Silver Lies Within the Hell We Created

After returning from his once-forgotten memory, the photographs that once floated around in the monochromic void dissolved, leaving behind a silver mist as Ansel watched the wisp that guided him fly toward Ashley. 

The wisp joyfully bounced around, flying in and out of her colorless body. The wisp and Ansel were within a separate space that mirrored the original spot where Ansel used his artifact. While the reach of the void was not that large, it served as a valuable tool for Ansel to hide in or arrange an attack. Time flowed slower within the space, about a tenth of the standard rate, and each minute he spent within here drained his energy; however, there was something different about this. He felt as if the artifact was not trying to consume his energy. 

"What are you doing?" Ansel looked at the wisp. It hovered over the wound that Ansel had patched up. A dark grey spot formed in the middle of the makeshift bandage. Ansel looked away with a bit of remorse, not at the wound, but at the face that should have been Ashley's.

There were unanswered questions that Ansel needed to be solved for the sake of his sanity, but he knew he was asking too much for trying to get them all answered at once. One step at a time. He learned of the strange girl that hunted him in this hellscape, but he still needed to know why she hunted him. Ansel wanted to know why, whom he once seemed to adore, turned out to be the one person he despised the most in his life.

"Lily…" Ansel turned back to face Ashley's body. Her chest slowly raised up and down. "Ashley…" Ansel took a finger to his lips and scraped up some leftover blood that belonged to Ashley.

It was sweet, the same sweetness he tasted in the memory he had just relived. Lorry Kinder, a name that Ansel had once forgotten, was now a name he could never forget as long as Ashley lived.

"No matter what changes or who you meet, it's still the same face as ever."

A stray voice came from behind Ansel, startling him. The silver wisp flew away and disappeared towards the edges of the void. The voice was familiar; of course, it was. He had just learned whose voice it belonged to. A voice so sweet that it made his icy heart thawed. Yet those beats felt like they were being strangled by thorns so sharp that he would lose his mind from the sound alone. Ansel turned to face the voice. An unknown woman dressed in a silver dress met his eyes. She bore Lily's face, but the most shocking thing was the four wings that rested on her back. Two pairs of angel wings that broke the rules of the monochromatic world and blessed Ansel's eyes with their vibrant white that shined.

She was an entity that should not exist—an angel that sought nothing but destruction for humanity itself. But at the same time, Ansel felt a warmth from her presence that made the blood within his body heat up.

"The Visage of Yesterday's Regret. What a suitable artifact for the man who was named the Silver Detective. Using it allows the victims to see the person they despise the most. However, you modified it by altering it with the Omen that this once was and using it to enter the memories of the victims." The voice spoke with a hint of curiosity as she moved around the colorless void. "So now it creates a small pocket of space that time has slowed within as well? Well, I guess evolution takes place with the contractors' will."

The Original Artifact that Ansel used had changed its function over the ten years he had been the owner of it. He thought that its powers changed as a result of his experimenting and seeing how much it was capable of doing. But seeing the Angel speak with such praise in her voice made Ansel think otherwise. Something about the Artifacts was going according to the will of the Angel.

"Silver Seeker…" Ansel muttered the code name that only a handful of people within the city knew. The name of the Angel who brought forth the storm once the box had been opened. "How did you get into this place?" Ansel asked a meaningless question. The Angel was not normal; she was a diva of destruction. Her being here only means a single thing—Ansel has something she wants.

Her sapphire blue eyes glistened as her wings spread open. Tiny silver wisps appeared around her and danced joyfully on her wings.

Ansel took a step back and felt something move. While his senses were dulled from being within a separate space from reality, he could feel the faint movement of the surrounding air. The woman lowered her wings and gave Ansel a poison-laced smile. "Looks like she is awake." As Ansel tried to look at Ashley, who slowly sat up, the woman wrapped her arms around Ansel. All it took was a blink for the woman to travel from where she once was and then behind him. "Don't look back, but keep looking forward, and enjoy the sound of the voice of the girl you once loved."

Her skin was cold to the touch, yet Ansel felt a warmth swelling up inside him from her embrace. She had no intentions of taking Ansel seriously as she traced her fingers across his chest.

"I'll ask again. Why are you here?" Ansel's tone was harsh. The presence of the Angel was nothing but bad news. He could not afford to be enticed by her charm. Ansel had a bad feeling that doing so would result in the death of several people.

"Oh, dear me. Do I really need a reason to be here?" Within a flash, the woman appeared before Ansel and stood with her arms crossed. "I was really worried about you, my child. I caught wind that the Blood Omen was running wild and took control of another Omen. When I came here, I saw you were trapped in this monochromic void, staring at a young, defenseless girl mere moments from death."

"Phrasing! But besides that, you were unneeded. You can leave now." Ansel glared at the woman using Lily's face. Hatred swelled up within him the moment she said 'child.'

"Oh, how regretful. To see a face like that from one of my own children. And here I thought I could melt that icy heart before you make the same mistake with her." The woman pointed towards Ashley, who was looking around and holding the suit that Ansel had tossed on her. "Using people as bait, that's such a brutish move that not even the Blood Omen could be considered an excuse to cover up."

Ansel bit his lip. This woman knew too much about him. He would be lying if he came out and said that he was not gonna use her as bait. He knew the girl held something back in her heart and wanted to redeem herself. Ansel wanted to exploit that and gather as much information as possible to finish the mission. However, nearly killing her was not part of the plan, yet it seems like Ashley intended to wait in the forest for the slightest hope that Ansel would return.

"Heh, so what?" Ansel spoke with a smug grin as he glared at the woman. "She's a good-for-nothing piece of eye candy within a town of old rocks. She's a cursed like me. I can use that to lure my target."

"I won't let you use my children as you please." The woman's sapphire eyes grew cold. A chill ran down Ansel's spine. The Angel's wings spread open, and then she floated inches off the ground. "Now tell me, child, what do you intend on doing with her? Should you lie, I shall cut you down here myself, even if you are my child."

Ansel took a moment to think. These next words needed to be chosen carefully. While Ansel had no shortage of confidence in his strength, fighting this Angel would result in an utter defeat for him.

"I have no connection to the girl. Whether I use her will not affect me in the slightest…but I won't harm her." Ansel licks his lips. The faint traces of blood still lingered. He could not afford to let Ashley die anymore. She might have the missing answers he seeks.

The Angel descended and rested her wings. A pained smile lined her lips as a soft sigh escaped. "You have not changed in the slightest. I would have thought pushing that girl would change you, but I suppose it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks."

"…" Ansel fell silent as he got the feeling that she was not referring to Ashley just now.

"I trust you. After all, you might have broken her. She is free and alive. She stands by your side despite your sins. I know you will garner the trust of this one, too. You are the one would will set me free after all."

"What?" As Ansel tried to question the woman, she disappeared into a mist of silver smoke. The wisps that flew around her flew towards Ansel and circled him. "And she's gone."

"I will be the one to set her free?" The final words she spoke weighed on his mind. It was quite a demand for someone he had never met before to make me him too. "As if I would be foolish enough to take the hand of the devil." Ansel slapped his face, clearing his doubts.

He turned back towards Ashley to sit alone in the forest, waiting. She held her stomach in pain. Ansel laughed to himself after seeing the sight. The mere thought of her waiting for him to return was too funny to not laugh at. It was only an excuse to alleviate the guilt he felt after stabbing her. After all, she was unable to walk, so she had no choice but to wait for help to find her.

Ansel reached into the air, and the silver wisps flew into his hand. Moments later, the wisps transformed into an old vintage camera that sent him into this place. He aimed it at the girl and snapped the photo.

"I'll be there."