Joan was a sweet and mild mannered girl who had been chosen by the Eternals to free her people. This mission she accepted before she was born, and now she had to accomplish it. She had the added benefit of her gift that allowed her to see and speak with angels. All this she took in stride, while carefully managing a whole army of rough grown men.
Once the introductions were made, Joan excused herself and went back to her training. Valerie and I looked after her with awe.
“…Half the people she meets think she is crazy, and the other half believe her and follow her. It’s amazing Tess, to see how quickly mortals forget about our side of the Veil.” Valerie said, half musing to herself.
“That’s the whole purpose of the veil—to forget.” I said with a tinge of bitterness. I dreaded the veil and its consequences; I hated the thought of losing all my memories of heaven, of friends and more importantly, Alex.
“I know that” Valerie said reproachfully, “but some people seem to retain a certain… memory or imprint of what was, while others fear it and reject it completely. I wonder why?” Valerie said absentmindedly. “It wasn’t so long ago that we were all together.” She made a sweeping motion with her hand, signaling to all the mortals that surrounded us.
“I can tell this mission has given you a lot to think about.” I told her.
“Yes, it has. Listen Tess, tomorrow she will go before the Dauphin—a prince of sorts—she needs his permission to lead his armies, even though she’s been doing it for a while already.” Valerie rolled her eyes. I could tell she didn’t think too highly of this Dauphin. “In my vision I saw him being persuaded to trick her somehow, I don’t know how exactly, but whatever it is, it’s supposed to expose her as a fraud. You see, she has a reputation as someone who receives Heavenly help, and there are those who are jealous of this, they are the ones who want her to fail.”
“I’ll do my best Val, I promise.” I said, hoping that all my training and all those Gifts classes would pay off.
Valerie and I watched as evening turned into night, and all the mortals fell asleep. Hovering over Joan’s bed I studied her face. She rested peacefully, but I could tell that her mind was burdened.
Now that she was asleep, her unconscious thoughts came to me freely. She didn’t like the life of a soldier, but this was her mission; she had accepted it before she was born and now she was going to see it through.
I couldn’t help wonder what I would be asked to do. What mission would I be entrusted with? Would I embrace it like Joan or ignore it, like so many other mortals do? Was I strong enough to see whatever the Eternals asked of me through?
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