'That glow.'
Michael walked closer and stood beside Reed infront of the alter. He stood there for a moment thinking of the glow he saw, it was feint but he felt there was a reason. His vision just so happen to become altered as he got closer to it, just so he would be able to see it. There had to be a reason, and he had a feeling it had something to do with his "past self".
"This is it, when I open this we've got a minute before our divisions' headquarters is notified. So I can only show you for less than that."
"What happens if we take too long?"
Reed looked at him with a deathly serious expression.
"A squad of highly trained angels will appear followed by their leader an archangel."
He gave a surprised look. He was glad to see that an archangel wasn't already here but now to find out the amulet could cause one to show, it made him even more curious about the item. He remembered Scarlett mentioning how important it was to avoid one at his current stage. But he had to know what the significance of the amulet was. His curiosity wouldn't let him walk away without knowing.
He simply nodded his head then watched as Reed placed his hand over the alter. His aura slowly started to seep out from it and into a small jewel centered in the middle of the alter. Soon a small click was heard and a mechanism started to come to life. The top of the alter began to open as small pieces of it began to shift and form into a small pedestal. As the small pedestal began to rise from within, a small box was presented. The small box was made of pure obsidian and encased with the aura of the archangel that was ordered to guard it. The aura was infused to make sure the item remained undetected as well as track the boxes movements.
Unbeknownst to the two of them the archangel in question was made aware of the boxes movements as soon as the alter opened.
As the small box was raised infront of the two, Michael became mesmerized by its intricate design. Its dark obsidian shell had a rainbow glow to it, the glow seemed to flow around its hard outer shell like a small stone trapped within a river.
Reed reached out and grabbed the box slowly, his hands were already encased in protective aura, just incase there was some kind of harmful enchantment placed on it. He doubted he would be able to deflect an enchantment from an archangel but it was better to be safe than sorry. He thought that maybe the box would recognize him as an angel and decide not to activate..., hopefully.
So far he hadn't felt any different so he decided not to waste anymore time, they didn't have much to begin with.
He opened the box presenting a beautiful silver necklace with a dark chain binding its blood red jewel to its center. The blood red jewel looked to hold a deep dark star within it. The star resembled that of the burning sun, its surface was constantly surrounded by flares as if threatening to break the very jewel it inhabited.
Michael looked at it, mesmerized by it beauty. He could feel it, its power was as radiant and as beautiful as the day it was created. He could feel its voice in his ears, it was trying to tell him something. It wanted him to know things only it could tell.., And he wanted to hear them.
Reed looked at him with a smile on his face, he was excited to show the jewel off. He was proud of being chosen to guard such a thing and wanted a friend to see his hard work was not for nothing. Seeing Michael's expression he felt just that, seen.
After a moment of basking in it, his eyes widened and he quickly closed the case. He placed it back onto the pedestal and imbued it with his aura and watched as it lowered and locked itself into place. He sighed in relief, as much as he wanted to live in that moment forever he knew he couldn't. Any longer and the building would be swarming with guards and he didn't want either of them to get in trouble.
"So what did you think, beautiful ri-"
He stood there in shock at the scene infront of him, there stood the person he invited, holding onto the one thing he was meant to protect. There was a mesmerized expression on the face of his guest, their eyes seemed lost in the abyss of the jewel as if they were under hypnosis. Then he could see their hand loosen. His eyes widened as he moved forward to grabs the necklace before it hit the ground. He was too slow, the silver chain slipped through his fingers as it fell. The jewel shattered on impact sending shards in every direction. He stood their with shock and fear in his eyes, he... froze. Millions of thoughts entered his mind, scenes played out in his head all ending with one thing... Death. In every single scene only one thing remained consistent.., the person infront of him.
His eyes flickered as fear slowly turned to rage. His eyes burned brightly as an incandescent white glow shattered like glass revealing a burning blue fire. He extended his hand as it quickly became engulfed in blue flames, the flames extended from his hand creating a raging sword of fire. He pulled back then swung with all of his strength towards the neck of the man infront of him.
Then... There was nothing but silence as his flames diminished, and his body slowly crumbled to nothing. And his eyes held only the tears of regret and rage.
--
Infront of him, time slowed as his thoughts raced with the urge to listen to the jewels sweet voice. Infront of him, Reed began to close the box but it was slow. It was as if the universe itself was giving him the chance to take it, or maybe it was the amulet itself begging to be heard.
'Just a second... I'll only listen for a second.'
Before the box closed, he quickly wrapped his fingers around the chain and tore it from its grasp. He held it in his hand and for a second there was nothing but silence. Then a small voice whispered in his ear.
"Open your eyes."
His head shot up. He was once again surrounded by nothing but darkness, but this time there was a small light at the end of it. He walked towards the light, its warmth called him forward. Standing infront of that light, there was a white door, he placed his hand on the doorknob but hesitated. He didn't know what was on the otherside, then again he also didn't know what hid in the darkness around him. Was he safer in the light, or was its inviting warmth something to be even more weary of.
He swallowed hard then opened it and took a step into its blinding light. What he saw on the otherside was something he would've never expected.
He found himself in a dimly lit room with nothing but a flickering light trying to brighten it. Infront of him sat a woman chained to the walls. Her hands and hair seemed to be dripping with blood but not a single mark or scar covered her body. Her eyes were closed as if she were sleeping, or resting from whatever her captors had done to her.
Michael hesitated for a moment, he wasn't sure what to do or why he was even here. He had no idea what the woman had done to end up like this but leaving her like this wasn't something he wanted to do. He just hoped his actions wouldn't come back to bite him in the end.
The moment he took a step forward her frail eyelids moved. She weakly opened them and stared at him with lightless eyes. She licked her dry lips trying and tried to speak, but she was to dehydrated. Her movements were weak and her body seemed frail. The most she could do was struggle to hold her eyes open. She was as pale as a ghost and her hair was white as snow, it was like her very life was being drained from her as punishment for whatever crime she'd committed.
'Who would be so cruel? The angels? The demons? Nothing warrants this kind of punishment.'
As he walked closer he noticed a small cup of water just out of her reach, he knelt down infront of her and grabbed it. He lifted it up and placed it lightly against her lips, he guided it as she greedily drank from the cup, taking in as much as she could, until it was completely empty.
"Looks like that's all of it."
He placed the cup onto the ground beside him then used his sleeve to wipe her lips. She was still in terrible shape but at least now she would be able to speak, if only for a little while.
"Who did this to you?"
She was silent, her eyes took time to adjust to the light. She looked at the person in front of her, he wasn't an angel nor was he a demon. Then why and how did he get here?
"He.... Help me."