* * * *
Years, or possibly centuries, later the bell marking the end of school finally went off. Eager to get away as quickly as possible, I’d already had my bag packed during the last five minutes of Theory & Knowledge (TK), the final lesson of today—the 27th of March, which I just remembered was my birthday.
Sir Albion hadn’t show up yet, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to get away while I still could and, since TK was, unfortunately, a compulsory subject for all students, I was stuck in the same lecture theatre as Acacia. I certainly didn’t want to give her any opportunity to come up to me and give me a hard time. I’d had more than enough to endure on my eighteenth birthday—not only Acacia’s hostility (tiresome) and Ms. Psychotic’s wrath (vexing), but also Mrs. Bernadette’s chastisement (the feeling you get when you know it isn’t your fault yet there’s nothing you can do about it) for not being able to submit the simple math worksheet she’d assigned yesterday.
I snapped up my bag—the tight atmosphere in here was suffocating me—ready to escape the lecture hall as someone called out to me. My heart thumped faster as I recognised Acacia’s taunting voice.
How could I ever have thought it was sweet?
“Where were you hiding during lunch?” demanded Acacia, disdain all over her face as she moved across the room with lithe, graceful steps, stopping short right in front of me. “Too afraid to show up?” she suggested venomously when I kept mum. I’d wanted to argue I was at the bookstore, buying a supplementary book needed for my Economics class, but I shoved that urge down my throat. I mustn’t give her the impression that she was in charge—just who was she to make me explain my whereabouts? “And were you the one who ratted to Mrs. Bernadette? Jace got suspended for a day.”
Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch silently as Acacia interrogated me. While I contemplated the best thing to say, Mrs. Bernadette stalked into the lecture hall, saving my life with her arrival.
“Averie and Sasuke? Gather your things and come with me.”
I nearly sighed aloud in relief. “I’m ready to go,” I said immediately.
“Why?” asked Sasuke, and I almost elbowed him.
He’d been asking a lot of questions since yesterday. Not that I could blame him. I was just as confused. Still, couldn’t he see that I needed to get out of there?
“Follow me and you’ll find out.” Mrs. Bernadette left the lecture hall.
I stuck close to Mrs. Bernadette while Sasuke trailed sullenly behind us. What could be upsetting him? Both of us had just started out at Black Gold so, most likely, this trip was to settle some unfinished paperwork. Nothing nerve-racking.
Mrs. Bernadette led us to the staff office on the ground floor and then into one of the conference rooms within the office. Stepping through the doorway, I stopped so suddenly that Sasuke walked straight into me. Sir Albion stood at the other end of the room, his back to us as he stared out the floor-to-ceiling window.
Leaving us with Sir Albion, Mrs. Bernadette shut the door.
“Sit down.” Sir Albion flipped a switch on the wall that made the window blinds lower into place, blocking out sunshine and any potential prying eyes. “This is going to take some time.”
Sasuke and I each slumped down into one of the many chairs surrounding the long, rectangular conference table while a stony-faced Sir Albion stepped forward. “You might find it hard to believe what I’m about to tell to you. Nevertheless, you’ll have to comply with what I say from this moment on.”
Have to?
I scowled, irritated. He was making it sound as though we didn’t have another choice except to obey. This was Singapore in the twenty-first century, for goodness’ sake. Yes, we were kids, but we still had rights.
“Listen closely,” Sir Albion said, his expression serious. “There had been four archangels in the world—”
I opened my mouth, something sarcastic on my tongue—
Sasuke stood and beat me to it. “Are you serious?” he spat. “You expect me to sit through a lecture about archangels? I don’t have time for this nonsense! The only reason I came with you was because my mum told me to. I thought you were going to tell us how you teleported—” Sasuke slapped a palm to his forehead. “I can’t believe I just said that. I’ve gotta be dreaming…or crazy.”
I nodded in agreement with Sasuke, but Sir Albion merely chided, “Before the two of you say anything else, at least let me finish what I’ve to say.”
I pursed my lips in annoyance. Sasuke let out an exaggerated sigh. Ridiculous this talk was, I was still curious to learn what Sir Albion had to say ultimately.
“Okay,” said Sasuke resignedly as he sat back down. “But it better makes sense by the end.”
Turning to me, Sir Albion flashed me a stern look to make sure he’d gotten his point across.
I sighed too, feeling like a primary school kid instead of a college girl. “Okay,” I groaned, “go on.”
“As I was saying before the disruption, there were four archangels in the world.” He strutted to the moveable whiteboard at the front of the room and drew four stick figures with a black marker before labelling them. “Gabriel, Michael, Israfel, and lastly, we’ve Lucifer.” He whirled back around to check if we were listening.
“Okay,” Sasuke and I uttered in apathetic unison then, turning to each other, we grinned. He’d been making fun of Sir Albion as well.
Sir Albion slammed his hands onto the conference table. The next thing we knew, blue light radiated from his body—and zap! He shifted from his spot in front of the whiteboard to the end of the conference table farthest from him then back to his original place—all in a split second.
I lapsed into astonishment. A few seats away, Sasuke seemed equally speechless.
“I am the result when Archangel Michael decided to come together with my mortal mother,” said Sir Albion, matter-of-factly. “Now, I believe both of you are able enough to link this to my unusual ability without further explanation.” He went on to circle the stickman of Gabriel in blue ink, Michael in red, Israfel in green, and last of all, Lucifer in yellow. He then gave each of them a heading: Water for Gabriel, Fire for Michael, Earth for Israfel, and Air for Lucifer. “Mankind is governed by twelve astrological signs.” He looked at us with raised eyebrows.
Sasuke and I nodded stiffly.
“The archangels are in charge of three signs each.” Sir Albion went on to list Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces under Gabriel, Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius under Michael, Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn under Israfel, and finally, Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius under Lucifer. He gestured to Sasuke. “I believe you’re a Leo?”
Sasuke leaned forward and rested his arms on the conference table. “Er—yes?”
“And you’re an Aries, Averie?” Sir Albion asked me next.
“Yes.” I frowned. What did this have to do with anything?
“Archangel Michael rules over both our signs?” Sasuke asked. “Okay, but so what? And look, what you’re saying…it’s completely absurd.”
I couldn’t have agreed more.
Sir Albion looked annoyed. “Am I mistaken about having your agreement to not interrupt?”
“Sorry,” Sasuke muttered sullenly.
Sir Albion took no notice. “Both of you are fire signs, whereas I am a Scorpio, a water sign,” he said, his unsmiling face unchanged. He wrote BODY, SOUL and SPIRIT on the whiteboard, next to the stick-angels. “The first thing you’ll need to understand is that every being has a soul. Every mortal being on Earth has a body and a soul. Archangels have a body, a soul, and wield an additional spirit. The other angels don’t have bodies. They only have a soul and a spirit each. Now, the twelve astrological signs are just like the angels, except that they wield very powerful spirits—spirits as powerful as the archangels’. Although all men are governed by these twelve signs, only twelve at one time are chosen by the zodiac themselves—one from each sign—as hosts. Are the two of you catching on so far?”
Sasuke nodded im
patiently. I gaped, completely lost.
What the hell is he talking about? What body? What spirit? What about them?
Sir Albion spent the next minute jotting a list on the whiteboard:
Aries—The Ram
Taurus—The Bull (Chastity Tan, 17)
Gemini—The Twins (Jamila Green, 15)
Cancer—The Crab (Alary Savant, 49)
Leo—The Lion
Virgo—The Maiden (Bernadette Peller, 42)
Libra—The Scales (Lee Kang, 33)
Scorpio—The Scorpion (Albion Demeter Savant, 70)
Sagittarius—The Centaur (Asa Savant, 12)
Capricorn—The Sea Goat (Acacia Savant, 18)
Aquarius—The Cup Bearer (Jace Peller, 18)
Pisces—The Fishes (Atward Baptiste Savant, 23)
Wait.
I goggled at the list. Asa and Acacia were somehow related to Sir Albion?
“Are you trying to tell me I’m the host for Leo?” Sasuke asked.
Comprehension suddenly struck me—I was the host for Aries. The hosts for Taurus, Virgo, and Aquarius hadn’t escaped my attention either.
“Yes. The pain you felt yesterday was due to Leo’s possession. Same goes for Averie, except she’s hosting Aries,” explained Sir Albion. “Anyway, Averie, you’re turning eighteen today, aren’t you? Happy birthday.”
That last sentence surprised me. I hadn’t thought someone as austere as Sir Albion would notice such things.
“Erm, thanks… How do you know it’s my birthday today?”
Sir Albion filled up the space next to Aries and Leo with (Averie Teh, 18) and (Takahashi Sasuke, 17) respectively. “Your admission form, of course.”
Well, that explained it, but it wasn’t really what I wanted to know. “And how are Acacia and Asa related to you?” I blurted.
“Alary is my son. Acacia and Asa, like Atward, are my grandchildren.”
My hands balled up into tight fists. What was Acacia’s problem? I couldn’t believe she was bullying her own brother!
Hang on.
Even though Acacia had a face that looked Asian, there were still hints of a European lineage in her brownish eyes and hair. Asa, however, looked completely Asian. I never would’ve guessed that they were siblings if Sir Albion hadn’t told me. Perhaps Asa came from a different mother? That would explain Acacia’s bitterness toward the boy. And then there was Atward—he looked nothing like either of them; he looked totally like a white man. How in the world were those three siblings?
“Do your offspring possess the same abilities as you?” asked Sasuke, making me feel inferior. Come to think of it, nothing he’d pointed out since the beginning of the discussion had even crossed my mind.
“Yes. After becoming hosts, that is,” said Sir Albion. “Which is why you two will be training under me from tomorrow, just like Acacia and Asa did before.”
“Huh?” I cried out in utter bewilderment. Training? Tomorrow? What for?
“W-whose descendant am I?” asked Sasuke edgily, apparently understanding something I had yet to realise.
“Your mother is the child of Archangel Israfel.”
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Sir Albion. “How come she hasn’t mentioned anything to me before?”
Sir Albion shrugged. “How am I supposed to know?”
“Then how do you know my mum is the child of Archangel Israfel?” demanded Sasuke, folding his arms across his chest.
Crossing his arms as well, Sir Albion fixed a superior smirk onto his face. “I’m experienced enough to tell nephilims apart from humans.”
“I don’t believe you,” Sasuke snapped. “None of this makes sense.”
“Your mother told you to come with me, didn’t she? It’s for your own good.”
At that, Sasuke fell silent.
“Huh?” I said again, breaking the silence. I seriously had no idea where this talk was heading.
Looking at me, Sir Albion heaved out a breath. “You’re quite the daft one, aren’t you? I mean you and Sasuke are nephilims—part human part angel—just as I am, and that is why I’ll be teaching you to manage your abilities.”
“Whom did Averie descend from?” asked Sasuke suddenly.
“If it’s Michael or Israfel, then I should have known,” said Sir Albion. “And since Lucifer despised humans, Averie is probably the child of Gabriel.”
I shook my head. There had to be some sort of a misunderstanding here. “That’s impossible,” I said. “My dad is—”
“He isn’t your birth father. Archangel Gabriel is,” Sir Albion cut me short. “If you’re doubtful, you can always try summoning your new inhabitants. They will be able to tell that you aren’t completely human.”
“How?” asked Sasuke and I in sync.
“Simply call them,” said Sir Albion.
“That’s it?” I wondered aloud.
Sasuke had his eyes closed, and red light poured out of him as he summoned his zodiac.
Sir Albion looked impressed with Sasuke’s first attempt. “That’s very fast,” he praised. “Well done. Now, try jumping as far as you can.”
Sasuke opened his eyes, turned to the long stretch of empty space in the room, and jumped. He flew all the way across the room, barely managing to put his arms up before crashing loudly into the wall. The impact was so great, I thought the wall was going to crumble.
Sasuke cried out in pain as he was thrown backward by the collision before plummeting to the ground. “What’s wrong with you, geezer?” he barked as the red light enveloping him dissipated. I could’ve sworn a smile tugged at Sir Albion’s mouth. “You could have warned me!”
“Averie, it’s your turn,” Sir Albion said, conveniently ignoring Sasuke’s protest.
Imitating Sasuke, I shut my eyes and called Aries silently. I had no intention of trying to jump as far as I could, though.
According to Sir Albion, Aries inhabited my body so it had to be able to hear me, the way Leo had heard Sasuke without him speaking aloud. However, after a few unsuccessful tries, I got impatient.
Sasuke could summon his zodiac in a flash! Why can’t I?
“Aries!” I yelled, but it was no use. No light burst out of me.
“You don’t have to say it aloud,” said Sir Albion, and I shot him a sharp look. The tone he was using—as though he were talking to an idiot not a girl with straight As. “Your zodiac is able to hear your thoughts.”
“It isn’t responding to me at all!” I told him agitatedly. “Are you sure I’m even hosting Aries?”
“It seems you need further training,” said Sir Albion, creasing his forehead in a frown and aggravating me further. “You’re the first nephilim unable to do so.”
“Why aren’t you training the human hosts too?” I snapped, snubbing his remark.
“Human hosts are unable to execute the spiritual ability that comes with the signs they’re hosting, so there’s no point training them.”
Well, human hosts sure had it easy.
Aries!
I tried summoning my sign once more and, when nothing seemed to be happening, I almost erupted with frustration.
Before I could start another protestation, Sasuke suddenly interrupted, “I need to know what you meant when you said we’ll be training under you.”
“For the month-and-a-half until your graduation, I’ll be teaching the two of you to manage the spirits within you. It’s going to be tough, but I’m confident you’ll do fine under my supervision,” explained Sir Albion in his usual solemn manner. “From tomorrow, you’ll report to me here every day after school and every weekend at nine o’clock in the morning, unless instructed otherwise.”
“This training is going to take one-and-a-half months?” asked Sasuke incredulously, body shaking with agitation.
“It actually depends on the individual’s determination,” said Sir Albion “Asa took less than a week to grasp the basics of using spiritual energy while Acacia took a month. The reason I said one-and-a-half months is
because your final year exams are due then. Whether you graduate from Black Gold or not depends highly on those exams, so take them seriously. You two hardly have time to breathe if you want to graduate this year.”
I had a strong feeling this spirit training was going to be a major pain in the neck. And why was I notified about graduation exams only now? Although I was more than glad to never have to see Acacia and Ms. Psychotic again, one-and-a-half months before graduation exams seemed really crazy. Then again, I’d been handling class content fairly well so far. Perhaps I might just be able to handle it?
“Look, I appreciate your offer, but I’ve got to decline. Don’t get me wrong, this whole spirit thing sounds utterly cool, but I need to go back to Tokyo. I’m a busy man. I’ll practise by myself in my leisure time, though.”
So I was stuck here with this authoritative old man all by myself? I groaned, within the privacy of my mind.
“I’m afraid you’re mistaken,” said Sir Albion. “There’s no turning this down—”
Clenching his fists, Sasuke brought them down on the conference table with a loud thump. “I said I’m not staying, and that’s final. If you aren’t going to send me back the way I came, I can jolly well take a plane home. Goodbye.” Sasuke stood up to leave, fuming and red in the face.
He’d taken only one step when Sir Albion spoke again. “Listen, young man,” he said evenly, completely unaffected by Sasuke’s outburst. “You aren’t going anywhere, and you’ll undergo whatever I have in store for you. This isn’t just for your wellbeing, this concerns the world.” Sir Albion lowered his head and closed his eyes, apparently deep in thought. When he opened them, he sighed and said, “I’ll be honest with you. It’s recently been discovered that Lucifer, who was thought to be dead when he was thrown out of Heaven—critically wounded after his final battle with Archangel Michael—is very much alive, and he’s already had Gemini subdued. We can’t afford to let him take another sign, which is why I made all the remaining hosts move to Singapore, the only place on Earth Lucifer cannot set foot on.”
Sasuke frowned. “Why Singapore, of all places?” he asked dubiously.
“Since Earth’s only entrance to Heaven happens to be in Singapore, it’s safe from Lucifer and his dark angels,” said Sir Albion. “If you want to be precise, land within a radius of roughly sixty miles from here is a plague to them. Angels thrown out of Heaven have their wings turned black and cursed. That makes them unable to enter Heaven without pardon. If they forced their way in, their cursed wings would burn to ashes, and they would grow weak and eventually perish.”
“The entrance to Heaven is in Singapore?” I asked, and even I could hear the doubt in my voice.
“Actually, the doorway to Heaven is in this school.”
I blinked, trying to wrap my mind around that. “How—”
Sasuke butted in. “Since Archangel Lucifer can’t—”
Sir Albion grimaced. “You don’t have to address Lucifer as Archangel—he isn’t worthy of the title.”
Sasuke was unrelenting. “Since Lucifer is unable to enter Heaven, what’s there to worry about?”
“Do not underestimate him. Even though he isn’t able to enter Heaven, there could be other ways for him to make a comeback. He’s probably assembling the other dark angels as we speak. We need to take care of him before it’s too late.” Sir Albion moved toward us and clutched our shoulders as his blue luminance filled the room. “Enough talk. Come with me.”
There was a painful blur then we were no longer standing in the conference room, but on the rooftop of a building. I had absolutely no idea where in the world we were, and every cell in my body ached in protest. The wind whipped around us as I looked over the edge, gasping when I realised how high up we were.
Which was when Sir Albion turned to me and stared intently into my eyes. After a highly uncomfortable second, he said to Sasuke, “Catch her or watch her die.”
What?
I frowned at the panicked look on Sasuke’s face. “What—”
There was a sharp push to my right shoulder, and I screamed as I plunged off the building.