Chapter 5: Truth and Strength

Finding myself once again in front of a mirror, I turned periodically, inspecting my fresh attire from multiple angles. "Uh, I don't know, Father. Are you sure that it looks right?" With my hands at my sides, I really started to take in the image of the unfamiliar version of myself that was staring back at me. My brown hair had been brushed and now rested neatly against my back. On my head I now wore the white and blue habit of a nun from the Vatican. A small section of my hair fell to my shoulders on either side of my face. My eyes now had more vitality than they'd had the night before, hesitantly shifted down to the shin length dress that perfectly matched the habit. The thing that would set me apart from the true sister's of the Vatican were the pair of jet black, lace-up boots that Abel had given to me. "Father?"

Looking at me with contemplative eyes he stood silent for a moment, then with a smile he finally exclaimed. "It looks great on you! And those boots I gave you will truly make you stand out from all the others! You'll honestly become a skilled A.X. agent if you continue at the rate you are right now!"

I forced myself to turn away from my reflection so that I could look Abel directly in the eyes when I spoke. "Father Nightroad, now isn't the time to be joking. This whole ordeal is serious. You know as well as I do that I'm not really an A.X. agent. I'm just playing the part of one. I possess no skills or abilities that would qualify me for an actual position amongst you and your teammates."

Abel shook his head and with an air of certainty, he moved closer to me. "Forgive me, but I do believe that you are wrong. Jonah, regardless of if you are a temporary agent or a permanent one, to me you are still an agent!" He watched my facial expression change as his words touched my heart. With the index finger of his right hand he gently brushed away a strand of hair, that had fallen out of place, from my cheek. "You also need to give yourself more credit than you do. I feel that you have an ability, one all of your own. You just haven't discovered it yet."

"Do you really think so?"

"I do."

Encouraged by his words, I turned back to face the version of myself that had yet to be born. My hand ran down the front of my dress, gliding effortlessly over one of the two rows of buttons that ran parallel to one another. All the while Abel's words were all that I could think about. "An ability of my own...I just don't know what it is yet." With a new sense of hope I turned back to look at Abel. "You're absolutely right, Father! About everything. I look like an A.X. agent and I will work hard at figuring out what ability it s that I have. I won't let you down!"

His smile never leaving its place, Abel began to further reassure me, just as he'd done from the moment we had met. "Oh, I'm sure you won't let me down. I've got faith in you. So you needn't worry. The A.X. won't simply just throw you to the wolves. I will be there guiding you as best as I can."

"Even if you have to use the power of the Crusnik?" I shyly asked, knowing exactly how he felt about his true self.

A silence came between us for a few very long seconds. The only things that I could hear was my steady intake of breath and the pounding of my heart from within my ears. I began to feel as if I had overstepped a boundary that probably shouldn't have, but ever so quietly, with his eyes downcast, Abel answered me. "Even to that extent, I would do it, if it meant that you would somehow gain experience or skills as an agent."

Seeing him look so defeated, I cautiously ventured to ask yet another question. "Father, why exactly is it that you distrust the Crusnik so much? I mean if its powers can be used to help the people on this Earth, then use them! You can honestly bring about a tremendous difference in this world! After all, isn't that why you were given these powers in the first place?"

Staring at me with a somewhat withdrawn expression, he slowly began to whisper. "There was once a time when I actually wanted to destroy the entire human race. I felt that the only reason for my existence was so that I could die for them. I felt like I was being forced to die for a cause that I didn't believe in." Abel no longer wore any trace of a smile, his face growing more somber with his every word. "I admit that I was still very young at the time...but that is still no excuse for what I believed back then."

I felt my heart breaking for the kind priest that stood before me. The weight of the world, the weight of everything that he felt he was at fault for, obviously fell upon his shoulders. "So you're afraid?"

"Yes."

"You needn't be afraid of yourself, Father Nightroad. You're the only being of your kind that exists, right?" I smiled warmly, desperately hoping that I would be able to bring some color back into his otherwise desolate world. "Father, being who and what you are, it truly makes you special!"

A wry smile overtook his face. "That isn't true. I'm not the only Crusnik to have been created. I'm actually the second of four. The first and third being my brother and sister respectively. The fourth...well she is no longer alive."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Father. Do your brother and sister also work for the A.X.?"

He shook his head. "No. I haven't seen either of them in many years." Abel's words grew bitter, his eyes narrowing in distaste. His hands balled up into tight fists. The very mention of his siblings had almost brought him to the brink of fury. "Truth be told, it's probably for the best if it's that way."

"Father Nightroad..." I began, but quickly closed my mouth, taking the time to find the perfect words. After a moment, with a certain degree of confidence, I started speaking again. "Father Nightroad, what exactly happened to you before you joined the A.X.? Where are you from? And how did the fourth Crusnik die?"

Eyes on me, as though he could hardly believe the words that I had said, he slowly sat down on the floor with his back to the wall. His knees drawn close to his chest. I couldn't deny the fact that he greatly resembled a lost child, hopelessly trying to stave off the gnawing loneliness that he felt. Then taking in a deep breath, he whispered. "Before I joined the A.X. I lived on an alien aircraft that became known as the Ark. There I lived with my brother Cain, my sister Seth and the woman that I saw as my mother, Lilith Sahl. Each one of us had been trained to defend the humans from the vampires. However, each of us soon began to think of our situation a little bit differently. Seth began to side with the vampires, even going as far as to say that they were just like everyone else. That they too felt fear, pain and sadness. I wanted to be no part of it. My only desire was to live my life the way that I wanted to. Free from having to risk my life for the very people who would later turn on me and call me a monster! Lilith, being the kind-hearted woman that she was, tried to help us see that we could save both of the two races without harming the other in the process. Then there was Cain, he had every single one of us convinced that the only thing that he wanted to do in life, was to make everyone that he knew just as happy as he was...we were all his fools though...in the end." Abel clenched his jaw tightly. "Cain's true desire was to crash the Ark down upon the Earth, yet the only way for him to get even remotely close to achieving his goal was to murder Lilith...Since he knew that she loved the humans equally as much as he hated them! And he hated everything!" A few tears threatened to fall upon his cheeks.

My throat felt as though it had been closed tight, but struggling against it, I asked. "Your brother killed her? That's what happened to the fourth Crusnik?"

"Yes. The instant that Seth and I learned of Cain's heinous crime, we fought against him and together we forced him into one of the Ark's empty hatches for an escape pod...and finally we threw him from the craft and dropped him through the Earth's atmosphere. The only thing that we could hope for was that the fall would be enough to destroy him...him and his atrocious deeds." A faint smile worked its way upon his lips, and as he wiped away his tears, whispered. "It was then that I decided that I would continue on with what Lilith had wanted for us, her children, to do. To protect the humans at all cost, no matter what! That's when I decided to come and live on Earth. Bringing Lilith's remains with me and burying them inside one of the catacombs hidden deep beneath the Vatican." Sighing, Abel rested his forehead against his knees, then turning to look at me for the first time in minutes, said. "Many years have passed since then and I still don't know if Seth and I actually managed to destroy him."

"Even if you didn't, Father, one day he will have to stand before God, and he will be judged for his actions. He will get what it is that he deserves." I tried to assure him, my eyes looking upon him fondly. "It takes a far greater amount of strength to forgive than it does to seek out vengeance. But if, in the end, if it turns out that he is still alive. If you learn that he still intends to destroy this planet, along with all of the beings who reside on its surface. If he is alive, and you are forced to take action against him, then please remember that you are not alone." With a smile I knelt down beside the priest and placed my hand gently on top of his own. "I might not be that useful in a battle, Father, but I will do whatever I can to help you."

"That won't be necessary."

"Why not, Father Nightroad?"

"After Lilith died, I made her a promise." Lifting his gaze so that it was level with my own, he continued. "That no matter what the situation might be, I will not kill. I no longer want to be the cause of any more unnecessary deaths."

Lightly squeezing his hand with mine, I whispered as happily as I could. "To maintain a promise, that takes the greatest amount of strength of all. Strength and a truly kind heart." Taking my hand from Abel's I stood up, and then extending my hand back out to him, offered to help him to his feet. "I apologize if I made you talk about things that you just wish you could forget about." I watched as his hand moved towards mine, and once he'd gotten a firm hold, I began to pull him up. "But, Father, I would also like to thank you. I get the feeling that you've never really shared any of that information with anyone before. And if you have, then I must be one of the very few." Releasing his hand, I patiently looked up at the priest.

As the moments slowly ticked away, I gradually began to see both the light and life return to his face. The smile that he wore being more infectious than it had been before, yet something about it seemed to be different. Almost as if it were an actual genuine smile. And opening his mouth to speak, Abel's voice was drowned out by the sound of an intercom crackling to life. "This is Sister Kate Scott, with a friendly reminder that the Iron Maiden will be arriving in Rome within the next five minutes. I repeat, the Iron Maiden will be arriving in Rome within the next five minutes. Please be sure to grab any and all personal effects while you still have a chance to do so. And yes, Abel, that was directed at you!"

I looked over at Abel and watched as he stood with his mouth hanging open, he was obviously offended by the reminder that seemed to have been tailored specifically for him. "But...but Sister! I think you've gotten me mixed up with someone else! Whatever it is that you think I've done, I can honestly prove to you otherwise!" He turned to me, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Sister Jonah, please tell me that you believe me."

Nodding my head I said. "Of course I do! Now how about we go and see Rome?" With that very question, Abel and I made our way to the entrance of the battle airship, the Iron Maiden. Each step taking us closer to the start of my new life as an A.X. agent.