25/XXV-B. Nothing Ever Can, Nothing Ever Will (Remastered)

“You already have a team of your own? Really?” Johnny ultimately mocked Arthur as they descend down the stairs of the mansion.

Johnny hovered around Arthur and continuously nagged him about his statements in the conference room in the MI-7 building.

The twin’s show in the MI-7 earlier got Edward in a cringe-ish situation, they drove back home after the meeting and the whole time, Edward was pre-occupied by his fleeting fear and thoughts.

He remembered the day he first saw Arthur’s angelic form and glory in the hospital, and putting together his adult-ish attitude and his wide variety of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of things even normal humans cannot fathom, he secretly trembled within.

Edward carefully observed his son’s facial expression and his demeanor on the drive back.

The child stayed silent and seeing his sorrowful face, it was a complete opposite and turnabouts of what he saw inside that meeting room.

He gulped, gauging if he can at least calm his son’s heart, or ask him if there’s something troubling his mind.

“I know you saw me that day, father. I can feel your fear.” Arthur broke his silence, those words pierced Edward’s ears and heart.

A foul smell that came from his fearful soul emanated even in the spiritual realm where Michael’s spirit roamed.

Edward didn’t speak or retort, he only averted his cold gazes outside the window of the car, until they arrived in the mansion.

As soon as they got out of the car, his father dashed inside the mansion and shut himself in his study room.

Arthur followed inside the mansion, only to be surprised by the gang at the living room.

He sweetly smiled, the first step is done. They have established themselves with the government.

“We don’t need anyone. We’ve solved the first and second puzzle.” Arthur continued to reassure Johnny as he became irritated without his personal space.

“We barely solved that one!” Johnny stomped as if he wanted Arthur to stop walking around.

“You barely did. I solved it quietly on my own.” Arthur’s retort embarrassed Johnny.

For a boy claiming to have an intelligence quotient of the same as Einstein’s, he quickly shut up from Arthur’s response.

“Arthur, if this will give us the position you need in the Interpol, then, I say, go for it.” Irene gladly raised her cup of tea out of agreement to what Arthur did and said in that room.

“Glad, you’re on board, fiancé.” Arthur smirked at the irritated face of Johnny as he sees the two getting along with each other.

“That’s not fair, okay.” Johnny pouted his lips.

“You’re too whiny. It’s too early in the evening. If you have any qualms with what I did in that room then go there yourself the second time we go.” Arthur seated himself at the center of the room, besides Irene, and poured himself a cup of chamomile tea.

He crossed his legs as he relaxed, sipping his tea, and glaring at Johnny.

“Fine. I’ll go the next time. Are you happy?” The twin stomped back upstairs and slammed the bedroom door behind him.

“He’s truly still a child.” Jackson got out of his bedroom from the room beneath the stairs, behind the kitchen room, and laid the book in his hand in the coffee table.

“I agree, the next time he pouts, you have my permission, Irene, to stuff his face with marshmallows.” Eddie came out of the kitchen room, to serve sweet milk puddings to the group.

“So… we’re going with everyone now?” Irene silently and elegantly slurped that hot tea down, with her breast-out stance, and crossed legs.

“I don’t… want to keep my brothers out of this. Besides, family bond is the most important thing that will get through anything.” Arthur’s words do seem to ring some sentiment to Irene.

Irene still remembered the times when her mother, Silvia, had done everything, just to keep the two of them alive.

She may have taken the hands of the devil, but she’s still family. Irene’s determined to keep her out of hell, and into repentance.

“For now, let’s concentrate on the current task at hand.” Irene gently laid her cup of tea at the coffee table, and tapped her fingers along the glass.

Arthur pulled out his smartphone from his side chest pocket, and searching for the next part of the puzzle – the sense of smell.

There are still two remaining places in the first puzzle – London Eye and the Big Ben.

“If it is the sense of smell, maybe, we’re talking medicine? Ammonia? Or something?” Jackson pitched in while he sat down at the couch and opened his laptop.

“From a medical point of view, it may be.” Arthur was still weighing in the situations.

“I’ll search for pharmacies or medical plants that were robbed or trespassed.” Jackson volunteered as he typed away interviews, articles, or news clippings of the current and past years.

“How about a garden? Somehow, it can also affect our smell, right?” Eddie grabbed his smartphone from the dining table and started searching as well.

“I’ll check for food and cooking.” Arthur started typing in food exhibits, competitions, cooking shows and everything that may involve the sense of smell.

The clicking and clacking of the keyboards and the smartphone bored Irene extremely, but she stayed put, and silent whilst the brains of the operations do their thing.

A creek of the door can be heard amongst the clicking of the keyboard from the room upstairs.

Johnny appeared to be lonely at the bedroom and heard them solving the next part of the puzzle intently.

“Can I help?” He peeked out the bedroom and tiptoed down the stairs, a hundred-eighty degrees from his attitude just a few minutes ago.

“Sure, baby. You can help.” Irene’s mocking voice frustrated him a little but he still joined his brothers checking everything.

Johnny brought with him his own laptop and checked other sources that they can use to refer to any recent happenings and articles around London.

-------------------- // --------------------

“Are you monitoring their network searches?” The chief back in the MI-7 clenched his fists as soon as he sat down in the meeting room, entering a room full of monitors on the Smith household.

Someone from across the street set up cameras to look inside the mansion’s windows, ultimately revealing the group’s set-up to the MI-7 intelligence staff.

The Internet Service provider of the Smith household were also hacked into by the intelligence team to be able to track everything that the children’s searches and talks to using the internet.

Knowing this would happen, Arthur never discussed it to the group. It would be awful to have your privacy taken from you, but it’ll be more traumatizing knowing that it was taken from you.

It’d be better for them not to know. He thought, as he casually checked the firewall from his phone, glitching and blurring out as the MI-7 hacked into the devices connected to the internet.

It’d be better for them to act natural, and they’ll act it if they don’t know the truth. He shut off his internet connection and glared directly at the camera from the building across the mansion.

“Sir! We’ve been spotted.” Mayer looked directly at the screen monitoring what’s going inside the mansion real time.

“He’s really an interesting kid.” The chief smirked, Arthur laid down his smartphone, stood up and stride confidently to the window, never averting his gaze from the camera from across the street.

“Make sure to monitor everything that comes in and out of that house.” One of the superintendent trembled in fear, Arthur’s gaze appeared as if going through the monitor to their very souls.

-------------------- // --------------------

As Arthur moved with caution he remembered the time he assisted a human chosen by God challenged a similar high-ranking government official.

“Michael, are you sure we need to be here?” Jessiel, the angel of blessing, hovered around the physical realm with Michael from afar the Canaan plains.

“The order came from Gabriel himself, would you like us to confirm with Father at the throne room?” Jessiel gulped as his eyes met Michael’s intense and irritated stares.

“Nope, I’m sure Father has a reason why I need to give them this specific blessing, right?” Jessiel awkwardly chuckled as he glided down and followed Michael towards Canaan.

“Abram and Sarai are… “ Michael sighed and looked beyond the sunrise.

“They’re… one of the few righteous people left here.” He continued.

Looking back what happened with the Tower of Babel, and the increased darkness and evil in the lands.

The curse of sin can be clearly viewed in the spiritual realm, but not in the physical realm.

Darkness enveloped the spiritual realm with the same frequency as this Earth, but the physical realm appeared to be untouched, however, as time passed, murders, crimes, and the damage of humans to the nature were evidently showing everywhere.

Few of the people had to be strong and righteous to survive the evil cycle.

One of those people was Terah. He lived in the abundant place of Haran.

Gabriel already went down to Earth to Haran a few years ago to deliver a message from God to Abram – “Depart from your kindred.” And he did.

He took Sarai for his wife, and Lot, his brother’s son, and all of the substance they have gathered and the people they had from Haran.

The people gathered with Abram, Sarai, and Lot travelled a long way south to Canaan as Gabriel instructed him to go to Canaan.

Not long after, Michael and Jessiel were sent down to seek Abram and his wife in the plains of Canaan – a land flowing with milk and honey.

“There.” Michael pinpointed Abram’s tent.

“Should we be out and about with our wings?” Jessiel worriedly tapped on Michael’s shoulder.

Michael snapped his fingers and in the blink of an eye, Jessiel’s and Michael’s wings were tucked in and they two dressed in casually according to the people around them.

Power of transformation – a simple command of snapping his fingers, the Captain showed his tenacity to the new fledgling.

“Cool!” Jessiel’s anxiety and fear reflected as a mirror as he tried to smile awkwardly again.

“Wipe that smile off of your face.” His fear irritated Michael even more.

The two approached Abram’s tent and the two gazed at the possessions of the man.

“Wooooooow… Ugh!” Jessiel’s amazement was met with an elbow jacked up his stomach due to his ‘ignorance’.

“Could you pull yourself together?” Michael whispered as they approached the tent.

“Abram.” The voice sounded deep, threatening, but… at the same time, warm? Abram heard a similar deep voice before he travelled from Haran.

Is it… the messenger of God? His thoughts went spiralling. He walked out of his tent and went eye to eye with the messengers.

“I am he.” He extended his gaze to the other fellow.

“The Lord has spoken.” Michael stepped back, and Jessiel looked up to Abram’s eyes, warm, and welcoming.

“Unto thy seed, I will give this land.” Jessiel declared the promise of God, his glory endures forever and ever.

Sarai was far across the Valley as of the moment, and as Abram treated the two guests as friends, the guards didn’t mind them in the midst of the lands.

“Would you like to stay for a moment and talk with me?” Abram offered, his kind hospitality assured Jessiel that he was giving the right man of his blessings.

He smiled, and declined Abram’s offer. “If we happen to run to each other the second time, I’ll definitely take your offer.” His amazed and anxious face turned into a calm one with peace and serenity.

This transformation made Michael glad for a moment.

“How about you, sir?” Abram extended his hand to Michael.

The archangel only smiled and grabbed Abram’s hands with two of his, and with warmth, he responded, “I’d love that, but… it would be for another time.” He continued, and the two disappeared as if they were never there in the first place.

Abram felt the warmth of God, and of the two strangers exactly in that place, and he sanctified the ground and built an altar for God and named it, “Bethel”, meaning, “House of God”.

He continued going south and not long after, Canaan faced a famine.

Famines and pestilence were a commonality on Abram’s era, it wasn’t surprising to experience it first hand after leaving Haran, but since it was unforeseen, Abram had no choice but to leave the place and settle in Egypt where the effects of famine were minimal.

Before they entered Egypt, Abram and Sarai made preparations, but this one saddened Michael, Gabriel, and Jessiel for a bit.

“Would it be alright if you tell them that you are my sister, rather than my wife so that the Egyptians won’t kill me for your beauty?” Despicable… how can you even suggest that to your wife? What kind of fear made you into this man? Michael observed and keenly listened from afar.

Sarai stood silent, appearing to have agreed to her husband. She was indeed his half-sister, shared by their father Terah, but they do not share the same mother.

In a way… She thought.

And Abram stood correct – the Egyptians found Sarai to be fair, beautiful, and the Pharaoh has taken in a liking of her – inviting her to his house, and inviting the wrath and the curse of the Lord.

“It was… just his tactics to survive… you know.” Raphael tried to bargain and defend the actions of Abram.

“Come on. If that’s not barbaric, then I don’t know what is!” Lucifer stood in the corner mocking God’s decision of choosing Abram.

“Do you find this amusing?” Raguel spoke aggravated by the very presence of Samael in the room.

“Stop arguing.” Michael uncaringly rolled his eyes to the bickering of his brothers.

“Instincts?” Raphael tried to reason it out.

“They’re not animals, Raph!” Jophiel slammed the throne room doors and pulled out her dagger out, flaunting it in front of Samael.

“You think that’ll scare me?” Lucifer puffed and smirked as he pulled out his colorful wings, and glided down to Earth and then to Hell.

“Yeah, that’s… that’s right! Run away, you! You, accuser!” Jessiel tried to pitch in the meeting table – seemingly awkward as always.

“Is this him?” Raguel glared at Jessiel intensely. He hovered around him and checked his facial features carefully and closely.

“Stop that.” Azrael pulled Raguel from hovering around Jessiel.

“Is it true? You’re the angel of blessings?” Raphael sprang up from his feet and smiled at the new fledgling.

“There’s two of them, actually.” Michael retracted from his laidback approach. He looked straight in Jophiel’s eyes.

The internal angels were the one keeping the new fledglings in line, and keeping organization inside the heaven’s host lead by the archangel of war and beauty – Jophiel.

“The other one is still on Earth, pillaging the Pharaoh for taking in Sarai in his home.” The archangel of war had this grievous gaze and at the same time, wrathful fiery in her eyes.

“What’s the name of the other one?” Raguel averted his eyes to everyone, wondering the name of the other new fledgling.

“It’s Maloriel, angel of curses.” Jophiel stated in silence. This was the first time that God hath created something that can potentially create evil in the world.

No, this was the second time.

Samael was the first, Maloriel was the second.

It was not a good sign for the Archangels, especially for Michael.

The angel ravaged the land of Egypt as the Archangels and the angels stand and looked in silence back in Heaven.

The Pharaoh soon realized that Abram lied to them and that taking in Sarai in his house brought curse to his land.

He briefly returned the beauty to her rightful husband and sent him and his family out of the country.

“In the end, that lie only multiplied his riches a thousand times!” Raguel stood amidst everyone, frustrated and angered by the fact that Abram’s lies and conceit were only rewarded.

“Disburse. Get back to your missions. We have no say in this, no matter what, remember?” Michael quickly disbanded the meeting as soon as Maloriel flew back home.

-------------------- // --------------------

“Have you spotted anything on your end?” Jackson, Eddie, and Johnny continued discussing what they searched from the internet.

Arthur stood unmoving and uncaring at the window, still, and glaring at the camera across the street.

Irene thought his actions were too weird and decided to stand up from her seat and approach him.

“Arthur, are you okay?” He seemed like he didn’t hear that.

“Arthur?” She drew closer, and grabbed his shoulder. As soon as she did, a whirling sensation took over Arthur, and pulled him back to reality.

He grabbed her hands, ready to slam her down, but his eyes reacted much faster than his body and as soon as he saw Irene, he stopped his senses, calmed his nerves, and softly and gently let go of her hand, and turned around.

“I’m sorry. I was lost in my thoughts.” He smiled, but Irene can see his hands shaking. From the fact that he just tried to slam her down because he was grabbed from his shoulders.

“What is it?” He asked, his smile bugged her even more, but nevertheless, she didn’t push it. “I just thought you should pitch in the ideas here.” Irene answered, responded simply to what was being asked.

“I already got the third one, thanks to all of you.” Arthur bent to see the view of his brothers working together.

“Really? What is it?” Johnny glimmering eyes thrilled Arthur the most, but he wanted to hold it out, due to the listening walls, and he wanted his brothers to at least voice their deductions in this one.

“I’m not telling. I’ll be telling once I hear your answers and deductions.” He continued.

“Not fair!” Johnny playfully typed away with his laptop’s keyboard.