Death lingers at a bedside table, perusing the demons escaping the hand of a shriveled up old man. His Paradise Lost is no longer a concern; John Milton had long ago sifted through the ideas of spirituality and the unknown afterlife to come out with a soul practically gleaming, these demons were not his own. A Bible lay open to Psalms 104, eyes continuously seeking a place of rest between the passage and an ink smudged atonement, a final promise to a friend thirty years dead. Softly he spoke to the air, “”You fixed the earth on its foundation, never to be moved. The ocean covered it like a garment; above the mountains stood the waters. At your roar they took flight; at the sound of your thunder they fled.”, finally I see where your struggles commenced Galileo, to the allurement of a poem no less.”

Thirty years ago John had visited Galileo’s villa in Arcetri, Florence two months before his death, only to be the sole witness of a story-telling that would forever alter the views of mankind. To John’s dismay his sympathy for a friend beyond hope of recovery had been turned against him, and into a blood oath that swore him to reveal the true accounts of Galileo’s work and findings. Knowing that his end was near, John began his final manuscript with wondrous ideas of the chaos he would leave behind due to its creation. However, those ideas would never manifest. They would be lost after Milton’s death, misleading the practices and education of future generations.

Two unseeing eyes and overwhelming amounts of unorthodox visions preceded Galileo Galilei as he sat in the portico of his villa. Echoing steps signaled the arrival of John Milton, who welcomed the sight of the blind, unusually observant Galileo surveying his estate. As John’s scuffling feet came to a halt, the silence was deafening, John knew what was to come; it had already been discussed. He simply awaited Galileo’s commencement of enlightenment. His voice once strong, now waning from the constant battle with the Inquisition, solemnly rasped his intentions for the interview, to correct his mistake of unleashing science into a world where magic was meant to prevail.

“Three, two, one, aresto momentum!” silence prevailed from the ledge, onlookers speckled below, more than one mumbling, “There goes damn Galileo tampering with another building.” Unaware of his lack of fans in the audience, Galileo glided down the Leaning Tower of Pisa to its base to retrieve a description of events. After several weeks of drop tests Galileo thought it was finally time to attempt his learned power in a more rigorous environment. Weeks of studying deep within ancient texts Galileo had finally cracked the secret that the ancient philosophers and scientists had once known, there is no discovery; discovery is only an illusion for lesser beings. Elder intellects did not uncover conjectures from what they saw or believed, they morphed reality using a power. Such a power that had come to be known as science to those who did not question its origins, Galileo was not such a man. Years of studying at the University of Pisa did not quench his thirst, the only release from his driven madness came when he realized what power he had gained through all of the searching.

Years of diligent study allowed Galileo to break through the barrier from the mundane to the magical. Of course Galileo could not start off with a task beyond his might; thereby he began by causing different massed objects to fall from any height but land on the ground at the same time. Such a feat was daunting at its genesis; however Galileo quickly obtained control and eventually gained full manipulation by concentrating his power into a phrase of significance. This phrase gave Galileo the exact process that Galileo wanted done. Galileo had learned to be a wizard of old.

Eagerly awaiting Galileo near the ravaged ground was his assistant for the day, a young boy around the age of 12 who could not help bet bellow, “It is precisely as you have told us Sir Galileo, the block of marble and the horse shoe landed at the exact same moment.” The masses of people passing could not hide their look of bewilderment, although they were desperately attempting to feign indifference. Weeks passed from this moment, and word spread of this scientist Galileo discovering the independence of mass in terms of the time it takes for an object to fall. How any logical person believed two different masses could fall at the same time was beyond his comprehension. Galileo had one final curiosity to appease. What would happen if another attempted his trials, found them false, and eradicate his good standing. He must cast the enchantment for all falling bodies in the space of the sky and the Earth. For such a task Galileo found it fitting to return to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the location where he opened his trials to the public, however ignorant they were of it actually being magical. Hands on the ledge, Galileo emptied his mind of all thoughts. The sun slowly moved across the sky and finally dipped below the horizon before Galileo made another motion. Raising his hands above his head, fingers stretched out in a seemingly vain attempt to grasp the clouds above, and then a surge of sound erupted from his mouth, “ARESTO MOMENTUM!” Galileo opened his eyes to the harvest moon peaking through the clouds above him, and collapsed on the ground.

Rough jolting had awaken him, light burrowed into his peaceful slumber as his environment came into focus, all he could see were the hems of black cloaks and clumsily polished, black leather boots. A kick at his side reeled him to life, leaping up to his feet Galileo gathered in his surrounding, the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the blazing mid-afternoon sun, and three men dressed as if they were the messengers to the living who would soon feel the scythe of the dead. They were the dealers for the Inquisition. Suddenly all memories of the previous night came back to him, what a foolish man he had been to pursue such a power, a new panic invaded his thoughts, “These men must know that I have found the meaning of magic, why else would they be here then to suffer me torture for their amusement.”

“Why hello, hello you little mongrel,” snarled the rotund Inquisitor, who had jilted Galileo’s ribs with his foot, “good to see that you finally decided to stir young Galilei.”

Galileo did not allow the dealer any luxury in his current hunt, Galileo would not be stubborn, but would appease the dealers to almost any means necessary. “Good morning sirs, I must have dozed off here during the night, thank you so much for waking me I must be off to help my father.”

“Not so fast,” said the Inquisitor with the red stripe marking his sleeve, “we have come at the request of a dear Cardinal, and he would like to see the infamous, purely scientific test that has brought much insight to the nature of our planet.” Scowling he stepped forward and pointed towards the ledge.

“Oh no,” Galileo frantically thought, “they know I have been practicing magic I have been able to fool all others, but they most know the secret behind magic like I do, they are going to throw me over the edge as a statement to all others who attempt to delve as deeply as I did.”

Galileo would not go down without a fight, a sly fight of the minds that is. “Good, so we are to have a demonstration this fair day, excellent.” Galileo smiled jovially and almost pranced over to the place where he kept his stash of marble blocks and horse shoes. “What an excellent idea, I am so glad that you good sirs suggested it.” As Galileo carried the block and shoe to the ledge, he turned to see the red-striped Inquisitor. Galileo did not sense anything to persuade him from not continuing with his charade, perhaps he had been wrong to assume that these evil pawns had known so much. They were obviously not the brightest bunch of lads if they were working for a disjointed, illogical department. However before Galileo was completely relieved, one cloaked man stepped forward pushed Galileo out of the way and held the objects over the edge.

Frozen, not knowing what would happen if he did not whisper the incantation before the drop, Galileo awaited his demise, “I have not had time to test my enchantment from last night, and surely it had failed.” Time was lost, the objects were dropped, there was nothing more to be done. Galileo’s time had come to an end.

Golden locks of pure radiance, skin an opaque-pearl iridescence, mother and daughter a perfect definition of similarity. Maria Gamba and Maria Celeste slept in curled peace. Galileo stared at the two, his spell work a lost pile of waned concentration, Celeste was his new magic. Galileo had never felt such a feeling of love and fear of failure at the same time. Not since the Inquisition had attempted to sabotage him twenty years ago at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, he was still amazed to this day that his clumsy incantation had managed to create a universal truth. Celeste brought forth such creativity in Galileo, all magic that he attempted since that moment in Pisa had been manifested into reality. Such magical milestones as conjuring four moons to surround Jupiter, drawing spots on the sun with his mind, growing mountains on the surface of the moon, and even transfiguring the giant nebulous in space into thousands of stars. All such milestones of course had to be written off as science to the world, Galileo was not willing to risk losing his beloved daughter because the Inquisition took every word from The Malleus Maleficarum as a command from God. That damned handbook from hell had caused several frustrations for Galileo besides the loss of his life. His ultimate fear was the torture and death of his daughter, which would come to pass if he did the unspeakable. He was determined to tell the world of the truth behind science, that it is not truly real, only a shadow of the strong who control reality. As far as Galileo had gathered all current ideas of witchcraft were the petty images of a woman scavenging for rat tails to mix with the saliva of a lizard, he wanted to reveal the truth that all ancient men of learning possessed this talent. Ptolemy, Aristotle, Copernicus, and many others whom Galileo did not even know had the power to create and morph. Somehow this knowledge had been lost to all, and it was Galileo’s duty to right such a grave wrong.

Celeste stirred and Galileo left his thoughts hanging. She inched away from her mother so as not to disturb her, and came to hug her loving father Galileo. “Papa, I must tell you something,” Celeste motioned for her father to follow her from the room. Celeste gracefully moved out the door, through several halls, and up the stairs to the place of Galileo’s telescope. She looked out into the night sky where the telescope was pointing, straight at a shaded mountain of the moon.

“Father I know what you fear,” Galileo had long ago told her of his knowledge and power, “but you mustn’t neglect your duty to the world because you fear my well-being.” Celeste took a deep breath and continued, “I am going to leave for the convent, and there I will have no reason to fear the power of the Inquisition. Their reach has not grown to the point of overthrowing the Pope, and the Pope would not touch a worker of Christianity.”

“Celeste I would have no such thing you-“

“You do not have the power to change my will, it has already been done; I leave at dawn and will not come back until my need is dire. Go and spread the truth that was meant to be known.” With that Celeste left Galileo’s life, until a daughter’s love would bring them back together.

“Galileo, you have been brought before the Inquisitors of Italy to openly speak of your lies and treachery against the Church, or to have it beaten out of you.” Once more the Inquisitorial dealer with the red-striped sleeve stood before him, “What say you?”

Galileo’s mind raced, the past decades he had devoted to his largest enchantment of all, and now when it was time to stand by his creation and reveal his magic he could not bring himself to do it.

Galileo had been studying and learning how the great magician Ptolemy had created a geocentric universe, and in doing so had cracked the code of planet arrangement. This he had decided to be his coming out party. It had taken months of training to prepare him for a truly universal shift. Galileo had arranged the planets to circle the sun, replacing Ptolemy’s enchantment of planets orbiting Earth. Galileo published his findings to test the waters and see if society was ready for such a magical revelation.

Kneeling on cold marble Galileo soared back to his current tribulation, he had known the world was not ready for the unveiling of the true mystical world. However, this is not what the Inquisition was after. Wizardry, though a common reason for the Inquisition to chase you, was not the reason Galileo was panting for air with a bloody lip. His publishing of a heliocentric universe had caused the greatest scientific upheaval the present times had ever seen. The Church out of fear of being deemed wrong by a mere “scientist”, had hunted Galileo down. Galileo was ready for all methods of self-torture. However the Inquisition was not planning on torturing him, they had Celeste and were already punishing her in public. Galileo’s heart had shattered seeing her tethered to a post whipped, humiliated, and remain calm when he her wanted to betray him rather than face such torment. Celeste was resilient, and Galileo knew she would not turn back. It was his duty to save his daughter.

Groveling forward, Galileo placed his hand on the Bible, and abjured all of his findings. “The publishing of a heliocentric universe is only a poorly backed theory; please forgive me of my treachery against His Holiness.”

Galileo was then grabbed by two guards thrown into an awaiting wagon to wheel him away, he had been excommunicated. Galileo’s screams could be heard throughout the market to allow his daughter to come with him. No such allowances would be made for a traitor to the Church.

Two blind eyes and the steady hand of Celeste had kept Galileo company in his villa for years. John had gathered that Galileo had somehow bargained never to make a public statement again if he could have Celeste care for him. Truly a sacrifice pondered John on his current death bed, giving up the voice that would change a world for the love of a daughter. Quill feather relinquished and a manuscript at his bedside table, John Milton was released from his duty to Galileo and also released from his life.

As John’s body was taken to be honored, his last manuscript was found by his wife. Knowing how much his last work had meant to him, she had placed it in his coffin shrouds before he was placed in his tomb. John’s manuscript, Galileo’s revelations, and the futures road to science through magic were lost forever.