Enigma of the Soul - Book 1 - Pieces (21 page)

The kitchen staff stops, bows to Alfonzo, and says in harmony, “Hello princess Alfonzo.”

David’s jaw drops at the word princess. Alfonzo looks back at David.

“Pick whatever you wish to eat but do not get too full because we have a dinner date with my father.”

David nods his head and goes straight for the fruit. He sees many different types of fruit. Some he has never seen before, but one fruit that stands out is the star fruit.

“Where did you get this?”

“From this cute little stand that sells the best tasting fruit in all of the earth,” Alfonzo replies smiling back at David.

Alfonzo and David exchange no words, only flirtatious glimpses, as they eat. Alfonzo eyes follow every move David’s hands and lips make. She wishes that his hands were holding hers, his lips kissing her lips, and his hands caressing her hair. She would pull away just long enough to look into his eyes… those deep blue eyes.

The kitchen staff continues to prepare for the grand feast that night. They try not to look at David or Alfonzo, but all the staff knows what is on Alfonzo's mind. The kitchen staff works as Alfonzo and David snack on the fruit of the world.

Devan stops midway through the portal. He realizes that he never got to ask the questions he wanted answered. They are answers that he needs to know before he can continue with his grand plan. Devan turns around to travel back through the portal. He finds himself standing in front of the same building. This time he will have his answer. Walking back through the hallway that Pandora lead him down, Devan notices that the sound he first heard is gone. The sewing needles have stopped. Devan walks into the sewing room and is surprised that it is vacant. With his back turned to the front wall, Devan feels eyes watching him.

One of the kitchen staff walks up to Alfonzo.

“Madam Alfonzo, your father requests your presence within the great hall.”

He bows and disappears back into the kitchen.

David is still shocked to see all the kitchen staff bowing down to Alfonzo.

“Do you want to leave to meet up with your father?”

“Nope,” Alfonzo takes another bite of her apple. “I am eating my fruit. He can wait. He always waits.”

David gets nervous because he is a guest in a strange castle with strange beings.

“Don’t worry, he does this kind of thing to me all of the time. He personally thinks that it is cute because he is the king down here.”

Alfonzo leans back in her chair and smiles at David. Fruit juices run out of one side of her mouth as she tilts her head to one side.

David giggles, “How long do you usually give him before he begins to get mad?”

A screaming man’s voice booms throughout the castle, “Alfonzo! You get in here at once.”

“About that long. Hum, it sounds as if he is grumpy tonight. Maybe the torturing is not going well tonight. Sometimes people just don’t get into it as daddy gets into it. At times, he can be a difficult man to satisfy.”

David is astounded at what is coming out of Alfonzo’s mouth.

“Does he cheer up when he sees you?”

“Every time," Alfonzo says with a smile as she stands up. "Daddy loves his little princess.”

David lets Alfonzo take the lead as he follows Alfonzo out of the kitchen. Entering into the great hall, Alfonzo and David can see Alfonzo's father waiting at the opposite end. He sits upon his throne eating an apple. Bite by bite, each piece slides into his mouth gracefully like a veteran ballerina dancing across the stage. Alfonzo waves at her father to get his attention. Alfonzo’s father smiles at them then vanishes into thin air leaving no dust disturbed by his actions.

“Where did he go?”

Quietly reappearing behind Alfonzo and David, he slowly puts his arms around them both, “Who’s the kid?”

“Daddy, this is David Turner. David, this is my father, Lucifer.”

David is now standing next to one of the most dangerous people in all of existence. This person was so dangerous they named a sin after him. He was banished from heaven for that very reason. Lucifer was one person that David wanted not to meet. David was hoping that Alfonzo’s father was actually someone else.

“David Turner. Why does that name ring a bell?” Lucifer thinks for a second then snaps his fingers. “I know; you’re the young man that lost his parents in that barn fire. I’m truly sad to hear, or you could say, that. But you must be a particularly special person if you have made it this far in life. I mean that you are standing next to my daughter… my little princess… is the best part of all. She hasn’t eaten you yet. Usually she has tortured her victim by now then started to feast on their cooking corpse as a light snack.”

“Daddy, stop it. You’re not scaring him at all,” Alfonzo pushes her father away from her and David.

Lucifer smiles at Alfonzo and walks away from them with his back to them, “Did you know that a djinn will show his true colors or being by what harsh experience they have had or will have done to them?”

“Daddy, you’d better not do what I think that you are about to do.”

“You did want me to help young David out, right?” Lucifer points at David. “Wasn’t it the point of bringing him was to help him solve a problem he has?”

“Yes, but not this way, Daddy.”

“In what way? How are you proposing to help me?” David steps forward as he joins in the conversation.

“How about a friendly duel between two people of questionable powers?” Lucifer replies holding out his hand. “And, since you are my daughter’s guest, I promise not to cheat.”

“A friendly match? No cheating?”

“Daddy, stop. You are not going to hurt him!”

“Whoever said anything about hurting anybody? All I am suggesting is a friendly duel between two friends. No cheating of any sort. Just two buds, pals, old friends, having a fun quarrel between themselves,” Lucifer says as he dances around like a cage fighter getting ready for a fight.

Alfonzo shakes her head at David to warn him. David looks back at her, questioning her intentions. She reaches for David as he smiles back at her. David quickly spins his head towards Lucifer.

“Let’s do this. I want this.”

Alfonzo’s hand swiftly drops as a feeling of despair comes over her.

“It was already written, broken soul, that you would return for a second time. You are too easily controlled by fate.”

The three ladies do not show themselves to Devan. He looks around to pinpoint their location.

“If you knew that I would be back, why not tell me the answer that I seek so this would not happen?”

“Because it is not up to us to write history. It is only up to us to make sure that it does happen.”

“Then answer my question. Who is this hybrid soul? What is their name? Where can I find them?”

“You should pick only one question to ask. Then ask only that question. Choose quickly before your time runs out.”

“Their name, what is their name?”

The ladies whisper in Devan’s ear as they stand behind him, “The one that you seek is named David Turner. David is the hybrid soul that will bring you to your knees crying begging for mercy. Now leave before your time runs out.”

Devan bows and leaves without looking back at the ladies.

He walks back through the portal knowing what he has to do next.

“First the rules. First person to say no more loses. After that, the only thing that you are limited by is your imagination. That means if you can think of it you can do it.” Lucifer comes closer to David to stand toe to toe, “Fair enough?”

“My imagination, only my imagination…”

“Only your imagination.”

“Fair enough. When do we start?”

Lucifer smiles and punches David in the chest, knocking him back a couple of feet. David rubs his chest and gives Lucifer an okay you got me look. Lucifer smiles back at David and notice him charging at him. David welcomes Lucifer invite and runs full speed into Lucifer. A loud thud echoes throughout the great hall. David collides with Lucifer's body then hits the floor with all of the momentum that he used to hit Lucifer with.

“Now why didn’t you knock me over? Is it because I thought of myself as one of the hardest substances known to man? Maybe.”

Lucifer walks over to David and puts out a hand to help him up. David takes the hand and feels a little bit sheepish. Coming to his feet, David quickly realizes that this is a different kind of fight.

“Or maybe you’re not what I think that you are.”

“What do you think that I am?”

“I might be wrong, or I might be dead on. I think that you are one very rare individual, so rare that you could be a god or just a human posing as a god. In the end, it’s not what I think but what you believe. Your belief is what makes you; what molds you. It is the foundation of you. A mind is the most powerful weapon that an individual, an angel, or even a djinn can weld.”

Lucifer puts his hands on David’s shoulders, “I can show you the universe, but until you believe in yourself, I cannot help you.”

David nods his head.

“Lets start again shall we. This time I want you to hit me in my nose.”

Lucifer backs away from David as he makes both hands into a fist. Lucifer waves David on. Charging Lucifer with everything he’s got, David swings straight at Lucifer's chest. As Lucifer slides out of the way, he taps David on his nose. David immediately spins around to hit Lucifer again but this time in the head. Lucifer dodges and taps David’s nose again. This only makes David more frustrated. With every punch or kick that David throws, Lucifer dodges and continues to tap his nose.

“Quit treating me like a dog, damn it!”

“Stop thinking with your fist!”

“What the hell do you want me to do?” David waving his arms around like a flag thrashing in the wind.

“First, stop screaming at me. Second, I need you to quiet yourself before I can speak to you. Then I will help you to free your mind from your flesh.” Lucifer waits for David to calm down before proceeding to the next level.

“Are you ready to begin?”

“Yes,” David says after he takes a deep relaxing breath.

“I want you to let go of everything that has just happened in the last couple of minutes. Let go of frustration and hate that you were just feeling. I want you to picture anything in your mind and then tell me about it. Tell me what you see.”

David stands still as he lets his mind drift. After a couple of minutes, his hand twitches and makes a fist.

“When I was a little boy, it poured down rain so strong one afternoon that it looked as if God was trying to flood the world once more. On that day all I wanted was to go outside and play. My father told me no and then said good things come to these that wait. But I told him that I didn’t care. I didn’t want to wait. I told him that I wanted him to make it stop raining. He replied I am sorry David, but I cannot control the rain because I am not God or mother earth.”

A cloud begins to form over David’s head as he keeps his eyes shut. The cloud grows and gets darker as David continues to talk. Lucifer backs up and smiles, this is what Lucifer has been waiting for after thousands of years, waiting for someone to spar with. An individual with slumbering powers, lying dormant for centuries, hidden within a flesh body.

David’s eyes open and stare straight at Lucifer, “I control the weather now. I tell it what to do and how to do it.”

Stepping closer to Lucifer, David eyes glow gold with an angry look to his face.

“Come to daddy, hit me with everything you got, baby god.”

A thunderous cloud fills the room as flashes of lightning flicker across the sky. Stray strands of lightning bounce across the marble floor. Some of the strands pass inches from David’s face. The lightning only intensifies the evil look on David’s face.

Alfonzo is shocked at what lies hidden within David. In all of the training that David and her has done. Nothing of this magnitude has ever happened. She is in awe of the power that has awakened within David and is presenting itself to Lucifer.

“Bow down to your new god, djinn. Bow and surrender or your new god shall choose your punishment. Bow down to your new god standing before you,” David says as his power explodes throughout the room.

“Make me, O fallen, forgotten god of the past. I am nobody’s servant. I didn’t bow down to Adam when God commanded, and I will not bow down to you.”

Lucifer knows now the fight he has on his hands is the one that he has been waiting for.

David catches a bolt of lightning and holds it like a javelin. He takes aim at Lucifer's nose as he releases the bolt of lightning and grabs another with the opposite hand to repeat the process again. Lucifer dodges bolt after bolt. Each bolt gets closer every time David throws a new one at Lucifer’s head. With bolts of lightning flying around David and Lucifer, both find it hard not to be hit by a stray bolt.

David grabs two bolts out of the air. He uses one of the bolts as a bow and the other as an arrow. In a spilt second, he takes aim at Lucifer’s nose thinking about all of the times that he was tapped on the nose by Lucifer. A million possibilities race through David’s head as he closes his eyes. David lets his heart choose the direction of the arrow. As his hand releases the arrow, Lucifer pulses for a spilt second and gazes straight at the arrow of lightning pointed at him. The lightning hardens into a stronger, straighter arrow. David releases the arrow as Lucifer smiles back at David because they are only ten feet apart. The arrow that is meant for Lucifer glides through the air as if a string were drawing it along. Right before the arrow touches Lucifer’s nose, he disappears before David’s eyes. The arrow flies on to hit the wall leaving a burnt mark from floor to ceiling.

David stops to looks around to find where Lucifer disappeared to. The storm and lightning become still and David focuses on Lucifer’s location. David’s breathing is the only sound in the room. A hand holding a coin appears in front of David’s face. The hand flips the coin around making it dance along its fingers. Then Lucifer’s voice speaks up out of the silence.

“This coin is unique. It is called the Coin of Sorrows, and it is a reminder of a time gone by. The Coin of Sorrows has an awful history that scares most people. There once was a set of women that were sailors’ wives that waited for their husbands to come home. They would sing in unison every night, hoping that their voices would carry out over the seas and bring their husbands back home. But their voices were not enough to bring their husbands home. I appeared one night to help change all of that. I offered a solution to their problem. I increased the volume of their voices a hundred fold. The only problem now was that each time they sung they would lure in any ship to their unforgiving shores. They only had one dock, and it was too small for all the large ships tricked by their song. Sharp rocks that shimmered at night covered the rest of the shore. Every ship that tried to land was lost, and no ship was that of their husbands. Their ships were lost long before they made the deal. Now each one of these women is damned to sing their song of sorrow whenever summoned by particular objects. I only made a couple coins, but nonetheless, they are a sight to be seen. Now let’s set the mood.”

With that remark, the room begins to change into a cave with stalagmites and stalactites all around.

“Is this just another one of your tricks, djinn?” David yells as he looks around for Lucifer, but he is nowhere to be found.

Off in the distance, a shadow appears out of the darkness. It begins to wave back and forth, inching closer to David. David looks around and sees more of these shadows starting to surround him.

Lucifer appears behind David and whisper in his ears, “Heads you hear the song forwards and tails you hear the song backwards. Either way you lose. Oh, and one last thing, their new name is the Sirens.”

Lucifer flips the coin into the air and waits for it to hit the ground. The sirens grow closer forming a circle around David. As the coin drops to the floor, the sirens are within fifteen feet of David. The coin lands on the floor of the cave and Lucifer shouts out.

“Heads!”

The Sirens start with a lower tone and quickly build into a deafening singing. David shields his ears and tries to concentrate on anything else. A fog forms throughout the cave. The sirens dance around and sing their song of sorrow. David’s body shakes due to the sound waves given off by the Sirens. His very bones shake with each note. David remembers what he was doing. A black cloud forms above David’s body and lightning flashing within it.

David screams, “Shut up!”

He makes himself a lighting rod to catch and direct all the lighting around himself then pushes it away from him and directs it straight at the Sirens. Each one of the Sirens is electrocuted and killed within seconds as the lightning consumes them.

Now, all is quite, and Lucifer is shocked by the outcome.

David collapses to the floor as he catches his breath.

Lucifer walks up to David, “Very good, my dear boy, but there is just one last test for you then you are free to go.”

“No, screw you, old man: I am done.”

David stands up and looks around for Alfonzo. But she is nowhere to be found.

“What did you do with her, Lucifer? I thought that you could never hurt one of your own?”

“She is safe, for now, but only if you can stop me!” Lucifer replies as he throws a cloak over David’s head as he runs by him.

Everything goes black, and David feels a cool wind at his feet. Whipping off the cloak, David finds himself transported to the base of Mayan temple with Lucifer and Alfonzo at the top. Lucifer stands behind an altar holding Alfonzo down with one hand and a knife in the other hand ready to sacrifice her. One hundred steps lay in front of David before he can reach Alfonzo.

Alfonzo is startled by her father’s actions and is frightened to what he may do next.

“David help me!”

David races up the steps with all of his strength. Each step becomes a struggle as his body wants to stop, but his heart and mind keeps going on. A flame begins to grow within his soul. All of the pain that he felt over the last couple of years quickly burns away as it fuels the fire within him. His body feels alive with each step taken. The flame becomes a raging fire that no man could ever put out. David leaps into the air and transforms into his demon armor with wings. Dark liquid, black diamond armor with golden blue demonic marking covers David’s body completely. He stands eight feet tall with wings spanning sixteen feet wide and in the size and shape of a young dragon’s. David’s hands and feet become ape-like with demonic razor sharp claws. His eyes glow crimson with hatred and love combined into one. Appearing instantly between Lucifer and Alfonzo, David lands on the altar and uses his clawed feet to dig into the altar. David puts himself within harms way. Grabbing Lucifer’s hand with the knife, he uses his other hand to grab Lucifer’s neck and slowly squeezes.

“Let. Her. Go.”

Lucifer sheaths the knife and backs up to let David come down off the altar. David drops down, standing between Lucifer and Alfonzo. Alfonzo slowly stands up and puts distance between her and her father unsure of what to expect next. David readies himself for anything.

“I now stand in front of a djinn that has been hidden for a very long time.”

Lucifer presents his arms to David for a big hug, “David, my boy, come to welcoming arms. You are one of the extremely few true Djinns left. You have nothing to fear from me anymore. The whole I’m going to hurt my only daughter was but a last attempt to bring out the djinn within your soul.”

Lucifer looks at his daughter.

“And I am truly sorry for that. I never wanted to do it, but I had to help David because you wanted it so badly.”

David looks back at Alfonzo to confirm that it is okay, and she gives a nod that it is. David transforms back into his human form and welcomes Lucifer’s hug. As David hugs Lucifer, he feels that Lucifer is hiding something from him.

“Are you forgetting something?” David asks.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, I am. No more, I want no more.” Lucifer releases David, “Just this.”

Lucifer unsheathes the knife and cuts David across the chest. David staggers back against the altar and puts his hand to his chest to help stop the blood.

“Let this scar be the only scar that you ever receive from anyone ever again. Let this be a reminder to never let your guard down,” Lucifer says as Alfonzo rushes to David’s side.

David pulls his hand away to look at the blood and the bloody opening the knife created. He begins to laugh as he watches the knife wound healing rapidly. Looking up at Lucifer to see his reaction, David continues to laugh.