“WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT! ALL CITIZENS ARE TO STAY INDOORS AND TO AVOID CORDELL PLAZA! LOCK YOUR DOORS AND STAY SAFE!

“WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT! ALL CITIZENS ARE TO STAY INDOORS AND TO AVOID CORDELL PLAZA! LOCK YOUR DOORS AND STAY SAFE!

“WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT! ALL CITIZENS ARE TO STAY INDOORS AND TO AVOID CORDELL PLAZA! LOCK YOUR DOORS AND STAY SAFE!

Chapter 2 LN: Story of thE Girl and The [ANGEL]

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“Trail ends here, the damn bitch escaped!”

"Energy signature is weak, she couldn't have gotten far. Getting a slight reading from the kid. Should we bring him in? He seems hurt pretty bad. Might even know where the mark ran off to."

Jack faded in and out of consciousness as voices argued above his body.

Angels? Jack thought as his vision cleared up just enough to make out what appeared to be three suits of floating white armor.

"Do I look like a fucking ambulance? Leave him for the junkies. He’s too far gone and we ain't getting paid to waste our suits energy by floating around. Let's move B, bitch has to be around here somewhere."

Jack attempted to call out to the fleeing trio but found his mouth oddly dry and too hoarse to speak.

Sleep.

A voice whispered, coaxing him to rest. Feeling droopy Jack obliged, sleep did sound good. Real good.

Closing his eyes Jack drifted off as fatigue racked what remained of his body and forced him back into a slumber.

“Hello?” A gentle voice suddenly called out, stirring Jack within his own subconscious.

“Hellllo? Hey, wake up!"

At the command, the black faded and Jack suddenly became aware of himself floating in an endless void that seemed to stretch into an infinite blue nebula.

“Hello.” A voice spoke before a naked woman suddenly shimmered into existence in front of Jack.

Momentarily taken aback by her beauty the teen stumbled over himself and looked away before remembering what had happened only seconds prior.

“Who are you?! Where am I?!” Jack demanded, his stupor immediately overwritten by confusion of the situation he found himself in. One moment he remembered reaching for the rusty door handle and then the next…

Jack's eyes widened in alarm as he looked down and kicked, making sure his legs were still there.

“Oh thank the saintess!” Jack exclaimed, relieved that he could wiggle his toes. He crouched down, immediately kissing his knees and flexing his left hand. "I'll never take you for granted ever again!"

“Your ephemeral body is very much still intact. Sadly, I can’t say the same for your physical body.”

“What does that even mean?” Jack cried, confused by the woman's words. “Am I dead?! Oh god, I’m dead! I’m dead! What even was that?! What happened?! I-”

A realization blanketed the teen as he recognized the golden-haired woman as the monstrosity he saw shortly before his vision went black.

“YOU! You did this! You killed me!” Jack jabbed at the woman, fury in his voice as the culprit of his demise merely stared at him.

“Mmmmh. I did warn you to move.” The woman casually folded her slender hands and cocked her head to the side, seeming impervious to the boy’s outburst of anger and panic.

“I can't- I. My sister! Oh man I have work in the morning I can’t be dead! I-I-"

Jack was finding it hard to breathe, every breath was coming up short and every word seemed to die before it could be spoken. He immediately recognized the symptoms for what they were.

He was having a panic attack.

“Relax, you aren’t dead... Yet.”

“Wha?” Jack managed to sputter, composing himself with his attention now caught by the golden specter.

“Welcome to your inner sea. The deepest root of your subconscious. Most people never get to see this space or experience it. Time here is but a thousandth of a second in real life. So relax. We have time." The woman's hair broke into strands as she began swimming, making circles around the boy as he tried to wrap his head around what was happening.

"Ok, but how does this help me not die?!"

"Ever heard that patience is a virtue?" The woman giggled. "I'm getting to that. You see, I want to make a deal."

"Deal?! Why would I make a deal with someone that just took my legs off! You should be fixing the mess you made!"

"That's fair. Unfortunately we live in an unfair world and you'll accept if you want to live."

A silence settled between the two before the woman stopped her graceful movements and hovered in front of Jack. The two locked eyes with neither blinking as both stared at each other.

"What's the offer?" Jack huffed after some time.

"Hm?"

"What do I need to do to live?"

He couldn't die. Not until he got his sister out of the slums and paid back Mike for all his help. Whatever it was, he was willing to do it. He always stayed out of drugs, guns, and crime, but if it meant violating all of his tenents then he would do it. Consequences be damned, he couldn't leave his sister alone.

The woman softened, surprised by the boy's candor and determined expression.

"For what it's worth, I am sorry, I never meant to hurt you. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Yea so it seems. Just a stroke of bad luck huh." Jack shook his head, trying to get the imagery of his severed legs and arm out of his mind. "So what do you need me to do?"

The woman smiled, reaching out and brushing a hand against Jack's cheek. Despite her golden glow and angelic appearance, her touch was all but warm. She was cold, but it didn't feel bad, on the contrary it was soothing, like a cool drink in an overcrowded packing facility.

"Let me show you something first."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Without warning, images began to flash before Jack's eyes of a life that was entirely not his own.

It started with a blue sky and a little girl with no name sold to a magical smiling man for petty change. The beginning of what would be years of injections, dissections, and experimentation. All while being told constantly that she was special. That she was unique. That she was the next evolution of mankind. A “Savior”, they called her.

Everything was for the restoration of humanity they assured as they assaulted her body both physically and mentally, breaking her down until she was nothing more than a husk. And yet… despite their words about how special she was, there were hundreds, maybe even thousands like her.

Children, plucked from the streets or sold to the Smiling man who wore a crescent star on his lapel.

She never saw them, but she could hear them, feel their presence as she sat alone in her dark box.

Unbeknownst to her tormentors, the little girl could feel the other children's terror and anxiety as they underwent painful experiments. A secret she kept to herself. Fortunately, the childish screams never lasted long, a small mercy, but one that she was grateful for.

Over time she grew numb to the voices, awaiting the day that her screams would eventually stop once and for all and she would join the countless others who had obtained freedom from this hell. Yet, no matter how much they injected her, how much they cut, broke, and bled her, she never succumbed to the loving embrace of death, her body, refusing to allow her to die.

Eventually, the white coats would begin training her, forcing her to undergo grueling training that left her bleeding and in pain after every “session.”. After years of this, when she could no longer feel pain, she was brought to a room where other “Saviors” had been gathered. There could only be one, they announced before showing them images of a magnificent blue sky. A sky that triggered a flicker of hope within the shell of what remained of the little girl. They were simple photos of mountains underneath an sky, yet to those that had only known the damp cells all their lives, it was nothing less than a paradise just out of reach.

Then they were ordered to kill each other, for the honor to become a “True Savior.” The one that would be given their freedom and the ability to lead humanity to their next step.

Freedom. That's all she needed to hear.

Fueled by her desire to see the sky, the girl killed without hesitation. At first with a stone, then with a knife, again with her hands, and then finally with mana. She swept through the other “contestants” like a hot knife through butter, each victory, another step toward freedom. Each bloodstain, another corpse, merely kindling for her hope that grew brighter with every kill.

Then a day came when there was no one left to kill. When she stood bloody and alone above a mountain of corpses. And that’s when she met it.

The Angel.

A golden-winged being bound in chains, slumbering in a vat of glowing gooey liquid.

The white-coats were ecstatic, brimming with joy as they congratulated the girl on a job well done. But she didn’t care, she was mesmerized by the Angel in the vat. Of the wings on the woman’s back that hinted at the possibilities of flying freely into the blue sky, like the birds from her picture books that she could barely recall.

Not long after, the girl was stripped naked of her bloodied rags and made to lie in a smooth cylindrical machine. The touch of the metal, cold against her skin as they strapped her limbs to the contraption.

Then they sealed the vat, instructing the girl to relax as the cylinder began flooding with liquid. Very quickly the slimy substance filled the container with the girl trapped inside struggling frantically to hold her breath as the green goo submerged her completely. She didn’t last long as her need for oxygen forced her to inhale, and with it, sealing her fate.

The girl thrashed violently inside the vat as her lungs began to burn. She tried to claw at her throat but only managed to shred her wrists on the metal restraints holding her in place. Fortunately, the spasming only lasted seconds before the girl accepted her fate, letting herself go into the embrace of death that she always wanted. Her last thought, one of the expansive blue sky she had always wanted to see again.

Several moments passed as the girl’s lifeless body remained suspended in the machine. Until suddenly, her eyes snapped open, brimming with golden power.

The Angel was awake, and she was pissed!

What happened next was beyond the white-coat’s expectations. The girl broke free from her restraints, ripping her way out of the cylinder as easily as if tearing through paper.

Chaos erupted not long after as the now golden-haired girl tore her way through the facility. Massacring white-coats left and right as they fled.

She spared no one, using her bare hands to rip and tear apart human flesh even as they begged for mercy and huddled into piss-stained groups.

With her bloodlust momentarily satiated there was only one thought on her mind. Fulfill the last wish of the little girl who wanted to see the sky.

Not knowing where she was, the Angel blasted her way skyward, tearing through the floors of the facility one by one despite multiple attempts to stop her. By the time she broke free she was surprised to see the world around her, not one she knew.

Momentarily blindsided by the foreign landscape she was caught unawares by her pursuers, allowing them to deal a fatal blow. Using every ounce of her remaining energy the angel fled, rocketing forward through the “sky” in a last ditch attempt to flee until getting sniped by an expertly timed blast of energy that sent her spiraling to the ground.

As the Angel fell she became aware of a boy in her flight path and tried to warn him of her rapid approach. Yet she failed to muster enough energy to activate her skill as the area around her erupted into an explosion of fire and debris.

“And that’s how we’re here now.” The woman said, retracting her hand and ending the memory.

“I…” Jack blinked a few times, trying to process the load of information that was fed to him all at once. Tears began falling from his face before he finally mustered a response.

“I’m. Sorry.”

Jack wept. He wasn't one to cry often, but he had never seen or felt such raw emotion before. The memories were quick, but the sorrow, the anger, and the sadness all congealed to form a bullet that shot through Jack, dispelling all his anger and confusion to leave him saddened and remorseful of the little girl's fate.

The woman produced a soft smile at the boy's response. “It isn’t your fault. At least I know you aren’t like those humans at the facility. You too dream of the open sky.”

Jack was momentarily taken aback as he realized that the Angel had read his memories as he read hers.

“Was this a test?”

“Yes. One that you fortunately passed.”

Reeling in his emotions, Jack pondered to himself for a moment. Attempting to process the tiny details that could help him understand what deal the Angel wanted to propose.

“You melded with the girl and brought her body back to life, is… is that what you plan on doing to me?”

The Angel smiled faintly.

“Yes. If you want to live I have to meld with your body, Awaken it and fuse my soul to yours.” The Angel placed her palms on Jack’s face and brought her snow-white face next to his until they were nose to nose. “You want to live, and my nature can’t stomach fading away before seeing them pay. Plus, this is the only way to save you.”

“Why didn’t you just take control of my body?”

The Angel looked Jack straight in the eye. Her golden eyes seeming to peer into the depths of Jack's soul.

“I wanted to give you a choice. One that the girl never got.” The Angel said finally before releasing the boy's face.

“Will you take over my body?”

“No. You will be free to do whatever you wish as long as you help me find the Smiling Man. I will guide and help you. Give you the means to fight and win, all I ask is that you help me take vengeance against the people that sowed such misery and despair.”

“Is that it? I'll do it!" Jack grabbed the woman's hand. " Whatever it takes. I… I have people counting on me and I can't… I can't die yet before paying them back."

The Angel caressed Jack's hand as she looked him directly in his eye.

"I won't lie to you. There is a chance that even if you survive, you could become crippled… or worse. And there's no telling what symptoms could occur from our fusion."

"Worse?" Jack echoed. He couldn't imagine anything worse than leaving his loved ones to fend for themselves. "What could be worse than dying?"

The woman gave a sad smile but didn't offer a response. Her eyes unfocused, almost as if the question seemed to dredge up some kind of unwanted memory.

"Will it hurt?" Jack asked, drawing the Angel's attention.

"I'll do whatever I can to make it as painless as possible. I promise."

Jack grinned.

"Then it's a deal. I help you track down Smiling Man, and you help me not die and give me your power."

“Very well then.”

The girl ceased floating, drifting down until her feet touched the floor of the void.

The woman's expression morphed from one of saddened mirth and laziness to one that left an impression of majesty as pure-white wings sprung from the woman’s back.

"On my name as Sahaqiel! The Steward of the Sky and last of the guardians. I offer you this covenant. A sacred vow to bind us as one."

Jack knelt, instinctively knowing what to do as the woman held out her hand.

"Are you willing to be my avatar?"

"I am," Jack unhesitantly replied, he didn't have much of a choice if he wanted to live.

Taking the woman's hand Jack kissed it. Almost immediately his body sparked with energy, as if he'd taken multiple shots of C4 energy drinks.

"Thank you. The contract is sealed. Rest my champion. And for what it's worth. I am sorry and I hope this works." Was the last words Jack heard before the void around him imploded into white.