~~~Jeane
As we sit there, talking, I realized how much he had changed, how much he had become a new man. This man that I remember, the man whose presences horrified me is now nothing more to me than my master. He is the man who has seen the world and hopes to change it, but he's also a man who wants to help those who need it. I saw the passion when he went to fight Hans, I saw how his will has surpassed Hans'. In seeing his will, I realized what he was willing to do yet here I see him now, making another choice that he doesn't want to make and I will be his faithful servant. The choices that he wants to make is one that I can agree with, he is trying to save the world but in order to save the world, one soul must be damned. He has decided to make it his soul.
'This is not an easy task I'm asking you to do,' "I know. Do you want to do this, Apollos is the question," 'I have no choice. I will do it,' "You can let me do it. I can bear this sin for you,' For a moment, I saw it in his eyes, consideration and then guilt. 'I will not have you bare anymore sins other than your own, Jeane. No one else will bear this sin, no one else can bear this sin. Don't you think it's enough to follow a madman?' It's then that I see it, that battle with Hans shook him to his core.
"Apollos, I didn't mean that. My prince, I didn't mean that," 'I know you didn't but do you think I want anyone else to keep dying?' I not only see that it shook him to his core but this is who he must be, a man who must be ruthless in every endeavor, a man who must crush every enemy swiftly so he can prove that he is superior. Is this why he talks before he resorts to fighting or is it because he knows what men and women can do to each other? He knows what people will do to survive. 'Anyway, have you figured out what she wants?"
"I have scanned her mind through the last few days. With her help, I have looked into her mind and she wants to fall in love. She wants everyting that she will never experience as an adult," He nods his head as he begins to say, 'Is it feasible?' "Yes," I say. 'How soon can we start?' "As soon as I get it started and get all the kinks worked out, I can have her in the illusion within the hour," 'Good. It's time for me to go and take Dottie to see the sunrise. Don't do anything until I tell you when,' I nod as I say, "I will be done, my prince and I understand your orders. Now onto another subject entirely, did you get the report I sent you?"
'Yes, Lucian Michaelis Morten's report is being looked at. I will be able to craft more information from Lucian in my own free time,' "You do realize if we're caught, this could be deemed as treason?" 'Jeane, I understand your concernts but here's something I need you to be more concerned with. Code Word: Dark Tomorrow' Hearing that word, my head begins to feel light-headed and I begin to forget what we were talking about, what were we talking about?
"I'm sorry, my prince. I feel as thought my memory is short," 'It's unimportant, just make sure that you follow the signal when done,' "Yes sir" I don't remember what was happening but I felt as thought it wasn't important especially since he had to told me not to worry about it. As I walk to her room, I find myself, hoping she can talk to me. I read the debriefing and I saw that these children can see right through me and they'll bring up anything they feel comfortable with saying. As I walk, I stop myself as I hear the children whispering. I didn't get the entire conversation but this is what I am hearing, 'Dottie, are you sure?' She's silent, 'Come on, Claire. You can't just ask her that kind of question,' 'Aren't you all curious, too?' 'Yeah, we are but we don't want to be rude,' 'Do you even want to do this, Dottie?' I hear Ali say. She was still silent.
It's then that I finally heard the girl speak, 'I'm not sure. I'll be hones twith you both, I am not but I know this, the more we stay on this planet, the more harm we cause and if Apollos is being hurt in this world, then I know he's going to be in more pain. It's best that we help him in our way possible,' 'Are you saying we're going to betray Lucifer?' I hear one of the girls say. 'I'm saying I would rather lose everything and give it all to him than give it all to Lucifer. We all know what he's going to do, we all know how he lives his life but Apollos, he is a man that I can give myself to. I'll give him my very soul if I know that tomorrow is going to be real, I'll give it to him if I know he'll have a tomorrow even if he's a murderer. That's all I've wanted ever since I was reborn into this new world,'
I found myself, listening even harder than I should have, I couldn't bring myself to interrupt them. I couldn't bring myself to say anything. 'He is making a choice that no one else can make. He's making a choice that no one would want to make,' I hear Marcus say, 'And I think we can agree that he's the best man for the job,' 'Yes,' Claire said, 'He's the only man for the job,' I hear Marcus say, 'His destiny is not just rooted in pain but in betrayal, anger, sadness. His entire life, he's going to be walking a path of sadness and desolation,' It's then that I hear Dottie say, 'Why does he have to walk this path, this path of oblivion?'
I find myself, wanting to peek over. Before I could peek over, I hear Claire say, 'Because he's the only one who will give humanity a tomorrrow. If we believe in this man, he'll give humanity a tomorrow. He'll make it so no other child has to suffer,' 'Are you sure that's what he did?' I hear Marcus say. 'Yes. He bears the world's sin for one day and when he does it, he saves alll of those who have been wronged by the great war that's coming. All we can do is wish Dottie a goodbye,' 'But I don't want her to go,' I hear Marcus say, 'No one wants her to go. Not me, not you and not the woman listening in on this conversation,' I hesitate to want to speak up, how did they know I was here? 'It's okay, you can come in. We won't say anything and we're not mad.'
'Please reveal yourself,' As I walk into the room, I see all of them looking at me and then for a moment, I felt all of them looking through me. 'We know why you're here but is listening in on the conversation really necessary?' "I'm sorry," I say to them, "I" 'We know. You weren't eavesdropping, you were walking in but you could have spoken up sooner. Do you have any questions, Jeane?' "No, I don't," I say to them, patiently. 'Good. If you're going to kill our sister,' I hear Marcus say, 'please do us one favor. Respect her as if she was someone important. Don't just shut your mind down.' 'Marcus, you shouldn't say that,' 'I see her sins. There's a special place in hell for what she's done and you all know it. For what she's going to do,'
"I'm sorry but you don't really know me like that, young man," 'Do I really not know you?' Marcus said, his cold eyes focused on me, 'You stink of sin but not like Apollos. Apollos took no pleasure in killing, you took pleasure in killing innocent lives. Still, you're not as bad as his older sister. All I'm asking you is to honor our sister because she would have been a great woman if she would have been allowed to grow,' It's then that I see it, the tears flowing down his face, Apollos said they didn't bleed blood but for me, I didn't think it was possible to see vampires this human. Even the vampire children were natrually cold to the humans, but these children are not, they are kind and gentle, their soul reminds me of the timemen that I used to hurt. It's not only that they could see my sins and read my mind, these children were spirtually sensitive.
"Well I have good news then. Apollos has found a way to free you all. He has found a way to set you all free but once you are all set free, you can't come back to his room so I suggest you all pack your things. This will take 24 hours and within those 24 hours, Apollos will give you anything you want. He will set you free but you all can never return back to this life and you all will be free," It's then that Ali says, 'Are you serious? Apollos found a way to save us?' "Yes, he found a way to save you all," I say with a sincere smile, "And Dottie will be the first to go. She asked first and she came up with the idea,"
She smiles as she says, 'Yeah, I did ask first and I'm glad you were able to surprise even me with us. Alright everyone, I love you all,' she says with a smile and they all give her a group hug and she's hugging them all. They're kissing each other on the cheeks and rubbing each other's hair. 'Love you Claire. Love you Marcus. Love you Ali,' 'We love you too, Dottie,' Their tears so genuine as they're hugging each other.
~~~Apollos
I look at the midnight moon as I sit there, thinking of Jordani. The moon that was piercing this blue sky would also show the truth, I told Jeane to lie to the children so that I could ease their pain. I told her to lie because I couldn't just kill them, not after what Lucifer said hours ago but now Lucifer owes me a favor and I will be the devil that I have to be if it means those children will get a second chance.
'Hey Polly,' I hear my name being called and when I turn, I see Dottie. I smile as I say, "Hey, how are you doing, kiddo?" 'I'm doing great, Apollos. Can I confess something to you?' "Yes," I say, prepared for whatever she says. 'I see you as a father and I know in our short time, we've only been together for a while but you, you've been the most kind to me and I can't help but to see you as a father and I'm glad it's you. I'm glad you're better in real life than in our dreams,' "Thanks," I say to her, "Dottie, I want to give you a surprise," My heart was dropping even more, "But I need you to close your eyes,"
She smiles and says, 'Sure,' "There will be no more dark tomorrows for you," It's then that she begins to smile and once she smiles, we both open our eyes to see the sun. I sit there with a geninue smile as we look at the sun and she says, 'You gave me the sun," 'Yes and I found a perfect place for you, kiddo,' It's then that we start walking across the night streets, looking at the sun and looking at all the people here. As we keep walking, we bump into somebody, a young man and his kid walk by us and in that moment, Dottie and the kid's eyes meet. The young man looks at me and asks, 'Is that your daughter, sir?'
I smile as I say, "Yes, I've been looking after her for a while. Who are you?" 'Oh, my name is Mike,' As we both sit there exchanging conversation, I can't help but to find myself, enjoying the convo. It's then that he says, 'We should get together sometime,' "Sure, let's go, Dottie,' Her eyes smile as she says, 'The little boy called me cute.' "You didn't realize, did you?" I say to her, it's then that I walk her to a clothes shop. She says, 'Are we really going in?' I say, "Yes, the prettiest girl in the world deserves better clothes," As we walk in front of the store, I see every clothes she's ever worn in her life and I see different colors.
As we go into the store, it's then that the receptionist talks to us and as she talks to us, she says, 'How is the most beautiful girl in the world?' Dottie smiles as she says, 'I'm doing great,' 'Now, let's show you our best dress,' It's then that she is taken to a blue dress that shows her arms, it has white flowers on it and it even has matching white shoes and white stockings. It had frills at the edges and had frills on the straps, the white frills looked nice. 'You can put that on,' As the woman picks it up and shows her the dress, she says, 'Can I go try it on? Can I go try it on?'
I smile and say, "Yes," As we get her dressed and she gets the dress on, I bring a mirror out to show her what she looks like and she grabs her face, the surprised look on her face as she says, 'You did it, Apollos,' Her blonde hair in its curly perfection, looking like a babydoll. Her eyes, no longer pits but they are blue and beautiful. Her lips fully regrown, not longer exposing her teeth as she sits there, she looks at her face, her face not longer a mass of flesh and nerve, now it is showing veins and a living pulse. She smelled like cookies.
'Apollos, did you really do this?' "Yes," 'Yes, this is your new life, my love and your new family is coming soon," 'But I want to stay with you,' I crossed through hell in order to get it for you all," 'Thank you,' She smiles as she says, 'But how am I ever going to thank you?' "You won't. I love you" 'I love you, Apollos. Thank you for being there for me,' I watch as her little feet twirl around, looking at the glass. After this, we sat and ate ice cream. She was sad but she was happy, she knew this was a gift that she knew I could only give her. She hesitated to take the gift but she did want it and she was going to take it.
As another family walks in, a woman with blue eyes and blonde hair walked in and a brunette man walked with her. 'Hello. We're here to meet with Apollos,' I smile as I say, "Yes, that's me," I could see the sadness in Dottie's eyes as she says, 'Who are these people?' I say, "This is the family who is going to adopt you, my love. This is the family who is going to set you free from all of this," As she looks at me she says, 'I'll have a family, too?' "Yes, but what about my brothers and sister?' I smile and say, "They'll have a family just like you. I'll save them all, too," 'Thank you Apollos. I'll never forget this.' "It's okay. You've been a good girl all your life, you deserve this,"
'Thank you sir. Me and my wife have been unable to conceieve and I'm glad we finally have the chance to be parents,' I smile as the family hugs her and then they look at me. She hugs me one last time before she goes and as she goes, I begin to find myself, getting ready. "It's time," I say, "Time for the next part of this." She meets the boy again at her school, I've been peridocially checking on her to see how the family's been treating her. She smiles as she says, 'She's got all A's and B's and I see that she's even grown.' She's growing like a weed, I think to myself. Years pass and Dottie is now a teenager, she's a little rebellious and she hangs out with this kid named Nathan but I know she's still sweet on that boy, Jim and I know she will enjoy him. I know this is a just a rebellious phase.
As time goes by, the boy did try to hit her. He had learned very quickly that we did not hit women. He's moved on with his life and he seems to be doing well. Dottie on the last year of high school, decides she wants to be a doctor. I have not aged at all and Dottie is still enjoying herself. She smiles as she says, 'Thank you for helping me graduate school, Polly,' 'I know how important school is to you. Now, what college did you want to go to?' She smiles as she says, 'I want to go to college to study English. I want to teach kids how to understand American English and I want to move to America with Jim. He popped the question at graduation, this is the happiest day of my life. I'm going to get married, I'm going to be a wife,'
I smile as I hug her and say, "Congratulations kiddo," As time goes by, she is in school for English and she even taught me some new things. 'College is so hard, Polly. Why do I have to go?' "You said you wanted to be an English teacher," 'I know but so many words and the subjects we're taking aren't even apart of this stuff,' "I know," I say with a smile, "The good thing is once you're done, you won't have to go back," 'That's true. I guess I'll finish studying for my exam,' "Alright Kiddo," She passed her exams with flying colors and a 3.5 GPA especially being the only woman in her school. As she finished her exams, she graduated with a 3.5, almost perfect but she almost failed math.
With everyting that's happened, she's been a school teacher for a few years and times have defintiely changed. It's been 20 years and now, we're working with a new world, people are now getting along and nothing has happened. She's pregnant with her second child and she named one of them after me. As she begins to experience life more and more, I see her smile getting bigger and bigger. She's finally seeing the beautiful world for what it is and she can finally see it anytime she wants. Her daughter and her son are now grownup and she's now working on her 50s.
'Apollos, my old friend. How have you been?' "I've been great. Times have changed," 'Yes, but I can honestly say I've enjoyed them. I've enjoyed times changing. You've shown me so much,' "I know but you have so much to live for and you're still young ever yet,' "Why don't you and your husand take a vacation?" She says, 'Yes, I think it's about time we do that,' As he and her husband begin to leave, they go to differentg parts of the world. She's been writing my postcards on what Germany and Russia look like, she even went to Alaska and Australia. She comes back after being on the road for 10 years, she's now in her early 60s and she's back.
'Hello,' she says. She's gotten weaker but I know it's because she is getting older. As I now do some of her shopping for her and Jim, I go shopping to make sure that they eat, buying their favorite foods for years. I didn't mind doing it, everyday they would tell me a new story and I enjoyed listening to their stories and listening to them repeat their stories. It let me know that they were enjoying themselves. It's been more than 20 years and Dottie is in her 90s, Jim passed away a few days ago and Dottie isn't looking too good herself. I sit there as I hold her hands as her grown children and her grandchildren stand with us. 'I'd like to send my last few hours with you, my prince,' she says.
As we begin to talk about old times, she lets me know. We talk about everything that's happened and she tells me, 'I used to have a innocent crush on you. I'm glad I fell in love with Jim. I'm jsut so afraid to go,' "It's okay. I'll be here until you're gone." 'Thank you, Apollos. Thank you for giving me the best life. Thank you for giving me the best day and the best years of my life,' "It's okay, princess" 'Thank you, Apollos,' As the sun begins to rise, Dottie has not moved from that spot on the bed. I arm my sword as I say, "The World"
With one quick step and one swing, Dottie turned to dust. "It was nice knowing you, Dottie. I hope you find peace in a new life," It's then that I walk a few feet as my sword goes back into my void. What a terrible day for a rain, it was so beautiful today. It was so beautiful.
End of Chapter: Best Day Ever