Paul Peterson. Aka 'P'
What can I say about that character?
That you will never be able to quite grasp The Tutor even with your best intentions and most clever brain cells fully switched on. Elusive yet fully on, it is a whimsical idea of God, a pure allegory.
I must confess that it is one of my hardest characters to write about. He is the Sum of all Souls. You may find him beguiling. You may find him intimidating for he is. However whenever he steps in, he brings immediate relief with his presence. However he is the one the Angels will seek out to resolve their issues and dilemmas. Daunting, mysterious, knowing more than he will reveal at any one time, talking almost with riddles and puzzles to work out, he is the hard core of entities.
Our young Beast ran into him age five, straight after she killed her first humans, the murderers of the nun Tess who was looking after her. He calmed her little Being right down, soothed her distraught soul until she slept at his feet. He is the one, the Being, that kept her in the Black Forest after the two humans who hid the Beast there to protect humanity, passed away. He preserved their good work alive and well with his instructions. She was free to run wild as long as she remained in the forest.
The three years the Beast lived feral in that forest remains an entire mystery, however we know that she calls the Sum of all Souls, her Tutor, that she has great respect for him, that she will kneel by him without being forced to or asked, it is almost an impulse to do so for her. We also know that he appeared to her feral self regularly, kept an eye upon her, but more importantly educated her in a Being sort of way.
Between five and eight, the Beast was not solely a lone soul in the depth of the Black Forest. She had that important visitor meeting her footsteps teaching her as if she was a young Angel. He impressed upon her mind greatly. Despite not knowing about his tuition, we are aware that it was special enough for It-666 to never kill any human even when she was put under tremendous torture between age 8 and 16. The Beast was steadfastly strong and good, unwilling to use her lethal powers and hiding them from human eyes despite being hurt physically to make her show them. She rather prefers her own death. Age 16, we find her, like Walter in that appalling state, having braved all kind of tortures, with for only hope in her mind to be dead and buried to present no threat to humanity.
What can I say about the Tutor? He was an important part of the childhood of It-666. He was the first Being, she ever met, one who taught her how to control herself and her powers. Not totally for the little Beast failed to complete her instruction… Despite being told by him to stay away from humans and to stay safely in the forest like all beasts should, her lonely eight year old self ran to meet school children to befriend them on their school trip in her forest. Herald as a feral child by their teacher, mocked for her strange voice by the children, It-666 was taken out of her cherished Black Forest, her home of eight years to be put in a psychiatric hospital under observation. Abducted from there, flown to the US, she ended in a cage for a bedroom under a pentagram made of human blood in Paul Peterson’s Bunker for eight long years of endless torture.
When the Angels discover It-666 at the start of the saga, the Tutor is already aware of her existence, not only that far from destroying her, he educated the youngster. Food for thought for all Angels, especially for Wrath for the Tutor is his ‘Master’, the one he answers to. However he was not made aware by him about the existence of the Beast whatsoever nor was he told about her loss from the Black Forest. He was not asked to recover her at all cost. He did not know that the daughter of Eremiel even walked upon earth at that time. The discovery of her Being comes into the light when she is sweet sixteen when Walter Workmaster pulls her out of her cage.
This begs the question what did the Tutor achieve by keeping It totally secret even from his Angels? Was it a ‘watching how the little Beast would react’ scheme to know if she could be trusted? We will never know. However what we are aware of is his interest about her. He is a character with an agenda of his own, which he will never disclose to others. His orders are transmitted to Wrath, who spreads them to all Angels, but also to something called ‘the Powers’. The Tutor deals with a lot but the way he does it, remains unseen. However, the way Wrath intervenes for him, has such impact that all feel his force in the background.
We meet the character throughout the saga many times, mainly in times of needs for all other characters, emphasising his parallel to a god like figure. They seek his help at the last resort. It is always not a given, it is always hard to get. They really have to plead the creed of their own paths to him.
Let’s meet him in quotes and passages:
Before the Death Angel could say a word in reply, a voice sang a very sad, powerful and peaceful lullaby. Azryel scrutinised his surrounding, yet could see nothing. It-666 was up on her feet at once, joy passing through her green eyes, where resignation reigned before. She took the hand of Death, inviting him to follow her, -He is here! Come, meet my Tutor. Come, I know where he is, very close by, where he taught me many things…
Azryel ran with her intrigued to finally be able to discover the face of the Angel who took on the young Beast. They reached a small clearing with a great oak tree almost in its centre, and below it stood a Being glowing powerfully. The young It left his hand to run towards him. The Death Angel considered the whole scene. When the teenager reached the Angel, she knelt by him, putting even her head upon the floor, she obviously had a relationship with him that could not be described by simple words. He truly believed at that moment, that It-666, the Beast, the due Antichrist was worshipping her ‘former’ Tutor. But who was he? The question was crucial as if he was worshipped by It, it also meant his influence upon her could be great. This could pose problems to Raphael, Gabriel and him in the guardianship of the young Antichrist.
The first words of the Being teased gently It-666, as he stroked her cheeks in the most gentle and kind manner,
-Here, here, brave girl, you are doing well. I never thought my instructions would impress you so much, my little Beast in the woods.
Az could not help but be impressed by the awe which clinched him deep down by the sides of that Being. He was no Angel, for that he was sure of, he was something else, something else but what? Who? Death stood full of suspicion and asked It,
-Bambi, too much effusion. Stand up, by me and do the presentation.
She smiled at him in a childlike manner,
-Azryel Mortimer, Angel of Death, meet my Tutor.
He grinned a little annoyed replying with slight impatience,
-And your tutor has a name, I suppose?
The Being gazed upon Azryel attentively as he replied instead of It calmly and firmly,
-It, chose ‘It’ to be her name for the time being, until she finds her own one, not a satirical one given by others. As for Ours We have many.
(verse 31: The Tutor)
The Tutor put his hand upon Death’s arm recalling him, -Lets move on to another chapter of It’s childhood. The child saw you somehow. You don’t want to be exorcised, do you bad spirit?
Azryel smiled sarcastically, as he answered,
-How would you know if I was a bad spirit? Anyhow I can not be erased for I do the erasing in every Worlds.
The Being smacked his hands together bringing the three of them to a new scenery after mentioning,
-A self satisfied spirit can be a plague and also a plague to deal with. Ask Raphael, he will tell you the same for he knows.
(verse 31: The Tutor)
Azryel, the Death Angel was by now annoyed with the Tutor for he seemed to know far more than him. Transported to another moment in time in the childhood of It-666, three years forward, he wondered if he would be able to gather the identity of their guide. Death enquired, -You seemed to know me very well yet I did not have the privilege of your acquaintance. Do you personally know Archangel Raphael?
The Tutor beaming blinding light throughout his entire entity replied nonchalantly, ignoring the fact of how disturbing he was at that moment,
-We made a point to know all. There is no bright sides nor dark ones that are escaping Us. We know you Azryel Mortimer very intimately and so do We know General Raphael.
The Angel shook his head in an helpless fashion before raising it with a sarcastic smile,
-Many Names, either you are the most pedantic Being in the whole World, either you are the sum of all spirits to adopt the universal we speaking of yourself. Which is it?
Winking at the Death Angel, the Tutor replied pointing at the three year old It-666 running happily in the forest,
-Take a wild guess. You are getting closer.
(verse 32: Soulful Singing lark.)
Death felt the teenage It-666 holding his hand as the infamous scene of her past appeared. He could feel her hand trembling within his. She confided to him, -Azryel, I don’t know if I am ready to see this part. I might get upset all over again and react. I may need to be contained.
The Tutor turned to her, his voice soothing and strong reassuring her at once,
-My little lost beast We taught you how to contain your own self, your wrath and desire of retaliation. We know you can do it for you are Our brave one. Be confident as you have shown great restraint which honours your every action ever since that event. You can rely upon your own self forever, remember that as a fact. You can win your own inner battle yourself. Never forget that. Never. You are stronger that the rest of Us. You cannot give your own responsibilities to anyone great or small for it will wreck them all. Remember your own internal turmoil, its your own to deal with, it has been given to the most powerful Being ever for good reasons. It cannot be shared. It can be dealt with, by you and you only. We are counting on you to do so. We will walk by you all the way to help you support your ordeal. You can count on Us to not let you fail. What you are about to see, you have grown out of it. You have become the courageous individual We always knew you would be. Against all odds, you made it to the AA Army as their newest recruit. And for all you are, It, they need you more than you will ever know in the future that is unfolding as We speak.
The Death Angel felt the hand of It-666 becoming strong and firm. Her trembling disappeared during the arousing speech, he had noticed. Somehow he wished he had told her all those exact words at that moment in time. Somehow he wished that someone could care enough of his own self to come up with spurring words like those to carry on his own eternal task or the courage to give it up. He looked bereft upon the Tutor who was beaming bright like a beacon within the Black Forest. By now Azryel knew who was ‘Many Names’, the Tutor of the Beast and he could hardly believe it. Was The Most Superior Being of All truly there for all creatures?
(verse 33: Tess’s Death.)
