《Squire of Eden 1: The Tooth of Leviathan》Prologue
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Perhaps, you would like to know.
In accordance with the scriptures, there are seven angels before the throne of God, as written in the Book of Revelations.
However, only three of the seven were named in the Bible — — Gabriel, Raphael, and of course, Michael.
For the unnamed four, as written on the Book of Enoch, are Uriel, Raguel, Suriyel and Remiel.
What had they done, resulting in their names stroke off?
It was an unexpected quarrel within the elders of the Twelve Houses of the Paladins, on an ordinary day in mid-November, 2011, at the Seattle branch of this solemn, historic castle beyond the sight of people. There had been no modification since the very first day of completion, stones kept silence about secrets and stories.
The twelve elders were wandering from corridor to corridor, travelling across this maze in an anxious manner, their faces lit up and darkened repeatedly as they walked past every light source and fire post.
"Let's be frank, Vulture."
A very robust man, 'Cornerstone' of Isaachaar expressed his worry towards another man in a black trench coat, agitatedly.
"YOU, are OUT OF YOUR MIND! Children at eleven or twelve, CHILDREN! Haven't we sacrificed enough? You have to convince me that this is our only hope of retrieving the ruins!"
"He's right," a brunette woman, a Macau born Portuguese, leader of Zebulun, 'Vita' anxiously began her opinion, "think over, Vulture! How old are they? They are only children! And still, you want them to go over to the gates, and do the job for us?!"
"What is it that you seek?" a senior at his seventies, leader of Joseph, Adrian the Watcher breathed out his words calmly, "Vulture, darkness had fallen upon us, this is no time to be rash."
"Le Cerf", the leader of Naphtali scoffed, "For the mercy of God, Sir Adrian, Stop your meaningless prophecies, these are totally different matters! Sir Dominic made an agreement with Suriyel, one of the fallen four, and he refused to cooperate with us. Shame on him."
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"Who do you think you are?!" Mayim of Reuben, a huge man with long red beard grunted, "show some respect to Sir Adrian! You brat!"
"——To be precise, Suriyel agreed to provide us with any sorts of support, as he himself had mentioned," said the youngest among the twelve, "Ranger", leader of Dan, a strong young man with bronze skin, "under this one condition that, Sir Dominic remained in our order. Sir Dominic left, and so Suriyel left as well, simple as that."
The grumpy leader of Reuben waved his hand impatiently, "This is getting nowhere! We are only arguing over the past! What a mess..."
"Alright, alright, brothers and sisters," Vulture, the man in black trench coat elegantly raised his hand, "we only need to follow the list — — "
"Can't you hear the voice of conscience, or you had none of it left in your heart already?"
Leader of Levi, a cardinal of a European country shook his head and exclaimed, "So first, it was Sir Dominic's son, the grandson of Adlerherz, the son of Vigilante, and the grandson of Rostov... your investment in these children is the greatest, as for those sacrificed and the others, fortunately, still alive, do you have no sense of conscience at all?"
"Vulture," leader of Benjamin, Fangs, an Asian, spoke coldly, "you can't bring anyone back to life."
Vulture abruptly paused. His eagle eyes, now like a peaceful lake, show no feelings at all. The light of torches surrounding them lit up half of his face and hid the marks of time in the shadows.
"I had lost my student too," he said, "Adrian?"
The leader of Joseph nodded, "Speak out."
"The Butler has arrived," Vulture turned around and repeated seriously," He's back."
As the other ten leaders held their breaths out of astonishment and shock, Adrian made a gesture and calmly replied, "I'll go take a look."
Far away in the heavenly ground, on the East side of the Garden of Eden, a cherubim in blood-stained armour held his sword in front of his feet and let out an exhausted breath.
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"Uriel, my friend, it's always a pleasure to meet you."
The weary cherubim quickly gathered his strength and cautiously turned towards the direction heard.
" Suriyel, you have no rights here," Uriel's voice was muffled by his helmet, "and your evil eyes have no impact on me."
The cunning fallen angel winked his eyes — — his eyes totally blue, with white trimmed irises of colour sapphire that contrast greatly with the dark pupils. His red hood on his shoulders now pure black, and his armour dull grey due to his evilness.
"What had Michael promised you, that made you remained here desperately?" Suriyel teased.
Uriel's face was hidden in the helmet, but his voice as determined as always.
"Repent, Suriyel, you have no choice left."
"The tooth of Leviathan stays with me, safe and sound," Suriyel ignored his friend's advice and continued with a playful tone, "now the Paladins want it black. What, are they blind? Had they forgotten what it could achieve?"
Uriel shook his head and said softly, "I thought you gave it to your boy."
"Well, I took it back in the last minute, and now I'm not sure what had happened to him," Suriyel explained with a sick-twisted smile, his eyes gleaming in the shadow of the hood, "and for this one, I'll give it to the girl."
"No——"
"You have no say in this," Suriyel pulled his hood down and let out a nervous chuckle," the Tooth of Leviathan will always be a beacon of sin and evil. Now, good day to you."
Uriel watched him cautiously as Suriyel slowly wandered away.
"Oh, I nearly forgot!" Suriyel suddenly turned around and screamed hysterically," ALL THE BEST GUARDING THE RUINS, HAHA!"
----------
"Red, what do you see?"
A handsome young man with bleach blonde hair and gold-rimmed glasses spoke over the phone. He was lying on the bed casually, with a stack of tarot cards right next to his pillow.
"What do I see... oh!"
A young girl giggled over the phone and the sound of rolling dices was heard.
"Hhm... Travel!"
The girl on the screen had long, dark red hair and perfect honey skin. One could quickly tell her indigenous originality from her glowing amber eyes and sun-kissed skin.
"Travel?" Nikolai, the young man smiled bitterly, "so I can get out of my cell for a while, is it?"
"Ah hahaha!" Red's laughter was like whistles, "they're locking you up again?"
Nikolai sighed and started shuffling his cards, "Let's see if we can figure where is Raguel this time."
"Mmh... let me see..." the girl on the screen picked up her dices again and threw them gently on the floor.
"Wait... I think someone is coming from the East," she nodded to herself as she squinted, "looks nice to me."
"And... where is Raguel?" Nikolai asked as he hovered his hand over the stacks of cards, and he picked one.
"Damn!"
"What is it, what is it!" Red giggled.
"The wheel of fortune," Nikolai put the card before his phone camera, "but reversed."
"You'll be ok," Red said, "I see good things here."
"'Cause you only focus on the good things," Nikolai rubbed his eyes frustratedly, "and I am aware of the bad things."
"Pray, Nikolai, keep your faith," Red said sincerely, "pray."
"Whatever," Nikolai closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I guess it'll be it. I'll see you soon, I think."
"That's what I'm thinking," Red smiled, and hung up the phone.
Nikolai put his tarot cards back into the drawer of his nightstand and pulled out a light blue rosary. He drew the sign of cross in a solemn manner, and closed his eyes.
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