"Stay quiet, keep a straight face and just follow me", the cult angel said as we walked through a gate. Beyond which stood a mansion, strike that, a castle surrounded by a lush garden. It was quite creepy-looking, but am I surprised?
Nope...turns out nothing is more surprising than seeing intestines and blood pour out of a dude, like a popped juice box.
"Hey so... what's your name?" I asked as we reached the entrance of the castle. I know I should shut up but I had to know. Since I'm blindly following around a person who could kill me in seconds, might as well. The Cult angel turned around and momentarily glared at me before answering.
"Nova" The tone in their voice clearly denoted that they didn't want to speak.
Nova turned around and pushed open the huge black wooden front doors, adored skillfully carved signs and symbols. It looked like something you would see in a museum, titled 'Door to eternal bliss'. Though here it felt like 'Door to your eternal doom'.
I stop for a moment to rethink my decision to walk in. The palace was situated in a forest that was on a cliff. It was sketchy as hell but I have no hope of running away in my present body condition. It wasn't even easy reaching this far, so I took a deep breath and stepped right inside.
"Miss Nova, you are back. You hadn't mentioned you were leaving" A man asked Nova, his tone filled with deep respect. He looked much older than Nova and me. His brown hair with hints of grey was neatly combed back without a single strand out of place. His face was pleasant and mature. The tall man wore a neatly ironed white shirt, a black vest, and formal black pants. Wait a minute, a Butler?
She smiled at the man and replied, "I am sorry Agaté, it was an emergency." He then turned towards me and took a step forward but before he could do anything, Nova interrupted "We have something to finish. Please get some rest Agaté''. The man's eyebrow twitched as he nodded and bowed. I gave him a small smile. He looked at me once more before turning and walking into the depths of the dim-lit corridor.
Nova watched the man leave before walking in the other direction. And I followed her. Most parts of the hall were filled with woodwork; snakewood and mahogany, and some sort of dark brown and blackish wood I couldn't recognize. A huge candlelit crystal chandelier was hung on the ceiling. Towards the end of the hall was a red velvety stairway. Despite the grim aura, the castle had subtle hints of royalty.
The grand stairway first led to a platform and then split up into two separate stairways. A huge French window appeared as I climbed up the stairs and reached the platform. The forest and the mountains that seemed not too far away from the castle stood out under the bright moonlight. Hundreds of stars embellished the sky and-
Huh? A blurry man was staring at me from the other side.
His black shirt was ripped. He had black unruly hair that almost hid his eyes entirely. A look of exhaustion was evident on his dusky face and bloodless lips. His grey eyes peaked through his hair and looked at me with the same amount of curiosity as I did. I took a step back, and so did the man. I moved my arms and so did he. No no, this can't be true... I run my hands down my face and he does the same.
Shit.
"I'M THE MAN?!" I say louder than expected.
"Can you not waste any more time?" I look up the stairs on my left to find a very annoyed-looking Nova peering down at me. I didn't know what to say. I mean, what could I say? This dude is me, no, I'm this dude... wait this dude is not me but is still me.
"Th-this me, I-I mean, is this me?" My voice becomes very shaky as my mind loses its sense of sentence formation. I kept looking at the dude behind the window and Nova, back and forth trying to make sense. My Hands tighten around my hair as my confusion grows.
"I will tell you all that you need to know. So will you please stop testing my patience!" Nova's voice was laced with frustration. Why was she so pissed? This seems like a situation where I am supposed to be the main character and not her. So I try to glare at her, to exert my dominance but it turns out that her face of frustration was even scarier. Hence I followed her again without another word. Hey, fate...I'm counting on you.
Upon reaching the first floor, she walked to the end of the corridor and approached a door seemingly made of the same wood as the front door. It had golden patterns embedded with gemstones but had no doorknob or anything as such.
As she reached close enough, the door opened automatically by itself. Once again I stood shocked right in front of the doorway. An automatic door made out of wood ?!
"Do you usually get shocked by everything? Rhys would rather kill himself than watch you make a fool of yourself in his body". She says removing her cape. 'Rhys?' Didn't she say that in the forest too? She pointed at a chair gesturing to me to sit down. I walk in and the door immediately shuts close. I touched the chair before carefully sitting on it hoping that it doesn't move or even beat me up as a surprise.
The room was like a mini library with stuff other than just books. There were bottles, gems, boxes, and a lot more random and more expensive goods. A fireplace in the right corner warmed the entire room.
A large crystal table was placed in the middle and right above it on the ceiling was a chandelier. The whole ceiling was decorated with beautiful paintings. Like those done by Michelangelo. Hold on, I'm getting distracted again. I need to ask her questions now.
"So, Miss Nova, why do you have a lot of crystals around here?"
What. The. Hell? Why do I care about that? She didn't reply, so I'm pretty sure she understood that I was rambling. She kept her back towards me as she worked on something on a smaller table towards the window on the other side of the room.
Her long straight silver hair was adorned by a golden hairpin with orange gems. It looked like cherry blossoms took on autumn colors.
"What I actually meant to ask was - why am I here?" I had fifty other questions. It's not easy to have an aching body and a confused brain at the same time. The person on the window is plastered in my mind. "Is the guy on the window Rhys?"
Nova turns around and quickly walks towards me. She stops leaving very little space between us. So close that I can almost feel her breath on my exposed chest.
Nova's honey golden eyes glittered with anticipation and concentration. Her right-hand goes over the wound on my chest. I felt cool metal touch my skin. She had sharp golden nail ornaments on all her fingers. Thin chains connected the individual finger ornaments to thick bracelets on her wrists.
"You are the man on the window," Nova says looking deeply into my eyes. As she maintained eye contact, she dug her fingers into the wound. It happened so quickly and it hurt like someone used a flamethrower on me. I froze at first and then I-
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, I'M GONNA DIE'', I screamed, as she pulled the bullet out. It hurts soo bad. When the bullet was in me, it didn't even hurt half as much as it did now. I kept groaning in pain and my eyes were filled with tears. She then applied a clear lotion-like substance on my wound and covered it with a bandage. My hand rested on my chest. I could feel the medicine taking effect immediately as the pain was slowly replaced by a much soothing and cool sensation.
Nova quietly observed the bullet, and I swear I saw tears appear in her eyes but she quickly blinked it away. I had many more questions but my body felt worse than it did before and my throat was dry. I doubt any sound was going to come out of me even if I tried.
As if she read my mind, she handed me a glass of water and sat on a chair facing me. The lighting made Nova's features much more visible and magnificent. Her hair and skin glowed in the dimly lit room. Her bone structure stood out like they were sculptured. Her orange robe-like dress complimented her pale skin. Trust me when I say the term 'cult angel' was perfect for her.
"I know you have questions and you shall soon find answers to all of them. But you need to understand that the body that you're currently occupying belongs to Rhys, he is important to me. So behave accordingly. Make sure nobody knows about this other than you and me." She says.
Perfect, like I totally know who Rhys is. I gulp the glass of water before asking her to answer more understandably with all details included.
"So who exactly is Rhys?" I ask.
"Well, he usually goes by the term Akuma," Nova replied casually.
'Akuma'. The name was very familiar. Where have I-
"Oh no," I say as I drop the glass onto the floor. It luckily didn't shatter but I can't say the same for my sanity. I need to run.
"Why are you so shocked, did he murder your family too?"
"No... this can't be" I say to Nova as I stand up, but I can barely maintain my balance. My eyes get heavy and I suddenly feel drowsy. It's the drink I am sure, a classic trick.
She held me steady and whispered "Get some rest" before I closed my eyes and drifted off to a dreamless sleep.