Unranked

Chapter 7

Armaros

I sat on a stool I had brought from my apartment in Heaven.

On the floor, on a bed roll in the middle of the room, Josh laid. His breathing was soft, his hair disheveled.

His appearance had somewhat changed too. His hair looked as if it was bleached, a shade lighter than it was before. He was burnt too. I had bandaged his left eye as majority of the burns had seared him there. But it made me wonder. What burnt him? His own fire or whatever power he had used in his last fight?

That was another peculiar thing. How many powers did this boy have? What were the cost of using them? What was he?

My head snapped towards him as he stirred even though it was just mumbling.

I continued to wonder about this boy.

Josh

The world was tilted. I was in no place specifically, just high up over...well it could be any city. For some reason, I couldn't name it. It was like the memory of this city had just disappeared, fading to oblivion.

"Even now, your lost. In your own mind even!" It laughed. I turned towards it.

The thing that lived in me strangely looked exactly like me. His skin was red as if he got burnt. More like a scar actually. His clothes were white robes like a saint or Angels, ironically.

The only similar thing between us was our hair. But something unlike me, the sword that was strapped to his back. I couldn't see anything besides the handle sticking out from behind his head.

I don't know how long I've been here and why. I had spent my time looking around, wondering and recieving insults from him. He didn't seem keen on letting me go.

"Why am I here?" I asked for the umpteenth time.

He sighed. In a shimmer, he was inches in front of me.

"Guess. Where are you? Where is here?" He smiled. The smile looked exactly like mine, which was weird seeing, but I could see the danger and smugness behind his.

"My mind, I guess." I returned to looking at my surroundings as he had disappeared.

"Good luck trying to control yourself, Joshua. My power is too tempting to not use and the more you use it, the stronger I get!" He finished off laughing, his voice carrying throughout this strange city.

______

My eyes snapped open or should I say eye as on the left side was only darkness. I shivered and yanked a blanket over me. I didn't have a headache or anything else besides the one eye.

Wait, blanket?

I looked down to see a blanket covering my body. I could feel a bedroll underneath me as well as a pillow. Things I definitely did not own.

I shifted once more to see Armaros sitting on a stool.

Her multicolored eyes glittered in the sun, her hair shining a brilliant crimson brown. Her lips were set in a line. When she noticed me, she rested her head on her hand.

"You are finally awake." She said, her eyes glinting as they changed continuously.

I rubbed my forehead, feeling a bandage covering the majority of the left side of my face. "Was it longer this time?"

She nodded. "Considerably so."

I sat up and felt something turn within. I clutched my eye.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You passed out, and I carried you here again. While walking, I noticed something happening around your left eye. When I laid you down here, the tissue around your left eye was burnt. It's bandaged now and will take time to heal."

She looked at me, and her next question needn't be voiced. What had actually caused the burn?

" I've been thinking-," She continued.

"-That we should discuss what this actually is?" I finished. She nodded. "I've been thinking about it."

Images of what happened when I got trapped in this very room flashed in my mind. "The first time he appeared, he was vaguely humanoid and most of his body resembled a blazing fire. The second time though, he looked vaguely manlike."

"Perhaps he is trying to look like you?" Armaros suggested. In reply, I told her about my dreams of the strange city and my double.

"I have a few theories." She said, after I had finished. "One is that this is Demon inside you. If this is the case then the question is where. Where did the Demon enter you? Did he enter you here when you arrived before the judges or did he arrive when you died, entering your body at your last moments?"

I didn't want to answer because I couldn't. For when I arrived, I had lost my memories of my previous life only remembering that I had, in fact, died.

"What's the other theory?" I asked.

She looked at me, her expression unreadable. "This might not even be a Demon. This might be a manifestation of your real power, this thing might have been apart of you since your afterlife began. Perhaps it's taking revenge now that you've joined the Angels."

I looked at Armaros, a new theory of why this was happening forming." Perhaps it's taking revenge because I have forgotten him."

Armaros eyes narrowed and in two steps, she had closed the distance between us. I jumped back, trying to put distance between us but soon my back was against the wall and her breath was fanning my face.

"Are you saying that you do not remember anything from your life on Earth?" I nodded and her eyes widened as if she came to a realization. "Your him."