Chapter 04

ZION

I woke up hours later. The sun just began to peak the horizon indicating a new day. Rays of orange, red, and soft yellow bombarded into my room. I perched myself up on my elbows and took in the heat of the sun as it caressed my skin and brought life to it.

The creator created many wrong things in the world, mortals being one of them, but the simple sunrise and sunset that he created was probably his most majestic creation yet. A simple sunrise brought not only the dawn of a new day but it brought new beginnings and a fresh start to those who hadn't seen any hope in a long time.

I shrugged the comforter off me and then dragged my now rested body out of the bed. Placing both my legs on solid ground, I realized that I seemed to have regained feeling in them again. I didn't want to test my luck by just standing up for me to end up kissing the floor so I took my time, gradually lifting my weight up.

There was no wobble. It seemed like my legs knew exactly what to do this time. I stretched out my muscles a bit, hearing the sore and tense muscles and bones crack as they released the unwanted tension in my body before taking a few steps forward. I seemed to be fine. As if whatever happened didn't happen at all.

The moment I left my room I headed straight to the room my parents shared which was at the end of the hall. The door was open slightly and I could see my mother perched on the bed with round, stuffed cheeks. I used a finger to edge the door open enough for my mother to see me kneeling on the threshold.

She smiled at me shamelessly the moment her piercing blue eyes met mine. She then gulped down an entire glass of what looked to be orange juice before giving me a toothy grin.

I chuckled to myself. My mother was as mature as a sixth-grader at times and she got overly excited for the simplest of things that mortals would usually take for granted.

"Mom would you slow down before you choke on whatever it is you're eating," I playfully warned, walking toward her and examining the plate that sat on a small fold up table that laid in front of her.

"It's not every day your father brings me breakfast in bed Zion," she gleefully said, "Maybe I should try this almost dying thing more often."

I glared at my mother in disbelief. She was perfectly fine and back to her normal, jovial self. Bad jokes included, "Mom, too soon."

My mother rolled her eyes at me and then smiled as her eyes fell to a figure that stood at the entrance of the bedroom. I knew who the figure was just by the way her eyes lit up. She was just as in love with my father as he was with her. Their love never faded all this time. In fact, I was sure it just grew stronger with each passing day.

"A little demon told me you happened to be crying for me," my mother pouted, "What happened? Can't you live without me?"

My father took long strides over to us. He bent down on one knee and took my mother's hands in his. Fumbling with her fingers a bit out of embarrassment I assume, he sincerely said, "I would never be able to live without you, Ciana. You're the light at the end of my dark tunnel so what am I without you?"

My mother cocked her head up, looking at the ceiling as she used her available hand to tap her chin with her index finger in a mock thinking position, "You would be an endless tunnel without me."

"Exactly, a tunnel with no happiness or joy, only darkness. And I don't want to go back to that place."

My mother offered him a sympathetic smile as she leaned forward to lightly peck his forehead. She ran her hand through his disheveled hair and then settled her hand on his cheek. My father's face looked massive in my mother's dainty hand, "You will never lose me. I will always be with you and Zion," she asserted, extending her hand out to me.

I held her hand and sat beside her on the bed, "Mom, who was it?"

She looked at me confused, her brows knitting together causing frown lines to appear on her small, dainty forehead.

"Who was is that freaked you out? Who was it that did that to you...to us?" I couldn't refrain myself from asking. After all these years, after everything that happened, I deserved to know the truth.

At least I thought I did.

"Son, millenniums ago only two realms existed. When the third was created it was meant to be like a..." my mother trailed off.

"Like a prison," my father completed, "It was meant to be a punishment for going against the creator. It gave Lucifer a realm of his own to rule but at a price. That price was that we couldn't leave the realm. The creator wanted I show Lucifer that he wasn't as capable as he thought to rule over us, to keep us united, and slowly, Lucifer began to see that as we became bored of living in one place and began finding ways to escape." My father glanced at my mother with love in his eyes and he gave her hand that settled in his cheek a light squeeze. I quickly took notice of his my father's hand practically swallowed my mom's in his before paying attention to what they were saying once more.

"And you both wonder why I don't follow rules," I joked in an attempt to lighten the now heavy atmosphere that settled between us.

My father rolled his dark, hooded eyes before continuing, "We found one way to escape hell. The place your subconscious took you too was a place that lies between the realm of mortals and the realm of hell."

"It's how demons come into this realm. It's a bridge that was created. Under the bridge is a sea full of anger and hate. It is known as the sea of lost souls," my mother explained further. A frown now covering the soft features of her face.

"When an angel fails to change the ways of a wayward mortal they were assigned to. The moment that mortal dies, his soul is transported to the sea where they will live a restless immortal life," my father went on, "The bridge thrives partially on the sea. As long as there are wayward mortal committing sins then that sea will never run dry and that bridge will never break."

I sat there trying to comprehend all the newfound information. My father explained that not only my subconscious but I could also physically transport myself to the bridge. He explained that if the bridge was broken then demons would not have a way to enter the realm of mortals but no light magic would be able to destroy the bridge for the bridge was protected by dark magic. Only someone who wielded dark magic would be able to destroy the bridge but no demon would do that because they gained their strength from mortals alone.

"And this is why I have decided that it's about time I began teaching you to wield dark magic," my father declared with a grim expression. His tone wasn't all that cheery either.

"Do you want me to destroy the bridge?"

"No son! That is completely up to you. But learning how to wield dark magic will help you defend yourself," my mother nodded as if she was trying to convince herself of what she was saying and not just me. "Now, go get ready because you can't be late for your first day of school."

I let out an exasperated sigh, "Do I have to?"

"Yes and no missing classes big man," my mother ruffled my hair and began to giggle. I hated it when she did that but it made her unexplainably happy seeing the annoyed reaction that I had every time she did.

With that, I left my parent's bedroom and got myself cleaned up for my first day at the new school my parents enrolled me into. The last school I'd possibly be attending because if I messed up again there was no telling what would happen to me.