Chapter 4 – Monsters Above and Below
Again, Aaron dreams a dream that feels like real life. He’s battling demons again alongside his allies. Lars goes head first into a crowd of enemies. He manages to beat dozens and dozens of them, but Alexis heads in to assist him anyways. Aaron isn’t sure if he should help them especially since the rest of his allies are advancing on the enemy. He thinks that his friends will be good on their own and lets them be. Before he knows it, their heads fly out from behind him. They ask him why he didn’t go after him, which wakes him up in a cold sweat.
He wakes up to see Alexis sleeping on him. She’s holding him tight and appears to have been sleeping with him for most of the night.
Lars sees them and tells Aaron, “You’re a lucky man, bro. There are hundreds of women here and I haven’t managed to get one yet, but you got one in two days.”
Aaron smiles and says, “Don’t worry about it. You’ll find one soon. I know it.”
“I hope so. Alexis got up early last night and climbed into your bed. She told me that she had a nightmare about you walking away from her or something like that.”
“Oh.”
Aaron begins to think that his dream has more significance than it seems.
“Well come on. Time to get back to work.”
Aaron wakes up Alexis who gives him a smile when she wakes up.
She kisses him and tells him, “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I love you both too,” Lars says.
“You want to sleep with me next, Lars?” Aaron says.
“No way!”
The three friends share a laugh before heading out. Even though there are way more people in the castle, it seems that the place is just as crowded as it’s always been. Alexis asks an angel why this is, and she tells her that the Father made the castle expand and evolve to fit the needs of its inhabitants. Father has done many wonders for everyone and for the three this one just seems another ordinary one, so it doesn’t impress them that much. People are going in and out of the castle at a much slower rate than yesterday.
The group goes to the Father who tells them, “Even though Lucifer and his army has suffered a major loss, they will not go down without a fight. They are mobilizing their human and animal forces as we speak. We will salt the earth and get rid of their repugnant experimental monsters and perversions of my creatures. You will be able to fly and breathe underwater for today and only today to purge the earth of this menace.”
“Yes, Father,” the three say in unison.
“If you see anyone above who does not carry the same aura you do, then eliminate them. They are godless fools who can do no good. I’ve already seen quite a number of them on earth, so be cautious.”
The three are transported back to earth. They can already see fighting in the distance and hear it as well.
Aaron asks them, “Where should we start? The skies or the ocean?”
“Well, we’ve already flown already. Plus, I’m curious about what the seas hold,” Alexis says.
“Screw that! It’s so dark underwater and that Leviathan beast lives under there,” Lars says.
“But he can fly and dig through the ground.”
“Yeah, but he starts in the water. I say we take to the skies first.”
“I agree with Lars,” Aaron says, not wanting to relieve his previous dream.
“I think you too should be ones dating. I’ll go along with you since your opinions outweigh mine.”
Aaron and Lars high five before they take to the skies to battle with their comrades. The once majestic birds and flock of the skies are now mutated with multiple heads and weird but lethal appendages. They look like something out of a folklore story, especially with their nightmarish screeches. Suddenly, the earth rumbles and the Leviathan flies out of it to join the fight. Alexis looks at her friends who shrug and smile awkwardly. They avoid any awkward talk since the defeating the massive serpent is priority number one. The rest of the demonic army retreats as the Leviathan takes on everyone by itself.
Angels and humans try to do damage to the creature but can’t manage to do any meaningful damage to it. Some of them start to lose faith and this is when the voice of the Father calls to them.
He says, “Combine your strength into one. That is how you will defeat this beast.”
All of the soldiers form together and gather their strength. They all glow a golden light together and attack the Leviathan with one attack that cuts the creature in half and makes its body diminish into nothing. The forces of good cry out in victory and head out to fight more battles.
Emmanuel enters the world to see the three and tells them that, “I’m glad that you came to help your friends in need in the sky though I’m surprised you didn’t go into the sea first. It would’ve stalled the appearance of the Leviathan, but the demons are in disarray now so good job.”
Alexis looks at her two friends again who chuckle awkwardly. The three then thank Emmanuel for his compliment.
“Now hurry and get down to the sea’s depths. They’re making more monsters now as we speak especially since their most powerful one is dead for the time being.”
Emmanuel then rides off on his horse to aid the others. Before Alexis can say anything to Aaron and Lars, they descend to the watery depths, so they don’t need to hear Alexis complain, however, they can breathe underwater so that means she can still talk.
In reaction, Lars says, “Oh come on. We did well by going up to the sky first, so don’t complain.”
“I think so too. We defeated the Leviathan without suffering any casualties and even Emmanuel complimented us,” Aaron says in agreement.
“Ok I guess you guys were right,” Alexis admits.
The group descends deeper and deeper into the cold depths of the ocean until they see light at the bottom. At the very bottom of the ocean is a large sprawling facility. Aquatic demons and people with fish mutations that allow them to breathe and swim like fish come out of the facility to defend it. Aaron, Alexis, and Lars do their best to defend themselves until reinforcements arrive. When reinforcements do arrive, they slip through the fight and enter the facility.
“Wow, this place looks so weird compared to the other man-made buildings on the surface,” Aaron notes.
“This was a secret base before humanity became a bunch of stick figures. I wonder if we’ll get to see the facilities in space,” Alexis says.
“I doubt it. I heard they got rid of them and abandoned the space facilities once they figured out how to keep humanity’s population stable and immortal,” Lars says.
A security system triggers. A voice over the speakers says, “Foreign entities detected. Security lockdown engaged.”
The three are separated by deadly lasers that put them down separate paths.
“Aaron!” Alexis screams.
“Don’t worry about me, Alexis. Let’s just find a way to regroup.”
“What if we just destroy this facility while doing so? We can breathe underwater after all,” Lars suggests.
“Good thinking Lars. Let’s wreck this place, guys!”
The three yell out then begin to destroy the facility with their swords and crossbows. They slash and tear apart the walls and whatever technology they find. Groups of monsters, demons, and deformed people deploy to face them. Some of the humans carry old human guns and weaponry enhanced by demonic power. Years ago, the collective government of the world collected all guns and weapons of self-defense. Since people lived in relatively peaceful times, it was too difficult to get them to give their weapons up, however, these weapons have little to no effect on Aaron, Alexis, and Lars. Their training allows them to dodge bullets and even deflect them. If a shot does get through their defense, their armor under their clothes take the blow for them. The crossbows also automatically refill with whatever kind of magical arrow they need so the three have better long ranged weapons than their enemies.
The three children keep rampaging through the facility until the place can no longer stay operational. The sea pressure begins to make the facility implode on itself until it is nothing but compressed metal at the bottom of the ocean. The group manages to get out before that happens and leave earth since their mission is complete.
Back in the Father’s realm, people are celebrating their victories.
At dinnertime, Emmanuel holds up a glass of wine and says, “This is for all of you especially you who were faithful enough to defeat the Leviathan by yourselves today. I knew you would, so stand up and be proud of your accomplishment!”
Everyone who was there to defeat the Leviathan stand up and receive applause and cheers from their friends.
Emmanuel continues, “Since you got done early and the day is not over, you can all drink and enjoy the day to your heart’s content, but don’t indulge too much. We still have a long fight ahead of us.”
Many kinds of flavorful drinks and exotic foods are handed out by angels to the many warriors though the children do not receive any of the adult drinks like wine and alcohol though some of the foods have them as ingredients. During the celebration, Lars meets a red-haired girl with green eyes. The two spark up a conversation and head outside so they can talk with one another without so much noise around them. It isn’t until he disappears that his friends notice that he is gone. Aaron and Alexis search the castle together until they see Lars and the girl together outside. They just so happen to catch the two kissing.
“That’s a bit surprising,” Alexis says.
“I knew he would get a girl. I’m still surprised I got you. In fact, I thought he would get one faster than me,” Aaron admits.
“What are you talking about?”
“I mean look at him. He’s better looking than me. The only thing that makes me stand out from the others is my rounder face. That, and there’s his personality. He doesn’t let his feelings bother him. He just powers through and fights for the greater good. I’m sure that even if he was eternally single, he would still die without any regrets. He doesn’t need anyone to lean, on unlike me.”
“Stop talking. You’re the only one I have eyes for. As far as I know, you are the best man Father has ever made.”
Alexis and Aaron kiss as Lars and his new girlfriend, Tina, talk outside.
Tina asks Lars, “Why do you think Aaron is stronger? From what I can see, you’re the better man. No offense to him of course.”
“I hope you’re not belittling him. He’s the strongest guy I know. No matter what we go through, he never complains or gets angry. Whenever I look at him, he smiles. I have no doubt that Aaron will never lose hope or give up a fight because he seems like the kind of guy who would give his life for the people he loves. Unlike me, he doesn’t need to lean on anyone else to keep going. Plus, there’s also that round face of his. He got a girlfriend before I did, and I kept hearing other girls talk about him.”
“Stop talking like that. You’re the only man I need in my life. There’s no one who can compare to you.”
Lars and Tina kiss again. Once Lars rejoins his friends in their room, he smiles at Aaron before Aaron and Alexis congratulate Lars on getting a girlfriend. The three then chat with each other until nighttime arrives. When the stars are in the sky, they sit outside in the cool weather and enjoy what Father has created for them without saying a word since they are happy with each other.
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