“Humanity,” I bit out, still very irritated by his earlier premonition.
“Which is what, Lazarus?”he taunted, treating me like a tourist, which I supposed that I was.
“People, mankind...civilization as we know it,” I answered.
Ramiel gave me a terse nod before looking over at Elisabeth.“And what is it thatyoubelieve we are fighting for?”
“Our souls,” she answered confidently.“After all, it’s not our bodies that continue to live after death, it’s our souls.It’s not our bodies that are let into Heaven or are banished to Hell.”
I really was a fucking tourist.
“And our biggest mistake will be confusing the two,” she went on.“If we get too wrapped up in trying to save our corporeal selves, then we’re going to miss the bigger picture.It’s our souls that Hell is after, not our bodies.”
“Very good, Elisheva,” Ramiel praised.“What you two will need to remember is that it’s not your human forms that will be battling the forces of evil.It will be your souls.”
“But that doesn’t make any fucking sense when our human forms can die during this battle,” I argued.“How will our souls carry on if we’re dead?”
The problem with being the dumbest one in the room was that it fostered insecurity.How in the fuck was I supposed to save Elisabeth if I had no idea what in the hell they were talking about?How was I supposed to keep them from coming for her when I had no idea how to separate my soul from my body?
However, before I could go into a full-blown panic, Elisabeth said, “I’m done with the bullshit, Ramiel.I need to know when, where, and how.”
Mimicking Elisabeth’s movements, Ramiel leaned forward, placing his arms on the table.“I cannot give you a definitive timeline, but know that it will be soon, and when I say soon, I mean within weeks of today.”
Weeks?
“The where will be where you stand,” Ramiel went on.“There is no one place designated for the battle, especially when you consider the absence of the seven stages of Revelations."
“The seven stages?”
Without looking at me, Elisabeth answered, “The Seven Seals, the Seven Trumpets, the Seven Bowls of Wrath, the Return of Christ, the Millennium, the Final Judgement, and the New Heaven and Earth, be praised.”
“The Seven Plagues,” I muttered, the old teachings coming back to me.“So...we have to go through all that before...before we go to war?”
“No,” Elisabeth answered.“No, because this isn’t Revelations.This is something else.”
Ramiel’s grin sent a dark chill down my spine, and I really was the stupidest person in this room right now.“You are correct, Elisheva.This is not Revelations.At least, not yet.”
“It’s a test,” she announced.“It’s a test to see if they’re strong enough to go to war with God.They’ve been slowly pulling God’s children away from Him, and they can feel that He is close to ending it all, leaving only the truly repentant to survive.”
“You are the gateway, Elisheva,” Ramiel said.“You have always been the gateway that has allowed Hell to see more than what Heaven would like to grant.”
“What happens when they take me?”she asked, sending my blood spiking again.
“No one is taking you, Elisa,” I snapped, but she and Ramiel just ignored me.
“Lazarus will lead the charge to get you back, and we will join him, of course,” he answered.
Then it hit me.“This isn’t happening here on earth, is it?Since they don’t care about her body and want only her soul, then it’s going to happen wherever it is that she takes us in her dreams, right?”
“The man is finally catching on,” Ramiel quipped, and I didn’t appreciate it.
“Is it inevitable that they get me?”she asked.“Can it be prevented?”
“It can,” Ramiel replied carefully.“But you’ve already made it clear that you will not entertain that as an option.”
“What option?”I asked, looking between the both of them.“If there’s another way, then we have to consider it.”
Neither of them said anything, leaving me out of their inside joke, and instead, Elisabeth said, “I’m ready.”
