Chapter 41: You are now the real Seraphel
Seraphel
Darkness. It was absolutely pitch black, and I could barely see a single thing around me.
Where the hell was I? I wondered anxiously, my chest tightening with immediate panic. I suddenly felt a cold wetness right under my palms and realized that I was lying flat on top of water, but in the heavy obscurity, I couldn’t figure out if it was a massive body of water or just a small, shallow pool.
"Azriel!" I called out into the void, my voice instantly echoing back to me. I vividly remembered falling completely unconscious right after feeling that excruciating, tearing pain in my lower belly—an agony so intense it felt like I was about to die on that stone courtyard. The absolute first thing I had been terrified about was the baby, and now, suddenly, I was trapped in this dark, surreal place where I couldn’t see a single thing in front of my face.
Did that bastard Azriel lock me away in some hidden dungeon? I wondered bitterly, my eyes roaming everywhere through the thick shadows, searching for any sign of a wall or a door. But there was absolutely no sign of anything or anybody, until a sharp, distant scream pierced the silence.
"Who... who is there?!" my voice shook terribly as I spun around, looking into the endless nothingness yet again. "Where the hell are you, Azriel?! You are supposed to protect your baby... our baby!"
Suddenly, a faint light began to illuminate the oppressive darkness. It started slowly at first, a soft glow that rapidly intensified into a brilliant, blinding flash of white that forced me to squeeze my eyes shut.
When the intense glare finally died down, the space was no longer pitch black. I opened my eyes and looked around me in utter bewilderment; I was standing right in the center of a vast, infinite white room lined with countless towering mirrors, each one casting back endless, repeating reflections of my own form.
I looked down at my feet, watching the shallow pool of crystal-clear water that completely covered the floor, rippling gently with every tiny movement I made.
"Where the hell am I? Did I actually die? Where is Azriel, and where is the baby?"
Suddenly, one of the massive mirrors right in front of me flashed with a strange, eerie light.
My eyes widened in curiosity, and despite the alarm bells ringing in my head, I slowly started walking toward it.
I really shouldn’t have. I knew I was supposed to turn right back around and find a logical way out of this place. I should have been infinitely more careful, especially since I had watched so many horror films back in my world where people’s stupid curiosity gets them ruthlessly killed. Yet, here I was, heading straight toward a mysterious mirror like a lamb to the slaughter.
What the hell are you thinking, Nathan? I muttered under my breath, running a frantic hand through my hair. My logical mind was screaming at me to stop, yet my legs kept forcefully pushing me forward toward whatever was waiting in front of me.
The exact second I reached the front of the glass, a reflection stared directly back at me, but I immediately noticed a massive difference in our appearance. While I was currently dressed in the luxurious, expensive silk robes of Azriel’s palace, my reflection wore tattered, filthy rags. He looked incredibly sickly, pale, and worn out, yet he still possessed a heartbreakingly beautiful face.
This wasn’t the Seraphel of right now. Was this... the original, real Seraphel? I wondered, my breath catching as I slowly stretched forth my fingers toward the smooth surface of the mirror.
The reflection didn’t mimic my movements at all. Instead, he just stood there, staring back at me with deeply pitied, sunken blue eyes.
"You... you are the real Seraphel, right?" I whispered, my hand trembling against the glass.
"I used to be Seraphel, but that is no longer my destiny," he spoke, his voice sounding hollow as he pointed a slender finger directly toward my chest. "It now belongs entirely to you."
I let out a harsh, bitter scoff, placing my hand flat over my heart. "My destiny? I didn’t sign up for a single bit of this! I didn’t ask to be pulled inside this trashy, unhinged novel, and now I can’t even get a single moment of peace because I am constantly being threatened by psycho enemies! Why can’t you just face your own damn destiny? Why the hell do I, an outsider—someone who was just minding his own business enjoying a book—have to be pulled inside? Why the hell do I have to suffer for anyone else! Why?" I yelled, my anger boiling over.
The old Seraphel just continued to stare at me with those sorrowful blue eyes, and then, his figure slowly began to fade away right in front of me.
"Wait... I am not done talking to you!" I screamed, slamming my hands against the mirror.
"You are the new Seraphel now. The old one is dead. Face your destiny, and make the absolute best of it," his voice echoed repeatedly through the white room, growing fainter and fainter until his image completely vanished.
I let out a loud, frustrated groan and punched the solid glass the exact second he disappeared. "Fuck this trash book, fuck Author Nude for writing such a complicated mess, and fuck Azriel!"
At the mention of Azriel’s name, I ran both hands through my hair, a sudden memory flashing in my mind. I remembered the exact look on his face when I was groaning in agony shouting about the baby.
I couldn’t figure out if he was truly, genuinely concerned about me at that moment, or if he actually only cared about the survival of the baby.
Deep down, I knew there was absolutely no way a powerful Sin like him would ever care about a human like me.
The only reason he had been acting so protective and affectionate was solely because of the child. He and the rest of his cursed brothers desperately needed this child of prophecy to be born just to break their ancient curses. But I was already so incredibly tired of this trashy book. I was exhausted by the non-stop schemes and political plots, even though I had only been targeted with poison once so far.
What worse things are coming for me in the future? I wondered, rubbing my face in exhaustion.
And where the hell was I even right now? If I was still technically alive inside the book, why the hell was I trapped in a white room surrounded by infinite mirrors and water?
Even the real Seraphel had literally run away from this life because he couldn’t take the pressure.
"Ugh!" I groaned out loud, letting my body fall backward onto the shallow water, punching the wet surface over and over again in frustration until my knuckles throbbed and my hands started shaking.
Suddenly, that blinding light glowed violently yet again. I had to quickly cover my face with my arms, and when I finally opened my eyes again, I was no longer in the white mirror room. Instead, I was floating somewhere completely different. It looked like the depths of a vast, brilliant blue ocean, but strangely, I wasn’t drowning at all.
The calm water just surrounded my body, and right at the absolute center of the space, a small, beautiful white lotus was glowing with a serene aura.
I stood up onto my feet, the water moving effortlessly around me as I started walking toward the floating flower.
"What is this? Who are you—"
Another sudden, blinding flash of light erupted directly from the center of the white lotus. I immediately shielded my face away from the glare, and when I slowly looked up again, my jaw completely dropped.
Standing there was a tall, ethereal man with long, flowing white hair, dressed in glowing white robes adorned with lotus motifs, staring calmly down at me.
I blinked rapidly in disbelief, my eyes locking with his. I noticed something highly particular about his features; he looked exactly like me, just slightly older and with completely different hair. While my current hair was a darkish blue, his was pure, snowy white.
"Who the hell are you? Don’t tell me you are another version of Seraphel?"
The white-haired man chuckled lightly, a melodious sound, as his bare feet landed gently on the watery surface. "I am the spirit form of the white lotus. I simply took your current form because it is significantly better this way. Or would you prefer that I change my appearance into Azriel?"
I shook my head almost violently, my expression twisting. "Absolutely no way."
He chuckled again at my immediate rejection.
"What is your actual name?" I asked him, crossing my arms.
"My name?" He pointed a slender finger to himself and then let out a soft sigh. "I used to go by Castiel, but for thousands of years, I have been referred to solely as the white lotus, and so I eventually stopped bearing the name Castiel entirely."