Night Virus

46 : Vali's Half-Ring

-Chapter FortySix- 

"Vali."

I blinked, sat up, and looked around. I was in an infinite white room. I jerked back when I saw my reflection.

"Hi." My reflection smiled.

My eyes widened. My reflection spoke, even though I wasn't talking.

"You sure do look like me, don't you?" 

I remained shocked and speechless. 

My reflection laughed. "I'm Raven. You must've heard of me from Lucifer, right?" 

I blinked. It was her. She's the one Lucifer was looking for. His lover. 

She giggled, blushing. "Saying 'lover' is quite embarrasing you know."

"W-What? You can hear my thoughts?" I asked, amazed.

Raven put a finger to her chin, as if thinking. "Well, not exactly. I can somewhat feel what you're thinking." 

Thinking back, I remember feeling Max's thoughts and Rixon's too. 

"I assume you know what I'm saying?" asked Raven, smiling at me. 

I bit my lip. "Sort of. I still don't quite get it though."

She chuckled. "You'll get it soon. I gave you some of my power to help you along the way."

"What? How? I never once wore the ring." I looked away. "And I... kind of lost it."

Raven shook her head. "You didn't lose it. I made someone work behind the scenes for me. The boy with the doggy?"

My eyes widened. "Dyer and Max!"

She gigled. "Yep! I asked them to get the ring for me so I can confirm something."

"But why? And that doesn't explain why you could've still transported power to me."

"Well, I think it was once you did. When you were treating that man in all black. You looked at the ring and kind of grazed it. I took my opportunity at that time."

I remembered that time when Giro got bitten and opened my suitcase. "Oh."

Raven sat next to me and looked straight into my eyes with seriousness. "Is Lucifer doing alright?"

I nodded. "He's been looking for you though. And he keeps mistaking me for you."

She giggled again. "I wouldn't blame him, but you're eyes are so pretty. I've never seen someone with violet eyes." 

"Yeah, I guess it's quite rare. No one knows my birth parents, so I don't know how I got these eyes." 

"I know. Well, actually, I feel it in your emotions. A lot has happened, huh?" 

I looked at her. She looked so much like me. We could've passed for twins, but you can tell she's older. 

"What happened? When you came to Earth?" I asked. 

Raven smiled. "Ah, those days. I remember them so clearly like it was yesterday. Meeting Lucifer, Jaden, and their gang." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "The moment we met the scientists, I knew Jaden was up to something, but Lucifer seemed so happy with his idea, that I promised I'd do anything to fulfill his wishes."

"Then something happened. Jaden said it was safe, but our powers rejected them, even though our souls went inside their body. If that were to happen, Lucifer said to put your soul back in the ring, but Jaden already made a plan without Lucifer and my knowledge, which was to stay in the scientists so that he can absorb us so that we won't be stuck in the rings."

"Wow. Jaden really thought this through," I commented. 

She nodded. "I went along with Jaden, but Lucifer didn't know anything, that's why he's thinking I awakened in your body. I'm doing this so that I know what Jaden's going to do. I'll stop him."

I looked at her serious eyes. I nodded firmly.

She smiled. I'm glad you were the one chosen. 

I flinched in alarm and looked at her. Raven laughed. 

"I'm going to give you some more power, okay? I can't give you all right now, because my soul is going to break inside my host, Evangeline. She's really nice. I talk to her sometimes, but not so much or Jaden will find out."

"It must be hard."

"I manage. I'm a tough girl. And so should you!" 

I smiled, then let it drop into a frown. "Do we have powers even if before we put on the rings? Because Dyer said that he used to only decipher a little bit of Max's moods. Now he can feel them to the fullest."

Raven put a finger on her chin again. "That is by the bond they share. Their trust is beyond our imagination." She grinned. "That trust is what brought the ring forth. The loss of your friend made a big impact on your emotions that it made me appear. I'm sorry."

I bit my lip and looked at the ground.

There was suddenly a clanking sound. The white place started ripping, as if it was wallpaper. 

"We don't have much more time," she said, panic in her voice. 

I blinked, confused.

"Vali, protect the person you love, okay? Don't ever let them go." Raven started fading with the whiteness of the room. "Good luck."

I smiled. "You too."

Please, wake up. 

My eyes went wide open. 

"Vali." Rixon sighed of relief beside me. 

"What happened?" I asked, feeling a pain in my head. It took me a minute to realize Rixon was holding onto my left hand, where I felt something unusual. I pulled my hand back and realized I was wearing a ring that looked like everyone else's, but blue, and was split in half. 

"You fainted, then your ring came out of nowhere," he said.

I nodded slowly and glanced around. It was already night time. We were inside Rixon's flame barrier. By 'we', I meant a still injured Giro, Yin, Dyer, Rixon, and Max. No Mina. 

"I've been out for quite a while," I said. 

Rixon sort of smiled. "Yeah, but at least you woke up." There was sadness in his voice.

I looked over at Giro. "Still?"

He nodded.

Dyer's head turned to me and he eyebrows shot up. "Vali!" He ran up and hugged me.

"Hi, Dyer." I hugged him back.

He grinned and smiled.

"I've heard something about you, mister. Working behind the scenes behind our back," I said, adding a little bit of sarcasm in my voice. 

His eyes widened and I couldn't help but laugh. "She told me to keep it a secret. I wanted to tell you, but it was a secret." 

"'She'?" asked Rixon. 

I looked at him, trying to keep a steady face, for I know what's going to happen once I say her name. 

"Raven. I met Raven." 

-End of Chapter FortySix-