Lucy Kwan, Period 7, 12/22/21

 Lucy Kwan, Period 7, 12/22/2021

Creativity & Fiction

A “Father’s” Lament

“We are descendants of the Angels. You must understand our greater cause.”

A hand extended towards Uriel, one whose warmth had long turned foreign. Within the

palm was a pulsating object, vile yet still… alive. With each beat, Uriel’s stomach sank even

further. This wasn’t divinity. This wasn’t what he wanted. This wasn’t right.

But this wasn’t his choice.

Reluctantly, Uriel took the gift from his mother. Shivers still running in his spine, he

could do nothing as the woman’s calm smile oppressed him. He’s grown up. He should be strong

now. He should be able to stand firm, yet…

He couldn’t.

And so, the “core” was left to him. Raphael had not given him any instruction on what to

do with it, but there was, in fact, only one thing Uriel could do. The one thing Uriel had loved

with all his heart, now finally tainted by his mother. Research. The core wasn’t something

explicable by the laws of the world, but that mattered not. What mattered, at least to Raphael

Santen, were results.

Like Uriel had suspected, the core was an artifact from the demonic era. Ironic, but not

surprising of his mother. It was the “heart” of a strong demon, a sinister remnant of humanity’s

torturer. Beyond that, however, it was a source of unimaginable power. An enigma unsolvable by

humanity. Uriel could only surmise a fraction of the tragedies that could arise should this artifact

get into the wrong hands. What a shame it was, then, that it had already fallen into the claws of

Raphael Santen.

But Raphael never pressed the matter. Months passed by, and Uriel had long sealed away

the core. Slowly, life marched on, and so did Uriel. Having seen the depths of hell, Uriel found

the courage to refuse his mother’s pressure, and it seemed as if he would finally be free from his

past.

Winter came, and the reverie shattered.

“Uriel, please, you have to do something! I know you can! Aunt Raphael told me you

know how to save him!“

The other man was practically begging on his knees now. Uriel stared at his cousin in

dreadful shock. Of course, this is what his mother had planned all along. Naturally, after learning

its true nature, Uriel would never agree to use the core, so Raphael presented him with a choice

instead: Use the core, or kill your nephew.

“Gabriel, calm down. It is true, there is a way to save your son. But…”

“But what? Whatever price I have to pay, I’ll give it all!”

Uriel didn’t answer.

The experiment was a mere few days after Gabriel’s plea. The boy’s organs were nearly

all dysfunctional. No human procedure could recover a body in this state, but with the core, it

would be possible. Gabriel’s son could live. Uriel watched as the core wrapped itself over the

child’s insides, turning tissue black and blood blue. With this, the boy could no longer be

considered human. The operation was a success.

The boy was returned to his family, and all seemed well. Once again, monotony returned

to Uriel, though he knew better than to trust this false sense of safety. Raphael’s schemes

wouldn’t stop, not until she was dead. All Uriel could do was wait like an ant stuck in a spider’s

web.

A week passed. Then a month. Then a year. With bated breath, Uriel continued onwards.

Awaiting the day he would face his predator, the day he would choose whether to struggle or

surrender. The choice didn’t matter, though. Of course it didn’t. After all, no one knew better

than Uriel what his ultimate fate would be.

Eventually, the spider would start feasting on its prey, one by one.

It was rumored that on one fateful night, a tower of black flame illuminated the sky. Eerie

and demonic, the inferno left nothing behind but the wails of its victims. And just as quickly as

the fire had erupted, it dissipated. Uriel ran into the rubble, hoping to find any sign of Gabriel

and his family. Miasma overflowed from the rocks, and with each desperate grasp the despair

thickened around Uriel. A limp arm. Useless. Shriveled remains. Worthless. The genius of

Santen dug through the crumbled walls, revealing nothing but death. He grasped, pleaded, and

begged. If Raphael could have told one truth, if there really was a Heaven looking over him, let

his cries be answered.

Uriel broke through a piece of sheetrock. The faint sound of strained breathing peeked

out from under the debris, a sign of hope in this night of despair. Uriel pushed through, heavy

gasps overlapping the weakening breaths underneath. After what felt like an eternity, the man

had finally reached the source of his hope.

Two children, shelterning themselves from the cruelty of this world. Tracing charred

marks on the floor, Uriel recognized a familiar figure nestled within the other boy’s arms. The

child that bled blue. The younger of Gabriel’s twins, the very “miracle” that Uriel had saved. At

that moment, nothing but a crushing despair was left in Uriel’s heart. There was no use searching

for any others. None but this pair of brothers would be left alive.

The genius of Santen carried the two children outside the rubble. Naturally, Raphael was

there to greet them. To claim her prized meal. It seemed that in the end, everything had gone

according to her plan. There was nothing left to stop her from getting what she wanted, there was

never anything to stop her from anything. Any and all effort Uriel put in was worthless, and

evidently he had made everything worse. If he hadn’t used the core, if he had never learned of its

power in the first place, none of this would have happened. Gabriel wouldn’t have died. The

twins wouldn’t have been left without a family. Uriel let out a sigh. Of relief. Of regret.

This tragedy was his fault, but he could do nothing to remedy it.

All he could do was watch as everything he loved fell apart.

And no matter how much he hated it, there was only one road for him.

It was never his choice.