Stella:
Cipher escorted us back to the main city and left. No words, no nothing.
Now that I had time to consider what just happened I can't help but think 'What the actual f....'
Okay okay I need to calm down now, I'm not the same person I was before. Maverick is here we can get to the bottom of this.
First of all we got transported to this planet, in this specific location, Avernus, where we met this really creepy one eyed individual Cipher. Cipher escorted us to the main city, in which we saw some really disturbing stuff. And then we got sent to meet her majesty, Zariel, in a very poorly designed tower. There we found out that we have to pass a quest in which we need to kill her or become slaves or dead. But out of nowhere something or someone came out of Adonai and stood up to her.
I see... this doesn't make much sense does it?
I took a look at my boyfriend and friend and they were just staring at me... I've been going in circles while talking to myself all this time, or thinking for myself.
*Sigh*
"Adonai, I think you owe us an explanation of what went in that tower... who's that, Angel, I assume?"
I really don't like to use my powers to pry into my friend's mind but at times like this I have to make sure he's not putting us in any danger...
Things have changed... I'm not the same old me anymore and as long as Maverick is here... I have to do my best and protect him... protect us... If worst comes to worst I'll…
'You think too much, woman, you're very loud.'
Huh?!
"I don't really know much, myself, to be honest... he just appeared inside my soul... or according to his words he was always there... a failsafe... meant for when I'll die. I don't know his name, history, why me, why nothing... I just have a vague guess..."
I got startled a bit... I didn't expect him to respond to my own thoughts... Does this mean that with a stronger entity the connection goes both ways?
At least what I can say for sure is that Angel is stronger than any three of us.
"Can he help us beat Zariel?"
My friend took a while to respond but he shrugged.
"To quote 'Zariel said you need to beat her without my intervention, and to be honest with you I don't know how that happened either... the special properties of this place allowed me to come out then... but if someone can apply more rules to this place I'm sure that won't be the case in the future.' That's what he said."
Then he's not of so much help...
Adonai took a sitting position and went silent again... I tried to probe his mind again but it was silent... he's not thinking?
"The Angel said that for my own sake I'll have to go through a training process with him... to at least bring me up by a bit, in which time I'll be unresponsive and .... he also told me that our chances to beat her are… next to none."
Next to none...
This is not good, Stella, stop shaking... you're not a child anymore.
I kept encouraging myself but I was looking into Adonai's eyes that pried into my soul like my magic did to his mind... his eyes had no hope in them... they were the eyes of a dead man, clinging to life.
"Then what are we supposed to do? A revolution?" Maverick asked.
Adonai dismissed him quite rapidly.
"It is impossible, look at the people around us, they can barely survive, and the guards are too deep into this mess to turn sides... our only shot would be Cipher."
But how are we going to convince Cipher? And even if we convince Cipher can we beat Zariel?
He lost to her and all of us are not of so much use either...
Deep breaths Stella, deep breaths.
Maverick came to my side and put his hand on my shoulder... and instantly all my worries and stress disappeared.
I looked up to his face and flashed him a beautiful smile, one filled with as much courage as I could put into it.
"Staying around won't do us any good." Adonai interrupted. "We're not welcomed into The Bleeding Citadel, look at the people around us, we have to fetch for ourselves outside the city... but even with the emblems we're cut off from the rest of the universe."
Maverick moved his hand from me and went to pat on the back our friend, saying simply "We're gonna figure something out!" Full with the confidence of an idiot, the smile of a hero, and the body of a ... my train of thought better not go in that direction, now is not the time."
"Then let's leave."
Adonai:
And with that we left The Bleeding Citadel.
Honestly I'm not sure what our chances of winning are but we have to at least try...
My mood keeps swinging, I walk a very thin line between confidence and suicide... and so do my thoughts... I want to keep on living because that's what she would want from me... I want to reach The Black Parade because I can feel that they can either keep me safe or at least bring me a fast death.
But after that? If I do survive… What exactly do I do?
Will I, after reaching the temporary goal of entering this organization, find another goal that will go hand in hand with the one of me wanting to live? Or is it even my will at this... am I not doing this for her? But even so, who cares.
All this talk has been up in my head for a while, when I can't sleep because of voices... more and more questions are torturing my mind... and I'm the one doing this to myself.
All that matters is to reach them and I'm sure... he'll guide me towards the right path... I can't say why but it just feels that way.
'Don't put too much faith into that fella, Ragnarok, that is my advice to you. From what I observed his powers are a very special type... only owned previously by a really close friend of mine... if my suspicion is right and they share the same type of powers... do not under any circumstance make any deal with him.'
That's an odd appearance for an odd advice... but what's not been odd these days.
'Will you tell me more, while we train?'
I asked the Angel.
'Perhaps you will even see for yourself'
What did he mean by this?
Strolling around in the wastelands we couldn't find anything that can be considered, food, water, or any type of liquid for that matter.
It doesn't look like it's raining around here either so we can probably camp outside anywhere, despite the rocky terrain.
We reached a point not so far from the city that it would exhaust us to walk back, but not so close that we would be an easy target either.
Thankfully some of the functions, such as storage of the emblem still worked fine.
We didn't have a lot with us, especially ratios, but we had a couple, the food problem is for later.
"So what are we supposed to do while you're out? Guard you or something?" Maverick asked.
Honestly I can't tell myself what they are supposed to do... I just know I can't take them with me.
But what if I don't need to.
'Huh?'
"You will rest while I train and when I wake up I'll train both of you. The training I'm going through, from what he said, will be inside my own soul so my body will be well rested... my spirit and mind on the other hand not so much but... this way I can double my training and while at it train you guys too."
I could hear an audible facepalm inside me.
'Are you nuts, boy?'
I avoided responding to the question.
'I can read your thoughts, you know?'
I also forgot about that part.
It is true that this will be very taxing on my mind and my soul but I can't help it... it's the only one and even with this...
'You'll still lose... Zariel is not someone you can face with what I can teach you in this amount of time.
I figured as much... our only chance is to somehow bring Cipher to our side but even then... we would need something to catch her off-guard if we want the chance of a decisive blow...
'Maybe you're not as big of an idiot as I thought you were... and I have just the right thing for that'
The Angel said.
'You know, you are a lot more talkative this time around'
'Blame it on my history with that annoyance... despite what you may think of me it is a responsibility I took on myself to do my best and protect you boy.'
I thought about this for a while... and based on our previous conversation there's only one answer that pops to mind.
'You took it because of my parents?... Who were my parents exactly?'
He went silent for a while and then.
'Now is not the time for you to learn that. Come to me when you're ready... there's no time to lose.'
The tone in his voice became sad, pitiful even...