Mystics

Marcie looks around the ruins of what looks like an old bridge. There are two different walls, that are connected by this old bridge. The walls themselves seem to float in a black nothingness. This isn’t the void, as it feels like there is more here than what she can see. Raven appears from a door that looks like the door to Sineads house.

“Where are we?” Marcie asks, a clear curiosity in her voice.

In understanding, Raven answers. “One of a great many pocket dimensions. Before the flood the cherubim used these pocket dimensions to train angels in their full might. Here they can use the full might of their power in training without the worry of killing mortals. But we have to be careful. There are overseers that will send you into a dead dimension.”

The whole idea of a dimension where she can use the full might of her power leaves Marcie to wonder just how powerful she actually is as a nephilim. It leaves her to wonder why Raven brought her here after she poured her heart out when she woke up.

“So why are we here?” Marcie asks.

Raven gives her a warm smile, answering. “Lucifer brought me here to help me realize my full power. As he once did for me, I now do for you. I will match you blow for blow. This pocket dimension is disconnected from time, we can train for hours and the hours that pass will be minutes.”

This was how the cherubim Michael was able to create the order of the Archangels so quickly, Michael trained the original seven who would go on to train the entire order. With Marcie opening herself up, Raven believes that the young nephilim has never been taught her full might. A nephilim descended from a normal angel can match an archangel in a fight. But one descended from an archangel can match a Seraphim, or a Knight of Hell. If Marcie intends to take part in a fight to save this dimension, she will need to be fully capable of matching a Knight of Hell. All will have their part to play when the human nephalem fights Lilith.

Even if the human nephalem loses to Lilith, Raven knows many sources of power, even those of the Seven Deadly Sins. Before the flood, they were the most powerful of the Purgatory Guardians. When they were killed by the Knights of Hell, Death took their power and created markings, naming these Purgatory Guardians as the Seven Deadly Sins, not due to their origins in Purgatory, but due to the ferocity with which they tried to protect humanity before the flood.

“So this place is a training ground? Why does it feel alive?” The nephilim asks.

Raven nods, answering. “In a sense it is. See, when a dimension collapses into the void the overseers, sometimes referred to as a Monolyth sometimes fragments that try to manifest in other dimensions and turn those fragments into their own pocket dimensions. Much like the overseers themselves, the energy they use is alive. It is that energy which you sense.”

She motions Marcie to take a fighting stance. A motion Marcie became very familiar with. Marcie learned by experience that Raven is so much more powerful. So in a real fight the cambion would kick her ass.

Marcie raises her arms. Her eyes flash a bright yellow. Raven nonchalantly walks forward, blinking. As her eyes open, hellfire bursts forward, covering her body, and vanishing with a burst of energy the sends Marcie staggering. Although her wings are invisible Marcie uses them to launch herself forward making a swing for Raven’s head, immediately starting their spar. Rather than allowing Marcie’s hit to collide, Raven shrouds, taking on a rope like smoke form which wraps around Marcie.

The nephilim finds herself spinning around before slamming into the ground on her back. She teleports behind Raven and calls upon her angelic grace applying pure energy behind her swing. The cambion turns in time to receive a blow to the gut, and is sent staggering over half way across the bridge. She teleports a second time and appears inches from Raven who matches her blow with equally demonic energy. The two opposing energies cancel each other out causing a massive burst of energy which launches them both into the opposite walls.

Marcie shakes her head. While she’s been in plenty of fights and knows how to call upon her grace for use of pure energy, she’s never encountered a situation like that. Then again, the cambion did say she was going to match her blow for blow. Quickly recovering Marcie begins to charge across the bridge but finds Raven gone. She looks around.

Out of nowhere dark energy collides with her back, sending her careening face first into a wall. The fight comes to an end with Raven knocking the wind out of Marcie with a dark energy blow. Though the blow ends up sending a shock wave of pain throughout her body, made even worse her angelic healing trying to purge the dark energy. She falls to her knees, red and blue electrical pulses flickering all over her body. Despite losing Marcie chooses to be a good sport and accepts Raven’s hand when she offers to help her up.

“I haven’t felt a cosmic blast like that in a very long time.” Raven says with a laugh.

Raising an eyebrow Marcie questions. “What the hell is a cosmic blast?”

“When dark and pure energy cancel each other out instead of nothing happening it creates a cosmic blast wave that vaporizes anything not protected by angelic grace or demonic mana.” The cambion answers.

So that’s why this place is used for training, because the use of energy can actually kill things when used, which should be a call for great restraint in reality. The door to Sineads house manifests near them. Opening it reveals the cozy look of Sineads house. As they walk into the living room Raven turns, using a little bit of hellfire to burn the symbol she painted on the door off. They sit on the couch. Marcie half leans on the arm of the right couch, her head resting in her arm. Today took more out her than she had initially assumed. In no time she’s out again. Though for her the idea of not feeling like she’s in danger constantly is in all honesty, very strange to her. Before long Raven too is out. The fight didn’t take much out of her, but it has been a very long day.

Sinead, and Zven enter finding Raven and Marcie sound asleep. Zven quietly shuts the door while Sinead heads into the laundry room and grabs a couple spare blankets, which she places over both Marcie and Raven. Taking a risk, she invites Zven to share her bed, as she doesn’t have a guest room, and she won’t make him sleep on the floor.

As they get into bed, Zven initially doesn’t cover himself with the blanket, out of respect for Sinead, and a desire to not make her feel uncomfortable. Despite this Sinead covers him with the blanket, and he doesn’t reject it. They’re both out the moment they close their eyes.