The guards let me in after seeing my face; Cross City was best described as a crumbling bastion with vague new additions built by and for humans. A small section of part of the city, the shadow of the central tower cast on it by the sun. At least that's the best way I could've thought to describe it; it had been my home for the past six months I had been trapped in Angels Lie; I was luckier than most when I fell through reality. I landed fairly close to the city, seventeen at the time; I had to find my way based on brief descriptions of this place taught in school.
Those classes didn't nearly teach enough
It was harder to teach things that needed to be experienced, like landscapes, since items couldn't be brought to Angel's Lie; we relied on maps; that's sorta how I made a living here, being a sorta scout and cartographer. I thought about this as I walked to Explorer's team's building, as I walked, the building fell into sight. A building with the skeleton of a large three-horned creature on it had fallen backward on the building at some point. Now, if they tried to move it, they were worried the building would crumble, so they left it and built around it. This became the Explorer's headquarters; as I walked in, I immediately noticed that most of the team had come back here. Adrian was the first to notice me; his black hair shifted as he turned toward me.
"Woah man, you survived!?" He said as one of the bandages around his head came somewhat loose. "Are you hurt?" he added after looking at the blood and mud on my face.
"No, I'm alright," I replied; he had been here the longest out of us. It was then his eyes drifted down to the gauntlets, my gauntlets, that fact I still didn't fully comprehend. It didn't feel real yet, I wasn't sure it ever would. Most awakened could dismiss their Relic, I wondered why I was struggling to figure it out so much. Then the rest of the team noticed me; Ellie, the girl with wild curly brown hair and a white cat beanie she had knitted herself, was the second to notice. Followed by Peter, who had long dark brown hair, and a fur coat he had since he arrived. Finally, Mira, a girl with scars, was obsessed with the cult beast's anatomy. I learned more from her than any teacher about the beast's anatomy.
"Yeah, I survived," I added simply, part of me was hurt. They left me to die. But that was the pact, the unspoken understanding of the Angels Lie, the slow or last to react were the first to die. I didn't expect it to bother me as much as it does. The weak were expected to be culled by this place, and for a moment I was weak. I had given the other the same treatment. Being on the receiving end, I felt, a well of complex emotions. I shouldn't but I did.
"You killed it?" A solemn tone came over his voice, we both understood the depth of that.
"Somehow, I'd honestly say it more so killed itself? It sorta choked trying to eat me," I spoke, letting the silence hang in the air. Now that I was awakened, I would leave this place; they didn't need all the gory details. I didn't really wanna relive it either. As an awakened I would return to earth, only come back as required. Some awakened never returned, I could hardly blame them. This place thoroughly sucked.
I didn't need to, but I felt the need to say goodbye to them; we had been a team for a little over two months now. Still, I felt awkward around them, there had been very little room for small talk. They kept glancing at the gauntlets and then back to me, knowing what would come next. I wasn't ready just yet; parts of me wanted to yell for leaving me, and others wanted to tell them to suck it. That I didn't need them anymore, I had awakened through my own efforts! But I couldn't bring myself to do either.
"Goodbye then," I said sorta shuffling to turn my back on them. It hadn't been a very long time, and we hadn't gotten very close. But a part of me still would feel sad. They all gave some short goodbyes.
Bloodlust
I whipped around, a cold sweat going down my neck. What the hell was that? But it had gone as quickly as it had come. No one of them gave any tell; deciding it was best to leave, I turned and left quickly.
A cold wind blew past me, bringing the awful smell of the city to my nose. A city where every day was a fight for survival naturally didn't smell great. At least we had some comfort, guardsmen, and food. That's better than sleeping with nothing, I suppose. I was trying not to feel bad, trying to take my mind off it. I had done my due diligence and had no reason to feel bad, but part of me still did. I reminded myself that they left me to die, but that only helped so much, that my mind was reeling from that bloodlust feeling. I slammed my fist into a stone wall; it cracked with my newfound strength.
Dammit!
I felt my emotions well inside me; I had survived probably the worst thing to ever happen to me! No not probably definitely! I became an awakened. Still, I didn't feel right; I only felt like I was melting; I wanted to lie down and sleep forever. My head was tired, and I felt like I knew so little. I wanted to fall over and cry, but I could do that later after, learning the return whisper. For that, I would probably need to head to the Cathedral, where our awakened leader was. Elric Thorne, I had only ever seen him once previously. He was the leader of the awakened and relayed information from Earth here for us. A slightly older man, and quite eccentric. Apparently, no one had ever seen him summon his relic before; no one had any idea what it was. What was more important to me was his ability to teach the return whisper. As far as I was aware, he was the only one who had it, I thought he was fairly willing to teach anyone who needed it.
I can't taste it! Freedom!
I made my way to the Cathedral walking on the cobblestone path. It had always made my half-fallen-apart shoes squeak. The cathedral was ancient, stone older than anything I had ever seen. The awakened used it as a base of operations, as I approached, a creeping sensation crawled down my spine. My instincts were telling me something was wrong, to run away and survive, was begging me to stay away for some reason. I tried to swing the door open anyway, but I couldn't. My Doubt wouldn't let me, trying to force it I found myself struggling to do that.
Damn Doubt!
I couldn't do it, it would let me step outside my role of having to survive. A strange powerlessness came over me, what the hell was happening to me? The awakened never really discusses their Doubts, it seems like a taboo. I had inferred that it was simply not to show their hand or a touchy subject. But no, it seemed like something more than that. It seemed more like a guiding role than anything. You simply couldn't step out of line. I wanted to meet another awakened and discuss it with them,, but I wasn't particularly sure I trusted anyone enough to do that. What did this part of the Angel Lie mean? Damn it all.
I'll get no answers sitting around
My Doubt kept me from going home right now, so I'll find another way. First, I wanted to get some food and possibly sleep, but my body still ached. Going home could wait a day. Making my way back the the little hobble room I was given, I found myself calm for a moment. I sat in a chair and sunk into it, my room was musty. The stone walls didn't provide much in the way of waterproofing. But it was the room I was given, although now that I was awakened. I would receive better treatment, which gave me another set of complex emotions.
I need immediate goals.
Shifting my attention towards my hands, I kept wondering why the gauntlets weren't going away. My instincts simply told me what they did and nothing more. The grafting portion of it sent my mind in circles, it seemed sorta simple and very strong. But the Angels Lie never made anything simple; survival and deception were its favorite ways to mess with its inhabitants.
Malformed Angel, apparently, that is what the creature I had killed was called. Theoretical I should be able to graft one of its abilities. Closing my eyes, I brought up the mental image of the creature; its head and wings were its most predominant features. The wings, the red feathered demon-like wings, if I choose anything, it would be those.
Grafting: wings
A voice inside my head spoke to me. My eyes shot open, wait a minute! Then my lower became began to bubble with heat and agony.