A Slayer With Wings

Five

"I'd like your help," she bursts out.

Guess I still hold a grudge against her for trying to kill me and Evangeline two years ago. "What do you need help for? More importantly, why would I help you?"

"You owe me for your life, and Jezebel too," Amber argues. "Plus, it's simple."

She sits down next to me, as if the table could get any more crowded.

"Close your eyes. I'll ask you a few questions and you'll answer. Okay?"

I don't know what that bitch is getting at, but I say, "Fine."

Amber relaxes. "Shut your eyes."

I do.

"Now imagine you're in a deep, dark dungeon in the middle of nowhere. There's a small torch, but it barely illuminates anything."

"You're good at descriptions," I say, picturing it.

Had I been looking, Amber would be smirking. "I worked as a reporter, silly. Anyway, you're chained to a wall, and so is your significant other. It's incredibly dirty, and the cold stone floors are covered in sewage, rats and traces of blood. You hate this place, and you want to go back home more than ever. You both notice that there's a small opening for both of you to escape. You can pick locks, and you work on the locks of your significant other. They give way. You tell her to go, and there's no need to wait for you. She bids you goodbye and goes.

"Suddenly, when you've freed yourself, and as you're prepared to leave, a shadow looms over you. It's Satan. He asks for the whereabouts of your significant other. How do you answer?"

"Amber, is this a quiz?" I ask, eyes still shut.

"Just answer the question!" she replies indignantly.

Hm. If I reply honestly that I don't know, Satan would order his men to search the whole dungeon, which increases the chances of my significant other being caught. If I lie, however... "I'd tell him that she escaped out of the window."

"Aaaaaand if he's convinced that you're lying, and tortures you to find out the real answer?"

"I'd keep on lying," I answer.

"You can stop now," she replies.

I open my eyes. "What was that for?

"I asked you because you remind me of Jezebel."

I'm confused as fuck. "Come again?"

Jezebel and I are like fire and water. She's a punk, and I'm not. She dyes her hair to not be judged by her natural hair colour. I don't have any need for that. She's selfless. I'm selfish. She's courageous, and I'm...I admit I'm cowardly.

"You're both pretty similar. On first glance, distant, but polite. You're both strong, and good fighters. You're both willing to act, and though you don't act like it, you both know where your loyalties lie, and you will always have the organization's best interests at heart."

"Um...thanks?" I'm still confused as hell.

"I asked you to figure out what Jezebel would do."

"But I'm not your girlfriend!"

"But your psychological profiles are similar. I figured that with your answers, I can roughly guess what Jezebel's trying at."

Bitch.

"Ask your precious girlfriend!" I snap at her. I'm irritated she's using me.

Suddenly, Evangeline taps me on the shoulder. "Yes, honey angel?"

"Just wanted to tell you that we're meeting at the gates in five minutes, sugar pie. We're departing."

Wait...five minutes? I haven't even packed my bag!

Shit!

I fly up to my quarters ASAP, grab my stuff, and shove it into a backpack. I quickly check. I've got two water bottles, a change of clothes, a first-aid kit, a knife and my trusty sickle, along with its spare. I throw on some more appropriate clothes, i.e. a T-shirt and shorts.

I dash downstairs towards the gate as fast as I can, trying to make it in less than a minute.

Have you ever tried to run down the stairs? You want to get down as fast as you can, but you end up walking, out of fear that you'll loose your footing and eventually your balance, and that you'll slip and slide all the way down the stairs, breaking a few bones in the progress. That's exactly what happens to me.

Fuck the fact that the organization has stairs that end with a few feet of flat floor, then a wall, which means you have to spin around 90° to reach the next flight of steps. It also means that I skid right into a wall!

I try to run as fast as I can, but I still arrive fifteen minutes late.

Everybody else is ready, which kinda sucks. Our youngest group member is bidding Foodie goodbye.

Aw, does little Goodie have a crush?

Kev is daydreaming. Evangeline is checking her freshly manicured nails. Trixie is in full armour, leaning close to Finch as they discuss something in hushed voices, and it's sweet.

I head towards my old friends. "Hey guys. Sorry I'm late."

Nobody replies.

It takes an awkward ten seconds until Finch speaks up. "Team, Trix and I have it figured out. We go to hell-"

Is that supposed to be an insult or not?

"-we sneak on a ship, in three pairs, and wait for each other at the pier of the Green Sea. Then, we travel across the Blue Forest and enter hell from there. Or we kill ourselves right here and ask our judges to take us to hell. What do you guys think?"

I raise my hand. "One question. Shouldn't it be Blue Sea and Green Forest?"

Finch checks his map, then Trixie's. "No mistake. So the first plan is efficient, but takes about three weeks to complete. The second will be immediate, but we can't be sure it will work." he smirks at the rest of us. "Soooo what's it gonna be?"