Chapter 5

"Umm, what's a fallen?" She asked confusedly. Her brows furrowing in annoyance.

"You don't know?" Marion asked, not stepping closer but her look of panic retreating. "A fallen is the soul of an ancient being. Not ancient as in old, but as in they're a soul from ancient times." She explained.

"I see... Actually no I don't." The girl said with a serious tone, making Marion sigh. "Simply put, a fallen is a soul of a powerful being from ancient times who has awakened and seized control of someone's body." Marion tried to explain better, and luckily her attempts weren't in vain.

"Oh, I get it now." However with her new understanding came more questions. 'Why did these not exist before? Am I one of these Fallen? Did I take someone's body over?'

"Hmm... That seems to be relatively similar to my situation. However I don't get why you would be scared of these fallen if they were simply powerful people. They are people nonetheless no?" She asked.

Marion nodded, seeming to calm down from the panic. "We're not necessarily scared of them, but rather the thing they become." Marion explained, fully calming down and stepping closer to the girl once again.

"What do they become?" Marion seemed about to speak but stopped as if she weren't sure how to explain it. "Once most fallen realize they are fallen, its as if a beast takes over. They lose all reason, and begin to attack indiscriminately. Of course not all of them do, but most." She said, stepping closer and sitting down next to the girl.

"But enough about that for now, I must know your name if we wish to speak properly. Do you know how to access your SDA display?" Marion asked only to regret it as the girl gave her a dumbfounded stare. "Right... thats what started the conversation. Well I guess I will just need to teach you how!" Marion smiled.

"Guess so..." The girl said quietly, seemingly contemplating something. "Well, Opening your display is quite easy actually." Marion said. "You are aware of your SDA Mark correct?" She asked, hoping that the girl at least knew this much.

"of course, its right here..." The girl said, pulling up the sleeve of her broken arm only to reveal empty smooth skin. "Right... Not my original body. Where is it then?" With that question in mind, she closed her eyes and tried to feel the prickly sensation that the mark constantly emitted. Finding it without much effort, the girl quickly became stumped. Why did this body's mark have to be somewhere so inconvenient?

She sighed and accepted the annoying fact before reaching down, and unbuttoning the blue shirt that she had on. Her pale skin shown through, and revealed a black and pink mark on her chest. It was in the shape of some kind of serpent coiling around a large great-sword. The sword was dark black while the serpents scales were a mixture of black and pink, creating a beautiful and picturesque image.

Marion was startled at the girls move, but was soon entranced by the mark. "I've never seen that kind of mark before!" She said excitedly. New marks meant new powers, what isn't to be excited about? 

"You have to be kidding me..." Contrasting with Marion's happy visage, the girl's expression was one of utter despair and dread. "Do you know what that Mark is?" Marion asked. "Yes.... It's the mark of a Vile Paladin." She said, sighing loudly. 

Marion didn't even get the chance to ask what it was before the girl began to explain. "A Vile Paladin is not what it sounds like however. All paladins, Vile included, are sword to protect the innocent at any cost. The difference between every other paladin and a vile one, is that the latter fights without honor. What that means is that they will use any dirty trick, manipulation, or otherwise heinous action to protect the public." She sighed.

'Shit Shit Shit Shit! It just had to be a paladin...' Despite what someone may think, the girl wasn't sad, or angry, or unsatisfied with being a paladin. No, she was embarrassed. One must remember that she was a God. And paladins, served the Gods. Every God had their own brand of paladin. The Vile Paladin had actually belonged to her mother.

'At least it wasn't a hellfire paladin... I would for sure off myself to not give that annoying bastard the satisfaction even in the grave.' She thought to herself before looking over to Marion as another thought came to mind. "Aside from that, how do I open this so called display?" She asked.

"Ah right! To open your display you simply need to place to fingers on your mark, and say Open." She demonstrated, revealing the green and black cross mark on her arm. 'A void medic? Rare...' 

Deciding to ask about Marion's mark later, the girl did as told and attempted to open her display. "Open." Soon as she finished her word, a black and pink screen of flowing flames appeared before her. The flames somehow coalesced into words and symbols upon the black background, revealing much about her new body.

(Name: Erica Delerayne)

(Route: Vile Paladin)

(Supporting God: !*&$!&(#! Delerayne, Goddess of Enchantment)

(Inherent techniques: Butterfly Enchantment, Dishonoring Gaze, Tree of Life)

(Core quality: Amethyst Enchantress)

(Quality Description: Your body has an incredible affinity to enchantment, as well as Gem magic. When combined together these two affinities become more powerful)

"The fuck?!" 'Erica' Yelled in panic. "What's wrong?!" Marion yelled back, clearly startled. "Oh sorry, i just got spooked by the display. I didn't think it would be so flashy..." Erica looked back at the floating window of black and pink flames. 

"Ahh, yes. That is the reaction most of you Fallen have." She smiled widely. "I see. Do you think you could explain some of the things contained in the display? I know what my techniques and core quality are. And I can figure out what Route means, but what's this about a supporting God?" She asked, however before she could receive an answer, she said another thing. "Ah right, my name is Erica apparently..."

"Well, Nice to properly meet you Erica!" Marion said. "But for your question, a supporting God is not what it sounds like. Rather than a god personally supporting you, it means you have inherited a portion of their power. Not everyone has a supporting god however." She explained, a bit bummed that Erica had a supporting God but she didn't. Of course, Erica didn't need to know that.

"I see..." Erica said no more. She was once again attempting to contain her rage. 'You bastard... You dare split apart our powers and use them like this?! I'll End you!'

"Could you tell me the small number beside your supporting god?" Marion asked, snapping Erica from her anger. "There's supposed to be a number?" And with that question, Marion paled to the color of snow.

"There's no number?" She asked quietly. "No. Is there supposed to be?" Erica asked with confusion. "Gods save me... I've encountered a monster..." Marion said quietly.

"Rude!" Erica interrupted her. "Ah! Sorry! It's just that... Not having a number means you inherited the full power of that God... You can imagine what that means." Erica nodded, now understanding why Marion had paled. "I see. That means that I have, or am going to get my full power back..." Unfortunately, Erica made a slight mistake and said that last bit aloud.