In the material world, the bodies of myself and Grayson laid seemingly asleep in the hospital waiting room. Our consciousness however was in the soulscape of the comatose kid who was possessed by the demon, named Hayden.

Even though the demon left his body and was destroyed by me a fragment still remained, not unlike a parasite in the soulscape. The process of possession is traumatic enough to cause the body to shut down. The demon leaves fragments, memories of itself which spread and infect the person, eventually overwriting their soul and causing them to awake from their coma changed, a demon themselves.

That was why we were there. The demonic fragment had to be found, and destroyed.

“Where are we.” I asked.

“Hayden’s room I think.” Grayson said. “I’ve never been in here but…” He pushed open the door. “Yeah I recognize the house.”

“I’m surprised you can tell these houses apart.” I said as we continued through it. “They all look the same to me. So how well do you know this kid?”

“Honestly I don’t.” He said. “We used to hang out as kids but then Aunt Catherine decided to keep us away from him. Now I still see him at homeschool class but like, we never discuss anything deeper than video games.”

“What happened that caused your Aunt to keep you apart?” I said.

“Well he tricked my sister into thinking our parents’ ghosts were in the basement.” He said.

“And what happened?” I said.

“Nothing.” He said. “Well I mean she thought she saw something but she was really young when it happened.”

“Interesting.”

“What’s interesting?”

“Nothing.” I said. It probably was too, but it couldn’t hurt to look into it.

Every room in the house was devoid of any sign of life. Everything was untouched, in pristine condition. Perfect. Perfection sounds ideal on paper but once you find something completely perfect it becomes unnerving. The lack of flaws becomes a flaw in itself, as the human brain tries to process how something so ideal it doesn’t seem real, is real.

A photo album was sitting on the table. Thus far the only thing I’d found seemingly out of place. I picked it up. Inside were pictures of Hayden, his sister, presumably his parents. Hayden was smiling in most of the photos from when he was a young child. As he gets older he smiles less in them and there start to be seemingly less pictures of him.

“Is that normal?” Grayson pointed at the window. The “sky” was a perfect pitch black, similar to in the Other Side .

“It is normal for demons.” I said. “We should try the basement.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Just a feeling.”

The stairway to the basement was a tight corridor lit with only a single bulb, its harsh yellow light tinting the wooden stairs. Immediately the vibe was different. The stainless house giving way to a rustic underworld.

The claustrophobic descent finally gave way into a labyrinth of shelves filled with tools, toys, and heirlooms buried and long forgotten amidst the mass of acquired “stuff”. The lighting was even worse down here, just enough that you could see the outline of everything in the room, but not enough that you could make out specifics.

My suspicion was correct. This was a place marked by death.

Navigating the labyrinth, one could feel eyes watching them, omnipresent, but always just outside of peripheral vision. No matter how much one searched, they could never be found. Always seeing, but never seen. That was the true horror.

Clang! Something fell on the floor behind me. Instinctively I turned around as fast as my body would allow. Behind us, standing in front of the stairway back up. Hayden.

Or so it appeared.

<Previous – Next>

“So, let me get this straight.” I said, spinning back and forth in my swivel chair. “You want to go over to the emergency room, go into Hayden’s ‘soulscape’, so that you can expel the demons inside of him.”

“And then he’ll be back to normal, right?” Laura interjected.

“And they think I’m the one that needs medication.” I said. “Grayson told me about his vision quest or whatever, so I can buy that part. What I’m having more trouble with is you Thalia. It’s nothing personal I just don’t trust anyone I know nothing about.”

“That is understandable.” Thalia said. “It is only fair you should know who I am. I was born in Thessalonica on March 23rd 987 AD. My parents died when I was about six, I lived on the street after that. I lost my eye in a fight when I was twelve. When I was eighteen I had a ‘vision’ quest of my own, my hair turned green, and I became a Seraph. After this I met San, Grayson’s previous life, and we became best friends. For the next thousand years I’ve been killing demons and navigating Seraph politics. Does this satisfy you?

“So you’re a thousand years old?” I said. “You don’t look a day over twenty.”

“Listen kid.” Thalia said, leaning over grabbing each armrest on my chair to stop my spinning. “I don’t need your permission to do this. I am going tomorrow. I just thought I would be nice and offer you the chance to join.”

“How generous” I said.

“Why don’t we all relax for a second.” Grayson said, causing Thalia to back off. “Look worst case scenario we all look like idiots. There’s no harm in trying. Plus, I think it’s more than fair after you insisted I go with you to that abandoned church.”

Damn, Grayson is really going to pull that one. I look at Laura. “What about you?”

“I don’t understand any of this but, if there’s a chance it’ll help my brother.”

“Alright, I’m outvoted and I’m not going to be a hypocrite.” I said. “Guess we’re going to the ER tomorrow.

---

Towards the end of the night, after Thalia and Laura left, it was just me and my brother, still in my room, past midnight, the both of us sitting on the bed.

“Do you really think this is going to work?” I said.

“This is still all new to me too.” He said. “I’m still getting a grip on what all of this means. I’ve felt… different since that night, like I’m somehow more connected to others, and to myself. I don’t know what that means yet, but I’m hoping Thalia can help me figure this out.”

“You must trust her then.” I said.

“Call it an instinct” He said. “It might be that past life stuff she was talking about, some subconscious memory telling me she is a friend. Could be wrong, but I hope not.”

“I trust your judgment, big dummy.” I said.

“I guess we should get some sleep then.” He said, standing up. “I get the feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

“Good night blueberry”

“Good night crazy.”

<Previous – Next>

Defining “Purpose” in Seraphic theology

Like most religious texts, the Seraphic Bible seeks to, at least on some level, explain the meaning of existence, in essence what the “purpose” of life is.

As with most beliefs concerning eternal reoccurrence, there is an element of karmic justice in what happens to a soul after death. This doesn’t mean that leading a good life will guarantee a cushy happy life in the next, often the opposite is the case! The purest souls are often reborn as the downtrodden of society, perhaps cosmic confirmation that money can’t buy happiness?

More interestingly is the punishment for evil behavior, especially the most egregious kind. It would seem that the more cruel and malicious the acts of a person, the more likely that they will become a demon after death. A demonic soul is one so tainted by impurity that it doesn’t enter the cycle of reincarnation, but rather lingers, its hate binding it to the world. Without the physical form of a body, demonic souls must poses the bodies of others to interact with the world. As the demon lingers in its state of undeath, its psyche continually degrades, becoming ever mindless, losing all grip on who they originally were to begin with. A truly dark fate indeed.

Ostensibly the purpose of Seraphs is to fight these demons, but given that they came into existence before demons, and that it was a Seraph that created them, what then was their original purpose? Perhaps like man they were pure before their “original sin” (killing their creator, One).

Thus for thousands of years, souls reincarnate into new bodies, Seraphs and demons fight. Is this a truly eternal cycle? One in which all involved are stuck? Or is there and ending at which the true purpose of these beings is revealed?

<Previous – Next>

Hell isn’t fire and brimstone. It’s actually cold, almost icy. Standing atop the Grand Ziggurat of Uggae, there was no wind to speak of, or any kind of weather, so the cold was just inherent in this place.

Sabreal had told me how Infernium came to be. The Ziggurat I stood upon was originally the center of a Mesopotamian city in ancient times. Sabreal used the cities population to test what would eventually become the first demons. In one of her most successful experiments she turned the entire city into demons. It was then that the 5000 year war between Sabreal and the other Seraph began. Sabreal also phased the city from the mortal realm into the other side, creating her own realm as a counterpart to Inanu’s Caelum.

And it was a realm that fit her. An endless dark maze created from the remains of a dead civilization. Most would probably find it horrific, but me, I felt nothing. As far as I know I’ve been alive for eighteen years, and yet for all that time I can’t remember feeling anything once. I don’t remember anything before waking up in that field. Afterward I lumbered through life, without purpose, wandering from place to place.

Throughout those eighteen years I had dreams… memories? I saw a best friend I didn’t know, a war I didn’t remember, I saw another life, one that didn’t feel like mine. Sometimes in the dreams I was someone who looked like I did, living in the distant past, other times I was a boy, living in the present day.

Most of the dreams blurred together, I couldn’t make sense of them, but one was at least somewhat coherent. It was also the only one that didn’t involve either of the other two lives, but felt like it was experienced by me. I’m laying down, I think in that same field I woke up in. Someone stands above me, with an androgynous face and long hair. I could hear a few words spoken.

“You are something completely new my child. Neither Seraph nor demon, but something in-between. In time you will help me finally restore order to this world. But first… revenge.”

Eventually I was found and taken in by Sabreal, and shortly thereafter I met my doppelganger, the one I had been seeing through the eyes of in my dreams. My questions still remained, who was I, what was my purpose?

Sabreal interrupted my thoughts. “I have given you purpose my child. In return I expect that you will accomplish the task I have bestowed upon you.”

Until I can finally meet my creator and discover the reason for my connection with the other Seraph, I will do what Sabreal asks of me. I turn around and face her. “One thing first. After all this time I’ve finally decided on a name for myself. Call me Aurora.”

<Previous – Next>

Kish Blackwell < kishblackwell03@smail.com > (11/01/2019)

Dear Leigh Leblanc,

My brother and I have been watching your videos since 2013, I’ve read almost all of your books, I would consider you the most brilliant mind in a field of charlatans (except your ancient aliens video, which was, with apologies, stupid tbqh). Thus you are the only person I can think of to ask advice from in this matter.

I have attached a video to this email which shows the creatures that attacked me and my brother. After the video we were harassed by a woman who identified herself as a Seraph (presumably a reference to the Seraphic philosophy), who kidnapped my brother.

I know what I saw, I know I’m not crazy, right now you’re the only one I know would understand. If you have time let me know your thoughts on the video and what you think might have happened to my brother.

-Kish

Leigh Leblanc < virginiabeachleigh@smail.com > (11/09/2019)

Dear Kish.

I am happy to hear you are (mostly) a fan. I’m always skeptical when sent video “evidence” but yours is at the very least more convincing than usual. It doesn’t seem doctored but I do find myself unsure if the creatures are actually some kind of demonic presence or regular humans moving erratically. There’s never a clear shot of them.

I don’t have enough information to comment further on the situation so could you perhaps provide a more detailed description? If you can describe the woman who called herself a seraph as well. I’ve mostly considered the Seraphic Bible to be mere fiction but I have had my theories on what they might be like if they did exist.

P.S. I am sorry to hear about your brother, I hope that he will turn up soon.

-Leigh

Kish Blackwell < kishblackwell03@smail.com > (11/09/2019)

My brother turned out to be fine actually! And it seems they weren’t actually demons after all. I’m sorry to have wasted your time. I’ve waited my whole life for something like this and I guess I got too excited.

---

“Satisfied?” I said, disappointed that I had to lie to my idol.

“Quite.” Thalia said. “Just the fact that you know as much as you do is bad enough. You are to speak of this to no one.”

“Okay, okay fine fine. I get it.” I said.

---

PS: It was a one eyed woman with green hair calling herself “Thalia.” Let me know if that means anything to you.

-Kish

<Previous – Next>

“Now that is an ugly wig.” The violet haired woman behind me comments. She was about two heads shorter than me, and puts on a faux French accent despite being Russian.

“Is that any way to speak to your elders, Rose?” I said. I was camping out in an abandoned house changing my appearance when she decided to show up.

“You know it wasn’t that long ago I had my hundredth birthday. That makes me the elder to most people.” She said. “It’s not my fault that you just can’t die.”

“Sorry to disappoint.” I said, holding up the black bob cut wig. “You are right, thought, it is tacky. The things we do to be conspicuous.”

“Apparently the kid is just flaunting his blue hair.” She said. “It’s stylish now, so you might as well dump the wig.”

“Fair enough.” I say, tossing the wig at her. “I know you’re not here just for a fashion critique though.”

“I heard the traitor was here… and another San? I don’t know if I can handle two of them running around.”

“I don’t know what I saw yet.” I said. “Knowing Sabreal she’s probably trying to trick us.”

“She’s just digging her grave even deeper. If that woman thinks she can win after all this time she’s truly delusional. Doesn’t matter how many demons she throws around, it’s only a matter of time. What really interests me is what happens after she’s gone.” She said.

“And what happens after?” I said.

“I think you know.” Rose said, standing up. “It’s in our nature I think, when there’s a void without conflict, we simply create conflict. What’s practically the first thing that happened with out kind. The old man killed our creator. Guess what happened after that? Sabreal started her coup. Hell look at what happened to my parents, those rich aristocrats. When they got the guillotine, after the revolution, they just found more people to kill. I think conflict is in our nature sis.”

“And what’s your point?” I said.

“After Sabreal dies you think a bunch of scheming immortals are just going to twiddle their thumbs and sing kumbaya? They’re all busy making plans for what happens after that, and you can bet at least one of them is going to be the next Sabreal.”

“Not you though.” I said. “You’re too smart for that.”

“I’m glad we understand each other.” She said. “Don’t misunderstand, I’m not sentimental, I just like being on the winning side. What about you? Plan on being there with me?”

“I plan on figuring that part out when I get there.” I said, walking towards the door. “Be seeing you, Rose.”

“Au revoir old lady.” She said.

I walked the same path towards Grayson’s house. This time there was no need to rush so I took my time and walked at a steady pace. Rose’s words didn’t really bother me. She hadn’t told me anything I didn’t already know, it was an open secret that each Seraph conspired behind the others’ backs. I had even indulged in a big of it myself. I wasn’t worried too much about the future though, I had a feeling all those schemes would just blow up in their faces. Me? I didn’t really want anything except a good life for me and Blue. Beyond that? Nothing in this world really mattered.

I knocked on the new door that had been installed. A woman in her mid to late thirties with messy black hair and glasses opened the door. “You must be Theodora.” She said.

We’d worked out my cover story already. I was a friend he’d met from the Leigh LeBlanc community. I was 18, interested in demonology, going into Emory to study Theology, my hobbies is martial arts. “Hello miss, nice to meet you.” I said.

“Likewise.” She said. “Come in come in. I’m really sorry about the mess, we had our house broken into last week and we’re still getting the place fixed.”

“No kidding.” I said.

She led me through the house straight to the younger sister’s room. I thanked her for her hospitality and she left. When I entered the room I saw Grayson, the sister, Kish, who was too busy on the computer to notice me come in, and the girl that I saw just after I killed the demon that day.

She put her hands over her mouth.

“It’s okay Laura, she’s with us.” Grayson said. “I told you that was all a big misunderstanding.”

“Hello.” I said. “I guess we haven’t formally met, I’m Theodora.”

“Hey, I’m Laura. Sorry I’m just a bit high strung after what happened. It’s just… a lot to take in.”

“Grayson there’s something important we need to take care of.” I said. “It concerns…”

“It’ll have to wait.” Kish said. “We’re busy responding to an email from Leigh Leblanc themselves!

“What email?” I said.

<Previous – Next>

Another Friday morning. It had been a whole week since my house had been broken into and it still didn’t feel real. Even though in the back of your mind you know rationally there’s a chance that it could happen to you, most people assume it won’t. There’s no way someone could break into my house, right?

Still, life goes on, even if fixing all the damage is a pain in the ass (and wallet). In addition to replacing the front door and having to fix half the walls and floors I’d decided to get a security system for the house, just to be safe. At least Grayson turned out to be okay. Apparently all that happened was he ran off when the attacker came in the house and got lost on his way back with a dead phone! I’d been so worried about him.

I was hoping that another day at the homeschool group would mark something of a return to normalcy, but Hayden was still in a coma apparently. It wasn’t directly brought up, but it was clearly on everyone’s’ minds. Maria Douglas sat quietly in a corner, unsurprisingly.

I hadn’t actually talked to her since the hospital last week, so I figured I should check on her. I sat next to her and put my hand on her shoulder. “How are you holding up?”

She nodded her head. “I’m alright, all things considered. The doctors still aren’t sure if Hayden is going to wake up.”

“I’m really sorry.” I say, wrapping my arm around her now and trying to comfort her. “If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

“Thanks, Catherine.” She said. “How are your kids holding up?”

“They’re alright. I think they were scared more than anything. I’m still worried about Kish. Like if she’s having hallucinations… I don’t know what to think. At least she has big brother to help look after her.”

“They’re good kids.” Maria said. “They don’t deserve what’s happened to them.”

“Oh yeah, first their parents, now this?” I said. “I’m going to get a panic attack from worrying about them.”

“It’s natural to worry about them. I know I still worry about mine.” She said. “Are there any leads on whoever did it yet?”

“Nothing.” I said. “You’d think with a crime scene like that there’d be SOMETHING to go on, but no. He’s probably going to get away with it. I tell you what if I could get my hands on him… I probably shouldn’t even say.”

“I won’t judge, I’d like to give him a piece of my mind myself.” She said.

“Well I’m glad I have your support.” I said. She still seemed sad so I decided to lighten the mood a bit. “Did you see Grayson’s new hair… it’s unexpected.

“What made him decide to dye it blue?”

“I don’t know but hey, I did crazier stuff when I was his age. Actually I kind of think it suits him.”

“It does match his eyes.” She said.

“Apparently he has a new friend coming over later too.” I said. “Someone he met online, she has one eye, super tall, apparently she’s like… really into all that supernatural stuff too.”

“Aren’t you concerned about that at all?” She said. “Seems like Kish takes that interest a bit too far if she’s started hallucinating about it.”

“It’s a harmless interest just like any other. There has to be something underlying for her to have problems like that, and that’s what worries me. I keep wondering what I missed. Were there signs I should have noticed?”

“You’re doing your best Catherine.” She said. “That’s all any of us can do.”

“Thanks Maria.” I said.

We talked a bit longer, until classes were over. I think I brightened her spirits a bit, even if only temporarily, and that was enough for me. I agreed to have Laura over again. Between the four of them I knew the teens were going to keep each other busy. Which was fine by me, I was happy to take some time to myself for once.

For the first time since the break in, I felt like it was all going to be okay.

<Previous – Next>

Once when I was younger I had a very vivid dream. It only lasted a few seconds from my perception, but it has stuck with me ever since. I was sitting in my room doing… something. Then for some reason I decided to get up, I opened the door to my room and all I saw was darkness. A massive black impenetrable wall where the hallway usually was. Surprisingly this didn’t freak me out. I just calmly closed the door, walked over to the window, and opened my blinds. The same darkness greeted me outside. It was like my room was the only thing in existence trapped in a never-ending empty void. The only things in the universe were me and this room. This existential thought didn’t phase me either. I just sat down and went back to what I was doing, which is when I woke up.

I suppose the meaning of that dream was that this room was almost my whole world. The space between these four walls was where I spent most of my time. Every possession I owned was in here, this was where my schoolwork was, even when Laura came over this was where we would hang out. This was how it was for almost everyone I knew my age. It wasn’t so bad but… sometimes it did feel almost like a self imposed prison, one I’d gotten so used to that no other place felt comfortable. Maybe when I died my ghost would linger here, never wanting to leave this place.

Ah yes, ghosts. That reminded me the reason why I was back in my room letting my mind wander. Our visit to the church was a total bust! I left with more questions than I had to begin with! Those mysterious women just… disappeared. And at the very moment they left I had a deep, sickening feeling, like I was going to throw up. I felt like I was being used. Used purely as a vessel to find my brother, wherever he was, and the worst part was that all it amounted to for me was a big damn waste of time. And who was that woman who looked just like Grayson? Gah! If I ever find that Sabreal woman again I’m going to make her sorry she ever ****ed with me.

It was almost 1AM at the time. I had nothing better to do than wait for a reply to my email. I’d been staring at the ceiling fan circling and the generic ceiling that surrounded it. If I stared long enough at the fan it was almost hypnotizing.

I checked my email again. Still nothing. I started rearranging things on my desk. I crumpled up old school notes to throw in the trash later, found that charger I was looking for like half a year ago, the one I’d given up looking for and just bought a new one instead, I find some candy wrappers that I should have just put in the trash to being with.

Bleh. I figured I should go to bed soon, but at the moment I wasn’t anywhere near tired enough to go to sleep. There was nothing more frustrating than laying in bed wanting to go to sleep but being unable to. My eyes were also sore from looking at my computer eagerly anticipating something to happen. I decided to turn it off so I wouldn’t be tempted to start waiting again.

In the meantime I would attempt to find something non-electronic to occupy my time until I was tired enough to sleep. Next to my bed was laundry basket full of unfolded clothes I’d been procrastinating on for days. What’s a few more days though?

Across the room from the be was my bookshelf which held the various media I had collected over the years. The top three shelves held my books, which included Leigh LeBlanc’s collected essays, their book on Sumerian mythology, and their one fiction work, a fantasy epic about an immortal cast out into the mortal realm entitled Enkidu. Besides that I also owned the Celestine Prophecy and The Secret (both of which were lame, even when I read them at 13), House of Leaves, Infinite Jest (which I bought because I wanted to prove how smart I was by reading it, but ironically I have still not attempted to read), the entire Twilight series (a gift from my American grandparents), the Hunger Games trilogy a handful of Stephen King books I’d never finished, about a dozen volumes of Bleach, multiple books concerning different accounts of ghosts and the supernatural. I also have a few Korean books I got from my grandparents when we visited them in Suwon. I could pick up any of these books and read if I wanted, but I didn’t feel like it. I didn’t think I was going to stay up that long. The shelf below these had a mix of old DVDs, CDs, and the video games I’d either bought or inherited from my brother. That was one of the nicer things about having an older brother, whenever he got tired of something he had, he gave it to me.

So I didn’t feel like reading, and I didn’t feel like doing my clothes. That didn’t leave much else. I sat on my bed and… got out my phone. All the things I was trying to avoid were all conveniently on this device. Only a few seconds I told myself. But I knew it was a lie, I was going to find something on Discord to deep dive in-between checking my email over and over again. I might as well go ahead and open it, see that nothing new was there before I went about wasting my time on the Internet.

Hours pass, I check my email, I go back and forth between apps. I look up at the clock at the top of my screen. 4:27, it’s really been that long. I’m too wired to go to sleep, but too tired to do anything meaningful with my time.

I hear a knock at my door. At first I right it off as me being delirious and mistaking it for something else. But then I hear it again. I get up and creep to my door. I open it.

“Hey sis.”

I wrap my arms around my big brother. “Hey dummy.” I said.

“Admit it, you missed me.” He said.

“Only when you admit you’re lost without me.” I said. “Now what’s with the hair blueberry?”

<Previous – Next>

Chapter 3: The Seraphic interpretation of the Soul (excerpt)

One of the more unique aspects of the Seraphic tenets is its conception of the soul. While reincarnation itself is an ancient concept, this interpretation is one that is bizarrely specific. This aspect alone explained and elaborated on at length several times in the text, amounting to a full 50 out of its 397 pages dedicated to explaining what the soul is and how its cycle of reincarnation works. Thus I have decided to dedicate an entire chapter to explaining in the simplest possible way the metaphysics of both, which will be no small feat.

To start with the very basics, the soul is the consciousness of a living being. It inhabits the body of the being but is also its own separate entity. When the body dies, the soul returns to “Latum Alterum,” which is where souls are created, returned, and sent into new bodies. This cycle occurs as follows:

the creation of a soul > the placement of a soul inside of a living body > the soul living out a life in that body > the body perishing and the soul returning to Latum Alterum > the soul lingers in Latum Alterum for a period of time > the soul is placed in a new body and the cycle continues

Thus like many mythologies, Seraphic belief is divided between the land of the living, and the land of the dead. Though perhaps it is better seen as a divide between the temporary flesh of the material world and the immaterial perpetual life of the soul. Souls can reincarnate as any species of being and it is implied, however not outright stated, that there is a sort of “karmic force” that determines what form the soul will take next. It is however clearly stated that a soul can become “corrupted” by strong negative emotions such as hate, which can damage the soul and cause it and its physical form to change in peculiar ways. It is from this damage that the first demons would later be created, just before the War of the Seraphs.

Just taken on its own the Seraphic concept of the soul could fill its own book, and has! For the sake of brevity I will necessarily have to skip many of the interesting, yet unimportant details regarding it (for further reading on the subject I recommend either my previous paper I wrote on the subject in 2015, or the book “The Seraphic Soul” by Professor Molly Ellis of the University of Cambridge). Even with the number of pages dedicated to the concept, there are still many aspects left vague or unclear. Presumably what happened was that the author drew from incomplete sources, with whatever answers there were lost to time, or perhaps in his increasing madness, he simply forgot to include them.

One interesting aspect that the text never elaborates on is the origin of the soul. There is no specific creation moment for Latum Alterum, perhaps implying it has always existed? It is explained that One was the very first soul on this planet, however there is no elaboration on what that entails. Did all other souls spawn from One just as the Seraphs did?

<Previous – Next>

I ran from the collapsing theater, ground shaking as I did. By this point I’d gained the awareness that I was in some kind of dream. Usually this realization meant the end of the dream but here it kept going. The unreality of my surroundings was both obvious yet still playing out. Now I was in some ruins. I realized this place had been appearing in my dreams recently, as had Thalia, though at the time I hadn’t made any connection between it and the real world.

Eventually I found myself confronted again by Thalia and another, a black haired woman named Sabreal, who I also somewhat recognized unconsciously, and not in a good way.  Thalia clearly didn’t like her either judging by her tense body language. Fists balled up, teeth gritted, she looked as if she was about to pounce on her at any second.

“Excellent, now both of you are here.” Sabreal said. 

“Leave.” Thalia shouted pointing at her.   

“Don’t be so aggressive Green.” Sabreal said. “I know we have had our differences but at least let me say my piece. Besides it is not like either of us can affect the other here anyway.”  

“… Fine.” Thalia said, beginning to pace back and forth.  

“All due respect but I know neither of you are real.” I said. ” You’re both part of the dream. Frankly I’d rather you just tell me how to wake up.”  

“Not real? Just a dream?” Sabreal said. “Oh, I see my former comrade has failed to explain. We are but visitors in the space that is your soul. This place, this beautiful, purest base of life. A whole world in itself, yet most never know its truth depths. Sad, is it not?”

“Oh Sabreal, as two-faced as ever.” Thalia said. “You speak of the purity of the soul as if you weren’t the one who first brought corruption into the soulscape.”

“It is sad that none of you bothered to understand.” Sabreal said. “We are the only beings that know the intricacies of the soul, yet only I have bothered to explore its full potential, only I have tried to discover what it truly is, and what our purpose in knowing is. This is what our master wanted us to do. Our real master, not the usurper you follow.”  

“You still haven’t answered my question.” I demanded. “How do I get out of here?”

“My child, don’t you understand you are here to find yourself Only then can you awaken a true Seraph.” Sabreal said. ” As it happens I have someone who can help you.”

“Sabreal! Whatever you are doing, stop.” Thalia said.

Sabreal smiled and continued anyway. Snapping her fingers, and once again the body of my past life, San appeared.

“You can’t trick me with illusions.” I said. ” I’ve seen this already.”  

“Impossible.” Thalia said. “What did you do Sabreal?! ”  

“So you sense her aura Thalia?” Sabreal said. “I did nothing, I just found her like this. Blue, your soul may have passed out of San when you “died,” but for some reason the body continued living, and simply created a new soul.”  

“No!” Thalia shouted. “That’s not possible, it’s unnatural.”  

“What do you say Blue?” Sabreal said, looking at me. “Together we can find out who you are. Who you really are.”  

I starred at San. She looked like me, maybe I was this person before, but, I knew she wasn’t me. I was me. No one else. And if this was my space, then I could control it.  “I am Grayson Park Blackwell! I don’t know who you think I am and I don’t care! Kish Park Blackwell is my sister, Catherine Blackwell is my Aunt! Only I can decide who I am! Now get out of my head.”

 The shaking of the ground turned even more violent. Reality itself was starting to destabilize. Sabreal and San both merely stood where they were, even as both started fading away.   

“I was hoping we could do this the easy way.” Sabreal said as she and San disappeared. “We’ll be seeing each other again.”  

The world continued to collapse, chunks of the sky started falling like it was nothing but a roof. I watched this sight with a shocking amount of calm.

And then I jolted awake, as did Thalia next to me. We were in some kind of darkness. It didn’t matter to me at the moment. I stood up. Ran my hand through my hair, grabbed a few loose ones, and pulled them in front of my eyes.

My hair was blue now.

I was a Seraph.

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