all.

The End

Deep Waters

'Darkwater lies hidden down there,' said Seal.

'Who is Darkwater?' asked Thorn Daly.

'Repentant, perhaps,' said Sea in reply. 'Who knows.'

'An ancient adversary,' said Heidi Klum in response to Thorn's question.

'A Ketravim adversary,' said Delta Goodrem. 'We conquered him, in the end. And all his minions of Yalth.'

'Yalth?' queried Pepper.

'Before your time,' said Seal. 'We're tested, you see. Each of us. Each of the groups of the angels. Now is the rise of the Saruvim Glory, but our time was before yours. And Darkwater was our challenge in the end.'

'Who was Darkwater?' asked Jakindwel.

'A mage. A dark wizard. Nothing much more than that, in the end,' replied the soul singer.

'But he knew your heart and how to exploit it,' finished Delta Goodrem.

'And now he lies in these waters. Deep down lies Leviathan,' said Heidi. 'Resting. Repenting, maybe.'

The trio of friends looked at the still and dark waters, seemingly thinking over those words.

'I've had enough,' said Seal. 'Time for dinner, I think.' He stood, and Heidi and Delta followed him, over to the elevator, and Seal turned and looked back at the kids. It was a vast cavern, at the bottom of the mountain, and a large, dark lake, the deep waters. The still waters. The dark waters. They sat there, with children watching them. Children who were starting to grow up, soon ready to face their own trials in life, one of them already having learned of the cold hard truths of the world.

'So we face a testing in the end,' said Jakindwel.

'I guess,' said Thorn. 'Or perhaps they are being melodramatic.'

Jakindwel looked at Thorn, staring down into the waters. 'Chill, dude. Don't let Seal's words go to your head. We dig coming here. Don't make it an issue.'

'I won't,' said Thorn, getting to his feet. 'If anything is down there, I don't think it can harm us.'

'It better not,' said Pepper. 'Or I'll get daddy to teach him a lesson.'

'Beware the wrath of Sariel the Seraphim,' said Jakindwel jokingly.

'Beware my wrath,' said Pepper, and grabbed him by the arm, playing around.

The two of them chuckled as they wrestled each other, but Thorn was focused on the waters. But, again, Thorn was like that. Thoughtful. Contemplative. A deep thinker. It's why he came to places like this. To think. To learn. To understand. To try and know his place in the world, and the destiny of it all. To try and understand the mysteries of God.

'Yeh, let's go,' said Thorn, and soon they were off, to the elevator, back up to the higher levels, leaving the deep waters to rest in peace, and tales of Darkwater to rest also for another day.

The End