It was like a curtain was suddenly lifted, and I could see beyond its dark facade. I don’t know if it was real of a product of my feverish mind but there was a woman there, trapped by golden chains. Behind her, angel wings were like a sketch superimposed onto reality, half transparent, like the halo on her head. They too were bound by the chains, forced into a cramped space that did not allow them to spread out like they were supposed to. It felt wrong. I knew I was staring, but I couldn’t help myself.
On the other side of the room, the shadows were still churning, still hiding whoever was behind them.
“Who are you?” I said, addressing the angelic woman in awe.
“Don't touch her!” snapped a voice from the other side of the room. From the second shadow.
I withdrew my hand quickly, not even aware that I was trying to touch the chains. Lifting my gaze I saw the patch of darkness vanish and reveal a second figure. Another woman, and if the first had been an angel, this one was a demon. She was alluring, perfect. Red eyes pierced the darkness of her black sclera, and curved horns sat atop her head. She was almost completely naked, and only her long, black ponytails hid the modesty of her naked breasts. There was a hint of metal beneath them. Piercings, perhaps? I tore my gaze away immediately, feeling her burning stare.
I sat there, shivering with the fever and struggling to understand what was happening.
“She is right,” the angel said softly. “Do not touch our bindings, human. They are powerful enough to unmake you.”
“You told some fun stories,” the demon snapped. “How much of what you said was fake?”
I blinked. “Fake? Why would any of it be fake?”
“Hauling things through space, between stars,” she spat. “How preposterous.”
“And yet, the stories come from your past life, do they not?” the angel asked.
“That’s another load of piss!” the demon declared. “There hasn’t been a reincarnation in millennia.”
The angel smiled softly. She looked young, and beautiful. There was a certain kind of sharpness to her features, now that I looked at her. Just like there was a certain grace to the demon’s.
“What’s so funny?" the demon barked. Luckily, she had not seen me look at her so intensely or I fear she might have gotten rather mad.
“For all we know, reincarnations could be a normal thing,” the angel said, still smiling.
The demon’s face softened until she looked down, blinking slowly. “We have been here a long time, haven’t we?”
I perked up. “How long?”
“Dunno!” the demon said quickly.
“Time has washed away the memory,” the angel added softly.
“Just like it will wash away the memory of you once you die!” the demon said chipperly, but I could see that she was hiding something. “Your stories, your life. Everything. You don’t look like you are long for this world.”
I looked at my legs. “Yeah…”
“It will be fun!” the demon added.
The angel scoffed, then chuckled. It was unlike her, my mind told me. “She does not mean it, Sol.”
“Like heaven I do!” the demon said.
“No you do not,” the angel retorted. “I know I will miss him, and so will you.”
“That’s because he’s the only person we ever remember meeting. Isn't that right, angel?”
“Is your name truly just Angel?” I asked, immediately regretting it.
Indeed, the demon woman laughed. But the angel smiled, softer than ever. “She hides the pain behind snark remarks, jabs and jokes. The truth is, Sol, we do not remember our names. We only know yours because the System told us. It no longer tells us our own. It sees us as people no longer.”
“That’s… sad.” I shivered.
“We don’t need your compassion, human. You’re dying!” the demon snapped. There was a tear rolling down her cheek, but immobilized as she was she could not do anything about it.
While the angel was trapped by golden chains that had her ankles and wrists bruised and bleeding, she was wrapped in pitch black ropes that cut into her skin.
I pretended not to notice that she was crying. “I know,” I said instead. “Sucks. I wasn’t ready to die before, and I certainly am not ready to die now.”
The angel inhaled softly. “We could help him, demon.”
“Ha!” the demon girl barked a laugh. “Help the spacefarer to once again soar through the vast skies?”
“Would it be so bad?” the angel said forcefully. My head snapped to the her, but she was still staring at the demon on the other side of the room. “Don’t you want to soar the skies, for once?”
“Heh,” the demon chuckled. “I would settle for just being able to see the skies, angel.”
The angel nodded, then turned to me. “We have been trapped for eons, Sol. You voice was the first voice we heard in a long, long time.”
Heat rose to my face, and it wasn’t due to the infection. “Ah, I—”
“No, you misunderstand. Hearing your voice, your strange tales… It was like beathing the first breath of fresh air after drowning for all eternity. Thank you.”
“Yes, well,” the demon shrugged, struggling against her bindings. “I guess he did keep us brief company. Too bad he’s going to die. I was almost growing fond of him.”
I did not know what to say. One thing I knew for certain, though. “I don’t want to die. You said you can help me, right?” My voice was more forceful than I had expected it to be, and I felt righteous anger push back against the weakness of the infection. “For fuck’s sake, I just got granted a second chance after literally slamming into a space station at light speed! It’s not fair.”
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“Fair?” the demon laughed. “There is no fair in this broken world. Otherwise, I would not be here, imprisoned with an angel, of all people.”
“You do not even remember why you hate me anymore,” the angel said softly.
“I don’t hate you. And I don’t need to remember. He will die, and we will lapse back into silence for all eternity. Until time washes away not just our identities, but our very existence.”
The angel shook her head lightly, making the chains rattle and clink against the stone. I saw her wince when they tugged at her wrists, and then wince again when she saw me looking. It was like the state of my broken body gave her strength, though, for she straightened herself and stared right at the demon.
“We could save him,” she said again.
The demon scoffed. “There is no way in heaven.”
“There is a way. We could give him a Class.”
“What nonsense are you spitting? We are not—” she paused. “Oh, we are. Fucking System… Well!” she perked up. “Why we?” her face scrunched in disgust. “There is no we. If you want to do it, be my guest. I won’t.”
The angel shook her head again, smiling softly. “You know that neither of us has the strength to do it alone. Maybe a long time ago, but not anymore.”
I looked at them both. “What are you talking about?”
“Your destiny,” snapped the demon. “Now shut up, spacer.”
The angel chuckled softly. “Always quick to anger.”
“Anger?” roared the demon. “You are asking me to forge a bond with a human, like I was some sort of pet!”
“Not just a bond,” the angel said, still smiling. There was a hint of amusement on her face. “A willing bond, between equals.”
“Heaven no. I’m out. Not even considering it,” the demon said quickly.
“There is no use talking. You will do it, and you know. Sol Nightguard,” the angel said solemnly, “I willingly offer a bond between us, in life, flesh, magic and soul.”
“Ah, fuck!” the demon spat. “You like forcing my hand, do you not? Very well Sol Nightguard, I willingly offer a bond between us, in life, flesh, magic and soul.”
I felt the power of the words, but it hung in the air as if unsure. I needed to say something, I realized, and the weight of what just happened suddenly settled on my shoulders.
“I don’t know your names,” I blurted out, my mind racing a mile a minute.
“We don’t either!” spat the demon. “We don’t remember. It doesn’t matter. Quick, say the words!”
“It does!” the angel interjected. “A True name holds power. Sol, give us names.”
“A name is—”
“Shut it, demon! This is bigger than just your ego!” the angel spat, for the first time truly worked up.
“He will take our power, and then leave. What use—”
“I will not leave you here. I swear!” I declared.
The System stirred, but I silenced it. Now was not the time. Both the angel and the demon gasped at my words, and I had no idea why.
“You must! There is no way—” the angel began.
“No,” I said, gulping and heaving for air. I felt the weight of my words and actions like physical gravity. Then, like thunder in a clear sky the words came to me almost on their own. I looked at the angel. “Elyra.” Then at the demon. “Vespera. I willingly offer a bond between us, in life, flesh, magic and soul. And again I swear that I will not leave you here to fade away, all alone. If we are to share a bond, then even though I don’t know what is expected of me, I will be there for you. For both of you.”
“You silly human. You have no idea what you have just done. Such a bold statement, the System—” the demon’s voice was cut off by the magic snapping into place between us like an explosion of pure, raw power.
It blasted outwards from me, touching the two women at the edge of the room and then continuing on. It burned in my veins, cleansing my blood of the infection and even mending my broken bones. They shifted back into place, painfully, and I did not manage to suppress the screams that escaped from my throat.
Before I fully came to, however, I felt the ground shake beneath my feet. Dust was falling from above, and I was forced to ignore the blinking notification in my vision when the first pieces of marble shattered on the floor around me. The roof was caving in, heavy chunks of masonry falling like mortar shells everywhere. The walls cracked, and the whole temple collapsed.
I launched myself to the side, surprised at my own strength. Awareness like never before told me where I needed to go, and I followed new instincts, letting my body weave around the falling roof.
“I’m not leaving you here,” I said as I dodged a great pillar of marble. It toppled and shattered on the ground, thicker than I was tall.
“You need to!” Elyra said, coughing as the dust got into her mouth and nose.
“Stupid human, what are you standing there for?” Vespera shouted. “Leave! You are not going to kill yourself after giving me a name and making me offer a bond with you, you understand? We were never meant to leave this place. If we were to die, at least we would die willingly. One last action of defiance, lending our power to you! Worry not, the power will remain even after we are gone. There is no reason for you to stay behind. Leave, and never turn back.”
I ignored them and tried to reach them anyway, but the whole building was collapsing. My eyes widened when I saw a giant beam collapse right on top of Vespera, and my eyes met hers. For a moment, and only a moment, her stern expression softened.
“Foolish human. I can feel your pain through the bond. Why? You just met us. We are nothing to you.”
I was about to reply, but then the beam shattered on impact against a shield that surrounded her.
Through the chaos of noise, I heard Elyra’s voice reach my ears. “As you can see, we are not even granted the solace of death. You bound to us tightly, human, not knowing the consequences of your actions. I release you from your Oath.”
I heard Vespera grumble and curse, before she too began to speak. While I couldn’t make out all the words, it felt like she was releasing me from her side of the Oath as well.
I had no idea what I had just gotten myself into. Unfortunately, I had no time to think. The ground was still shaking, and more dust was falling from above. The whole cave was collapsing. I took one last glance behind me, trying to see Elyra for one last time, but all I could see was rubble.
I launched myself out of the temple just in time. The ceiling slammed into the floor, and I ran towards a side tunnel, never stopping, until the noises grew faint and distant and then vanished altogether. Only then did I finally stop, heaving and out of breath.
My eyes were stinging. I wiped them with a hand still coated in blood, not caring about all the dust that had stuck to it and had turned it brown. It came back wet with tears. This wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. They had just given me a fucking third chance, and now they were gone?
Then I remembered the shields surrounding them. Perhaps they were not gone, after all. In fact, I thought I could still feel them through the bond we now shared. It felt odd and alien, but also strangely comforting.
I opened the System Status, gaping at what I saw. My stats… my Class!
But then I closed the window in a burst of anger, kicking the wall next to me and shattering the stone.
“Fuck!” I screamed, kicking and punching. “Fuck this shit world and this idiot System!”
I kept punching, quickly shattering the stone and almost making the whole cave collapse again. I stopped before the tremors got too bad, and sat on the ground, heaving. I wasn’t tired due to the effort, but the emotional toll of the last few days was threatening to push me over the edge.
No, not just the last few days. The toll of a whole life spent in mediocrity, self pity and regrets. I looked back, where rubble was all that was left of the great chamber with the temple and the two women. Behind me, the tunnel led deeper into the ground, but the cloud of dust I created while brutalizing the wall was moving slowly. It was being dragged deeper down.
An air current. I might have lived only a scant few years on the surface of a planet, but I remember watching the holos and playing the neuro-stims. An air current meant that the tunnel lead somewhere, presumably towards the surface. It beckoned me, tempting me with the tantalizing promise of freedom.
I almost gave in, but stopped at the last second. Instead, I turned back towards the cave. I couldn’t leave, not like that.
I made a promise to myself right there and then: I would not live this second, or rather, third life of mine with regrets.
Then I made another promise out loud, hoping that Elyra and Vespera could hear it.
“I’m not leaving until I free you. This Oath I swear,” I said. I didn’t know if it was the proper way, but I did feel the System stirring. “If after you are free you wish to part ways, I will accept it.”
The bond was silent. All I could feel through it was the fact that they were still alive, if just barely.
