After the devil had disappeared, the garden filled up quickly. The large sitting area on the patio that Jon had manifested seemed almost too small to accommodate all their guests. Jon let the children, now all five of them, enjoy their tea. Then he sent them inside to eat their breakfast and get ready for another day. As soon as they were gone, Argo appeared in the garden with a hurried look in his eyes. He ignored everyone, including his Prince, until his eyes fell on Domino and you could see him give a deep sigh of relief and visibly calm down. Jon really couldn't resist and said:
"Your girlfriend and her precious package are just fine, little brother. Come join us."
Both Argo and Domino turned red, and that was exactly what he wanted. The two understood that the cat was out of the bag, so they no longer tried to hide their feelings from each other and the others. Argo sat down next to Domino and took her hand while she leaned against him. But Jon wasn't finished yet. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Liz casting veiled glances at Azrael, and there were seemingly equally veiled responses. He smiled, knowing that the children were in the house and he did not have to worry about sensitive children's ears, he said:
"What is it with you people, do you think I'm a camp counselor? Or are you waiting for me to make the official introduction? You guys are damn adults, so act like it! Liz, a little while ago you asked me if Angels had sex and if not, you really wanted to teach Rae Rae what it means to have great sex. So Rae Rae, tell our lovely Liz here if you, as an Angel, are aware of the concept of sex."
Elise sat there giggling as Liz turned red as a tomato and she burst out laughing when Rae Rae dryly remarked as she looked deep into Liz's eyes:
"Honey, I've been walking the earth for six thousand years, I think I can teach you a thing or two."
To emphasize her words, she undid another button of her tight leather top so that her firm little breasts could be seen a little more:
"Well, yes, at least if you want to find out, of course, always available love. Because I've had women and men and I can make you stagger so bad you'll beg me to let you sink like the Titanic..."
The way Rae Rae had addressed her clearly raised Liz's temperature; all she could do was reply with a soft sigh:
"Oh, fuck yes!"
Azrael replied:
"Oh baby, I will show you heaven without you ever setting foot in it, hmm..."
Jon sipped his coffee and smoked a cigarette in silence. But the outward calm he radiated was fake, it was the calm before the storm. After a few minutes, he got up, walked to the pool, dropped his robe, and jumped in without a word. He swam a few laps and came back out. He snapped his fingers, dry and dressed all in black again, including his heavy boots. All he said with a grim expression on his face was:
"I need to talk to someone for a moment and then go to heaven for a while. And no, I do not need any fucking help!"
He disappeared from the garden without another word.
In the sitting area, Rae Rae said:
"Someone is going to regret being born very soon. Jon is in one of those moods that Heaven and Hell fear. And everyone upstairs and downstairs is shit out of luck. This is a Jon they don't know. A Jon who is not only angry but also thinking. Fasten your seat belts folks, because we are about to take a wild ride. Whatever happens, or however he thinks of doing it to, does not matter. What does matter is that this is the beginning of the end for Michael!"
Argo added:
"As much as I would like to witness Michael's downfall, for what is about to happen, I think I will pass..."
The others looked at them with wide eyes.
He appeared in the basement of the warlock who had targeted the children. The idiot had made an incantation circle on the floor to summon a Demon. A circle from which lower Demons normally could not escape and were at his mercy. Something Jon didn't like anyway, robbing someone of their freedom, even if it was a Demon from the lower circles. So he decided to play along for a minute or so and then let all hell break loose. He appeared in the circle and hid his signet ring by covering it with his other hand.
"Why did you summon me?"
He asked the warlock.
"Because I need more power to achieve my goal. Someone powerful has been protecting the children of that cursed White Circle and that bitch who is mine. I need more power to destroy them."
"And why should I give it to you?"
"Because I have summoned you and you are now under my power and must do as I say!"
"Who says so?"
"I say so! You are in my circle and so you will do as I say or I will punish you terribly."
For Jon, the joke was now over. The madman might as well have summoned one of the Demons from his little group later in the day and tortured the poor thing. He lit the hellfire in his eyes and showed his signet ring:
"Who do you think you are to give orders to the Prince of Hell, you miserable worm?"
The warlock was startled; he had not expected this, but still thought he had the upper hand since the Prince was standing in his circle. Jon knew exactly what the madman was thinking and simply stepped out of the ring:
"Did you think something so simple could stop me, you idiot? Not even God can stop me! It tickles a little, that's all, and not even unpleasant."
The man threw himself to the ground and began to beg for forgiveness. Jon had no patience for him; he was here for more important things. He grabbed the man by the throat with one hand and lifted him into the air. The other hand was on his head to get the information he needed. When he saw who had hidden him, he was not surprised for a second and knew what he had to do. First, he would deliver this package to his father undamaged. He was sure he would appreciate it. He squeezed his throat a little harder just to hear the asshole gurgle a little. The next moment he was standing in front of Lucifer's throne and threw the package in front of it. Lucifer's eyes immediately lit up at the sight of what Jon had brought.
"Dad, thank you for what you did for the girls and the coven. This is for you. As you can see, completely undamaged. I thought you could use some anger therapy."
"Jon, sometimes you know me better than I know myself. Do you have any idea what this therapy should look like?"
"Hmmm, I thought you could warm up with some boxing training, then use a feather, switch to karate, a feather, maybe Muay Thai. And when you need to catch your breath, you can give it to B&B to keep it nice and warm for the next part of your session. Well, yeah, you get the picture, I guess."
The devil growled:
"Belios, it's been a long time since I've had boxing training. Find a bag, put that piece of shit in it, and hang up the bag. I need to vent."
The General left in a hurry because if his king was in such a state, it was very unwise to keep him waiting. Lucifer turned back to Jon:
"In my office, now."
In the Devil's private quarters, father and son dropped into a seat and Lucifer asked:
"Do you know who made him invisible?"
"Yep, that's my next stop. Uriel!"
"Why doesn't that surprise me? Let me guess; one of the Elder Angels of Death passed on his gift. Uriel posed as a Demon and told the bastard that he wanted to help him by making him invisible to the Angels who wanted to protect the coven. And whispered in his ear the names of the next victims? The whole coven, but especially the girls and Elise?"
Jon said nothing, just nodded.
"I would almost, very almost, feel sorry for Michael's snake, but I just can't bring myself to do it."
"And I certainly don't, he's going to burn Dad."
Lucifer growled:
"He went after your daughters, Jon, and he knew what he was doing, MY GRANDDAUCHTERS! Innocents are beyond our conflict, untouchable, it's been that way since my fall! So yes, he deserves what he gets!"
Jon uttered another sentence, and it had a hidden message for his father, just in case:
"Oh yes Dad, thanks for Zelo and the others you are going to send. I would like to see them soon though because I need bodyguards for my wife and your grandchildren. After all, they are princesses and the Demons will be of great use to your Crown Prince. Tomorrow afternoon around five or six at Deflin House would be perfect. They don't need weapons and fighting equipment, I have new ones for them, more powerful and mightier".
And with that, he disappeared from Hell and appeared in the center of the throne room of Heaven.
All the Archangels present, the Elders, and two younger Angels breathed sharply. They saw that the Antichrist was more than wrathful and that he was wearing his black equipment. When he wore his battle gear, it meant misery and pain, a lot of pain. When Jon snapped his fingers and slammed the doors of the throne room shut with a loud bang, fear gripped them. They knew there would be blows, just not where and how many. He turned to God:
"My Lord, I'm not here to start a fight. I am here to ask for divine justice because an unholy crime has been committed. Would you remind me what the rule is for Angels who wish to kill or have ordered the killing of innocents?"
The expression on God's face became less than friendly, and with a deep frown on his forehead, he asked:
"What do you mean, Jonathan?"
"Well, one of your Angels launched a false flag operation. He made a black warlock invisible so that he could not be noticed by Heaven, not even by you, and not even by me when I am on Earth. He knew that his crime was so egregious that he deliberately wanted to hide it from you. The goal was to have ten children of a white coven killed by this sorcerer, and one of those children is my daughter! In addition to the children, he whispered other names into the pig's ear. Suddenly, my future wife and my other daughters were on the hit list, and for dessert, an innocent woman, a protégé of Grandma's, whom the warlock could keep as a sex slave and have this young boy sacrificed in front of her, before killing her as well!"
In the eyes of God, the fire of heaven was blazing. Its intensity was so great that small bolts of lightning shot out of his eyes. This news had made Him more than furious. The Angels present saw that the situation had gone from very bad too much, much worse. First, a totally pissed off Antichrist, and now on top of that, a God who could go Old Testament at any moment. Yes, this was not a good day. God roared, and his voice could be heard not only in the throne room but throughout the Heavenly City:
"Angels are absolutely forbidden to harm the innocent! If they are also the Goddess' proteges and your daughters and your wife, princesses of Heaven, the punishment is nothing but death!"
"Thank you, Grampa, for making this clear to me and everyone here. I demand to be allowed to bring divine justice to this Angel who has come up with something so unholy."
God looked him dead in the eye and said:
"The victims would have been your family, so it is only fair that you carry out this punishment!"
Jon turned to the Angels present and said overly sweetly:
"Will the one responsible for this please step forward?"
None of the Angels moved. Jon laughed:
"You see, they are just too cowardly to face the consequences of their actions. They have the audacity to conceive and implement something so monstrous and then shit their pants when called to account."
Defiantly, he told his grandfather:
"So these are the tough, brave warriors who represent Heaven's Army? Your army, Grandpa? Don't make me laugh, they are cowardly worms. I'll do it differently. They hide from facing Divine Justice, then let Justice find them. I'm going to start by burning a random Angel, and then another, and then another, until one comes forward in here. If not, I will go outside and continue with every Archangel and Elder I can find until one finally admits guilt."
It was as if a light had gone on in Jon's head:
"Hey, come to think of it, this could be really fun. If I'm lucky, the guilty party will be the very last, and then the top tier of your little army will be completely wiped off the map."
He turned to the assembled Angels, who stood frozen with fear. Pointing to the oldest angel, Metaron, he said:
"Since Michael is not here, you are out of luck. I'll start with you, you're the oldest except for my father, so it seems right that you be the first."
He waved his hand, and because of his enormous power, the Angel could do nothing but come to the center of the room. He made Hellfire appear in his hand, and suddenly he heard another Angel cry out:
"No, Jon, he is innocent. It was me, punish me."
He looked at one of the Angels from the group he loved and asked sternly:
"Are you sure it was you, Muriel?"
"Yes, My Prince, it was me, I am guilty."
He nodded and said:
"Come forward and receive your punishment!"
Muriel meekly stepped to the center of the throne room with tears in her eyes as Jon sent Metaron away. As she stood there, he let the fire disappear from his hand and instead of hurting her, he pulled her into an embrace and said:
"Muriel, you are truly braver and nobler than any of the Archangels and Elders present. I know you are innocent, yet you would sacrifice yourself for your much older brothers. Brothers who don't seem to care if I have wiped you out of existence. The real culprit didn't even blink when you agreed to take his place and die for him. He was glad he hadn't been discovered. You know I think of you as a little sister, and I know you would never be capable of something so vile."
He kissed her cheek and said to his grandfather:
"I give you a choice, Grandpa. Either you give me my whole group, all 47 of them, or I will burn all the Archangels and Elders present here and now. Then I will go outside and find the rest of them and burn them! And by giving, I mean you relinquish all authority over them immediately, forever!"
His grandfather pretended to think about it for a moment and then said:
"You can have them, Jonathan, on one condition."
Jon understood that his Grandfather was setting the endgame and that his own response would cause the dominoes to fall.
"Okay, name your condition, but remember that the guilty party will be punished anyway because you said yourself that the punishment for such an offense is death."
"Of course, the punishment for such a heinous act is death, and it must be carried out here and now! My condition is that you start the Apocalypse! You can save your family and your small group, but that is it. No others! Once that is done, you will complete the Apocalypse immediately, no more delays!"
Now Jon pretended to think and finally said:
"My condition is before I accept yours. A family dinner, and this time with everyone present, so that we can have it at least once in our miserable fucking existence before all hell breaks loose. You, Grandma, Uncle J, Aunt M, David, Sarah, my Dad, and any of the 47 who want to be there. No one else. Tomorrow night at 6 PM at the Deflin house, because it's a school day. Then a meeting where I'll lay out how the Apocalypse will be set in motion. One week to get my group and my family to safety in Eden. Then the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, one each day, beginning with the first in eight days. The night of Sunday to Monday at exactly midnight. It is take it or leave it, no middle ground, no negotiations, and in a few days you can slaughter each other for all I care until none of your abominations remain!"
Again, God seemed to ponder His grandson's terms and finally said:
"A dinner with the whole family can't hurt and can't mess up the schedule. So yes, I accept your condition and we will be there."
The part about not upsetting anything was all Jon needed to hear to know that he was absolutely correct in his assumption of how the coup would go and what the goal was. He nodded and waved his hand. Uriel was dragged to the center of the throne room, whimpering and pleading. Jon ignited the Hellfire in his hand again and planned to blast Uriel out of existence until Raphael shot at him and begged:
"Jon, please don't kill him. Please don't do this, please spare his life, do it for us, your younger siblings."
Jon looked at him with a warm smile and said:
"You are worth a hundred times more than all these bastards here put together. They treat you like you are nothing, an annoying byproduct of your parents and yet one is willing to sacrifice himself for them and the other is begging for his life. Okay, Raffa, I will not kill him, but I will burn him so that he will be an example to his companions for the time they have left. I say here for the last time that except for the group of 47, no one is welcome on Earth until the war starts. If you do, I will not be so forgiving and everyone will be able to beg as much as they want, you will die horribly if you violate my ban!"
He forced Uriel to spread his wings as wide as he could, for that was the most painful part of his body, it would hurt like nothing the Angel had ever felt. No doubt the Archangel would have a short circuit in his brain just from the pain. He threw a fireball at Uriel and he was ablaze in no time. Jon let the fire burn just long enough until he was unrecognizable, but still alive and would survive. He looked at Muriel and Raphael and said:
"I expect you both on Earth as soon as possible. Muriel, you come down immediately, Raphael, talk to everyone in the group, and then to Earth! You heard God, you are now under my command. This is an order as your Prince, so no discussion is possible!"
With these last words, he disappeared and reappeared in the garden of their house. Those present looked at him with wide eyes, it was as if smoke was coming off him. He still did not want to say a word. He took off his black clothes and jumped into the pool in his briefs. He stayed under for so long that Elise and the girls started to worry, while Liz already looked scared. Azrael said:
"No worries little people, leave him alone, he is half Angel, he can breathe underwater. He just needs to cool off for a while. I am surprised there is no steam coming out of the pool though, he is more than pissed."
The people present looked at her with eyes full of wonder at this statement she had dryly dropped. After a few minutes, he came up, pulled on a bathrobe, walked over to the lounge area, and dropped into his seat, where Elise came to sit on his lap in record time. Azrael asked:
"Situation straightened out?"
"Yes, there is now triple protection for everyone in my circle and anyone who will be part of that circle in the future."
Liz's eyes watered and she asked:
"Brandon, all the children and sisters are now fully protected?"
He nodded:
"Yes, my protection, Dad's protection, no Demon or Black Magic within a hundred-mile radius except for the bodyguards he has placed and the entire army of Hell is ready to defend you. Heaven will be careful not to come to Earth after what happened because Grandpa was about to go Old Testament at the news. Even Michael will keep a low profile for at least a few days because there is no laughing with Grandpa when he is in that mood. The bastard wants his war, not to be wiped out by grandpa before he can go to war."
At that moment, Muriel appeared in the garden, crying. Jon stood up and took her in his arms. He held her for a moment so she could cry on his shoulder and then said:
"Children, go inside, and let us talk for a minute."
His voice betrayed that he would not tolerate any resistance and the three youngest rushed inside. Pam, Fay, and Hope also wanted to get up, but he said:
"Stay a while, this concerns you too. You are old enough to hear what I have to say."
The girls took their seats and Jon led Muriel to the couch the little ones had just vacated. Although it was still early, he made a glass and a bottle of vodka appear for himself, making it clear that what was to follow would not be pretty. Azrael made sure that the rest of those present had something to drink as well but without alcohol. Jon poured himself a glass and knocked it back in one gulp before immediately refilling it. Muriel said:
"That was awful what happened Jon."
He growled rather icily:
"And wasn't it terrible that they would rather let you die than take responsibility? That they stood by and did nothing when you were about to sacrifice yourself, so full of themselves that they apparently got away with it?"
Azrael blurted out angrily:
"You did what now, Muriel?"
The little Angel got even smaller. If Jon was the leader they so longed for, then Azrael was undoubtedly his right hand, and she could get pretty pissed off, too. And it was never a nice experience for whoever she was pissed at. She said quietly as she looked at the ground:
"I thought I was doing the right thing. Jon wanted to burn everyone present one by one until the guilty one confessed. He even wanted to go after the Elders and Archangels who were not in the room."
"Muriel, Father help me, sometimes you are so naive! Sometimes it's so sweet that I want to hug you to death, and other times it's so incredibly annoying that I want to slowly wring your neck! Do you really think Jonathan would have done that? That he would walk into the throne room without knowing who the culprit was, and burn Angels left and right for no reason?"
She asked, not understanding: "
But why Jon?"
"To instill the fear of hell in every one of those bastards. To show you, the youngest, our little group, that they are cowards who don't give a shit about your existence. To make you all 47, the circle around me and my family, absolutely safe. To buy me some time. And for another reason, which I will tell you later, I think Raffa is not going to be long."