The Franklin Estate, Etson - 6:07 PM

My eyes refused to focus on any one thing as I tried to take in the room. I saw it, but nothing registered. It took a few, long seconds before everything clicked, and my mind went in two directions at once. One was the correct path, the logical one, but the other was pure rage.

Whoever this strange Angel was, he wasn’t injured. That meant he had to have overpowered Sara by such a margin that she couldn’t fight back properly. Given her status as the sole administrator of the world, this was a baffling thought.

Also, how dare he touch my wife?

Her wounds were mostly slashes, and it looked like there was still frost lingering on her body. The room felt cold, too. I had never seen an Angel that didn’t have soulfire hair, even if they generally hid it underneath a helmet. Whatever he was, he was the polar opposite of her.

And, who the fuck does he think he is?

My heart started beating more frantically as I stared into his silver eyes. The reaction I felt from seeing him echoed the one I felt when I saw Sara for the first time. Even without the scene set before me, I instinctively knew that this man was effortlessly dangerous. What I had felt back in the bowling alley wasn’t a fluke, but I was too angry to give in to the feeling this time.

In addition, I'm going to kill the goddamn son of a bitch.

As much as I wanted to attack him, to grab something and smack him around, I didn’t. Instead, I turned to the door and punched it as hard as I could. It splintered but didn’t shatter like it would if I were still enhanced by the system. My damaged hand didn’t start healing itself, either.

I needed the reminder that, right now, I was only Human.

“Why?” I growled, refusing to face him. If he wanted to kill me, then he would have done so already.

“Plenty of reasons,” he remarked offhandedly. “Let’s see if I can name a few. Because it was fun. Seeing her suffer is incredibly therapeutic, even if it’s not real. I wanted to see how you would react to her mangled body. The door punch was nice, but it was really disappointing otherwise. I was hoping for more mindless rage. Really throw yourself at me, you know?”

His nonchalant attitude was doing nothing to assuage my anger, but that was probably the point. I continued staring at the bloody hole I had left. “Who are you?”

“Please, it would be a lot more fun if you were to try to guess,” the cold Angel said as if talking to a toddler. “You’ve been around for ages. I’m sure you can figure it out, brother.”

I seethed as he called me that. However, I knew that thinking it through would calm me, if only a little. There was nothing like forgetting one problem by solving another. If these two weren’t so intrinsically linked, it might have worked better.

“An Angel,” I said, glancing over at his wings and halo. “But not a usual one. Your soulfire has been ripped away, I’m guessing, and replaced by something stupid sounding like, I don’t know, void ice or something. Fallen, probably, but too powerful to be hunted down by the others.”

The man whistled and clapped. “Got it in one!” he announced. “That is what you say, isn’t it? Got it in one?”

“I’ve been known to say that, yes.”

He grinned. “Good. Now keep going.”

I nearly snarled as he commanded me, but reigned it back in. My hands were starting to shake, I noticed, and the feeling of anxiety was coming back. I dropped the halo that I still had in my hand.

Instead of letting it overtake me, I clenched my injured fist. The pain spread through my hand before I punched the door again. There was less power this time, but the sensation kept me sharp. I punched it once more for good measure. It seemed to work.

“You called me brother, which only makes sense if you’re related to Sara,” I continued, turning away from the door. At the very least, the longer I kept him talking the more information I would get from him. I had to focus on that. “She’s not allowed to talk about other Angels thanks to some kind of restriction, so I’m assuming that’s because of you.”

“Esar-“ the man winced as he cut himself short, then rolled his eyes. He shook his head and gestured towards my wife. “This Sara is a facsimile. As such, I can speak of this wretched Whore of Babylon as much as I want.”

Just as I was about to defend my wife, I shut my mouth. I stared at him as he watched her, thinly veiled hatred beating out the casual, bored look on his face before.

“You can’t talk about other Angels, either,” I stated.

“Getting warm.”

“You’re under the same restrictions she is,” I continued, running my uninjured hand through my hair as I connected the dots. “You can talk about this Sara because she’s… not real, which is what you said. Okay, this is going to require some monologuing as I think this through.”

The Angel snorted. “Please, by all me-“

“Yeah, don’t say anything. This isn’t a conversation right now,” I said, cutting him off. I ignored the thin lipped smile he gave me and clenched my fist again, using the pain to clear my mind. “You have the same restrictions because you two are tied together. Because… you’re the Hidden World Boss of Hell. Makes sense considering the Cocytus vibes you’re giving off. I always knew there had to be one. There’s Sara, there’s the one pretending to be an island in the Pacific Ocean, and there should have been one more. Rule of three.

“But, when Sara came to Earth for the first time thanks to my shenanigans, that was also when the never before seen Unknown Entity appeared.” I started snapping my fingers as it all came together. “You thought you were clever showing off how you could manipulate the system, and when I thanked you Sara said you were nothing but trouble.”

Bringing my hand up, I started stroking my chin. “That was something small, but vague enough that it might not have bothered the rule that she can’t talk about others of her kind. But, if you share restrictions, then logic would dictate that you would share freedoms, right?” I asked, then shook my head. “I’m not actually looking for an answer yet, so don’t bother.”

Glancing at the Fallen Angel, I saw that he was twiddling his thumbs, though he was watching me with interest.

“Sara keeps stating that she gave up a lot of system access in order to be my Patron. You, the Unknown Entity, can send messages as if you are one but can also mess with the system. I know that Sara would do that to help me then she could. That means you aren’t Jeremiah’s Patron. At least, not yet...”

I pursed my lips. “The messages said you’re looking forward to throwing your champion against me, so you have an avatar in mind. You just needed me in here for… reasons…” I paused, looking around at the apartment. If this really was a dream, then my memory didn’t actually lapse, this was just where I was placed afterwards. “This isn’t the Trial of the Silver Nightmare. Anxiety attacks aside, this place is too peaceful for that. Is it a trial at all? Which dream realm is this? Am I stuck in the Peaceful Future, or the Beautiful Slumber?”

There was a lull. “Oh, are you finally permitting me to speak, gracious regressor?” the Fallen Angel mocked.

“This gracious regressor allows it,” I mocked back.

He laughed. “I twisted your destination,” the Fallen Angel admitted. “It was simple, really. The Trial of the Golden Dream is right next to the Silver Nightmare. All it took was a nudge.”

“Yeah, that’s a bold faced lie,” I accused with a scoff. “The Golden Dream is supposed to be perfect. There’s no way I’d suffer from amnesia and anxiety, let alone both at the same time.”

“Do you really think you wouldn’t need therapy after everything you’ve seen? Really?” he asked, waggling a finger. “My theory is that the Golden Dream is trying its best to help you out, and it’s a little out of its element. Who goes to paradise and can’t be fixed immediately? Honestly, I'm a little worried; you might want to get yourself checked into a hospital somewhere. But that’s neither here nor there. Have you ever experienced this dream world?”

“No,” I said with a scowl, ignoring his long-winded jab at me. “I’ve only heard about it from Patrons and treasure hunters. Since I’ve never heard of a single person actually surviving the trial, I’ve never tried it myself.”

“Smart child,” the Fallen Angel praised. “The key to winning is to kill the one who brings you the most joy. A little cliche, but since it kills your memories of entering this place it’s ingenious, don’t you think? I mean, the same thing happens when you enter the Silver Nightmare, but there's something special about it here. The good vibes, the warm and fuzzies, everything about it wants you to stop fighting. You don’t think you need to escape from something, so you don’t think of the violent solution."

"I'm thinking of a very violent solution right now, actually," I said, though I couldn't help my glance at Sara.

He only sneered. "And your asinine wish fulfillment fantasy casts your whore as the most powerful being in existence? No powers, no strength? You would never have succeeded in killing her unless she allowed it. So I needed to beat her within an inch of her life for you as you were clearly incapable. In a way, I am your savior, but you don't need to thank me. It was my pleasure.”

I crossed my arms, not at all pleased by his words. Not because I couldn’t refute them, but because they made perfect sense. That seemed like the kind of shitty win condition the Trial of the Golden Dream would require.

“If you're my so called savior,” I spat, not liking that word on my lips. “Then what's the plan? You could have easily let me rot here. Why didn’t you?”

“That certainly wouldn't be very sporting of me, would it?”

“Sporting?” I asked, arching an eyebrow. “That's barely an answer. What’s the plan? You want to take a turn monologuing?”

“I wouldn’t dare steal your thunder,” he bantered.

“Nah, go for it,” I insisted. “Indulge me, brother.”

His thin smile turned into a grin. “So that’s what it feels like to be on the other end of it. Very well. I suppose I can indulge you for a short time.”

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Not understanding what he was waiting for, I gestured for him to continue. He placed his hand over his heart and bowed, flaring his wings.

“I am Arontalscion, the Fallen, the Heavenly Calamity, the Disaster from the Skies,” he introduced before standing up straight.

“That first title is a little on the nose, don’t you think?” I remarked. He simply shrugged. "Also, your name's a mouthful. If it’s all the same to you, I’m going to call you Aaron. It's what your bowling shirt says your name is, so I imagine it’s fine.”

“Of course that’s fine. I’m an unknowable being with a lifespan counted in thousands of years, I’m no prude,” he replied with a grating grin.

My eye twitched. That was something Sara and I had said to each other in the Hall of the End where we had total privacy from even the administrators. “You’ve been spying on us?”

“That’s all we can do,” he said, sighing dramatically.

“We?” I asked. “Like the royal we or do you have a choir of damned souls or something?”

Aaron shook his head. “That’s for you to find out. What I will tell you is this,” he started, before walking around Sara. I tried not to look at her, but failed. Dream recreation or not, I was still having a hard time. My blood began to boil again. “I trapped you in here because you have unfair advantages: time, knowledge, and experience.”

“Hard won advantages, thank you very much.”

“You’re a cheat,” he countered.

“I earned my way here, asshole,” I growled.

“Seduced your way here, maybe,” he rebuked with a smirk. I really wanted to wipe that look off of his face. “But my champion has not. You’re right; I haven’t taken an avatar yet. However, I have been in contact with a few different candidates. Might try a pair, maybe a small group. May put all my eggs in one basket. I haven’t decided yet, but they all needed time to catch up. Which is what I gave them.”

“Who?” I demanded. “How badly are you planning on fucking up the timeline?”

“Fucking up the…” Aaron laughed as he brought his hand to his chest. “Poor little Anthony, you seem to think I’m some kind of bad guy here. Am I not in the process of saving you at this very moment?”

“You’re obviously some kind of Lucifer analogue,” I said. “You’re clearly the bad guy.”

“Perhaps you don’t remember that story very well,” he tutted. “You should have been paying more attention. Lucifer was banished to Hell for bringing fire to mortals.”

I furrowed my brow. “That was Prometheus, or Amirani, or Coyote, dumbass, not Lucifer.”

Aaron shrugged. “Practically the same myth. Tomato, tomato,” he claimed, saying both words exactly the same way. For some reason, that irked me more than anything other than my wife’s condition.

“To-may-to, ta-mah-to,” I corrected, unable to help myself. From the look on his face, it became clear that he was messing with me.

He ignored my correction. “Besides, it doesn’t matter anyways. You’re not getting the Fruit of Knowledge from the whatever tree anymore, so part of your plans are already foiled.”

“Thanks for fucking that up for me,” I said sarcastically. “That path was going to save a lot of lives.”

“Then you’re just going to have to think up a better one,” he said, tapping his temple with a smug smile. “But that’s not for me. That’s for you. I just need to keep you here for a few more minutes.”

I shifted towards the door and the umbrella stand. Now that I knew he was stalling, I knew there was a time limit I was working against. I didn’t know why or what, but it was something. “What happens in a few minutes?”

“You want me to pull away even more of the curtain?” he asked, sounding scandalized. “What do you take me for?”

“Someone who’s been shackled in a room with no one to talk to for centuries, if you’re anything like your sister,” I answered.

“I’m nothing like this holier than thou swine,” he said quickly, a hint of irritation in his voice as he gestured towards Sara behind him.

“Dunno about that, you’re just as cryptic. Must run in the family,” I taunted. He let me move easily enough, doing nothing to stop me. “Probably just trying to hinder me in whatever way you can. Do you even have a plan?”

Aaron took a moment as he realized I was riling him up, and his irritation disappeared. “Nice try, but-”

I grabbed the white umbrella from the stand as I pivoted around the Fallen Angel, ducking under his wings. It had a slight point to it. Not enough to be considered a weapon, but it would absolutely pierce broken skin if I put my weight behind the attack.

My body strained as it moved in a way it was no longer used to, but I only needed one good strike. I aimed towards a wound on Sara’s throat for the kill. As much as it pained me, this was the only way to get out of the Golden Dream.

According to Aaron, anyway, but something about it felt right. I steeled myself, thinking of all the times this world didn't make sense; I was willing to take the chance.

Sara help me if I was wrong.

He moved so quickly that I couldn’t see it, but the tip of one of Aaron’s wings was suddenly there. It was almost as if the umbrella was balancing on the very edge, and when I tried to slide it away the black barrier moved with it.

My free hand fished my knife out of my pocket. It was a short blade, only 4 inches, but it would do well enough. I twisted and fell, aiming for her stomach.

Before I could even come close, I felt a wing gently touch my side and I sailed through the air. My body hit the back of the couch, causing it to flip backwards while I tumbled to the ground. At some point the umbrella had left my grip, but I still had the knife.

“So desperate,” Aaron laughed. “You’re lucky I want you alive, otherwise it would be so easy to kill you.”

Rolling over, I saw the umbrella sticking in the ceiling from its point. Mentally, I reached out to Drop it. The ability didn’t work, but I didn’t stop trying. I pushed down the despair I felt as I worked through it in my head.

If this was the Trial of the Golden Dream, then I shouldn’t be completely cut off from the system. In fact, I knew I wasn’t because Sara had mentioned it earlier. Of course, that could have been part of the ruse, which meant-

I shook my head free of those thoughts. This was still the system. It might have been missing, but I had to be connected. There was an emptiness where my abilities once were, and I fought to fill it in.

“Break Free From The Shackles Of Man!” I yelled as I stood up, ignoring the pain from my broken ribs. The skill didn't work.

“That’s such a stupid activation phrase,” Aaron remarked in a bored voice. “Just wait it out. There’s no harm in it, I promise.”

Ignoring him, I jumped back over the couch. The kitchen was in view now, and I attempted to Pull the block of knives, toaster, and air fryer towards us. I even tried to activate Dragon’s Breath. It didn’t work, but I continued to reach out for the system that molded me into who I was today.

His wings covered her as he took a single step. More of a pivot, really. The knife met feathers and slid away harmlessly. Aaron’s felt hard like metal rather than soft like Sara’s. I could see her wings, mostly defeathered, and reached down to pull her out from under his shield. She didn’t react to being jerked around, which I counted as a small blessing.

Aaron took another step and stopped me with his wing again. It flipped upwards and struck the knife, knocking it out of my hand. I lunged for a nearby lamp.

“Break Free From The Shackles Of Man!” I shouted again.

Grabbing the lamp, I spun and tried to bring it down on Sara’s head. It was a heavy glass lamp and the cord knocked the table over before it was ripped from the wall. It shattered over Aaron’s black wings, and I looked for a big piece. Finding one, I snatched it. My hand got cut as I tried to maneuver under the feathered barrier.

Once again, I found myself soaring through the air. This time I landed on top of the entertainment center. The cheap furniture didn’t bear my weight and I fell through, gritting my teeth as I toppled onto the ground with my flat screen TV. There was no superhuman healing factor, no Willpower boost to push through the pain, and yet I did.

The umbrella in the ceiling was still there, and I attempted to Drop it again. There was no response.

Anger welled up within me at my helplessness. Even if I had all of my powers, I wasn’t going to be a match for a world boss. Back when I summoned Sara she had been nerfed to Hell and back to the first scenario's limits and she had almost broken me with a hug. I had considered myself strong at the time.

Before I knew it, I was back on my feet. It wasn’t a conscious decision, but one that my body made for me. That was what I knew. When I got knocked down, I refused to stay there. Wiping the blood from my lips, I spat on the floor.

“Don’t even bother-“

“Break Free From T̸h̴e̵ ̶S̵h̷a̶c̸k̵l̸e̴s̴ Of Man!” I screamed, determined to make something of this.

A screen popped up in front of me. The words looked like a big, jumbled mess and disappeared before I could make sense of them. Aaron looked surprised, and I felt the same way. My voice had thrummed with power there for a moment, just as it was supposed to.

“How?” he asked, confusion evident in his voice.

There was no reason to answer him. Instead, I glanced into the kitchen and attempted to Pull the knives from their block again.

One of them twitched.

I took a step forward and roared, trying to rekindle that spark of power. “Break Free!”

“You win!” he yelled, putting his hands and wings up.

Ignoring him, I continued and grabbed Esaraphelscion’s Love. “Break Free!”

“I said I’m done!”

“B̶r̸e̶a̷k̷ ̸f̵r̶e̷e̷!” I yelled, finally hitting that feeling of power.

“Just kill her already!” Aaron shouted at me.

“F̷r̸o̶m̸ ̵T̸h̴e̵ ̶S̵h̷a̶c̸k̵l̸e̴s̴ ̸O̴f̷ ̶M̸a̴n̸!” I finished.

Translucent wings unfurled from my back as my wounds began to slowly heal. Energy rushed through my veins as I returned to my system standard. Above my head, Esaraphelscion’s Love hovered there as my halo.

<<<>>>

[[Welcome Back, Anthony Franklin]]

Your connection with the System has been restored.

<<<>>>

“Damn,” Aaron swore as he kicked the floor, creating a small crater in the vinyl. “Shouldn’t have pushed you for nothing.”

“Step away from my wife,” I demanded, snapping away the message as I Pulled three knives towards me from the kitchen. I redirected them into the Fallen Angel, but he didn’t move and they only succeeded in tearing his clothes.

“This is what I get for being a showboat,” he lamented, putting a hand to his head. It didn’t even seem like he was talking to me. “That’s another step up I’m going to have to account for. Shouldn’t have pushed.”

“Step! Away from! My wife!” I shouted. Looking up, I Dropped the umbrella, Spinning it so that it would pierce her.

Aaron reached out and snatched it before looking at me. The whole thing froze in an instant, becoming an icicle that reached the ceiling. “Fine, but let the record show, I wasn’t stalling. I was toying. There's a difference. The thing I was waiting for happened four nights ago. 8:30 PM. Check your logs when you wake up.”

Before I could ask, the Fallen Angel disappeared. The icicle fell under my power, spearing Sara through the throat. Her twitching stopped as she finally perished. I watched her, indescribable sadness passing through me upon finishing my task.

By the time I fell to my knees, the world had melted.

I was no longer in our apartment. Instead, I was on the floor of the Mattress Firm I had fallen asleep in. My stomach growled and my mouth was dry, but my Constitution and healing had kept me alive.

“Sara!?” I coughed, hoping for a message as I rose to my feet. A wave of dizziness crashed over me, and I stumbled, falling onto one of the beds. A screen popped up, but it was for liberating the dungeon and I ignored it. “Sara!”

Nothing else popped up, and I snapped open my menu. I couldn’t think of checking my condition even now, but I remembered Aaron’s words. I brought up a single message from that time.

“What the… fuck…” I said as I read it once, twice, and a third time. Over and over again.

<<<>>>

[[Notice]]

The Patron’s Pact with the Hidden World Boss [Esaraphelscion, Angel of the End], has ended.

You may now make a pact with another Patron if they so choose to deem you worthy.

<<<>>>

Falling backwards onto a mattress, I kept reading it, trying to make it make sense.

It took me longer than I was willing to admit.