The Deceiver

"The twelfth seat, often called the Deceiver by various circles of influence in both the supernatural and normal governments, is one of the more interesting and mysterious members of Delta Command."

"The interesting part of the twelfth seat is that he is the only council member that Isaiel, the traitor, and the Abomination didn't handpick. It was long believed that the twelfth seat was just another one of the traitor's many aliases until classified documents were leaked from all supernatural groups of interest, a completely different M.O than the standard infiltration tactics that the traitor uses."

"D-12, named Franklin Saint from the oldest record of names that I was able to find, is one of the world's best thieves in all of history."

"There are reports of him being tied to stolen artifacts, ranging from the crown jewels of England to the grace of the Archangel Gabriel."

"I once met the Deceiver at a summit for world leaders to discuss nuclear weaponry, he was the only one in the room that seemed to not belong with the proud foreign leaders."

"I tried to assassinate him since I could feel his supernatural aura, I snuck up on him and stabbed him when he was alone, only to find out that it was an illusion and that I had assassinated the U.S. president, allowing him to flee in the chaos."

"Reader, I caution you to be careful when dealing with the twelfth seat, his trickery is second to the third seat with his deception."

"One last thing to take note of, the Deceiver seems to be well-known about Enochian magic and spells, I suggest that you find a way to get protection from such powers before he seeks you out in your mission."

(Isaiel pov)

The team made camp in the woods of France, I made a few angel wards to mask our presence from any pursuers.

I could feel Benedict, Trevor, and MacKenzie staring at me as we sat around the small campfire, it was obvious that they felt some way about being lied to about the nature of the mission. 

"Are the three of you going to say nothing for the entire mission? We need to plan for what comes next, Germany was nothing but the start of this campaign and we won't stop until we rid the world of the chaos Insurgency." Vincent questioned the trio, as everyone stared at him. 

"Is that truly the mission? You expect us to follow you and this stranger even when you lied to us about what we were doing in Germany? We all saw the explosions and barely made it out alive, they are still sending out patrols for us as we speak! Benedict raised his voice as the other two started at me. 

"The mission was always the same, to destroy the Chaos Insurgency and restore humanity to how it was before everything interfered with the natural order, what we are doing is killing all the members of the Delta Command and destroying insurgency from the top." Everyone looked at me with a mixture of surprise and disbelief. 

"How do you plan to do that? Delta Command has powers equal to that of gods, we tried to kill them numerous times but each failed to even touch them, now they have the support of Heaven and the angels, what is the point of fighting when the odds are stacked against us." Mackenzie muttered as Trevor gently touched her arm.

"Look, I know that you guys don't trust me and I don't even trust you guys, but we are fighting for humanity to see another dawn, to make the monsters run back to their caves and stay there, we are the last line of defense against the end of everything we and so many others have known. All there is to make is a simple choice." I pulled out the radio that the G.O.C gave me in case of emergency and threw it at the feet of the trio.

"Me and Vincent are staying here to finish what we started back in Germany, I have a list of the names for each of the remaining Delta Command members, but if you pick up that radio and leave for headquarters then I'm adding you to that list of names." I looked into the eyes of everyone and waited for their answer.

"I'm staying, I've done so many horrible things even before the apocalypse that I need to atone by doing one good thing in this life," Mackenzie said confidently as she stood up and joined us.

"I'm not very happy that you guys lied to us and we have no proof that this could work, but I knew what I signed up for when I joined the G.O.C." Trevor solemnly stood up and looked back at Benedict, rage could be seen in his eyes but he said nothing as he stood up. 

We put out the fire and walked deeper into the forest, our eyes carefully watching the sky for any signs of oncoming angels. The team stopped when we saw four wooden doors in front of us.

I could feel the energy radiating off the doors as if beckoning us to open them. I instructed the team to keep moving forward past the doors.

The doors kept manifesting despite our efforts to interact with them, we walked inside a clearing as the doors surrounded us from all sides.

"It seems that we can't evade the doors any longer, the only way to move forward is through those doors and see where they led us." I looked at the position of the doors, they were in front of me, Vincent, Mackenzie, and Trevor.

"The colors on the door symbolize something, mine is white due to my status as an angel, Vincent is red, Mackenzie is blue, and Trevor is purple. However, Benedict doesn't have a door so what going on?

"Benedict, since these doors only seem to be for the four of us, I suggest that you stand guard until we get back." I gave him a white signal flare.

Here, I will be able to see this flare no matter the distance, use this only when it's life or death understand? Benedict nodded and the four of us looked at each other before entering our respective doors.

(Vincent pov)

Blood. All that I could see for miles was the color of blood, unrecognizable bodies floated on the surface as I kept moving forward.

The more I kept walking in the sea of blood, the more I felt a sense of guilt and unease about the bodies in the sea of Blood.

I reached the center where an altar was covered in white cloth, when I uncovered the altar all I saw was the dead remains of a child.

"Agh! I screamed in agony as memories flashed into my mind, burning villages, the wailing of children, and the sound of gunshots ringing out.

"Look at you, pathetic! I can't believe this is what has become of us, you have no right to call yourself Vincent." I looked up and saw myself wearing the uniform of the Édra Dímion.

"T-This isn't real! Why am I wearing that uniform? I am a member of the G.O.C, not some secret task for the Chaos Insurgency!"

I tried moving away, but the man just grabbed my head and the memories began pouring out like a Dam. I was once a member of Édra Dímion, an elite task force that handled all of Delta Command's dirty work, for countless years I committed unspeakable acts in the name of the Insurgency till that day. 

The Édra Dímion were ordered to exterminate a kingdom full of people, we entered the village and began to enact the orders of Delta Command.

I had lost count of the total number of people that I had slaughtered until I entered the room of the crown prince of the kingdom.

I looked at the crib where the small boy lay, staring into my eyes. I started to realize the lies that I was taught from birth, the veil that covered my eyes was now lifted, and the only thing that was left for me to do was make my choice. 

"What a foolish choice you made, did you think this was going to make any difference?

How will your teammates react when they learn the truth? That you have been Deceiving them, betrayed them, you are nothing more than a traitor." 

"I am many things but a traitor, I will destroy you and all others like you, now either you go back to the deep subconscious of my mind or you can be erased." The darker version of my face turned into a sneer before the two of us began to fight.

(Makenzie's pov)

"Warmth. I forgot how good the sun's rays were on my body, it's completely different from the hot scorching heat back home." I closed my eyes and let the waves of the beach relax me.

"Guess who? You know it's not polite to leave your girlfriend to swim by herself while you sunbathe, this trip was for the both of us to spend time with each other." I got up from my recliner and looked at the familiar face of Brook, who had her arms crossed pouting.

"Brook? But that's impossible, I saw her die with my own eyes and yet, every single detail about her is correct even the names she used to call me by." Brook smiled as she snuggled next to me.

"This has to be a dream, but I can still smell the coconut-scented shampoo in her hair. Is it wrong for me to finally have what I lost?

"It's not wrong to hold something precious that you lost, if you stay in this world then you can stay in this moment forever, why worry about the Insurgency? This can be your happily-ever-after." I stared at Brook's loving gaze, after suffering all the trauma from her death, I deserve this as compensation for all my hard work.

(Trevor pov)

I blinked as I felt my entire world getting bigger, the only thing in front of me was a familiar lake that showed me in a young child's body.

"You recognize this lake, don't you? After all, this is the lake where those G.O.C agents drowned your mother. How does it feel to revisit old memories? A female voice spoke in my mind, it was as if I was still an eight-year-old boy watching this scene again.

My mother was a natural-born witch, something that the G.O.C hunted to near extinction.

"You have the power to change this fate, if you stay here then your mother will still be here and you can peacefully live with the woman you love, wouldn't that be nice? The scene changed and I saw Mackenzie making food in the kitchen, and small children playing in the living room.

I stood in that one spot for a long time, weighing my options on either staying here and living a new life or going back to the horrors of reality.

"This isn't right, this is one of the Deceiver's many tricks, to mess with my mind and make me abandon the mission. There has to be a way out, I need to reach the others before the deceiver gets them first." I looked around and in the corner of my eye, I spotted the same purple door that brought me here. I quickly ran and opened the door, letting the white flash of light take me. 

(Isaiel's pov) 

I opened my eyes to the sound of fluttering wings, the place looked like the Garden of Eden, with thrones and cherubim circling in the skies, their multiple eyes providing constant surveillance inside the Garden. 

I ignored the angels and continued on the path forward, where the trees of good, evil, and life stood proud. a lone figure sat at the base of the Tree of Life eating a normal apple.

The figure wore a dark suit, the interesting thing about it was its constantly changing appearance.

Sometimes he was a dark man, or she was a tall woman with brown hair. It radiated the power of an archangel, on closer inspection it was a portion of Gabriel's grace, weak but beating like the sound of a human heart. 

"Well.....I was expecting this encounter eventually after you freed death from our control, I was the next one that you would turn your gaze on. Why don't you have a seat and have this bag of chips? The figure snapped his fingers, and a seat appeared behind me. 

 "So, what do I call you? Franklin, Deceiver, or Twelve? The woman flashed a mysterious grin and took another bite the apple.

"Twelve is fine, I don't really care for my titles and I don't even remember my original name anymore so it doesn't matter." Twelve spoke in a monotone voice as its appearance switched to that of a man.

"What is this place? I know that this isn't actually the real Garden, perhaps the remnant of a memory." I manifested the spear of Longinus and brought it close to twelve's neck.

"You are correct, you and the rest of your friends are in a secret hospital in the United States, you'll be able to find out more information on Eleven then what you have in that journal." It didn't take a few seconds after twelve finished speaking, that I stabbed him in the shoulder.

His face twisted into an expression of venom before returning to a calmer state, he breathed slowly as I dug the spear deeper into his shoulder.

"Wow, this actually feels quite painful. Yes, I know about the journal and everything that it contains, how do you think that the author managed to collect that much information about everything? I could tell he wasn't lying and pulled the spear out, Twelve massaged his shoulder before focusing on me.

"I worked out a deal with the author of that journal, information about the council members for the complete eradication of the organization, it seems like fate has brought the book into your hands for that sole purpose." The wound in twelve's shoulder kept oozing out blood, twelve managed a grim smile before pulling out a vial of grace from his pocket.

"I was the first to sign the document that trapped Death, with me being one of the brains behind the council I needed insurance to prevent my end, I arrogantly consumed the grace not realizing that Death was the only thing keeping me alive." Twelve gave me the vial and told me that three and alternate Isaiel had a portion of Gabriel's missing grace.

"I know that I'm going to die pretty soon, so I have three pieces of information to help you on your journey. One, inside the bag is a USB that contains information about the rebel forces in the area."

"Two, think to yourself about all of human history and decide if you truly wish to help humanity reclaim civilization."

"And three, you should not trust anyone in that squad of yours. Three has already infiltrated the group and is in contract with the others,his identity is.....Bang! Twelve's head exploded as the garden faded out of existence to reveal a hospital room.

I raised my hand and shot out a beam of holy light at the direction of the sniper, when I confirmed their death, I exited the room and met with Benedict and Trevor.

The two of them were taking cover as they were in the middle of a shootout from chaos Insurgency soilders.

I only gave the soilders a look before they ignited into flames, I opened the room that the rest of the squad was in and woke them up as we left the hospital in serach of the next council member, The Anarchist.

"Incoming encrypted call, do you wish to accept? Please enter the security code in five seconds, or the Édra Dímion will be dispatched to your location."

""Security code accepted, connecting you to the call with the First, fourth, and third seat.....Welcome back, ███████ ██████.""

""Command accepted, none of the participants of this call will learn of your presence until you leave observation mode.""

Three: "Hello, are you guys sure that this line is secure? We don't want anyone listing in, with the death of Twelve, spies could be circling aurond us for any sign of weakness."

Four: "Of course this line is secure, the only people who have access to this channel are the founding members of the Insurgency, now can you please explain why twelve is dead?

Three: "Watch your tone with me Four, I am still a higher seat. Twelve was assassinated by one of our soilders, I suspect that we have traitors within the council who seek to undermine the empire that we built."

Four: Always with the excuses Three! Twelve was your friend and one of the more important players on the council next to me, his death weakens me and my kingdom power. I'm starting to think that you are secretly helping them, I say that we deploy Édra Dímion and we remove three from his position."

Three:"You man-child, do you think you have the power to remove me so easily? I could drop a nuke on you before you could even send out the order. I was the one who helped create this organization, and the one who picked you and most of the people on it."

One: Enough! We are in the middle of possibly losing this organization, two council members are dead while you two sit and argue! Do you all forget who I am! I am the leader of this group, my authority and word is law, and everyone on this council who is not me are underneath that rule understand?

""Exiting out of observation mode, entering participation mode. Your moniker will be present to all participants in 3....2.....1""

"@ERROR! ███████ ██████ THE NOBODY HAS ENTERED THE CALL."

Three: "No! It can't be, forgive me Two, but why have you come? T-This matter with the dead council members will be dealt with quickly, forgive me for my complacency on this very serious matter. I beg for your mercy."

Four: "Why the fuck are you acting like some submissive bitch all of a sudden Three? Are you scared of some old hag who hasn't shown their face since my coronation?

Three: "Shut your mouth, you may not understand anything but Two is the one council member you don't piss off, she is the oldest out of all the members of council little boy!!

Nobody is warning the Third seat to not let history repeat itself, he should know from experience how this story ends and how to prevent it.

Nobody warns The fourth seat that he should take his responsibility more seriously, he is not the first fourth seat to be replaced from the council.

Four: "Excuse me!? I wasn't told that their were other people before me, what the fuck is that old witch talking about Three?

Three: "...."

One: ...."Two, you should leave. You are exposing classified information and you weren't invited, you should be lucky that we haven't replaced you yet."

Nobody tells the First seat that their daddy won't save them this time, reminding One what happened after their last encounter.

""You have exited out of participating mode, you will be kicked out of the session in the next 20 seconds unless another command is given.""

One: "This meeting is over! Three, your actions with Eleven will determine your loyalty to the cause, even you are not excused from the punishment of failure."

"You have been kicked out of the session."