Light

15. Human

Is this what being human feels like? If so, I don't want it anymore. As I approach the building, the doors open, revealing Erah behind them. She steps aside, letting me run in. "Archon, what're you–" "Onyx is gone," I pant, leaning over with my hands on my knees.

I lift my body up all the way, moving my hands onto my head. Erah takes a step closer to me, her hands on my shoulders. "Archon, calm down. Tell me what happened," she moves a hand to my cheek, a comforting feeling. I can't focus or think about what to say, how to put my thoughts into words. "It's my fault he's gone, Erah. I didn't make it in time, I froze when I saw Veil, and–" "You saw who?" Erah interrupts me, unsure if she heard me correctly. "I saw Veil. In purgatory. He's why I was... Hurt. Purgatory is messed up, Erah. It's completely corrupted."

Erah grabs my hand and pulls me further into the building to the room I was in, forcing me to sit down. She shuts the door and sits on the rolling chair that she brings in front of me. "How bad on a scale to ten was it?" I think for a moment, but it doesn't take long for me to get my answer. "Ten. You could barely tell that it was purgatory, and all the corrupted Exoveils completely turned the whole place upside down. It would take Vega—or any other god—to restore it. But let's not focus on purgatory, please? We need to find Onyx. Eudokeo is still alive and he took him." As Erah looks into my eyes, the door slams shut, surprising the both of us. I look to the door and see Ira standing there, leaning against the door while panting.

"What are you–" "The HQ, it's flooded with luminaries," Ira takes a deep breath and gets off the door. "What?" Erah interrupts him, standing up quickly. "How did you know we have a headquarters?" I ask, ignoring the topic and my question being completely ignored. Ira finally opens the door and is pushed out of the way when Erah rushes through the doorway. "No, Erah! They're on their way here right now," he tries to pull Erah back. "W-wait, are they angry? What happened?" I stand up as well, walking towards them. Erah breaks out of Ira's grasp and leaves the room. "They're just making their way here, I don't know anything about it." Ira uttered as he turned to face me.

"How do you know this?" I asked before walking towards the door to look out, watching Erah walk down the hallway. "I went outside for a bit and I could see just... The brightest light I've ever seen. But it wasn't like a flashlight, it was moving. And that could only mean one thing," Ira responded. I heard the distress in his voice, but there was also something off about it. "Come on, we should go after her," he motioned towards the hallway with his hand, walking out of the room before looking towards me. I walked out after, not bothering to shut the door behind me. "Was Eudokeo with them?" I asked, not thinking when I did. It was worth a shot. "I don't know who that is." Ira began to quickly walk down the hallway in the direction that Erah went and I followed behind him.

"Where's Onyx?" Ira asked, turning a corner. "Eudokeo kidnapped him," I reply with anger in my voice, speeding up a little to catch up. Ira looks at me, sympathy visible in his eyes. But he doesn't say anything. He picks up the pace, turning his quick walk into a light jog and before I know it, we're already at the entrance. Ira was right. The light of probably above fifty luminaries shined through the glass door, blinding even me. "Erah!" I called out. "Backdoor, c'mon," Ira grabs my arm and pulls me, running towards the stairs. "But Erah–" "She's out the back, it's the only other exit." I nod and start running a little faster than Ira, not bothering to let him catch up as I make my way down the singular flight of stairs that leads to the back exit.

Erah's standing outside, impatiently tapping the ground with her foot. Ira manages to catch up while I make my way down the stairs and open the door. "Erah, I saw the luminaries. Ira's right," I panted. "I know, and the headquarters is compromised. We'll have to use Onyx's village as a place to stay for a while. Is that alright?" Erah asks. "What if it's flooded with luminaries?" I worriedly ask. She looks at me with an unidentifiable expression, but I think I know what she's thinking inside. "Can we get going now?" Ira interrupts us. Erah nods, holding her hand out to Ira. "Yeah. Grab on, I'll teleport us," she looks at me and then back at Ira. I place my hand over both of theirs, a way to continue hiding my fragility.