Previously…

Roberto Vazquez gave his life to save his family from Darius Lucifugus. On the next day…Maria Di Fiore woke up to learn the somber truth…Resenting on what happened, and unable to accept the fate, Maria fell into despair. Juan shows up and explains the situation, in which Uriel will become his successor but with the price that Uriel Vazquez will seize to exist and a new entity will be born in his body…Maria decided to accept Juan’s offer and move to Tapatio with her children. Juan offers to take care of Uriel as he is now his successor. Uriel, who was filled with fear and doubts at first, accepts his fate and decides to look for something at Sun City…in his former house, Uriel found a picture of his family. Surprisingly, when he encounters Marjorie, Uriel decides to tell Marjorie his fate. Marjorie declares her love for him and says that will be married one day before passing out due to Juan’s spell…Uriel decided to sever all bonds and travel to Tapatio where he would spend the remaining 4 days with his family…In four days, Uriel will die…

Rio Grande City…

Juan de la Trinidad left for the city of Tapatio to make preparations. In the airport Uriel, Valerie, Daniel, Maria and Sister Griselda walk down the aisle preparing to go on board the airplane.

Valerie and Daniel are still crying about their father´s death and Maria has not smiled since the incident. Uriel has a brave attitude and tries to avoid a depressed facial expression but deep inside he is sad too.

“Come on you two cheer up, now, Papa would be very angry if you don’t smile.” Uriel says to his siblings who both nod at him, cleaning up the tears in their faces.

“That’s more like it now then let's go.” Uriel grabs both of their hands to get aboard.

“You have a brave boy, Maria; you should set the example as well dear.” Sister Griselda tells Maria who lifts her head up with a determined face and boards the plane as well.

While they were sitting, she turns around to see her children and says:

“I´m sorry for being weak, but from now on I will be the head of the family.” Maria puts a great smile in her face, making her children smile as well.

“Well those are beautiful smiles, I missed those faces.” Sister Griselda smiles as well.

The plane begins to move slowly getting ready to take off, Uriel sees in the window and begins to remember all of his life in the Borderland.

Maria looks at the window and thinks; “I´m sorry Roberto, I couldn’t help you, but I promise that I will get stronger and protect our children. Maria looks at Uriel and sees his red aura; she trembles as she remembers the Horseman in her dreams. The Borderland disappears from their sights as they head to Jalisco.

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Tapatio, Jalisco

After the events of the Borderland, Maria and her children left towards Tapatio in order to start a new life. They headed towards the Order of the Holy Maiden´s Ministry of Jalisco.

The Ministry of Jalisco is located outside of Tapatio at the top of a hill where the Jungle lies right behind it…The Ministry is much bigger than the Ministry of San Juan. It has the main church, two caferetirias, and four dorm buildings. The Ministry has over 300 novices and nuns…

“Welcome home, Maria” A group of nuns come out and greet Maria, as she returns to the place she was raised. Uriel (Age 11) walks holding Valerie´s hand (Age 10) as Maria carries Daniel (Age 8).

(BBAADDUUUMPPP)

As they are about to enter the Ministry, Uriel begins to feel intense pain in his head. “AAHHHH” Uriel screams in pain as he grabs his head.

“What's wrong with him, mija?” Sister Griselda runs and sees that his eyes change into a crimson color causing everyone to panic.

“GYYAHH!” The nuns screams with horror. Uriel immediately walks outside as he breathes heavily. His eyes change back to normal; he begins to feel stares and turns around.

“That was close…I felt as if my head was about to explode…” Uriel begins to see everyone, including his mother and sister with expressions full of fear.

“Why is everyone looking at me like that?”

Griselda sighs with her eyes closed; “I´m sorry Maria, but your son can’t stay here...those powers won’t permit him to stay in a holy place…”

Maria looks with a worried expression; “But then, where is he going to stay?”

“He can stay with me, in my hacienda.” Juan appears from a portal, immediately, the nuns take out their lances and sword preparing to fight.

“Hahaha…as always, you ladies are ready to fight…” Juan walks and grabs Uriel´s head. Uriel looks worried as he sees his siblings; “But…what about them?”

“Very well, he can stay with you…” Maria immediately replies, causing Uriel to enter in shock. Valerie and Daniel run and hug Uriel with tears and begin to scream; “DON’T GO BROTHER, PLEASE DON’T GO!!”

Uriel looks at Maria with a scornful expression and smiles patting both of them in the head; “It’s okay, I need to go with him, my uncle will take care of me and I promise that I will visit you every week, I promise.”

“But Big Brother…” Valerie cries, grabbing his arm with force.

“Very well muchacho, I´ll pick you up tomorrow morning.” Juan says with a smile, he opens a portal and walks towards it; “I shall take my leave…senoritas…”

“Very well, hijo…come with me…” Griselda accompanies Uriel outside the ministry to a small shack.

“I´m sorry Uriel, you can’t stay in the ministry, so you need to sleep here...” Uriel looks at Griselda with a sad expression, Valerie and Daniel enter the shack; “Big Brother, we´re staying here with you tonight...”

Uriel with tears hugs his siblings, and the three of them decide to stay there. Meanwhile, Maria sits in the cafeteria with a cup of coffee, without any energy, she lifts the cup and drinks it slowly.

“Maria, are you sure about this? I mean, here is your child and your giving him away to El Diablo” Griselda enters the room, Maria looks at Griselda and replies:

“I have no choice, he is no longer my son, he is now an evil spirit. That's the reality of things…besides, he will die in three days…”

“I know but you´re committing a sin, you're denying your own son…”

“I know that, but what can I do Sister, all my life I fought against evil beings, now my son is one of them and you expect me to forget about that, I don’t know what to do…” Maria stands up and begins to walk away, she walks in the corridor feeling frustrated; “What can I do? Uriel, why did you do it?”

***************************************************************************

The Next Morning…

Maria floats into a black space; she hears the sound of a horse approaching, “What's happening? Where am I?”

Maria sees a Horseman approaching, suddenly; flames rise from the ground. She begins to run desperately but the Horseman is still close.

(SSSSLLAASSHHH)

Suddenly, the Horseman slashes Maria.

“GYYYAHHH” Maria feels screams out of pain as she falls to the ground; “W-W-Who are you?”

The Horseman drops three bodies, Maria´s eyes open wider as she begins to cry:

“Roberto, Daniel, Valerie, How could you?”

“I´m sorry mother, but now, it´s your turn.” Maria looks up to see the Horseman's face. She enters in a state of shock as she sees her son's face, he has red hair and red eyes; “Uriel, why did you do that?”

“Because, it's my fate, Goodbye.”

(SSSLLLAASSSHH)

“NOOOO!!!” Maria wakes up screaming once again, a shadow that was on the window disappears quickly. Griselda enters the room; “What wrong, hija, calm yourself, it was just a nightmare…”

Uriel, who woke up early but because he couldn’t enter the ministry, decides to walk around it. He grabs a bucket filled with water, and Uriel drinks it as he hears in the window his mother's voice. Uriel silently stands next to the window.

“What are you going to do mija? Is it okay to give away you son like that, and to him?” Griselda asks Maria, Maria cries as she replies:

“I don´t know what to do… I lost Roberto, I still have two other children to see and to be honest, I don’t think of him as my son now. He made a deal with a demon; he is now one of them, a demon that I swore to kill. I think it’s best for him to go.”

(BBBOOOMMM)

“Who´s there? Griselda looks out the window and sees a bucket with spilled water. Uriel runs as fast as he can with tears in his eyes.

“Is that it? To my mom, I am really a demon now; I am not his son anymore.”

Uriel cries near a lake as he looks in the water thinking; “Do I have the right to be alive?”

“Of course you do, remember that you are my successor. You are my family now, and I will protect you with my life, muchacho.” Juan pats Uriel´s head.

“Wahh…” Uriel reacts surprised as Roberto appears next to him. “W-W-What are you doing here?”

“Well, I came to pick you up, muchacho…” Roberto chuckles, Uriel looks at him embarrassed; “You heard everything…didn’t you…”

“Of course…and I must say, that was too dramatic, don’t you think…hahaha…” Juan chuckles, Uriel looks at him with his face all red.

Juan stops laughing; “Come on…it’s time to go…”

Uriel packed his things,Uriel said goodbye to his siblings, however Maria didn’t go. Maria only looked at the second floor through the window…

***************************************************************************

A portal opens outside the Hacienda located a few kilometers deep in the jungle…

A large portion of agricultural land is called a hacienda, generally a large estate holding with a nucleus of houses, usually of high architectural value.

As they arrive to Juan´s Mansion, Juan looks at Uriel feeling down:

“Hey don´t worry, remember, your mother fought demons all her life, and you are now an evil spirit, it will take some time, muchacho.”

“Tio, is it true that I am going to die?”

“Don’t look at it that way…let’s just say that you will fall into a deep slumber and you will be reborn…I will train you, you will go to the best school in Tapatio and I will personally watch over you. I owe it to your father.”

Uriel trembles with fear. Juan looks at him and sighs; “Hey, don’t worry…everything is going to be just fine…come one let’s go…”

(BBBADDDUUMMMPPP)

Near the Hacienda, a shadowy figure appears, the figure turns into a woman as she smiles thinking; “I HAVE FOUND YOU, MY PREY…”

Juan stops walk as he feels a strange presence in the trees, he turns around and smiles:

“I know you´re there, but let me warn you, if you try anything weird on my successor, I will personally kill you…”

The shadow in the tree retrieves carefully as Juan continues to walk towards the mansion, the shadow slowly rises and makes a smile; “The timing could never be perfect…”

“WELCOME HOME, MASTER JUAN!” A group of 20 maids and butlers greet Juan as they enter the Hacienda.

“WOOWW! THIS IS HUGE!” Uriel looks at the mansion.

“Do you like it? Well, this is all yours now…as my successor, you are also the master of this house…”

“Really?”

Juan smiles and looks at his servants; “Listen up, this is Uriel, I am his new guardian and he will be my successor…treat him as if you were treating me…”

“WELCOME, MASTER URIEL!”

Uriel looks at them embarrassed, Juan pats his head; “See muchacho, everything will be fine…the maids will show you to your room…I have some business to do…I will see you in a while…”

Juan opens a portal and disappears. The maids quickly grab Uriel's luggage and show him to his room; “This way, please…”

***************************************************************************

In the Ministry of Jalisco…

“Basically, that's how you create a mana sphere” Maria says as she has her hand extended, in the palm of her hand, she has a small yellow sphere.

She is now a teacher for the novices who inspire to become nuns for the Order of the Holy Maiden. They are currently in a classroom with wooden desks; in the dies they have images of saints and angels.

“Woooww” The novices express excitement as they see Maria´s orb. “Ms. Maria, when are we going to have a lance for ourselves?” One of the novices asks Maria, Maria stops generating mana, puts her finger on her cheek and makes a clueless expression:

“Well, that depends on all of you, you see, you need to master mana control in order to obtain a lance, however, only those who work the hardest will obtain one, so keep on training.”

Maria looks at the clock hanging on the wall, “I guess, time´s up, I will see you all tomorrow…”

The girls begin to leave as all of them say; “THANK YOU SO MUCH, MS. MARIA.”

The last girl to leave closes the door, behind the door, a man stands resting his back on the wall.

“So this is what you do now on days, Roberto did say you like to teach, Maria”

Maria puts a shocking expression, with great speed; she summons her lance and charges straight at Juan. Juan grabs the lance laughing:

“Whoa there, I didn't come here to fight, calm down woman…”

“You bastard, then why did you come here?” Maria begins to release mana shaking the desk away. “You demon; how come you´re not affected by the holy powers of the Ministry? How did you get in? Where is Uriel?”

“Woman, you ask too many questions. First of all, I am not a demon, secondly, I trained to withstand the holy powers, and it will take the Pope himself to make me tremble. Finally, your son is alright, in fact, I came here to talk to you about him…”

-TCH- Maria makes her lance disappear, sighs with her eyes closed and walks slowly towards her desk. Maria sits on her desk, Juan begins to speak:

“I noticed that you didn’t see him off…Maria, just so you know, Uriel will disappear…I advice you to spend some time with him before you lose him…”

Maria begins to write on her paper and doesn’t say a word. Juan notices and sighs:

“ And you call yourself his mother?”

“That's none of your business, besides aren’t you happy that he's with you… You made him into that thing, and yet you’re telling what to do?”

(PPUUMMM)

Juan walks forward with rage and slams his hand on the desk, breaking it; “And you call me a demon, what kind of mother rejects her own child.”

(SWWWIIINNNGGG)

Griselda appears from behind and points her lance at Juan, “What are you doing here, Diablo?”

“Relax, old hag, I came here to warn you…”

“Warn us? What do you mean by that?” Griselda lowers her weapon, Juan continues to explain:

“Listen, tonight I will head to Spain, I have some business to attend to, and Uriel will stay here and train in the Jungle. Maria, you should check on him once in a while…I will return tomorrow to pick him up…”

Maria doesn’t say a word; Griselda looks at Juan and asks; “So what is the warning?”

“During the past few days, I have been sensing a weird presence in the Jungle; this presence hides in the shadows, observing us…”

“Are you positive?” Griselda asks Juan who nods in agreement, “Now that you mentioned it, there have been reports all over Mexico about young children disappearing in the small towns. The most recent one was near Jalisco, when they found the children, their souls had disappeared. Do you think they are vampires?”

“No, I think it's something else; right now I have my hands tied, because the war in Spain is getting more aggressive, I must head there at once…tomorrow, Uriel will disappear…” Juan begins to leave, he opens a portal and begins to walk towards it:

“Maria, once again I ask to look over your child, Roberto sacrificed himself for his children, I thought you were going to honor his legacy.”

“SHUT UP AND GO AWAY!” Maria creates a wind lance and throws it, Juan with a face full of deception disappears, and the lance hits the wall creating a small hole.

“Calm down niña or you will destroy the school.”

“I'm sorry Sister.”

“Maria, I agree with Juan, you should watch over Uriel…” Griselda says to Maria, -TCH- “How can I do that? I know he heard me, I bet he hates me now…”

“No child will ever hate his parents, even if they said stupid stuff like you, trust in you boy Maria, even if he is a demon now…”

“I seriously doubt that…”

“So, are you going to see your son?”

Maria stands up and heads to the door; “I’ll think about it…”

(KNOCK, KNOCK)

“Excuse me sister, but dinner is almost ready” A woman with black hair and brown eyes wearing a nun’s attire says to Griselda; “Ah, thank you Nala, I will head there in a few minutes.” Nala nods in agreement, Maria passes next to her, Nala smiles and asks:

“How are you doing today, Maria?”

“I’m doing well, but I have somewhere to go now…”

“Is that so, where exactly?”

“Not to be rude, but that’s none of your business” Maria leaves the room, Griselda looks at Nala who lowered her head; “Don’t mind her, she just had a rough day that’s all…”

“I understand, I will head to the kitchen now…” Nala leaves the room, as she walks down the hallway, Nala thinks; “Just a few more hours, and his soul will be mine…”

In the middle of the Jungle…

A young boy runs laps around a lake located in the middle of the jungle, the hit of the lake makes it impossible for a normal person to run, however, this young man has already ran 100 laps.

“HHAAAA COME ON, ONLY 10 MORE!” Uriel screams as he runs around the lake, after completing 20 laps, Uriel does 20 pushups; “COME ON, ONLY 2 MORE!”

Uriel continues his training punching a trunk multiple times; “I must become strong enough in order to be a Charro Negro.”

Uriel finishes his training and falls to the ground facing up. He looks at the sky as it's getting dark. The sky takes a twilight color; Uriel begins to feel sorrow as he remembers his father; “Dad, why did you leave?”

He stands up and looks at the lake; he wipes his tears and thinks:

“I must be strong, my dad entrusted me with my family, just because I cried, I will now run 30 more laps…” Uriel begins to run once again around the lake. In the sky, Maria floats with her pair of wings, observing how Uriel trains hard. Maria smiles and thinks:

“My boy sure is brave, just like you Roberto; maybe I should go and talk to him…”

Maria begins to descend, however, she remembers the words she said, Maria stops and flies away, with tears in her eyes, she thinks; “No, I am a sorry excuse for a mother, I´m sorry son, I can't see you right now…”

Uriel stops running and looks up in the sky, he scratches his head as he thinks; “I swear I felt someone was watching me…Oh well, I still have 10 more laps, let's go…”

In the trees, Nala, the nun, observes Uriel as she licks her lips; “I can't wait for tomorrow…your soul will be mine…”

***************************************************************************

During the night…Ministry Of Jalisco

In the ministry, Maria eats dinner with Valerie and Daniel; “Mama, are you alright? You didn’t hear what I said…” Valerie says with her puff cheeks, Maria comes to her senses and looks at Valerie, she smiles and apologizes; “I´m sorry Valerie, what were you saying again?”

“Mama…”

“Oh, that's right, tomorrow Uriel will come…” Maria mentions to Valerie, Daniel continues eating; Valerie with a smile continues to speak; “I´m so happy, Big Brother will come, I want to see him…”

“I want to see him too…” Daniel also says with a smile, Maria looks at Valerie and puts concerned expression thinking:

“My children, I really am sorry for keeping you away from him, but…”

Maria stands up and says; “Well, children, it’s time to go to bed….” Maria looks at the moon thinking:

“Uriel, I hope you’re going to bed as well….”

(CRACK)

“Who's there?” Uriel looks at the trees as someone approaches him, a woman walks towards him and smiles:

“I have come for you…my prey…”

Danger approaches Uriel, what will he do? What will Maria decide to do with her feelings? The countdown continues as the Successor's time approaches…

To Be Continued…

Next Volume…