ACT I
EXT. A DESERT GARDEN –
NIGHT
A RAIL THIN MAN KNEELS at
a boulder half the size of himself. His
head is BOWED LOW, with CLASPED HANDS RAISED HIGH.
Far away the kneeling man,
the HEAD OF A SERPENT RISES INTO VIEW. It’s
almost black – like darkness given shape. But still a bit translucent, with the
light of the moon passing through it.
It HISSES quietly, and
SLITHERS slowly toward the kneeling man
The sufferer SHIVERS and
his SCATTERED SOBS FADE into the sparse desert darkness that surrounds him.
This is JESUS. Not the perfect, white-washed messiah, but a
terrified Middle-Eastern laborer.
JESUS
(Subtitled)
Father?
Can you hear me?
From everywhere at once, a
HISS ECHOES. Jesus LOOKS UP to the sky,
where he expects Heaven to be.
JESUS
(Subtitled)
(Subtitled)
If
it is possible, please…take this cup from me.
LOUD SNORES fill the
air. Jesus TURNS.
A stone’s throw away from
him lies a group of men. Laborers all,
as is reflected in their TATTERED ROBES.
They are the APOSTLES, and every one of them is FAST ASLEEP.
Off Jesus, who’s head
FALLS – the final nail in the coffin –
JESUS
(Subtitled
The
spirit is willing. But the flesh is
weak.
The Shadow Serpent
SOLIDIFIES with an INKY BLACKNESS THAT SWIRLS AND PULSES. It PICKS UP SPEED.
Jesus RAISES his clasped
hands higher than before, GRINDING HIS FOREHEAD AGAINST THE STONE.
JESUS
(Subtitled)
Please father.
I don’t want to die.
The shadow Serpent GROWS
TWO HUMAN LEGS from its belly.
Half-snake, half-man, it RUNS toward its prey.
It’s past the Apostles,
but Jesus does not see it. Does not hear
it. His own sobs drown out this thing’s
hungry hisses.
It LEAPS for him – beams
of moonlight getting lost in it – it has
become the black hole it was meant to be.
Just before the
open-mouthed Shadow Serpent can sink its dark fangs into Jesus, a BEAM OF WHITE
LIGHT PIERCES THROUGH ITS HEAD.
The thing is DRIVEN INTO
THE EARTH. Even for a shadow, it looks
dead. And then it MELTS INTO THE
NIGHT.
The beam of white light
FADES revealing the BLADE OF A PRISTINE SWORD.
The tip of the sword is PULLED OUT OF THE EARTH.
And the wielder of that
sword is an ANGEL right out of a William Blake painting – with FLOWING WHITE
ROBES that EXPOSE HIS ILLUSTRIOUS ARMOR.
Outstretched behind him are WINGS SO WHITE THEY ALMOST GLOW, and on his
head is a SILVER HELM THAT COVERS HIS FACE.
This is REMIEL.
He FOLDS HIS WINGS BACK
and SHEATHES his sword. And though he
stands right in front of Jesus, Jesus has not noticed him.
The suffering messiah
continues to suffer.
Remiel brings his HANDS TO
HIS HELM. He MAKES TO LIFT IT OFF.
But another PAIR OF ARMORED
HANDS HOLDS HIS DOWN. Remiel SPINS AROUND,
facing a SLENDER WARRIOR IN THE ARMOR OF SAMURAI. Her AUSTERE EYES can be seen through the
ARMORED MASK she wears, and her RAINBOW COLORED WINGS are OUTSPREAD. This is KAMI.
The pair speak to each
other in English.
KAMI
Stay yourself Remiel. This is forbidden.
REMIEL
We
are guardians, Kami. We were made to
protect them.
(He
points to Jesus, who remains oblivious to the angels standing next to him)
I
was made to protect him.
KAMI
Not
anymore. The demons have been beaten
back. Banished to the garden of
old. Our work is finished.
Remiel turns to
Jesus. The prophet’s body still quakes
with fear. His tears still soak the
stone.
REMIEL
Mine is not.
KAMI
Do
not misremember our task, little brother.
We were only, ever, meant to protect them from dark forces against which
they could not fight back. That is the
law of our mother.
REMIEL
No,
that is the law of Heaven. An
interpretation of the final commandment given by our father before any of us
were shaped. Before he withdrew from all
creation, leaving the Seraphim to argue over the precise meaning of those final
words.
KAMI
Why
do you insist on seeing this through a child’s eyes? Yes, the scholars disagree. On semantics and specifics, but not on the
prevailing truth. We live by mother’s
example. She’s withdrawn from us. Thus both Heaven, and Hell, must withdraw
from them.
REMIEL
Then
why shape us, Kami? Why give us life, if
it could only be used so sparingly?
Remiel turns back to the
still bowed Christ.
JESUS
(Subtitled)
Please father.
Please, please, please…
REMIEL
Even
as he suffers, he knows that suffering is bound up with his purpose. I have walked with this man, Kami. Watched him.
Heard him. He truly believes that
he carries a message, and that Father gave it to him.
KAMI
That
is impossible.
REMIEL
I
know. Father does not speak to the
heavenly host. Nor do any angels make
such claim. Yet this man does.
KAMI
He
is not the first. Nor will be the last.
REMIEL
True.
Kami turns Remiel back to
face her.
KAMI
Listen
to me, brother. He is no more than a
mortal man. And the ways of men are not
our ways.
JESUS (O.S.)
(Subtitled – and loud)
FATHER!!
Remiel turns back.
JESUS (O.S.)
(Subtitled)
I
beg you! Spare me!
KAMI
In
the end, they will always choose themselves over their brothers.
Remiel turns from Jesus to
the sleeping Apostles.
KAMI
I
do not know what happens now that our task is done. But I do know that we have been called to
serve, by giving up the guard.
Remiel turns back to his
sister. Looks her in the eye.
KAMI
And
above all else…archangels were made to serve.
REMIEL
You
are right Kami.
Kami HUGS her little
brother.
KAMI
Come brother.
Let’s go home.
They TURN THEIR BACKS on
Jesus and READY THEIR WINGS.
JESUS (O.S.)
(Subtitled)
Father?
Remiel TURNS BACK.
The pathetic Jesus from
just a second ago is replaced with an attentive messiah. His HEAD UP.
EYES LOOKING TO THE HEAVENS.
JESUS
(Subtitled)
So
be it. Let it be as you, not I, would
have it.
Jesus PUSHES OFF THE
ROCK. He FALLS BACK ONTO HIS CALVES.
JESUS
(Subtitled)
I’m going to die.
Remiel TURNS BACK TO KAMI.
KAMI
Remiel.
He’s mad.
REMIEL
Forgive me sister.
Remiel STRIDES to Jesus’s
rock. He SITS ON IT.
He EXHALES AUDIBLY. And then a WARM GLOW SURROUNDS HIM.
The light TOUCHES JESUS’S
FACE. The prophet LOOKS UP. He NOTICES.
Remiel REMOVES HIS FULL
HELM, revealing a face underneath that looks like Jesus – only fuller,
healthier, and SMILING.
Jesus SEES THE ANGEL FOR
THE FIRST TIME. He is STUNNED. Silent.
Scared.
REMIEL
(Subtitled)
Hello.
A PEACEFUL SMILE SPREADS
ACROSS JESUS’S GAUNT FACE. Which takes
us to…
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