Last chapter- Metallic, Amandeath, and their new acquaintance Elio, started to head back to Marlox's house after escaping from Commander Aora.

However, the last time we saw Karia- she recklessly challenged Habram's servant Diosa Natash, using her "Spirit of Sariel" to fight him. Karia did this in the hopes that she could avenge her boyfriend, Sariel who she accidentally killed. This was caused by an attempt to take his Blessing, in order to stop Diosa Natash during his brutal raid on Vegahold a year ago.

However, even a year later Karia still lost. But instead of dying she was gravely injured, in which she remains unconscious today, after being treated by the doctor Marlox.

Karia's P.O.V.

"Get out! She wo..."

...

"-ht alright, jeez relax..."

"Huh?" Is the first thing I think to myself as my eyes open. All I can see around me is white.

"Is this heaven? Or is the white just Seric's ship... no. He's- well he's... dead. So it's finally over then, Sariel's soul is free. I can rest. But didn't that spearman stab me? My soul should be shattered..." I think to myself as I relax- then start to freak out a bit as I get confused.

Is this nothingness then? Just white? But no- my soul didn't come out of my body like Seric's did. Did I really get into heaven? I sure don't deserve it, but... I sure wouldn't mind that. Living peacefully after all the shit I went through.

Then again I was the reason why I suffered in the first place. My life started off kinda crappy, and I just made it so much worse through dumb decisions.

"I'll have eternity to question my life choices. About time I look to see what's around... I'm scared to though. What if this is actually hell?" I think to myself with a gulp.

"But maybe. Just maybe, whoever rules this universe will let me see h-"

"You ok?" My eyes open wide and immediately start to tear up- I launch myself up off of my back, and can see him standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! Turquoise hair, Hopian Army uniform-

"OH GODS- SARIEL!!!!" I shout as I stumble up to my feet and charge at him. I wrap my arms around his surprisingly muscular waist, and tackle him down onto the floor beneath us. I loosen my grip once I remember his old, and more "fragile" state though.

"I'm so sorry- Sariel please love me, I'm so sorry- I didn't mean to kill you, I swear! I should've known using my Blessing on you was too risky, I barely even knew how it worked! But I felt so shitty about being powerless while people were fighting, I just wanted to stop that spearman- that monster!" I keep on crying as I bury my face into his clothed chest. He smells exactly the same as before, his chest feels about the same too... maybe even a bit buffer than before.

"I know. I never blamed you for a second, Karia. I asked you to take my powers- and I knew that there would be potential risks going into that. So what kind of loser would I be if I had any regrets?" He says with a chuckle which makes me start to wail, and a second after that he lays his hand on my back and starts to rub me.

"Thank you, t-thank you..." Is all I can manage to sob as I grip him a tiny bit harder.

"...Wait- he was standing before! He can walk again!" I think to myself, then bearhug Sariel-

"Ow ow- time out!" He says, and I immediately let go and fall back- is he still not in perfect condition?

"Haha- sorry to ruin the moment, you're just way stronger than us in here it seems. I'm completely healthy. Anyways- you can come back now." Sariel says with a smile as he winces in pain, but calls me over with his fingers regardless. Of course I slide right back towards him on my knees, and hug him gentler this time as I lie my head in the crook of his neck.

A few minutes later...

I wipe the tears off of my face, and raise my face up to kiss Sariel on the lip-

"Huh? No... Sariel, no please." I whimper, as all my lips kiss is the back of Sariel's hand that he blocked me off with.

"Am I in hell after all?" I think to myself as I start to cry for a whole different reason this time.

"Karia- I know you're confused, but listen to me. You're not dead. And I am. We can't kee-"

"But you forgave me, so it should be fine- we can be together now, right?!" I interrupt him, admittedly I barely even listened to what he just said.

"Karia! I know you're stubborn, so I'll make this clear- and I'm sorry if this hurts. But we're not partners anymore, ok? We can't be. I'm DEAD. You're ALIVE. Once you wake up, we'll never be able to talk again- just like before." Sariel says, which brings all of my happiness back down to zero.

"...Hah. Go figures. So what, is this a sick joke- just a dream then? My brain trying to convince me to let you go, so that I won't do stupid shit like fighting that spearman again?" I say with a scoff.

"No. This is the real deal. I really hope you consider that last bit as soon as possible though, but anyways. Firstly, where we are now, is where I've been ever since I gave you my soul. Not heaven or hell, not nothingness- which FYI would've been terrible for both of us, if Diosa did destroy your soul. A-"

"Diosa? Is that the spearman's name? How do you know that?" I ask as I finally almost stop crying. The heartbreak hurts, but deep down- I knew that me and Sariel would probably never get a happy ending together. I'm just... glad to see him again, I guess.

"Uh- I'll explain that bit as I go on, it's kinda weird. Moving on, we're inside of you right now. Or more like inside of your soul. Probably." Sariel explains- huh?

"...OK then, but I took three souls with my Blessing though. Where are th-"

"BLAHAHA!!!!!"

I jump back and squeal as a giant deformed face, with three tongues, no nose and one pitch black eye pops out right in front of my face!

"Damn it Kodan, fucking asshole you said you wouldn't do it! And I thought Bersia said she wouldn't help you!" Sariel shouts out as he pushes the blonde shirtless criminal back, who's bearded face is back normal again. Meanwhile I'm sitting down with my heart beating like crazy- wait whoa... I think I can hear it beating all around us?

"But more importantly, how the hell did Kodan do that?! He looked like a monster!" I think to myself as I catch my breath.

"Yeah well- sorry man I lied. Anyways who's laughing now Karia?! Ha! Now we're even, you know after you laughed at me while I was dying. No hard feelings now though right?" Kodan asks, as he pushes Sariel aside pretty effortlessly and struts towards me.

I get back up to my feet and walk towards him too.

"We're in MY body, I'll put him in his place." I think to myself as I throw a right hook at Kodan's grinning face at a crazy speed- and in response he swings his arm up, and intercepts my punch with the back of his arm. What?!

"Well shit- you really ARE way stronger here! I'm super tempted to fight you right now, just for fun- but King would be pissed at me if I destroyed you. So I won't." Kodan says as he smiles while gritting his teeth, and pushes me back with his other free hand.

He looks better than when I fought him. His long hair and beard are the same, but all of his scars and other injuries seem to be gone.

"He must be stronger in here too. Whatever, Kodan got the point that he shouldn't mess with me- I made him struggle. How does he know about me and King though?" I think of a pretty important question,

"How do you know that I know Metallica?" I ask, having some weird suspicions now.

"Well you know how-"

"Kodan, I'll handle this. I let you try out your "cool moves" on me for a year straight, so I get to choose what we say to Karia here." Sariel interrupts as he steps between me and Kodan.

"Ugh- fine. I still want to talk to her for a bit after though." Kodan says as he droops his shoulders.

"So yeah. Right now since you're unconcious, we can't see "it" right now. And by "it", I mean normally- we have a full view of whatever your eyes see in real life, as well as what you hear. Kinda like a big TV." Sariel says.

"Ummmm... I mean... kinda weird, but I guess that's fair. You guys wouldn't have any entertainment otherwise. I would feel bad if you didn't. But do you guys see and hear, like, everything, all the time?" I ask, feeling a bit uncomfortable now as I scratch my head and blush a bit.

"Of course we don't look when any private stuff is going on. But we can't turn it off so to speak... don't worry, we don't see like everything. We can look away easily."

"C'mon, be honest with her Sariel or I will."

"Koda-"

"No, he's right Sariel. I want to know the truth. Kodan you tell me then." I interrupt Sariel and nod at the douche himself instead. Sariel always used to lie for my sake, which was nice since most of his lies helped me. But for something like this- no thanks.

Anyways, Kodan starts saying- "We obviously look away at times to respect you and all, but we sleep in here you know? So in the past, me and Sariel have both woken up, opened our eyes- and been blinded by certain parts of you. Parts that you prooobably wouldn't want people seeing. Also- the audio of the "Karia-Show" never goes off. So uh, we cover our ears and look away for most of the private times sure. But we still get woken up or blindsided sometimes, by the sounds of numbers 1, 2 an-"

"Fucking gross!" I shout out as I can't help but look away. Just great, yeah no wonder Sariel doesn't love me anymore.

"Hey- you wanted honesty, just giving it to you. Shouldn't have asked then, blissful ignorance has worked for Metallica. Maybe you should try it too- or maybe not considering the stuff you've pulled recently." Kodan says back to me, as he raises his hands up with a shrug.

"Yeah- that's why I didn't want to talk more about that stuff Karia. I don't think of you any differently because of those rare accidents, don't worry." Sariel responds with a small smile.

"Why are you smiling, you don't even love me... or do you? I mean, I could put on a show for you in a mirror if you wanted. I bought some toys a while back, they can go in pretty deep..." I ask with a sly smile, with a tiny shred of hope left based on Sariel's last reaction. Although I already kinda did that stuff in the past, hoping Sariel would see me.

"My turn to say it- gross. See you two in a bit. One thing Karia- I'll keep this short. Seriously, thanks a ton for taking King Metallica with you guys. I literally cried tears of joy when he helped save that Birzion island from that guy Virile. Keep it up, I can tell he likes you three a LOT." Kodan fake gags and walks away from us, then suddenly thanks me.

Weirdo. Also he just walked away from us through a empty doorway that leads to even more neon white... I've been so focused on the people here, I've barely even looked around the room I'm in.

"This really does look like Seric's boat, it's rectangular and everythi-"

"Real mature Kodan. And Karia... I mean, your offer's tempting- but no. Go put on a show for a guy who's still alive, a guy you love just as much as you loved me. Or a guy you get with on a one-night stand, whatever makes you happy. I know that our time together was cut short, but we have to end things here Karia. Ok? And I was being harsh before to get through to you- but you're obviously still my best friend. I know the "friend-zone" always hurts, but it's literally our only option here." Sariel responds to me with a sigh and an emotionless face.

"...Ok. I guess..." I say back to him as I look down at the ground. At least he isn't happy about this either.

"Hey. This may make you feel a bit better. Once you die, and live a FULL life- and that means no trying to kill yourself anymore. I'd be more than happy to be in a relationship with you in heaven or hell, if you still love me by then at least. I wouldn't even care if you brought another husband up with you to the afterlife either. How does that sound?"

I laugh at that, "A bit better, yeah. And wow. I never took you for a guy that would share me with other men." I say with a small chuckle.

"Hey, we never had the time to try going poly in the land of the living is all." Sariel defends himself with a bit of a smirk.

"And by the way, where are we exactly? Is this really Seric's boat?" I ask as I glance around some more. Even the placement of the doors look the same, only thing is there's way more room here and no furniture.

"Probably. Forgot to mention this but, every once in a while our "home" here changes to something brand new. We're not 100% sure but, my and Kodan's theory is that whenever you get super passionate about something in the real world- the "soul" world here changes to reflect that. And since the last thing you saw was Seric's soul fade away right in front of you- yeah the theory seems about right." Sariel says which... makes me feel conflicted.

"Oh. Uh. No more weird intrusive stuff with that right?" I ask with an awkward laugh.

"Huh? Oh nono, nothing weird at all in that department don't worry. Most of the "areas" that have showed up were way more vague than this regardless. Anyways, you must've liked Seric a bit after all then, considering where we are now." Sariel says in a more serious tone, with a worried look on his face. Or sad? It's hard to tell.

"Huh... maybe I did like him a bit. A big part of me didn't trust Seric at all, and was pissed as fuck that I saved a monster like him from prison. Especially since I took out some soldiers that I liked to free him. But a small part of me just... I don't know, just didn't accept that such a timid guy like him did something so horrible. What do you think Sariel?" I ask, as he was normally always great with advice before. He had better judgement than me at least.

"Honestly? Sounds brutal to say it but, I'm glad he's dead. If he was skilled enough to kill Commander Erucid, he could've been skilled enough to be a master manipulator to trick you. But... now that I think of it... what happens now that you can't fufill your contract with Bersia? Are there other people besides him who can open those trial doors without dying?" Sariel says which starts to scare me.

"I- oh shit I don't know. All that stupid Blessing diety warned me about was "severe consequences that will make you wish for the abyss", if I didn't follow through with the person who's Blessing I took's wish. Oh no."

"Well- fuck. Don't even know what to say besides I'm so sorry. You co- wait. Wouldn't those "consequences" have started by now? And Bersia asked for you to save Seric specifically... maybe he's not dead then?" Sariel says which relieves me a bit.

"Good point. Or maybe I'll just wake up in agonizing pain!" I say with a sarcastic smile and scoff while trying to hide my fear.

"Well um, at least you're taking it in stride. And I mean... we could ask Bersia for some info. The few times she's spent time with me and Kodan, she predicted super specific things about you- and all of them came true. Only thing is though, she's normally in her own little world whenever we try to approach her. We can try though, she's in here." Sariel jerks his head, and starts walking towards a pure white door to the right of us.

He opens it, and inside the dark candle-lit room I can see the skinny old lady in stained rags. She's just like I remember, Bersia has long flowing white hair, and is kneeling on the ground and mumbling. She's also writing things out on a... scroll?

"What other kinds of tools are inside my soul? Unless- OH never mind, that's her Blessing. I think." I think to myself.

"Bersia! Ka-"

"It's Snow Witch to you, and I KNOW. Ahem. Welcome, chosen one. I would mock you for your mistakes, you know- but then I would offend him. The boy is alive. Stay with him, or else you will wish for death but never receive it. Seric is not evil. And... what else, let me see- what other words did he tell me to say... oh! The password is Leridas, write it down when you wake. And work with the sadist when she arrives, or else you will never make it. Go-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on. First off, who's "he"? Second of all, how can I trust you?" I ask with a furrowed brow.

"Ahh. Well he is your greatest ally. I called for him long ago, and he came. Charming, stern, kind, divine, mighty, blue, charasmatic. He made all of my years of practicing summoning worth it. My family left me, calling me a lunatic... ha! Little did they know I was right all along." Bersia says with a laugh as her whole body shakes. Uhh.

Thankfully I get distracted by Kodan walking in behind us.

"Oh brother, this story again? Uh- just a heads up Karia, she isn't all there. I know I'm one to talk but, trust me she's one of the-"

Bersia snaps and I jump back as Kodan's head just disappears, I can see the flesh of his neck! Kodan doesn't seem too scared though, and instead starts shaking and hunches over. Is he laughing...?

"That would've killed someone in real life... why haven't I been able to use that ability when I use Bersia's spirit?" I think to myself, already being too weirded out to care about how strange that was at this point.

"Shut your MOUTH! I will not let you disrespect him. As I was saying. To gain some trust, I was told to tell you this. You will awake in a bed, inside of a doctor named Marlox's house- who is now deceased. You will also be forced to fight very soon. Ask for help. That is all I have to say. Any questions?" Bersia says as she finally turns to look at me with her dull, silver eyes and wrinkly face.

"She's probably not lying Karia. Never has to me or Kodan before. I'd reccommend trying to remember everything she told you. So Seric's actually innocent? Hmm. That would depend on Bersia's definition of "evil" though, which I'm not entirely sure I trust." Sariel says, which I nod and agree with.

"One question, Bersia. Will this guy who gave you these predictions directly help us as an ally? Or is it just through these visions?"

"I'm not permitted to say, although he would be humored that you are intrigued. He chose you for a reason, and has always had plans to guide you and Seric. He is far from human, and as such has- or will- assist you in ways that are beyond our understanding. Do as I have told you, and do your best to survive. OH! One last thing. Tell Seric that following H's orders is the only way to be free. Bye." Bersia shouts with a wagging finger, after she looks back down to her scroll one last time.

"Um. OK then. Thank-" I say as a giant gust of wind blows us three out from the room onto our butts- and the white door slams shut.

A/N: Karia finally seems to get some, albeit confusing, peace...

See you all next time! There unfortunately will probably be a break though.