A statement of a soul | Raphael x Reader

1. Gathering Information

You sit still, your eyes closed as you begin to slowly draw a breath into your lungs, feeling the controlled motion of your chest and belly expanding to accept the oxygen inside. Your mind becomes clear, as you listen to your body, how it exhales without any interruption; becoming a part of the song of a calm evening, adding new notes to the sound of the calmly flowing water, some distant chats of refugees gathered at Rivington and the scorching of the nearby fire and torches.

You know what you have to do. You have to make a decision that will solve a problem at hand, but the solution is something that everyone around you keeps presenting differently.

Gale wants to have the Crown, to deliver it to Mystra. The same cruel goddess who not so long ago advised him to march into the heart of the Absolute and blow himself up. To Gale, it might be an honorable death, but to you it is a request from a God that a mortal, of whom she was once fond of, should take their own life, just because she will not defuse a bomb hidden inside his body. And you were pretty sure that it was within her abilities to do so.

Raphael, the very person who briefly explained the complicated history of the Crown to you and a few of your companions, wanted the powerful item for himself. According to him, he is aiming to end the Blood War, raise as the Archdevil Supreme and also unite all of the Nine Hells under his banner.

Because of his nature, you know that there is a piece of information missing. And as it usually happens with the devils - the missing information is most likely the last piece of puzzle you needed to figure out the most suitable solution.

You draw another slow, deep breath in. Even though your eyes are closed, you can sense your surroundings, you can sense the life force of the nearby resting companions. It isn't late in the evening, but your team is regaining strength after a ruthless combat with the cultists of Bhaal.

You are one step closer to retrieving the crown, but the situation still doesn't seem to clear up. You had faith in the Emperor, until Raphael made you realize that you might just be his puppet.

'You are much simpler,' he said to you, merely four days ago at Sharess Caress. 'The Emperor's words serve as both the carrot and a stick,' he spat out, not even hiding how repulsed the words made him feel.

You exhale, and rid your mind of all the thoughts, making sure that the very inhabitant of your brain, will not see through what exactly happened inside the Devil's Den.

Then, you open your eyes and slowly stand up. Usually your meditation practice supposed to make your mind clear and synchronize it with your body, however with so many complicated choices at hand, you separated yourself from other stimuli in order to come up with the best plan for the issues at hand.

Still feeling the lightness of your steps, focusing your awareness on the ground below your soles and how firmly it felt when stomped upon, you let your feet carry you to Shadowheart's tent. She looks well given the recent events with her short reconnection with her parents.

'Do you need anything, Tav?' She is quick to notice you approaching.

'Your trust,' you respond and lower yourself to meet her face-level, as she sits with her legs crossed on a nice, blue blanket.

'I thought you knew that you already have it.'

You smile at her and give her a nod.

'Just making sure,' you clarify. 'There is something I need to do alone. Something that I can hear is calling to me. I do not wish any of you to follow me, not because I don't want to, but because my intuition guides me, telling me that I need to be alone for it.'