Chapter 10: The Holiest Gaze
Soter looked at Lincoln in shock at his idea.
"You want to ask the almighty to take away your powers?" He asked with a tone in his voice wondering if he wasn't serious or not.
"I was cursed with these powers, not blessed. But if I can save the city, God will be grateful for my help and appreciate my efforts enough to grant me a reward. Then I'll ask him to take back the powers he gave me, turn me into a mortal human and send me back to Earth and I can be with my family again. It's the perfect plan." He said.
"And you believe that you can convince his holiness to grant your wish?"
"Soter, back on earth I was known as 'The Man with the Plan' and I lived up to that name on earth, then there's no excuse for me to not live up to it here." He told Soter of his self-proclaimed title.
"And are you absolutely certain that is the best thing you could do?" Soter questioned him.
"Soter, my family is broken. If I can show God what taking me away did to them, he'll have to show sympathy. God would never want good innocent people to suffer and without me the Louds will never be whole again, they'll spend the rest of their lives wallowing in misery until the sweet, sweet release of death."
Lincoln knew of their suffering and was hoping that they'd all be strong enough to hold on for him.
Soter pondered Lincoln's statement, "Well I suppose God would never find enjoyment in watching good innocent people suffer, and he doesn't condone the notion of suicide."
"If they're not strong enough it could be considered as a mercy kill. Me being taken was an injustice and sending me back would prevent the approaching tragedy that hopefully won't ensue."
"I believe that if anyone can convince God otherwise, it is you my son."
Lincoln smiled after hearing his words.
"But know this: when facing the almighty, you must do it alone. And bear in mind, you will not see him in his true form."
"Why's that?"
"It's from the Old Testament: "You cannot see my face, for mankind shall not see me and live."
"Those are his exact words. If you saw the almighty Lord in his purest form it would kill you." Soter explained gravely.
"Then how am I supposed to talk to him?" Lincoln questioned.
"Let me finish, no one can gaze upon God in his glory… unfiltered and live. Ergo when he meets you, you will need to ensure that you see him in a different form. One that your mind is able to grasp."
"Wait a sec, how would it kill me if I'm not even alive right now?" He questioned.
"Technically speaking you are not dead. You are a nephilim which are immortal beings, but gazing upon the almighty is the one exception to that rule." He explained.
As soon as he did Lincoln understood that God was not one to mess with, and if he wanted his wish he was going to have to pick his words carefully. However, it did give him an idea for vanquishing his foe.
"But for now, that will have to wait. For we have arrived."
Lincoln looked up to see that they stood in front of a house, relatively normal sized that was painted light yellow with a small flight of six steps going up to a small patio deck with white railing and the number 743 hanging on the left side of the door.
"This is where your birth mother Adina resides, she will be very happy to see you."
Lincoln took a deep breath. This was it, he was going to meet his real mother. He hoped that she'd be sympathetic to his plight and respectful to his wish to be human.
The two of them walked up the stairs to the front door where Lincoln knocked on the door, no longer than he did he heard approaching footsteps and the door opened to reveal a white haired woman who looked to be in her early forties dressed in a sleeveless lilac dress.
"Hi mom."
She gasped and covered her mouth.
"לינק?"
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(I'll save the tearful reunion moment for the next chapter, but that won't be the only thing. You're probably all wondering what happened to Uriel right? Stay tuned!)