Fourteen

The floor was covered in a cold mist that seemed to cling to Ezekiel as he reentered the room where his team was.

The glass enclosure that held Azael was open again, the apparent source of the mist, and to Ezekiel's shock, the man was sitting up.

Despite the appearance of a series of new scars, he seemed to be perfectly fine, if confused.

"Wh…where am I," he asked, his voice shaking.

Gemma looked back at Ezekiel with a concerned look before she said, "We're in a town outside of the temple grounds…are you ok, Azael?"

Ignoring her question, he responded, "There is no town near the temple."

The mist swirled a little faster as he sat up, gathering at his feet and glowing pale white.

"After we got Taniel out, the tower did…something…and when it finished, a swathe of the forest was gone. It looks like it had grown over this town, even though we couldn't see any kind of sign of it before," Ezekiel said quietly.

He walked over to Azael and started checking the man, a sense of awe slowly overcoming him at the extent of the healing that had been done.

"How are you doing, Azael," Gemma asked again, something clearly on her mind.

"I'm fine. How is the girl, is she alive? Is the Choir ok?"

Ezekiel and Gemma looked away from him and at each other, unsure how, or even what, to tell him.

Without skipping a beat, he punched the table and said, "Dead."

It hadn't been long since they'd escaped the tower, but the two of them had managed to suppress any thoughts of what they'd seen.

It might not have even been on purpose.

Some things, mere men were not meant to see.

"Taniel is alive…but she's not responding," Ezekiel said quietly.

"The Choir?"

"They're gone…but not dead," Gemma said stoically.

"What the hell does that mean," Azael asked angrily.

Before Gemma could say anything, Ezekiel asked, "Are you sure you want to know? The truth will challenge everything you believe, you probably won't believe us."

The man looked up, surprising Ezekiel with the desperation in his eyes.

"Please."

Sighing gently and sitting next to him, Ezekiel asked, "What do you know about Sirens?"

Confusion washed over Azael's face and the younger man began to describe what they'd seen, doing what he could to keep the full details to a minimum where he could.

He didn't even know if he could properly describe what he'd seen anyway.

Azael was more than the average man by a long shot, but even he would be hard pressed to wrap his head around the full details and be ok.

The implications of newform monsters reached well and far beyond a handful of girls, not to mention what it meant for many of the creatures that had been collectively labeled monsters.

Much of the knowledge held by the Valley of Exiles was kept secret for the very valid reasons of keeping mankind safe from itself, as much as from the monsters they so feared.

Was that good though?

The Exiles claimed to be in pursuit of good, but kept extremely vital information hidden, supposedly in support of some greater 'good'.

Pushing the thought from his mind, Ezekiel finished his story and put his hand on Azael's shoulder as the older man began to weep softly, leaning onto Gemma as she sat on his opposite side.

Truth is terrifying, much more so than any lie or deception.

Azael was an investigator, a man who spent his life, now, in the never ending pursuit of the elusive demon that was the truth.

A partner cheating and hiding it, presenting a newborn child as the deceived's own, this posed no problem to him.

Children going missing, whether for some magical ends or more mundane cruelty…Azael had faced that and emerged victorious.

What does one do when the truth declines to align with your perception of reality?

As the tears fell from his eyes, this battle between truth and reality roared on within some deep and unspoken part of his mind, the very act of being informed threatening to shake him apart, his distinct sense of right and wrong thrown into disarray.

The girls were alive…but they had become something foul, wicked beyond comparison…is that right…or would it have been better that they die?

The young man beside him held up through some unshakable core of inner strength that Azael knew he might never achieve, for with everything he'd conveyed, it was clear to see that there was much he'd omitted.

The older woman as well, from where did she draw the strength to remain sane in the face of what she'd witnessed?

What were the two people he'd followed from a small town he might have died in, ignorant to the realities these two had lived with for their entire lives.

Then, of course, there was the girl who'd lived.

Taniel might have witnessed these same things that had nearly broken his new companions, and she had lifetimes less experience and knowledge, even less to prepare her, than even he or Ezekiel and Gemma had.

Was that why she lay so still?

Had the horror of the failed ritual shorn her mind from her body, cast away upon the endless tide of insanity?

After a while, immeasurable moments passing, Azael finally calmed and said, "Those poor girls."

Gemma nodded and Ezekiel said, "May they find their peace in their new homes."

"I…I hope they do…that they can at least live their new lives in a way that brings them comfort," Azael said, forcing himself to ignore the reality of what that peace entailed.

He looked up at Taniel and asked, "How can we help her?"

Standing and walking over to her, Ezekiel gently lifted her and walked her to the table that Azael was on.

"Maybe this device will help her as well," he said, not daring to let himself hope for such an easy resolution.

The thought of her dying made his chest feel tight and he felt the mark on his hand throb as he lay her on the now warm table.

Azael stood as the light from the table began moving up and down her body, flickering as it did.

Was it losing power?

Was that something they could fix?

No.

"Status scan complete, subject in perfect health, no further action taken," the voice said.

"Perfect health," Ezekiel said, too stunned for outrage.

The table dimmed to darkness and the group was left in the gloom of the now darkened room, now with more questions than they'd started with.