Rain of Blades

Further away, a high-pitched blast could be heard, followed by a short rumble beneath them.

"What was that?" Vidia worriedly asked.

"It was coming from the direction we came from. You think that was Midas and Venus? Or Reed maybe..." Ian wondered.

Gian-Luca replied; "The Garden's pretty far away, and that sound was closer. It might be Midas and Venus, but I hope they're fine…"

"It's okay," Veronica stepped up. "Let's just stand guard here until they come back. Then we can use these vans to get out of here."

Suddenly, noises nearby caught their attention. "Footsteps—!"

Through the blasted doorways atop the stairs, Overseer Ariel and Jophiel walked through.

"What—?!"

Ariel's eyes looked sternly. "Vidia? Veronica?" The two sensed tension through her gaze.

"What are they doing here? I thought we disabled the keypad communications like Midas said!" Veronica was panicked.

"They must've figured out we were headed here somehow…" Ian stood forward.

"So this is an escape attempt after all." Jophiel scoffed, "You guys didn't cover-up the breadcrumbs. Plus, this alarm basically told us exactly where you were." He pointed to the blaring speakers in the room.

Ian realized that, and he found it odd. "These alarms were never mentioned in Midas' plan. He only ever spoke about the tunnels. So why?..." Ian thought to himself; "Why are we in the position of a worst-case scenario?"

Both Ariel and Jophiel noticed the large gaping gate at the back of the bay. Ariel pointed it out. "The entrance is open."

"Meaning the alarm wasn't a fault, which also means someone went to the Garden and enabled the gate themselves," Jophiel confirmed.

"But how?... There's nearly a hundred Cherubim guarding the entrance," Ariel looked forward.

"Hmm… I'm not sure, but what matters now is preventing them from getting through the exit. There's too much truth and freedom beyond that point." Jophiel turned to Ariel, "Don't hesitate to kill them. They're our most successful subjects to-date, so even if Trinity Gems are limited right now, I'll use them if I have to."

"Trinity Gems?" Gian-Luca overheard. He recalled a piece of information told by Midas; "There was an interesting document I found in the data files of Chamuel's terminal earlier. It described the prototype of a resurrection item called the Trinity Gem. Apparently it's supposed to revive any dead individual upon activating, but only after saying aloud the deceased individual's full name."

The thought brought horror to Gian-Luca. "You're telling me you won't hesitate to kill us?!"

"Nope," Jophiel replied. "Once you've died, we can subjugate you. Then we'll resurrect your souls and you'll once again be under our supervision and control."

"No…" Veronica shuddered. She smelt a familiar smell upon herself; that of a Begonia. "No! I can't be scared at a time like this..." She looked back, and across the room was an open gate that led to the surface. Veronica visualized it; "Freedom…"

"Where's Chamuel's subjects?" Jophiel asked. "They aren't here with you?"

They didn't respond. Instead, everyone readied themselves in a defensive stance.

"We can easily spare your lives if you simply surrender and return to your contaminants with us."

"NO!" Vidia shot back at Jophiel. "I've been told what's out there, and I want to see it for myself. I don't wanna be stuck underground here for the rest of my life!"

"But this is where you belong Vidia," Ariel emphasized. "That goes for all of you—this is where you irregularities belong."

"Irregularities?" Gian-Luca scratched his head. "That word again… So what if we're irregularities? It doesn't change the fact that I want to see the surface again, and the sun!"

"Tsk!" Jophiel was disgusted. "Do you fools have any idea what A.X.A. has truly done for you? We SAVED you. If it weren't for us, you'd all be sentenced to an immediate death by the Cardinal Nexus."

"The Cardinal Nexus?..." Ian repeated.

"There you are talking too much again," Ariel sighed.

"It's fine. Once this is all over, we can just wipe their memories again, and PROPERLY this time." Jophiel rolled his eyes.

The two Overseers then tensed their backs, as wings once hidden erupted from beneath their lab coats. The two flapped each pair of wings, bringing them afloat into the air as they looked down at their subordinates.

"Now DIE!" Jophiel leaned forward.

Ariel was taken by surprise. "Wait Jophiel—!"

Jophiel was already zooming towards the subjects.

"Avoid eye-contact with any of the girls at all costs!" She yelled out.

Jophiel heard the call-out, but then realized he was looking directly at one of the girls.

"Use it now, Vidia!" Gian-Luca called.

Vidia tightened her gaze against Jophiel's, fixating on the pair of eyes that flew towards her at an incredible speed. She began to engage her blinding ability. In panicked response, Jophiel immediately swung his wing over, blocking any eyesight. Doing so caused him to swerve left, nearly flying into the wall.

"Shit—!" He regained control, landing elsewhere on the opposite side of the room.

"Split up," Ian suggested. "Me and Veronica can take on Ariel, you and Vidia contest Jophiel. We should have one from each Overseer in each pair, just like he told us," he told Gian-Luca.

The two nodded, and headed towards the recovered Jophiel. Jophiel noticed Gian-Luca and Vidia who approached him, "Just you two? Are you underestimating me?"

"We've divided ourselves the load. The other two are with Ariel."

"Then I'll make this quick," Jophiel stretched out his wings. He straightened them in a stiffened formation, emerging as a metal-feathered wall. "It's over."

He swung each wing forward, and in doing so, released a collective stream of sharp blades towards the two.

"DUCK!" Gian-Luca leaped towards Vidia, pushing her to the ground with him.

The hundreds of metal blades flew over the two, impaling the white vans behind them with holes.

"What was that?!"

"My feathers." Jophiel smirked.

"Your feathers?" Gian-Luca observed the sleek wings that enveloped Jophiel. He noticed they were slimmer than before.

"My wings are specialized to disengage its feathers on my command, therefore I can use them as projectiles. And these…" He plucked a metal feather off his wing; "...are sharper than any knife you'll find up on that surface."

Still on the ground, Vidia was struck with fear. But something in her head tried provoking otherwise.

"Get up. Get up," a voice spoke.

"But…"

"Get up. Freedom is right beyond that gate. You can find yourself again," the voice giggled.

"Are you taunting me?" Vidia spoke back to her mindful voice.

"No, I'm just curious how you'd react to the truth, if you ever do come across it."

Vidia was endowed with a curiosity. It made her mind wander from the moment. But that initiative was quickly pulled back when Gian-Luca laid his hand upon her shoulder;

"Get up," he said.

The gesture brought a warm feeling to Vidia on the inside. "I wonder if the sun's warmth will be warmer than this feeling."

"Only one way to find out; get to the surface," the voice told forth.

Vidia concluded her psychological conversation. "I need to protect myself, and Gian-Luca…"

"Still going?" Jophiel asked as he saw the two return to their feet. "You're just providing me more showtime for my power."

"But we have power too," Gian-Luca spoke back.

Jophiel chuckled. "Have you not yet realized your uselessness against me, Gian-Luca?"

There was no response. Rather a silent offense taken, with acceptance.

"You have zero battle power. No more than an amnesia machine. What's removing my memories during a fight gonna do?" Jophiel's mocking continued.

Once again, there was no response. Rather silent stares towards the Overseer. Jophiel noticed Gian-Luca's arm was up, pointed towards him.

"What're you doing?" He asked Gian-Luca.

"Have you forgotten?" He lowered his arm. "I erased your memories just a second ago."

The statement struck Jophiel; "Huh?" He held his head. He realized he had no recollection of anything in the past minute. "Wait… What did I do? What did I say again?"

It was Gian-Luca's turn to chuckle. "Amnesia? That's unfortunate."

Jophiel's confusion strayed his gaze off Gian-Luca towards Vidia. Looking towards her, there was an odd sensation telling him not to do so, but he didn't know what. More so, he didn't exactly remember why he shouldn't be looking at Vidia. Suddenly his senses were struck; his vision darkened.

"Wh—?!" He immediately looked away. His eyesight was now strangely less exposed. His pupils felt static, preventing any dilation to invite light in.

"Why can I barely see…?" He held a hand in front of his face. The blurry sight brought irritation to his eyes.

"What's removing your memories during a fight gonna do?"

A punch quickly spread pain across Jophiel's face. He stumbled to the floor. "Maybe that'll answer your question." It was Gian-Luca.

He was joined by Vidia, who ran over and kicked Jophiel in the face. "—ARGH!" Jophiel's eyes bulged with pain.

The blinding effect took a toll on his patience, and so he decided to unleash his temper. "You BRATS!!!" His wings were swung around. They came into contact with something, completely slashing across its surface. Jophiel was surprised when the wound he'd made wasn't followed up with the seeping of blood.

"That's a wall." Gian-Luca stood behind.

Jophiel turned around, seeing that the two subjects were looking down at him.

"How dare you fools taunt me…"

Heated up with anger, and with the limited vision he saw, Jophiel heavily flapped his wings as he garnered some distance off the floor. Now airborne, Jophiel retracted his wings, only to reinstate them forwards.

"DIE!!!" A storm of blades came raining down from up above.

Seeing the absolutely unavoidable attack, Gian-Luca and Vidia stood still, ready to accept an unfortunate fate. But out of no where, the sound of numerous 'clangs' suddenly rung against their ears.

"What?..." They opened their eyes. There, was Overseer Ariel standing before them. Her back faced Jophiel, while her wide wings stretched out over them, completely shielding them. Around the three, metal feathers scattered the area.

Ariel's wings had blocked Jophiel's attack.

"Ariel…? Did you just… protect them? Why would you—"

"Stand down," she spoke up.

"I'm not letting you kill them. I'll be killing you."