Phoenix

Chapter Eight

Heaven, for lack of better terms, was incredibly breathtaking. Humans thought Earth's natural reserves were beautiful, but Heaven...well, Heaven took each aspect that made Earth beautiful and let it blossom to an almost inconceivable level. From rolling hills the color of jade, to forests that stretched as far as the eye could see, all the way to crystal clear oceans. From snowy mountaintops all the way to scorching, rolling deserts, Heaven was truly a sight to behold.

But despite its beauty...the nerves coursing through my body made it impossible for me to appreciate untouched nature at its finest, and I was honestly surprised I hadn't passed out yet due to the sheer force of it. Somehow, I managed to keep my wits about me as the large, familiar building came into view. Magnificent in its stature, with wildflowers of all shapes and colors growing in nearly every corner. Fountains forged in artistry on the path leading to those large, glittering doors...there were quite a bit of memories blossoming in the back of my mind of my first time coming to this place, naked and incredibly curious of literally everything. And there were some bad memories as well, but I wasn't about to open that can of baggage.

I looked around me just to make sure I was relatively alone, and when I saw no one, I took a deep breath, reassuring myself that I was fine and that my old mentor was long gone before I slowly made my way into the large, extravagant building.

My heart thundered in my chest so hard I swore I could feel it echoing around in the large room I had entered. A room that was terribly familiar and unchanged, even after all these millennia. Everything was just as I remembered it; marbled floors covered with intricately made rugs, statues of various angels and pictures of God himself lining the walls. Everything was pretty much the same, and I honestly couldn't decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing. After all, time in Heaven was a whole different breed, compared to Earth, and I wondered if I had truly been gone for all those years, or if it only had been a few days here. I couldn't tell, honestly. And that was probably thanks to all the memories that were bombarding my mind.

After a moment though, I took a deep breath and began walking further inside, hurrying along to Father's Thone Room; one of the places Father tended to frequent. I just hoped he was actually there, so I didn't have to roam around Heaven trying to find him. But that would be my shitty luck, as my whole life was the opposite of what I had initially hoped for. Besides, if he wasn't there, I would have to roam around Heaven trying to find him, and I was strictly limiting myself to a minimal portion of Heaven, because I seriously didn't want to be seen by anyone who could recognize me. Fuck that. I wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone other than Father, and that was already giving me quite the anxiety attack.

Well, stop fucking thinking about it you dumbass, I mentally scolded myself as I passed by a table with a beautifully crafted vase filled with Elpharoses. You're only making your anxiety worse by thinking about shit you don't need to be thinking about. All of this can wait until your safe at home with your cat, comfy in your bed with something alcoholic in your hand.

I pinched the bridge of my nose as I walked past a wall fountain, my mind practically all over the place as I approached the Throne Room doors. Taking a breath, I placed my hand on the intricately carved door handle and pulled it open, biting the inside of my cheek as I peeked into the large room beyond.

Gorgeous in its design, really, with a glass domed ceiling that showed off the gorgeous blue sky above, the sun illuminating much of this room. Flowers of all kinds were either hanging from the ceiling in cute, little pots, or placed in vases all around the room. The marble floors were similar to the floors outside of the room, but these had depictions of other gods, probably friends of Father's, other angels, and occasionally of animals that never made it down during Earth's design. And in the direct center of it all was Father's throne. Beautifully carved with ivory vines and wood, carved and curled into a pretty design with hints of flowers and leaves poking about. It was indeed beautiful...but there was just one problem, and that was the fact that Father was not sitting in it. Hell, he wasn't even in the room, and of course, that was my fucking luck, wasn't it?

I groaned and dragged a hand down my face, ready to just bail when I heard a soft, masculine voice speak from behind me.

"Phoenix! My, my, it has indeed been quite a while! How has life living amongst the humans been for you?"

Finally, after a moment to gather my thoughts, I turned around and faced my creator, the man having not changed a bit since the last time I saw him.

Now, humans often pictured God as some...well, a wizened older white man, and while he was indeed white with his porcelain skin, he only looked to be in his mid-twenties, with shoulder-length, wavy, white hair and turquoise eyes, a faint dusting of stubble on his cheeks as he regarded me curiously.

For a moment I was just stunned into silence...my heart beating heavily in my chest before I managed to find my voice. "Father...ah, yes, it has been a while. A-Actually, I have a situation that needs to be brought to y-your attention...and I was wondering if I could talk to you about it? S-Somewhere private, preferably?"

Father's eyes twinkled with curiosity, but he nodded and gestured for me to follow him. Which I did. I followed him to an unassuming door on the far-left side of the room, and when he led me inside, it had the appearance of a beautiful study, with shelves of books lining the walls. He then gestured to one of the plush blue chairs that sat in front of his ivory desk as he moved off to a small alcove to the side, that turquoise gaze peering back towards me.

"Would you care for something to drink? I have nearly everything at my disposal, even some drinks from other realms..."

"Water is fine, thank you," I spoke softly as I lowered myself into one of the seats, my fingers drumming anxiously against the surface of the desk.

Father hummed and nodded, turning to pour my requested beverage into a small glass cup. "You are anxious, Phoenix." He turned and looked at me. "You're anxious about being here, in Heaven." He sat my glass of water in front of me and took the seat opposite of me, turquoise eyes in me in a very knowing way. "I assure you, Phoenix, you are safe here. I know your memories of this place isn't exactly...ideal to you, and I want to reassure you that if you ever need someone to talk to about what happened to you...I am always here."

He then leaned back in his seat and took a modest sip of his drink, which looked a lot like iced tea. "So, what do you wish to speak to me about? Surely it must be important if you made the journey all the way here."

I nibbled at my bottom lip, my heart tight from his previous words. However, the question pulled me back to the present and I sighed, glancing at him. "Do you know what's going on with the humans right now?"

Father blinked and scratched his stubbled chin, pursing his lips innocently. "Ah, well...not particularly at the moment, no. I decided to stop checking in when the humans began cursing one another out over the smallest of things. Not to mention, I'm still recovering my energy from teleporting a small army of angels and demons into Purgatory. But, ah...that I a long story for another time. Why do you ask?"

I gulped and folded one of my long legs over the other as my heart raced in remembrance to what the witch told me. "Well, ah...there are miracles, as the humans are calling it, happening there that seem...unusual. Humans are miraculously healing from fatal injuries and individuals who were on their death beds, or only had a few months left to live, are waking up completely heathy. I-I was informed that reapers are behind this and that they're deliberately leaving souls behind in an attempt to summon something." I took a deep breath and nibbled at my bottom lip. "What is "the End", Father?"

When I asked that, Fathers eyes widened, though, I would have missed it had I not been staring intently at every twitch of his face. To be honest, his reaction worried me and made the fear within me thicken to the point where it was almost hard to breathe.

I swallowed down the saliva that formed in my mouth and asked again, clarifying my question a bit. "Who is the End, Father?"

Finally, after a moment that felt more like a year, the being in front of me sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, a frown forming on his face. And after a tense few seconds of silence, that turquoise gaze flickered back towards me, a...a deep sadness swirling within those depths as he answered me, voice quiet.

"The End...the End is my older brother."