Chapter 173

Arya sat looking at the mostly still body of Vell, the only sign that she was alive was the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she continued to breathe. The spike that had been driven in by Reine had yet to be removed as each time they had tried, tendrils grew from it and latched onto Vell's body, and even if they did manage to expose some of it, the tendrils sucked the life out of the one doing the operation, making it an extremely dangerous, so much so that no one was willing to risk their life for an unsure method that had so far proven completely ineffective.

Arya sat worriedly as she gazed at Vell, completely unsure of what she could do to help, until she heard the door creak open. Thinking it was one of the others she glanced over only to be surprised to see the very criminal that had put Vell in the state before her. If it weren't for the fact that she was already severely wounded Arya would have already set upon her like a wild beast.

Reine didn't say anything as she staggered forward, one leg practically just dragging behind rather than supporting her. With movements that were clearly difficult to make she produced a small scrap of what appeared to be cloth and dropped it before turning back and staggering away. 

Arya was too stunned at the bizarre display to properly react and by the time she'd fully processed what had happened, Reine was nowhere to be found, the sole piece of evidence that she'd ever come being the small scrap of cloth. Arya cautiously picked it up, to see that it was likely part of a bedsheet, or some other form of white thin cloth, though there were red stains that, while blurry, were clearly words.

While Arya didn't trust Reine, she couldn't figure out what was to be gained by dropping this, and without much choice, took it to the others.

Without sunlight, or any method to determine how much time had passed, I was slowly going crazy. The worst part wasn't even the fact that I was stuck down here, but rather the collection of the purple Phoenix Blood. I didn't know what the interval was, but someone regularly came to collect it. Sometimes, it was Alcrem, sometimes Gabriel, but more often than not, it was imitations of someone I knew. Arya, Ellie, and the others were often the ones coming down, casually ignoring me while they harvested the Phoenix Blood. I knew they weren't the real ones, as there was a distinct lack of something, though I wasn't quite sure what, my instincts were telling me that this room and the faces of my friends was supposed to break me, but unless I became convinced that the fakes were real, I didn't think I would succumb to the oppressive darkness, no matter how alluring it whispered.

I knew that I had been in this place for quite some time as my body was becoming more and more emaciated, like I was slowly becoming a dry and withered husk, with the exception that I wasn't going to die anytime soon. It was as if all of my vitality and mana had been absorbed and now I was left as nothing more than an object with no purpose.

What I cursed the most however were the blasted chains and manacles that were keeping me bound. The had been clearly enchanted, but I hadn't noticed at first because I was barely conscious and I had assumed that they were just simply iron manacles, but once I started to get close to being able to slip them off, the manacles would shrink further around my wrist and ankles, leaving my weakened body in a position worse that it was before.

It was around the 300th visit or so that something changed in the dull routine I had been forced into. It was Gabriel's turn to come and harvest the Phoenix blood, something she did, however, unlike normal where she simply returned without saying a word, a confused expression appeared on her face as she examined the golden black liquid of the Divinities I had once possessed. While I was barely able to keep my gaze up at this point I couldn't miss the malicious smile that spread across her face.

"It's only been a month, yet all of your Divinity is nearly drained. I had wondered what you got up to in the Forest of Darkness, but to think you managed to subdue Apophis and turn that wretched snake into a Skill, no wonder your power is leaving so rapidly, such a slimy bastard would do whatever it could to live, and helping an enemy for even a chance to be free is something it would do." Gabriel laughed amusedly to herself as she spoke. "Only a few more days I think you can finally face your final judgement. Even if I am simply an Avatar of a greater being, I relish the thought that my task has nearly completed."

I desperately wished that there was some sort of method to break the chains that bound me, or to even send some kind of signal that I was in trouble. Of course, I didn't even know the situation with any of my allies, so for all I knew a signal might be entirely useless, but as it stood now I was just waiting for the blade of Death to come along and claim me.

Just as Gabriel had said, it wasn't long before I could actually feel the approach of death. Each breath was more difficult than the last, and I was struggling to keep my eyes open, even as the torches flared to life and I heard a set of slow moving steps approach. I was completely unable to move my body in any voluntary way, but I would have recognized the pair of nice shoes that entered my view on my final day.

The Duke Alcrem was standing before me, harvesting the Phoenix blood before walking around the island a bit, his feet coming to rest next to skeletal remains that I shared the island with. "It's such a shame that your Divinity is nearly out, I had hoped to get another 50 years out of your body, yet it seems that let alone 50 years, I doubt you'll last more than 5 more hours. Shame, but at least your corpse will provide for us, just as this noble creature once had."

With his final remark said, Alcrem turned on his heel and made his way out of the cavern, only the sound of him humming to himself entering my ears as he slowly faded and the darkness once again engulfed me. I was extremely distraught, the final moments of my life were before me and I hadn't even lived a life, I had only danced upon the palm of Gabriel and Alcrem since the start, I was almost certain that every hardship I had endured had been caused by them. Everything to push me to collect Divinity and return, so that they could strip it all away, taking my life along with it.

I wanted to scream, yell, or release my emotion in anyway, but my body was simply unable to do so, and I soon felt everything begin to slow, as I stared into the black expanse that was to be a true death, something I had been working to avoid for so long, and yet now faced with it, I accepted that it was coming. However, that didn't mean I was going to cease struggling. Even if it was meaningless, I would hold on for even a second longer, surely the Mortal Gods wouldn't permit the arrogance of Gabriel to do as she pleased in their world, even if she was a fragment of a more powerful being.

Unfortunately, it seemed that my prayers were to go unanswered as I felt my heart beat slow, before taking a single final beat and stopping.