Infinity: Rising of the Soul Weavers

"Well, for the sake of your curiosity, I shall entertain you with an explanation," Maya said with a shrug, in a casual tone. "I am not afraid... because I am not alone."

"Huh?" Hearing her words, Michael started looking around, confused. "You can't be talking about the two girls you brought with you previously, can you? 

"Although I did see the two of them rush to the dying Uriel, they were nothing but ants, in terms of strength. You surely don't expect them to save you, do you?

"Wait... you're bluffing! The two girls can't do sh*t! In fact, unless Gabriel has betrayed me, no one can stop- no, no, what nonsense am I even spouting…

"Hahaha, once I am done with my final preparations, even if the two of you and Gabriel try to fight me, you won't even stand a chance against me!"

"I'm not really sure what you're blabbering about, you got it right the first time," Maya scratched her cheek awkwardly. "I'm talking about Raven and Kayla. With those two backing me up, there's nothing to fear!"

Although she sounded so casual about it, Maya believed every word she said with every part of her soul.

Hearing that, Michael's expression changed a couple of times as complex emotions surged through his heart. Finally, and after many inexplicable expressions crossed his face, a hysterical laugh escaped his white bloodied mouth.

"You must be joking…" he could only laugh and shake his head. "You must be hiding something…"

Seeing his attitude and hearing his voice, Maya could only shrug while allowing herself to float in the void calmly.

Now, after trying to stop Michael from doing whatever he was planning to do and realizing that she couldn't possibly stop him with her current strength, she could only try to gather some of her energy back.

Sitting cross-legged across from one's mortal enemy and watching them recuperate and recover their energy peacefully was rather strange.

Yet, Michael needed his time to perform his last trick, while Maya had realized that she would only be wasting her time if she continued her meaningless attacks on him. 

So, even though it seemed as though the two had to come to a reasonable conclusion, it was just the convenience of the situation.

***

On the other side of this large area of space, far away from the deadly fight, Kayla and Raven were looking at a little girl in front of them.

The girl uncannily looked similar to Uriel in terms of appearance. However, that was where the similarity ended, strangely. 

With that being said, she surprisingly looked younger, both physically and mentally.

"What the heck is this thing? Is she really Uriel?" Raven asked with a surprised expression. "Wasn't she supposed to end up back as herself?"

"Well, um, not sure what went wrong there…?" Kayla replied. Although she meant to state it as an answer, it ended up sounding as a question.

"Why does she look like this? How is she younger?"

"I think it's because of the lack of blood, and err, because of everything that's happened to her," Kayla answered. "Although, with the way I constructed her body, she should have at least retained her current age, I'm not sure how she turned this young now…"

Even though the skeletal muscles and bones Kayla meant to support were Uriel's same adult form, it seemed as though something has gone amiss throughout the process, resulting in her becoming a younger version of herself.

"Hm, well, other than that, I'm pretty sure that I have put her soul back inside of her body without, err, missing something, I guess," Ravenn said. "So, why does not speak or interact with us? You fixed her brain, right?"

"Uhm," Kayla nodded. "Although some brain tissue was damaged, I have managed to reconstruct them using my Cyber Particles… 

"However, I feel like her brain is not normal. It's strange in a way that I can't describe. 

"Additionally, something that I could not reconstruct, or rather put back in place, was this thing-" saying that, she extended her open palm in front of Raven. 

A small, or better called tiny, life-like, fully transparent, and sparkling glass wing was sitting there, fluttering as though it was swaying against some invisible, yet very soft, winds.

"This thing was extracted from her Mana Core, and no matter how much I tried to put it back in, it didn't seem to work…" Kayla explained to the stunned Raven. 

"You know, my intuition says that it's something important. You should probably keep it safe." A voice said.

"Uhm, I think so too," Kayla said.

"Yeah, sounds about right. Kay, keep it with you for now," Raven said. "It may prove useful as she said- Hold the f*ck up, Uriel, you can talk now?"

Surprised and caught off guard, Raven snapped her neck towards the little Uriel. 

"Why wouldn't I be able to talk?" The little girl in question asked with an innocent cutely tilted head.

"Err, it's not that. It's just that we have tried to speak with you earlier," Raven narrowed her eyes. "But you didn't seem to hear us. You didn't even make any facial expressions…"

"Well, I only just now woke up," the little girl scratched her head in embarrassment. "But, two good ladies, let me ask this: did you help save my life?"

"We put your soul back in your previously broken body. I'd say that we damn did save your life- oh, wait, you don't remember what happened before?" Raven asked seriously before looking at Kayla, as if to ask for her help.

"Um, no," little Uriel shook her head in response. "I- I seem to have woken up from a long, very long, ambiguous, and very uncomfortable dream. It's a really weird feeling.

"But unfortunately, I do not remember anything. I only feel that you two have worked hard to save my life. But it's merely a feeling with no memories, hence I asked.

"With that being said, ahem- um, apologies, but I'm only telling you this because I trust you, okay? I am trying to be as honest as possible…"

"Uhm, sure, you can tell us anything," Raven said with one of her innocently fake smiles. Of course, for someone who practiced such a smile for a few years now, it looked rather genuine.

"Okay, um, two kind ladies, I am not sure why, but I-" Uriel suddenly swallowed loudly, stress highlighting her chestnut brown eyes. "I feel a little bit of discomfort when I look at you. I'm not sure how to describe it exactly, but it's a rather unpleasant feeling that stems from deep within- oh, I'm sorry, I talked too much didn't I? Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned this after all-"

"No, it's alright, don't worry about it," Raven interrupted with a shrug. "By the way, that feeling… it's hatred isn't it?" Raven asked bluntly.

"Uhm," the little Uriel nodded while looking down at her feet. "I'm sorry, I was just trying to help by being honest, but-"

"Don't apologize," Raven said with a shrug. "To be honest, we hate you too."

Hearing her say that, both Kayla and Uriel were left speechless and very surprised. But only the latter seemed to have been offended.

"Hate me? You hate me?" The little girl almost started crying. "But you saved me… why?"

"Well, to put it bluntly," Raven said with a sigh. "We weren't friends with you. In fact, you even took my right eye."

Saying that, Raven pointed at her closed right eyelid that covered her painful injury.

"I did that...?" Uriel had an unpredictable expression on her face. She looked as though surprised and disappointed in herself.

"You know, your own right eye would have been gone if it wasn't for our help, ironic, don't you think?" Raven said.

In fact, Kayla only fixed Uriel's right eye because she was working on fixing her whole body and wasn't paying attention to the specifics.

With that being said, if it wasn't for the Cyber Particles roaming little Uriel's every cell at this moment, this would not have been possible. Otherwise, Kayla -who held Raven as the person most precious to her heart, her second soul- would have already helped her regain her right field of vision.

"I am sorry…" Uriel apologized in a whisper. Tears started clouding her vision.

"Don't apologize. Apologies don't heal wounds or cure illnesses," Raven shook her head as she bluntly said. She didn't forget to adopt a harsh expression on her face. "With that being said, instead of your apology, lend us your help."

"My help?" Uriel asked, expectantly. Although she had some inexplicable hatred for the two girls that stemmed from her deep within her soul, she seemed to be eager to help them and pay off her debt.

"Yes, we want you to tell us everything you know about the leader of the Seraphim; Michael."

"Two kind ladies, I- I really want to help you, but I don't remember anything…" Uriel looked pitiful as she slowly shook her head. "I don't remember what a Seraph is, nor who Michael is…"