10 Minutes After the Explosion
I stop and lean against the wall of the corridor.
I stare at my feet huffing and watch as sweat rolls off my face and hits the stone beneath me.
"Dammit! I've been running for over ten minutes and it feels like I've gotten nowhere."
I look up at the pathway ahead and see only darkness for miles.
Letting out a small sigh at the thought of my journey ahead, I steel myself. "Guess I'm walking."
I set a medium pace for myself in order to catch my breath, speeding up ever so slightly every few minutes or so.
After what feels like hours of travel I hear a noise in the distance. A faint groaning can be heard from somewhere within the darkness ahead.
I immediately jump to high alert, unsure of what else could be lurking in this mysterious hallway.
I slowly continue until I see what may be the first signs of life. Cell bars. Bars similar, no, the same as the ones from my cell.
The noise grows louder with every step until I am right around the cell corner.
I take a quick breath and peak into the cell.
Inside is a young woman, clearly suffering from malnutrition despite us angels not needing to eat. She is skinny beyond belief and if someone asked me I would say she was thin enough to be see-through.
She is laying on her stomach, a large puddle of something formed beneath her. Her face is hidden from view but the groaning continues nonetheless.
Around her cell strange markings riddle the walls. Not the kind carved by nails like mine, but something akin to teeth marks.
Working up my courage I step out from behind the corner and address her. "Hey. What are you doing?"
As the words leave my mouth the groaning stops.
The air stills as the young woman slowly lifts up her head and turns to look at me.
'Holy shit. What the hell happened to this lady?'
The first thing I notice is her eyes. Her sockets are sunken and heavy bags visible from where I stand droop under them. Her eyes are dark with no pupils and are as wide as can be, as if she was seeing a ghost.
The next thing I see is her unhinged mouth, hanging open wider than what should be possible and a constant stream of drool leaking from it. Her teeth are rotting and chipped and her mouth is dark enough to be mistaken for a black hole.
I unconsciously take a step back from this almost monstrous humanoid and a part of me wishes I had never said anything.
Not even a second later she lunges forward at a speed I would have never thought possible with such a frail body. A screech escapes her mouth as she charges, the dryness of her throat making the words even raspier. "FOOD!
I take a fighting stance in preparation but it is unnecessary. Her hand reaches the bars and the barrier activates knocking her arm to the side and putting her off balance. Her face slams into the barrier and a grunt of pain escapes her mouth as blood slides down her forehead from the newly created wound.
"FOOD! GIVE ME FOOD!"
She begins banging on the barrier staring at my body like it's a delicious meal.
"Woah! I'm not a meal you psycho."
Despite my attempt at calming her down, it only seems to excite her more that I am in fact fresh meat.
Now that she is closer, I can see that she is wearing a ragged dress of sorts. Of course I don't think it started off that way.
The workmanship itself is high quality and clearly expensive, but the actual design is outdated by at least a few millenia.
I decide to see if she'll tire out, but I sincerely doubt it with how desperate she looks.
After a few more minutes of banging and screaming I finally relent. "Fine! Whatever! It'll grow back anyway."
I look towards my left arm with a resigned look and grabbed it with my right hand.
"Alright…1…2…3!" With a final countdown I pull as hard as I can and rip off the arm in one motion.
The banging stops as the woman stares at my severed arm like a lollipop.
I look at my arm then back at her drooling mouth and toss the arm towards the cell.
The arm passes through this side of the barrier easily and would have landed in the center of the cell if not for the woman jumping and grabbing it out of the air with her mouth.
'I guess somebody was hungry," I think as I watch her devour the arm almost whole.
Once she's done I notice that she seems much calmer than before. By this point my arm has already returned anew and is currently waving to get her attention once again.
"Well? Are you feeling a bit more talkative now?"
I watch carefully as the woman turns to face me once again.
My eyes widen when I compare the before and after of her from the last minute or so.
Looking at her now she looks like nothing less than a princess. Her dress, which had been torn only moments prior, has become a beautiful flowing gown full of vibrant colors. Her mouth and body which I would have previously described as ghastly now take a truly angelic form. Her eyes are now normal, lest for the enchanting red pupils that have taken root in the middle of them.
"Yes, my dear. I'm feeling much better now thank you."
Her melodic voice carries a hint of amusement unbefitting of someone in her situation.
I look at her skeptically. I can't look past her previous appearance no matter how charming she looks right now.
"Who are you? Why is someone who looks like a high ranking angel down here in a place like this?"
The woman touches a finger to her lips as if pondering the question. "Well I would tell you, but…I can't quite remember!"
I look at her like an idiot with a hint of doubt. "What do you mean you forgot? How does that even happen?"
"Well you tend to lose your train of thought when staring at a blank wall for a few hundred millenia," she says with a slight pout on her face. "I just remember being really hungry, but no one would feed me.
"So, I went and got my own food. The next thing I remember is waking up here."
I rub my forehead trying to get rid of the sudden headache that just appeared.
"Whatever. What's your name anyway?"
"My name?" A small smile appears on her face. "Gula, my dear. And yours?"
I give a look of annoyance to Gula.
'I guess I should have expected that question.'
"C…ar…n"
"Say that a little louder, will you?"
"Charon!"
1st Person POV (Gula)
"My my, no need to get so worked up over nothing." I say in my most soothing voice.
I brush my dark hair behind my ear and examine the first living thing I've seen in decades, as well as the first meal.
He's taller than me by a lot, easily around seven feet. His hair is bright blonde, not very fitting when compared to his seemingly short temper, and it reaches down to the middle of his back. Through his torn clothes I can see muscles, clearly built through years of fighting and training. One of his eyes, the left one, is a bright blue that seems to remind me of something unpleasant, while the other is a dull grey.
As I examine his body I notice his arm, which he had ripped off only a moment ago, reattached as if nothing had happened.
"What are you staring at?"
"Huh? Oh," I blink away from his body and back to his face which is looking at me with an apparent scowl. "I'm sorry. It's not everyday I get to meet new people," I smile at him warmly.
"Hmph," he grunts, seemingly in agreement with my claim.
"Well, what now?" I ask with a curious look. "I assume you didn't feed me an arm just for your own entertainment."
He looks me in the eyes with a strange look on his face. 'Is that…embarrassment?'
"I'm strong," he proclaims with a face full of pride and a crazed smile to match. "But," his eyes lower slightly, smile fading. "Even I'm not confident in fighting that guy."
"And by 'that guy' I assume you mean…"
"Yeah," he looks away and down the dark corridor, towards the only exit to this underground prison. "The warden."
I allow my mind to wander slightly, thinking of the first and only visitor I've had down in this cell. Not all of which are memories I wish to remember.
I shake off the past and refocus my attention on Charon.
"So, what you're trying to say is you want my help to fight against the warden. Is that correct?"
He releases a low grumble and an almost imperceptible nod.
'I guess he's not one to ask for help usually,' I muse to myself.
"And? Do you not care about whatever crime I may have committed to be down here?"
"Desperate times, desperate measures," he turns back to me with a determined look. "If you don't ask about me, I won't ask about you."
I smile at Charon's self-confidence. 'He thinks he can take me on if I betray him. Bold, but presumptuous.'
"Alright. I agree to your terms." I exclaim, visible happiness on my face from the thought of escaping this rancid cell.
Not even a second later Charon swings his arm and backhands the bars from the other side.
With a crack and a rumble the barrier shatters and the bars bend and snap opening up a nicely sized gap for me to slide through.
Stepping through the gap I stretch and look back into my old home. "Truly, the grass is always greener on the other side."
"Hurry up." I hear Charon say from afar. When I turn to look he's already hundreds of feet in front of me and showing no signs of stopping.
"Hey! Don't leave a frail damsel here all by her lonesome!" I yell as I take off after him, my gown fluttering with every step.
I catch up with him and for the first time I see it.
On the back of Charon's neck is a marking unmistakable to any angel. 'The Feather of Truth…'
Known to humans in the future as the Feather of Maat, the Feather of Truth represents truth, balance, and order. However, to angels it means something entirely different.
"A paladin…"
'That can't be! Paladins are the strongest and most loyal servants of God. What would one be doing down here?'
"Hm? Did you say something?" Charon asks, turning to look at me.
I quickly regain my composure. "Oh. I just wanted to know if you planned on freeing the others down here as well."
"Others?"
"You didn't know? From what I've heard from the warden as well as the noises from down the corridor from time to time, there's at least 3 more people down here."
I turns away, pondering the new information. "It wouldn't be bad, but I'll have to see if they are worth it first."
I smile slightly and approach his side. "Then does that mean I'm worth it?" I ask playfully.
"Yes," he responds without hesitation.
A small blush appears on my face as his words fluster me slightly. "Oh. Why thank you for the compliment."
"Whatever."
I watch as he speeds up slightly and we begin making our way deeper into the abyss and towards our potential comrades.