"Jay…"
"Jay…!"
Hearing the faint voice of a distressed girl, Jay slowly opened his eyes and sat up. As soon as he had opened his eyes, he immediately realized that he was in a completely different place; Perhaps in a different world entirely, as the surrounding space that he was in was engulfed in complete darkness. The only light that existed was the strong glow somehow being emitted from Jay's body. The empty darkness of the space he was in made him feel as if he was completely alone. However, looking into the distance, he noticed another presence.
"I can finally see you again…" Said the voice of a girl, who Jay saw was the same ghostly figure that had kept reappearing in his vision. As it spoke, it slowly hovered closer to Jay, and the closer it had gotten, the more uncomfortable and anxious he became.
"Do you miss me, Jay?"
Upon hearing it's voice, he knew for certain that it couldn't be Lisa haunting him.
"Who are you…?" He said.
"...You don't remember…?" Said the apparition, continuing to move closer.
"I love you…" It added, and at this point it came close enough that Jay was able to see its indistinct facial features. Slowly walking backwards in fear, Jay exclaimed, "Stay away from me!"
"I love you…" It said, speeding up.
"I love you..!"
"I love you, Jay..!"
Finally catching up to him, Jay fell on his rear and was paralyzed, as all he could do now was widen his eyes in terror.
"Why didn't you save me…?" It said as it's face went up to his.
As it talked again, it glared at him, saying, "Do you not love me back?"
"I… I don't even know who you are." Jay replied, and the moment he blinked, it had disappeared. After a moment, he blinked again and quickly looked around for the apparition as his eyes shook. Continuing to look around, he soon noticed three giant skulls surround him from above as they materialized out of the darkness.
"You betrayed me… You failed to save me…"
"...You left me to die…"
"You're pathetic… Heartless… An awful person..."
"How could I have ever loved you." It said as an enormous skeletal hand quickly reached out to Jay. Then, Jay could no longer see as it grabbed him.
"Die."
Gasping for air, Jay immediately opened his eyes as he broke out in a cold sweat. Looking down from above him, Seira gave a soft smile.
"Are you okay, boy?"
After giving a long sigh of relief, Jay said, "I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You can continue laying on my lap if you want." She said, chuckling.
Trying to hide his annoyance, he quickly got up, saying, "I don't need you comforting me."
"Oh really..?" She said, laughing again.
"Oh boy… my head is starting to hurt…" Said Arin, faking his pain as he pressed one of his hands on his forehead.
"Come and lie down right here, then. I'll make sure the pain goes away very soon." Said Seira, smiling as she gestured at Arin.
"Ok!" He replied, giving off a sly smug as he began to rise out of his seat. But before he could, Emily whacked him on the top of his head, keeping her eyes closed in slight disappointment as he dropped face-first onto the table.
Christine and Ben, coming from the distance, both walked up to Jay.
"Phew, seems you're okay again." Christine said, rubbing the top of her head in relief.
"Jay, what happened?" Ben asked, appearing a bit worried.
After thinking to himself, he said, "...I don't know. I just... suddenly passed out. Then, I had this weird dream… That I can't even explain."
"Maybe you're just dehydrated." Ben said, then searching around. "Hold on, I'll give you some water."
"W-wait!" Nora said, taking out a small canteen. After having heard her, Ben stopped and looked back. Shyly approaching Jay, she said, "You can have mine."
As she approached, she appeared to be wearing thick clothing, as if she was out in the tundras. Although, the closer she got to Jay, the more he began to feel freezing temperatures. Taking the canteen off her, Jay opened the canteen and drank from it. After finishing, he said, "Thank you." Giving her back the canteen, she soon ran off.
"Carrying on… Jay, these are all… well, most of the faction representatives." Said Christine. Then facing all of the representatives, she said, "Everyone, this is Jay, and this is Ben. They're both angels that I've brought to assist the faction with any upcoming missions. Now, if you could give them both a warm greeting..."
"Welcome to Nirvana!" They all said, except for Arin, who was just now waking up.
"...Huh?" Arin said, looking around in confusion as he had his eyes half-opened.
Upon hearing their welcoming message, both Jay and Ben had soft, sincere smiles on their faces.
"I believe you two will get along with them very well." Christine said, turning around to look back at the two of them as she had a pleasant smile on her face.
"Now then... Jay, Ben, I would like for you two to come with me." She said, then turning around and walking away. Following her, the two of them maneuvered through the castle, eventually heading outside, where they headed out to a courtyard. Looking out into the sky, Jay noticed it was dusk.
***
"Say… did you guys feel that too…?" Emily said, looking over at the other representatives.
"Feel what?" Cain replied.
"That energy… it was coming right out of Jay. It felt as if… it was pulling at me- like some attractive force." Emily added.
"Are you feeling okay, Lisa?" Arin asked, looking at her in confusion.
"Are you feeling tired...? You should get some rest, girl." Said Seira, frowning softly as she appeared rather concerned..
"...Am I really the only one who noticed it?" Emily said, raising her eyebrows as she spoke.
"I-I did too…!" Said Nora after a few seconds had passed by. "I felt the s-same energy you did."
"...That's right! You would always be giving off that same energy too, Nora!"
"S-same with you." Nora said.
"Why did our leader enlist two deranged people to the faction..?" Zaine said, gazing over at the two.
"Of course you wouldn't understand, Zaine." Emily said, smiling as she went over to Nora, who flinched nervously when she began to hug her. "We just have a deeper level of intimacy!"
"What do you mean..? She's my cousin…" Said Zaine, looking away in slight irritation.
***
"So, you guys wanna get stronger right?" She said. "Welcome to the training grounds."
Looking around, both Jay and Ben noticed the area was heavily populated with armoured individuals who swung around their weapons as they practiced or sparred. By the edge of the courtyard, they saw a long stack of various weapons which Christine headed to.
Try out some of these weapons and see what you might like the most. Once you do that, practice using it often.
"Oh, uh…." Ben said slightly anxiously. "I already use my own weapon."
"Oh really?" Christine replied. "Then what about you, Jay?"
"I don't have one."
"...Wait." Ben said, looking confused. "All angels have a weapon that they can summon. You should have one."
"Ah… right. I forgot you angels could do that." Christine added on. "Well then, Jay, go on ahead and summon your weapon."
After a short while of trying to summon it, he failed and said, "I don't think I can..."
"Huh… well, I guess it takes time to know how to do it." Ben said. A few seconds later, Ben raised his eyebrows and said, "Actually, I know of another way."
"What might that be?" Christine asked.
"Okay, so, all you have to do is try out one of these weapons." He said, pointing over to the shack of weapons. "The one that you feel is right is the same as your spirit weapon."
After hearing what he had to say, Jay proceeded to try out all of the weapons one-by-one.
"Say, a spirit weapon is what you angels call it?" Christine asked as she turned to face Ben.
"Yea." He said. "All angels are inherited one."
"Is that all that makes it so different? Why's it called a spirit weapon?"
"Well, it's because these weapons are spiritually connected to us." Ben said, pulling out his bow from a summoned green magic circle. "What makes them even more different is that they're also imbued with our energy, so malevolence would be exceptionally weak to these."
"Interesting..!" Christine said as she examined the bow in excitement and curiosity.
"Yea, I'd say it's pretty n-...." Ben, failing to complete his sentence, raised his eyebrows in surprise. "That's it! That's the one, Jay!" He said, running towards him as he sent away his bow.
Watching him swing a katana, he said, "Judging on how you're swinging it, this looks like you'd be good at using it."
Walking up to the two, Christine said, "It might very well be, judging based off of his posture and his composure when he swings."
After a moment of observing Jay with the sword, she said, "Alright, Jay, you can keep the sword!" She said, grinning as she put her hands on her hips. "Here's the sheath."
Although the quality wasn't very high, Jay had believed it would do for now. Then, averting his attention from the sword, he looked over at Christine and said, "Thank you." He then took the sheath and attached it to his belt, putting away the katana.
"No problem!" She said. "...Also, I need one more favor of you, if you don't mind. Just you, Jay."
"Alright." He replied.
"As for you Ben, feel free to hang out with the rest of the faction, if you'd like to stay, we have some extra spaces for you and Jay at the sleeping quarters."
"Sure thing!" Ben said. Before he turned around to head off, he said, "Thank you for your generosity!"
"Alright, Jay, I need you to come with me." Christine said. Jay nodded in agreement, and they soon headed outside of the castle walls into the kingdom's city.
"I apologize for dragging you into all this. You don't have to help the faction if you don't want to. I don't actually want to make it seem like I'm dragging you into all this." She said, rubbing the top of her head.
"It's fine." Jay said as they walked. "This all works in my favor, actually. You've given me a chance to experience a lot of things. Also, I would like help in getting rid of the scum in Diabolus." He said.
"Don't worry. I, along with the rest of the faction, are a group of one of the strongest people in the kingdom of Belenus. I will ensure you we will find out more about this cult, and we will incarcerate everyone taking part in it. You can take that as a promise from me."
"Thank you. I'll be relying on your faction, Nirvana from now on. I trust that you won't disappoint me." Jay said, smiling softly.
"Don't worry. You can always be sure to rely on us!" Christine said, grinning. After a while of walking around the city, it was now night time as the sun had completely gone below the horizon.
"Say, what ever happened to the eighth representative of Nirvana?" Jay asked, looking straightforward as he walked. After a moment, he turned around to face her. She wasn't there however, as it seemed she had completely vanished.
"Christine..?" He said, looking confused.
He stopped walking, looking around for her. After a while of searching, he then went into an alleyway. Suddenly, a cloaked individual emerged from the shadows, landing behind him. Noticing them, Jay quickly turned around and unsheathed his blade.
"Who are you?" Jay asked the individual as they slowly got up from a kneeling position.
They unsheathed their longsword, pointing it towards Jay. Then, with a rather quiet voice, they began to speak.
"As per request from Diabolus, I've come for your head."