Jason shook his head in disbelieving wonder as Clarice brought him and Susan up to date on the latest information from…Lucifer! Jason still couldn't believe the boogie man of the world religions was a real person.
"So, we're just locked up in this mortality prison indefinitely as far as the other Seraphim are concerned?" Susan asked with a frown. She had taken the information a lot better than he had expected. Of course, Jason had been sharing a lot of what he learned with her back at MIT.
"Yep," Clarice nodded grimly. "We don't know how personally involved they are in the actions of the demons who torture humans, but there will be a reckoning if we find out there is any involvement at all."
Jason had told Susan about Calypso's early life of captivity in demon hands before Carcelonia had rescued her. Jason felt his own rage at the thought of harm coming to the beautiful woman who had healed him and so many other children.
"So, the real question is whether the two of you want to remain locked in mortality, knowing that it is actually a prison for political prisoners," Clarice continued, watching them intently. "Do you two want to remain mortal still?"
Jason looked at Susan and could see the answer in her eyes. He felt conflicted as he stared into her beautiful eyes. He had always envisioned himself becoming a father someday and living the dream of the nuclear family. He realized how silly that seemed now that he knew they were actually in a prison.
"Jason," Calypso began, her eyes full of understanding as she watched him fondly. "I should remind you that there are a lot of children who need parents. You don't have to be a biological father to still be a parent. You could be an angel and a parent."
Devon and Tamra looked troubled as they looked at each other pensively. Jason knew they were both very set on experiencing family life. At Calypso's words, their eyes lit up with interest.
Jason let out a sudden laugh as she finished speaking, facepalming as he shook his head. "I don't know why that had never occurred to me. Of course we could adopt some kids if we want kids."
Susan laid her hand on top of his, her eyes full of affection. "Yes, and I expect we will," she told him firmly. "You would make a wonderful father."
Jason grinned back at her, then looked up at Clarice with determined eyes. "I guess we're ready."
Jason jumped as Clarice suddenly jumped into the air, thrusting a fist up high and shouting in a triumphant voice, "wahoo!"
"At least you got one last meal before you changed," Aria noted with an exuberant grin. "It's going to be so nice to not worry about someone trying to kill you again."
"I'm really looking forward to that part," Jason declared with a broad grin. Now that he had made the decision, he felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He felt a sudden eagerness to no longer be bound to the shackles of time. The thought of eternity spreading out in front of him almost took his breath away as it finally hit him that he was really going to be immortal.
Susan was staring back at him excitedly, clearly experiencing some of the same thoughts as him.
"What do you think?" Devon asked Tamra speculatively. "I hadn't even thought of adopting. We can discuss it privately if you would like."
"It's the best of both worlds, isn't it?" Tamra murmured with a slight smile as she gazed back at Devon with barely repressed excitement. "Calypso, you're a genius. I don't know why we didn't think of this before."
Devon's nieces and sister stared at him in sudden hopeful anticipation, unconsciously holding their breath as they waited for his internal deliberation to reach a resolution. After almost a minute he finally nodded with a faint smile. "Let's do it."
There were three blurs as Aria, Clarice, and Emily rushed over and tried to embrace him. They bounced off of each other like bowling pins, sprawling on the ground and laughing sheepishly. Emily was the first one back up, leaning down to hug first Devon, and then Tamra from where the two humans sat in front of the table.
"It is going to be such a relief to no longer worry about someone killing you in a sudden skirmish," Emily told Devon with tears in her eyes. She bent down and touched her cheek to his forehead and then did the same to Tamra.
Their foreheads began glowing for a moment as their faces metamorphized into younger versions of themselves. Tamra gasped as she stared at a much younger looking Devon, a slow smile spreading across her now youthful looking features.
"Not bad," Tamra grinned at him mischievously. "For an old man."
Devon laughed and shook his head wonderingly. "I haven't felt this good in decades."
"Oh, you think that's good?" Clarice smirked, her eyes full of excitement as she observed them. "Just wait until you are angels."
Calypso had moved over to Jason and Susan. She repeated the process that Emily had done with Devon and Tamra, pressing a tearstained cheek to the two students.
"Now say that you want to vanquish evil," Clarice instructed them eagerly.
The four of them spoke the words and then waited as the tingling began to spread throughout their bodies. Jason shivered as he felt the energy matrix bind to his flesh and begin removing his organs. Searing but painless heat coursed through his body, purging all traces of mortality. When his brain was finally seared away and the light dimmed, he gaped at the sudden rush of intense positive energy flooding his system. He shared a wide-eyed look with Susan, then flushed as he saw just how much more beautiful she had become as an angel. She was exquisite, as if the template he had come to love throughout the last year had been refined and purified.
"Now we are one big happy angel family," Clarice announced with a jubilant smile. She tackled Devon and Tamra, laughing with joy as she moved on to Jason and Susan.
"We feel this good allof the time?" Jason asked in disbelief.
"Now you know why I'm always so freaking cheerful and goofy," Clarice told him with another delighted laugh. "These immortal bodies are constantly pumped full of love and positivity. Just imagine always feeling this and then having the positivity replaced with the poison that demons experience if you want an idea of how horrible things were for Arturiel. That's why we want to redeem as many demons as possible."
"That would be horrible," Susan agreed with a shiver. "I can't imagine losing this wonderful feeling now that I have it."
"If I'm understanding things correctly, the positive energy we feel here in the mortal realm is significantly lower than what you will feel in the light realms," Calypso informed them with a wondering look in her eyes. "The highest light realm is supposed to be so intense that only Seraphim and Cherubim can survive it. The other Seraphim won't even leave the highest realm for fear of losing the powerful energy source there. According to Grodek and Lucifer, nothing can die on the highest light realm."
"He also said we Seraphim existed alone in the universe before we created the angels and light realms, following directions from this god thing," Clarice commented, her eyes full of curiosity. "We didn't even understand what god is and spent most of our time studying it after we created the light realms. If we didn't understand what god is when we were fully ascended Seraphim and capable of interacting with it, I feel like the odds of us comprehending god in our current limited state is pretty unlikely. Even so, I'm very very curious."
"Are we sure this isn't just a computer simulation and god is the helpful AI or something?" Jason asked with a speculative look at the other angels. "I mean, it sounds like the Seraphim consult it for information the same way I would consult one of our primitive AI's. Before technology evolved here in the mortal realm, would the Seraphim even have any concept for what a computer simulation is?"
"Interesting idea," Clarice frowned doubtfully. "However, Grodek made it sound like we had been around for possibly billions of years before we created the angels, and millions of years after that. It seems like the concept of a simulation would have come up in all of that time. Arturiel also talked about the light realms being extremely malleable, allowing them to create their own worlds from ideas. It sounds a lot like what we think of as simulations. I wonder if whatever this god thing is might be beyond our current level of comprehension. Remind me to ask Grodek if they had things like computers in the light realms next time we see him."
"Considering the way we were able to hack into encrypted military communications with our minds, I think we might have had some pretty advanced technology that went into creating our angel bodies," Aria pointed out, studying Jason and the other three new angels with a calculating gaze.
He squinted back at her and tilted his head curiously. "Can you tell what we are, now that we're angels?" he inquired. "How far down the totem pole did I end up?"
Aria shook her head ruefully. "I was wondering how long it would take you to ask."
"I'm surrounded by Seraphim and Cherubim," Jason replied defensively. "It's hard not to wonder if I'm just a regular angel or archangel."
"You're a Dominion, Jason," Calypso told him reassuringly. "All of you are Dominions, except for Devon. He's a Cherubim."
Jason almost let out a relieved sigh. He knew it shouldn't matter, but he felt like he would be practically useless in the battle ahead of them if his power was limited to the third triad of angels.
"How can you tell?" Aria asked Calypso curiously.
"It's part of their energy signature," Calypso explained, pointing at Jason. "You can see the bandwidth in his meridians is less than what's in Devon or Lexi. It's more than the amount of power flowing through their meridians, however. If you look closely at their nodes, you will see a specific rune imprinted on it. I'm not sure how I know how to identify them, but his indicates a Dominion of the first order. Devon's rune is a Cherub of the second order and Lexi's is a Cherub of the first order."
"So, they're basically one step below Cherubim," Emily commented, her eyes fascinated. "What am I?"
"Do you even have to ask, Emily?" Calypso smiled, staring into her golden eyes. "You and Eric are both Cherubim of the first order."
"Now that you can identify rank, can you confirm that we are really Seraphim?" Clarice asked Calypso intently.
"Yes," Calypso nodded, a small secretive smile on her beautiful face. "I have been able to recognize it for some time now."
"Wait, what?" Clarice and Aria squawked at the same time, staring at her in surprise.
"How long have you known?" Clarice demanded, her golden eyes accusatory.
Calypso stared up at the ceiling like she was thinking. "Since we learned I was a Seraph, I think."
Clarice looked outraged for several seconds before suddenly bursting out with laughter. "I'm glad I'm having a positive influence on you after all, Calypso."
Aria shook her head with a wry smile as she observed Calypso fondly. "Why didn't you want to tell us?"
"I wasn't sure, at first," Calypso explained, eyeing Clarice with a playful smile. "When Aria was able to obtain a divine instrument, it confirmed my guess. I honestly wanted to see how long it took for the two of you to figure it out. I could tell that your mom had it figured out as soon as she started questioning Arturiel about it. I think that perhaps Clarice is rubbing off on me a little bit. Lucifer ruined it for me by telling you."
"You know, I thought you looked a little too unsurprised when Lucifer told us," Aria declared with a snort of laughter. "I'm glad we could provide you with some entertainment." Aria broke off, staring at Clarice with an expression of bewilderment. "Why in the world do you find that freaking hot?"
Calypso shifted awkwardly as everyone looked between her and Clarice curiously.
"She's my innocent little angel being naughty," Clarice shrugged with a coy smile. "It is freaking hot."
Calypso's blush swept up to the roots of her hair as Clarice's grin widened and became suggestive. Aria and Lexi's faces flushed bright red as well.
"You are a bad angel," Aria accused Clarice a trifle breathlessly.
"Does anyone know what's going on?" Jason asked in confusion, looking at Susan's blank expression and finding no help.
"I see you already forgot their emotions are linked," Emily noted dryly, shaking her head at Clarice, her eyes filled with amusement. "That bond is going to get pretty interesting with Clarice tied to your souls."
Jason's eyes lit of up with understanding as he stared at the trio of blushing angels. He had forgotten about the emotional bond the four angels shared. The bond was evidently being exploited by Clarice in a way that was strongly affecting the other three angels.
Susan caught his eye and raised a questioning eyebrow. He blushed furiously and muttered a quiet "later."
Mary was watching Lexi curiously as she observed her friend's bright red face. Before she could ask any questions, a portal opened, and Eric came through with Arturiel.
The two new arrivals stared around in surprise as the portal closed. Eric's eyes went wide when he saw Devon and Tamra looking no older than twenty. He grinned broadly and quickly pulled Devon into a warm embrace.
"Devon, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you transformed," Eric declared happily. "I was afraid I was going to be the only male angel for the next twenty years."
"Lucifer is male," Clarice pointed out dryly.
"Okay, the only male angel in our group," Eric corrected with a roll of his eyes.
"He is in our group now," Clarice also pointed out.
"Okay...the only male who is related to you within two generations," Eric sighed in exasperation. "Happy?"
"You have no idea just how happy I am," Clarice purred, winking at Calypso.
"Don't start that again," Emily warned her daughter sternly. "If they turn any redder, they are going to burn the place down."
"Oh, hello Jason," Eric greeted him with an enthusiastic smile. "I see you've finally joined the club. Who's this beautiful young lady?"
"Hi, Eric," Jason nodded, feeling that ridiculous grin appear on his face again as he looked down at Susan. "This is Susan. She's my...my..."
"She's your girlfriend, you ninny," Clarice exclaimed with a broad grin. "Now say it!"
Jason's blushed furiously, darting a look at Susan's amused eyes as he floundered. "Yeah, she's my girlfriend."
"Woot!" Clarice cheered, pumping her fist into the air triumphantly. "Jason's got a girlfriend!"
"It's nice to meet you Susan," Eric grinned down at her, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Don't mind Clarice. She has a mental condition that prevents her from taking anything seriously."
"It's called being ridiculously awesome," Clarice declared airily. "You should try it sometime, old man."
"And she's a Seraph," Arturiel murmured in a bemused tone. "I feel like reality is about to take the scenic route."
"We should probably get everyone ascended as much as we can," Aria suggested, eyeing the new angels with a calculating gaze. "I think most of them will be able to take care of their growth on their own after we get them started."
Clarice was stepping toward Jason and Susan with a predatory look in her eyes when Emily grabbed her wings and pulled her back.
"We'll handle this, Tweedle Dum," Emily announced firmly. Emily stepped forward and pulled Susan into a warm embrace. "You too, Jason. I won't bite."
Jason laughed nervously and tentatively put his arms around Susan and Emily. As he did so, he felt the flow of positivity from the other two suddenly begin exchanging energy with his own meridians. It was a surprisingly intimate experience, making him glad that Emily had taken Clarice's place. He wasn't sure he could have kept his composure with her leering at him during such a personal experience. He was aware of Aria joining Devon and Tamra, while Clarice joined Mary and Lexi.
After almost five minutes of their group embrace, power suddenly flooded his meridians, and he felt an odd sensation on his back.
"This next part requires us to mix our tears together," Emily instructed them softly. "Do either of you think you can work up a tear?"
Jason frowned, unable to think of anything that could make him feel sadness while being flooded with intense loving energy.
"I can," Susan whispered, her eyes shining with quicksilver tears.
"Good," Emily smiled, a quicksilver tear of her own running down her cheek. She pressed her cheek to Susan's cheek and the tears touched. A golden glowing sphere sprang up around them and energy lanced into his meridians. He gasped at the sheer amount of power flooding his meridians. It quickly filled his soul to capacity until he felt the nodes of his meridians warp and evolve. There was a ripping sound as wings erupted out of their backs, tearing through the back of their shirts.
"Oh shit," Emily sighed in exasperation. "I totally forgot to give you one of the shirts Tamra made me to accommodate wings."
She stuck her hand into a hole in the air and pulled a shirt out, handing it to Susan. "We're pretty close to the same size, so this should be a pretty close fit. Follow me and I'll show you how to put it on around the wings."
Another portal opened into one of the bedrooms and Emily led a blushing but ecstatic Susan into the room.
Jason flexed the wings he could feel attached to his back like a second set of arms. They felt completely natural. He was dying to try flying on his own with his...girlfriend. He grinned as he thought the word. He actually had a girlfriend. He still couldn't believe his luck.
Jason looked around the room and noticed that Tamra had learned from their experience, having pulled the back of her shirt over her head before her wings appeared.
Jason suddenly felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. The other angels were staggering in confusion as a sense of vertigo seemed to ripple through the entire group.
"It's a rewrite," he heard Calypso gasped. "Aria, Clarice, don't believe any-"