Their eyes remained petrified; their minds wandered looking for an answer that wasn't there. In front of them stood the crystal. At the foot of the crystal, a little girl, now consumed by an unknown shadow. The figure seemed to be connected directly to the crystal, taking or projecting energy, creating a kind of tangible aura, the hum, which seemed to come from there. The little girl didn't even seem conscious, not anymore. Her eyes, consumed, lifted the darkness from their sockets. A machine with a huge eye with three hooks rotating around, without stopping, stood above their heads.
"The energy is almost consumed ..." said a voice behind them.
Behind them stood the duke, holding a firearm sword, pointed at them. He was trembling.
"It is said ... In the now forgotten scriptures of the origins, belonging to the old school of exorcists, that the Grudge is nothing but the consequence ... The consequence of the kingdom of heaven, which falls upon our heads, in the earthly world…"
"W-What does all this mean?" Oskah said.
"... And, arguing by logic, Grudge is sin ... The sin that human beings carry in their womb from their first breath ... From their first murder ... From their first adultery ... And so Street."
"Stop bullshitting." Zen said, drawing his broadsword.
"... And all this ... All we have done so far ... I deserve it all, all the death, and the suffering I have caused ... that WE HAVE caused ..." The duke turned to Dulkha, staring at him silently. He smiled.
"I deserve everything ... But my punishment cannot be accomplished by you, silly executioners, mediocre nothingness, impure flesh like me ..." The man raised his finger at the blindfolded boy.
"It will be you ... Angel of vengeance, of redemption ..."
"There will be no redemption for someone like you." Dulkha said coldly.
The duke burst into laughter. His hand remained steady; the weapon still aimed at their heads.
"Do you think this is the worst I've ever done ?!" The duke laughed again, coughing between laughter. He must have been sick. He turned to the figure connected to the machinery.
"Do you at least know what this is? Who is this creature? This splendid creature devoted all his life to suffering."
"Tell us ..." Oskah said "Tell us why you did, whatever this horror is, to a little girl."
"Only one?" The duke burst into another laugh. "He's making me nervous ..." Zen said. Oskah put her hand on his shoulder.
"Wait up..."
"We of the government of the pact..." The duke intoned "We have done horrible things for centuries, we have found inhuman solutions, exploiting mechanics so far beyond our means ... But nothing lasts forever, sin comes always repaid ... And you, ordinary people, people who live within cities, people who are unaware ... I will give you a taste of truth, before my death, or yours ... "
About a millennium ago, before the outbreak of the war between the two Governments, which lasted 300 years, creatures, like angels, descended from heaven. They called themselves guardians. They said they came from another world. Their power was beyond dispute, and therefore the humans made a deal with them. Submission to their will guaranteed protection, rebellion was tantamount to annihilation. A single government was created ... The Covenant Government, which received an egg every hundred years, from which white-haired creatures came out ... The guardians taught us how to use the creatures to protect our cities.
Even now, the remaining cities of the Pact Government make use of it, even if, by now, everything is crumbling ... But we cannot escape our sins.
"Stop talking bullshit!" Zen barked.
The duke chuckled weakly. "Don't you want to kill me yet?"
The man took out a black key, waved it in the air.
"After you see what happens downstairs ... You will want it.
The duke threw the key under Dulkha's feet.
"But I think you won't kill me even after this ... after all, I've waited long enough."
"Wait! Where have the inhabitants gone?"
The man gave a weak grin. "They were all sinners. The angels took them."
The Duke aimed the weapon at the white-haired creature, opening fire, and later at himself. With a swipe of the sword, Zen prevented him from taking his own life, dodging the weapon. The Duke did not seem surprised, he kept the same expression as before.
"Bastard ... I won't give you the luxury of taking your life ... I'll have to do it, with these hands ... With this blade." Zen said, suddenly seized by fury.
"What are you doing?!" Oskah said, running towards Zen. The Boy turned to Oskah, his face was all the way back, the wrinkles of revenge were hard as steel.
"Now I remember ... Looking at that key ... I remember everything."
A blinding light emerged from under their feet, a figure ... An angel with a face twisted in pain, grabbed the duke by one arm. Zen and Oskah backed away in uncontrollable terror. Even Dulkha had dilated eyes. Then another emerged, and another, and another ...
The duke laughed and looked at the faces, his laughter became hysterical, his pupils moist, his skin whitened. His jaw widened, painting an indescribable pain. He almost became like those marble angels. When his wings sprouted, the other angels left him and together they disappeared into the celestial light.
Zen dropped the sword, his hands gave out, his legs limp, like Oskah's. Nobody said anything about it. Dulkha picked up the black key, which was still under his feet, and handed it to Zen. Zen turned, looked at him with a blank expression. All the fury, the murderous darkness, gone, like the duke and the angels in the light.
Zen stared at the key. He inserted it without saying anything into the elevator lock. Oskah and Dulkha followed him in silence. They reached the second floor. The elevator set off on its way. Mechanisms creaked; memories surfaced.
"I was here ... When I was a child."
Zen remembered now. When he was five, he was taken away by agents of the government of the pact his family was starving and offered him in exchange for food and shelter. He was placed in the shipping containers and reunited with the other Goods. His body had been donated to the spiral of reincarnation. The powerful of the Government of the pact always asked for new bodies. The other children with him had their eyes injected with despair and confusion. His eyes were empty, resigned. It was this, perhaps, that stimulated one of the men who worked in the Tundra complexes. The mysterious man managed to bring him to safety by hiding him inside one of the containers. From there, he moved as far away as possible. Returning to his poor home he raised the baby, and luckily, they weren't found, at least for the first ten years. One day Zen found himself without a father. He managed to survive and became stronger than anyone else. He inherited the sword from his father, and joined the scouts of the city of Anatolia, only to abandon them and return to solitude.
The doors opened screaming. A death-smelling laboratory materialized before their eyes.
Dozens and dozens of Sleepwalkers were locked up in glass cells, floating in a forced sleep.
"So ... that's where those things come from."
Oskah turned to Dulkha, but he, like Zen, was focused on those dormant cocoons. He walked over to one of them and stroked the glass that separated them.
"You are so little aware of your existence, of what you are, aren't you?" Oskah said softly. The blindfolded boy heard him.
"I haven't woken up yet," he said without turning around.