Blood trickled from Jade’s mouth. She squinted through the agony as the crystal before her blurred. A sensation like a ribbon being cut surged through her, and the room spun.
Through the chaos, a figure stepped from the shadows. It wore a long dark robe and carried a scythe. For a fleeting moment, Jade’s heart leaped; the figure bore a resemblance to Ty.
But this semblance shattered as its eyes burst into white flames, reaching for her with intentions unknown.
Every instinct screamed in defiance, and with a force she hardly understood as her own, she jerked her wrist away, evading the creature’s grasp.
Jade recoiled and drifted backward into an abyss where her body felt weightless, almost made of nothing. Confusion carried through the creature’s voice as it echoed in the void, "You... are dead... are you not?"
Her response was a defiant scream. Her form broke apart into nothingness even as a golden aura wrapped around her, casting a pale glow.
The figure, clad in the dark robe and wielding the scythe, watched in astonishment, its previous intent halted by the spectacle before it.
"You must come; it is time to move on," it insisted, its tone firm yet marked by an underlying shock.
But as it reached out, drawing Jade closer with a force that seemed to defy her pale state, it clasped its skeletal hands around her face. Inches from her, amidst the surreal encounter, she found the voice to ask, "Who are you?"
"I am the Angelic of Death," it declared, its presence imposing yet not malevolent. "I collect all souls and guide them to the next place."
As Jade felt herself diminishing, a fleeting thought of Ty sparked a defiant refusal to succumb. In a desperate attempt to resist, she focused her will against the skeletal hand enveloping her face.
Miraculously, her touch turned the bone to acid, dissolving it into nothingness.
The creature, embodying death itself, did not show pain but rather a profound confusion. "How..? Human?..." it pondered aloud, its focus momentarily shifting to its disintegrating hand, which began to slowly regenerate.
Witnessing its hand reform, the Angelic of Death’s gaze returned to Jade, its eyes now ablaze with intensified white flames. "I see, you’re breaking THE chain," it observed, recognizing the anomaly in Jade.
Despite the gravity of the situation, the Angelic of Death seemed resigned rather than alarmed. "I would obviously advise against this, but it is clearly too late for that. I sense a lot of suffering and loss in the near future for you."
As Jade’s body began to knit itself back together, her confusion deepened. "What are you talking about? Aren’t you concerned with taking me to this place? I have heard a bit about the Angelic race from Ty!"
The entity’s response revealed a complexity beyond her understanding. "It is true I could easily overpower you right now and force you along, but there are events unfolding in the universe that may require you to harness the power you were passed down.
And as for Ty, he will be captured eventually.
While I have not personally met him... Another like me is an interesting play."
"As one of the 12, I look forward to the day I may test myself against him. How you know who he is, though, is most intriguing," it mused, as Jade’s world began to dim once more.
The phrase lodged in Jade’s mind.
One of the 12.
That sounded organized.
It sounded like rank, duty, and a waiting line of monsters who had already decided Ty belonged somewhere on their board.
Jade hated how little she understood.
She hated that every answer opened a wider door.
But the creature had said Ty would be captured eventually, and that single word, eventually, gave her something to bite down on.
Eventually was not now.
Eventually meant time existed between this moment and that one.
If time existed, she could use it.
If there were twelve, she could learn their names.
And if one of them wanted to test Ty, then Jade wanted to be standing close enough to ruin the test.
Clutching onto the fading light, Jade’s determination shone through the encroaching darkness. "He is my love, and I will find him eventually! You can be sure of that. I’m not sure exactly what he’s going through, but whoever is his enemy is mine as well!"
In response, a rare and subtle smile cracked across the skeletal visage of the Angelic. "Oh, good. Then let me part you with this in good faith. This will allow you to see a bit deeper into the realities of the world.
And when the day comes you are met with Ty again, let him know how excited I am to meet him."
"Like I would--" Jade’s defiant words cut off as an oppressive weight descended upon her, anchoring her in place. The Angelic of Death appeared directly before her with astonishing speed.
Despite her desperate attempt to retreat, the overwhelming force immobilized her, leaving her unable to react.
In a fluid motion, the creature extended its newly reformed skeletal hand, passing it through her chest. At that moment, a brilliant golden light enveloped them, illuminating the dark void they occupied.
"Of course, the closest person to Ty also possesses one of ’those,’" the Angelic observed with a tone of realization, as the light radiating from Jade’s soul revealed a profound connection to Ty and perhaps, to the mysteries the universe held.
The transition from this otherworldly encounter back to reality was sudden. Jade’s next breath was a gasp for air, her eyes snapping open to a scene drenched in violence but free from the immediate threat of death.
She found herself surrounded by blood, the knives previously embedded in her flesh now removed.
The Director, with a solemnity that matched the gravity of the moment, withdrew the final blade from her chest, completing her return from the brink of death.
Collapsing to the ground, Jade felt the fabric of her outfit tightening, constricting her blood flow. Her once pristine white suit, accented with grey, transformed before her eyes, its color deepening to a red red as it began to absorb the surrounding blood.
A vivid blood web emerged, intricately linking her directly to the crystal, a sight both mesmerizing and heavy.
The Director moved with urgency. He loosened his tie and sliced through the air. Jade, her consciousness waning, could only watch as the rest of the six figures surrounding them raised silver talismans.
Each talisman glowed with a different color, casting a kaleidoscope of light through the shadowed chamber. The array of colors signified a different element or power.
As the light from the talismans intensified, Jade’s vision began to dim, and the last bits of her awareness focused on the ritual’s culmination.