章 2: First Years

It has been 10 years since Ezekiel was sent to the Vatican and currently, he was meditating in his residence inside the Vatican. It was a complex far from other people for his existence was only known to a select few individuals.

The first few years it was rather hard for him to control the massive power he possessed since birth. Even a veteran in energy manipulation like Uriel was stunned at the sheer amount of holy energy Ezekiel had. Unsurprisingly it became his focus until he was 5 years old and somewhat got a hang on it and no more outbursts happened.

Since then he was educated by Griselda in his basic studies. They included subjects like mathematics and literature, but also studies on magic, about facts and the history of the supernatural world and the values of the Christian Church. It was not his favourite pastime, but even Vasco would think twice to cross her. That woman was fierce!

None of his instructors was someone that could be described as average or normal. Uriel obviously was extraordinarily strong as one of the four strongest angels. He helped Ezekiel with his holy powers and how to efficiently use his wings for flight and combat.

Vasco was the one responsible for the physical aspects of his training. Ezekiel still doubts Vasco being a complete human though. From what Uriel told him even leading figures of other factions like the current Satans are vary of that oldie, going even so far as calling him "The violence of heaven" or "Limits of humanity". Vasco would often say: "A healthy mind is accompanied by a healthy body." Ezekiel must admit that he agrees with him, but Vasco´s definition of a healthy body is probably far from the generally accepted definition.

Ewald was the strictest but at the same time the most respectful of all three. It probably was because of Ezekiel being a seraph, even if he was connected to another pantheon. He was mainly responsible for his tactical education. In his free time, he often visited to instruct him on wielding swords while Vasco, a master swordsman himself was teaching him hand-to-hand combat. Both were already busy enough with their duties, so they split their focus on that one.

Ezekiel stood up and stretched himself before getting ready. Today was the day Uriel would take him to visit his parents. It was hard for him, but he understood their circumstances and just enjoyed meeting them every few months. He had an extended family here in the Vatican and heaven and never really felt lonely, it was like this his whole life after all. Especially his big sister Gabriel would often come to visit and spoil him rotten. One could ask himself if it were not more accurate to call her his aunt instead of sister? That was not the brightest idea he had.

After musing in his thoughts for a while longer a magic circle expanded in his living room and his uncle Uriel stepped out of it.

"How are you doing little rascal?" Uriel asked in his usual loud voice while ruffling Ezekiel´s long golden hair.

"Ugh...please uncle not my hair." Ezekiel quickly distanced himself. "Of course, I am looking forward to meeting them. Father even said he would bring a present this time. What do you think it is?"

"Hahaha, aren't you excited? You will see when you meet them." Uriel answered not giving away anything.

Ezekiel just made an annoyed face before his uncle spoke up again: "Come on take my hand, I will transport us to the meeting point."

Ezekiel touched his hand before a big magic circle swallowed them.

Upon arriving at their destination, Ezekiel looked around. It was small island somewhere inside the dimensional gap. It was nearly impossible to come here without knowing the exact coordinates. Shortly afterwards he hard a voice ringing out from his back.

"Zeke! Come and give you mother a hug, I missed you!" Jequn practically shouted while jumping towards him. Ezekiel only had a moment to turn around when he was fully embraced.

His father stood beside them while chuckling lightly. Ezekiel didn't inherit his fathers ability to read minds, but he could feel emotions of other people when he concentrated and knew, that his father missed him just as much as his mother, even if he didn't show it the same way.

Shiva ruffled his hair before speaking: "Thank you Uriel for taking care of him and bringing him to meet us."

"Don't mention it Shiva, we both are his family and I know it must be hard on you." Uriel answered with a sad look before schooling his features again.

Shiva just gave a short sigh: "I met with Indra a while ago and it seems he knows about him already. We didn't explicitly speak about it, but it seems he won't do anything as long as Zeke doesn't involve himself with our pantheon."

"I guess that is the best we get, isn't it?" Uriel asked, not expecting any answer and Shiva just stayed silent.

After dealing with his mother Ezekiel turned to his father with expectation in his eyes.

"What is it son, I didn't know you were looking forward to meeting me that much." Shiva feigned ignorance and focused on the changing expressions on his son's face before laughing out loud.

Ezekiel just bit his lips lightly clearly looking forward to his present: "Dad, please…"

"Alright, alright let's see where I put it." He put his hand to the side before seemingly rummaging in another separate space. Before long he pulled out a long, sheathed sword with a blade of about 110cm. The sword was beautifully crafted with a long handle and cross guard. Shiva handed his son the sword.

Ezekiel practically snatched it out of his hands in his excitement before showing an embarrassed face and concentrating on the sword again. He drew the sword out of its sheath for a bit and analysed it. It was the best work of craftmanship he has seen in his ten years of life. The blade itself seemed to be ridiculous sharp.

"I asked a fellow god of mine to craft it. Only the best materials were used, all of them divine metals. If you regularly pour you divine energy into it, it is only a matter of time until the sword reaches legendary rank." Shiva smirked, pleased that his present was a big success.

"Thank you, dad, it is wonderful." Ezekiel exclaimed.

"Zeke how about you tell us what you did the last few weeks?" his mother asked while bringing them over to a table with four chairs.

They talked about his training, what he was good at and the people he met. About how Gabriel would often come to ditch work until one of her brothers dragged her back, making Jequn laugh about her sister's antics. Gabriel always was the "little sister" among the seraphs.

After Shiva gave him some more tips concerning his sword and how to train his power as a god they bade farewell to each other.

"How about we fly around for a bit before going back to the Vatican, Zeke?" Uriel asked.

"Of course, I love flying!" Ezekiel practically shouted taking Uriel's hand as they both got teleported into a rural area.

"Where are we uncle?" Ezekiel asked, his eyes roaming his surroundings.

"We are close to a small village in France. Since you like flying that much I thought we made the trip a little longer. I already notified the others, that there wont be any training today since…" Uriel didn't end his sentence because a loud crashing sound came from the forest nearby where virtually a sea of swords popped up from the ground. Uriel squinted his eyes, while Ezekiel's were shining with excitement.

"Let's take a look but stay vigilant and close to me Zeke." Uriel said while flying forward with Ezekiel slowly following behind.