Chapter Nine

The Artist

“I see the beauty and the ugly of the world. As an artist, one can’t only focus on the beautiful if they want to capture life. But I never imagined the stories legend were real, or that I would get to see the most beautiful of life… And the ugliest…”

 Abby wondered if she was doing right. She had looked up Kendra Porter while the others were resting. She was a single mother. Yes, she took care of the families of her… lack of a better word, employees. But, sometimes missions can go weeks or months. Sometimes missions did not go well and instead of the parent coming back, it was Abby standing at their door telling them she had failed them once more. It was not like she could change their fates without doing some serious mojo on the Earth and the timeline, and that generally made things worse in the end. 

A soul has a date they are to be judged. That date has never been overturned but a few times when Abby just could not allow the death. Normally, a healing took care of the issue, but if it was too late that even her healing magic would not work… 

Abby shuddered at how she had learned that lesson. She had had to destroy the planet she named Gaia Iris many times. It was her third life sustaining plant. The second planet she created, she had gone back in time to make so it was older than Earth. More advanced. About seven thousand light years away from Earth. She named it Atlantis, okay, so it started out as an Island on Earth and she just sort of made it its own planet. She was not really creative in the diversity department; they created her to be a balance, not to be an artist. As far as looks went on that planet. It was a water planet that had super intelligent, empathic people that had light hair and light eyes. Earth she had created so much diversity, even if she got angry at them and caused them to all speak different tongues. 

She saw the hate between the humans for those not like themselves and thought to see if having them all similar would cause a more peaceful world. It did not. There was always something that caused living beings to be a destructive force, it seemed. And her hundreds of thousands of planets later, she still had not found peace and perfection. There was always some reason one group of living beings hated another. Maybe Micheal was right and they should not have been given free will and just been advanced pets. She shook her head of those thoughts.

There was just too much evil within the good. Or sometimes too much good within the evil. Light and Dark twisted into good and evil, and further twisted by the beings of free will. She shook herself out of her thoughts. She always had too soft of a spot for Earth. The place where her family last was together, the place they built together, the place that… She shook her head. She looked at the time, they had to get going. They had to get to Chicago.

 There was the sound of a hand slamming a damn bell. Kendra moaned as she rubbed her temples. She had a migraine, and she had been working a twelve-hour shift already and still had four more hours. Her son was away at a camp and she was getting all the work she could in so that way she could afford a good Christmas coming up. She closed her eyes. She remembered when she made her choice. Her choice to choose her son, her angel in this godforsaken world, over the security of staying with her mother and father. She chose right. She lost friends; she lost family, but she gained her soul, and gained the greatest blessing she could have been given. She could barely believe he was six already. She smiled and ignored the yelling and did her job. She hated it, but it put a roof over her head and food in her baby’s belly. 

 It had been a long day, and she had just gotten home when she saw the message on her machine asking if she could cover tonight for another server who had been in an accident. She sighed. She wanted to quit this job but until she found a better one, she would have to stay. She just barely got her GED. She sighed as she called and stated she would be in at eight, but could only stay until midnight. She did the household chores and then fell asleep on the couch, setting her alarm for seven.

 Abby looked at the little diner. She sighed as she looked at her people. They seemed to be exhausted. She had forced them to drive. An argument broke out and she, being the woman she was, made them sit together and work it out. Of course, it had to be about the most mundane thing: sport teams. She rubbed her eyes. “Behave.” Abby hissed; George and Dean were still on about some American football team, and Martin had refused to ever discuss sports again with them. She took a deep breath. “Order what you want.” Abby stated, as she walked in and they were seated by the hostess. 

She watched Kendra. She was exhausted. But she was happy. She was bubbly with her customers, never letting them see her feet hurt. She was exhausted and just wanted to go home. Abby just watched. She only had one question for her. One.

 Kendra walked over to the group of six. “Good Evening! You all look like you have been traveling.” She raised an eyebrow at the two men, who were a little worse for wear. 

 Abby smiled. “Of course we have! We are on a mission.”

 “A Mission From God!” Dean laughed. Abby sent him a glare. “What? Tt is true.” Dean smirked. “So, what’s good to eat here, doll?”

 Kendra wanted to roll her eyes and sneer she was not his doll. But she closed her eyes briefly and took a breath. “Well, the special today is chili!” She said bubbly.

 Abby smiled. “That sounds wonderful. I will have a bowl of that.” She nodded toward her apron. “You paint?”

 “Yeah. I like art and writing. I hope to be a children’s book author and illustrator someday.”

 “What inspires you?” And Abby asked her only question. “Truly. No bullshit answer. What really inspires you and your life, Miss Kendra?”

 The woman’s bluntness took aback Kendra, but she looked her in the eye. “I am always inspired by the world around me; the good and the bad. The bad inspires me to change the world. The good inspires me to live in it.”

 Abby smirked. “Good to know.” She nodded her head. “Good to know.”

 Kendra smiled as the others looked over the menu. “So, where are you all from?”

 Dean smiled. “I am from the best state of Iowa, then we got New York City, Miami, Arkansas, Cambridge, San Francisco, and Abby is from everywhere.”

 Kendra smiled. “Well, I have never been to any of those places. Chicago gal born and bred.”

 Abby smiled. “I am sure you will travel the world one day.” 

 “Oh, I don’t know about that. I just want to do my thing, you know. Though it would be nice, I am realistic. God has forsaken this world and we just hope to have a halfway decent life.” 

 Dean was not impressed with this artist. “Shut your mouth, little girl! Our Creator has sacrificed more than you know. Not that there is much in that bimbo dropout head of yours!” 

 “What do you know, farm boy? I mean, what do you do in Iowa but watch corn grow?” Kendra sneered at Dean.

 “Hey, in Iowa, we don’t just watch the corn grow! We got beans too!” Dean stated with a forced laugh before going serious. “Now listen to me, sometimes the most creative thing in Iowa is corn flavored corn.” Dean gave a smile. “Other times… Well, other times… we out do ourselves. So don’t judge me, Miss Porter. Because you won’t like my thoughts on you.” Dean looked the girl in her eyes and did not break contact.

 “How did you know my name?” Kendra asked as she started to back away.

 Abby sighed and snapped her fingers, stopping time, but for her people. “Dean, thank you for defending me, but you don’t know Kendra’s life. Kendra, my Father, had forsaken his children. Yes, I won’t ever deny that, but I and my brothers created this realm. I have never forsaken this realm. I have given up everything for this realm. And I came here to offer a place for your son at St. Christopher’s boarding school and a job. To protect this world.” Abby laid out the bare bones.

 Kendra looked around at everything frozen and slide into a chair. “Explain please…”

 When Abby was done explaining everything, just as she had with the others, they all sat there, just the Christmas music from the computer system playing. Abby loved Christmas music, it was all about family, love, and her son… She shook her head at that. She could not let herself drown in the memories of the years past. She had to save this Earth. “You don’t have to say yes, Miss Porter. In fact, we can walk away and you can put this behind you and never think of it again.”

 Kendra bit her lip as she sat there. “Let me work this shift and I will let you know at midnight.” 

 Abby nodded. “They should know what they want by now. And I will have coffee to drink. One of my better creations, I think.” She smirked.

 Kendra laughed. “The fuel of life. What do you I call you?”

 “Abby.”

 Kendra nodded. “Okay.” She took their orders, and Abby snapped her fingers, starting up time again.

 Abby looked at the others. “Once we collect the last of the Protectors and the two Guides, we will get to go and reopen the Catacombs and Mines. I may pass out doing so; I have to give my magic into opening it up. I put so many safe guards into opening it that if I wasn’t an angel, it would kill me.” She held up a hand. “After that, I will give you an inventory list and we will catalog everything. We will be in a time lock. It will take a while. I need to know what Jesse gave them or what they took as the mines closed.”

 “How long should it take us?” Sakura was curious about how things worked.

 “A long time, time locks stop the aging process. We exist in a different dimension, so to say. Pocket, bubble, whatever you want to call it.” Abby shrugged. “I can go faster than you all; so I will be up the whole time doing it. I also connect to the catacombs and mines, and that takes a few days, so I say we are looking at about a week, a week and a half.” They all nodded and went back to their thoughts as they ate. Abby stared into her coffee. She looked into it and let herself fall into her mindscape. After all, sometimes coffee held the secrets of the universe, even if it was the secrets were just thoughts within her own mind.

 “Does that coffee hold the secrets of the universe?” Dean asked with a smirk.

 Abby stared up into his set of ice-blue eyes. She glared at him. “Can I help you?”

 “Wondering if you wanted anything else Abs, Kendra will be back soon.”

 “I am good.” Abby stared back into her coffee. She had not had to replace the complete team since she created the Keepers, Protectors, and Guides, and she was trying not to spiral in her grief.

 “And she shall discover the secrets of the universe.” Dean stated and gave with a Hollywood smile when people let out sighs.

 Abby looked up again. “Staring into a cup of coffee allows you to gather your thoughts, to answer your questions. Coffee only holds the answer to one universe… Your own.” Abby smiled sweetly. “But I don’t need to seek them Dean, I already know them all. I made the universe, after all.”

 Dean laughed. “Nice one, Abs.” He looked over the menu again. “They have pie.” Dean was about drooling at the thought of pie, he loved backed goods. 

 George rolled his eyes. “Do they have cake?” He asked as he went to take the menu.

 Dean pulled it back. “They have chocolate or vanilla cake. This is my menu of pie goodness. Get your own.”

 Abby reached over and took the menu as Kendra came over. “Bring us five slices of apple pie, three pieces of chocolate cake, one of vanilla, and…” She scanned the menu. “The fruit tray.” She stated and gave Kendra the menu.

 Kendra smiled. “Of course, Miss Abby!” She bounced off.

 Abby watched her go. She knew how to put on a good mask. Of course, it takes a person with a mask to know when someone else was wearing one. Abby has worn a mask since her brothers abandoned her. She shook her head again and went back to her coffee.

 Kendra was standing by the pass and waited for the desserts. After she served them, she was done for the day. She would sit and wait for them to finish, but she knew that they expected her to sit with them. They wanted an answer. She bit her lip in thought. Remembering her dreams before she had her son.

 “One day, mom I shall travel the globe and change the world.” Kendra stated to her mom. She had just turned sixteen and was getting ready to go out with her first boyfriend. He was the captain of the football team and she thought herself so in love. “I and Rich will be the power couple of the world. You shall see mom.”

 Her mother gave a fond chuckle. “Of course you will, darling. You shall see the world and you will make your mark and it shall be everlasting.”

 Kendra could not know that just five months later, her world would be turned upside down and her dreams killed by two little pink lines. She had told her parents. “Mom, Dad, I made a mistake.” She cried. “I am pregnant.”

 Her mother put an arm around her. “Don’t worry, we will get rid of it. I knew that boy was no good. Forcing you into giving up your innocence.”

 “I am not going to get rid of my baby! Kevin may be an asshole and denying his child and dumped me, but this is still my child!” Kendra was pissed off. How could they think about killing her baby?

 Her father looked at her. “You have dreams and plans. College, Art school, traveling the world, a baby will just get in the way of all that Kendra. If you like, we can send you to your aunt’s in Idaho until it is born and you can give it away.”

 “This is MY CHILD! Mine! I am not going to get rid of it or give it away!”

 “Then you will have to leave. We will not allow a bastard into this house and family!” Her mother gave the ultimatum. 

 “You are throwing me out?”

 “Get rid of the thing growing in you or get out.” Her father confirmed the ultimatum.

 Kendra shook her head to rid her of the memories of her lost childhood. She did not make the wrong choice. She could never regret her son. He was her life and soul. But this angel, the God that her family had so worshiped, was giving her, her dream again and her child an opportunity of a lifetime! Maybe, just maybe, this was what was meant to be. She had mentioned a test, and she had passed. Her son and life were her test? Or was it that question? She had answered from her heart and soul; she knew most people would have lied, but she had not. She truly was inspired by the world, the good and the bad.

 “Order up!” Came a yell from the cook. 

 Kendra glared and rubbed her ear and grabbed the tray to take over to the table. She sat the tray down and sat down in the chair they had left for her. “Here you all go!”

 Abby picked up the vanilla cake and handed it to Kendra. “Here you go. The rest of you know what you want.” She waved her hand and topped off her coffee.

 Kendra was shocked. How had she known? She was about to ask when she shook her head. God. She was the creator. She knew all their souls. At least, in some way. She smiled. “Thank you.”

 Abby waved away the thanks. “No problem; the rest are eating, as should you.”

 “You already know my answer?” Kendra looked at her.

 “No, but I can make a guess. You are right, Kendra. I know all the souls on this planet. I know the demons, the guardian angels. Every being, every life force, every good being and evil being, on this planet I know on some level. After all, I and my brothers made them all.” She stated with a shrug.

 “So, you haven’t made any new souls?” Martin asked as he ate his piece of chocolate cake. He had a weakness for chocolate, as he never had it growing up.

 “Haven’t had the need.” Abby blinked at the memories. “I and my brother made nonillions of souls. Most haven’t even had one life yet. Some have had many lives. It is all based upon the fate that was spun for them, their soul given talents, and their purpose in life before they are born. And sometimes the best place and best time for them is not for a really long time. I have hundreds of thousands of planets with life upon them, and though they may one day meet others on other planets, most haven’t gotten as far as space travel yet.” She shrugged. “And those who will give light speed to the planets that do not have it have yet to have the chance to be born, as their technology isn’t there for them to expand upon it or create it.”

 “Fascinating. Utterly fascinating. Can I study those languages?” August asked at the same time Dean asked his question.

 “What are their cultures like? What beliefs do they have? What are their myths?”

 Abby laughed. “Once we have a down moment, you all can read upon any of my realms. I keep my main library in the catacombs and mines.”

 August and Dean looked like Christmas had come early. Sakura tilted her head. “Is there a lot on science and math?”

 “Tons. But you have to be careful. Earth isn’t due for a lot of what is possible for a long while yet.” Abby gave her warning.

 Kendra had to ask. “And the art and literature?”

 “Best ever seen anywhere. I actually own a few missing masterpieces.” She shrugged. “They are missing because the creators gave them as gifts to me and I stored them with my most precious of items.”

 At this, the Keepers all looked excited. The two Protectors raised an eyebrow at Abby. “And the Protectors and Guides?”

 “Guides stay in the catacomb they research while the Keepers and Protectors are not there. So they are a bit of know it alls. And if the Protectors are bored with my range and gym and anything else, then I will let you upgrade the living areas.” She shrugged. Both looked satisfied at that and went back to their cakes.

 It was a bit later, and Abby started to clean up. “You should go give your boss your goodbyes.” When she finished stacking everything. “And I will settle the tab.” She moved to go to the front of the diner. She looked a back at the group, they were young this time. Always so young, when she first recruited them, and August was the youngest she ever recruited. The age of when one became an adult may have changed over the years from twelve to thirteen for a girl to now eighteen all the way around; but she never, ever, recruited a child. Most were in their twenties or thirties when she recruited them, even in ancient times when the life expectancy was not as high as it was today. She shook her head. She would do her best to keep them safe, as she had all others under her care in the past.

 Kendra blinked and got up and went to the boss’s office. “Hey, Suzie, I quit.” She turned in her apron. “I got a better job offer and I have to leave now.”

 Suzie sighed. “Of course, always knew you were too good for this job. I hope you have a great time at your new job and it was great working with you.” She checked the hours and wrote out the last check. “Here is your last check. Thank you again for all you have done here.”

 Kendra smiled and took the check. “Thank you for giving me a chance those years ago. I will see you again.” She walked out and joined the others. “So, where too?”

 “Daisy Johnson, thirty-three: Washington D.C.”