Ethereal Fall [Undergoing Major Editing] | #Wattys2016

Chapter Ten

Lance waited until I didn't have any more tears to cry and my voice was starting to become hoarse. I just sat there on the floor, eyes staring into space, thinking.

"I'll give you some time to calm down," Lance said gently. He climbed into the Recharge Chair and started hitting a bunch of buttons. When none of them seemed to work, he whisper-yelled, "How the hell do you turn this thing on?!" to no one in particular.

Standing up, I walked over listlessly, flipped the switch on the side, and walked back to my spot on the floor. I sat down and stared into space again, like I hadn't even moved.

Lance stared at me, the Chair starting to hum. An emotion etched his face, one that I didn't quite learn yet. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he never did.

Suddenly, the melancholy air was disrupted by a booming male voice. "Attention all citizens of Ethereal!"

That shook me out of my stupor, I blinked rapidly, looking at Lance in a questioning manner. He mirrored my expression.

"This is Paschar of the Council of Angels! For those who are unaware of the situation, listen carefully! Approximately a thousand souls have arrived with their memories intact! These rebels have been creating chaos and setting buildings on fire over the course of the last hour! Many citizens have become overwhelmed by this chaos, so we are officially closing down all Stelli at this time to stop any more rebels from appearing! Thank you for your cooperation!"

"No more," I muttered. My voice was croaky like a frog's.

"What?" Lance blinked at my sudden utterance.

"There are no more sane citizens in Ethereal left. I am positive of that, considering the damage you rebels have done to the Inner Village alone."

He held his hands up in defense. "I'm really sorry, Asteria. We're just trying to--"

"It's fine." I looked up at him, eyes dull. "Everything's fine."

He didn't look convinced.

"Now it's just you, me, and the rest of the rebels, against the twelve Angels. This is what you wanted, right?"

"What?! No!" He gave me a look of bewilderment.

"You wanted to rid Ethereal of all its citizens before the final battle. That was your original plan all along. You captured me as a hostage, so if there was any chance you and the rebels were losing against the Angels, you would use me. And then..." I started muttering through a whole plan, a plan I had devised in the subconsciousness of my mind throughout this whole chaos. Even I had started to believe this crazy scheme I had come up with myself.

"Aste--"

"But do not underestimate dead souls when they are crazy. Oh, no." I laughed humorlessly. "You will have to get through a whole army of them in order to get to the Angels. And by that time, you'll be too tired. You will lose, and the Angels will win. You will be destroyed, and Ethereal would go back to the perfect world it was before. Yes..." I stood up, glaring at Lance. "It's all your fault! If you haven't arrived here and clogged that chute with your wretched memories, then no one would've gone insane! No houses would've caught fire! No one would've been forgotten!"

My panting was the only sound in the room.

When Lance looked at me again, there was no anger in his eyes. There was just apology. Waves upon waves of apology. I winced. What...?

"I'm terribly sorry, Asteria. I-It really is our fault, isn't it..."

I narrowed my eyes.

"But please, listen to me," he pleaded with begging eyes. "Don't you remember the conversation we had in the forest? You were finally getting what human instinct and human emotions were, and you seemed so happy..."

I froze. His words crashed over me like a wave, but it wasn't overwhelming. It was unusually warm and soothing.

"I thought you had finally understood why we're doing this. Why we see this world as imperfect, but..." He shook his head. "Seeing this perfection of yours come crashing down in a matter of hours... It would be too much for any human brain, no matter how strong. So, I'm not mad."

Lance hopped out of the chair and clasped my hands in his. I stepped back in shock. He looked into my eyes with his heavenly blue ones, not ever breaking away, as if trying to search for something. "Please understand. I'm trying to help you, Asteria. I really meant it when I said I wouldn't hurt you. You've done no wrong. It's the Angels who created this wretched afterlife that are to blame."

That was too much for me at that point. Closing my eyes, I slumped into his arms. But before my lights went out, I managed to choke out, "I know, Lancelot. I know..."

✧

Hi everyone!

Please tell me what you thought of this chapter! Short and sad, I never thought I would include psychological aspects in this book. But, what can I say :/ The more, the merrier!

Until next time, please

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