Cece and Eibon turned to the man in shock.

“You can see us?” Eibon asked.

“I suppose it makes sense if we can see each other.” Cece muttered.

“I ask again, who are you two.” Finn said, the barest hint of aggression shining through his expression.

“We’re going to opt to remain nameless.” Cece replied swiftly.

“Think of us as two benevolent strangers.” Eibon said almost as quickly.

“Fantastic.” The man replied with a bit of frustration. “Where are we anyway, I was.. Ah I was fighting an angel, we’re in my mind.”

“Actually we’re in our minds.” Cece corrected

“What happened?” The man asked solemnly, fully snapping out of the memory. They stood now on earthen floor of the room that looked like the outside world.

“It looks like your unit was wiped out.” Eibon said, immediately understanding his intentions. It was a brutal way to say it, but Eibon believed in being direct about these things. It did more good than it did harm in the end.

“Ah…” Finn looked crestfallen. The suspicion and anger of two strangers invading his mind left behind for a hollow numbness. He got a vacant look in his eyes before sitting down on the floor, bringing his knees up to meet his large frame, while running a hand through his red hair.

“I think we should give him a moment.” Eibon said, pulling Cece away.

“I think you’re right.” Cece concurred shooting the man a sympathetic look. They stepped out of the room and returned to the slowly flooding main chamber. Both opted to sit on the dry parts of the ground before sharing a look.

“Poor guy.” Eibon said.

“Indeed.” Cece said.

“I know you’re trying to maintain a low profile, do you think he’ll get in the way of that.”

“I doubt it. He probably isn’t the type to blindly follow authority.” She said leveling a meaningful look towards Eibon.

“I know it’s passe to analyze another’s life, but do you think…” Eibon began.

“That the church sent him to die? Yes.” Cece said. They were both thinking it, knowledge daemons bit into an easy conclusion like forbidden fruit. His friend had been sent on a mission far above his abilities and died, upon researching the incident, he was sent on a mission far above his abilities where he would have died if it weren’t for Cece and Eibon. It was an easy conclusion to draw made only easier by just how little else they knew about the man. “I don’t know his loyalties, but it seems he has bigger problems than two mysterious strangers rifling through his mind.”

“Yes, we’re probably low on the priority list.” Eibon laughed ever so slightly.

“Cheers to being beneath notice.” Cece said miming raising a glass. Eibon followed suit and they both smiled softly. “How do we get out here now anyway?”

“I’m not sure myself.” Eibon replied. “How did you get out the last time you were in a space like this.”

“I awoke the moment my mind recovered, so I was only unconscious a few seconds.”

“We probably have to find a way out.” A third voice interrupted. Both looked up to see Finn standing in the hallway leading to his “room”. “Sometimes the more powerful angels can trap you in your mind after they die.” He took on a serious look, “It is dead, right?”

“Yes.” Cece replied.

“Good. So why were you “rifling through my mind”?” The man said, not threatening but not friendly either.

“She was repairing your mind.” Eibon defended.

“Are you a mercury mage?” Finn asked.

“Something like that.” Cece said noncommittally. “I needed to see your memories to recover them.”

“Thank you.” The man said quickly, surprising Cece. Most strangers wouldn’t be so understanding, even if she was sure he was still suspicious. “I appreciate it even if you did have to resort to looking at my past. I do wish I could learn my savior’s name though.”

“Unfortunately I can’t do that, I value my privacy, and I think it’s in our best interests if we never saw each other.” She said decisively.

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“I won’t tell anyone.” He said.

“The answer remains.”

“Well, I can’t make you. What were you two doing here anyway or is that a secret too?” He said only a hint of exasperation in his voice.

“We were exploring.” Eibon interjected cheerily.

“Exploring the ruins? I felt sorry for you two getting involved in this, but it looks like you were looking for trouble.”

“That’s one way of putting it.” Eibon said. “So how do we escape?”

“We would have to leave through a memory, I’ve never done it myself though. We usually brute force our way through our faith, but that requires an entire squad.” He said with a grim expression.

“How do we leave through a memory?” Cece asked.

“It has to be something that connects you to the outside world, something that bridges where you are and where you want to be. If you’re a mercury mage it might be easier for you to do so.”

“So now it’s your turn to rifle through my mind, huh?”

“We could try to go through my memories if you want?” Eibon suggested, knowing how private Cece could be despite how little time he had known her.

“No it’s alright, I think we’re more likely to succeed if I do it. Follow me.” She said, getting up and walking out of the slowly flooding room.

“Where are we going?” Finn asked.

“Into my mind.” Cece said walking into the stone hallway and opening the bright red door. Finn knew very little about what a mind should look like, just enough from experience to know that the young woman who helped him was… unusual. It wasn’t an exact science, but he had been in people’s heads before, it was a part of the job, and usually they tended to end. Hers looked like it went on forever though. That was impossible of course, but the fact that it looked as such told Finn that she had to be a powerful mercury mage.

He swallowed nervously as the red archive was revealed to him, strangely dark despite being lined with books. Cece took a small amount of comfort from the familiarity of the place, before remembering she would be baring a part of her soul to a stranger. It was disconcerting even the same thing had happened to him. She ignored the feeling and approached one of the shelves, her fingers brushing against the spines of several books, deliberating.

“Let’s try this one.” Cece said, and suddenly the world was different. Underneath an illusionary pool of water a girl sat, tears falling down her eyes, as a boy with red hair sat next to her. Cece flexed her will as the Reynard spoke.

“You know you don’t have to try so hard, Cece” The name blurred into imperceptibility as the boy said it, and both men turned to look at her as the last word of the sentence was replaced with meaningless static.

“How are you doing that?” Finn asked more out of surprise than the idea he would actually get an answer.

“I’m manipulating my memories.” She said.

“Permanently?” Eibon asked with a touch of concern.

“No my memory would never allow that.” Cece laughed slightly. Technically that was untrue, Cece could almost certainly permanently alter her own memories, but she had little reason to test that and even less to actually do so. Eibon breathed a sigh of relief, which made Cece question how he saw her. Silence fell as the scene continued.

“I do though, Reynard.” The younger Cece sobbed. “I wasn’t born with talent and I’ll never grasp it if I can’t do this much!”

“You don’t!” Reynard screamed. Reynard was a quiet and thoughtful older brother, Cece had never seen him angry, so even raising his voice was enough to make her pause. “No matter what happens I’ll be there for you Cece, so please, take life a little easier?”

A tear fell from her eye as the scene faded and the three found themselves back in her mental archive.

“Well that didn’t work.” Cece said with a hint of annoyance. She didn’t blame anyone, but she was a bit perturbed by the fact that she showed one of her most meaningful memories for no reason. She had tried to simply will them out of the memory as it went along, but she felt no ability to pull them out, although it wasn’t as if she had any idea what she was doing.

“Do you have any idea why?” Eibon asked Finn.

“Not really, as I said we don’t usually rely on this method. The only reason I know about it was because I asked, it’s a last resort. Could it have been…” The man began trailing off, clearly not wanting to finish the thought.

“The censoring?” Eibon asked. “I think it’s possible, but I think there are other possibilities.” A flash of unease shot through his usually cheery expression.

“You have an idea?” Cece asked immediately catching on.

“I do, but it’s… insensitive.”

“We could die. Just say it.” Cece said wanting to rip the band-aid off. Eibon clearly was walking on eggshells around her and it was starting to get grating.

“The boy in your memory. He’s not alive is he?”

“No.” Cece said, feeling as if a cold ice pick had been driven into her heart.

“I think that might be the problem.” Eibon said with a look of sympathy. Cece understood what he was trying to say. If they needed a memory to bridge the gap between the real world and their minds, then the dead wouldn’t be able to help her. They weren’t out there. They were in here, in her mind. Still understanding it didn’t make it hurt less.

“Of course it wouldn’t work.” Cece muttered. “God I hate feral angels.” Cece said.

“Feral?” Eibon asked.

“Yes.” Cece said, confused. “The angel we fought was a feral angel, wasn’t it?”

“That’s an invented term, my dear.” Eibon said, avoiding using her name. “All angels are like that. All angels are feral”. There was a moment of silence. For Eibon it was a silence of politeness. For Finn it was equal parts suspicion and interest, he would be an idiot to believe the church wouldn’t lie, but he also wasn’t in the habit of trusting strangers. Especially ones this unusual. For Cece however it was a pivotal moment as her daemonic mind connected dozens of interactions and memories into a twisting realization. The words raced through her head.

“According to the church it is an angel that has “lost its way””

“to put it simply, they are more like arms and legs than they are independent living organisms.”

“Who’s arms and legs are they?”

“Who do you think?” The snake laughed.”

“All angels are feral.”

Cece laughed, a heinous raucous thing. It alternated between a chittering giggle and a sharp rasp. Both men looked to her in concern, before she wiped a tear from her eye.

“I see.” She smiled predatorily, her white teeth glinting with what little light existed in the room. “God is dead.”