Part III: 11

I don't think that any of us would've ever imagined that one day we'd get to meet the Seraphim who had provided us with our angelic "gift", although seeing him in the form of a handsome young man had thrown us off a little. Malakai, as he called himself, was indeed quite amazing. He had this regal air to him that was almost unmatched, yet he was as soft as a dove at the same time.

I'd imagine that such tender kindness should've been a trait of an Angel, though I doubt that we will ever know. What I do know is that that night, we would begin to learn the truth about our purpose in the worlds, and that it was a bit bigger than we'd originally thought.

Sitting in the den room with our father, we found ourselves waiting as Malakai spoke to Eclipse out in the foyer. Aiden had been asked to head upstairs with Noah and the others. Gabrielle remained in there with us and was currently leaning against Dad.

I'll admit that her staying with us had concerned us a little bit. We worried about Noah being without someone who might be able to help him if the worst began to happen. But Malakai had seemed confident that it would be okay, so none of us had room to argue. I was beginning to wonder if we ever would when it came to what he told us.

"I don't get it, Daddy. Why didn't Malakai just come out and tell us who he was when he first appeared? He's here to help us, so why block any memories of him at first?" Gabrielle was saying.

"I can't answer that one for him. My best guess is that he still needed to be careful until he was able to help Noel. It seems like a lot of this has been in a delicate balance for a long time, although I've understood more of why since I've gotten to see him again." Dad answered.

"What did happen back then? It was something when you were really young, right?" Raphael questioned.

Dad shook his head, "Yes, but we need to wait before talking about it. I know he wants to explain it all himself."

I studied our father as he spoke. It was still hard to believe that he was sitting here with us. He looked as young as we did too, only in his early twenties. It was kind of amazing when I thought about it. Me and Raphael definitely took after him and Malakai.

Of course, it felt odd too that he was in such a solid form, so much so that we could even touch him like he was a normal person. It brought out a longing in me to have him back in our lives and like us, even though I knew that it wasn't possible. I was sure that Raphael and Gabrielle felt the same way. Even after all of these years, we sorely missed our parents.

From where we were sitting, we could hear Malakai out in the foyer. He was talking to Eclipse, stating what he wanted to do now.

"I'd like to get things in order here first before we approach things with Noah. Even with Melvin here, I have no doubt that there is going to be some apprehension about me." he was saying.

"One cannot blame them. They have never been able to meet you face to face before this, and there has been much turmoil because of it. However, I am very concerned about that boy too. You realize that his illness was not simply brought on by that Fallen's curse. His has been more from his own guilt and not feeling worthy of what he is." Eclipse responded.

I stiffened a little as I heard that. So there were two different ways for this illness to happen?

Malakai let out what sounded like an exhausted breath, "I'm well aware of that, but I refuse to give up. I'm certain that this one can be saved, and we can set things right with the others in time, even if I must keep sacrificing to see it through."

"You do realize that your sacrifices before have led to more problems." Eclipse pointed out.

"I do, but as I said, I see no other choice in these matters. This is my family, and I said from the beginning that I will do anything for them that I must do."

"I understand. So, how do you wish to proceed?"

"I'd like you to please remain with Noah for now and ensure that nothing gets any worse during this time. Also, do me the favor of keeping the others with you too. I have some concerns for the other boy, though I still doubt that he will turn." Malakai ordered.

"Very well." Eclipse agreed.

We heard him leave, then Malakai came into the den. All of us remained where we were as he sat down with us.

"Well, now that that's taken care of for the time, let's get this started. I'm certain there are many questions still hanging in the air," he stated.

"No kidding. I think you threw them off as much as you did me that first time I saw you like this." Dad commented.

Malakai chuckled, "True. When I left you, I did look a bit older. But you know that this was also how I first appeared when I met your mother." he reminded him.

"So, you looked like this when you appeared to Annabelle?" Raphael noted.

"I did, although I shouldn't call it appearing as much as it was meeting her," Malakai corrected. He took Raphael's suspicions in stride, "There's no need to be so suspicious about me, Raphael. I promise that I'd never deceive any of you. This talk is to help us clear the air now."

"I'm sure you can understand my suspicions, even if I do want to believe you about that. As far as we knew, you had returned to the Heavens and weren't going to come back to us. Aside from that, none of us can remember getting to meet you, yet we know for certain that you've been intervening in our lives for a long time. What's happened with us, with Mia and Noel, and even our grandchildren has told us that much." Raphael explained.

"That is true. I did intervene where I could, although my hands were often very tied in it." Malakai acknowledged.

Dad let out a long breath, "All of that is true, and no, none of you would remember Malakai. He had to go back to the Heavens before any of you were born. Your mother was actually pregnant with Raphael at the time." he told us.

"What happened back then?" I asked Malakai, "Why did you have to go back? We've heard that the Seraphs in the other two families didn't, and with this curse we've been through, obviously, something more was going on."

"Yes, there was, and it's time that I should clear the air about it, even if it's going to be a hard story for you all to hear." Malakai agreed.

I noticed our father look away for a moment, though he said nothing. I betted he remembered all of this now, even if he couldn't before.

Malakai took a moment before speaking again.

"Everything truly started back when I met Annabelle. At that time, all three of the families were starting, although ours would be the first of them. As you all know, Annabelle was a childhood survivor of the death camps during the war, and when we met, it had only ended about ten years prior. Although she had been adopted by a loving family in the States, she still suffered mentally from her experiences and losing her birth family there. I confess now that I was a bit presumptuous when I met her in thinking that I could heal that trauma within her. It was with that presumption that I missed the first signs of the one who was already looking to destroy my family before it had even begun."

It was easy for us to understand what he was talking about.

"You mean the demon that left this curse on us." I surmised.

"Yes," Malakai confirmed, "As you all probably understand, the Fallen Ones have always been against the very idea of these families, especially given what's happened throughout the centuries with their own children. At that time, the Dark Lord and those under him had been plotting on how to get to those we created, and because of what I am, the one who targeted our family was one of the more powerful ones. I'd dare to say that he planned far in advance with everything, and his first goal was to break Annabelle, especially once she had Melvin."

"But that wasn't his ultimate goal. His real aim was for Malakai." Dad added.

"He was aiming for you?" Gabrielle repeated as she looked at Malakai.

Malakai nodded, "Yes. His aim was the ultimate one that all Fallen have. He wanted to add to their numbers. In order to save Annabelle and Melvin, I took on the darkness that was eating away at her, and it turned me into a Fallen."

We all stared at him as he said this. Well, all of us except for our father. He didn't look surprised at all, only remorseful.

"But… but how are you like this now? If you fell…" I started.

"It's part of why he couldn't stay with us," Dad interrupted. He sat up a little straighter, "He did fall, but at the time, the other two Seraphs stepped in. One of them is actually the one in charge of the three, and he was the one who worked with the highest Angels, including St. Michael, to redeem Malakai and erase the darkness that nearly overtook him. But there was a high price in it too."

"Yes, there was. When that was attempted, the one who did it for me laid out three things that we could not change. The first of them was that Melvin and any other children Annabelle and I had would not be able to have their blood awaken as Nephilim in their lifetimes. The second would be that I could only remain with my family until Melvin's eighteenth birthday. That was when I needed to return to the Heavens in order to cleanse the rest of myself for however long that would take. But the last was the hardest to accept. The darkness cast on me could not be completely dispelled, and there was always the possibility that it could attempt to affect our family again." Malakai explained.

"I don't get that," Raphael interjected, "If they could dispel it from you, then why couldn't they destroy it all?"

"Unfortunately, it all comes with balances between the light and the dark. While I had prayed for years afterward that our family would be strong enough to fight it, the power this Fallen used was far more than we could've ever anticipated." Malakai confessed.

Dad huffed, looking a little put-out, "It wasn't like we didn't try. I tried everything I could think of, especially when Elvira started getting scared that something was watching us after Mom died. I even moved us across the damned country trying to get us away from it."

"You did everything you could, and you and Elvira fought very hard against it, and so did Noel, even though it weakened her so badly. There's no reason for any of you to feel defeated against that curse he left. All of you did everything you could to survive however you could against it. If any should take the blame for the things that happened, it should be me. What I thought was the right sacrifice to save my family only made things so much worse later on." Malakai told us.

I shook my head, "You only did what you thought was right, and it sounds like they backed you into a corner where you didn't have a way out except for that."

"Yes, it does, and we could never blame you for that. I think we would've done the same thing if we'd been in that situation." Raphael added.

"They're right. We'd do anything to protect our families, even if the choices we make turn out to be the wrong ones." Dad agreed with us.

"If you're talking about Noel, then you need to stop blaming yourself so much, Daddy. You tried so hard to help her. It was just beyond us." Gabrielle reminded him.

"She's right, Melvin. You did everything you could at that time, and now Noel's free and at peace. Nothing was ever in vain," Malakai reassured him. He looked thoughtful now, "I can also say that honestly now too. Looking back, I had approached my position of starting this family as more of a duty than anything else. Yet from the moment I met Annabelle in person, I realized that it was so much more. I was meant to meet her, and I was meant to have this family. I still believe even now that your father and his brother and sister were the true ones who saved me from falling, along with their mother."

"So, you're saying that you were the one who picked Annabelle too?" I guessed.

"Yes. All three of us picked the women we'd come to ourselves." Malakai confirmed.

Raphael seemed to be thinking all of this over now. Knowing him, he was searching for any loopholes in what Malakai was saying to us.

"Out of curiosity, why did you choose Annabelle in the first place? Was it really because you thought you could heal her with this family?" he finally asked him.

"I'll admit now that I had such thoughts, although that wasn't why I chose her. I did so because of the feeling I had within me when I saw her for the first time. As I said, I look back now and believe that we were indeed meant for each other, even if such a thing is anything but normal for Angels." Malakai answered.

"Not to change the subject too much," I spoke up, "But there was something else I was curious about too. Before she died, Noel had mentioned to me and Raphael what she'd foreseen, which we thought might've come from that curse. One of the things she told us about was my daughter meeting and falling in love with Sean Morrison, who's half Fox. Did you and the other Angels foresee that too?"

"Ah yes, Sean Morrison. That one was a bit of a surprise when it came up. But there really was no issue there, considering the boy's lineage. That twin of his has been interesting as well from what we've seen. He's a lot stronger in mind and spirit than anyone took him for, even his own father." Malakai answered.

I sensed Raphael getting a bit irritated now.

"Then tell us, if there is no concern over most of what happens within this family, why are you so worried about what's going to happen with Noah?"

Malakai sat up a little, looking surprised. Apparently, he didn't think that Raphael would challenge him as much as he was. But he seemed to accept it.

"I can't say that I'm surprised that you'd be so direct with all of this. After all, you are the most protective of this family, even if it requires you to make decisions that you'd rather not make," he stated.

"Don't get off the subject Seraphim. This is my grandson we're talking about, and I want to know the truth. Is it possible to save him, or is he going to die?" Raphael said quietly.

Dad shot him a disapproving look, "Don't be rude, Raphael. You're still talking to your grandfather." he chided him.

"It's fine, Melvin. I understand how he feels," Malakai reassured him. His expression turned a bit more serious as he regarded Raphael, "I'm not going to let him die. I believed I made that clear from the beginning. I plan on doing everything I possibly can to save him. I will not allow any more loss if I can help it."

I can honestly say that none of us really knew for certain what those words entailed. Malakai had been honest with us about what had happened to cause him to leave us before. Yet he still wouldn't quite elaborate on what he intended to do in saving Noah's life.

That was when I remembered something else. It was what Eclipse had said to me before Malakai had shown up. Sometimes prices were high when it came to saving a life. Sometimes, it even required a life for a life. Did that mean that one of us may have to die for Noah to live? And if so, could it mean that Malakai may sacrifice himself completely to save him?

"So what do you plan to do?" Gabrielle finally asked him.

Malakai sighed, "Well, for starters, we'll have to take Noah beyond the Veil. There is a special place there where a lot of creatures come looking to be healed. However, it's rather hard to get into without the proper powers. That will fall to me to get us inside." he explained.

"You wouldn't be thinking of taking Noah without some of us, would you?" Raphael spoke up.

"Of course not, although Melvin will not be able to accompany us at this time," Malakai admitted.

"Why not?" Gabrielle asked as we looked at our father.

"I'm only able to be here now because I wanted to help your sister and see you three again while I could. Unless something drastic changes, I'm still dead and gone, so I need to stay in the Heavens with your mother and the others." Dad explained to us.

It was sobering for us to hear that. He was right. Our father had died long ago. What we were seeing here was only his spirit.

"You needn't be so sad. There may come a day when Melvin can be with you again, but you can also meet with him and your mother in the dreamscapes. I can teach you how." Malakai offered.

"Really?" Gabrielle looked hopefully now.

Dad smiled at us, "I promise I'll do that with all of you. Your mother and I still want to be able to at least talk to you again."

"That would be nice to do. We've missed being able to." I confessed.

"Yes, I have too," Raphael acknowledged. He then turned his attention back to Malakai, "Back to the subject of Noah, since we don't have much more time, who are you thinking of taking with you and him?"

"I can only take three," Malakai answered.

"And you're choosing?" Raphael continued.

Malakai shook his head, "No. I'm going to leave that up to you all, but you do need to decide quickly. I can give you until dawn for it. Then we have to leave. If not, we'll be too late."

Our conversation ended shortly after this, and as hard as it was, we had to say goodbye to our father again. While he promised us that he would communicate with us however he could, it was still bittersweet. Maybe the only comfort was knowing that we had that open line to him now, even if it was on the other side.

I think that we all understood the gravity of our situation now too. In fact, looking back on it a few hours later as I sat at the top of the stairs, I couldn't help but think that things were finally about to come full circle. Malakai had returned, and once again, there was a sick Nephilim who desperately needed help.

In a way, it felt kind of like a sick joke. As much as we'd so wanted to have our Seraph back, we'd never wanted it to come about this way.

The feeling of someone sitting down beside me snapped me back to reality.

"Thinking things over?" Sean asked.

"You could say that. How's Noah doing?" I responded.

"He's stable for now, although he is in rough shape. It's a good thing that Malakai's here. He's been able to keep it from getting worse, but he says that he doesn't have a lot of time left to do what needs to be done. Personally, I'm a bit surprised that he allowed Eclipse to go as quickly as he did. He might have been able to use his help a little more." Sean explained.

I nodded, "Maybe, but then, maybe not. I think that this is far beyond Eclipse. It might even be somewhat beyond Malakai."

"I'd have to agree there. This is one hell of an illness, and I thought that I'd seen bad before." Sean admitted, shaking his head.

For a moment, the two of us sat in silence. But I was considering his words.

"I'm going to guess that you're talking about your brother." I finally said.

Sean smiled, looking out ahead of us again, "Yes, I am. I'm sure that you've heard about Tico being pretty sick as a young child. Our father had thought for a time that he might not even live that long."

"So why was that? Is it really because Fox twins born to human women have a weaker twin?" I asked him.

I was rather curious about all of this. Even though we'd known Sean and some of the other Foxes for years, we couldn't say that we knew that much about their kind on a whole, especially when they mixed with humans.

"It is true. It's a sad fact when it comes down to it. Typically, human women don't have twins from Foxes, although it does happen on rare occasions, as you well know now. But for whatever reason, the younger twin is usually much weaker than the older one. Not even the Foxes know why. But I can tell you that from the moment Tico and I were born, he was always the sicklier one. It's kind of ironic to me, considering that he looks much more like our father. Still, I remember many times as young children when Tico couldn't do half of what I could for his weakness and fevers. In fact, there was one time when we were four that our father was almost certain that Tico was getting ready to die." Sean explained.

I felt my eyes widen a little as he said that.

"So he really didn't think that he would live then?" I asked.

Sean shook his head, "No. It was wintertime, and a pretty harsh winter at that. I ended up sick too, although my sickness wasn't half as bad as his. I can remember Tico being laid out on the bed with a high fever, and having a hard time breathing. I stayed with him as much as I could, and when he could speak, we would talk about whatever we could think of. To be honest about it, I didn't want to see my brother die, so I thought that maybe I could help him by just being there with him and making him see that we weren't leaving him."

I could see the sadness in Sean's eyes as he spoke. This was still a painful memory for him, even though Tico had obviously survived. It made me think back to my own childhood. Although none of us had ever gotten that sick, say for Noel, whom we didn't even know about until the end, we had witnessed how Raphael had suffered while getting his wings. Still, that seemed to pale in comparison to the events with Sean and Tico.

Finally, I found my voice again, "So you were always there. Were you told not to be?"

"Not really." Sean replied, "I think that our parents were just as pained as we were, and our father didn't want us separated if it could be helped. It's funny for me to look back on all of that. Dad never played favorites when it came to me and Tico. He'd always treated us as equals, and he'd even told us several times before he died that he was glad that Tico managed to pull through and remain with me. He'd never believed in twins being separated, even by death, and personally, I think that losing Tico would've been a lot harder on him than others would have imagined. No matter what our father was or what his reputation was, he did love the family that he created with our mother. I think that it was the happiness that he'd always been looking for."

I looked down as I heard those words. Could I honestly say that about my own father early in our lives? There had been so much that had happened when we were children.

Yet, as I thought about it, there were little things, even back then, that proved how much he loved us. That was also true with Mom. Maybe that curse had affected them badly, but I do believe that they tried as hard as they could, and after what happened with Noel, I believe that it helped them finally break free of it because of how much they loved all of us.

"You know, it's funny for me to think about such things." I finally said, "Our parents really weren't ready for us, and that curse nearly wrecked all of our lives. But when Noel disappeared, things did change. I think that it was a horrible wake-up call that broke that darkness wrapping around us. I can even remember our mother begging God and the angels to return her safe and sound. The funny thing is that she'd never believed in anything until then, and even until the day she died, she began believing that there was a higher force again. Even though she panicked when Raphael got his wings, I think that she was proud too once it all set in. She finally understood our connection, even though the curse took her life."

Sean drew in a breath as I said that. Yes, he did know some of the Renaldi family's past, although he'd never said much to it. I believe that he and Sara had felt it respectful not to touch the subject unless it was brought up. But his next words surprised me.

"You know, I think that most parents start out not knowing what they're doing. Some take to the role, and some never do, and really, I was kind of surprised that Raziel and Anna did so well. To be honest with you though, I'm worried about them both. If Noah dies, then the worst may happen with them too."

"I know, but Malakai seems rather confident that he can save him too," I stated.

"Perhaps, but even a Seraphim doesn't have that much power over life and death. Whatever he's planning here, it has to be desperate measures." Sean reasoned.

I nodded, "I think that we're all well aware of that, but there are no other avenues to take except to listen to him. Raphael and Raziel are doing with us once the time comes, and hopefully, we'll all come back with Noah safe and sound again."

Sean smiled, "Yes, I agree," he said as he stood up with me, "But you know, on that note, I do think that we can trust that Malakai will do the right thing. He won't let the boy die. I'm sure of it."

I did want to believe Sean's words. I wanted to believe them with all of my heart. But at the same time, the grim reality was still sitting right in front of all of our faces. Noah's time was running out, and if this last effort didn't work, then he would die.

Hopefully, it would not come to that though, and this would be the answer. But for the time, we'd have to wait, and all we could do was pray.