Chapter 6

Meanwhile the flow just went wild with Brent. Ever since he had met Christos, they spent a lot of time together. The God insisted to take the demon everywhere and show Brent everything.

One of the things was the inner caves. The back hall holding the big ancient thrones and murals all over the cave walls.

Brent was in his demon form, like he stayed most of the time since they had arrived to Athens. Christos liked him that way anyway, and didn't even see Brent in a human body yet.

One of the murals that the young creature walking on four limbs always looked at was about a huge battle. The trinity of the old gods in the form of Anubis, Horus and Thoth leading a swarm of Brent's kind. Black skinned, lean bodies were painted on foot and diving down from the sky even to the land to the Gods command. War demons from the outer void. Brent always smiled. He was not a freak in a cage. He had roots... Had a past. His kind was important once. And Christos made him feel important every day...

Jim was quite nervous. That feeling reminded him of his past when just going out on the streets without being high on drugs or half-drunk he feared to see those scary visions and creatures. Well, he was sober now and was about to meet some strange creatures too. Namely, the three gods and Lucifer himself. It was something that still blew Jim's mind. Not just the fact that such gods and the Morning Star actually existed, but because becoming such an important character in this story was something the tall biker still kept struggling with to comprehend and accept.

He always wanted to just live a normal human life, but it became painfully clear already in his childhood that he was never going to be able to do so. He tried to live in denial and hide from everything and everyone – especially himself – for long years, using all kinds of self-destructive methods to keep things that way. But ever since he had met the only man who knows and understands and loves him unconditionally, has changed everything for Jim. Corey helped him accept what he was and also had a part in evolving even further to fulfill his destiny. A destiny he knew little about but was hoping to see clearer after this meeting.

He was alone now as he walked down the half-lit corridors as he left Corey to rest (and because only he was invited). His small redhead looked much better for now, which made the worry ease up a bit around his heart and soul, allowing him to focus more on what he had to do now.

He had no idea what to expect, but one thing he didn't expect at all was the dark-skinned creature on all fours staring at one of the ancient murals depicting a battle. Frowning for a split second, he shook his head and stopped staring at the creature he remembered seeing with the other group and was called Brent by everyone.

For Jim it was still so new to see all these different types of beings. He was used only to the winged Corey who fiercely guarded him, and of course the other Mercy Demons. But now there were creatures like Brent, gods who looked like humans but held enormous powers just beneath the surface... Then there were the different types of angels... like Kerim, the white one from light, the bald guardian with the golden wings and nearly constant soft glow, the dark and tall Cherub who was clearly half-angel and half-demon... Then there was his mate, the King and his famous father, Lucifer himself...

Damn, all these things made Jim's head just spin, so he rather decided to continue his way towards the throne room where he was expected. Whatever he might learn there today, it is going to be big, he could feel it in his bones...

The Gods were sitting by a long table beside a shelf of ancient scrolls which were not kept in the library. With them sat Lucifer himself, or as he announced himself, Robb. The Son of Morning found the bonding between the war demon and the God of Thoughts interesting and fun to keep his eyes on. "I must say he is... adorable…" he said turning to Seth.

"Hmm... Yes, indeed. My brother is lucky," the god smirked stroking his small mustache down with his thumb and index finger, watching Brent walking around and looking at the wall paintings. "I would like some submissive tailed creature for my own too," he added with a laugh. "Nah... We love Vega for his rebellious ways. Like we loved you. I must say, Robb suits you."

"Oh thank you," Lucifer scoffed. "The One is coming. He must come over his human thinking. You know how much you want to involve him?" he asked Seth, sensing Jim arriving.

"Some I do... We will see how he can handle it. Now... be a nice devil…" Seth winked at the lord of the underworld and waved to the Nephilim to join them and take a seat.

Source

Taking a deep breath, Jim focused on keeping himself calm. Though luckily ever since his transmutation, it was easier and the panic attacks he used to get were far away nowadays, making Jim feel more in control over his own emotions. Focusing on keeping his mind open like they talked about with Corey, he walked to the table once he was invited to join the gathered creatures there.

After he bowed a bit to the gods and Lucifer opposite him, Jim sat down and took a better look of them one by one. Christos was sitting on the right, clearly splitting his attention between the table and the wandering around creature. Not knowing about the forming bond between the god and the demon, Jim found that a bit strange, but moved on to Sotiris, who had a contemplating look on his face as he was sitting between his pair Seth and Christos. The former had a friendly smile on his face and Jim felt he was going to do most of the talking. And Lucifer... well, he was just showing off his dimples like sometimes his son did. He was dressed the most casual with his cargo pants, white skulls on his black tee and spiked wristbands. Frankly, he just looked like an old time rocker chilling with some gods. But Jim knew that this look was deceiving. He could sense the enormous power in him too.

"I am honored to be invited to this discussion. I believe it will deal with the future and what we... and I should do to protect this world?" Jim finally cleared his throat, looking at all the gathered men before his eyes settling on Seth.

"Something along those lines, yes," Seth smiled kindly at Jim. "First of all... How are you feeling? Settled in? Got to know the others? I'm sorry for all the questions but we do really care about your wellbeing," he spoke kindly, meanwhile analyzing Jim with his powers.

"I think we haven't met face to face yet…" Lucifer took the chance to speak. "Nice to meet you, Jim the Nephilim. You can call me Robb, if you like. I found it that Lucifer has a heavier negative ring to some people's ear who spent more time among humans."

"Yes, yes. Please call him Robb. He is such a Robb. I will have to thank his pair for naming him," Seth chuckled. Both males clearly tried to lift the mood and make it easier for Jim to feel better among them.

Jim appreciated their efforts to make him feel more comfortable and didn't even mind the gods' probing powers over him. "Thank you, I appreciate the caring. It's... a bit of a strange thing for me still. Most of my life before my pair materialized on this plane, no one really cared about me and I distanced myself from everything and everyone. But thanks to Corey... or #8... and the demon shamans I feel much better. Coming here mostly improved my mood too. Because of the peaceful environment and such. It's crazy in the outside world, especially from where we come from..." he explained then sighed. For a moment he contemplated on sharing his worries about Corey's well-being, but in the end Lucifer's butting in distracted Jim.

Turning his attention to him, he nodded. "Alright... Robb. Nice to meet you too... And... your pair named you?" he asked raising a brow, wondering what kind of creature his pair could be. He was mostly sure that it wasn't the mother of his oldest son as during the feast the black-haired Corey didn't really mention her being around.

A movement caught Jim's attention from the corner of his eye. It was Christos raising a hand and motioning for Brent to join them at the table. The war demon carefully and with very... uncertain moves started crawling towards the table on all fours, looking more like a beast than anything else. Especially with the ruby red eyes moving questioningly as if he wasn't sure if it was really okay for him to sit at the same table with them.

"It's okay, don't worry," Christos whispered encouragingly and with a wave of his hand, he made the chair on his right, at the end of the table, pull itself out from its place.

The others watched the scene amused, though Jim found it strange that a lower class demon was invited like that too. Not that he would have a problem with what Brent was. It was just... unusual for him.

Brent sat down and straightened up like a humanoid. Ears pulled back and blinking at Christos and the others shyly.

"Yes, my pair named me. I know what you are thinking now... And my mated pair is one of the first creations of the last God this world knew," Robb answered Jim's unsaid questions with a smile that told the tall man that they can talk more about his pair later.

"Yes... The creations of that God and your twin brothers are gaining more power using the human-made mess. That’s why we are here now," Sotiris spoke for the first time since Jim arrived. "Jim, you are important for this world. We three tried to keep the seals a secret and safe, especially the seventh one. We thought after Yahweh, the God of Abraham left it will be safe and the beings won't try to open the portals between the worlds. Humans proved us wrong. Though, we are still investigating how the seal and the locations of the gates got out and into human possession," Sotiris spoke with great seriousness in his voice and eyes. He was the sworn guardian of the biggest gate and the past happenings have put big pressure on him.

"Yes, but evolving and educating Jim and the others is a priority now," Seth nodded turning back to Jim. "You will have to learn to meditate and grow over your human limits. Know that anything is possible with thought."

Frankly, Jim found Brent kinda cute like that then he nodded to Robb, getting the message that they could talk later about the mate thing as his attention was then pulled to the usually serious Sotiris.

"Twin brothers?" he frowned confused, clearly not seeing the connections yet, although he thought for a second. "Wait... do you mean...?" he trailed off, trying to come over the shock his human thinking wanted to put on his mind. "Also... is that possible that the angel in red armor called Furiad is working for them then? He attacked my biker gang back in America before we came here..." he mused. He felt that it could be a valid possibility – or at least that's what his senses were telling him.

"And the gates..." he looked back at Sotiris. "It's starting to make sense to me now," his frown deepened even more. "I know it's just a theory but... if this seal and the location of the gates got out like that... What if it was the angels who told about those to the humans in hopes of gaining something?" he wondered.

"I... I'm still trying to get used to the new me. Some things aren't settled in me, I can feel that, but I'd be grateful for any help I can get and also willing to learn to get stronger. But... why am I the key to all of this? I mean... I understand that as a Nephilim I'm stronger than most angels and demons, but... why me? Are you sure there aren't any other Nephilims out there who would do better than me? Not complaining just... wondering if I'm the right guy for this job... whatever that might be..."

The trinity and Lucifer looked at each other, seemingly communicating among themselves and nodded in union.

"Yes, the twin archangels," Seth said seriously, looking Jim in the eye. "Furiad the fiery angel of punishment you mean? He is a higher angel who once served the twins, killing humans that didn't make the list on their Father's good side. Hmm... He is active again then. Things are escalating. Thank you for that information Jim. It is very useful. And for the why... There must be others out there with not fully lost powers. You were special because you were born half-awake. And with that stronger than any other possible specimen that could be awakened..." Seth said and finished his speech like he would or could tell more but changed his mind. He rather smiled at the tall biker. "Now we go. Robb here will stay with you starting your education."

Well, that answer certainly gave Jim quite a lot to think about, but he also felt glad that he could provide useful information to the gathering. Knowing why he was so special was also something that let some puzzle pieces fall into place in his head as it made sense. Being born half-awake thus seeing things no normal human would be able to.

With a sigh he focused back on the gods and nodded to them, signaling that he was okay with staying there along with Robb. As he watched the gods leave, Christos followed by Brent like a loyal beast of his, Jim finally looked at the bearded smiling man. To Jim's surprise he felt comfortable around him as he had a laid-back kind of presence. Nothing like one would expect from Lucifer himself.

"So... What now? I'm sure you know I'm curious about you, too..." the biker eyed Robb, trying to process what he just learned in the back of his mind. "Any idea of what the twins' next step would be and how we could stop that? I mean... I know I have a lot to learn before that... Also... I assume your pair isn't the mother of King... And what do you think about his pair? I hear they have mated recently..." Jim hummed, unable to put a halt on his thirst for knowledge.

"A true curious Nephilim for real, if I ever met one," Robb laughed wholeheartedly at Jim's many questions. "So... We are still trying to track down the twins and find out how much they are responsible for things. My son's pair is... a perfect match for him, really. As I felt it, he accepted that now too and is able to feel it. You know, many times we cannot control these things. Greeks for example, as we are here already," he waved around with his hands and chuckled "said that people once had two heads and two set of arms and legs. But some gods punished them and split them in half. To be a one headed two armed two legged being. And so all of their lives they search for their lost other half. It's a good tale... Personally I think all beings are whole. No one is half or broken. But still in the wholeness is alone. And what your spirit feels similar, with whom you resonate on the same frequency will draw you in throughout the universe. You lived as a human for long and as I feel from you, studied the old tales. So... you ever heard of the first heavenly being created, equal to the last God, my father himself? The Angel of Death?" he asked Jim and somehow from the memories his eyes turned sad as he spoke.

The fascination started to show on Jim's face as he was listening to the other man sitting nearly opposite him. He was certainly wise and compared to the fact that he was the only archangel with the gift of creation like God, he was a very chill man. 

Leaning back in his chair, the biker crossed his arms in front of his chest and hummed. "Yes, I've been trying to read up on old stories in more than just the western cultures. I am familiar with this Greek myth too. And what you say about this wholeness business might be true... Though... honestly, sometimes, like now, I feel incomplete even if I'm happy on the side of my love..." Jim frowned a bit.

Meanwhile he sat up to pour some vine for them, but his outstretched arm stopped mid-air from Robb's question. "You mean... Samael?! Satan is your pair? The one who chose to have free will and was punished by God with being frozen into a rock?!" Jim's eyes widened, staring at Robb. "Err... I apologize. I just didn't expect this... Wow..."

Robb took the glass of wine and raised it to Jim. "Yes. Samael. They were equal. Then Father wanted all the power to himself. And we the archangels were born from the darkness. First there was me, who was given most of the powers to have a worthy company for Father. Then the twins… and the others, each time weaker as he learned he wants obedience more than company. When we fought for our free will, I fought for Samael... And followed him to Gehenna when I could. Of course I was in love in the past many times. King's mother was an amazing warrior, leading my army of Cherubs. I loved her. And our children. And my other wife too. And my pair still remained" Robb shrugged “Satan himself. The lord of the dark world. Myths called Samael that after a while. When he broke free from Father's spell he really did some pointless killing sprees. Not that the all-powerful was so innocent in all the blood spilling…" he drank his wine and tried to collect himself again. The walk down on memory lane clearly affected him. After all that time it was still like tearing up old wounds.

"But anyway... I think you are whole also. Just need to be reminded of it more because you have to deal with more changes in your relatively short life so far. Your love helps you greatly."

"I'm sorry if talking about this brought back bad memories and feelings. But I appreciate all the information I can get from you and the gods to understand this – for me new – world I just became a part of. And to know why I am here. What my purpose is. I've realized just recently that until I started accepting who I am, I've been just drifting my whole life. Nothing made any sense to me, but now that's changing and I'm doing my best to adapt as I'm changing fast too," Jim spoke his mind openly, feeling on a basic level that he can trust Robb.

"But true, yes... My love for my Corey is a driving force behind everything. I... never allowed myself to fall in love before I met him. He's been so wonderful. Sacrificed so much too to be able to be with me and give me the understanding and love I've been longing for all my life... So yes, love definitely is helping a great deal in all this," he said not noticing how his expression and look softened while talking about the short Mercy Demon of his.

"Sorry, I just love him deeply. More than my life, to be honest with you. You might understand that..." Jim blushed and rather took a long sip from his own wine. "And... can I ask how he is? I mean Samael. As a person and being mated to him? It's just so fascinating to me as he is a myth to most of us. I must sound like a curious child," he laughed on himself in hopes of lifting Robb's mood.

"Yes. Love is a great force. You will find out that a mated pair who evens your energies out is even more. Still. Like I said. After we mated, love found me more than once in the past. And don't worry. I am a myth for you and humans too. Just like Anubis, or Horus or Thoth or Zeus and Prometheus. I understand," Robb nodded. "I understand that you have so little time. We had centuries… The changes in such short period are harder. And we all are much, much older and understand that. So don't be surprised by the kindness of the Gods. We know the pressure under which you are. And Matt too and the other younger than many thousand-year-old beings here," he laughed shortly.

"Samael is… a little the opposite of me. Like a true pair should be. He has features like my Father had for power, so he rules his own realm. My nature of helping and support led me to him when he was punished for something he couldn't control. He likes to stay home, I like to wander around. He is death and finds his calm and beauty in the void. I love life and all the living things fascinates me. I go to him and tell him about my travels, show him, make him feel it with my powers. And he makes new fields cleansed by his power for me to bring new life there to grow and teach. We have been working well together as a pair for over 6000 years," Robb had just the same little dreamy smile on his face like Jim had about Corey before. "I keep falling back in love with him again and again..."

Jim found himself nodding a few times while listening to Robb. It was really fascinating talking to him and he agreed with a lot of the eye-opening things he was saying. "Frankly, all this is kinda blowing my mind, man, but being able to take a peek behind the curtain like this is very useful indeed. Obviously, I had no idea of most of these things. But I'm happy for you and your pair. 6000 years in a relationship? Man, that's the longest relationship I had ever heard of. Although I guess the bond between Seth and Sotiris reaches back even further, huh?" he chuckled and drank some more. "Speaking of which, how did you come to know them?"

"Well... They’ve been around for a while," Robb laughed and that time he poured some wine for both of them. "Long before Yahweh found this dimension and claimed it as his own. I ask you something... While you were reading up on old myths, never found it strange that the 'creator of the universe' only inspired a small area in the middle east? Then of course reforming the laws and the stories bore the new followers and no human dared to question the maniac possessive nature of it all and their so called loving God. The way the three Abrahamic religion burned and changed the world you know well I guess. These ancient beings – Horus, Anubis and Thoth – have been around all along. Guarding the remaining knowledge as my father's followers tried their best to erase what was before. When Samael was tossed down through the portal and later I and others followed, these gods helped us to get to other worlds. And I always loved humans and this world," he shrugged. "But you will get to know them too. They can be tricky…"

"Yes, that occurred to me too while reading," Jim nodded and slightly shook his head, already knowing well that there were many gods and civilizations before their time, but still trying to accept the fact that most humans had and will never know about the secrets that are being uncovered for him. But maybe... maybe now that will change too and they can get a new beginning with all their help... It all depends on the outcome of what fights lay ahead of them...

"I've got a taste of Seth's trickiness when he threw us into that labyrinth, yes. But with the help of your son's pair and working as a group we managed. I believe that's the key in this real situation too. Team work. As much as I want to learn and become stronger, I would prefer a more or less group setting as we are stronger together than divided and I'm not comfortable with hogging the spotlight, so to say... even if I know it's not a choice because of what I am. Anyways, speaking of learning... I think those scrolls are awaiting me. Shall we?" Jim smirked getting up to take a closer look.

~~~

Brent meanwhile felt utterly uncomfortable... He understood the importance of being able to defend himself, and that he was a war demon... But his mind wanted to negotiate using the fact that he was practically half-blood and his race died out on Earth and he was raised in a small cage...

But he knew better than to argue with Christos, who insisted on being attacked and gave guiding points of how Brent should dive in or use his claws and senses. Still... Brent liked the God very much… And found it hard to really attack him, even if he knew he couldn't hurt Christos…

"Again! Charge from higher above to make the impact more forceful. You aren't giving your all, I can tell," the god with the knee-long dreads said with a thick Greek accent as he was standing on a clearing, looking at the demon half-crouching near him.

He even lifted a marked arm to wave towards the sky, indicating that Brent should take off again. And that he did after a minor hesitation, using his leather wings. Christos let his arm drop back and just admired as the creature took flight, the leather-wings taking him higher, followed by that cute tail. The god's expression softened, but once the demon turned around in the air, he sighed and forced his neutral teacher face on, waiting for the next attack.

Brent felt that he must put aside all his doubting thoughts. Or they will stay there forever. He was all sweaty already as he was not really used to so much exercise.

From the air he could admire Christos in all his glory... The long dreadlocks cascading down on his back and strong chest… His handsome face. Brent felt softening up inside from just watching the God and that time wasn't any different. But he was just a war demon... Well... at least Christos made him finally believe that he was not a low class worthless being.

To please his teacher, he dived down fast, making a little hook in the air as he wanted to surprise the God and not knowing how he did it, Brent teleported right behind the other man and grabbed his magic armor with his claws, pushing him down before landing.

"What? I’m sorry, I don't know how I did that…" he lent a hand quickly to help Christos up.

Christos felt surprised and pleased at the same time. Frankly, he didn't expect this, but instead of being irritated or something, he wholeheartedly laughed as Brent helped him up. He held his clawed hand a bit longer than necessary and grinned proudly at him.

"Now this is what I'm talking about! This is just a morsel of what you can really do. For a second I could feel your powers surging forward, but I couldn't guess from where you would attack. Well done, my boy!" he patted his scale-covered shoulder. "Your kind could teleport like this but only a handful of them could trick even a god. I'm so proud of you. You'll get a hang of this quickly. But enough practicing for today. I can tell that you are exhausted. Let's go back. You could use a shower," he added, still smiling wide at Brent, his eyes lingering on the beast a few moments longer. The demon was just beautiful in his eyes.

Brent, again, was thankful for his black skin in his demon form ‘cause he knew he would have been flushed red like a tomato. But after thanking the praises, he quickly hid himself in the shower of the building that stood at the side of the open field where Christos liked to practice with him. As the locals left the town behind, that building at the edge of the Gods’ magic protection was used commonly by them all.

That reminded Brent on his first time being there and after the shower he did find his black jeans and T-shirt left behind by him on the last night he was in his human body.

That gave him an idea, so he transformed and put the clothes on. He adjusted his short curly hair to hide the ever peeking out tips of his short horns and walked out to the back where his trainer was watching the sun going down on the horizon.

The god was waiting for Brent's return outside, that pleased little smile still lingering on his lips. They made great progress that day. Brent not only had his first meeting on his own with them and Robb and Jim, but he was also developing his skills quite fast. Not just the fighting but the theoretical things Christos has been teaching him ever since that first night the cute demon sneaked out to come to him to talk some more.

Since then he did the same nearly every day, making their bond deepen, even if he didn't know about that as Christos didn't want to scare him off with that. He wanted Brent to learn that on his own, but at the same time it was harder for the god too with each passing day to hold himself back. He's been waiting for so long...

As he was standing there with his hands held back behind his back, he admired the sunset, lost in his thoughts. He didn't even mind the teasing of his brothers about Brent. It was clear as day that Christos was smitten by this creature.

Brent felt like his little trick was working. So far Christos stood still and was watching the colors the sun painted on the horizon. Other times he always sensed Brent from afar.

So the human-looking demon stood beside the other man, biting his lip to not make any naughty sounds. He sneaked a peek at the admired being. For him Christos was beautiful and he felt drawn to him not just as to someone who knows and teaches about a lot of things. He felt eased up around the God more and more and a new physical attraction formed inside him too...

After a while Christos felt Brent's familiar energies, although less strongly than usual. That made him frown a bit and as he looked to his left, he saw a human man standing there instead of the familiar beast he expected.

Turning his whole body towards him too, he slightly narrowed his eyes to take a better look of the short curly hair barely hiding the protruding cute horns, sensual lips surrounded by short dark beard and warm brown eyes looking back at him. The man had a roundish face too and was shorter and smaller than Christos.

Brent knew the other one recognized him. But the way Christos just looked at him made him feel uneasy...

"It's me, Brent... You don't like me like this?" he blurted out without thinking over his words. But the truth was that he wanted Christos’ admiring eyes on him... He felt them many times and knew about that gaze even if the other man tried to hide it. Brent felt like it was a validation of how he started to feel towards the God. "I... just thought maybe I’d show you my human look too…"

"You are... to me the most beautiful in both forms..." Christos finally spoke and took a wobbly breath. "Frankly, you're not making things easy for me..." he added, trying to hold himself back from finally pulling the small handsome male into his arms. Every fiber in his godly body wanted to do that so badly.

"I… I am..?" Brent swallowed turning red for real this time and closed the space between them. Looking at the dark eyes of Christos, searching for something reassuring, he seemed to have found it because slowly his hands touched the chest of the other male, his palms feeling the heavy breathing of the humanoid body.

"Please... I have to... I never did this..." Brent whispered and slowly closed his eyes and touched his lips to Christos'.

Said god found that blushing so damn cute it melted him a bit more on the inside. Then finally the young demon touched him, making his heart speed up under the warm palms before their lips touched. Fucking finally... That's what Christos thought as he enjoyed the brief physical contact then looked down into the searching and a bit unsure eyes.

Cupping Brent's face between his hands, he smiled down at him, his thumbs caressing the flushed skin. "It's alright... I've been waiting for this moment longer than you can ever comprehend, but it finally came. This is perfect... you are perfect for me," he murmured softly then this time it was he who leaned down to kiss the other man. It was longer and deeper as their lips met over and over, just tasting each other.

Then as Christos licked along the seam of the soft lips to gain access into Brent's mouth, he let his face go and tightly wrapped his marked arms around the man.

The smaller man was weak in the knee and let Christos hold him up. He always imagined it like in the films about teenagers… The first kiss is kinda clumsy but moving and learning it slowly... Well... it turned out it was all about feelings and emotions.

He may have been a little bit clumsy but haven't noticed as Christos' words kept ringing in his ears while he moved his tongue against the other man's and feeling like melting into a blissed out puddle... Yes... Christos was perfect for him too...

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