Divinity

Chapter 23

The metal hilt of the sword felt cool in my hand, betraying nothing of the power that resided within it. What that power could do... I wasn't sure. I could only hope that it wouldn't wind up with the wrong person again.

Travis stood before me, as he always did, when I held the sword. He looked no different to the other times I had seen him, he wore the same clothes, and the same tired expression.

"Jasmine visited." I told him, not quite sure where to start. He seemed to perk up slightly, raising his head as though in question. "She wants to stay sided with God. She doesn't want to help me anymore."

We both stayed silent for a moment, the only sound was the wind hitting blinds in the bathroom through the open window. "I wish she could talk to you." I added.

"I don't know that it would help." He sighed, seemingly at a loss for words.

"She said she was considering handing me in." I told him. Just saying it put a pang through my heart. I had considered Jasmine my closest friend, for her to even consider doing that to me... it was hurtful beyond words.

"She wouldn't." He assured me, shaking his head.

"She's changed." I responded. "I wish I could figure out how to do something with the sword. A way to free you all... to put an end to Jasmine's suffering. I'm really trying, I just... I don't even know where to start."

"It would be an incredible thing." Travis agreed, "To free us all. And yet, it would be wrong."

"Wrong?" My eyes snapped up to him. "What do you mean, wrong?"

"Emilia... I assumed you had understood. I see now, I should have been clearer. I don't want you to free the souls within this sword, we have to die."

I paused, trying to process what I was hearing. Surely he had to be joking... why should they all die, if there was a chance that I could release them? "That's insane!"

"You haven't lived inside the sword. You don't understand."

"Then explain it to me! Because that doesn't make any sense!" I exclaimed, I couldn't fathom what explanation he could possibly justify it with.

"There are two types of angels in the sword, Emilia."

"Angels and the Fallen." I stated.

"No." He shook his head. I frowned in response. "There are angels who, like me, were killed accidentally, or without reason. But we are the minority. For thousands of years, the sword belonged to Heaven. It was used to execute angels who wouldn't follow our rules, who did not care for human life. Most of the angels trapped here are not deserving of a second chance."

"Everyone deserves a second chance." I insisted. "They could redeem themselves yet."

"I'm sorry Emilia. I know it's hard to comprehend."

"What about the angels like you... how could they possibly be okay with this? Dying instead of being set free?" It was unfathomable... to choose death over a chance of living once more.

"It's their idea. They are angels... they are willing to be selfless. They do not want to spend an eternity stuck inside of a sword." He was pleading now, and I knew he was sincere. Truly, this is what he wanted.

"Do the bad angels, the rule-breakers, they want this too?" He didn't answer me. I took it as a no.

"Life inside the sword is more complicated than you can imagine." He explained, "But... I can show it to you, if you like." He seemed nervous, I noticed. For what? Did he fear what might happen if he showed me the hidden world within the sword? Or perhaps he feared what would happen if I didn't accept his offer.