REBIRTH

Chapter 11

We walked home much in the same manner as we had on the way here. Samuel walked ahead of me slowing down occasionally to ensure I was never too far, but not enough for me to get too close. Far from being hurt by his obvious desire to be away from me, I was relieved. I had too much to think about. Xamia had dumped too much on me. I was made aware that I am only a small component of a huge planet, which in turn was a small part of a huge galaxy, which was a part of a huge Universe... Talk about making someone feel insignificant. Yet they had an ex-Ascended Master who even they, whom I assumed were the highest authority in this world, had to call Master looking after me. What a contradiction.

What in the world could he be protecting me from? How could I be a threat to anyone? One would think I would remember if I was up to something important or dangerous, but truth was I couldn't even remember my favorite brand of cereal so I shouldn't have been too surprised.

Lost as I was in my out thoughts, I almost missed the glowing bird in flight breaking through clouds. Samuel stopped walking and I followed suit, stopping a few paces away from him. The bird seemed to be making its way directly toward Samuel. Only it wasn't a bird...

It was the most magnificent winged being I had ever seen. Not that I could recall seeing many, but the beauty and peace radiating from him was almost blinding. His white feathered wings carried his long and slender body through the air with unparalleled grace. Although I could make out the features of his beautiful face, I could not distinguish if he was wearing clothes he was glowing so bright.

He directly approached Samuel, who did not seem the least alarmed, and enveloped him in what seemed a brief affectionate embrace. His wings retracted behind him as stepped back, while some sort of communication transpired between him and Samuel. He looked in my direction a few times, which led me to believe I was one of the topics of their conversation. After a few moments he looked my way more time, but this time he afforded me the sweetest smile and what seemed like an approving nod.

I just stood paralyzed like the idiot that I probably looked like, watching his wonderful wings expand and take him up in the air with one swift flap. If I didn't know better, I could have sworn he winked at me before turning up to the skies to disappear where he'd come from.

The first coherent thought I could conjure was 'what the fuck!' Magic doors, magic kitchens, Elders, Masters and now flying men? What the fuck!?

"I'm approaching" I called after Samuel.

"You don't need to alert me of your proximity" said a sullen Samuel.

"Well... I assume that since you seem to be a rather rational person, you must have good reason to not want me near you. Plus... How can I say this politely...? Your undergarments seem to bunch up every time I come close to you, so I'm just being cautious. I wouldn't want to startle you" Samuel turned to look at me with a questioning raised eyebrow. "You know... Like when you invade a wild animal's territory and you have to be cautious as to not to provoke it?" I said with the assistance of a lot of hand gestures.

"What do you want?" he said still looking at me like I was a nuisance he could hardly tolerate.

"What was that?" I asked ignoring his hostility.

"Who, not what. That was Raphael" he said.

"Oh well ya... Of course" I said with as much sarcasm as was humanly possible.

"How can you not know who Raphael is? Even your kind must have heard of the Archangel" I could feel my jaw drop. An archangel. Holly shit! What was next the Easter bunny?

"What did he say?" I asked not hiding my excitement. "Why didn't you call me over so I could meet him?" I was short of bouncing on my feet.

"He was delivering a message, and I didn't think an introduction was in order" Samuel said still sounding annoyed.