Sara and I made our way out to the center of the school garden. I found a good place for us to sit and try and commune with the Goddess. "Are you sure you want me here while you do this?" Sara asked me extremely nervously.

"Sara, I don't want you alone with that crazed boy after you."
I say with the utmost seriousness and love. I am not going to let anything happen to her, so I will stay by her side till this whole incident is resolved.

I gestured for Sara to sit down across from me on the ground, our legs crossed. We close our eyes and I let my mind relax and focus on the Divine. "Mother, I am sorry for not talking to you for so long. I need your guidance and wisdom. Please forgive me for my past sins and bless me with your grace." I say with joy in my heart.

I feel the energies of the surrounding air change and my body tingles. A low rumble of thunder begins to roll coming closer and getting louder. The skies brighten with a white light that glows brighter than the sun. The amount of energy surrounding us is pressing against our bodies. I shield Sara so that the enormity of the energy would not affect her. The light that was seeping through our closed eyes softened. I open my eyes and look up at a pale woman with long white hair. Her soft caring face was smiling at me. Her body was covered in a bright white gown that seemed to emit light.

I quickly got to my knees and tapped Sara's leg to get her to follow my lead. I kowtow to my Goddess. Sara follows my lead and we both show our reverence for our Goddess. "My daughter, I am pleased that you have contacted me. I have missed you very much, and it pleases me that you are finally back from your prison. I regret that it was part of your fate. Know it pained me that I could not intervene and save you from that fate.

Now my child how may I help you?" I feel her hand softly caressing my head signaling for me to stand with her.

Mother, I have fallen into a dilemma that has the potential to turn the world upside down.

Yes, I am aware of this my child. Do you save your mate and expose magic or do you leave your mate to continue her self-torture and let the world continue as it is?

Yes, this is my dilemma, I feel I am being pulled in two directions. To save my mate and expose magic that affects so many people. If I do save her then I must face Michael again and whomever he has protected the Vatican.

That is true, that going into the Vatican will lead to a fight between you and Michael. This is inevitable my child, you will need to face him at some point if you ever want to be free of him. He holds a mighty grudge against you and has taken actions of his own. The question is, do you continue to hide from humans and leave them to their own devices or do you engage humans to lead them to a different path?

You cannot stop him?

Of course, I can stop him, but he must learn from his mistakes just as you must. I will not provide outside influence to take free will away from any of my creations.

So, I am alone in this fight?

No, my daughter, you are never alone. I am here for all my creations, and I listen to all their hopes and dreams. They must all choose the path that they will walk but I am always with them.

What will happen if I do nothing?

That I will not say, if you knew the outcome of any task then you would know which way you want to act. This takes away your free will and also prevents you from learning from your mistakes. I am here to share your life with you, good and bad. You may take my strength from the knowledge that I trust and believe in you, my daughter.

Is there anything you can do to help with Sara's situation?

Sara, you have shown great strength in changing your ways and being honest with yourself. This unfortunately does not alone make up for your past choices. You will have many demons of your creation to face in the coming days. Stay true to yourself and you will come out of this stronger and wiser. I see the love you have in your heart for Lilith and that love makes you stronger than you can ever know. Most importantly be kind and true to yourself and you will find the strength you need to face your demons.

The Goddess came closer to each of us and kissed each of us on our foreheads. She then turned and faded from our sight.

***

This talk did not offer me any clarity on my situation. I still don't know what to do. I look over at Sara and see that she is looking completely shocked but happy.

Sara exclaimed. "I felt so much power and warmth emanating from her. It was like a fire that could never be extinguished, her presence was comforting and I felt so much love radiating from her."

I smile at that remark, I guess I should not be so surprised by her reaction. "Yes, my mother has amazing powers that I have never felt before myself."

"What do you mean, I thought you use to conversate with her all the time?" Sara asked.

"Yes, I communicated but it was only a voice in my head before. This is the first time I have seen her in person and felt her power. I am quite surprised she chose to reveal herself to us like that. I just feel like I didn't find any answers to the questions I had." I say sighing.

"I must agree that we did not get told what I must do, but it seems as though she wants us to follow our hearts and trust ourselves," Sara said to me while she caressed my face and put her arms around my neck. "I for one do not wish to enjoy my freedom while another is suffering."

"You show wisdom beyond your years, Sara," I said with a smile.

"Nah, I heard that quote from someone else. I just thought it was appropriate in this situation," she replied with a giggle.

We turned to walk back to the campus together. As we were walking out of the garden we were confronted by Minerva and several security guards. "What the hell happened in there? The magical energy coming from the garden was overwhelming, and we couldn't get in to investigate." Minerva asked with a serious look on her face.

The other students started to file out of the buildings to see what was going on. I was a little worried something out here happened when the Goddess chose to visit.

"What happened out here? Was anything damaged? Was anyone hurt?" I rattle off questions in rapid succession.

"No one was injured and no damage was done but it felt like what you did inside Mag Mell the other day only bigger. Please tell me you didn't lose control of your magic again." Minerva said with a stern look on her face.

"No, that magical energy didn't come from me," I say meekly feeling like I had done something wrong again. Then Sara interrupts me.

"It came from the Goddess; we went into the garden to pray for insight on our problems. When the Goddess came to speak to us directly. It was so amazing." She said with great joy and happiness in her voice. Though the group of students and staff that had come to see what was going on was more skeptical of her words.

"Are you saying you summoned a Goddess, Lilith?" Minerva asked, looking even more perturbed than before.

I stepped forward holding up my hand to say stop, "Minerva, neither of us summoned the Goddess. We went into the garden to pray for her. In the past, she has always chosen to speak directly into my mind. This time she chose to come and talk to us in person, so to speak. We would not do anything so dangerous as to summon the Goddess, that would end up badly for all of us involved."

Minerva looked at me skeptically as she looked at others to see their reaction to my statement. She couldn't contemplate that we had met the Goddess in person. Others in the group were looking at us in awe as they moved out of our way and let us pass through.

Before leaving, I turn to Minerva, "I think it is time that I meet with all the staff. I have some things I would like to discuss with all of you before I take it to the rest of the community. This caused many rumblings to come from the crowd trying to find out what was going on. I address the students, "I will be addressing all of you in due course. I just need some more insight into the issue before I make any decisions."

There was a nervous energy that filled the campus as rumors were spreading around about what the meeting would be about. I chose to ignore these rumors so that I could focus on what I was going to do. At lunch, I was met with a curious look trying to gauge what was going on. I was lost in my head at the time anyway, and my body was operating on autopilot.

I was so lost that I don't even remember what I had to eat for lunch. The questions of my friends fell on deaf ears as I continued to find answers in my head. Even Sara could not get through to me though she didn't try since she knew what I was thinking about.

Do I try to lead humans in the right direction, or do I let them continue to live against the way the Goddess had intended for them to live?

Do I have the right to say how humans should live life? I am not the Goddess and I do not know her will.

I do know that this hate in the world will lead to more destruction and it will continue to feed more hate.

How would I even convince the people of the world that this hate is not the way? Many wars have been fought over trying to force one's beliefs on another.

I make my way to the auditorium for my discussion with the staff. I stand on the stage at the podium and see not only the staff but all of the students have filled in the seats behind the staff. There is a rumble of conversations being held between many of the people in the audience. Minerva addresses me, "This way it will alleviate the fear of the students of what you are going to say." I just sigh and nod in understanding.

I step up to the podium still expressing deep confusion about my problem. The chatter dies down and silence falls over the auditorium. I start to speak in hopes that I can convey my thoughts.

Thank you all for coming this afternoon. I know that this was not something anyone planned on doing today, but that said I find myself in a position of needing all of your help.

You all know that I have been around for a long time, and I have told everyone I am the first human created. In the beginning, I was tasked by the Goddess to watch over the tree of knowledge, unfortunately, I failed, and that caused humans to be exiled from Eden. I know you have all heard of the tale of Adam and Eve, that is the event I failed to prevent.

When man was exiled from Eden, Adam and Eve had the knowledge that they gained from the tree of knowledge, erased from their minds. I however left with all my memories intact. I was given a seed from the tree of knowledge and was told to eat it. From then on, I lived my immortal life away from humans.

Many of you have realized that I have no love of men, I found my mate after wandering the world for a thousand years. If you don't know by now my mate, my wife, is a succubus. I can practically hear all of your confusion in that statement. Why would I choose a demon?

The answer is simple, I followed my heart. My demon wife and I refused Lucifer's call to join him in his rebellion. So, she is not a member of the fallen and bound to Hell. She was created on Earth before humans all of the original fallen first lived on Earth before humans.

I lived a simple life with my wife and our five children, for many millennia. Then I was attacked by Michael the archangel. My soul was torn from my body and imprisoned till my release just a few months ago.

My wife went into a catatonic state when I was captured by Michael. Where she remains today. Only now she is imprisoned in the Vatican.

Here is where we have the problem. Michael erected the shield around the Vatican to prevent me from reaching my wife. I will have to fight him if I ever want to see her again. This fight will not go unnoticed by the people of the world. There is just no way with how populated the world is and with video technology, we have no way that this fight will go unnoticed. It will expose magic to the world.

Now there are very few people that are directly connected to me in the outside world, but this will bring a lot of attention to all of us. I do not know how the world is going to react to this sudden news of magic in the world.

I have been struggling over this since I found out that my wife was being held captive by the Vatican. I had hoped to find a way to get her out without this fight but that is not possible. I do not want to expose any of you to danger from my actions that do not include you. I worry about all of you if I do this and magic is exposed to the world.

As everyone is aware, I spoke to the Goddess today in the garden. I was told point blank that at some point I will have to fight Michael. I was also told that she would not interfere in the fight or the aftermath, as that would take away our free will.

I do not know what I should do at this point. I am torn between wanting to get my wife back and also wanting to protect you all. What do you all think?

The crowd stays very quiet as they absorb what I just told them. Mr. Kairington was the first to speak up, "Why must you fight Michael?"

I was quite surprised by his question as I thought he would tell me immediately to protect magic. "Michael holds some grudge against me. I do not know what for. I would prefer not to have to fight him but apparently, it must happen."

A male student yelled out, "Why should we suffer so you can have your demon back?"

Now, this was the type of question that I was expecting to hear, I could just hear his condescending tones as he mentioned my wife. He did not like alternative lifestyles. "That's a good question, if not a little condescending. First, she is not of the fallen, so by the tone of your question I'm assuming you think that all demons are evil. I have a question for you now if someone you loved was being imprisoned for no real reason and you could save them, would you?"

"I don't love demons. That makes you as evil as they are." He yelled out. Several of the people around him cheered him on.

"Ok, moving on. Does anyone have any real comments about this?" I asked.

Minerva stood up and started to speak, "Please everyone let us keep this respectful. Let's try to remember that Lilith did not have to come here and discuss this with any of us. She could have just gone over to Rome and taken back her wife. There would have been nothing we could have done to stop her. She is respecting us by discussing this with us and trying to understand what concerns we have. Show her the common courtesy she is showing you. Now I have a question for you Lilith, would you be willing to take all the blowback from this fight if you can find a way?"

"If I can I would be more than happy to take the fallout from this solely on me. I fear that there are a few people who have a direct connection to me that I will be unable to completely protect." I replied.

Minerva continued, "will you keep from mentioning the school and the staff here at the school to anyone in power outside our community?"

"The school is a sanctuary for those that want to learn. There is no need to discuss this with the outside world." I replied feeling more confident as if Minerva is feeding me exactly the right questions so that I knew there were ways I can lessen the blow to the magical community. I was happy that she was a supportive and understanding person.

"Will you knowingly expose any wizard to the public making them known to the world?" She asked me.

"Not, like I said, I probably will not be able to protect my family and it may be a problem for Sara, but other than that I have not been with any of you outside the school for us to have been seen together. So, you all should be safe from exposure by me, I guess." I said a bit nervous about this one.

"Excellent, then as head of this school. I have no problem with you saving your wife. You have expressed your support of the magical community and that you will not intentionally out anyone." Minerva said looking at me with a straight face as she sat down in her chair.

Mr. Kairington stood up again, and my heart sank. "Lilith we all know you have unimaginable powers, but do you think you can kill an archangel?"

"No, Mr. Kairington, I cannot kill Michael. The most I can do is banish him to heaven just as he cannot kill me." I said, trying to remain calm.

"So, what is stopping him from coming back here and attacking you again, say here at the school?" he asked with a bit of a gloat on his face.

"Time works differently in the heavenly planes as well in Hell. If I banish him to heaven, he must heal which will take hundreds of years here on Earth. Then he must wait till he is either summoned or the Goddess decides to send him back to Earth. So, he may come back to Earth but most likely not in anyone here's lifetime." I explained.

Now that I have talked with all these people the more, I realize that I can free her without bringing everything down on the magical community. But I need to distance myself from the community so that I can limit any exposure to the wizards here. So, I need to wait till the council has been formed so that I can hand over control to them. Once I have done that, then I can plan my attack.

"I want to thank you all for coming at such short notice and helping me with this matter. I will inform everyone what my decision is when I am ready." I then turned and walked off the stage. I had an idea of what I could do but I cannot do it alone.

I walk outside to the courtyard with a great weight lifted off my shoulders. Looking at the sky I feel that the Goddess had told me exactly what I needed to hear. I find a place to sit on the grass of the path and enjoy nature and the sun on my face.

Sara came and sat down next to me, "I'm not scared to be outed if I am seen with you. I know I can trust you and I know that you will protect me."

I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. I turned to her and smiled, as I saw the rest of my friends coming up to me. James stood in front of me, "I am here if you need my help against the Vatican." I smiled at him as he said that.

"Thank you, James, but I seriously doubt that your mom will allow you to fight against the Vatican. I think most likely it will just be Elizabeth and I attacking them, I will want you to keep people safe here. But we will come up with a plan before I do anything." I said to him.

"Before I can do anything I need to get the council up and going," I said to everyone.

This may end up being a lot of work, to get the council set up and running. I don't know if there are any candidates for council yet. What can I do to motivate them to take charge? I guess I will give them one last chance to step up or they will have to accept whatever rules I come up with. But what do I want? I have no experience leading this many people, I also need to find the rest of my girls. I can't do much without my family. I need to have a family meeting.

I spent several days trying to figure out what I was going to tell the rest of the wizards about my plan. I know that my little speech here at the school sent a wildfire through the students and wizards. I am sure that the community has heard something about my plans.

It was the last day of the week and I decided now was the time to lay it to the community straight. I walked out into the garden to where I hid the communication stone. I grab it and walk to the center of the garden, the place I feel the most comfortable.

I activate the stone by pushing my magic through the stone.

Wizarding Community, I am here to address you with some important news. I have found where my wife is being held and I plan to get her out. No doubt, some of you have heard about this from students and families of students here at the school. I want to assure you that I thought long and hard about this. There is one thing I must do before I can go after her.

I have given you all several months to create a new council to take over the duties of leading our community. I have not heard any word from anyone that wishes to step up to the plate. I guess maybe you all are scared of me and are afraid I will deal with you in the same way I dealt with the last council. I cannot go into the fight that I am about to face without turning over the leadership of the community to others in the community. In an attempt to minimize the fallout of my attack on the Vatican and the Archangel Michael. I will separate myself from the community so that you can focus on your needs while I shoulder the fallout of those attacks.

I did not come to this decision lightly; I have decided I will put a temporary council in place till such a time as the community can create a permanent council. This will come as a surprise to the individuals that I have chosen. Unfortunately, my circle of wizards is very limited. The three wizards that I am naming for the temporary council will be David Holmes, Minerva Morningale, and Vincent Kairington. Each of these individuals is an educator and I hope that they can lead you till you can create a council of your own.

Vincent Kairington might be the most controversial member that I am nominating, but I can't just pick people I like. Mr. Kairington and I have been thorns in each other's sides since I first met him. He is also a very talented and knowledgeable wizard, which is something that is needed in the council. We do not share the same views on this world but that is exactly what is needed for change and growth.

David Holmes, as many of you know, is married to my daughter, he has a great knowledge of the history of magic in our world. I chose him for his understanding of how things of the past have affected the world. He is also very level-headed and not afraid of telling me that I am wrong. The last thing we need is a yes man.

Minerva Morningale is the middle ground between the three of them. She is the Head Mistress at Dagda academy and is a strong leader. She is a stickler for the rules and that is what we need as well. Someone who will enforce the laws of the council fairly across the community.

Those are my choices for the temporary council and why I have chosen them. If you disagree with my choices, please feel free to campaign to gain support to get a seat on the permanent council.

As for what I am going to do. I feel that I might not fit into your community. I am just so different. I will continue to keep your secrets and also try to steer people away from the Arcane Arts as much as possible. I will try to distance myself from the wizarding community till such a time that it will be safe for me to return. I am not going to run, and hide from the world as I did previously. The Goddess has shown me that the choice I made way back was not the choice that will get the best outcome.

Just be aware that this fight that I will be going into will be a display of huge amounts of power between Michael and me. I will try to keep collateral damage to a minimum but I will take Michael down and send him back to heaven where he belongs.

When this is all done, I will continue to teach what I know about magic and history to those who wish to learn. Also, if anyone thinks I should not have done any of this, well I gave you a chance to step up and make a difference.

Goodbye, everyone.

***

I am now ready to make myself known to the world, but first I need to update my knowledge of the current affairs of the world. Heading back to the campus I met with two very angry educators.

Minerva and Vincent are both looking at me with daggers in their eyes. I toss them the communication stone. I smile at them and say, "hopefully they will form a proper council soon and not drag their feet as they did with me."

"You had no right to put this on us Lilith," Minerva yells at me.

Vincent looked like he was about to say something as well, but I interrupted both of them. "Wrong, I have every right to put in place people who will lead the wizards, while I am unable. As surprising as it may sound, I trust Vincent and you to be able to make the hard choices." I say in a calm voice. I turn and walk away from them both, their mouths left open as they watch me walk away.

It is done, I am no longer the head of the wizards. I sent out a text to my family, 'meet me in the library.' First, I need to find Sara as I need her to be kept safe until this battle is over. I didn't have to walk far till I found her running towards me with the rest of my friends behind her. Margret is also with them, which kind of surprised me, but I am glad to see that she is falling in with the rest of my friends.

They all looked shocked, as I walked up to them smiling. I wrap my arm around Sara and I say, "Now comes the fun part, I fight an archangel. I will need all of your help to keep it. First thought, James, Margret, I will need you to protect Sara from whoever is after her while I am gone. The rest of you just sit back and enjoy the show. I plan to put on a good one. I'm thinking I need to live stream the whole thing so the world gets a close-up view and post a video I am going to give you." I say in a playful voice.

I also want to get a video confession together to be posted after the fight to all the major news outlets. As Kyle used to say, go big or go home. I need to put everything out there for the world to see. I think I need to learn how to make a live stream video, I guess I could control the camera with my magic so that I will have my hands free.

I ported James Sara and me back to James' house into the library to an unhappy David and Elizabeth. "Lilith, why didn't you talk to us first?"

"Like I told the other two, I didn't know any other candidates that I could trust to take care of the wizards when this whole event kicks off. Now we all need to step up and do our parts." I say in a scolding tone.

"What changed that we need to rush? Is Mum in danger?" Elizabeth asked.

"I met my mother, and I found out that my time sitting back and doing nothing was not what I should have done. I need to be more active in my task of helping humans be worthy of returning to Eden and have access to the Tree of Knowledge." I am ashamed of how I failed in the task given to me.

"Your mother, I thought you were the first human and you didn't have a mother," David asked confused.

"The Goddess is her mother, David," Elizabeth said. "Wait you met her? I thought she only talked to you when you prayed."

"Sara and I both met her. But she was as vague as usual but offhand suggested I take a more active role in humankind. No more hiding in a cave for me. I miss the time when it was all of us together, but now we have to work together differently." I say as they all look at Sara more surprised than anything.

"Elizabeth, I need you to drop your glamour when you go with me so that you do not bring any more attention to your family. You are coming with me to the Vatican. I will take care of the shield and Michael, while you find Shar'li and deal with anyone on the inside after I draw everyone out. I am going to rip apart the shield and we will rush into the Sistine Chapel. There should be enough people in the chapel that it should get Michael's attention and may allow me to feel for Shar'li." I say looking at Elizabeth.

"You should do it during Sunday mass when the Pope is in the chapel," David recommended.

"Thank you for the suggestion, David, I would like you and James to make sure Sara is safe as there is some trouble at the school for her," I say to him

"Just so you all know I am going to be live streaming the whole event to show the world what they are dealing with, and so that they can catch my conversation with Michael so that we may not look so evil," I say with a wicked grin.