"So…" Seraphine raised an eyebrow as she took a cup of tea. She fell silent, her eyes closing slightly. Her gaze shifted to Arthur, who was sitting in a chair at the same table where Emilia, Elizabeth, and Brynthia were seated.
Arthur set the cup aside and raised his hands."I'm not to blame for anything!" —This time, he really hadn't done anything. He was completely innocent. He was just a spectator!
Seraphine sighed to herself."Relax, I'm not blaming you."She had already understood what had happened after hearing the explanation. Then, she looked at the wooden box that was sitting right on the table, in front of her. The prismatic sacred energy emanating from that small fragment was insane. It was trying to escape, as if it wanted to run toward where Arthur was. Seraphine gently moved her hand, and the box slowly opened.
The sacred energy that had been trying to escape vanished. From the darkness of the box, something that looked like a splinter of pure white began to levitate. It was transparent, but if you stared closely, waves moved inside it, as if it were water. Seraphine didn't take her eyes off the fragment; her eyes gleamed, and a golden halo completely surrounded the object.
After a few seconds, the once-still fragment began to shake grotesquely, as if trying to break free. The golden halo surrounding it began to fracture.
"Eh…" —Seraphine smiled as she clenched her fist. The fragment finally stopped trembling and went still again. She remained silent for a few moments before looking again at Arthur.
"What do you feel when you look at it?" she asked, pointing at the fragment.
Arthur furrowed his brow for a moment."It's like a calling… Somehow I can feel the emotions of the fragment. Or maybe it's the blue flames reacting to it, and that affects me too. Right now… I have the urge to snatch it from you."
"I see…" —Seraphine stroked her cheek, turning her gaze back to the fragment. "This fragment actually belongs to you. After all, you paid for it."
"Really?" —Arthur's eyes widened. He thought Seraphine would keep the fragment; he didn't expect her to hand it over so easily. He thought there would be some kind of separate deal or something.
"Yes, but…" —She raised a finger. "If I let you fuse with the fragment, your body will explode." —She smiled mysteriously.
"Why am I not surprised…?" —I muttered to myself upon hearing the consequences the fragment had on my soul.
"Why would I explode?" —I asked out of curiosity, though I already had an idea of where this was going.
"Your body is incapable of withstanding that much divine energy. But if you still insist you can handle it, here's what will happen: if the fragment fuses with your soul, black tattoos will appear all over your body. Every time you use its power, your body will begin to melt, and at the same time, more tattoos will appear." —Seraphine took a sip from her glass. "It's your choice."
"Are there other options?" —I asked honestly. "I wouldn't like to see my skin melting like a candle. That sounds way too creepy."I've got enough on my plate with the blue flames, though the tattoos sound cool… if it weren't in this context, of course.
"That sounds way too interesting." —Elizabeth's eyes sparkled with anticipation as she excitedly awaited Seraphine's next words.
"Divine energy—or sacred, if you prefer to call it that—is special and meant only for celestial beings. But you are not one. You're a mix of many things, but none of them are celestial. That's the first problem. The second: your soul is mostly demonic. And the third: your human side is minimal. If it were at least more than 25%, there wouldn't be so many issues…" —Seraphine frowned. "I'm not sure if it will work, but… do you want to try?"
"I have another question," I said instead of answering.
"Go ahead," —Seraphine nodded.
"What do I gain by fusing with the fragment of life?I don't even know for sure. I'm only drawn to it because of the blue flames, but I don't know what will happen to me."
"Well… aside from your soul expanding and strengthening, allowing you to stay in second state longer, your life energy will expand." —She smiled. "I can see you only have a few years left to live. But not only that: your soul will be able to turn your will into strength. Even if it's a small step, it's one that will take you to new heights. In short: you'll be much stronger."
"I see…" —I nodded. "That's incredibly tempting. Personal power has always been something I've longed for. And what about divine powers?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but I think you'd be breaking a rule," —she replied, shaking her head indifferently.
"Wait… why do I smell trouble?" —I frowned.
"Like I said, I'm not sure. But a part of your soul will become celestial if you fuse with the fragment of life. You'll be a complete aberration to all existence. But you won't be the only one. There are many like you in the Abyss. Imperfect and cursed beings. Only you're special, thanks to the blue flame," —she smiled with amusement.
"Abyss…?" —I opened my eyes slightly.That word is literally taboo for humanity. But the problem is, I don't know anything about it either. The Abyss, in the original story, didn't carry much weight. Now, with Emilia's movements related to the Abyss, and what she said… especially that part about the last seraph being there…
Now that I think about it, not much is known about the sixth seraph either. The only appearance was at the end of the story, just to say a few words and disappear again…
"Wait… don't tell me!" —My eyes opened even wider.
"That's where I wanted to go with this," —Seraphine was clearly enjoying herself.
"We need to make a visit to the Abyss. It's the best place I know where divine, profane, and corrupted energy that's still alive can be found."
"Oh! I want to go too!" —Elizabeth stood up and raised a hand, excited. She wanted to visit her lost sister. She said it would be so much fun.
"No way. You have something to do." —Emilia looked at her coldly and shook her head. "You have to stay here."
"Actually, I was thinking of bringing them with me," —said Seraphine with a smile as she looked at the two. "Not just you. I also want Evelyn, Leslie, and my daughter to come. There's something I want you to do." —She took another sip from her glass. "As for time, don't worry. Time in the Abyss is broken: it doesn't move forward or backward. It's in a deep stasis. You could spend millions of years in that place, and in the human world not even a second would have passed. It's complete madness. Anyone could go insane."