Justice League Javelin #7
En route to Watchtower
The constant stares of the group on the ride back to Watchtower were uncomfortable, to say the least, for Adrian. He was never that comfortable with attention and Klarion's parting statement certainly shone the spotlight directly on him. As Adrian sat stewing in the back of the Javelin he missed out on the conversation in the front of the plane between Zatanna and Nightwing.
"So Z, you think Klarion was telling the truth?"
"Hard to say really. You know he likes to stir up trouble."
"I'm sensing a 'but' coming on."
"You're not wrong. It's difficult to put into words, but there's something off about Adrian."
"This a good weird or a bad weird?"
Zatanna looked out the cockpit window as the craft left the atmosphere. "I'm not sure. What I do know is that Adrian is deeply connected to what's going on."
"What do you mean?" Superboy, having overheard the conversation, got out of his seat and had made his way to the front.
Dick made the connection before Zatanna could explain. "Adrian isn't even that high ranking in his organization. Why would the Brotherhood's leader send Adrian alone? Something is going on here."
Superboy nodded. "And I know how much you hate not having all the facts."
Zatanna steered the conversation back on track. "But I don't think Adrian has any more of a clue what's going on than we do. I mean, if there's demons doesn't that mean there has to be a heaven too?"
Dick shook his head. "I don't know Z, I just don't know."
The trio lapsed into silence as Nightwing piloted the craft into the Watchtower vehicle bay. Once inside, the group disembarked the craft to find Batman waiting for the team.
Nightwing was the first to acknowledge his mentor. "What's with the meet 'n greet?"
Batman ignored his protégé and focused on Adrian. "You received a message while you were gone. Your father has been hospitalized due to a brain tumor." The news stunned Adrian, nearly to the point of him missing the rest of what Batman was saying. "The doctors do not believe he will last much longer. I've made arrangements for you to return to Earth. I will meet you at the zeta platform you arrived in."
Adrian nodded, his mind still reeling from the shock, and his slowly made his way to the zeta tubes. The group watched him leave in silence until Nightwing began to brief Batman on what happened.
"There's something you should know, something Klarion said."
Batman quickly cut in. "We know. All communications were monitored by Watchtower per protocol, which is in your manual. The necessary information from the mission was relayed to me."
Nightwing, though irritated, refocused the conversation. "So, think there's any truth to what he said?"
"Unlikely, but hard to prove either way."
"Right, haven't been reports of angels on Earth for nearly a full millennia."
Wally coughed a little louder than necessary to bring the attention to the full group. "So, are we good to go shower or what?"
Batman nodded and the team filed out of the launch bay and headed toward the showers.
Nightwing hung back with Batman. "So, what are we going to do if it turns out that the Witch Boy was right?"
Batman was silent for a moment. "I'm not sure there's much any of us could do against an angel. If what little we've read is any indication, then they are exceptionally powerful."
Nightwing rubbed the back of his neck. "This whole situation is screwed up. I mean, angels, demons, witch boys, it's not exactly our normal cup of tea."
"We do what the job demands, Dick."
"Yeah, I know. But this stuff's a little out of our league and our best information source just found out his dad's going to die. I barely know the guy, but there's no way his head can be in the game after this."
"I think you'd be surprised. The members of his Order have always been exceptionally trained. He may still prove to be an asset."
"Then I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
San Raffaele Casa Di Cura Privata
November 16
1:43 p.m.
It was already early afternoon by the time Adrian made to the hospital. He slowly made his way through the hospital, avoiding several rushing nurses as they came barrelling out of patient rooms. After returning, to Rome he had been picked up by several other members of the Order, but they offered no details of his father's condition. This only made matters worse. As Adrian neared the room, he realized it had been nearly two years since he had last seen his father in person. There had been many phone calls, but Adrian was suddenly unsure if he truly wanted to see his father in his weakened state. He mentally kicked himself for the thought and banished from his mind as he opened the door to his father's hospital room.
Once in the room he paused, seeing the man who raised him hooked up to a ventilator was a bit more of a shock than he thought it would be. What's more, Grandmaster Ezio himself was sitting by Leo's bedside, nodding subtly to Adrian as he entered.
"Have a seat. We have things to discuss."
Adrian didn't move, his focus solely on the sickly man lying on the hospital bed. The rhythm of the ventilator was all he heard. Ezio's voice was louder the second time.
"Adrian. There isn't much time. Sit down."
This time Adrian heard his leader, and sat on the opposite side. "What happened?"
"It appears to be a simple brain tumour, albeit one that apparently went undetected for several years."
A single word caught Adrian's attention. "Appears?"
Ezio nodded. "That is what the doctor's believe. But they are missing a vital piece of information."
"What? What don't they know?" Adrian's tone was erratic as he questioned his master.
Ezio responded by pulling out a brown leather patch. The old and weathered material was bound together by a string at the top. Adrian instantly recognized what it was.
"A hex bag. Where was it found?"
"In his home, behind the oven. Once we were made aware of your father's hospitalization several members of the order searched his residence and returned to me with the hex bag."
"Do you know who it came from?"
"I have a theory. A note was left behind. It read 'I know what the boy is. His father dies if he continues his hunt.'"
Adrian was silent as he pondered the meaning of the message. Suddenly, something clicked in his mind. "Klarion, it's got to be."
"Why do you assume it is Klarion?"
"Something he said." Adrian paused, unsure how to approach the subject. "I don't want to pry, but what exactly do you know about where I come from. Leo told me I wasn't his biological son a long time ago, but it wasn't important until today."
Ezio sighed. "I figured this day would come sooner or later. The day you arrived, or more accurately, fell from the sky was a very momentous day. If you're asking what I think you are asking, then yes, you are indeed an angel. Or you were at least."
"What do you mean 'were'?"
"There's a reason angels as powerful as they are. For lack of a better word, we mortals labelled that power 'grace', since God himself used a sliver of his power to create them. When you fell to Earth, that grace should have fallen with you. But we never found it."
Adrian slumped back into his chair. "Why are you telling me all this now?"
"Leo had wanted to tell you several years ago, but I thought it best to wait. It appears my old friend was right after all. Powerful forces are at work Adrian, and I don't know how we will survive the coming apocalypse. But what I do know is that you have a role to play in all of this. You weren't cast out of heaven, you left on your own, or at least, the angel part of you did. But since you fell and lost your grace, your memories were stripped away as well."
"So you knew, this whole time? Did everyone know?"
"No, only Leo and myself knew the truth. But the man who is behind the recent crisis seems to know as well."
The two fell into an uneasy silence with only the hospital machines making a sound. After a few moments of thought Adrian asked another question. "How do you know what's coming?"
Ezio removed his glasses to massage the bridge of his nose. "Before you came to Earth, someone communicated to us from Heaven, telling us when you would arrive, and who you would have to face. And all of it has come true; the breaking of the seals confirms it."
"So Lucifer really is one behind all of this?"
"No, he could contact no one from his cage. Someone is planning this from the outside, and that makes them very dangerous."
"Can we stop them?"
"It would seem doubtful. While you were with the League I received confirmation that 64 seals have been broken and one is currently under attack. That leaves one remaining seal before the cage is open."
This was a shock to the younger man. "How did they fall so quickly?"
"It appears that the angels have forsaken Earth. There is no possible way they could have missed the signs of what is happening, but we've seen no evidence of their intervention. There are over 600 seals, but only 66 have to fall. Our only consolation is that we know which of the seals must fall last. All our remaining members are en route, but we amount to less than two dozen. Standing against Klarion's army, I fear, will prove too overwhelming."
Adrian ran his eyes over the tubes and wires protruding from Leo's body. "If we fail, what happens?"
"Lucifer walks free, burning the Earth as he intended do all those millennia ago."
Adrian stood up. "Then I guess we had better not fail. Give me the location of the final seal."
Ezio stared up at his subordinate. "I see what you're planning to do."
"Then you know it's the only option left." He paused to look down at his comatose father. "Is there anything you can do for him while I'm gone?"
The Grandmaster shook his head. "It would take an exceptionally powerful magic user to break the curse. No one in our order has the skill required."
Adrian raised his head. "Then I guess it's a good thing I just met two people who fit that bill."
"Then I wish you luck Adrian. I hope you find the answers you're seeking. Tell your friends to go an abandoned church outside Ilchester, Maryland. You should find Klarion there."
"Thank you Grandmaster." Adrian bowed quickly and bolted from the room.
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