Climbing up the wall, what greeted my sight at the top was a beautiful lush forest. The bright sunlight and the lively forest was in stark contrast with the dark and stuffy corridor. In the distance, there are some huge buildings seemingly created from crystals towering over the forest.
Quickly recovering from the awe-inspiring scenery, I look around to search for the source of the voice. Out of the corner of my eye, two figures came into view.
Running up closer to them I recognized Sal, and she also noticed me at the same time.
"Amazing isn't it?" [Sal]
She look around us with a dreamy gaze. Although I don't want to be in this situation, it's hard to deny that this is probably the most picturesque place I have ever been to. A mix of nature beauty and fantasy, a really nice combination.
Soon though our focus were redirected to the girl below us, asleep next to a tree. Despite looking much younger then original, the nun outfit was a dead giveaway to her identity.
"She's Mercy... right?" [Sal]
"Probably."
Original Mercy looked much more older. Her face and the occasional white hair suggested that she was around the 50s or so. The girl lying here on the other hand has a much more youthful look.
"She looks even younger than you..." I mumbled.
Sal must have overheard my comment as she gave me a glare soon returning back to her worried expressions.
"She has been like this since I found her. I tried waking her up to no avail." [Sal]
"Have you tried searching her body for clue?"
Sal gives me another glare. Bad choice of words on my part.
"Since she's related to whatever the hell is going on there might be some clue on her body. Just an assumption."
After contemplating my words, Sal shooed me away. Telling me to respect a girl's privacy and all that. Not like there's much privacy considering you are searching their body but well I'm a guy, what can I do about it? Let's just hope she won't hide her findings from me, as unreasonable as it sounds, Salra felt like someone who would do it.
After waiting for a whole 5 minutes(what took her so long), Sal finally called me back. Looking at the book in her hand it's a fruitful attempt perhaps? Sal didn't look very happy with her finding though.
"I found this book. It's like a bible but after the first few pages the words got all jumbled and the sentences make no sense. I couldn't find much beside the fact that's she is still breathing and her heart is still working." [Sal]
I was handed the book and quickly skimmed through it. Strange, none of pages have any word in it. However a sentence soon appeared on the empty pages. Although the words were written the same way as a computer I could feel the excitement in it. No doubt it's from the plushie.
The sentence was simple.
"Burn the book."
Not helping my ass.
Thinking about it carefully this is probably less of a hint and more of a choice being given. No doubt there'll be some consequences for burning the book but without doing it we might not go anywhere at this rate. Still it was a very easy choice to make.
"Sal you have anything to lit a fire?"
"What for?" [Sal]
"Let's try burning the book."
She looks at me utterly shock. Before she could refute my idea, I cut off her words.
"Trust me. It said so in the book."
Confused as she is, there's also curiosity in her eyes. She does hand me a lighter eventually, saying whatever happens I'll be responsible. I intend to do that anyway.
The flickering flames soon devoured the book, reducing it to ashes. The ashes float in the air to where Mercy was. Then, it stuck itself to her skin creating a weird symbol. The symbol abruptly catches on fire. The illusion like flame glowed brightly for a moment before dying out. Right after, Mercy woke up.
Looking around in confusion, she look up noticing us approaching. She recovered her composure very fast though and by the time we reached where she was no trace of panic could be spot from her expression. An extremely merciful look greeted us.
"Is it you who helped me?" [Mercy]
"Yes, well not me. You should thanks Dummy instead. He's the one who woke you up." [Sal]
"Thank you young man. I'll repay this debt generously." [Mercy]
"You can repay me by helping me find this dang discrepancy."
Mercy looked visibly shock at my words.
"You're an extraordinary?" [Mercy]
"Ah no. It's something Jack explained for us."
"Jack? That guy? What's he up to..." [Mercy]
Now that doesn't sound ominous at all.
After realizing we know about the other side, Mercy's speech relaxes. She doesn't have that creepy graceful tone anymore and is much more casual. Me and Sal was a bit taken back by the change but welcome it anyway.
"Well I'll help with that. I wonder though how did you managed to wake me. I remembered using a really strong spell even costing my life experiences to protect myself. I doubt any normal method could wake me up until the spell weakens." [Mercy]
Is that so? That sounds really... uh... cool? Doesn't seem like a good idea to tell I burnt the book then since it seems like something really rare. But lying doesn't seem like a good idea either...
"Ah Dummy just burn the book you had. After burning the book's ashes does this really fancy..." [Sal]
Oh boy, the cat is out of the bag now. Mercy listened to Sal in a daze before going full on panic mode. She checked everywhere in her body including the 'hidden' places. Very interesting places. Ahem.
Finding nothing, she reaches out to me and start to shake me violently while bombarding me with questions.
"Why did you do that? I mean how?? It's not a normal book that you can just burn it whenever you want! Not even a small nuclear explosion can make a scratch on it, not to mention a meager flame!!" [Mercy]
"Ca— calm d-down. The book said to burn it so I just burn it. How should I know why it burnt!"
Why does she look even more lost than I am?
"The book told you? But you aren't even an extraordinary, how could you read it? And how could the book of Azazel burn?" [Mercy]
Deciding she would need some time alone I separated myself from her clutches and told Sal to look after her while I take a stroll.
Taking in the incredible scene once more, I managed to understand why Sal was so excited. It isn't so bad after all.
* * * * * * * *
Another 5 minutes passed and I returned to find Mercy and Sal chatting together. It seems like she has calmed down a great deal.
"So you ready to help?"
She look at me carefully, analyzing every little detail before giving up.
"Fine. But this discussion isn't over yet. After this is all over you are coming with me ok? Can't believe you're really a normal human..." [Mercy]
"Sure whatever. So how do we get out of here? Where's the so called discrepancy?"
Sal was the one who answered my question. She pointed at the ground.
"This place is the discrepancy. To get out is simple, we simply destroy this place!" [Sal]
What's she acting all proud for? I bet it's the conclusion she copied from Mercy here. As if noticing my thoughts, Mercy explained it for me.
"Actually, it's her own speculation. She managed to guess correctly which is very impressive." [Mercy]
So that's it. No wonder why she's so proud.
"Back to the topic at hand, how do we destroy this place?"
"It's simple. You notice those buildings towering us? It's actually surrounding the core. We just need to destroy the core in the middle and the whole space will collapse." [Mercy]
"Ok, let's go then."
No one moved. Salra grin at me while Mercy look at us, amused. She then conjured another book out of thin air. Opening the book reveal a gateway that quickly expanded until 3 person can fit through it. The gateway look like a mirror without reflecting anything. I can see a prism which I assumed is the core on the other side.
"What are you standing there for? Let's go." [Sal]
"Oh uh yeah, coming."
Going through the gateway, I could see the other side. The buildings surrounded us and it's shadow block out a lot of the light. The prism shines in the shadow, making it impossible to miss it.
"Ready?" [Mercy]
I could hear a gulping sound beside me and I think I am just as nervous. Needing no response, Mercy reaches out to the prism and... crushed it.
In an instant blinding lights spew out, making it impossible to see anything. When my vision returned, I was still standing in the same place.
Both Salra and Mercy was gone. The feeling that something has gone horribly wrong struck me but I fainted before I could do anything.