The Awakening Ch. 51-63

"That is unthinkable!" Elaine exclaimed, Caliope could see there was a rage surging from her, something she never saw before. "This can't happen... no... not again..." she continued. Wiltshire put a hand on her shoulder and she turned to look at his eyes. "This is not happening... it can't be..."

"It might, but we need to stop it before they start... Young one, what can you tell us of who they are, where they have Gaius, anything..." Wiltshire asked just as Maxwell joined them, nodding to all as he was put aware of what was happening already.

"Where to begin... I wasn't prepared to give a report here... I was only going to come and go..." Angelus said with a small frown and a pensive stance.

"Please excuse us for being so eager, take your time... would you like to rest some? a room perhaps?" Caliope began, she felt responsible for his well being and she felt different towards him, there was something about him that made her feel she should look after him, even though he didn't look like a harmless soul.

Angelus looked at her again and half smiled, then Maxwell cleared his throat and drew his attention. "What made you stay? why you didn't... come and go... like you said you were going to."

"I was drawn to her, she has... an aura, something..." He replied without hesitation.

"If you try anything on her... I don't need to tell you what kinds of horrors I will put you through..." Pronab said almost without thinking.

Angelus became serious and stared back at Pronab in an unspoken exchange, probably something only those of dark nature would understand. After some time, he pulled his eyes away from him and looked at Amra. "I won't try to harm her... and even if... is not like she can be touched either..."

"What do you mean?" Elaine interrupted.

Angelus looked at her with confusion. "You don't know?" And perked a brow.

Caliope looked at him with the same confusion. "No, I think neither of us understands what you mean... will you please tell us?"

Angelus nodded at her and then looked at Amra. "Will you keep her busy? distracted... so I can prepare."

Amra hesitated at first then nodded, whatever he was going to try now, he was with her and would make sure no harm was done to her. Caliope looked at Angelus then Amra, and he smiled at her, caressing her face softly. 'I don't mind as long as I am with you... I won't let him or anyone harm you... I love you.' He whispered to her and kissed her lips softly, making her blush. Before she could reply she heard Elaine gasp and turned her head towards her.

She never expected in her wildest dreams to see what she saw; Angelus' chain-like wings were brushing her shoulder, or at least trying to, but from her back that liquid black was preventing from him to reach her. "My wings tend to brush things sometimes, and that is how by chance I felt it, I take it is the first time you all notice this?" Angelus said while retracting his wings to his back, where they easily faded from sight. At the same time, the black liquid mass from Caliope also retracted and disappeared.

"It is the first time I see it... but you have seen it before, Amra?" Elaine asked, slowly recovering from the surprise of the discovery. Caliope herself was still shocked.

"Yes, in my case, when I saw her covered by the liquid latex-like texture, it moved away and allowed me to touch her." Amra said while nodding, his hand gently caressing Caliope's arm as he kept her close.

"And it didn't show up when she herself grabbed my hand." Angelus added with a nod.

"It is as if it has life on its own and recognizes who is someone to trust or who I trust... I don't feel it as if it is me... I don't feel it at all, I see it, I saw it come out of me... but I don't feel it, not like my hair or anything... how can that be?" Caliope finally was able to speak after the first shock.

"Darling, it looks like you have nothing to worry about, relax... this is, strange, new, rare and wonderful at the same time... it actually makes me feel better about your safety. Don't get me wrong, we will try to find out more about what exactly it is, but knowing it is protecting you makes me feel a lot better." Elaine said with a smile, Caliope took a deep breath and nodded, relaxing and leaning on Amra. Then Elaine looked at Angelus and continued. "I apologize for the first... hostile welcoming, but you must understand we are surprised you reached this far in a city full of us, undetected."

"I am a messenger... I have ways not many have... If it helps you all feel better, I don't think anyone else could reach this far." Angelus said as he nodded.

"Thank you... for now, we will assign you a room, and give you some space to adjust... but we would like to know more when you feel you are ready to share." Said Elaine and he smiled at her bowing his head.

After that, Pronab and Maxwell stayed in the room while Elaine, Gabrielle and Wiltshire lead Angelus to a new room for his own. Caliope sighed and looked at Pronab before anyone spoke. "I feel I can trust him, Pronab... I really do... it is strange... it is a weird connection I feel with him, similar to what I feel with you... I think that we need to take advantage and ask everything we can when he starts to talk." And Pronab nodded.

"We will do that, and we also need to know more from Gabrielle, I will ask her myself. For now, you two rest, relax, and let's wait for when Angelus is ready to talk." Maxwell said as he turned around and headed out, followed by Pronab.

Once they were alone, Amra closed his eyes and sighed. "I felt like I almost lost you... I couldn't reach you..."

Caliope squeezed him tight and shook her head. "He said you were about to break his shield, so you were going to reach me soon... And you saw, I am not able to be harmed apparently... I have my own dark guardian for when you are not with me."

He looked at her and sighed again, holding her with a hand, while the other one was behind her neck, caressing her. He rested his forehead on hers. "That doesn't take away how powerless I felt. It doesn't take how powerless I feel..."

She caressed his face and he tilted his head towards her hand. "I never felt like I was in any danger, I was surprised but not afraid... Please trust me... you are far from powerless... now let's focus on what we know, and all of what we will know when Angelus talks."

Amra nodded and Caliope pulled him gently to follow her, she laid on the bed and he did as well, both cuddling each other, smiling while she spoke. "I love you, too."

--

Chapter 58

"Revelations"

"I want to start by approaching this weird connection you claim to have with him, and Pronab... I thought about it deeply last night, I think we have to talk to Angelus more about it but, perhaps your father left inside of you something else besides his blood." Elaine said as they were walking towards the gathering room, Caliope was listening closely as she followed a step behind. As soon as they arrived to the room, they sat in different chairs and quietly waited for Gabrielle and Angelus.

Amra closed his eyes as he stood next to the window, he focused on feeling the strings that tied him to the universe. In the silence of his own mind, he sensed each Angel's joy and tension around them in the city; he followed their moves and their thoughts. He pushed further and reached the borderline, the walls that were lifted in the past few days to physically limit them from the rest of the world, then moved further away. He felt the tension of his mind reaching so far yet contained so hardly. Once he was sure everything that far was safe he focused on the room he was in. The aura of energy in each person was different but reliable; they had their hearts in the task at hand, everyone was focused on helping and all were on the same side. As he finally felt he could let his own guard down, sighed and opened his eyes; Caliope met him with a smile and he put his arms around her. 'I love you'

She blushed slightly and leaned up to kiss him. 'I love you too... everything will be fine, I just know it will...'

Gabrielle walked into the room followed by Angelus; he greeted everyone's eyes briefly with a nod but remained on Caliope with a smile as he sat in a chair.

"Gabrielle, Angelus, thank you for joining us. I want to make clear this before we begin; we hold great power, but lack a lot of information... a key to unravel the mystery behind Gaius disappearance and how to end this war that has already escalated beyond anyone's dreams or nightmares. Your role will bring much light on those subjects Angelus, we don't take slightly either the fact you chose to be on our side as well." Elaine started without wasting a minute.

Angelus nodded at her and remained calm as she continued. "I will start by enlightening you about a few things. Gabrielle is my daughter, and she has been undercover working underground for years to gather as much information as she could. The more specific details of that, I am sure she will handle herself to you personally. Everyone in this room is to be trusted, so what you say to us will be highly guarded and it won't reach any other's ears. So please, let's begin if you are comfortable with this?" She finished as she sat on her chair looking straight on Angelus' eyes.

"Thank you, Lady Clark." He smiled at her and took a deep breath. "I gathered yesterday by your reactions that there is much you don't know; so please excuse me if I rush several things at once, I guess we will answer your questions in the process. To begin with the biggest question of all, no one even in the highest circles talk about Gaius' whereabouts; there has been whispers about this but to many, it is a mystery itself. A very useful mystery, since it gave them courage to act the way they had been... we had been..." he admitted as he lowered his eyes briefly. "I am a messenger, I was... so what I know is what Generals passed to other Generals and that included their admission of not knowing what happened to him. But there is also a key person missing, a bigger mystery into this story; someone who's absence or disappearance might had been passed as unnoticed or without importance until I pointed it out. A year before Gaius' disappearance I was tasked with delivering a package from the researchers to one of the higher Generals, but as he was in battle, my orders were to leave it in the hands of his second in command, Ignitious. He was eager to be left alone with it so I did, and as always, I rested a day before returning to my land. That very same day was the last day everyone saw Ignitious, and when I returned the next day, I was asked to report. This was new to me..." He stopped briefly as he saw confusion in their eyes and leaned on the chair as he continued. "I am a messenger; but not just any type of messenger. Due to my particularly unique ways of traveling and special gifts, my service is often asked. I have the privilege of being able to refuse some of them, no one, ever, asked me to report. This happens only when something went very bad. When I was asked to report, I was met by a room full of generals and they asked me details of what happened; I had nothing strange to report, I delivered the package as instructed, to whom I was pointed at in case of the absence of that General. When I was dismissed without explanations I got worried and decided to stay behind closed doors and heard their conversation. The package never got to the General's hands, and his second Ignitious had been missing ever since. Days later I found out everyone of the researchers was vanished, someone or something vanished them, and it had many on their guards as no one knew how or why. This was quickly forgotten when words spread of Gaius' absence. I tied the dots; whatever the researchers discovered ended up in the unprepared hands of Ignitious and he was behind of their deaths and Gaius' disappearance. Of course, no one paid attention to my words; to them I am the best at my job, but I am just that, a messenger." He finished with clear annoyance.

The room went silent for a moment, and the tension grew by the minute. Angelus began to grow uncomfortable with this and Caliope felt it as well. She looked for a sign of any word that would come out of any of them but everyone was completely immersed with their own thoughts.

She stood up and they locked their gaze on her. "Did they had any records of what were the researchers doing? did they do any kind of investigation at all?" Caliope asked at Angelus and he shook his head.

"As far as I know, they sealed their building and no one has entered there since." He replied.

"What ever they discovered must have been behind it. This guy, Ignitious, got a hold of something only he and the other General were expecting, or something that had to do with them, why else those researchers would send it to them? It must have been something powerful and dangerous, something that made probably Ignitious himself vanish the researchers so no one else could know. They did wrong in not taking your words serious Angelus, everything makes perfect sense." Caliope continued, exasperation in her eyes and tone of voice. "How could they be so blind?" She shook her head.

"Darling, you are receiving all this information in order and in a single statement, they had days and many events while getting all of these. It might be possible they were too caught up in many other things to see it so clearly as you and all of us are." Elaine explained to Caliope and she nodded in reply, sitting once more next to Amra.

"Explain to us what is special about your traveling ways, please..." Elaine continued as she looked kindly at Angelus, he in return smiled and pondered his words before replying.

"In a way, my walls turn me invisible... I move in this realm yet I am not here."

"But we saw you." Elaine interrupted.

"You saw me... because of her..." He pointed at Caliope with a grin. "Her presence, her essence worked as an anchor of some sort, to this realm... my basic shield remained strong, I was still safe inside of it, but I was no longer invisible... My guess is, her connection to him made it impossible. Or what is inside her and protects her, made it that way." He shrugged as he chuckled.

"Amazing... so I am being protected in many ways. I can sleep with that." Caliope added as she began to chuckle as well.

"It could very well be either of those options, you are right Angelus. Thank you, it does make us feel better as well about you transpassing our lines." Elaine added with a smile. "What can you tell us more?"

"Well, besides Gaius' disappearance and my powers, she is the biggest mystery either of our worlds have seen. Her father, to whom I had the pleasure to work with before, was one of the most valuable assets on our side. She has it in her, I can feel it, I can sense it... she has the bloodline that ties her with the dark Angels." He again nodded.

"What can you tell us about that? About what you know, what you've seen." Elaine encouraged him to continue.

"Her father was one of the most important and influential people on the dark side; he was feared in battle I know, but I met him several times as he requested my services often, and he was a very intelligent one. There was calculated moves and thoughts into every order he gave, perhaps that was the very same reason he was so effective. He was one of our good ones."

Caliope smiled as she heard the words that described her father, she felt pride surge through her. "I understand he was on the bad side, or well, for him, his side. But I feel some kind of relief hearing you say those things about him Angelus, thank you." She admitted.

"Relief for what? because he was a dark Angel and you are paired with a light one? That is one thing I never understood completely but neither let it bother me much; there is nothing wrong on being dark or light, I think it is in our natures and our ways of being. It is how we do the things we do and what we do in particular, what really matters." He said to her as he looked into her eyes.

"I agree, I guess I am just now finally accepting all of this. I wish I could have met him..." Caliope sighed.

"You just need to remember him, he was with you before he died, he and your mother both were very sad, but he knew there was a chance he might not survive the last battle ahead of him. I was appointed to take the message of you and your mother delivering you to a monk, and he made you disappear." He told her and she widened her eyes.

"So I... at some point... did lived with both of them?" She asked still surprised.

"Yes you were, he actually had retired from battle until he was called to stand with his people. To fight. Also another message I had to deliver." He admitted this with sadness. "I saw he didn't want to leave you and your mother, but he had no choice, we don't get to chose if either we stay or join a fight, we are forced to give our last breath for the cause."

"That is sad to hear, truly. I am sorry it ended that way. He was a great contendant, the one we feared the most." Elaine said with a string of pain in her voice. "But I am glad there was love there, and happy to hear she shared some of that love with them, even if shortly. I am also more convinced that when you parted from his side, he probably poured in you some of his powers, Caly... this might explain why he didn't endure enough the battle, why he succumbed to the final death, yet you survived all odds and are here being both feared and wanted."

"I want to know about the ones who met before you left their side, and the plans they were making." Amra interrupted Elaine as he looked at Angelus with a stone cold glare.

There was silence in the room, and Angelus caught his thoughts in order before he finally responded, seen no one objected Amra's question. "I was asked to deliver a message to the current highest in command, General Alexander. It was from Rome's outpost, a box locked inside another box, and the message was simple: 'When the time comes, open it inside the mind of the chosen one'. The General was not happy neither sad about this, he seemed actually... unaffected by it. But to me, it didn't mean good. After that he was called to a meeting and I was asked to remain there for another message when the meeting ended. I was in the next room, I heard about the suggestion of one of the elders to kidnap the Asterias and that way we would make a trade, all of the Asterias in exchange for Caliope. Force all Angels and Half Bloods to turn against her. That drew the line for me, as soon as I was told I wasn't needed, I left. I wondered for a while why was I so upset... It bothered me and I felt frustrated. I wandered many places until I landed here, I was caught up with the surprise that I was here... in her room, watching her sleep. The rest, is known by all of you." He finished and silence, again, took over.

"And then, there is a connection you feel with her, explain that to us." Amra finally spoke, his jaw tensed, he didn't even know why but anything about Caliope that he didn't understand felt threatening.

"I wanted to start this meeting by approaching that subject itself, but the conversation took a different course; either way, here we are, and now more than before, I want to hear that connection as well." Elaine pushed on the subject more.

Angelus looked at Caliope, a smile on his face. He wasn't worried about it, but he was aware he had to explain more. "To be honest, I was very confused at first. But I think I understand a bit more of it now. Don't get me wrong, I still am not sure of what it is exactly, but her father was a leader, someone who inspired confidence, trust, hope. I think he brings the same reactions in those who she meets now more than ever, since her awakening. She is a leader, she is inspiring, and that is what leads them to go to the extreme in order to get her. I don't want to be a part of their plans, I want to prevent the catastrophe they want to unleash. That is why I am here now, my loyalty to his father, and her personality itself, both convinced me to stay and help."