“Shall we try it on Raphael when he wakes up?” Palan asked, raising an eyebrow. He waved the cookie around like he was trying to attract a squirrel’s attention. The Creator didn’t respond.

Raea bit her lower lip. “You’re absolutely sure we have leverage over him?” she asked as she folded her wings against her sides. Black flames leaked out of her body, but she manipulated them to form her clothes, keeping them close to her skin.

“He needs us,” Palan said with a nod as he approached Raphael’s recovering body, “not the other way around. He came to us first and revealed his hand. You never do that while negotiating. He’s definitely hiding something behind that blatant manipulation of your emotions. Usually, at this point, I’d torture the other side to get what I want, but I can’t do that with him. But I can deny him of what he wants.”

“I will never revive Selena if you feed that cookie to anyone inside this room,” a voice said from behind them. “The only way for me to bring Selena back is to convince Palan to accept my deal. Who do you trust, Raea? The demon who used you for his own purposes, or the Creator who has watched over you since you were born?”

“You’re both terrible people,” Raea said and furrowed her brow. She crossed her arms as she squatted, refusing to take action. “But Palan is a little less terrible. He actually helped me in my time of need. I’ll trust him over you any time.”

Palan smirked. “Even if the Creator doesn’t bring back your sister,” he said, looking away from Raphael. “I don’t believe Raphael can’t revive her. He can restore someone’s ashes.”

Raea’s eyes widened. “I should’ve brought Sely here a long time ago,” she said and bit her lower lip. Then again, if she had really done that while she was unstable, there might not even be any ashes left of Selena. Her brow furrowed. “You should’ve brought Sely here a long time ago.”

“Do you know where her body is?” Palan asked.

Raea pursed her lips. “Elly would know,” she said with a nod. “Has there been any news about him? We can always spread the word that I’m looking for him if there hasn’t. He would definitely be ecstatic too.” Raea’s face slowly split into a smile. “Yes. Yes. This could work. This could work!”

“I didn’t want to do this…,” the Creator said. A golden humanoid figure materialized in the center of the room. Palan reacted by creating a black hole near it, but the figure remained unaffected. The Creator snorted. “But you forced my hand. If soft methods won’t work, then I’ll have to use hard ones.”

Another golden figure made of smoke materialized beside Raea, taking on familiar features. Raea furrowed her brow. “Sely?” She faced the Creator. “You’re bringing her back?”

The Creator’s face remained featureless as a sword made of golden light materialized in his hand. “You could say that,” he said and took a step forward.

Selena’s eyes opened, and she rubbed them with her smoky hands. “Again?” Selena mumbled. “Just what is going on? Is that really you, Ray?”

“Sely,” Raea said and took a step forward. “It’s really me. I’m really here right now.” She stretched her hand out to touch her sister, but her fingers passed through her smoky body. “Sely…”

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“Am I dead, Ray?” Selena asked as she lowered her head. She raised her palms in front of her face and turned her hands over, inspecting herself. “Did you bring me back like this?”

“It wasn’t her,” the Creator said as he lifted the sword. “It was me.”

Selena screamed as the golden sword pierced her shoulder.

“Sely!” Raea shouted as her flames billowed outwards. She focused them towards the Creator, but they passed through him without doing any damage.

Selena screamed again as the Creator twisted the sword and pulled it out. Golden wisps of smoke floated out of the hole in her shoulder as she clutched it and fell to her knees. “W-who are you?” she asked, glaring at the Creator with beads of smoky sweat on her brow.

“Me?” the Creator asked over the roaring black flames. “I’m the Creator. Your sister is refusing to cooperate with me; thus, I’ve been forced to take some drastic measures.”

“You bastard!” Raea screeched as her wings fully spread. She flew forward and tackled the Creator but passed through his body and crashed into the wall on the other side. She ignored the blood flowing from her forehead as she climbed to her feet. “I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! Leave Sely alone!”

Selena bit her lower lip. “Ray, listen to me,” she said as she dodged the Creator’s strike with a roll and approached her sister’s side. “Ray. Listen. Shh, shh, shh. It’s okay. It’s okay, Ray. Everything’s going to be okay.” She placed her hands on Raea’s shoulders. Her touch couldn’t be felt, but she still hoped her feelings got through.

Tears poured from Raea’s eyes as she met her sister’s smiling gaze. “Sely…”

“You trust me, right? Don’t you trust me, Ray?” Selena asked, stroking her sister’s cheek. She sidestepped a sword strike coming from behind her. “Then listen to me, okay? Promise you’ll listen to me. Do you promise?”

Raea sobbed. “I-I promise, Sely. I promise, so please don’t die again. I don’t know what I’ll do if you do,” she said as she sniffled. She bit her lower lip to stop them from trembling. Her teeth pierced her skin, but she didn’t notice the blood leaking down her chin.

“Good. Remember, you promised you’d listen,” Selena said. She gasped as the sword grazed her arm. “Close your eyes, Ray. Close your eyes and cover your ears and don’t stop until Palan tells you it’s okay. Do you understand?”

“S-sely…”

“You promised me, Ray,” Selena said. “Remember your promise?”

Raea nodded even though Selena was busy focusing on the Creator and couldn’t see her face.

“Then keep your promise. Remember what I asked you to do?” Selena asked. She glanced over at Raea who had closed her eyes. “Cover your ears, Ray. You forgot to cover them.”

Raea brought her hands to her ears as her body twitched without her consent. Her breaths shortened and sped up, causing her chest to spasm. Her stomach hurt from trying to hold back her sobs, and blood poured from her ears as she pressed against them harder and harder, trying to prevent herself from hearing anything.

Palan’s face hardened as Selena’s screams pierced the air. She had done her best to hold back for Raea’s sake, but there was a limit to how much she could take. “I don’t think I’ve ever really felt angry at someone until now,” Palan said.

The Creator ignored him.

Palan’s hands clenched into fists, crushing the cookie into powder. He tried blocking the Creator’s line of sight to help Selena, but the featureless figure acted as if he didn’t exist, slashing away with his sword. If Selena were still alive, she’d have been killed at least twenty times over. Anger welled up in Palan’s chest as he gritted his teeth, and he punched the Creator’s head, knowing it wouldn’t do anything.

The Creator’s head exploded, and the golden figure stopped moving. Palan’s eyes widened as a sticky golden residue enveloped his hand.

“Y-you,” the Creator said as his head reformed. He seemed to be smaller than before. “How?”

Palan’s brow furrowed, and his tails lashed out like whips, smashing towards the Creator’s body. They passed through him. Palan stepped forward and punched the Creator’s chest. It exploded, creating a hole in the golden figure and leaving more honey-like residue on Palan’s fist. Little bits of crushed cookie floated in the liquid, and Palan understood. It was a shame Pyre was already dead. He wanted to thank the blind angel.