The trio appeared in the garden. Ezekiel dusted his hands off. He tipped his hat to Mitena.

“Pleasure to meet you, young lady.”

“Who are you?”

Mitena was still clutching onto Enid’s hand tightly staring up at Ezekiel.

“Technically I’m your uncle child.”

Mitena looked up at Enid who nodded.

“He is my brother, or so I’m told.”

Enid looked at Ezekiel.

“I’ve had enough of this getting pulled every which way bullshit. I have a life, school, a daughter, a sister, a girlfriend, you can’t just go tossing people who knows how far into the past for six years and expect them to be happy about it!”

“Its not my fault it took you six years to learn the lesson he wanted you to learn.”

“He’s an asshole.”

“Well. He apologizes for the inconvenience.”

He strolled over to the tree of life and plucked two of the golden fruits, he strolled to the tree of knowledge and plucked one of the silver fruits.

“As a way to make amends he wanted me to bring Mitena here and give her something to snack on.”

Enid blinked.

“Really? The silver ones? You won’t even give me those.”

“I could if you wanted, but people rarely want the knowledge it provides. But in this case, the knowledge that is needed isn’t so bad.”

He ruffled Mitena’s hair and offered her the fruit. Mitena still had her vicelike grip on Enid’s hand. Enid nodded to her.

“Go ahead, he’s an asshole, but its safe here. Go ahead eat. You’ll feel better.”

He offered the last golden fruit to Enid.

“For you sister.”

Enid snatched and bit into it.

“Jerk.”

“I deserved that. Now. I believe a field trip to Atlantis is in order. Boss says you need a ‘tablet’ and as many blades as you can carry, along with an extra pack for this one and for your other daughter.”

“Really? He wants me to give an elven year old an extradimensional pack?”

“Yes, in them you’re to place one tablet, one suit of Atlantean armor, one dagger, one sword, one pistol, and one rifle.”

Enid shrugged.

“Well lead the way, I’ve never been.”

Ezekiel nodded and as he walked a walking stick appeared in his hand. The trio looked truly odd as they walked through the warm oak and maple forest. A dapper seventy-year-old man with a bowler and a silver tipped walking stick. The women dressed in hides and woven fabric from a primitive tribe.

“Ezekiel something more comfortable please?”

He nodded and winked at the pair. Enid was wearing her favored school clothes a pleated skirt with hidden pockets and a t-shirt and a pair of combat boots. Mitena ended up dressed similarly. She started tugging at her newly formed underwear and looked at Enid who shrugged. Mitena was finishing her fruit of life which and she tossed the core and then took a bite of the silver fruit. Enid glanced at her adopted daughter and saw her eyes go wide.

“These are underwear and this is a training bra.”

Enid nodded.

“Guess that fruit is something.”

“It tastes like lessons from you mother.”

“Yuck.”

She looked at Ezekiel.

“Did you give her one of the rotten ones?”

“No mother, it… is love wrapped around knowledge. Oh mother, I did not know how much I loved your lessons.”

Enid shrugged. Enid and Mitena started to lag behind as the knowledge of the future started to infuse her brain. Ezekiel stopped and tapped his cane.

“Come on, we haven’t got all day children.”

“Ezekiel, we are literally in a dimension that touches all space and time. We have as long as we want.”

“I know but I’ve always wanted to say that.”

Enid shook her head and nudged Mitena to move faster.

“Actually, if this touches all space and time, could I like visit mars?”

“Technically yes, though I don’t think you’d appreciate it on the day side.”

“You have a point.”

The trio found the black beach and Enid finally saw the remnants of the battle with her own eyes. She had only had Mariana’s descriptions. All around soldiers were trapped in posses of combat and death. Ezekiel led them across the bridge. Mitena had started holding Enid’s hand tightly again.

“Mother, what is this place?”

“Fruit didn’t tell you?”

Mitena shook her head.

“This is Atlantis. The site of the first battle between the forces of order and chaos.”

“What is wrong with the mother?”

“Well, your Aunt Maria, who you haven’t met yet, said that they are frozen in time. I’m not sure if that is true, but they aren’t moving. Be careful.”

The trio worked their way through the streets of Atlantis which was a ringed city that seemed to float on the water. Each ring was higher then the next. Enid silently pondered what dwelled beneath the streets as they walked up to the next level collecting Atlantean blades. Ezekiel led the pair to the central core which housed the repository of knowledge and seemed to be the hardest hit layer besides the other ring. One of the walls was smashed in its pieces frozen in air. A cylinder at the center of the city was broken and fragments were being flung off as if it was spinning itself apart. The only moving things here were thin lines of crackling energy, running through the core: Green, Black, Blue, Purple. Enid felt herself being pulled into it, so she stayed back.

“What is that, Ezekiel?”

“That is the reality core.”

“That means nothing to me.”

“Pillar of Creation? All of the raw energies of creation and reality run through it. Life, Death, Order, Chaos.”

“It looks like it is barely holding together.”

“Very true. Balance was lost. It began to slowly tear itself apart. With a little help from the Black Son as you call him. Its failure was inevitable, he just sped it up. Only the temporal locks your father placed on Atlantis is stopping it from tearing itself apart. All of creation hangs on a few threads. The Black Son seeks to cut those threads.”

“Is that why we are here?”

“That and to collect the articles the Boss requested.”

“Okay every other angel in existence calls him father, why do you call him the Boss?”

“He’s the Boss.”

“You know, you’re like the red-haired stepchild of angels.”

“Technically sister, you’re the one with red hair.”

Enid made a face at him. Mitena shook her head.

“My mother has blonde hair.”

“This isn’t your mother’s true face my dear child. This is the one she uses to fight evil with. Her other one is younger. Why are you still in that shape, sister?”

“Because we still have to close the Hell Portal someone opened in Utah?”

“Oh, my we haven’t done that yet?”

“No, we haven’t.”

Enid double checked the two packs she was supposed to retrieve for the articles that God had requested they recover. She confirmed the list was all accounted for and gave one of them to Mitena.

“Do not lose this. It cannot be replaced.”

Mitena hung it over her shoulder like she had seen her mother do with hers for years. Enid looked to Ezekiel.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Ezekiel put his hands on their shoulders, and they appeared in the mortal world. Enid looked around trying to get her bearings. She blinked because this was obviously not Edmonton. She recognized the rock formations she could see in the distance and glared at Ezekiel.

“This is Utah. We were supposed to take Mitena home first.”

“Well technically this is her home.”

“I meant my home.”

“Oh, I guess I did do this out of order.”

Enid frowned.

“Ezekiel were you dropped on your head as a baby angel?”

“Angel babies, what an absurd idea.”

“What about cherub?”

“An entirely human construct.”

Enid turned around in the circle. It was midday and they were in a town. The trio were attracting all manner of attention. It wasn’t long before a tribal police car pulled up as Enid tried to figure out which way it was to the demon pit mine as it was called now at least in the Navajo language. It was a pair of female officers. One dispersed the crowd of gawkers who were staring at Enid. The other approached the trio. She addressed Enid first.

“Ms. O’Connor. Is something going on we should be aware of?”

“Not here. The mining company that purchased the copper rights to the demon pit mines ran into some trouble. I mean what could go wrong trying to mine a place called the demon pit by the locals right?”

The officer chuckled then looked to Mitena.

“Shouldn’t you be in school young lady instead of harassing superheroes?”

Mitena grabbed onto Enid’s hand as she was addressed. She had been busy gawking at all the things she’d never seen but could identify with no trouble. She spoke in the language of her tribe.

“Mom, help?”

Enid squeezed Mitena’s hand addressing her in the same language.

“You should know English now, you should probably stick with that hon.”

Enid looked at the officer, then glared at Ezekiel.

“I’m sorry, this is my daughter. She was supposed to be at home, but our transportation screwed up. I don’t even have her passport.”

“No, dear, I have it here in my pocket.”

Ezekiel pulled out a Canadian passport and handed it to Enid. She opened it and quirked an eyebrow at him. The officer looked down to Mitena. The officer put her hands on her hips and looked at Mitena speaking in Navajo.

“Is she your mother?”

Mitena without thinking responded in Navajo which apparently, she was fluent now. Her tone was indignant and annoyed.

“She is, and she understands our language she raised me since I was five.”

Enid nodded.

“Well, technically its…a dialect of Navajo. I’m sorry she’s being so rude Officer, her name is Mitena, I…exercised a demon from her, her mother and father had passed, and her town was scared of her and she had no one so I adopted her with the blessings of her tribal elders. Which I did gladly.”

Enid offered the girls passport which had adoption papers folded inside of it. The officer looked it over, folded the paper up and put it back inside the passport. The other officer joined them and smiled at Mitena.

“Well, everything seems to be in order. I’m glad you’re making sure she knows her heritage and can speak our language.”

“Oh, her knowing her heritage and traditions is very important to me. If she wants to move home once she’s an adult I want her to be able to. I spent years with a medicine man learning the stories so I could pass them to her.”

The other officer smiled.

“So, then you have heard the story of a girl named Mitena who was adopted by the Night Mother spirit, Koko?”

Mitena looked up at Enid then back to the officer.

“That’s my mother’s tribal name.”

The officers blinked at the trio.

“My family has visited the mine before…to fight the same demons from the caves. Perhaps it was one of my ancestors.”

“This would have been before Europeans visited this part of North America.”

“We have…help to get places we need to be if the matter is urgent.”

She glanced at Ezekiel. Who tipped his hat who addressed everyone in Navajo. Enid had come to realize angels could speak any language in existence so was unsurprised by this.

“Ezekiel, Archangel, at your service ladies.”

The pair of officers looked at each other and chuckled. Enid nodded to them like he was telling the truth.

“Really?”

“Yes, he’s not representative of most of them. He’s the red-headed stepchild that annoys his siblings. But it is who I got when I asked for help”

Enid shrugged.

“Sister, really airing our dirty laundry outside the family.”

She switched to Angelic.

“I say this with love Ezekiel, but fuck you.”

Mitena blinked at her mother understanding that as well.

“Well, if you’re going to the mine, maybe we could take you to the local medicine man?”

“No, we should be fine, I have a good idea of what we’re dealing with. My ancestor left very detailed journals. Umm could you…take Mitena for a tour of your police station? Do you do that here?”

“Of course.”

“You taught me to fight mother. I can help.”

“You’re eleven and I think you’ve dealt with enough demons in your life already. You’ll have fun. I just need to fight a few demons and then Ezekiel will seal the rift and we’ll be good to go. Lets walk to the station I see it from here, we’ll grab some food, and then you can hang out with the officers.”

Mitena pouted and followed Enid. Ezekiel sat down on a nearby bench. Enid went into the restaurant she had seen and bought a hamburger and French fries to go. She took Mitena’s hand and led her to the station where the officers had already arrived. The local lieutenant, was also a woman smiled when she saw the pair.

“I was told we had a VIP. I’m Lieutenant Claw. Oh, and I see you brought food. I’ll let the Officers show you our lunchroom first.”

She motioned for the officers to come and get Mitena who reluctantly let go of Enid’s hand. Enid waved to her. Once she was out of sight and earshot the Lieutenant looked Enid up and down.

“I didn’t believe them when they said you were here.”

“I’m sorry to be interrupting the peace of your town.”

“Well, I’m glad, that mine has been nothing but problems for my people as long as anyone can remember. It has claimed many lives.”

“My ancestor sealed the cave, but it seems it was dug up.”

“Twice now. No one believes us. First it was the US Government looking for Uranium. Then this copper mining company.”

“Thank you for letting Mitena stay here. It is not safe and I wanted to leave her at home.”

“Oh, no worries, we’re both vets and officers of the law. Need to look out for each other.”

“Could I use your change room? Or a bathroom? I need to get my armor on.”

“Sure, it’s just over there.”

“Thanks.”

Enid nodded turned go move towards it and then paused.

“Mitena has quite the imagination and is obsessed with her tribal history, so she might talk your ears off. Her current fad is pretending she is from the legend that has her name in it. She sees herself in the child because they were both adopted by my family.”

“Same name too?”

Enid shrugged.

“Who knows, maybe its history repeating itself.”

The lieutenant chuckled.

“We’ll make sure she stays out of trouble.”

*****

Ezekiel followed Enid at a safe distance.

“That sword really is disturbingly evil.”

“You get used to it.”

“What do you think we’re going to find in the cave? I cannot peer into it from limbo.”

“Its going to be empty, I broke the alter. I created a lake of blessed demonfire on the other side. Any demon that approaches gets incinerated. We just need to close the hole.”

“Oh, excellent.”

“I mean unless the demonfire went out, but it was still going an hour after I left so maybe its some Hell thing where fires won’t stop burning.”

Ezekiel rubbed his neatly trimmed gray beard.

“I believe the term for blessed demonfire, is oxymoron?”

“Its not actual demonfire, it’s a missile developed by the US government that turns stuff into a thermite adjacent compound. Burns hotter than the surface of the sun for about ten minutes. Turns stuff to glass.”

“Why would they make such a weapon?”

“Area denial, runway destruction, sink aircraft carriers, wipe out large areas of landmass that are infected with a plague, cover up vampire rebellions? Lots of uses for it. In this case area denial, I was hoping it would destroy whatever portal existed on the other side. But it seems like it’s not a physical thing.”

Enid paused for a second.

“Are radioactive elements caused because Hell intersects the material world in that area?”

Ezekiel looked up for a few moments.

“Yes.”

“So, in creating Hell, god allowed for the creation of thermal nuclear weaponry. Glorious.”

“The Boss says it is a manifestation of the corruption of our fallen brothers and sisters.”

“Hmm I always thought they were just unstable elements.”

“The corruption causes disorder which causes instability. Chaos’s influence.”

“But chaos is part of the four core energies of creation. If I heard you right.”

“Yes you heard me right. But Balance is also key. If any of the four energies is overpowered it causes corruption. Cancer for example. Life imbalanced.”

“But radiation causes cancer”

“Yes. The energies exist in balance and when one is unbalanced it knocks the others out of balance and they try to balance by forcing it back.”

“You’re giving me a headache.”

“You asked.”

Enid made a face at him.

“What is it parents say? If you keep making that face it will stay like that.”

Enid frowned at him. The pair were about to reach the cavern that held the portal. Enid took some time to reload her pistols with blessed bullets and hook them on the armor. She pulled a mirror out of her pack and held it around the corner. Several miner’s bodies had been left whey they died. They had been dismembered and the hellhounds milled around one miner whose corpse was still standing. He was staring at the portal. Enid retracted the mirror and showed Ezekiel three fingers. He looked at her confused and was about to say something when Enid grabbed the back of his head and put her hand over his mouth and shook her head. She pointed to a spot on the mine’s floor a few feet back from the cavern entrance. She pulled the shadows around herself and shimmered out of existence.

The hell hounds started sniffing the air and growling. The animated miner looked around and then straight at Enid.

“Sister.”

Enid felt a twisting in her gut that she hadn’t felt since Edmonton, 1985. This was no demon, this was a fallen angel. Enid let the shadows fall from her.

“So you managed to get through my lake of fire.”

“Yes. Lucifer is quite angry with you.”

“Good for him. You know how this ends. I destroy you completely and drink your essence, or you go home now.”

“You’ve gotten a lot more violent in your old age.”

“Me? No this is me being nice. If I was more violent I would have killed you already.”

He laughed.

“How little you know. Why are you bothering? The portal is open, the cavern has been unsealed, its only a matter of time before you are reunited with us and Lilith is in chains serving her husband.”

“One more chance. Leave or be destroyed.”

“I think not.”

Enid shrugged and altered time. Lunging at him with Bloodseeker drawn. She struggled to hit him as he was moving just as fast as she was. He had a demonic blade and managed to clip her once. Their blades sparked as they hit each other. She could feel Bloodseeker hungering for a taste of the fallen angel. The hell hounds tried to attack her, but she was moving faster than they could truly perceive so their teeth kept hitting air. She felt the blade pierce her chest narrowly missing her heart and slicing through her ribs. It burned unlike anything she had ever felt before save for the claws of the last fallen angel she had fought.

Enid pulled herself off the blade. In an act of desperation as she was reeling from the stab wound she used her telekinesis to fling one of the hell hounds at his legs as he lunged towards her to finish her off. He tripped on over the hound. Enid stumbled over to him and stabbed him through the back. Her sword pierced his heart. Bloodseeker flared bright white as it sucked the essence of the angel into it. Enid could feel his energy renewing her and mending the demonic wounds on her flesh.

The hell hounds took advantage of Enid pausing to drain him and lept to attack. Enid punched one in the head and kicked the other away. When they lept at her she cut them both in half, their forms disintegrating before they hit the ground. She used her telekinesis to fling the blade through the portal. It flared with green fire as it sunk into the blessed demonfire lake.

Enid leaned on the wall. She looked down at herself touching the hole in her armor where the stab wound had been. Her hands were shaking.

That was closer than it has ever been.

She was fairly sure the amulet wouldn’t have stopped that sword. She touched her forehead and gathered herself so her voice would not show how shaken she was.

“Ezekiel, its clear, come do your thing please.”

He strolled in like he didn’t have a care in the world oblivious to Enid’s state of mind. He held out his hand and his form shifted into its true angelic one. Light lept from his hand and the rift seemed to freeze over and once the light died down it left an obsidian wall. Enid motioned him back and reached up to the ceiling and pulled the supports with her telekinesis willing the rock to collapse. There was a tense silence for several seconds. Then suddenly a loud crack echoed through the mine and the ceiling collapsed showering the pair in dust and debris. Enid slide Bloodseeker and her guns into her pack and started towards the exit.

“Good work. The Boss is proud.”

Enid nodded, she wasn’t in the mood to celebrate. She had almost died back there. Fallen angels were no joke her arrogance was starting to seem unearned. Ezekiel patted her on the back.

“Shall we go have pizza in Rome?”

Enid shook her head.

“I just want to go home and see my family and Allison.”

“Well…in your own time its Monday morning so…you have school.”

Enid closed her eyes and sighed. She was too emotionally exhausted to scream. By the time they reached the police station she had managed to get her fake ‘everything is alright’ mom face on. Mitena was grinning ear to ear and had a plastic Navajo tribal police badge in her hand and a temporary tattoo on arm. She bounded over to Enid and jumped up. Enid caught her and lifted her easily in the artificial lighting of the police station.

“Mom, they showed me the cells and fingerprinting, I got to arrest someone for jaywalking.”

Enid kissed Mitena on the forehead.

“I’m glad you had fun. Its time to go home now though.”

Enid looked at the three offices.

“Thank you so much.”

“It was a pleasure. Everything go alright?”

“It could have gone better, but the chamber is sealed again. I’ll tell them not to unseal it again. Lets just hope your elders specify in the next contract that that passage needs to remain closed. Hey, are there any charities in the area that need help?”

The officers looked at her in confusion.

“The mine had to pay me as a contractor, but I don’t keep the money from this work, I usually support a local charity.”

One of the officers spoke up.

“There is a medical clinic that tries to offer free services.”

“Sounds good.”

Enid held Mitena in one arm and wrote her number down on a nearby sticky note.

“Give them my number, I’ll make the arrangements. Thanks again.”

She looked at Ezekiel.

“Can you get us home now please?”

“Of course.”

Mitena waved to the officers as Ezekiel shifted them to the garden and then to Eyre’s house. Just in time to see sunrise on November 1, 2027. Enid put Mitena down how was looking around at the spacious home.

“Where are we?”

“This is my daughter Eyre’s house. She’s your sister now.”

“I have a sister?”

“Yes, but she’s a lot older than you. Can’t tell with the way she acts sometimes though.”

“I heard that mom.”

Eyre’s voice sounded from the stairs to the basement. She paused having missed the part about having a new sister.

“Mom, its only been three hours…did you take care of the demon, and have another child in three hours?”

Enid frowned. Eyre noticed the gaping hole and blood stains on the chest of Enid’s armor. She rushed forward.

“Mom are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Eyre, this is Mitena, your new sister. Mitena, this is Eyre, my second youngest daughter so your big sister.”

Enid put Mitena down. Eyre smiled at her after giving a strange look to her mother and offered her hand.

“Pleasure to meet you Mitena. Are you hungry?”

“No, but I bet mother is she hasn’t eaten all day.”

“Well, how about we let her get out of that armor and you can help me make some breakfast for everyone. Your Aunt Maria should be waking up any time now.”

Enid smile as Eyre led Mitena to the kitchen then shuffled up the stairs to her room and private bathroom. What she really wanted was to be back in her real body and have a long, long hot shower.