Of Angels and Demons: A New Generation

Finding a New Arm

Raven quickly heals and grunts. "You are skilled, teachers weren't exaggerating when they said you were a quick learner." Raven says as he yawns and rubs his cheek. "Getting out-skilled by a child. This new generation really is something else." Raven says as he waves before suddenly vanishing. Zen speaks up. "So, I'm guessing you want to join Malick and I on our trip?" Zen says as he closes his eyes. Moxi smiles and nods. I lean over a little and inspect Moxi, trying to find the cut on his body. "I saw blood, where were you cut?" I ask as Moxi laughs. "I just gripped the blade, but I heal quickly, remember?" He says as he punches my shoulder lightly. "But I'm glad you were worried about me." Moxi says as he smiles widely. Aziria quickly speaks up. "I would also like to tag along if that's alright?" She asks as Zen nods. "So where are we going?" Moxi asks as Zen sighs. "Well it'll take a while, but we'll eventually find Athena." Zen says as Aziria whips her head over and looks at him. "Queen of the Techians?" Aziria asks as Zen nods. "I can't remember where she is, navigating through all the universes isn't very easy." Zen says as Aziria laughs, but covers her mouth trying to hide it. "I hope Malick isn't like you, always thinking with brute force." Aziria says as she closes her eyes. While her eyes are closed Moxi speaks up. "So just to make sure I'm right, you are Malick's father, correct?" Moxi asks as Zen nods. "It's pretty obvious, you look very similar. I wonder what your mother looks like." Moxi says as a portal opens beside Aziria. As I look through, I see hundreds of silver skyscrapers stretching thousands of feet high. "Honestly, I think you will never change, you need to go out and explore more. I've got a lot of universes memorized." She says as Moxi squints. "How do you memorize a universe? Is it like saving a location on your phone?" He asks confusingly as she laughs. "No, it's more like memorizing a feel. All energy gives off different feelings, even if only by a little. It takes a lot of practice, but when mastered you can track any energy you've memorized." She says as Zen looks to her. "So, do you know where Kai is?" He asks, almost nervous. "No, his energy completely changed the last time we saw him." She says as she waves towards the portal. "After you guys." She says as Zen sighs and walks through. Moxi and I quickly follow him. As we step out onto the grass a few people come from buildings and start walking towards us. "We're here to see Athena." Zen says as Aziria steps in front of us. "ATHENA!" Aziria screams as a woman appears in front of her. Her body is mostly metal, teal energy seemingly flowing through her silver and black suit. Symmetrical spots of flesh on her stomach and thighs. She has bright red eyes and long flowing silver and grey hair. "Haven't seen you in a while, care to introduce me to your new friends?" The woman asks as Aziria looks back to us. Moxi quickly jumps forward. "I'm Moxi, nice to meet you Athena." He says as he grins. I wave slightly. "I'm Malick." I say quietly as Athena quickly looks at my left arm. "You're here for a prosthetic limb, aren't you?" She asks as Zen speaks up. "Yes, his energy pathways are damaged so he can't heal properly." Zen says as she looks at me. "What kind of metal?" She asks as Zen taps his chin thinking. "Has anything stronger than promethium been discovered?" Zen asks as Athena shakes her head. "But you should know the risk of attaching that metal to anyone with low levels of energy." Athena says as Zen laughs. "Malick's dormant power surpasses mine by quite a bit, it poses no threat to his life." Zen says as Athena nods. "Very well, Malick if you agree to this, you will be put under sedation for several days, or even weeks, while we attach your energy pathways to your new arm. It will serve as a replacement while you recover and gain enough strength to heal your pathways, assuming they can heal at all." Athena says as I nod. They lead all of us into one of the skyscrapers and into an elevator. After several minutes of silence, Moxi laughs. "While you're down, I'm going to train extra hard to make sure you don't get too far ahead of me." Moxi says as I see Zen smile. "Reminds me of how Kai and I were, but he pulled away and started getting exponentially stronger." Zen says as he sighs. "He should be finished training soon, or at least that's what I keep telling myself." Zen says. The tone in his voice seems quieter than normal. As the elevator opens, we walk down a hallway into a medical room with all sorts of equipment and machines. My skin crawls just from looking at everything. "We're going to use a nullifier to keep you under. We'll wake you up whenever the operation is complete." Athena says as I lay on the cold metal table. They put several needles into my arm and chest. "You'll dream just like you're sleeping normally, but it may be altered due to the nullifier messing with your mental and physical capabilities." Athena says as she pulls out a small red orb. "Ready?" She asks as I give a quick thumbs up. As she sets the orb over where my heart is, it seemingly melts onto me as my vision becomes distorted. Stretching left and right far enough to turn my entire vision into a mess of colors and lights. I feel heavy nausea set it. As I blink, I'm standing on a largely empty road. As I turn around, I see a large creature standing over seventy feet tall. It stares at me as I feel my heart start pounding.