Ben remembered little after Aka Manah's evil command, other than seeing Ariana's terrified face as the darkness took him, a sharp pain in his chest, and the feeling of weightlessness.
The next thing he knew, Zachariel and Raziel were lowering him into water. As he sank below the surface, his body twisted and convulsed, his mind doing the same. He felt the demonic corruption being ripped from his body, trying desperately to reach the surface. The shadows blocked the sunlight, like ink in water. For a moment, it shifted into a mirror image of him, only reversed, with ghost-white hair, blazing red eyes, and a demonic seal burned onto its forehead.
Who are you?
Ben’s eyes met his counterpart’s. As they floated in the waters, their gazes locked in an intense stare. A second later, it surfaced and fled, darting out of sight.
What was that? Ben wondered as he sank further. Where am I?
He heard voices. Ariana’s, Zachariel’s, the people of Sky City, among others. They called to him, blaming him, tearing him apart. In the chaotic voices, Ben saw something: the judgmental red eyes and blazing fire that he had seen so many times before.
Ben wrestled his mind from the chaos that gripped him, regaining the memories lost during his time under Aka Manah’s control. He saw the villagers fleeing in terror, the burnt bodies strewn about and smashed into blood stains. He felt the pain of being struck from the sky by the Archangel and witnessed Zachariel’s blade hover an inch from his face, and a mere second from ending his life.
Wait...I did all that? I caused all that death?
The vision shifted again, to seeing Ariana’s terrified face as he transformed. A horrible possibility formed in his mind.
What if Ariana is dead because of me?
“She’s not dead, Ben,” a voice said.
Ben looked around. He was no longer in the water; now his surroundings were shifting, formless and featureless. The environment focused until he stood in what seemed like an infinite puddle that was only a quarter of an inch deep. His vision sharpened, revealing two majestic trees standing tall amidst the swirling clouds—one radiating pure light, the other shrouded in darkness. In the water below, he could see the reflection of the cosmos.
As Ben gaped at his surroundings in confusion, a voice echoed again, causing every single hair on his body to stand on end. It was small, yet powerful. It had no distinction, like every single voice in the universe rolled into one.
“Hello, Ben,” the voice said. Whenever it spoke, it seemed to echo off every single molecule of Ben’s body, his very existence.
“Who are you?” Ben asked.
“I have many names,” the voice told Ben. “But that is not why you are here.”
Ben glanced around at the shimmering clouds, the water that stretched as far as he could see, off into the far galaxies. The two trees stood tall, powerful. He gazed at their branches, reaching far beyond his imagination could fathom. “So, why am I here?”
Immediately, the clouds around the place shifted as he observed his initial death on Earth once again. He had seen it before in his vision, yet he had a feeling that something was very different from what he was about to witness.
“Wait. What is this?” Ben asked the voice.
“Watch,” it told him.
Ben obeyed. After he watched his dream-counterpart fall to the ground, his friend Nathan had tried to resuscitate him, and it was then that Ben noticed a shadowy figure hovering over his corpse.
The figure knelt next to Ben’s fading body. “Finally. Now to see if the legend is true…”
Suddenly, a large beam of light penetrated the darkness created by the pouring rain, as Ben watched his body vanish in a blinding flash, taken by a fast, six-winged creature.
“What the? Ben? Where did you go?” Nathan said, his voice trembling.
“So, you want to play, Creator? So be it.” The figure snarled, before dissipating into shadows.
The scenery shifted around once more. Ben was now watching Ariana skip past him into the woods, humming a tune as a bird repeated it above her.
Wait, Ben thought. Ariana is missing, so why is she...?
It was then that he realized that this was when she first found him, back in the forest. It had only been a week or two, yet to Ben, it felt like a lifetime ago. He watched as his counterpart met Ariana for the first time. With a heavy heart, he gazed at her, feeling a lump in his throat, fully aware that he was to blame for everything
It changed once again. This time, he watched as Aka Manah forced him to transform into a giant version of his Nephilim Shell, something he called a “Colossus.” Ben’s transformed counterpart destroyed everything in its path as Ariana was taken away by the she-demon he had killed in Riverglade. The thought of Alexis even touching her made Ben’s blood boil. But at the very least, she was alive.
“I need to rescue her!” Ben told the voice. “You have to let me go!”
Everything around him spun as if he were in the middle of a storm. The clouds took shape until it formed a middle-aged man, with white, slightly curly hair stretching down the sides of his face and to the back of his neck. His skin had a sun-kissed, tawny hue, almost bordering on dark. Ben couldn't help but shiver as he looked into his eyes, which seemed to shimmer like a rainbow with an endless depth. On his back, he had a pair of white, bright wings that seemed to be made of light itself, stretching far behind him.
Fear took Ben as he stepped back. Slowly, the stranger’s form shifted once more. His hair shifted from white to near-black, his clothes to a simple, slightly tattered robe. The infinite spectrum in his eyes darkened slightly.
“Peace, Ben,” the figure said, his voice now a normal, humble tone. He smiled warmly. “I am here to help.”
“Wait...you're the Creator, aren’t you?” Ben asked him, his eyes widening.
“I am.” The Creator met his eyes that gazed into his very soul.
“So where am I?” Ben once more gaped at his unbelievable surroundings. “Is this the afterlife? Or…?”
“You’re not dead,” the Creator said. “Nor are you alive. My realm is beyond life and death.”
“How am I supposed to understand that?” he asked.
“You aren’t,” he told him. “You’re here for another reason.”
Ben clenched his jaw. Ariana was still in the clutches of Aka Manah and Alexis, and he needed to save her. He didn't have time to talk, even if it was the Creator.
“My realm is also timeless.” The Creator said, as if he were reading his mind, “There are things you must know. Vital to your victory.”
“I…” Ben ran his fingers through his hair. “…like what? What could I possibly do to make up for everything I’ve done? All the death I’ve caused?”
The Creator frowned. “You know it wasn’t your fault, Ben. There are larger forces at work.”
“Like you?”
“Yes.” His eyes appeared brighter. “I am the one who had you brought to New Eden and took your memory until the time was right.”
“Until the time was right?” Ben froze, then shook his head in disbelief. “But why? Why was I brought here, where I ruined everyone’s lives? Why did you let me kill all those people, or even let me get infected in the first place?”
The Creator’s eyes softened, their infinite depth staring ahead as the ethereal wind blew the mist from the infinite waters.
“I just—” Ben grunted in frustration, collapsing to the ground, his hands gripping his hair as darkness invaded his vision. “I just feel horrible. Just for being alive. None of this would have—”
Out of the infinity, he heard a familiar chirp. A small, dark bird flew down from the tree made of light and landed on Ben’s arm. His eyes widened as he realized it was the same one who had hummed his and Ariana’s song back at Kira’s village. He briefly felt a strange, comforting warmth, the same kind he got when Ariana hugged him. The darkness faded from his vision as he focused on the small bird.
“Birdy?” he asked. “What are you doing here, buddy?”
Birdy fluttered away from him and onto the shoulder of the Creator, who petted it affectionately.
“This is Aromiel,” the Creator said. “He is among my most faithful creatures. He is the one I sent to retrieve you from the clutches of Death itself.”
Ben looked at the bird. It was barely the size of a normal human hand, so it was hard for him to understand how a small bird like that could have even lifted him, much less carried him, to a different realm. The Creator whispered to the bird, and soon after, it flew away and vanished in a small flash of light.
“Where’d he go?” Ben asked.
“To help Ariana,” the Creator said. “Considering where she is, she’s going to need it.”
“Wait, where is she?” Ben’s chest tightened. “What happened to her?”
“Aka Manah has captured her. In trying to attack him, she was taken by one of his she-demons, and now she is currently being held in their fortress.”
“Fortress?”
“Yes,” he said, “It serves as a hive for them, a forward base from where they can wreak havoc and terror. The Great Darkness also spreads from it, infecting the realm as we speak.”
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Ben’s eyes narrowed. “How do they have a fortress in New Eden?”
The Creator grimaced. “The host isn’t what it used to be. My angel’s numbers are dwindling, their lives lost in protecting the souls of humans. The demons have no such limitation. They spawn far faster, and gain their victories by overwhelming their foes, spreading the darkness as well.”
“Aka Manah is their leader, I’m guessing?”
“Yes. He was once one of my angels, so he knows their ways, so much that he can evade them to conduct his operations in secrecy. By the time his plans are discovered, most of the time it is far too late.”
Thoughts of Aka Manah caused Ben's fists to clench. He had disguised himself as Billy in order to force him to use his abilities more. Eventually, he could control him completely. If he had listened to Raziel and Ariana, then maybe she wouldn’t have been taken.
“Then I have to go now!” Ben told him.
“You need to be patient,” the Creator warned.
“No! I need to save her, dammit! Do you even know what it’s like to lose someone? To have them taken from you before your very eyes?” His brows furrowed. “No, of course not. Why would you? You sit up here with all your power and do nothing while everything else goes to hell!”
The man’s infinite eyes lowered. “Ben, please listen…”
“No, you listen! I…” His throat tightened, his hands shook as he clutched his chest. “I did this, okay? It was my fault that Ariana is suffering in that demon fortress and that her life that she had is gone because of me. I don’t care what happens to me, I just…I couldn’t live with myself if I lost her, too.”
The Creator put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Ariana will be saved, Ben. Rushing anything will not do you or her any good. If you refuse to heed my guidance, then both you and her will perish.” His eyes focused. “Everyone will perish.”
Ben stared up at him. Despite knowing it was impulsive, he couldn't resist. The more he thought about Ariana being in the demon’s clutches, the more he wanted to rescue her. He felt his chest tighten as the possibility of losing her ravaged his mind.
“I just—” Ben sighed. “There’s still so much I don’t understand. I don’t get why all those people had to die, or why I was brought here to ruin her life.”
“There are so many things I wish I could tell you, but…” the Creator spun to face the two trees, focusing on their infinitely expanding branches, almost longingly. “…if we want to reach that end result, then the path must be followed. The pain may be unbearable, but you must endure, and above all, you must move forward, because while there is death and suffering in this world, there is also light. To fight the darkness, it must be embraced.” He turned to face Ben once more, brows furrowing. “So fight, Ben. Fight for that future.”
Ben froze, staring at the mysterious trees with him. There was something unnerving, yet hopeful, about them. His sense of awareness melted away as images, shadows, maybe even memories flashed between the two trees, brief visions of him and Ariana danced across the cosmos of the Creator’s realm. The longer he stared, the more he felt possibility and vertigo overtake him.
What is this?
The Creator turned back to him, snapping him out of his trance. “But for now, you need to focus on the present if you want to save her. To do that, I ask that you trust me.”
“Alright.” Ben took a deep breath as he looked up. “What did you want to tell me?”
The Creator gazed at him. “It’s about the contents of the demon fortress…”
----------------------------------------
Both Ariana’s heart and leg were in excruciating pain. It was still fractured, and as far as she knew, Ben was dead or still rampaging as the giant monster that Aka Manah had turned him into.
Huddled in the cold cell, Ariana wrapped her arms around her knees, desperately trying to generate warmth. The stone she sat on was like a block of ice. She felt like she was losing her very soul, that she and Ben had come all that way for nothing.
To her, such a fate was colder than any prison in the entire universe.
As Ariana rested her forehead on her quivering arms, she could feel the tension coursing through her body. She wanted to cry, but no tears came. Despite all that happened, she had just felt too numb. A hint of regret wormed its way into her mind as she wished that she had some sort of comfort: her violin, her cozy room, or her father.
A lump formed in her throat when Ariana thought about Zachariel. How would he react if he found out that the demons had her? Or if they killed her? It would break his heart, and she couldn't bear to put him through that.
Ariana heard a small whistling noise. She looked toward the source and found a black bird with startling gray eyes resting on the windowsill near the corner of the cell. It was the same one they had met in Kira’s village that had helped them decide the name of the song.
“Birdy!” she whispered gleefully, crawling to the window. She gave him an affectionate pat on the wings as she smiled.
Birdy hopped down to the floor of the prison cell as she picked him up, nuzzling him against her cheeks. Right now, she was glad for any comfort in the dark place that had trapped her.
He stood in her fragile hands, tilting his head at her as he chirped, as if he were asking what was wrong.
Ariana sat back against the wall and sighed. “Well…everything,” she told him. “The demons won. They turned Ben into some horrible monster.”
Birdy chirped at her once more, as if he were saying, “Go on.”
“I don't even know what happened to my dad. I mean, now that I think back to it, if I had just listened to him, then maybe none of this would have happened. It’s my fault that my village is gone.” Ariana dipped her head, letting her golden bangs cover her face.
The bird whistled again, this time a little louder than before. She raised her head and looked at him, seeing that his little gray eyes had the same softness that Ben's did. At that moment, she imagined his kind face smiling warmly at her.
Fluttering his tiny wings, Birdy hopped on her shoulder, nuzzling his tiny head against her neck the way Ben had done after the fall of the Sky City. Ariana felt a sudden rush. Her pulse quickened as she imagined him embracing her. The cold that had tried to break her spirit before was now itself broken.
It emitted a tiny shrill, still rubbing his head against her. Ariana gently grabbed him and held him in front of her face, smiling warmly at him. She gave him a tiny kiss on his little forehead. “Thank you so much. I really needed that.”
Birdy uttered another chirp as she gently hugged him close to her chest. After that, she held him in front of her. “Alright. I need to get out of here. Do you have any ideas?”
He lightly hopped around on her hands as a shrill, hissing voice erupted from down the hall. “What’s that noise?”
Quick, girl! the voice said. Play dumb!
Ariana swiftly shielded Birdy, hushed him, and feigned madness while engaging in a conversation with an invisible presence. Alexis stormed in front of her cell and slammed against the bars.
“Who are you talking to, girl?”
Keeping up her act, Ariana ‘introduced’ Alexis to her invisible friend. “Hi Alexis! This is Bob! Bob thinks you look gorgeous today! You two should totally go out!”
“Okay…?” Alexis's glare softened. The she-demon looked at Ariana with a slightly bewildered expression as she opened the door of the cell. “Come with me, girl.”
Ariana partially kept up the crazy act as she felt behind her for Birdy. To her dismay, he wasn’t there.
Yanking her by the arm, Alexis pulled her up from the ground, tying of ropes around her hands as she led her out of the cell. As they walked down the hallway, she heard a series of shrills erupt from a room. Ariana briefly stopped and peeked in, seeing a glowing pentagram on the stone-laden floor. It drew in dust from the five points and combined it at the center. Out of that came the demons, dragging themselves out of the ritual and back into being.
Her eyes widened. Was this how Alexis and the other demons survived being destroyed?
The she-demon shoved Ariana forward into the main room of the demon fortress. On a not-so-humble chair near the back of the room sat Aka Manah, with one of his legs propped up on the armrest. Beside the throne sat a cloaked figure, who had a set of blazing red eyes and a demonic seal burned into the figure’s forehead. It glared through the darkness of the hood.
Alexis forcefully sat Ariana down in a chair that was about ten feet away from the throne. She continued to play dumb and looked everywhere in the room, keeping her expressions random and unpredictable. Aka Manah saw right through Ariana’s act, staring at her with a bored look.
“Drop the act, girl. Some of my demons may be idiots, but there’s no deceiving the master of deception.” Behind her, Alexis shrunk behind the chair, probably feeling stupid for falling for Ariana’s ruse. “As ‘Alexis’ here may have told you, I have someone I want you to meet.”
The hooded figure stepped forward.
“Wait,” Ariana began, “who is this?”
She felt her throat tighten as the figure fully threw back his hood. To her horror, it was Ben. His hair was scorched to a pale, ashen white, and his blood-soaked eyes bore a permanent upside-down pentagram. He gazed vacantly, as though enchanted by a spell.
Ariana was shocked at first, but then she eased her mind when she realized it wasn't Ben after all. Of course, she didn’t know that for sure, yet she had a feeling that whatever was in front of her wasn’t truly the man she loved.
“This isn’t him,” she answered confidently. “Nice try.”
Aka Manah’s eyes darted between Ben’s evil twin and Ariana as if he were studying their reactions to each other. He flashed a wicked smile.
“Interesting,” the demon said, his spindly hands rubbing his pointed chin. “Your assessment is partially correct. This is indeed something else from him, and now it is under my control. So, test successful.”
Wait, Ariana thought, if this isn’t Ben, then what—
Aka Manah never gave her a chance to finish her thoughts. He indicated his female demon lieutenant with a spindly finger. “Take her back to the cell. Once there, she's all yours.”
Alexis grinned wickedly and tried to yank Ariana out of the chair. At the perfect moment, Ariana's shift caused both it and the she-demon to fall. She quickly recovered her breath and ran back into the hallway.
“Get back here, girl!” Alexis screamed after her. “I’m not done with you!”
Ariana sprinted as fast as her injured leg would allow. The demon’s claws scraped the stone not far behind her.
She finally exited the hallway and arrived on a spacious stone deck without any railings. When she peered over, she saw nothing but the promise of a long, scary drop to her death.
This thing is floating? Ariana thought, her heartbeat thumping in her ear as she panicked. What am I supposed to do? Jump for it?
Alexis lumbered her way out onto the deck, her claws dragging against the floor as she flashed her a wicked set of sharp, uneven teeth.
“I’ve got you cornered,” the she-demon hissed. “Finally!”
“I mean…” Ariana gestured to the empty air with a nervous half-grin. “Not technically a corner. Heh.”
Ignoring the snide remark, Alexis leapt at her, pinning her to the ground. She brought her face close, making her so uncomfortable that she considered just jumping off to rid herself of the she-demon’s gnarly breath.
“And now…” the demon retracted a claw and traced Ariana’s face, “to finish what I started.”
Ariana sweated profusely as the claw slowly came back out of the demon’s hand, leaving a small, gentle scratch on her face, as if she were simply toying with her. Alexis grinned widely.
“Time to die, little Ari.”
A lump formed in her throat. The fact that she was about to die had just sunk in. No Ben, nor her father, to save her. She was alone.
Just then, Ariana felt something wrapped in leather slip into her hand. She peeked under Alexis to see that it was Birdy, who had retrieved Omega and fluttered his wings, now squawking to get the she-demon's attention.
It worked. Alexis looked behind her for the source of the noise, and Ariana raised her arms and jammed the blade into the she-demon’s back, causing her to shriek and flap her ragged wings haphazardly.
“Yes!” Ariana cheered, trying to find Birdy. “Now let’s find a way—”
Before she could even finish, something hard struck Ariana across the face. The next thing she knew, the wind was blowing past her, the ground racing to meet her.
Not knowing what else to do, Ariana slammed her eyes shut and prepared for the end.
The impact came. It was…softer than she expected, almost like a pile of feathers. She opened her eyes and found herself on the back of a large, six-winged eagle, which had come out of nowhere and scooped her from the rocky clutches of death below.
Gripping the eagle's neck tightly, Ariana could feel the power in its mighty wings as they propelled them straight up towards the fortress deck, where Alexis had sent her to her doom. Sure enough, the partially vaporized demon was still fluttering around, stamping her clawed foot as she tried desperately to yank the knife from her body.
The giant bird slid past the demon as Ariana rolled under, pulling Omega from the demon’s body. Alexis spun with a hiss, arching her arm to claw her. Ariana took advantage of the opening and jammed the shimmering blade into the she-demon’s chest. With one final agonizing yell of defeat, Alexis vanished into dust, though some of it made its way to Ariana’s nose, causing her to sneeze as one defiant act of post-mortem revenge.
“Ugh. Bless me.” Ariana used her shirt to wipe her nose before turning to the giant bird. “Um, I don’t know who you are, but thanks. I guess.”
The creature nudged her with its massive beak and chirped, tilting its head cutely. Ariana's eyes widened.
“Wait, Birdy?” she asked. “Is that you?”
Birdy nodded, snapped the ropes that bound her hands, and lowered itself for Ariana to get on his back. She felt her cheeks burn hot with anger.
“Seriously?” Ariana felt her cheeks flush in anger as she slid onto the massive eagle’s back. “You couldn’t have done that earlier?”
Birdy, or whatever his name actually was, rolled his eyes. It lumbered over to the edge of the deck and spread all six of its massive wings, catching the cold air in its feathers as it prepared for takeoff.
“Okay.” Ariana gripped the neck once more, her brows furrowing in determination. “Let’s go find my dad.”
With that command, Birdy caught the mountain wind and soared high into the sky as they ventured to find her father.