[Chapter 69 celebratory teaser: Deeper than hell, Worse than .]

(This chapter is in ???'s perspective) (Warning, this chapter has some graphic stuff, so read at your own risk)

Ariel shook in place as he stood at the agreed upon meeting place. he hated being here, it always game him such a horrific feeling. Even though all of those monsters were locked behind a series of seals, it still felt like they were watching him from all sides. Like they could break out at any moment and do... horrific things to him. He had a slight shiver down his spine as he thought about it.

A sudden voice from behind startled him, "Ah, so you showed up early? It is the least you could do, after causing this whole fucking mess." He spun around, breathing heavily as he recovered from his near heart attack. The man behind him was Gabriel, the leader of all of his people, and the leader of the Unsworn faction.

The Unsworn faction was made of the few of them that had not sworn out loyalty to one of the goddesses of light. Whether it be because they weren't fans of them, or if they don't want to get into their politics, or even out of nostalgia for the father of light. The Unsworn faction was not large in comparison, however. It was led by Gabriel, had the enforcer Zariel, himself, and a handful of others. They most certainly were lacking if compared to the goddesses' followings.

Speaking of Zariel, she was standing behind Gabriel, glaring at him. "You little fucking idiot. Do you know how much trouble you have caused!?! Who in their right mind grants powers of light to a being with that bastard's blessing?!?"

Ariel cowered in fear as he tried to defend myself, "I-I didn't know! I j-just thought that it was a lost soul that the twins were trying to corrupt! I had no idea he had the b-blessing of-" I stopped as they both gave me an intense glare.

Gabriel let out a large sigh while still maintaining his glare, "And by what metric is it a good idea to grant powers to someone who has been corrupted?"

Ariel gathered his courage in order to speak against Gabriel, "I-I made him swear oaths in order to receive them! And he took all three! He has to respect sacred grounds, can't harm innocents, and has to try and kill the faction leaders of the dark!" he counted them on his fingers to make sure he was getting them right.

They both seemed slightly surprised, Zariel especially. She gave a slight chuckle of surprise, "Would you look at that? The squirt managed to do something even slightly right."

A new voice came from behind him, "If this is doing something right, I would hate to see what the Unsworn faction sees as wrong." He spun around, slightly backing up into his two comrades as he recognized that voice. Alieyah, the head servant of Mirada. She glared at him with fury he had never before felt, two lesser angels flanking her on either side.

He carefully spoke to Gabriel, "W-why is she-?"

Alieyah spoke first, "I am here because of the mess you made. My lady's finest prodigy was almost killed by the monstrosity you created, and I damn well am not going to let you fuck it up again."

Ariel looked to Gabriel for support, but he only let out an annoyed sigh, "This was the goddesses' condition for allowing us to access it. They wanted one of their stewards along." A very determined look took over his face, "But we are going to need to get the ground rules established first."

Alieyah scoffed, "I am a high angel in service of a goddess, you have no right to command me." She had a mocking look.

Gabriel let out a groan as he stroked his hands through his hair, "But you also are new, and have no idea what is in there. So, for your sake and Ariel's, I am going to go through the rules of this place." She let out another scoff, but did not stop Gabriel as he continued. "First, do not touch anything that me or Zariel do not touch. Do not go anywhere me and Zariel do not go, and most importantly, " He paused for effect. "Do not speak to anything me and Zariel do not speak to."

Alieyah rolled her eyes, "What, afraid they shall tempt us into freeing them? I won't be the one out of us here to help a creature of the darkness." She glared at Ariel as she spoke, hammering in who she was suspecting.

Zariel growled at her, "No, it's not because of it." Before Alieyah could question what Zariel meant, she had already turned around and started walking to the great seal. "Oh, and those flunkies of yours are absolutely not coming along."

Alieyah gave an annoyed wave and the four lesser angels dispersed. Gabriel overtook Zariel and they lead the group, as Ariel and Alieyah stood side by side in a way that made him feel in danger. As they arrived at the seal, there were a team of high-ranking angels present in order to maintain it. Gabriel gave them a nod and they slowly formed an opening for the four angels to walk through to walk through.

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The inside of the seal was dark, oppressively so. Ariel could still see everyone just fine, but they were all there was to see. All of the structures, the walls, ceiling, and floor, where a pitch black that he could not tell apart from each other. A strange hum was the only sound apart from our breaths and footsteps, which echoed as we went along. He followed behind Gabriel carefully, trying to trace his steps as exactly as possible. Ariel doubted that was precisely what Gabriel had meant before, but he was already in the doghouse enough, he didn't want to risk it.

After what felt like hours of walking through an invisible labyrinth, they arrived in a chamber. Dark shadows prevented Ariel from seeing the walls to his left and right, but behind and in front where walls built of white stone bricks. The floor was covered in a white rug with gold decorations, though it was definitely worn down, and the walls went upwards beyond where he could see. On the opposite wall was an intricately carved door, made of a metal he had never seen before, and adjourned with a countless number of runes

They stood there in silence for a few moments, seemingly waiting for something. Just when Ariel was about to ask Gabriel what was going on, he began to hear a blood chilling noise. There was a heavy breathing coming from the shadows to his right, and it was getting closer. A noise of something being dragged against cloth soon accompanied it, until the sound reached what was the edge on the shadows.

As Ariel looked to Zariel for comfort, he noticed she seemed to be making an effort to stare exactly ahead at the door, not acknowledging the noises at all. It didn't seem like she couldn't hear them, as for the first time in his entire life, she seemed to be slightly shaking in fear. He swallowed hard and tried to match her behavior, staring dead ahead and not looking to the source of the noise.

The noise had stopped at the edge of the shadows for a few moments, before the breathing calmed down. Then, a figure stepped out, one that he didn't recognize, but still knew what it was. It was a high being, an apex angel, one of the few in existence that had the power to singlehandedly fight the leaders of either faction, and win.

The apex gave a hearty laugh as he stepped out of the shadows, "Ah, I'm sorry if I spooked any of you, I just get bored in here is all. Say, I see some new faces in here! It's been a very long time since I saw anyone new, even longer than since I saw anyone at all!" He gave a somewhat crazed laugh, but Ariel didn't blame him. He would most certainly go a bit crazy if he was stuck here alone for goddesses know how long.

Ariel was about to respond to him when he caught something in the corner of my eye. Gabriel was giving him an intense stare, not a glare, but a look that was far more serious and powerful than any he had ever seen him give. Ariel stopped himself, at first confused as to why Gabriel was looking at him like that, before something resurfaced in his mind. '"Do not speak to anything we do not speak to." Wait, but why would we not speak to an apex angel?'

After a long silence, Gabriel cleared his throat. "What is taking the door so long? I remember it being faster." His voice was flat, as if he was carefully thinking about every single word he said. At no point did he look at the apex when he spoke, making Ariel more worried as to the answer to his question.

The apex laughed, "Ah, isn't that harsh? I feel hurt, after how long we've known each other I'm still just a doorman to you?" He shook his head in self pity before turning and beginning to walk to the door.

Ariel's question was about to be answered, as it seems Alieyah did not piece it together. She scoffed in anger at the apex, "What kind of unprofessionalism is this? Are you not supposed to be standing guard over the most dangerous creature in existence? And you play jokes!?! Not to mention how you aren't even doing your job and opening the door in a reasonable time! I will most certainly be speaking to my lady about your failure to properly serve your position!"

The room went silent, unnaturally silent. The hum stopped, and Ariel couldn't hear any of them breathing. In fact, he wasn't even breathing any more. he panicked as he realized he couldn't move at all, though he didn't seem to be suffocating. Then, Ariel witnessed the most horrid thing he may ever see in his entire life. The apex's head turned around. It didn't look like a natural turn, instead it was as if it was entirely separate from its own body, rotating completely individually.

Its face had a distorted grin, its eyes having an amount of detail that was not possible. It turned until it was looking directly at Alieyah, before stopping. Its grin continued to distort, its jaw extending longer and longer, the sides of its mouth being **** higher and higher. Its eyes, more defined than reality itself, began to shake in apparent excitement.

At last, when the distortions would rip its mouth off if it stretched any longer, it let out a scream. The scream was deafeningly loud, a sharp pitch that felt like Ariel's skull would shatter. For the split second while it screamed, it lunged forward at Alieyah, until he could no longer see it. The moment it left his vision, the scream stopped, he was able to move, and he could take in the new scene around him.

There was blood everywhere, angelic blood. A figure walked past Ariel on his left, coughing as their body twisted and bent. It at first looked like the apex, blood coating its mouth more thoroughly than anywhere else in the chamber. However, as it coughed, its bones seemed to crack and bend. Its arms grew longer, gaining extra joints before compressing themselves down again.

It slowly bent and broke, until its appearance had changed entirely. It now looked like an exact copy of Alieyah, not a single error in the recreation. The creature gave a few more coughs before a series of white feathers flew out of its mouth.

It turned back to Garbiel, "Ah, it's been so long since I tasted angel blood! I didn't miss the feathers though, they always go down the wrong hole." It gave a few more coughs for emphasis, before speaking again. "You know, Fate was right. You guys have started going soft once you got that heroine involved." It gave a horrid ghastly chuckle for a few moments. Then it gave a startling clap that it took every fiber of Ariel's being to not flinch at, "Well let me get the door for you then, eh? I imagine the loss of a high angel needs to be explained with quite the high success, isn't that right, Gabe ol' pall?"

It gave a coughing laugh as it walked over to the great door, running its hands over a few runes. The runes it touched lit up, forming a complex pattern before they all glowed brightly, and the door opened. The shapeshifter gave a dramatic bow and waved them forward, before walking off back into the darkness.

Gabriel gave a sigh of relief and annoyance, before he summoned a dove to relay a message to those outside. "Scratch one pride to gluttony." That was all he said to it before launching it back towards the entrance. Before Ariel could say anything, Gabriel and Zariel walk forward, seemingly trying to get to the door as fast as possible. Not wanting to be left alone in this place, he raced after them.

He had no idea what had just happened, but a part of him knew it was better the less he did.

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I watched them leave from the shadow, before walking back to the doorway to witness them leave. I chuckled to myself, 'Quite the interesting party, this time around. I'm surprised they didn't bring that little heroine of theirs, but then again, why would they? It only risks her breaking out of their restraints, and I doubt a meeting with THAT would end well, with an outer soul so close.'

I scratch my chin, getting the thrill of a new form for the first time in who knows how long. I had quite the collection now, including an apex angel, a high angel of the goddess of beauty, a lich lord, hell, I even had a demon king or two. Still, there were a few highly coveted ones I lacked.

I let out a sigh of disappointment as I watched them walk away towards Its chamber. "Oh Gabriel, when will you just let what Fate has decreed come to pass? You know it will come, so why do you fight so strongly?" I shook my head, "When will the last creature who knows my name that is not of my creed finally let me take it back?"

There was nothing more I could do than keep wishing. Clearly Fate's fortune was swiftly approaching, there was no other reason to speak with the creature at the end of this hall. I twirled one of the white angelic feathers in between my fingers as I pictured it.

What I would do when I was free.