"How do I explain to her without talking that I don't want to kill her? That's Raven, I want her to be alive and happy, but I messed up. At the end of the day, this entire world is cruel, and Efalis needs to be killed off so we can change that. If the price for that is to kill an old friend, so be it. What can it change, really? If she goes to the void, meaning if she actually dies for good this time, I'll never be able to bring her back. Maybe I can find a way to send her to another realm, but she's been to Heaven, and I can't overrule that. Unless..."
Ismael quickly shifted his fighting style, shooting the floor in front of her to make her lose balance as she was sprinting towards him, he grabs her arms and stretches them left and right and slams the palm of his hand on her chest.
"It's been a while, I had forgotten the sound of my own voice, Ravey."
"What did you do? What's going on?"
"Breathe, you're not dead. You're overruled. You can't be here with this brand on your skin, it's going to burn. Ask Efalis to take it away."
"I'd make her suffer so she can realize her mistakes before I ever put a bullet between her eyes. She'll figure it out."
Raven lost her balance completely, and on the ground, she admitted: "I don't feel any pain."
"She's not part of the circle, then? She's a passenger. She's here because she died with honor according to Efalis. Killed by Black Angels anyway."
"Took me a while to realize. I was made to flee. I was made to hide. But in the end I was still given the cards to win. I couldn't see it because I was blinded — in every way — against my will, to face demons I couldn't get out of my way. It was so easy, I can't believe I didn't see it, it's actually laughable. I'm going to enjoy this, Efalis. I'm going to seriously enjoy the shit out of it."
"Ismael, what are you doing?" Raven asked, frightened by this facial expression she never saw before on Ismael.
"I'm taking what's rightfully mine."
He clapped his hands together and the brand appeared on his right palm, he then slammed them both on the ground the brand appeared. The walls. The ceilings. Everything. Soon, Efalis had no control over his own domain. Finally, he was being ferociously hunted in his own domain, he felt unsafe and anxious, paranoid. He was the one hiding in the most egregious places. Ismael always had the upper hand and was the one moving around rooms and connecting them to other ones. Soon Efalis couldn't recognize his own palace, and what was once "Paradise" was now hell and beyond. Obscure bedrooms with laughters incorporated, maniac systems with deadly traps and turrels on every corner.
Efalis was a victim. This world, the Lifeline, regardless of what Efalis or another ruler of Paradise could ever program, will always reward one power to thrive when used correctly. Efalis was never unreachable, he was temporarily kept away from danger, from pain, from having to think too hard. This new arrangement was too much for him, the settings were unsettling and horrifying. Entities were screaming in hallways, chasing him and saying unimaginable things to put him down psychologically. He arrived to a series of hallways in a pink-ish old styled-house.
Paintings on the walls and complete silence, deadly, off-putting quiet. Hands of a dead body covered his eyes, screeching "who is it?" His brain turned off and he ran as fast as he could until his oxygen supplies in his body collapsed his lungs.
The creature catches up to him and screams in his ears until he passes out. And right before closing his eyes, Ismael was there at the opposite side of the hallway. He walks to him and stares in his white and black eyes.
"Enjoy the time here that I've spent looking for you, dirtbag. Or what was it you said? Find me in your life at some point if you can. This is where you live, from now on. My house, my rules. I could have been generous, but you got my friend out of Heaven just to kill me, so I'll see what I can do to pay back that debt."
"It was you who wrote all that on the walls."
"I know. By taking control over the territory, I could feel my own presence and impact on it. What happened, Efalis? You were a normal kid, right?"
"I strayed. The long way down. My friends left me and Paradise was empty. I engraved in it not just my vision but the dying wish of a child that had abandonned life as a concept and chose to live as a ruler rather than just a puppet of fate. I wanted to twist fate. To turn it around and bend it to my will, and I knew it was possible because nothing is stronger than the imagination and certainty a kid can have on something. The vision you entertain becomes the set of beliefs you live by when growing up. I inscribed in my very being that I would never change from this appearence. I am Efalis, whether I die or not. But Nara wanted a reason, a method of bringing new life to Paradise, seeing me defeated by the rules of this world. The Lifeline doesn't like void and complete black screen after death, so it totally allowed me to incorporate the system of rotations through its' realms. I created the Thorned Circle sect to keep my vision intact, and for a moment it did. I just hated the result, it was too much pain. It's called the Lifeline because it hates the flatline. We don't really die, we are sent somewhere else, might it be for better or for worse. The one that lives in Heaven is the Dragon God. I assure you, no matter what you expect is out there, that's not it."
"What does this Dragon God want?"
"Stability, first. As I've understood it. Then complete, absolute yielding. You will ask Nara about Yael and her position."
"I think I'll ask Nara about his role on Earth."
"He wanted soldiers so he instigated a war that could uphold his name and perfect his will. We did nothing, he's the leader of the Nephilims. We obeyed and let him do the talk and the work behind the scenes. He wanted you strong. But as Yael said, he's not your enemy, he's a Nephilim."
"How do I get to Heaven from here and now?"
"Go to the top. You could modify this place a million times, you could never detach the top off of it. So go there and talk, he'll listen. Say what you want to say and listen carefully. If I may, what will you ask?"
"Stability. Meaning. An escape. People will be able to choose their own fate. I will tell them about him. I'll do what's necessary."
"You sound exhausted, Ismael."
"Exhausted? I was exhausted when I was looking for Genova. I'm beyond dead, I'm just a walking, talking corpse. And when you descended to take back Capucine with you, you could have killed me. Why didn't you?"
"I remembered the prayer. During your long exile, you took the time to pray the God of this world, you put your entire being into it. Your heart and your soul, and I heard every word. The Dragon will listen to you, Mael. He listens to those who believe in life despite living in death."
Ismael left Efalis down, restructured the entire area to let him sleep in a bedroom that ressembled the one he used to have.
"Have your own paradise, kid."
Once reunited with Raven, the place felt purer, no more of this constant pressure. He could breathe, rest on the floor, stare at the sky and be at peace. Raven joined him and rested her head on his chest. They slept along one another for hours, and upon waking up, Ismael felt the weight of responsabilities crush him once again.
"Where are you going, Mael?"
"Talk to God."