Beyond Comprehension

Thirty-four

Friday couldn't have come quicker. Sean was more than happy to leave, especially since his birthday was in a few days and I had promised we'd go to the buffet where we had spent his 13th birthday.

And, apparently, Agent Violes and Riley were coming with us. The plane was to drop us off in France, then go to Greece. Riley was clearly more than ready to go home, practically vibrating with what was either excitement or anxiety. Possibly both.

As we were boarding the plane, I heard the familiar sounds of metal-soled heels, and turned to find EW-2 sprinting towards us at a terrifying speed. They came to a dead stop at the base of the stairs, a bundle of fabric in their arms.

"Uh, Sean, I think Two has something for you," I chuckled.

The first thing Two did once the teenage nephilim stood in front of them was wrap him in a cloak. Sean sharply gasped as the cloak, colored black with silver edging and embroidered stars, fell neatly just past his hips. He pushed his hands through the slits in the side of the cloak, adjusting it on his shoulders. It hid his wings perfectly. Two nodded in satisfaction, then handed the other bundles of cloth to him.

Sean softly gasped, "Are these new shirts?" Two nodded. "Oh, thank you! This one was starting to smell." Ice had mentioned that there was a way for angels to hide their wings, but Sean couldn't figure it out. So, wings it was. At least he had near-full control of them now, and he had even started a bit of flight training with Michael. "Thank you, Two. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I'm actually going to miss you. You're a cool creature."

Two waved a hand in dismissal, as if to say 'oh stop it you'. It pointed to the clothes, "Wash with similar colors, hang to dry." It then urged Sean to follow me onto the plane, and he did.

Sean sat cheerily in a seat, new clothes held to his chest, practically swinging his legs. I sat across from him. Agent Violes and Riley sat on the other side of the plane.

Once we were in the air, Sean softly said, "Dad?"

"Hm? Yes, sweetie?"

"...Sorry about my harem comment earlier. At the meeting. That was... inappropriate at best."

A smile forced its way onto my face, "Sean, sweetie, you're 16, almost 17. Of course you're going to have sexual thoughts, everyone knows that. Especially when you're faced with nothing but the bare torso of a literal god who probably doesn't even need to work out and likely has a harem."

Sean held back a smile. "Thanks. That makes me feel better." He shifted in his seat, leaning forward. "Did you know: a harem isn't just a person's lovers, but often includes young children and servants, even unmarried relatives? In fact, a 'harem' isn't even the group of people, but the area of the house where they live! Although it's also the definition of female animals who share a mate."

My smile grew, and I laughed, "How do you know that? That's so random!"

He shrugged, "I looked it up after the meeting. 'Course, nowadays, it's used in the wives-of-one-man sense." He leaned back crossing his arms, "I wonder how many lovers Chaos has. If Their harem exists, that is; Ice seemed pretty adamant that there's, like, no evidence of it. You did ask Ice about the crescent symbols, right?"

"Yes, I did," I nodded. "He didn't give me information, as is par for the course with him. He just confirmed that the first one is the crest of Axel and that the second was the symbol of the old army of Heaven. Like, before biblical times."

Sean hummed, leaning on his hand to stare out the window. "Is he always like that? Secretive, creepy, probably a mass murderer?"

"Yeah, pretty much," I chuckled.

"Why do you have a crush on him again?"

"I do not have a crush on him."

Sean frowned, nose wrinkled, "You have a crush on the guy who almost bit your arm off," he motioned to my forearm, which I had unintentionally began rubbing. "No offense, Dad, but you need better taste in men."

I burst out laughing, frantically trying to stifle my delight. I laughed as my son pouted, pulling his knees up to his chest and muttering something about how much he hated Ice. "Thank you for your concern, sweetie, but Ice already apologized for biting me. He wasn't himself, in any sense of the term. You don't need to worry about him. And, again, I don't have a crush on him."

After a moment, my son muttered, "If he hurts you again, I'm beating him up."

"Thank you," I smiled. "Try to get some sleep. It's a long journey."

A few hours later, I woke to being poked in the arm. I opened my eyes to find Sean in the seat next to me, staring at me with sad blue eyes. His platinum blonde curls were frazzled.

"Yes, Sean?" I yawned. "What's wrong?"

"...I can't stop thinking about my mother. And Bara."

I sighed, adjusting in my seat. "How so?"

He swallowed, looking away, "My mother was a spy. Against Heaven. And they killed her. I couldn't be adopted, not because I'm half human, but because... because of her, because anyone who wanted to adopt me was labeled a traitor. But who was she? How does Bara know her? Who is Bara? Why did they seal the envelope with a symbol that's apparently not used anymore? If my mother went missing on a mission and remained M-I-A for ten months then.... Did she...?"

I sighed, sitting up and taking his hand. "Sean. If you want to try to find your father, it's okay. I won't be offended."

He visibly swallowed, biting his lip and not looking at me. He blinked back tears, nose twitching.

"If your mother was an angel," I said, pulling him up into my lap as though he weren't a few days before 17, "then your father's a human. And, if he's a human, then he probably lives on Earth, and maybe we can find him."

"...Do you think Bara knows my father?"

I shrugged, "They might. Or they might just be, like, a commander, someone who your mother reported to as a super secret agent." That managed to get a smile out of him; he had always used to refer to spies as 'super secret agents'.

His smile wavered. "Dad? The Queen's a bad person, isn't she?"

I swallowed, then nodded. "I don't trust her one bit." My voice was soft and terrified. I gripped him a bit tighter. "If it's true that she's in charge of Heaven, then it's a good thing that you fell." My hand slipped under his cloak to find his black feathers. "Promise me that you'll never be alone with her?"

He nodded, "I promise." He leaned on my chest. "I think I want to find my father."

I smiled and kissed his head, "I promise you, the directors are already on it."