I ask him.
“The room?”
I nod.
“It’s… hmm. Well, to be honest, Benji, I don’t know what this room is, not exactly. It exists for moments such as these, when an individual needs to hear something or learn something that may be hard for them to understand, to point them in a direction they never thought possible. But that’s really all I know. I don’t know how it came to be or why certain people are able see it. Like you have.”
“What does that have to do with me?” I ask, pointing at the child’s outline on the wall.
He watches me for a moment, rubbing his chin. “Nothing,” he says finally. “Or at least I don’t think it does. Though,” he says, frowning, “I don’t know why it’s still there. This room usually resets each time it’s used. Do you remember when I told you about the darkness rising, spilling over from another plane of existence?”
“Yes.” With people who could manipulate earth and water. Fire and wind.
“Time moves… differently over there, compared to the other levels. Sometimes it slows, other times it speeds up, but it never matches anywhere else. Guardians aren’t allowed there, at least not of the angel variety, and it’s run by a being that thinks Itself a god. Even the God, though I hope It hasn’t sunk that far. A false deity is a terrible thing and can only lead to an ending constructed of a wave of fire.”
“I don’t understand.”
“That image, that burnt image of a child, was meant for a man named Seven who might be the key to not only saving his world, but the ones on every level above and below him.”
“Who is the child?”
Michael closes his eyes. “One who has the power for great destruction growing within him. It remains to be seen what side he will choose. In the end, though, the boy will burn. We just don’t know how.”
“I don’t understand what this has to do with me,” I say hoarsely.
“Indeed,” Michael says, quirking his eyebrow. “But here we are, nonetheless, in the White Room, as it’s called. Only a few have come here and even fewer have left with an understanding of why they’ve come here. While it’s meant to show a being the way, it usually ends up offering only confusion.”
“What about Seven?” I ask, almost rolling my eyes at the name. “Did he leave understanding?”
“I hope so, for all our sakes,” Michael says. “But let us focus on other matters for now. You, in particular. Do you know why you’re here?”
I hazard a guess. “I was shot?”
“Yes, yes, but why were you shot?”
“Griggs had a gun pointed at me, and he pulled the trigger.”
Michael sighs. “There is that, yes.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Did you know this was going to happen? When you touched him? Did you know?”
“No, Benji. I didn’t. As much as I’d like to think I have that much foresight, I did not know. It comes with the concept of free will. A billion tiny actions could have led to the specific moment of you and Griggs at the river. It could have been set in motion long ago, and nothing could have disrupted the design of it. That’s the paradox, you see, of the design: it’s like a spider web, and once caught, it is hard to shake.”
“But it is possible,” I mutter, saying the words he doesn’t.
He smiles, his eyes sparkling. “Some say so. And that’s where you come in. Regardless of how caught in the spider’s web you are, you’ve still managed to break free, at least partially. That’s something beyond anything I’ve seen.”
“I don’t know how I did it, though,” I admit. “I haven’t done anything different than I’ve normally done.”
“Haven’t you? Think, Benji. Think of all that has occurred to bring you to here, to this now. What have you learned? What has this taught you?”
“My father….” I stop.
“What about your father?” He’s curious, and I wonder if he doesn’t know much more than I do.
“Your Father,” I say. “What has he told you about me?”
Michael’s eyes cloud over, but the look is gone only a second later. “Father seems to have little to say on the matter, though I was able to recover Calliel’s lost memories.”
I’m stunned. “How?”
He tips his head in my direction. “In due time, Benji. Now, what about your father?”
“My father was a great man.”
“Yes, as you’ve said before. But what made him a great man?”
I am careful with my answer. “He was kind. He