Don't Die

The elevator's bronze door closed, it blended with the light brown wooden walls of the hideout we had just entered. A couple of steps in front of us was an entrance that led to a hall.

The sound of accelerating footsteps echoed from ahead. The small hallway had two wooden doors on its walls, they led to new rooms. A flickering gas lamp hung beside each one of them.

“Lisa! You finally came.” A short, blond-haired girl showed up.

Lisa? A different way to say Liselotte?

“I missed you!” The blond girl ran and hugged the non-caring Liselotte. Her light blue eyes glimmered with innocence. Innoncence that felt fake.

Is this a member of the team? Her dark black clothes caught my attention. The colors simply matched the clothes I and my two companions were wearing.

On her upper body, she wore a loose blouse that seemed a little too big for her. The wide shorts she was wearing left her pale legs and thighs uncovered.

“It’s only been three days, calm down,” Liselotte said as she pushed the pale girl to the side and walked to the inside hall.

“Sir Thaniel, who’s this guy?” the blond girl asked as she looked at me, her light blue eyes shone like a lake of pure water.

“This is Veylen, stuff happened and he ended up joining us. Take care of him.” Thaniel took off his short hat. “Veylen, this is Yara. A member of the team,” he said as he patted the blond haired girl.

Yara, strange name.

“Nice to meet you Veylen!” She stood in front of me and smiled.

What? I looked at her for a moment and ignored whatever she said. I followed Thaniel deeper inside the hideout, my black boots slamming to the gray stone ground.

“Aaaah finally some rest!” Thaniel hopped on the lime green sofa that was in the left part of the main hall.

“Veylen, come sit next to me. Let’s rest a little,” Liselotte said, she pointed at the empty space on the sofa she was sitting on. Both of them removed their black gloves and put them on the table.

“The other members will join us soon.” She crossed her legs, her left boot on top of the small leather carpet that was under the sofas and the table.

I sat next to her, leaning my back on the comfortable sofa. I wasn’t used to sitting a lot, so the act itself was strange.

"Here is some coffee." The short blond girl approached the small round table carrying a plate that had three glass cups of coffee. She came from the right side of the hall.

On the right side, a long big oak table stood, surrounded with chairs. Behind it, was a cooking area. An iron stove below a wooden shelf that held plates and storage jars.

"Thanks, Yara.” said Thaniel.

Each one of us grabbed a cup of coffee, I decided to keep it on the table. In my memories, Veylen didn’t like coffee.

“Yara, call the others.” The dark-haired man took a sip of his coffee. “We have a dangerous urgent matter to discuss,” he added, the smile faded from his face.

I assume the urgent matter is about the silver-haired Celestial.

I couldn't help but feel my blood boiling with rage whenever I thought of that person. Maybe him being the person who killed Veylen and my dedication towards survival caused that reaction. Or so I assumed.

Inside the main hall, were two doors. The one behind the sofa I and Liselotte sat on opened, the sound of unfamiliar footsteps came from its direction.

“Dangerous matter?” A red long haired man that looked about the same age as Veylen, said as he closed the door behind him.

“Took you long enough, Nemir. Were you sleeping?” Thaniel looked at the red haired man’s black eyes, the corners of his mouth lifted.

Another member? How many are here? His black clothes similar to mine pushed me into an obvious conclusion

“I’ve been sleeping the whole day. It’s my rest day after all,” the red haired man replied, rubbing the back of his head.

“Lazy ass,” Liselotte took a sip of her coffee before adding, “Veylen, this idiot is Nemir.”

Nemir, his name is less strange than Yara.

“Nice to meet you, Veylan. I’ll call you Vey.” Nemir said with a ridiculous smile.

Nice to meet you again. What does that even mean?

“Okay,” I firmly answered, not knowing what to do.

“Vey… Good one, Nemir.” Liselotte grinned and looked at me. “From now on, your name here is Vey,” she added in a prideful tone.

“Well that clears the picture. Welcome to The Funeral Ravens, Vey.” Thaniel patted my shoulder.

The Funeral Ravens?

“There are many departments and groups in the organization, each with their own traits and business. We Ravens specialize at working behind the scenes.” Thaniel explained, he smiled before announcing, “That doesn’t mean we’re not experienced at combat, we’re actually pretty scary.”

Scary, that’s not wrong at all. I recalled the trouble Thaniel caused me back in Roskaya.

“Anyways, everybody listen carefully, we have huge trouble to deal with. The Ostyra bastards figured out the sabotage operations we planned, and have already sent spies,” Liselotte declared, her hands crossed, elbows on the wooden table.

“What kind of spies?” Yara questioned, her expression seemed intrigued to know the answer.

“The one we confirmed so far is a quite popular figure in Roskalvia.” Thaniel took the last sip of his cup, “We’re talking about the Seraphic Knight, Argus Volgen. Silverial of Ostyra.” His expression hardened as he clenched his left fist.

“Argus Volgen?!” Both Nemir and Yara were shocked, their bodies slightly shaking.

Seraphic Knight, sounds powerful. I didn’t understand what the word signified.

“The bastard figured our plan. If the prime cathedral gets their hands on hostages, The Heretics will face tough consequences.” The crimson-eyed woman announced, “By the way, where is that stupid couple?” she added in a mocking tone.

“Kanya and Drik? They went to Charmiska town to investigate the failed sabotage operations. It’s been almost two days since they left.” Nemir answered before following up, “But they did send a letter today, they said they took a day off for dating.”

“Curse those two, damn idiots.” Liselotte leaned on the comfy sofa. She slammed her legs on the wooden table before crossing her leather boots.

“Are you jealous of them? Don’t worry, even a woman like you will eventually find love.” Thaniel giggled.

“Am gonna kill you.” The black haired woman spoke, her crimson eyes deeply glaring at Thaniel.

Are they going to fight? Hearing the word kill stressed me out.

Minutes of coffee drinking and conversations I hardly understood passed.

“Vey, follow me.” Liselotte stood up and walked towards the wooden door Nemir previously walked through.

“Where?” I asked her.

“To the tower, the celebrations will begin soon.” She opened the wooden door and walked in. I followed her.

The small space we entered had two sets of metal staircases.

“The upper ones lead up to the highest floor in the tower. It’s private, we’re the only ones able to reach it.” Her feet began climbing up the stairs.

“What about the lower stairs?” I asked while following her up.

“Those lead to the training center and shooting space. Nemir sleeps down there, we only have three rooms in the main hall.”

Training center, that could serve useful for practicing my Hellfire abilities.

Step by step, we eventually reached the very top wooden-iron balcony. The lights of the city sparkled like the windows of The Eternal Church of Chains back in Hell, a mesmerizing sight.

“Say, Veylen.” Liselotte put a cigarette between her lips, “Do you really not remember anything of your memories?” She lit it.

This question again…

“I hardly remember the surface, but no details.” I replied with the same answer, mimicking Veylen’s way of talking.

“Do you have any goal?” A ring of smoke left her mouth.

My goal… heaven. I struggled to choose an answer.

“I simply don’t wanna die.” I frankly said.

For the first time since I met her, Liselotte took off her short black hat. Her black hair resembled the night sky.

“You know, the idiot Thaniel is my slightly older brother. He’s 32 while am 29. He’s the only person left from my family.”

Brother? a family member, a person you have a blood bond with… Even Veylen’s memories struggled to guide me through understanding what family truly meant.

“I lied when I said it was his idea to keep you alive and make you join us. It was actually mine.” The crimson red in her eyes merged with the city’s glimmering sparkles.

“Why?” I questioned her confession.

“Back when my family was still there for me, I had a younger brother. Despite the hardship we faced every day due to our social condition, I always fought to get money and take care of him and my parents.” Her eyes began tearing up, “The smile on his face brought genuine joy to my heart. He was my reason to live.” Her tears showered the iron fence of the balcony.

Tears… a sign of sadness. My mind didn’t fully grasp the complete picture of emotions yet.

“The reason I really wanted you to join us is quite simple. You simply looked exactly the same like my young brother.” She wiped her eyes with her sleeves, “Quite the selfish reason, isn’t it?” She turned to me. Her face full of tears, barely managing to force a smile.

Her dominant presence is weirdly collapsing.

“Veylen…” Liselotte’s striking eyes stared at me.

The city’s dark night sky began blooming with colorful light. Magical flowers of all colors scattered in the distant horizons of Korivale city.

Did the celebrations start? As the magical flowers flew across the glowing landscape, what I waited to see finally occurred. Something I finally was familiar with in this world, the colossal perfectly round purple moon, the rising moon of a new era.

“Veylen…” She stepped closer to me before holding my hand with her thin soft fingers.

“Please… Don’t die.” She raised her head, directly facing me. “Promise me you won't die.” Her tears showered the ground. The purple moon watching over us from the heavens.

Why is she crying? The whole interaction seemed weird to me, but a part of me understood the situation. This time the answer was clear.

“I won’t die, I promise—”

PZZZZZZTTT!

!!!!!!

Someone appeared from nowhere, I only saw white leggings standing on the iron fence.

“Die.” I heard.

I barely managed to turn my right eye to the side. Liselotte’s soft hands still holding into mine.

“Argus Volge—”

ZAAAAAAAAAP!!

A faster than light blast of lightning roared, shattering the tower and fully perishing every structure in the area. Including the tavern.

The final echo I heard was the cries of a woman.

I knew that voice.