I had made a promise to myself. I had promised myself that I would never interrupt Seraphinus again...
He had fought for me, given his best in the fight. The least I could do was stay and listen to him until he was done.
'You have to do this, Matthew! Whatever it takes!' I thought immediately after Seraphinus began his endless sermon of anecdotes and past stories...
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Day: '0', Time: '5']
'I can't even make sense of his words anymore...
No, I have to hold on! You promised, Matt: until the end! No matter what!'
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[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Day: '1', Time: '2']
'No, I can't! I can't! Damn it! I can't do it! I'm weak! I'm sorry, Seraphinus.'
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[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Day: '3', Time: '11']
'Remember what Gimli said in the two towers "Keep breathing, that's the secret. Breathe! Seraphinus has been fighting for me for a week! I must at the very least hold out for three more days! I can do this!'
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[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Day: '11', Time: '6']
'Okay, I finally realized that singing Kanye West for the 300th time is futile. Let me go with, Try by Pink.'
'Where there is desire
there is gonna be a flame!
You've gotta get up and try! Try! Try!'
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Month: '3' Day: '4', Time: '23']
'That's it!, this time I have decided. I'm going to get up and go there.
I'm going to go to hell!
Yes, I'm going!
I want to explore every inch of the nine circles, to smell the sweet scent of ashes and sulfur, to throw myself freely into a fiery moat and feel a brand new pain. Anything but this!'
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[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '1' Month: '1' Day: '29', Time: '1']
'I'm so stupid.'
After trying to relive every moment of my life in chronological order for the fifth time, I increasingly find that I can remember vivid details. Little by little everything is being enhanced.
People I had offended or insulted unknowingly, girls I had ignored.
I finally understand why my brother had come back that day bruised, bleeding with torn clothes.
I was four years old and crying. I cried because I had lost my bicycle, the one my grandfather had given me as a present and which I considered my most precious possession. Scott had brought it back to me, gotten into a fight, and told everyone that he got hit by a car because he didn't look before crossing. The next morning, however, my bike was back.
And I didn't even get to thank my brother in this lifetime.
[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '2' Month: '2' Day: '21', Time: '3']
Maybe there is something that could help me.
By now, Seraphinus's voice has been a neutral noise for over a year. But not enough. I wish with all my heart that I could listen to it as carefully as I should, but I can't yet. But maybe I could try to practice my Aikido master's most important lesson: a breathing technique that directs blood to the head to maintain focus.
"Remember, Matthew, use this technique when you're stressed or think you've reached your limit. It will help you," echoes a memory. "Breathe in for six seconds... Hold your breath for three seconds and finally exhale for another ten seconds."
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'I'm just starting now.
Who knows, maybe I'll get used to it.'
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[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?', Time: '?']
When I feared I would have to give up when keeping track of the passage of time was becoming impossible, it happened: it worked!
It really worked!
After strenuous efforts, I was able to reenter the flow of time.
"...and then my former client Sun Tzu, interrupted me one more time by asking me if I wanted to listen to his book "The Art of War" for the third time in a row. "What a strange guy!" I thought, but I humored him, and so he started dictating it again: Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win...," Seraphinus continued adamantly. "And also be 'swift like the wind, slow like the forest, raiding and plundering like fire, not moving like a mountain, difficult to know like yin, moving like thunder..'"
Irresistible, yikes.
Seraphinus plans to pass on all sorts of useful information to me on my new journey. Although his love of detail at times seemed to amount to a death sentence for the spirit, I had to admit to appreciating his zeal.
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Meanwhile, somewhere in the skies...
"That's it, I give up! I don't give a damn if there are twelve of us taking turns! I don't care about the bookmaker, the bets and the faith credits! There's no point in keeping count anymore! The boy broke the record, period! I won't listen to another word from Seraphinus, even if I have to start another war in the heavens!" an angel bellowed in front of an ultra-flat screen.
It transmitted the image of another angel speaking and of a young soul listening attentively.
And agony.
"That boy is a monster! An abomination that shouldn't exist! I should report him to the Great Father!" the new angel, who had arrived for the changing of the guard, exclaimed.
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[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?'; Time: '?']
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[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?', Time: '?']
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[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?', Time: '?']
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[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?', Time: '?']
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[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?', Time: '?']
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[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?', Time: '?']
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[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?', Time: '?']
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[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?', Time: '?']
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[Logbook; Mission 'A Promise to Keep'; Year: '? Month: '?' Day: '?'; Time: '?']
And then it happened...
A tinkling sound and Seraphinus revived himself.
"Whoops, another assignment has come in already. I'm so sorry, Matt, I can't slow down time any more than this. I've almost exhausted the faith credits in my possession."
There, after God knows how many decades spent listening to him, after learning not to wish for suicide in a land where it was impossible to die, I had thanked the here so-called "Great Father" for just existing.
The Odyssey had finally come to an end!
"Chilling how time flies when you have a good talk! Again, I apologize for interrupting the story in the middle like this, but I really have to go," said my jailer.
"Yeah, creepy," I cackled, exhausted. "Go ahead, Seraphinus. It was great chatting with you."
I had become a different person, I could feel it. Thirty, maybe forty years earlier, I had begun to notice that this session was gradually growing something within me.
For example, my mnemonic ability? Sure, but not only that. The valuable and detailed knowledge of sciences and cultures of the aforementioned 'former clients or former victims' of Seraphinus? No.
It was my resilience.
My spirit.
My willpower.
I felt calm as a breeze, steady as Mount Everest and ready to snap and explode like a gunshot at any moment.
As if I had been torn apart and then built from scratch.
'A piece of raw Adamantium, heated by the flames of Mount Doom, tempered by the relentless blows of Thor's Mjolnir, and turned into a jewel that would put Sauron's ring to shame,' I thought.
"Wait, Seraphinus! Just a moment!", I suddenly realized. "I have a question and a favor to ask of you, if possible."
"Of course Matthew, ask away," Seraphinus replied curiously.
"I wanted to ask you if... yeah, I mean, is my family going to be okay? Will they have any kind of help with my, you know, unique departure? By the way... Are they still alive?"
"Ah, don't worry about that, yours is a special case. There is a protocol that has already been carried out. They will know that you are no longer among them, but that you left the earth in peace and for a noble cause.
Yes, they are still alive and well, don't worry. It's quite complex and time-consuming to explain to you the time warp between the heavenly realm and the earth... mmm yes, it should be about three weeks since your departure. They suffered from your disappearance, of course, but they will also be helped properly if you know what I mean." And he winked at me.
'THREE WEEKS?! B-But... I must have spent at least two lifetimes here!' I thought instinctively but at least knowing that someone had taken care of my loved ones reassured me.
I got the gist and nodded, with a sigh of relief.
"Good. Now could you hand me the employment contract for your services for a moment? I have a small change to make."
Seraphinus froze for a few moments, with a small nod of sadness on his face. He quickly recovered, with a surrendered smile, he snapped his fingers and the scroll and pen appeared in my hands.
I quickly glanced at it, made a couple of numerical marks and scribbles, and returned the closed scroll.
I took my indemnity document and, before signing it, looked one last time at Seraphinus.
"Thank you for everything, my friend. I really hope you'll be the one to greet me next time," I admitted.
I signed the document before he could respond.
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A boy's soul vanished...
An angel stood there, open-mouthed.
"F-Frie... Friend..." the angel repeated, stammering in disbelief.
A creature, who until now, had been shunned by almost all the inhabitants of heaven.
He opened the parchment he held in his hands, stared at it for a moment with a pensive expression and then… took off towards his next task.
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A long time ago, in a sky far away...
In that place, only an entity known as ‘The Great Father', who sees all and knows all, knew why a certain angel kept crying for happiness...