“What are you talking about? Why are you saying all this?”
“You changed me. You broke me. You robbed me of the desire to harm others. The fighting you saw, that was all I had left. Now I’m completely hollow. There is nothing left in me but my love and subservience to you. Helena, you’ve beaten me. There is only person capable of that, and it took the form of this beautiful girl standing before me.
It’s a saying as old as love itself. Opposites attract. You are my opposite and I am yours, which means…”
Neither of them were able to finish the sentence, but Helena covered her mouth as if she had just been given heartbreaking news. “What? No! That’s crazy!”
“I realized it the moment you told me about your past, about your father.”
“I never even knew my father!”
“That’s because you didn’t have one.” His words hit her like a punch to the gut. “I began analyzing you as soon as you told me and I’ve found only your mother’s genes in you. The rest is something else, something that’s been hidden away for this very moment. Even I couldn’t find it unless I already knew to look. I wouldn’t say this to you lightly. I know it with all my heart and soul to be true. You are the Second Coming. God impregnated your mother to keep you hidden. No one would ever consider her being the host of the immaculate conception, meaning you would be safe from the world until you were ready, safe from me.”
“That’s impossible! I’m just a regular girl! I’ve never performed a miracle or anything like that!”
“No, Helena, you have performed a miracle. You made me fall in love with you. I always thought that Armageddon would be an epic battle between Christ and myself, and you and I did have our battle. It started the day we met, a battle of wills, each of us overcome with feelings we had never before felt. From the moment I revealed myself to you, we both thought that you were trying to beat me and retain your freedom, but the truth is that you had already beaten me. All your powers were locked away so that you would be hidden until the time was right.”
“No, wait… this doesn’t make any sense.”
“Helena, from the moment you entered Jerusalem, you felt the power in the air. That power isn’t because of me. It’s because of you. It is your own soul anticipating the regain of its former power.” Her eyes widened and she gasped. “You once told me that God had a plan for everything and I’m starting to wonder if maybe you were right. Our meeting wasn’t coincidence. It was the prophesized clash of good and evil. You and I were brought together to fight for mankind’s future, and you won. It was just a battle neither of us expected.
Now it’s time for the aftermath. You say you’ve never performed a miracle, but all you have to do is step into that light and you will reclaim the lineage left for you. You will awaken as the Second Coming of Christ and gain ultimate power to shape the future of mankind. I’ve lost the will to do it myself and am left with nothing but the desire to see you do it, because I love you and I know it is what’s best for you.”
She looked away from him, unable to process all this at once. “I can’t believe this. This is just too much.”
“Just step into that light and it will be confirmed.”
“But then… what does that mean for you and me?”
“You know how Revelations ends. The Antichrist is cast back into Hell and Christ creates peace on Earth.”
With tears in her eyes, Helena tackled him. She finally understood that sad smile she had always seen him wear since they first made love. He had known this was coming. He knew the day was fast approaching when he would have to leave her, and he had been trying to enjoy what little time they had left together.
“No! That’s not how it’s supposed to happen! You promised me we would be king and queen! We would rule this world together! If you take my place, we can make it all happen the way we want!”
“That future is impossible for me. I no longer have the will to step into that light. As much as I want to be with you, Armageddon has been won. There is only your future as the victor. Besides, the world will be better off with you at the helm rather than me. Ha! To think that the day would ever come when I would say such a thing. You really have changed me.”
Helena buried her face in his chest. “I don’t want you to go! After everything you’ve put me through, you can’t just make me love you and walk away! You can’t do that to me!”
“Then that will be my last evil deed, one last heart I leave broken. The future is calling, and it is a future that I can’t join you in. This is the way it’s supposed to be. This is what is supposed to happen. Helena, I lost, and I’m happy I lost, because now I love you so much that your future means more to me than anything, even being with you.”
“But I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to be alone.”
“And I don’t want to lose you either, but this is the fate that was decided for us. It’s time for me to return home and it’s time for you to deliver this world to salvation. You are Christ and I am the Antichrist. This is the destiny that always awaited us. Besides, it’s been so long since I last spoke to my dad. We probably have some catching up to do.”
Helena just continued to cry into his shirt. “Xavier, I love you.”
“I love you too, and that’s why I hereby set you free.”
He then leaned down and kissed her neck. The collar and the three sixes briefly appeared before seemingly materializing. Feeling the bond breaking between them struck Helena deep into her heart, deeper than she ever thought possible. Her memories would remain, but the connection between their souls was severed. She closed her eyes and collapsed in his arms, the shock having knocked her out.
Xavier sighed and brushed her hair out of her face. “You’re always so beautiful.”
He then picked her up and stepped into the light, holding her out. A gold aura enwrapped Helena’s body and she began to float, the power of God flooding every fiber of her being and recreating her into the new messiah. She hovered vertically with her arms held out to her sides, as if she were being crucified. The light of God was returning to Earth, and already, Xavier could feel it trying to push him out. The world was now hers, her power exceeding his. He snapped his fingers and a crimson portal appeared before him, leading back to Hell.
He shot one final glance to Helena and smiled. “Thank you, Helena. Thank you for everything.”
He stepped into the doorway and vanished. Twenty minutes later, Israeli soldiers swarmed in, ready for a last-ditch attempt to kill Xavier. They found Helena, glowing like a star and hovering in the crucifixion formation. They stared at her, completely lost for words. Slowly, she was lowered back down to the floor and they rushed over to her. Her eyes opened and she took a shuddering breath, feeling like she had been paralyzed her entire life and could at last feel her body.
“Miss, are you ok?”
She took the soldier’s hand and he helped her to her feet. It took a second for her mind to straighten out and sort through all of the energy and knowledge pulsing through her existence. It then came back to her, the realization that Xavier was gone. At that moment, she wanted to cry harder than ever in her life, but she put on a brave face.