Lyris Stared at the gorgeous Seraphina with a worried look. She had blood all over her and one of her wings torn off.
Seraphina realized this and whispered
"Sister has a special way of showing love."
Lyris glanced at Rizael sitting on her throne and furrowed his brow
"Valia, is there a closer way out that's not where the enemy is?"
Valia scratched her head and whispered
"Yes, there is, but we'll have to hide from the angels again."
Lyris and Seraphina nod.
Valia looks at the angel's body and steps over it, going through the door, and the other two follow.
As they walk through the white hall, Valia smiles and whispers
"Seraphina, thanks for the gift"
Seraphina smiles with eyes and mouth and replies
"I only return what was taken with a slight perk."
Valia and lyris tilt their head
Seraphina giggles and added
"I will tell you everything once we're safe, and thank you, Lyris."
Lyris replied silently
'She granted me freedom, I had to
They exited the White Hall and slowly walked into an expansive room with a fancy rug and fireplace where an angel was stabbing a soldier on the floor.
The three quickly hid behind a couch.
Lyris whispered in Seraphina's ear
"I can't take him head-on. I'm no match for an angel; think you could do something."
Seraphina responded
"Not In my state, I can't, but do you have any projectiles?"
Lyris nods
Seraphina added
"humans have an energy called Animus. I would go more in-depth, but time is of the essence. Grab your projectile and imagine an energy from within you transferring to it."
Lyris looks at her, skeptical
'I suppose I'll try it
Lyris grabs and unloads a bullet from his gunblade and covers it with his palms, closing his eyes
'I am imagining it, but I don't feel anything
Seraphina places her hands over his and whispers
"Focus Lyris"
The bullet grows hot, lyris, sweating smiles, seraphim smile as well
"It's rare for humans to accomplish it first try; you're special lyris."
Lyris blushes slightly
'No, let's focus
He loads the bullet in the gunblade, peaks over, aims the gunblade at the angel's head
And whispers
"After I shoot, run to the door left of us."
He pulls the trigger, a boom is heard, and the angel's head bursts,
Lyris's jaw drops. Seraphina and Valia run while covering their ears
'That was unexpected.'
Lyris races out of the room.
Valia shouts
"Take a left, enter the library, and follow me!"
They run through bloodied halls, paintings defiled with blood.
Two angels appear in front of them; Valia and Seraphina stumble and halt
But lyris doesn't. He pulls out his grapple, and as if it were a lasso, he twirls it above his head, slides in between the two, and the grapple flies to their legs, wrapping the two together by the ankle.
Lyris shouted
"Keep going!"
The girls raise their brows and sprint toward the library
Lyris follows after them
They burst open the door to the library, and Valia points at the door at the end of the library and shouts
"That's how we get outside!"
They sprint through the library, and Silas bursts open the door.
The sky was full of smoke clouds; screams and cries for help could be heard.
Valia looks up, tightens her fist, and furrows her brow. She screams
"Follow me to the gate!"
Seraphina shouts
"Wait!"
Valia halts questions here
"Why? My people need help!"
Seraphina replies
"Yes, they do, and we will help as many as possible, but we are no match for the beasts. As much as it pains me, we cannot save them all."
Valia clenches her fists and replies
"You an angel you don't understand. Your kind is destroying my kingdom, and you don't want me to save them!?"
Seraphina attempts to speak, but she lowers her head instead.
Lyris interrupts valia
"She's right, Valia; we can't save them all as we are now."
Valia lowers her brow, bares her teeth, and shouts
"You wouldn't understand you're a low-life criminal. Your type doesn't value human life!"
Lyris nose crinkled
'This naive girl…'
He shouts
"You think I chose this life! We're human valia. Fighting those things head on is suicide; I saved your life once, and I don't plan to let you throw it away!"
Valia is about to retaliate, but Seraphina interrupts her
"Your family is waiting for you in the mountains, and I didn't put them there to let their Princess die!"
Valia began to weep.
"But my father's kingdom."
Seraphina hugged her and whispered
"You are a strong girl, Valia, but not strong enough. No one is."
Seraphina added
"But I can change that, so please don't forfeit your life trying the impossible."
Valia wipes her tears and nods
"I'm sorry I yelled at you two, and you aren't a low-life Lyris."
Lyris sighed and answered
"No, you're right. I am a low life."
He looks up at the smoky sky
'I won't survive this world without help, will I? Guess I'll never truly be free.'
He looks at Valia and Seraphina
"Do the two of you want to work with this low life?"
The girls smile and nod
Lyris's face turns slightly pink. He turns around and looks at the forest and mountains.
"Is her family over there?"
Seraphina replies
"Yes, but it will be a long journey, and the arrival of angels means more than the attacking of humans."
Lyris stares at the mountains
"What are you implying?"
Seraphina frowns and replied
"I don't know everything, but I do know that the world and animals are morphing. There are bigger threats than the angels."
Lyris pulled his hood over His head and answered
"You want to get strong, right Valia?"
She nods
Lyris added
"The mountains are the fastest way. Are you ready?"
Valia replies
"I know I can do it."
Lyris questioned
"I doubt your sister would welcome you back with open arms, Seraphina."
Seraphina clenched her jaw.
"I'm going with you two."
Valia looks at the gate and furrows her brow
They walk towards the tall forest, leaving footprints in the snow.
A dark forest. Snow-capped trees were as tall as buildings.
Lyris wraps their arms around himself and glances at Seraphina; she still wears her bloodied dress, her arms, legs, and feet exposed
"Aren't you cold, Seraphina?"
She answers
"I suppose I am."
Lyris rolls his eyes
'For an angel, she's foolish
Lyris removes his fur coat and tosses it towards Seraphina
Her eyes widened, brows raised, and she blurted out
"Why! Won't you be freezing?"
Lyris replied
"You don't even have shoes on. You need it more than me. Besides, I'm used to the cold."
Seraphina puts on the coat and cuts a hole in her wing. She smiles as she pulls the hood over her head.
"You are so kind, Lyris. I chose, right."
He halts and touches a tree
"As payment, you'll teach me and Valia all there is to know about animus and the gift." he looks at the tree more
'This should do as firewood.'
Seraphina replied
"There a lot to learn."
Valia looks at the tree
"That should work as firewood."
Lyris smiles
"I thought the same, but how do we cut it…"
Valia replied
"We don't just rip off the bark, and it works just as good."
Lyris was impressed at her knowledge
'She must've gone camping In the past
Lyris grabs his knife and carefully removes the bark.
Soon enough, they have a fireplace
Lyris, Valia, and Seraphina rub their hands by the fire
"Sleeping won't be easy. Tomorr;w, we hunt, we need food, and I'll try to make us something to sleep on."
Seraphina questioned
"I'm curious, Lyris, how did a good man like you find his way into a cell?"
Lyris blurted
"He was being a pervert!"
Seraphina gasped and yelled
"Explain yourself, Lyris!"
Cali convulsed into laughter
With an awkward smile, he runs his hands through his hair and replies
"I wasn't being a perv; I had a job to steal something from the castle, found myself in Valia's room, and decided to steal jewelry, but she caught me."
Valia giggled and explained
"No, you were looking at my panties!"
Seraphina gasped again
Lyris blurted
"No, I was not Valia!"
She threw her head back and shook with laughter
Lyris sighed
'This girl is too much…'
Seraphina smiles brightly
"I'm glad you caught him"
She paused and added
"I restored Animus in humans and gave humans what I call an Angelic guide; it simplifies Animus and what you accomplish with it, assigning classes and rank based on personality, as for how to progress, killing angels, and angelic beasts."