Zeke gasped, feeling out of breath as he found himself in an entirely white void. Something that he deeply wished he wouldn’t visit again.
The last time this happened, he was forcing his will within Val’s channels and getting rid of Alex’s remaining skill out of them. During that time, he also had no other choice but to take in an attunement to get himself out.
To find himself here again was already a bad sign, and even worse, Clara was involved. He desperately searched for her, only to find Mikella by his side, just as flabbergasted.
“Zeke!” Mikella shouted, realizing Zeke’s presence. “What happened? Where’s Clara?!”
“I-I don’t know,” Zeke honestly said, shaking his head. “All I know is that I think Clara just started glowing and… this happened.”
Zeke looked around again, trying to keep a sharp eye for Clara, but he didn’t pick up anything. The void itself was aptly named–completely empty.
Mikella searched frantically, a hint of dread and panic taking over her.
“Clara!” Mikella shouted, cupping her hands to the sides of her mouth. “Answer me! Where are you?!”
“There is no need to shout. Clara is perfectly fine.”
The two flinched to hear another voice that they didn't recognize. It was feminine, but deeper, as if transcended with a millenia’s worth of age. They turn to find that voice belonged to a woman who they have no words to describe other than angelic.
A being over 7 feet tall, encased in pristine platinum armor that covered her from neck to toe. It was immaculate and detailed, and there were hints of gold trimmings across the edges. She looked like a warrior on a holy crusade with a sword holstered to her hip that was just as divine as her armor.
Long, snow white hair flowed from her head, held together by a helmet with wings shaped on the side. But the wings on her back were more impressive, long and feathery–they extended wide and curled into a dedicated folded stance.
She looked down on the humans in front of her, her height and posture truly of an angel looking down on the mortals.
“I made sure of it,” The figure said, her flawless skin glistening despite the lack of light in the void.
The two stood silent, gawking at the figure. They met some crazy creatures before, but an angel was something they never expected to find. Zeke readied to make a barrier, but his magic was completely gone. He couldn’t feel his mana, much less his other skills. He knew Mikella was the same since she hadn’t even pulled out her sword, her go-to action whenever shit like this happens.
After a moment passed, Mikella was the first to speak.
“Who are you? And were you the one who made Clara come here?”
“I did,” The angel answered, raising her head in acknowledgement. “As for who I am… My name is Zoan. I’ve come to you two to send a message. I suggest you take it as your first priority.”
Zeke took a moment to take this all in. An angel, coming to see them to give a message. And if an angel is giving a message to them, wouldn’t that mean the one who wanted to speak to them was some god or deity of this world? Perhaps the one responsible for bringing them here?
“I don’t care about that! Where’s Clara?!” Mikella shouted, swinging her fist wide. “Why are you the one who talked to her? Shouldn’t you be talking to us?! Why do you gotta bring her into this?!”
Her rage was spilling out, and if she could, she would already pull out her sword to point at the angel, which Zeke was thankful for as he knew, right from where he was, that the two couldn’t stand a chance against her.
This ‘Zoan’ wasn’t just some angel. He could feel it. Power beyond common sense. It was so powerful, it even put Val, Cloud, and Zacharia to shame.
Was she at Master stage? Or perhaps even above?
Either way, they had no chance, but if Mikella wasn’t the one asking about Clara, Zeke feared that they wouldn’t get anywhere. However, despite Mikella’s shouts and acts of defiance, Zoan still only looked at them placidly.
“As I said, Clara is fine. She is currently being used as my vessel to hold my soul within hers.”
The two’s eyes widened at the news. It was such a bomb that it left Mikella utterly silent. However, Zeke picked up the pace this time.
“What do you mean your vessel?” Zeke asked. He could finally feel his own rage coming through the shock and fear. “Are you saying you’re controlling Clara?”
“If only I could, but I cannot,” Zoan shook her head, the first sign of an expression from her. Though her face was still as placid and emotionless. “As I said, she is my vessel, not my puppet. Her soul was the only place I could take solace in while I continue my duty of observing you two. You could say that this was the reason why Clara came with you two into this world.”
Zeke took a step back, his foot still stepping on whatever platform the void was on. So far, it made sense. He didn’t know Clara for long, but he knew that Clara didn’t look controlled. He saw her laugh, cry, get mad, and all sorts of things a child like her should feel.
Contrary, this angel was utterly serene, like a still pond. She showed no reactions, and no facial expressions that Zeke can pick out. In other words, he had no choice but to take her words to heart.
That meant that Clara was indeed just a vessel, a storage bag for Zoan to be crammed into to watch the two like a chihuahua in a purse. While that imagery was kinda funny, this was anything but. What worries him is her reasoning for doing so.
“So you brought Clara over so that you can place yourself within her… soul? And to what–to spy on us?” Zeke asked, making sure he got everything perfectly.
“Do not think of yourselves so important that I would resort to spying on you. And it is not my decision to bring Clara along with you all. Which, by the way–” For once, Zoan furrowed her brows. “I’m on borrowed time. So if you two can stop with your agonizing questions, I can finish my duty sooner.”
Clearly, Zoan was in no mood for a chit-chat. Not even Mikella could shout back again after seeing the angel change her demeanor so quickly. Zeke felt his bones shiver at the thought of pissing off this literal angel.
Zoan took a small second of silence before speaking again. “I have come forth to deliver a message from the God of Spirit. You have two years to reach Journeymen, or your fate is sealed. Do your utmost to ensure that you reach that stage as soon as possible.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The information made it to his mind, but he had a hard time comprehending half of it. First off, the God of Spirit? And the time they have before reaching Journeyman sounds implausible, at least from a normal person’s perspective in this world. People would take several years, if not decades, to reach that stage, at least that’s what Cloud and Val said when they reached Journeyman themselves.
And did she say that if they don’t, they’re screwed? The ‘their fate is sealed’ stuff was too vague, but he played enough RPGs to know that’s not a good sign.
“Second,” Zoan continued, her face still as her annoyance from earlier seemed to never have existed. “The locations you call the towers–they must be pilfered and conquered whenever you spot them. The reason why I hurried Clara here to you is to tell you that there is a tower right here in this biodome.”
“A tower?!” Mikella shouted. “Here? In this crazy place?”
Zeke took a moment to study her words, realizing that something was wrong. If there was a tower, and since the last two towers they were at were one of their own, and one belonging to Alex, the psycho necromancer…
“Are you telling us to help the one that was kidnapped into that tower?” Zeke asked. However, Zoan’s reaction didn’t make him feel better at all.
“Whether the owner of the tower is alive or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that there is a tower, therefore, a dungeon. You two need power, so the dungeon is perfect to gain such boons.”
“So what, we’re not even going to bother saving one of our own people?” Mikella scoffed. Despite facing someone so overtly powerful, Mikella was still too pissed off to care. “After you, or whoever was responsible, was the one who put them there in the first place? I still don’t see any reason why we need to follow this so-called God of Spirit, or why we have to follow your orders at all.”
While Zeke wished that Mikella could’ve been more subtle about it, she had some good points. He wanted to ask those very same questions, and every answer she gave was too vague or too strange to even think about.
Zoan shook her head. “I am not obliged to answer you. I follow only our gods’ orders. And be thankful, Mikella–Our gods are not so small-minded to be offended by your words. But I do suggest keeping them at bay when I am in your presence.”
“Oh, fucking great!” Mikella cursed purposely at the angel. “I better thank my lucky stars that we got kidnapped by some crazy god for some mission we don’t even know what it is about. I’m even more thankful how you kidnapped my 10 year old sister and used her like a goddamn purse.”
No matter how one sees her, anyone with eyes can tell that Mikella only cares about one thing–Clara. Even if she could be punished severely with divine punishment, she would rather face them head on than to cower in fear.
Zeke should follow that example. Steadying himself, he faced the angel.
“Mikella’s right. You said you’re not obliged, but wouldn’t you agree that letting us know why we need power would be beneficial for us to work faster?”
For once, Zoan smiled. It was such a delicate thing–as if a single small thing could break it with ease.
“I found that you two work best under pressure. So receiving a mission you don’t know anything about and being given a timer on it would force you to work faster and better than ever before. Be at ease–I believe in your capabilities. That is praise not any normal mortal could ever receive.”
Zeke gritted his teeth and Mikella grimaced. What other choice did they have other than working their hardest to survive? Whether it’d be the towers, the forest, even the ambush from another city–they worked their hands to the bone to improve themselves and get stronger to survive.
Eventually, the angel began to shimmer softly. She opened one of her gauntleted hands, flexing them a bit.
“My time is nearly over. One last thing then. No matter what you do, Clara will always have me within her soul, and should you try to do anything foolish, like trying to pull me out by force, you’ll only end up killing her. She’s such a sweet, naive thing–so don’t do that.”
“You of all people have no right to tell me how to treat Clara.”
Mikella growled in a low, harsh tone. There was such deep-seated wrath packed into those words, something that Zeke never heard from her before.
Yet, he felt the very same rage filling his veins. An entity possessing Clara, and a possible enemy. Even worse, it was an angel working for a god that was responsible for bringing them there.
“I bless you with good fortune, Zeke, Mikella,” Zoan said, her body beginning to shine so brightly that even the white void seemed to dim in comparison. “May the gods watch over your path, and that you find success in the end.”
As the light began to nearly blind Zeke’s eyes again, there was only one thought in his mind as he felt everything around him shift and twist again.
Those parting words didn’t make Zeke feel better at all.
…..
Another gasp and Zeke returned to the real plane of existence once again. However, the vertigo of suddenly being shifted from one realm to another was huge, causing him to stumble and get dizzy.
But he forced himself to keep steady and look out for the girls, who were just as dazed as him. Mikella, to her determination, made sure to keep Clara steady as she was about to fall over and possibly hit herself. Once the nausea was over, Zeke was the first to talk.
“Anyone alright?”
“Yeah,” Mikella nodded. “Clara, sweetie, how are you feeling?”
“Gghh…” Clara groaned softly before turning to her Sissy. “What happened?”
There was a clear look of confusion on her face. The way she tilted her head at the two of them proved everything that they needed to know.
While Zoan made her existence known to Clara, she didn’t include her in the message, or even into the realm. Zeke theorized that just like entering into that white void within Val, they somehow entered into the same white void, but within Clara instead.
Was that realm, that white void, some type of inner world that belonged to someone else? While that thought process definitely needed some thinking over, now wasn’t the time.
He immediately went over to Clara and flared Recovery. Checking her over and over, he nodded in satisfaction, giving Mikella a chance to relax.
“All good,” Zeke said, smiling at the little girl who smiled back at him.
“Did you get her message?” Clara asked, a gleam in her eyes showcasing hope. “Did you get it?”
Putting everything on track now, the two were left gawking at the girl. While she looked worried, perhaps thinking that they didn’t get the message at all, it only just hit them what happened just now.
The entire thing, and how it all included Clara.
Mikella went over to her side and hugged her deeply. Clara looked surprised to find that Mikella was gasping shortly, sobs echoing softly around the room.
“Sissy?”
“Everything’s okay, Clara. Everything’s fine,” Mikella kept rubbing her head on top of Clara’s, trying her best to keep the panic entering her voice. “We got the message. And I’m so sorry for yelling at you. You were right–it was so, so important.”
“It’s okay!” Clara shouted. “It’s okay, I forgive you! So please don’t cry!”
Despite Clara’s best try to console her big sister, offering her a rub on her back, Mikella continued to break down, tears beginning to brim over her eyes. Meanwhile, Zeke was left on his own, rubbing his palm across the face.
The weight of all this was hitting him hard. And the impossibly difficult mission. Who knew what might happen if they failed? Would they get punished? Would they die?
Would Clara be taken as a hostage if they failed?
Several thoughts turned into thousands as his Parallel Thought flared, and not a single one comforted him. The best he could do, the only thing he could do, is focus on the task at hand.
Rather than think about the multiple, multiple ways this could end badly, he only focused on what he can do now.
With a grunt, he stood up, facing Mikella and Clara.
“We gotta talk to the lords. Right now.”
Mikella turned back to her partner, and nodded solemnly. Clara looked back at Zeke with a worried expression.
“Don’t worry, Clara,” Zeke smiled. “I’m just relaying the message to the folks who took care of us. You did a great job. I’m proud of you.”
He didn’t know whether these words would appease her at all. If anything, he was only going off on how a kid would feel if she did something for the adults. However, a look of satisfaction and pride ran across her face as she gleaned at him.
Zeke didn’t lie, either. He really was proud of her. It was so important that she risked herself to come here, and all under the guise of a ‘friend’ who wanted to help her beloved siblings.
After everything that happened to them, he knew Clara is the sort to want to help however she could, but she also knew her limits. Now, it was the adults’ turn to reciprocate her hard work.
He and Mikella would make sure of it.