Chapter 9: Trust or Bust

As Lucy felt a new sense of purpose cascade over her, back in hell Soter continued to lead Lincoln across the river styxx to his safe haven.

Lincoln remained silent, knowing he had to trust in Soter to keep him safe. All the while he could only take the time to think about what was coming. He pondered to himself what he could do to save himself from Lineos' fury.

Then he remembered a phrase that Luan had once told him, when it came to pranks and practical jokes she was the undisputed queen. Lincoln remembered asking Luan once about how she became so good at the element of surprise and she had told him that: "Sometimes it pays to think two steps ahead."

Those words made him reassess his situation and think about what he was doing… 1.) where he was going, 2.) what he wanted and 3.) what could he do to achieve it?

Right now he was being led across the river styxx out of hell to heaven. But what he wanted was to go back home to his family on earth. The question now was how he could get back to earth? He knew that his birth mother Adina awaited him in heaven, so perhaps she could help him. He felt sad and somewhat guilty that she had been slain just trying to keep him safe, but knew that once he found her she would do everything in her power to help him. He debated whether or not it was a good idea to involve Uriel, although he seemed to be on the side of virtue, his motives suggested that he planned to execute Lincoln upon their arrival in the white city. But why did Uriel want to execute him? Because he wasn't human. He was a nephilim, or as Uriel called him a "half-breed". An unholy abomination that was never supposed to exist. But he did exist, and that wasn't his fault. If anything it was Lineos' fault, but blaming him was currently his only option to seem righteous enough to face God himself.

Suddenly it hit him. God… the almighty, he had the power to do anything and everything. If he found God, he could ask him for forgiveness and if so, he'd be willing to grant Lincoln his wish. And Lincoln knew exactly what he needed to wish for and if he did it in just the right way, maybe God would be merciless enough to grant him a favour and allow him some leeway.

He then snapped out of his thoughts and was back in reality. He wondered how far along he had gone until the question was answered for him. He saw that he had crossed the river successfully and now Soter lead him towards a blue swirling portal, no doubt the one that lead to heaven. He continued to follow him knowing that he only had to stay silent for a little longer until he was out. After seeing Soter disappear through the portal, he closed his eyes and entered behind him.

After taking a few steps forward he heard a voice calling out "Lincoln.. Lincoln.." and opened his eyes. Soter stood right in front of him as Lincoln examined his surroundings. They stood on a cloud in front of a large golden gate where a bearded elderly man wearing a white robe stood behind a pulpit.

"Ah Soter! What brings you here old friend?" He spoke.

"Hello Peter, I have just rescued an innocent soul from the clutches of Lineos. Lincoln Loud."

St. Peter looked into his book and read through the names "My apologies Soter but I can't seem to find his name in here. He's not on the list."

"That's just it, he's not on the list because he isn't exactly human per se." He told St. Peter.

"He's a crossbreed, a nephilim if you will. He was meant to be allowed entry here but he was stolen from Uriel's clutches by Lineos and has been trapped down in the netherworld ever since I rescued him just now."

"Ah I see."

"I fear that Lineos will eventually notice that he's missing and will attempt to storm the gates. But luckily Lincoln can use his nephilim power to keep them out." Soter explained to St. Peter.

"If that's the case, then just this once I will grant you entry. But the almighty will want to weigh in on this." He explained.

"That's exactly what I'm hoping for." Lincoln added.

With that St. Peter opened the golden gates allowing Lincoln and Soter passage to the white city. Before they entered St. Peter turned to Lincoln.

"I pray for you dear son, defend our holy land."

"I will do my best, I promise." He said before following Soter through the gate.

Upon entry, Lincoln was greeted by an angelic landscape with clouds for the ground to walk on and several buildings and dwellings sprinkled throughout it. A clear blue sky above and everyone was dressed in very clean clothes including buttoned shirts, ties, pleated skirts, dress pants and even polo shirts like his own! So he wouldn't stand out too much.

"What do you think Lincoln?" Asked Soter.

"It's incredible. I don't think I've ever seen any place so beautiful." Lincoln said in awe.

"Yes, it's everything that you mortals have imagined. Come now, I will take you to meet your mother at long last."

"Thank you."

"With any luck, she'll be able to teach you how to utilize your nephilim powers to save us all."

Lincoln looked unsure about his words, but knew that he was their only hope.

"Alright Soter, once I master them, I'll use my powers for keeping the demons at bay and to make sure they don't destroy this place."

"But after I do, I have some plans for afterwards."

"And what would those plans be?"

"I know that I'll probably get to encounter him at some point but I need to speak with God."

"Well, you should be introduced to him to inform him that you will prevent the attack."

"And I will but once Lineos is dealt with, I plan on making a desperate plea to him."

"A desperate plea?" "For what?"

"I'm going to ask God to take away my powers…."

O.O

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(What a twist! I'll admit I strayed from the path by going this direction because the original idea was something different. But tbh, everywhere I tried to go with that idea I kept running into roadblocks. Not to mention it was based around a TV show that I never saw and don't plan to. I'm venturing off the beaten path and going my own way, but trust me this is going in a direction that will have much more exciting and worthwhile results. Until then Merry Christmas to all!)