Chapter 5 - Return

This is the fifth chapter of the book.

Kenan, Gordon, and Asmodeus successfully arrived at the Prudential Tower. Gordon parked his car at a parking garage close to the Boylston Street entrance to the Prudential Center. “We’re here.” said Gordon. “Great. The Pru is the best spot to enter heaven.” said Kenan. “Cool.” said Asmodeus. So, Kenan and the others walked into the Prudential Center and headed for the skyline elevator. Kenan felt a cold shiver in his legs as the elevator went up to the highest floor of the building. “I never thought I would come up here. Heights always scare me.” said Kenan. “It will be all right Kenan. We will enter the Kingdom of Heaven safely.” said Asmodeus. “Thank you, Asmodeus.” said Kenan as he followed Gordon and Asmodeus to the roof entrance. The trio slowly walked to the edge as they felt the wind hit them hard in the face. “Okay we are here. So now what do we do?” said Gordon. “Kafziel told me to go to the highest peak which we are at now. Then she said to turn the key she gave me clockwise and then jump into the portal that will appear before us.” said Kenan as he pulled the key from his pocket. Kenan then did as Kafziel said and turned it clockwise and a portal appeared right at the edge of the skyscraper. Both Gordon and Asmodeus held onto Kenan and jumped off the ledge of the building without any warning and entered the portal. Kenan and the others found themselves inside a narrow tunnel that was too dark for them to see each other. The only light for them was the exit that was ahead. “Have we made it?” said Asmodeus. “I think Heaven is right at the end of this tunnel.” said Kenan. “I am with Kenan on this. We should go forward.” said Gordon. “Right.” said Kenan and Asmodeus as they walked to the end of the tunnel. As the trio reached the end of the passage, the sound of harps and flutes flowed into their ears. Kenan gasped at the sight of Heaven. In front of the trio was a tall gate made of gold. On both sides of the gate there were two beasts guarding it. On one side, there was a teal dragon and a red bird. On the other side, there was a white tiger and a black tortoise. There was also a tall golden podium beside the gate. At that podium, there was a man. The man was dressed in a white robe. He was armed with a short sword. He had brown sandals on his feet. There were holes in the center of his palms and feet. His skin was as dark as Kenan’s and both his hair and eyes were white. “Who goes there?” said the man. “Um…,” said the trio. “I said who goes there?!!!” said the man in a louder tone. “I am sorry if we were rude in any way, especially by coming here unannounced. My name is Kenan Johnston.” said Kenan. “I am Gordon Stone.” said Gordon. “And I am Asmodeus.” said Asmodeus. “Kenan Johnston. Gordon Stone. Asmodeus. What are you doing here? It is not time for any of you to die.” said the man. “That is great to hear. Can we ask who you are?” said Kenan. “I am Peter. You can call me Saint Peter. I am the gatekeeper of Heaven.” said Peter. “And what are those things by the gate?” said Gordon. “They are the guardian beasts of Heaven. They only let those who I say so can enter the gate.” said Peter. “I see.” said Kenan. “Any more questions to ask?” said Peter. “No.” said Gordon. “Then what other business do you have here?” said Peter. “Saint Peter, we came here for the angel Raphael. We must protect him from the incoming demon invasion.” said Kenan. “What demon invasion?” said Peter. “The demons Elysia and Byleth are on their way to attack unless you hand over Raphael.” said Asmodeus. “And what do those damned souls want with him?” said Peter. “They’re looking for him to unseal their father, Astaroth.” said Gordon. “Okay I have two things to tell you. First, no demon army can ever have a chance of getting here. Second, Raphael is not even here. He left for Earth.” said Peter. As Kenan was about to say another word a loud roar echoed through the tunnel. “Now do you believe us?” said Kenan. “I do.” said Peter as he stepped away from the podium and opened the gate. At an instant, a vast legion of angels stormed out of the entrance all armed to the teeth. They each had swords, spears, shields, bows and even guns. “Saint Peter. Can we help?” said Kenan. “If that is what you wish. You can.” said Peter. A few angels approached the trio with a selection of weapons to use for combat. “I am sorry. None of us need a weapon to use. We are all ready for battle.” said Asmodeus. “Very well. If that is what you wish.” said one of the angels as she got back in rank with the others. In a matter of minutes, the angels formed divisions in front of Heaven’s gate guarding it. “Remember to guard the heavenly palace with your life. Not one demon must get through this gate!!” said Peter as he drew his sword. “Yes Saint Peter!!!” said the angel army. The heavenly beasts remained in their positions ready to strike any demon to prevent them from even touching Heaven's gate. After minutes of anticipation, a band of demons led by Elysia and Byleth came out of the tunnel. Both Elysia and Byleth were in their demon forms. “Here they come. Okay Hadad, do your thing.” said Gordon as one of his eyes flashed with lightning and wind from the other. “Yes. I am ready to destroy Astaroth.” said Asmodeus as she transformed into her succubus form. The angels gasped out of fear at the sight of the horns that sprouted from Asmodeus’ head and the black wings from her back. It took the words of both Kenan and Gordon to calm them down. “Stop!!! She is on our side!!” said both Gordon and Kenan. The angels lowered their weapons and said, “Very well.” Kenan noticed Elysia and Byleth were approaching while their army remained motionless by the tunnel. “Gordon. Asmodeus. I think we should talk with them.” said Kenan. “Right.” said Gordon and Asmodeus in unison. “Are you really going to reason with demons?” said Peter. “Isn’t one of your common sayings nothing is impossible? Let’s apply to that with this.” said Kenan as he approached the demon army followed by Gordon and Asmodeus. “So, you must be Kenan Johnston.” said Elysia as she looked Kenan in the eye. “Yes I am.” said Kenan as he looked back at Elysia. Kenan looked at Elysia for the next minute and admired her appearance despite it not being human. Elysia's red hair reached down to her lower back. Half of Elysia’s body was the tail of a snake covered in red, black, and white scales. Her tail was over sixty feet long. She was wearing only a red shirt and a black skirt on her waistline. She was armed with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. The jar containing Astaroth was tied with a rope around Elysia’s waistband. “Kenan. Do you have a problem?” said Elysia. “I am sorry. I just like your form. It looks great.” said Kenan. “You really like the way that I look?” said Elysia as she lowered her weapons. “Yes. I am not kidding.” said Kenan. Elysia blushed as she heard what Kenan had said. “Anyway. Who are those two with you?” said Byleth standing in the form of a brown cat wearing a purple suit armed with a sword as well. Elysia looked at Asmodeus and said, “I know the woman. You are Asmodeus. Aren’t you?” “I am. And this is my fiancé, Gordon Stone.” said Asmodeus. “I am not going to ask why you are affiliated with a human because that’s not my main concern right now. I want to know how he has magical power.” said Byleth. “I am a host body for the demon sorcerer Hadad.” said Gordon. “Listen here you. Gordon is my life. He is my heart. He is my reason for living. His wish to protect the weak is my wish too.” said Asmodeus. “Now Asmodeus please take it easy.” said Kenan. “Right. Sorry about that Kenan.” said Asmodeus as she stepped behind Gordon. “Now I am going to ask this once. Can you and your followers leave this place and not ever come back?” said Kenan. “I am going to answer that question with questions. What are you going to do when I say no? What are you going to do when I say bring me Raphael to release my father and we will go?” said Elysia. “I will say no to both of those questions. I will also say how do we know that Astaroth will not possess anyone to go along with Satan’s plans.” said Kenan. “Kenan. I know that this is going to be hard for you to believe. That so-called friend of yours Kafziel is not as great as you see. She is a fallen angel.” said Astaroth. Kenan looked at Astaroth and said, “How the hell do I know you are telling me the truth?” “Because I know you have a demon in you right now.” said Astaroth. At that very moment, Kenan began to feel an intense pain in his stomach, making him fall to his knees. “Kenan are you alright?” said Elysia as she approached Kenan. “I do not know. Something moved around in my chest. Wait a minute here.” said Kenan as he phased his hands through his own body. A shakin came right out of him and landed on the ground, only this time it was the size of a log. “What is that?” said Gordon. “That is a shakin. It is a demon of doubt. It is originally the size of a car key but can grow as it absorbs their host bodies' doubt.” said Asmodeus. “The hell? When did that even get back in my body? Wait. It was when Kafziel hugged me. She put it back in my body. But it was in a jar.” said Kenan. “I guess you believe me now.” said Astaroth. “I hate to say it. Yes, I do. I am going to repay you by helping you get out. I am also doing this as my apology for sending a piece of your soul to the ice ages.” said Kenan. “That will be great. Thank you Kenan and I forgive you for that.” said Astaroth. As the discussion continued, the shakin tried to crawl away. Asmodeus, however, stepped on its tail, preventing it from escaping. “Where the hell do you think you are going?” said Asmodeus. “I am going back home. To hell.” said the shakin. “I don’t think so.” said Asmodeus as she grabbed the shakin with a tight grip and brought it over to Kenan. “Oh, my freaking God that thing looks so disgusting.” said Kenan. “I brought him over to you to decide what you want to do with him. It is your call since it was in your body.” said Asmodeus. “I have an idea for this nasty critter. Does anyone have a cage that this thing can fit in?” said Kenan as he gave the shakin a wide grin. An angel handed Kenan a rectangular glass cage and placed the shakin inside of it. Another angel gave Kenan a key. “That key will unlock it. Setting it free will be up to you.” said the angel. “I got it. Thanks.” said Kenan. “Great idea Kenan.” said Gordon. “Right. Now the next thing to do is to set Astaroth free.” said Kenan. “Allow me to do just that.” said an angel who approached Elysia and grabbed the imprisoned Astaroth. Kenan gasped as he recognized the angel’s face. “Wait a minute. You are my human resources professor Richard Smith.” said Kenan. Richard appeared in the form of a middle aged African American man wearing only a bathrobe. His head was completely bald, and his eyes were brown. Richard looked at Kenan and said, “Yes. I only came here because I was looking through my bathroom mirror. I check on what happens here every now and then. I am incredibly surprised to find you here Kenan. If you have time and energy to spend at this place your coursework had better be done.” “Professor. I will get that done. I promise.” said Kenan. “On Earth you can call me that. Here my name is Raphael.” said Richard. “I understand Raphael. Anyway, can you please set Astaroth free?” said Kenan. “I will do that. I am surprised that Kafziel did not do this because she also can set demons free from these jars. She is one of the very few angels I have taught that power to.” said Richard. “What?!!!!” said Elysia and Byleth. “Yes. I apologize to you two not knowing that. So, by the power vested in me Astaroth, I set you free.” said Raphael as he opened the jar and let Astaroth out. Astaroth spun around in excitement and said, “I am free at last. Being in that thing for an entire year really drove me nuts.” “Dad!!” said Elysia and Byleth dropped their weapons, reverted to their human forms, and embraced their father tightly. “My kids.” said Astaroth as he hugged his children back. Kenan smiled at the sight of a touching reunion. “I love the sight of this but I’m sure the angels would love it if your demon army could go back where they came from.” said Kenan. “My pleasure Kenan.” said Elysia as she signaled her army to leave. The demons obeyed and disappeared. Peter sheathed his sword, approached Kenan, and said, “I got to give it to you. You stopped a battle from happening that could have caused horrendous casualties on both sides. We are indebted to you Kenan Johnston.” “I was happy to have done exactly that.” said Kenan as he bowed to Peter. “Kenan. You bow to no one. Angels!!” said Peter. And with that, the angel army went down on their knees before Kenan. “They are right Kenan. No one died because of you.” said Asmodeus as she reverted to her human form and bowed as well. Astaroth, Elysia, Gordon and Byleth have done the same. “Kenan Johnston. We owe you, our lives!!!” said Peter and the others. “Hail to Kenan Johnston.” said the heavenly beasts in unison. “Well Kenan I am surprised that you have gained attention from Heaven like this. I am going back home. I will be seeing you in class.” said Richard as he left. After kneeling for a minute, Peter and the others got back on their feet. The angel army returned inside Heaven’s gate leaving Peter. “Well. Now what?” said Byleth. “I think we should all go back to Kafziel’s mansion.” said Kenan. “Right.” said Gordon and the others. “If you all want to go back there a quicker way then you are welcome to use the unicorns.” said Peter as he called a band of white horses to Kenan and the others. Kenan gasped at the unicorn flapping their wings while they approached them. “This is freaking amazing.” said Kenan. “I am glad to hear that. Now why do not all of you mount a unicorn.” said Peter. And with that, Kenan and the others have done as Peter has said and mounted on a unicorn. The group have each grabbed the reins on their unicorn and have them leap down to Earth to return to Kafziel’s manor.