"Awakening"

"My love... please... wake up..."

She could hear him whisper in her ear, and slowly started to recover some consciousness. Her body felt light, she could hear whispers near her and even though her eyes were not open yet, she could sense there were more people closer to her.

"Can you hear me?"

She could, and even though she wanted to reply, suddenly she felt cautious to do so. She rubbed her eyes, and realized she didn't really need to, there was nothing bothering her sight, she just hadn't open her eyes yet.

'My love... please... say something...' Amra's plead was desperate, and she started to open her eyes. She found him right next to her, and the room was just as she left it before. She needed to ease Amra, but she wasn't sure yet what to say to the others. 'I am here... I need... time... this is... confusing...'

"Do you want me to try and see if I can do something?" Elaine's words brought her attention to everyone else in the room.

"No, she is here... she is just slowly waking up... give her some time..."

She blinked a few more times and finally caught Elaine behind him, Pronab was not too far either. The room was still in the dark, but she could see everyone inside. Maxwell, Basil, Wiltshire, the Mengs. Some others she had not met yet. One new familiar face amongst them. Amra helped her sit; at some point she felt down to the floor and that is where she woke up. The candles near them seemed useless for her now, as strange as it was, she could see more than before.

Elaine smiled at her "Take your time darling... let me know if you want some water, or anything at all..." Caliope smiled at her and nodded, but her attention was drawn to someone behind her.

"I know you..." Her voice faint but clear. Amra turned to see who she was talking to, and so did the others. One of the generals she had not met yet was looking back at her. He gave a step closer.

"You... you were inside his memories... are you...?" She frowned.

"He is Metatron, one of the Generals of the far lands..." Elaine replied as she moved to the side.

"How could you know me?" He replied, his voice firm and emotionless.

Meng Tian broke the uncomfortable silence "Perhaps she saw you in her awakening dreams..."

She heard Tian speak, and in her head she asked herself the same question. Where those just dreams? She remembered her encounter, and suddenly she gasped as she recovered the last pieces. She met him in the field. In the field inside God's memories. She looked back at him and nodded.

"You were the one next to Lucifer, in the field of ancient battles..."

He was surprised, and everyone else in the room was as well. Amra held her tighter and felt her unease, she turned once more to look at him but he had his eyes set on the general.

"Those are beyond ancient times, princess... and he is no longer with us..." Metatron's voice transmitted exactly what everyone else was feeling; confusion.

"Did you dream about him Caly?" Pronab encouraged her to talk, he sat next to her on the floor, protective just as Amra.

"No, it was more than just dreams... but... I need to rest, my head hurts... please?" It was just an excuse, she needed to put some order to her thoughts. She wasn't sure who to trust, she just woke up and felt the need to be careful around everyone.

Amra ordered "Give us some room please..." They went quiet and kept a distance, ever watching. Elaine smiled kindly and kneeled next to her, she cautiously moved a hand closer and showed her she wanted to help her ease the pain. Caliope took a deep breath and nodded. As soon as Elaine's hand touched her forehead, she closed her eyes and saw the void of darkness that now she recognized well; she got transported back to Elaine's building, and saw Metatron sitting in the living room tired and sad. She was inside Elaine, watching him try to speak.

"He is behind this, I know it... I can recognize the signs of his work... he and Nivel are working together, but they have erased their tracks and I can't find them..."

"We need to stop them, we can't let another war break loose now... and he... he is not ready... I have to find a way to wake him up... he is dormant..."

"If he does not come to his senses, he is useless in our fight... we need him Eli..."

The void brought her back to the room and she opened her eyes wide to see Elaine take away her hand from her. She was looking at her with a warm smile, as if she was not aware of anything.

"I... I need to put order into my thoughts, please... can I stay here with just the three of you?"

Maxwell smiled and nodded "Yes, of course... Gentleman, please follow me... let's give her some rest with her family..."

Not all of them were happy about it but none of them refused, they left the room and closed the door behind them. Caliope was taking some deep breaths and trying to calm down, but she was nervous as she watched Elaine carefully. After they were finally gone, Pronab looked at her with concern, and so did Elaine. "What is going on Caly?"

"I don't know where to begin..."

"...by first telling us if you are ok, my love."

"I am more than ok... I think, I am beyond ok... I can hear better, see better... even feel more than before..."

"That is wonderful darling, but what is troubling you?"

"I... I am not sure I can share my experience... I mean... I am not sure I want to show you all of what happened..."

Amra seemed only concerned on her health "do you remember it?" she nodded at him and smiled; her hero and saviour was always attentive of her, she could always count on that. "Yes, at first I was a little confused, but it didn't take long for me to remember it... I saw him..."

They went silent, and she watched in each of them some hint of hope, happiness and anxiety all together. Elaine asked, almost afraid yet wanting her to clarify "You saw... our Father?"

She nodded, and smiled slowly. Amra sighed in relief and smiled brightly. He took one of her hands to his mouth and kissed it "It is a special encounter, and you don't have to share it with us in vision... but if you can tell us in words, we would like to hear that love."

She nodded again and relaxed, moved slightly then looked at Amra with a shy smile. He was squeezing her hand gently, encouraging her. "The last thing I remember here was Elaine saying it was time... I heard you all say something, I didn't understood what, but I couldn't see any of you behind the candles. It must have been just then when I lost consciousness..."

Elaine nodded "We were chanting my dear, praying and chanting for you, what we would call, a ritual..."

"But I lost touch with everything around me... I blacked out... Then I woke up, or at least I started to remember I was who I was, in the middle of a thick jungle... there was a path, and it seemed endless... I heard a voice speaking senseless and I tried to talk to him... at first he ignored me, but then he replied, he asked me who I was... he guided me to the end of the road, and it was the field... right then I knew it was familiar but couldn't remember where I was. He was a fallen Angel, he told me his name was Qemuel..."

Elaine gasped and looked back at Pronab, who felt as if that name was a forbidden word. Caliope stopped talking for a while, and waited in silence for them to say something. Amra, in his kneeled pose next to her, put an arm around her waist and pulled her tightly to him.

Pronab was pensive as he spoke "That was before my times... he was the first one... I remember the stories about him..."

Elaine sighed "Qemuel was the first angel to doubt our Father and to question his decisions, he planted the seed of doubt, perhaps without willingly knowing, into Lucifer's mind..."

"He was almost predicting his own end, I think... at first he was counting numbers, and I thought he was just insane... but then he mentioned "legion" and that warned me it was something more..."

Pronab nodded and frowned "That is how Lucifer's army was called... is called."

The door opened and Maxwell walked in cautiously. Amra nodded at him and with his free hand invited him to join them. "I invited him, and he is aware of all you had been saying till now. Go on, please love." The ability of Amra to make others aware of what was being said came handy now, it was so easy and natural for him; she still couldn't decipher what her abilities were.

Caliope smiled at Maxwell and nodded, as he quietly sat next to Elaine. She leaned against Amra and sighed. "I saw a spear pass through him, he was in such pain... it was right in front me... right when he was warning me not to trust in Angels... and that is when I saw him, Lucifer... he landed right next to me and saw me... he was confused... behind him another one landed, and I recognized him here... it was Metatron... he never talked, and many more landed after them fast... but I recognized him when I saw him here as I woke up..."

Maxwell nodded "Metatron was Lucifer's right hand, the second in command... He was also one of the first ones to point him out as well when he betrayed our Father."

Elaine was still in shock "And he saw you, you said?"

"He saw me, and he said I did not belong there... he said they should do something about me since I witnessed that... then pain... I felt a strong pain piercing through my skull... and when I opened my eyes again I was in some different place... surrounded by light... and I could hear him... talking directly to me..."

"Our Father..." Amra nodded.

"We spoke of a few things... but he was surprised... he said I went through his memories as well..."

"Oh darling!" Elaine clapped excitedly.

"He said he was expecting me... and that he was thinking about that field... about the events that happened there... and I went through those memories as well... but I could interact with them... it was very different... I was not inside someone, I was there as me... and I could talk and interact with them... he said he was not like any other living creature, his memories are different..."

Maxwell was excited as well, he nodded as he smiled "That is extraordinary Caliope... you have amazing powers..."

"He said something similar as well... he said I was an unique outcome of the many possibilities of my existence..."

She looked at Amra and he nodded, smiling. She was now referring to something he knew well, something he could do as well. "The visions... I have them just like him... his gift to me..."

"When he explained it to me I recognized your power as well... it is an amazing gift...!"

He nodded and smiled again, pulling her hand to his lips to kiss it softly once more. She sighed and closed her eyes; so many things she talked with him, yet so many more questions left unspoken. She would have wished to have more time. "He said many personal things to me, some things I don't wish to share so openly..."

"Yes, it is understandable darling... but you are ok my dear? You feel well?"

"I... am not sure..."

"What do you mean my dear?"

"I can feel more... when you touched me, I went right through your memories Elaine... I saw you talking to Metatron back in your house, I don't know when was that but... you were talking about him, right? About Lucifer? And about Amra... being dormant... and he called you Eli..."

Elaine gasped and nodded. She put a hand on her mouth.

"I went in and out of your memories just as you touched me, and I didn't do anything to provoke it... it just happened... and I am not tired or drained as I was the times I did it before..."

"Your powers have now awoken, just as you have... it is only the beginning love, we might need to figure out more about what you can do and it could take time."

"...but I can't be going into a trance each time someone touches me! It is confusing and I feel like I am trespassing some personal territory..."

"Perhaps... would you like to try?" Elaine finally regained her voice.

"Try what?"

"...if you can see through Pronab's memories maybe...?"

Caliope looked at Pronab who felt uncomfortable about the suggestion. He was frowning but then took a deep breath and nodded. "If you want to try, I can try as well... my memories are not an easy field... even for me."

"Chose some particular place... chose a memory... it seems she can go through the memories of what we are thinking or were thinking not long ago... chose one and let's see..."

Pronab moved closer to Caliope, and took a deep breath. He looked around the room for a moment, trying to find something in particular to think about. He found something and looked at her nodding, extending his hand and leaving it close to her at range. She nodded at him and carefully rested her hand on his. Everything around her moved fast into a twisted void, a darkness that surrounded her first, only to disappear seconds later and leave her in a field. She was looking through his eyes as he was standing in a hill looking down a white path. At certain distance, she saw a woman dressed in white walking slowly towards him. She was smiling, but not at him. He moved his head and saw Amra in tears. She realized she was witnessing her own wedding; and the woman in white was her looking beautiful and in love. She blinked a few times and she was back in the darkness, and seconds later she was in the room with Amra holding her firmly from behind. She felt a little dizzy, but she was otherwise in perfect health. She smiled at Pronab and blushed. "My wedding... you were thinking of my wedding... I saw myself through your eyes, as I was walking to Amra... thank you Pronab... it was a beautiful moment..."

He smiled at her and nodded, and Amra smiled at him as well. Elaine was grinning and exchanging looks with Maxwell, who was not as happy as her. "One more try my dear, this time, let's see if it only works with skin, or if it works through clothes as well... this will determine how careful we should be around you until we learn how you can control it... Maxwell?"

"Ok... let me give you something interesting to see..."

He approached her and offered her his arm, she looked at him a little curious but also exited. She grabbed his arm and saw the room go dark once more. Soon, she was inside Maxwell watching a scene in the yard. It was early in the morning, Vanessa was waking up; she was drinking a cup of coffee as she was watching the first workers move the chairs and tables like working ants. She could see Maxwell was inside the house, watching from a window, and Vanessa must have been outside while drinking. From one of the doors, Pronab walked out and walked towards Vanessa with a plate of sweets. She smiled at him and blushed, he did not even touched her but she was completely enchanted by him. He smiled shyly at her and then he left. When Caliope opened her eyes again, she looked at Maxwell and laughed. "Oh Maxwell... I like you each day more... thank you!"

Maxwell chuckled "Trust me... it was my pleasure..."

She giggled and looked back at Elaine; her smile faded as she saw in her eyes concern. "What is wrong Elaine?"

"I was afraid of that... it seems... anyone who touches you... is in danger to make you lose yourself in their memories... I was really hoping it was just by direct touch... and now it seems it is not..."

"But I am not inside Amra's memories, and we are holding each other's hands..."

"I am not like them... my love... I have shielded myself to be protected from anything... and anyone... when I came to Earth I was cautious to do this as I wasn't sure what to expect... it looks like it works for you as well..." She pouted, of course he would be shielded, he was the strong and mighty Arcane Angel who came to Earth to save all. She shook her head at herself; instantly unapproving her way of thinking. "That is not fair... what if I want to see your memories too?"

"When you are ready, I will show them to you willingly..."

She smiled softly at him and nodded. There was something deep inside her that knew any memories of Amra would be something completely different from what she saw before... and she was not ready to see it yet. Elaine's words sank into her, she now knew it would not be easy for her to walk amongst others if each touch meant a new memory to get lost in. "So now I have to stay at distance from you? all of you?"

"For now, yes darling... until we figure out how to help you control it..."

Pronab pondered before adding "...and if it is your only gift..."