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“Wait. Actually…” Raea raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips. “I may have freaked out a little when a featureless statue tried to talk to me and, uh, buried it underneath building by a teensy bit?”
“Your first reaction to seeing a talking statue was to bury it,” Uriel said, her mouth slightly parted. A wrinkle appeared on her forehead. “You didn’t even think to talk back to it?”
“I’m not insane,” Raea said and pouted. “If the walls started talking to you, would you talk back?”
“That’s…,” Uriel said before sighing. “You know what, alright. You haven’t been contacted again? I doubt the Creator would give up after a single try.”
“It was very recent,” Raea said. “Maybe ten minutes ago.”
“Maybe you should go and unbury that statue?” Uriel asked, raising an eyebrow.
Raea frowned and turned around, squatting on her spot on top of the floating room. She squinted off into the distance. Her flames had reduced Pyre’s laboratory to a puddle of lava. “I don’t think that’ll be possible anymore,” she said to Uriel and shrugged. “If it really was the Creator and not a figment of my imagination, then he’d definitely send another sign, right?”
“He will,” Creed said with a nod. “I rejected him at first as well. Why would I spend the effort to talk to someone even if the conversation is happening in my dream? He badgered me until it was easier to let him speak than to ignore him all the time.” Creed glanced at Palan. “And you. You rejected the Creator out of pride? If you already knowingly rejected him, then what was all that talk about bringing us a gluttony candidate?”
“I was using you,” Palan said. “You said it yourself.” A strange expression appeared on Palan’s face as if he were hesitating to ask something. He scratched his chin before looking away.
Creed sighed. “You can’t make a face like that and not say anything,” the plain-looking demon said. “What is it?”
“About eternal life…,” Palan said. “Is that what the Creator gave you?”
“In a sense,” Creed said. “As long as this room exists, I will never permanently die.”
“Then what about them?” Palan asked, pointing at Camael, Levy’s ashes, and Asura. “Why are they dead?”
“Raphael can revive them,” Creed said. “Even Levy despite the fact that none of her body remains intact. Raphael will always resurrect no matter what happens to him. Maybe it’s easier on the Creator to delegate revival to one person, who knows? As the angels love to say, the Creator works in mysterious ways.”
“And you can leave the room, right?” Palan asked.
Raea frowned at his train of questions. Didn’t he just say he wasn’t going to make a deal with the Creator? Then why did he have to ask so many questions about the details? If she couldn’t have Palan, then neither could the Creator. Her brow furrowed. Was she becoming envious of the Creator?
“Yes, we can leave the room under certain circumstances; although, I’m not sure if it’s possible anymore since your rebel army destroyed the tower,” Creed said. “The designated Watcher can grant us freedom for a certain period of time, but I assume Sariel’s dead now.”
“If you die outside the room, what happens?” Palan asked even though he knew the answer. “Raphael can’t go outside to revive you. And what happens if Raphael refuses to revive you if you die inside the room?”
“You’re worried since you’re bad terms with Raphael?” Creed asked. “Don’t worry about that. We have a system, our own set of rules. Abide by the rules of the room and everyone will get along happily. Break the rules, and you’re going to live miserably. Camael could tell you all about it. He was quite the rebel when he joined us.” The demon smiled at Camael’s corpse before redirecting his attention back to Palan. “As for what happens if we die outside of the room, our bodies are collected and returned here to be revived by Raphael.”
“I see,” Palan said. “But what happens if Raphael is incapable of reviving someone? What happens then?”
“You really think of the strangest situations,” Creed said and scratched his head. “It’s been a long while since I had to talk to a demon who cared about his life. I almost forgot how shrewd demons were. In the past couple of millennia, there has never been a case where Raphael has been unable to revive us. Is that good enough of an answer for you?”
“So you don’t know,” Palan said and nodded.
“Right,” Creed said.
“Then I guess I’m about to find out,” Palan said with a grin as he extended his hand forwards. A black orb formed in his palm, attracting everything in the room towards it.
Creed’s eyes widened as his body was tugged forward. Before he could think of using his powers, Palan’s hand had pierced through his chest, the black hole sucking the blood out of his body. Creed launched Palan backwards with telekinesis, but the stream of blood continued to flow out of the hole in his chest into the orb hovering in front of Palan’s palm. Uriel stepped forward, but collapsed on the spot as her contract with Creed was activated. If he died, then so did she.
“You said you wanted to kill Raphael,” Raea said. “I guess you’re going to do it now?” She glanced at Raphael’s wriggling torso. The blind angel was still in the process of recovering from Andrea’s attack. The majority of his torso had been repaired, and his neck was starting to form. “Before you do it, let me speak to him first. I want to learn how to control these flames.”
Palan glanced at Raea as he stood over Raphael’s body. His expression was neutral. “Alright. But only if you promise to not attack Andrea. If you want to hurt someone, then you can attack me instead.”
Raea’s expression darkened. “It’s only when you say things like that that I feel the anger well up inside my chest.” She sighed and shook her head. “I promise you I won’t attack Andrea. I’m surprised my promises still mean anything to you.”
Palan shrugged. “You’re still you,” he said and sat on the table in the room.
The table groaned. “Why are you so heavy?”
Palan, Raea, and Andrea froze as they stared at the wooden surface. Three slits appeared before opening, revealing a pair of eyes and a mouth. Palan climbed to his feet, placed his hands on the table’s leg, and heaved it out of the room through the open ceiling. It was caught by Raea’s flames, and it screamed as it was incinerated, not even leaving behind a speck of ash.
Raea blinked twice. “Why did you just do that?”
“Reflex,” Palan said and scratched his head.