Angel Monarch

The primordial darkness consumed everything around Sera. She opened her eyes, even though she had no eyes in her spirit form.

Confusion permeated her mind. She knew her suicide attempt failed, but then how did she end up in Limbo?

She looked around, looking for answers. Only endless darkness and the distant light of Afterlife filled this empty plain.

Slowly, images appeared in her mind, but Sera couldn't focus on their meaning, like something was blocking her from accessing specific memories.

"Hmm… Not yet, child… There's much to do before you remember…"

A grating voice, like bones scraping against each other, echoed in the endless plain. Sera recognized the voice, but she couldn't figure out why.

Quickly, she twirled around and found herself in a cozy room. To the side, a campfire crackled. It solely illuminated the room, casting shadows throughout the small space.

In front of Sera, a lone figure sat in a comfortable leather chair. He wore long black garments, hiding every part of His body. A large hood covered his head, leaving only eternal darkness in its place.

To the side, the figure's weapon floated in the air. A large golden scythe, with screaming faces etched into the metal.

The faces changed constantly. They moved around as if they weren't faces at all, but actual people trapped inside the weapon.

Sera unconsciously gulped upon laying eyes on the scythe. She knew who the person sitting there was since He couldn't be mistaken for anybody else… Death…

"The one and only…" Came the deep rumbling voice from below His hood.

A shiver went down Sera's spine just from hearing His voice. Like millions of dead whispering at once. Despite having no body, Sera felt the coldness in the non-existent air as she gazed upon Him.

"Come now, my friend, no need to act so sheepish… You made it here with your other half in tow, just as planned… You should be celebrating…"

Death's voice sounded amused. He even made a strange, horrible grating noise, which most likely equaled to laughter.

But Sera didn't care about the weird sound. She instead stayed focused on His words, and the meaning behind it.

"Oh, yes… The other Sera died in your significant other's attack too… Now, it is time for your reunification… Feel that pull on your soul?… It wants to become whole again!…"

Sera did feel a strange sensation inside her body. Like a constant pressure, similar to gravity pushing her towards some destination far away. Though initially easy to resist, the feeling grew stronger over time.

"What's happening?" She asked, trying to hide the distress in her voice.

"We have already talked about this friend… Ah, yeah, you have forgotten…"

Death sounded a bit embarrassed, or at least that's what Sera imagined. His voice stayed monotone, and she wasn't certain this being could feel human emotions.

"Let me give you a quick reminder, just so you know what will happen next!…"

The whole became dark again as the cozy room dissipated. The Afterlife still glowed brightly behind Sera, but her eyes stayed focused on something else entirely.

Some unmeasurable distance away, Death stood with a small, white, broken-looking spirit floating next to Him. Sera took one 'step' and appeared close to them.

She recognized the spirit instantly, because the pull originated from her. The white spirit was Sera's other half.

The two spirits exchanged sorrowful, uneasy glances. They knew what followed, and neither felt particularly joyful. They didn't want to die, even partially.

"Now that you both are here, let me give you a quick rundown of what happens next… Your soul is in two pieces, each holding an equal amount more or less… But, for you to become the dominant half, you need to defeat the other…"

One of the spirits immediately tried to attack the other, but an invisible force stopped her. Death's horrific laughter echoed through the space, and ignoring this event, He continued.

"As spirits, neither of you can use any abilities, and you have to fight with bare hands… The one who can make the other submit wins… Good luck… I will wait for the winner, so we can discuss everything…"

For some weird reason, he chuckled as he ended the conversation and disappeared into the darkness.

The Seras felt unsure of their next step. By Death's account, they needed to fight for dominance, but is that truly what they wanted?

Scarred Sera's previous turbulent emotions calmed down quite a bit after Death left them alone. Even her madness seemed to elevate in the tranquility of Limbo. She felt her troubles slowly dissipate.

Hollow Sera stayed on high alert, but made no move to attack. She just watched in silence, awaiting her other half's next move.

It took her a long time to speak, but eventually, Scarred Sera's timid voice echoed in the empty space.

"How's our daughter doing?" She asked, trying to hide her intense fear, curiosity, and sorrow.

The sudden question took Sera aback. She expected her to ask about their current situation and how to peacefully resolve it. Instead, she went in the opposite direction, inquiring about Vicky.

Bit surprised Hollow Sera quickly composed herself and answered as concisely as possible.

"She's doing really good… Uh, she found herself a boyfriend of sorts. They were spending a lot of time together. She also made a few new friends, and she is planning on starting school soon… After the war…"

The melancholy around Scarred Sera deepened. She looked towards the white light, thinking about all the people she sent there.

"Thank you… For taking care of her, even through all the suffering you endured… Anyway, how do you wish to proceed? Do we fight each other? See who's the strongest?"

She sounded strange, like she wasn't talking seriously. It wasn't easy, but Hollow Sera detected quite a bit of sarcasm in her other half's speech pattern.

"Is that really what you wish? To fight yourself and determine who will be the dominant half?"

Scarred Sera scoffed in disgust and looked away with anger. She stared at the Afterlife, while lots of thoughts moved around her mind.

"Of course not! But that's what Death and everybody else thinks we should do! It doesn't matter to me, since whatever comes out of our reunification, it will be neither of us!"

Slowly, Hollow Sera took a 'step' closer, and she looked out towards the Afterlife as well. The two of them stayed silent for seemingly an eternity, albeit Limbo was unaffected by time.

"I don't want to fight either. It's simply pointless. If you win, our new self would be more emotional, while if I win, she would be more rational. Neither of those are good options. What she needs is balance!"

After listening to Rational Sera's words, her other self turned away from the Afterlife and looked towards her twin.

"You what are you suggesting?" She asked, full of curiosity and hope.

Rational Sera turned towards her twin too, and a small smile grew on her nonexistent lips.

"What else? We do our own thing!… I don't know about you, but in these past two years I grew weary of following orders and suffering because of my powerlessness! I suggest we reunite on our own terms, not caring about others' opinions!"

Emotional Sera felt surprised for a moment, then she chuckled and spoke with a sly grin on her invisible face.

"You see, quite hopeful. Aren't you supposed to be the rational one?… I don't think Death would take kindly if we went against his instructions!"

The other Sera just shrugged, while taking another 'step' closer to her twin. The pulling power between them became stronger every second. It took a lot of effort to resist it.

"Death won't care either way. He has no control over living beings, and currently because of our phoenix ability, we are technically still alive."

Emotional Sera looked at her with pure confusion and even more curiosity.

"How do you know all this?" She asked, but Rational Sera wasn't certain.

She glanced at the endless darkness, trying to find an answer hidden within its depths. Somehow she knew the answer, and she was certain about its truthfulness, but she couldn't pinpoint where the memory came from.

After staying silent for a long while, contemplating the answer, she eventually let go. Instead of finding nonexistent answers, she steered the conversation back to the main topic.

"That doesn't matter… Let's get back to the problem at hand… Do you wish to reunite with me and see where this new road takes us?"

Rational Sera took one more 'step' and finally stood next to her twin. She reached out one of her spirit hands to shake her other half's.

Emotional Sera stared at the hand skeptically. Many emotions went through her face, from anger to sadness, to fear and joy, pain, relief, but eventually it settled on hope.

Vehemently she reached out her hand, and was about to touch her twin's when a question popped into her mind.

"Wait, what would happen if we Evolved using our own soul? Technically, we are both separate entities, and we could both Evolve separately… Should we try?"

For a moment, Rational Sera just stared at her sister with pure disbelief, then out of nowhere, she burst into laughter.

Emotional Sera turned away with embarrassment, thinking her twin was laughing at her, but after hearing her words, she realized that wasn't the case at all.

"And you call me the rational one? That's a genius idea and we are hundred percent doing it!… Now let's not waste anymore time!"

Before Emotional Sera could've gotten a word out, her sister reached out and grabbed her hand…