the door

I suddenly felt like someone had thrown a bucket of freezing cold ice water on my body.

"what…. did you know my father? Was he here before? What was he doing here? Did he have a wing? Did he. . ." I asked as many questions as came to my mind and that was only the beginning, "Why aren't you answering?" 

"Look, kid, it's not my place to say," Lucile said like he wasn't going to answer but the next second, he answered all my questions as if he was incapable of leaving a question unanswered, "Yes, I knew your father. Yes, he was here, he actually grew up here. He was one of the absolute nine and only a step away from becoming the human king. No, he didn't have a wing, instead he…" 

I interrupted him midsentence, "What do you mean human king?" 

"Well…. I have already talked too much…. Well, you're practically royalty around here, and out of fear of him coming back many will surely….. oops, talked too much again."

"He is alive????" I shouted the hate I felt toward my father skyrocketing.

"Uriel is going to kill me…" Lucile mumbled and looked at me pleadingly, "Please kid, this must stay between us, or else I'm toast…. don't even mention her knowing about me taking some of the fuel out of your energy tank." 

"What do you mean fuel out of my energy tank?" I asked, feeling like I couldn't stay on a single topic for more than two seconds.

"f**ing side effects…" Lucile cursed and looked at me with puppy eyes, "Please don't tell Uriel… pleaaaase." 

"Tell me everything and we can talk about me closing my mouth after that." 

"Tsk," Lucile clicked his tongue and looked at me annoyingly, "I just tell you this, so don't ask anything more about this. your father might, MIGHT be alive.

Many believe that he is dead but some still believe him to be alive. Personally, knowing the cockroach that he is, I think that he is still alive somewhere."

I wanted to ask some other follow-up questions but he closed my mouth shut with his hand, "Don't ask anything else, or I swear I will use you as a test subject and won't care about what Uriel does to me. do we understand each other?" 

After seeing me nod, he put his hand away and walked away.

"Not so fast. I agreed about not asking a question, but we are still not done." 

Lucile froze in his place, turned around, and looked at me like he was scared of my next words. 

"What do I get in exchange for not throwing you under the bus?" I asked with a sly smile. 

"Sigh, like father like son, I guess. What do you want?" he asked back.

Thinking for a bit, I noticed that I still didn't have enough information to extort him to the maximum, so I decided to let it go for now, "I can't think of anything right now, but you owe me two favors …."

"What? why two?" Lucile shouted. 

"One for keeping the secret about my father and one for the issue with the fuel of whatever it was." 

Looking defeated, he just sighed and turned around, walking towards the largest building, "just follow me." 

I followed him with a satisfied smile and was about to ask another question when he turned around, "Not a single other question, or our deal is off." 

It took far longer than I expected to reach the central building and it was far bigger than it seemed from where I stood before. 

I stood at the foot of the majestic building in awe, looking at it, feeling like I wasn't worthy of entering it. 

Not noticing me standing before the first step of the staircase, Lucile climbed them and noticed me not following him only when he was at the top of the stairs, "Come on then, we don't have all day." 

Feeling hesitant for another second, I took the first step and started climbing the stairs. 

At the top of the stairs stood a door. 

As I approached the door, I felt a sense of anticipation building within me. The massive stone structure towered above me, black and imposing, as if guarding some long-forgotten treasure. But it was the intricate depictions in gold that transfixed me.

The images were detailed, telling a story of an epic battle. I could feel the heat of the conflict, and hear the clashing of metal and the cries of the warriors. The engravings were inlaid with care and precision, hammered into the stone with a master's touch.

I stood there, studying the artwork, lost in thought. There was a sense of timelessness about the door, as though it had been there for centuries, watching over the land and its people. I could feel the weight of history behind it and couldn't help but feel a sense of reverence for what lay on the other side.

As I ran my hand over the cold, rough surface, admiring the carvings, I knew that I was about to embark on something grand and significant. The door filled me with a sense of anticipation and excitement, as I wondered what awaited me beyond its grand entrance.

"it's alive." Lucile explained with respect in his tone, like he feared the door, "The pictures on it, depict the latest epic battle that has been acknowledged by the door. 

The battle you see here is the last one your father fought on. That's him right at the center fighting the biggest monster."

I looked at the center of the door, where a muscular man was fighting a dragon-like monster the size of a small mountain. 

The dragon didn't seem to have wings and it was obvious that it was far more powerful than any of the fighters on the battlefield, except for the muscular man that was. 

Looking at the scene, I felt like the pictures were moving, and the scene was happening right in front of me. 

"don't stare too much. It can cause dementia." Lucile pulled me back.

I looked at him, still in a daze, and nodded, clearly feeling the picture's effect on my mind.

"Ok, now, I have to go. Uriel is on the other side of the door waiting for you, just open them and you shall see her." Lucile said with a sly smile. 

"You expect me to open that?" I pointed at the heavy door before me, not believing what he expected of me. 

"Just give it a try. If you can't open it, Uriel will open it for you. just wait for me to get away first, I don't want to see that bit…."

Not waiting for Lucile to finish, I took a step closer to the door and extended my hand to push it open. 

It wasn't accurate to say that I took the step. It was more like something inside me was urging me to push the door. and the same something was controlling my body. 

"Oh shit, I'm out of here." Not waiting for a second more, Lucile disappeared from where he stood.

I ignored him and just focused on the hurdle in front of me, thinking, 'How should I open it?'

After a few seconds of not coming up with any ideas, I decided to just push it with all my power and see what would happen. 

After pushing the door with all my power, the door swung open with such ease that it looked like it didn't weigh anything at all. 

'That was a big mistake.' I thought and as expected the doors collided with the walls on both sides with so much force and power that I'm sure the sound was heard from across the world. 

At first, I was astonished, then amazed, and then scared. 

'What if I broke it?' I thought, ready to flee at the first sign of trouble. 

But unlike my expectations, nothing else besides the doors shaking in place happened, and nobody came to arrest me. 

After coming out of my initial daze, I finally got the chance to take a look at what was behind the doors and it only put me into another daze. 

"Is that a …."

The throne room was spacious, with high ceilings, adorned with intricate murals depicting ancient battles. At the end of a wide staircase was a massive, empty throne, made of deep mahogany wood, with golden accents. The throne itself looked as if it had been carved from a single, ancient tree that took root into the ground giving the throne an everlasting look. The staircase led down to a round golden table, with twelve seats arranged around it, each equally ornate, reminiscent of the throne's style. The table was well-polished and shone in the light. its surface was golden, and there were intricate designs symbolizing each seat's owner. Light from the glass windows high above fell in patterns throughout the grand space, reflecting off the detailed inlays and goldwork of the wall and surrounding furniture. The air felt still, peaceful, like a place that held a thousand years' worth of history.

Right under the throne, at the twelfth stair, a beautiful woman with ashen-blonde hair stood, looking toward me with a satisfied smile, "the door seems to like you a lot."