After she finished bathing, Emilia walked out of the room. She saw Wallace sitting on the chair, focusing on his laptop while taking puffs of his cigarette. She went to sit beside him; he saw that she was there.
"Are you afraid?" he asked.
"I can't sleep," she answered.
"I'm sorry; I did it in a fit of anger," he told her.
"You must have been wronged and very angry then," she said.
"Ahh," he sighed as he looked outside his window and took a puff of his cigarette.
"You don't see me as a monster," he asked.
"No," she answered.
"Anyway, he said stuff about dying once," she asked.
"It's true that I died once because my heart was stabbed. It stopped working," he said.
"How's it after death? Did you see what heaven was like?" she asked.
"I went to hell," he answered, as memories came back to him.
"I hear people say you must have been a sinner to go to hell," she said.
"Ahh, things are more than it looks on the surface," he said, looking at her.
He couldn't tell her anything; it would only worsen things. He felt another sense of pressure; he must look for a way to solve the issue about hell. Countless people die every day, and countless good people are among them, but they don't even know the truth about their death. It made him think,
"How much stronger is Arishem and Lucifer?" he thought, feeling an unprecedented sense of pressure, and for the first time, he felt that the future was bleak.
He gets stronger by absorbing souls, but Arishem absorbs the faith of everyone after they die, and he also has countless ways to get stronger, while Lucifer gets stronger by absorbing souls. Let's not talk about the unknown source of strength that Arishem has. Just Lucifer alone absorbs millions of souls every day; he hasn't even absorbed a hundred, and he is this strong. Lucifer must have been on a different level entirely. If they descend today, how is he going to fare against them when even he doesn't understand himself?
"Well, I will continue getting stronger," he thought. He will continue getting stronger, and he will try his best. It's either he succeeds or he fails, and if he fails, death will be the only way out for him, but he is not afraid of death either. He already knows what it feels like to go to hell once.
"What happened between you and him for him to want to kill you?" she asked. His expression darkened considerably when he heard that; he knows who that "him" is referring to. It's that asshole of a man he once called a father. He stood up and went to his room; Emilia was disappointed, but he came out the next second with a recorder.
"Listen to that," he said, handing her the recorder.
She pressed the play button, and the first thing she heard was groans, and after that,
"You must be thinking about the reason I did this to you." She heard a series of conversations that made her feet cold and her heart colder. She looked at him with pity after she listened to the conversation.
"Don't look at me that way," he said.
"It must have been hard on you," she said.
"Hard is an understatement," he answered.
"After all, I had gone to hell," he finished the statement in his heart.
The place was silent as Wallace continued focusing on his job, while Emilia looked at him. After some minutes, Wallace felt uncomfortable from that gaze.
"Aren't you feeling sleepy?" he asked.
"Hmm," she nodded, removing the laptop from his lap and placing her head on his lap while laying on the chair.
"Ever since I witnessed that gory sight, I can't sleep alone," she said.
"Aren't you afraid of me?" he asked.
"Why?" she asked. "I'm the cause of what you witnessed there; don't you feel a need to keep your distance from me? I'm very dangerous; I even have enemies that have immense strength that exceeds your imagination. It's not too late to back out now, and you can return to your safe life if you want. Even what I'm going to do in Italy is very dangerous," he told her.
"Just shut up, I want to sleep," she said.
"Ahh," he sighed as he looked at the sleeping lady. Her heartbeat soon evened out, showing that she was asleep. He stopped puffing his cigarette as he closed his eyes, but he couldn't rest. The incessant wailing from those skulls around him disturbed his peace.
Emilia woke up around eight that morning.
"Good morning," the handsome face was the first thing that appeared in his sight that morning.
"Good morning," Wallace answered.
"Are you okay now?" he asked.
"It's manageable, at least I can eat," she answered.
"Are you not going to work today?" he asked.
"I'm a boss, so I can afford to miss today; I will just hand it over to my assistant till I come back from Italy," she answered.
"When are you going to come back from Italy?" he asked.
"I will come back by the end of next week," she answered.
"Oh," he nodded his head.
"The work there must be very important," she said.
"It should be a turning point in my life; it's far too important," he answered.
"Hmm," she nodded.
Emilia spent the rest of the day at Wallace's place, just like that, she left in the evening. The weekend arrived, and Wallace didn't do much other than the Vicarious Vision moving to their new residence and also getting their new office. He and Emilia also went out during the weekend.
****************************
A new week soon arrived, and the first day passed till it was the evening of the New York Film Festival. The New York Film Festival is a festival that gathers artists from all around America together and presents a set of awards to the most outstanding directors, movies, and artists. All receive awards. It is one of the most important activities in the entertainment industries, as any artist who collects an award there will never be the same, and a director who receives an award there will never be the same.
Different American artists and directors and big shots arrived that night in luxurious cars, all along with big shots from France, Mexico, Italy, and other neighboring countries. With invitations, they walked on the red carpet as reporters clicked pictures, trying to get one or two words from the visitors. They know that the people who arrived are very important.
Joss also arrived with Squire and entered the hall. Not long after, Wallace arrived in Emilia's car. He was the driver. He got down from the car, and Emilia also got down; they held hands and walked the red carpet together. Emilia is also a well-known figure, as she is the leader of an uprising fashion design brand, "People Tree." They tried to get a word out of her mouth. Some even asked,
"Who is the young man beside you?" Wanting to know Wallace, but she just flashed a smile, while Wallace, though his face was neutral, emitted a cold demeanor that made the reporters purposely avoid him.
They both entered the hall. Very soon, the award-giving segment arrived. There are countless movies nominated, and "Ascension" was also nominated for a series of awards. The first award that the movie received was the best leading actor role. The second award that the movie received was the best supporting actress role, then it received the best visual effects and best sound editing. The movie was the highlight, as the actress and actors and the crew received awards; they bagged up to six awards at the same time before it all got down to the last three awards.
The Oscars award for best storyline, the best director, and best international film feature. This is an award for directors, as every director stood up.
"The award for the best international film feature, best storyline, and best director all goes to the directors of 'Ascension,' Joss Whendon and Wallace Ace," the lady announced. Finally, everyone heard about the mysterious person who wrote the movie.
Wallace stood up with a smile; he was in the middle row and walked towards Joss, who was at the first row. Joss smiled at him, and they both walked up the stage. The highlight was focused on them as they walked towards the stage, and people clapped. They all looked at Wallace with different gazes; they both received the award, and the microphone was given to them.
Joss was the first one to go on stage. "I'm actually honored that a movie I directed would bag these awards, just in a film festival, breaking the record of the most awards collected in just one festival, and all this could not have been possible if there was not a storyline to begin with. I will give it to the most talented writer I've ever seen, the one who wrote this movie," Joss said, and applause ensued as it was given to Wallace.
"I'm honored to be here, and I will just say I'm also lucky for the best director to be able to notice my work and direct it. To be honest, the only award I think I deserve here is the best storyline award. I just wrote, but the one who brought it to life and made it so brilliant that I could be nominated is Mr. Joss Whendon. I'm using this opportunity to thank Mr. Joss Whendon for noticing my novel, therefore giving me the chance to be here today," he said.
The audience applauded as Wallace and Joss held up their awards, smiling. The camera flashed, capturing the moment. After the awards ceremony, Wallace and Emilia attended the after-party, where they mingled with other celebrities and industry professionals.
.