I had promised myself, I had promised myself that I would never, ever interrupt Seraphinus again...He fought for me, he gave his all in the fight. The least I can do is stay and listen to him until he's finished...
'You have to do it Matthew! Whatever it takes!' I thought confidently...
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Day: '0', Hour: '5']
' I can't even make sense of his words anymore...No I must resist! You promised Matt, TO THE END AT ANY COST!!!" roared an old me inside. [Mission logbook; 'A promise to keep'; Day: '1', Hour: '2'] ' No sigh sigh I can't! I can't! Ugh sigh (inner cry)! I can't do it! I'm just weak! I'm sorry Seraphinus. I'M SORRY!!!!! ARRGHHH!!!' [Ship's log; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Day: '3', Hour: '11'] 'Remember what Gimli said in the two towers "Keep breathing, that's the secret. Breathe!!!' fiuuu! 'Seraphinus has been fighting for me for 6 whole days! I have to at least hold out for 3 more days! I can do it!!!'
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Day: '11', Hour: '6'].
' 'Okay I realised that singing 'Stronger - Kanye West' after the 300th time doesn't work anymore... it's time for 'Try-Pink'
'La la la!..La la la! (Intro)' ....
Where there is desire there is gonna be a flame! .....
You've gotta get up and try! Try! Try!
.....
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Month: 3 Day: '4', Hour: '23']
'Enough this time, I have decided. I'm going to get up and go there.
I'm going to hell! Yes I'm going!
I want to explore every inch of the nine circles, smell the sweet scent of ash and sulphur, throw myself freely into a fiery pit and feel that new and different pain!' I thought, smiling.
'Oh oh oh yes, yes, yes I do! It is decided, then, I will go to Satan himself and kneel to him! I'll be his servant, his dummy... his Whore if I have to!'
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: 1 Month: 1 Day: '29', Hour: '1']
'I'm so stupid for not noticing this before' I thought sadly.
After trying to relive every moment of my life in chronological order for the fifth time. I realised more and more that with each rewind of the film 'My Life', I could remember events in more detail than I would have noticed before.
People I had offended or insulted unknowingly, girls who had tried to approach me that I ignored by not picking up on the signs of interest.
I finally understood why my brother came back that day bruised, bleeding and with his clothes torn. I was five years old and crying. I was crying because I had lost my bicycle that my grandfather had given me, it was my most precious possession, my 'treasure'. Scott left the house and returned at night in that condition. I asked him dozens of times why he was hurt. He kept telling me that 'a car hit him because he didn't look at the road before crossing!' hahaha. But the next morning Scott, Mum and Dad called me and I found the bike on the porch!!! Mum still half furious with Scott, Dad still trying to hide a smile of pride as he looked at my brother and Scott pretending to be as surprised as I was...now I know. And I never got to tell him, "Thanks big brother, I love you and I always will!"
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: 2 Month: 2 Day: '21', Hour: '3']
'Yes, I've finally found something that might help me,' I thought excitedly.
By now Seraphinus' voice had become a neutral noise for more than a year and I had found a stability that prevented me from going mad. But that was not enough. I wanted with all my heart to try to listen to the angel somehow. But I still couldn't. Until I remembered a small lesson I took at the age of 15 with my Aikido teacher.
A breathing technique to direct the blood to the head to maintain concentration.
"Remember Matthew, use this technique when you're stressed or think you've reached your limit. It will help you, you'll see." Said a memory inside me.
'Inhale for 6 seconds...hold your breath for 3 seconds and finally exhale for 10 seconds'.
I started the process and it was complicated at first to get used to it...
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '? Day: '?', Hour: '?'] *
*author's note: Matthew stopped checking time around the third year. He thought that by now the concept of time itself was just a distraction and psychological torture.
'YEEESSS! I finally get it! Eureka!!!! HAHAHAHAH!' I gave a toothy grin.
I could follow, make sense of and ESPECIALLY REMEMBER every word Seraphinus said.
My breathing technique was good but not good enough for this Herculean effort. I had to try and try again to perfect it and finally I had succeeded!!!
"And then my former client Sun Tzu, interrupted me one more time by asking me if I wanted to listen to his book 'The Art of War' for the third time in a row. 'What a strange guy!' I thought but went along with him and so he started dictating it again '...Victorious warriors first win and then go to war, while defeated warriors first go to war and then try to win .... Be quick as the wind, slow as a forest, assault and ravage like fire, be still as a mountain, mysterious as yin and swift as thunder...' Seraphinus continued unstoppably.
Change of scene:
Somewhere in the sky...
"That's it, I give up! I don't care if there's 12 of us taking turns! I don't care about the bookmaker, the betting and the faith credits! There's no point in keeping score anymore! He broke the record, full stop. I won't listen to another word from Seraphinus if I have to start a second war in the heavens!!" Said an angel as he stood up from a desk in front of a screen. It transmitted the image of another angel speaking and a young soul listening attentively.
"That boy is a monster! An abomination that shouldn't exist, I should report him to the Great Father!" He said as he walked out of the room shouting.
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?'; Hour: '?']
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?', Hour: '?']
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?', Hour: '?']
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?', Hour: '?']
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?', Hour: '?']
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?', Hour: '?']
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?', Hour: '?']
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?', Hour: '?']
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?', Hour: '?']
And then it happened....
Ping a noise emerged from between Seraphinus' pockets.
"Oops another assignment has come in already. I'm so sorry Matthew I can't slow down time any more than this. I've almost used up the faith credits in my possession ahahahahaha!" said the angel laughing in delight.
"Creepy how time flies when you have a good chat! I apologise again for interrupting the story halfway through like this but I really must go."
"Creepy already...hahaha! Don't worry Seraphinus you'll tell me about the 82nd work of art of this famous master glassmaker from Saint Gobain next time...I'm counting on it." I said with sincerity and a small hint of playful irony.
"Sure, I promise! Don't worry, I always keep a marker on interrupted and unfinished conversations!" the angel replied confidently.
I had become a different person, I could feel it. Fifteen, maybe twenty years earlier, I began to notice that this session was gradually increasing something within me. Was it my memory capacity? No, it was improving, but it wasn't that. Was it the valuable and detailed knowledge of sciences and cultures of the aforementioned 'former clients or former victims' of Seraphinus? No. It was my resilience...yes my resilience...my will.
I felt calm as a breeze, steady as Mount Everest and ready to snap and explode like a gunshot at any moment.
As if I had been torn to pieces and then forged from scratch.
'A piece of raw Adamantium, warmed by the flames of Mount Doom and tempered by 10,000,000 blows from Thor with his Mjolnir!' I thought with amusement.
"Ah Seraphinus!!!" I almost forgot. "'I have two favours to ask of you if possible.' I said quickly because the angel was getting ready to leave.
"Of course Matthew ask away!" he said curiously.
"First I wanted to ask you if it was possible to send some kind of message to my parents and my brother on earth, to let them know in some way that... well I mean that I love them with all my heart, that they are in a better place and that I could never have asked for a better family to grow up in." I asked hopefully.
"A don't worry about that, yours is a special case, there is a protocol that has already been carried out. They already know about it...though not directly." I took the point and nodded with a sigh of relief.
"Second, could you please hand me the employment contract for your services? I have a small change to make." Seraphinus froze for a few moments, with a small nod of sadness on his face. He quickly recovered, with a surrendered smile he snapped his fingers and a contract and pen appeared in my hands.
I quickly glanced at it, made a couple of marks and handed back the closed parchment.
I took my indemnity document and looked at Seraphinus one last time before signing it.
"Thank you for everything my friend. I really hope you will be the one to welcome me back next time if I ever return!" I said with a smile and a wink.
I signed the document before he could reply.
POV Author:
Matthew's soul dematerialised.
Seraphinus stood there open-mouthed.
"My...Fri...end," he syllabled.
He opened the parchment, stared at it for a few minutes and walked on to his next job.
....
A long time ago, In a sky far away...
Only one entity in that place known as "The Great Father", who sees all and knows all, knew why a certain 'Angel' kept crying for happiness...