*NEFFEX – Believe *

“So, are we fighting to the death?” Maya suddenly asked, seemingly out of nowhere. However, a weak smile was plastered across her face as she slid her hand around Raven’s back. “Honestly, I don’t even mind. If we die, we die together. There should be nothing to regret.”

‘Uhm, I regret nothing now that I have her by my side. Yes, I regret nothing…’ she tried to convince herself, or rather feed herself lies. ‘With that being said, I really feel bad, maybe only a sliver of regret, for not meeting Maria.

‘Although it was only a single Life Cycle, for me, she was a mother and a guardian; I guess she has created a filial daughter out of me, making me think of her at this time…’ she tried to joke around, trying to make herself feel better.. ‘It is a real pity that I won’t be able to hug her one last time…’

“Maya, stop, please,” Raven spoke calmly while shaking her head. “You still haven’t seen Maria. Are you just ignoring her existence? What about the rest of our friends? 

“I have promised myself and everyone else that I’d get you back to them safe and sound. Not to mention that I- I can’t let you get killed… not again…”

In her mind, flashbacks of losing Maya started reminding her of the pain she had experienced.

The feeling of despair as she let everyone, especially her mother, down. The feeling of a vast blackness that clouded her mind, trying to trap her in a self made hell…

She definitely can’t let that happen! Not only because she didn’t want to experience that again, but also because she didn’t want Maria to experience whatever awful nightmares threaten her sanity. To be fair, the person who got hurt the most was her without a doubt, after all.

“Also,” she continued. “What about us?” 

Those unexpected words suddenly shook Maya’s core, causing her to shiver, involuntarily.

“Have you given up on us? Are you satisfied with only what we’ve done? I thought that you’d like it if we did more? Didn’t we agree that we would, after defeating Michael?” Raven asked, her face contained many complex and opposing emotions. “Are you willing to let it all end here? Are you willing to die this easily? And for who, for this b*stard?”

“Rave, I- *sigh* what do you suggest then?” Maya asked with a sigh, trying to mask the despair in her heart. She obviously didn’t want to miss meeting Maria and the rest, nor did she want to let her time together with Raven to simply end here… But, what other choice did she have?

“We can’t run and we can’t wait for death,” she continued. “What do we do other than fighting to the death?”

“Maya… was Michael telling the truth when he mentioned that you weren’t afraid of his power because of me?” Raven asked with hidden emotions swirling inside.

“Uhm…” Maya nodded weakly in response. It was the truth after all.

“Then what happened to you? Why are you looking as though our death is already set in stone? Did you lose faith in me?” She asked as her golden eye looked into Maya’s silver ones intently.

“No, it’s just that-” Maya quickly stopped, not knowing what to say or how to express herself.

“No need to answer,” Raven helped her, shaking her head gently. “I understand that I don’t have the power to support you, especially in this current situation.

“Heck, even when compared to you in this current weakened state, I’m nothing but an ant… I really don’t blame you for losing faith in me.

“However, Maya, right here and now, I promise you that you will not die as long as I have the ability to draw a single breath. 

“No matter the cost, I will find you a way out. I’ll get us out of here, I promise!”

Hearing her words, Maya’s heart started beating harder and faster as she felt a relaxing warmth spread throughout her body.

Just like that, the anxious panic, the dark despair, and the infinite sadness that was clouding her mind dissipated as though they were nothing but mere illusions.

“Uhm, I trust you… Rave, I believe in you, I’ll always do…” Maya nodded with a soft and genuine smile. “I’ll leave it to you!”

Finishing her words, she subconsciously closed in on the defenceless Raven’s rosy lips. Affectionate and warm, she kissed like there was no tomorrow. With that being said, in her heart, she believed that there would be many. 

Although there was no evidence to support this thought, she could not refute her heart as it was everything that she needed to believe.

‘This is why I love you, Rave,’ Maya said to herself as she watched Raven instantly get immersed in her thoughts after pushing her away with a blush and a smile. ‘Normally, I would never entrust my life to someone else. No, it may be more appropriate to say that, as a Seraph, I can’t do that.

‘But somehow, handing my life to you seems so natural and easy to do. It is even making me feel that I’ve already survived this ordeal with you…’

As Maya was enjoying the feeling of relying on her most precious person to save her, Raven and Kayla were together formulating a plan to try to end this for good.

‘So, Rave, what’s the plan?’ Kayla asked. ‘Although I have gone through countless simulations, I didn’t find any reliable plan. To be honest, we- err, we kinda die in each one of them…’

Under normal circumstances, Kayla would never mention something like this to Raven. However, with their situation, she had to be completely transparent with Raven.

‘Additionally,’ she continued. ‘I have even tried to break through the blockage by various means, but each one has already yielded negative results.

‘What I am truly afraid of is that even if we somehow successfully kill Michael, we’ll still end up falling into that third party’s hands…’

‘Hm, the situation is pretty tough, huh…’ Raven could only shake her head. ‘Well, we must survive. I can’t let any of my loved ones down.

‘And more importantly, I can’t let myself down. Me and Maya, I kinda want that to work out. I can’t bring myself to allow it to end here…’

After a while of thinking of a plan through Kayla’s skill: Thought Acceleration, she… came up with nothing. 

‘Well, I guess we do need to fight to the death like Maya said, after all, but we have to make sure that we end up on the winning side!’ she said as a question popped up in her mind. ‘Say, Kay, can’t we merge Uriel’s body with Maya’s so that her strength increases? And is there a way for me to lend her my skill Apprentice of the Primordial Light?’

‘Unfortunately, Body merging would take too long and we don’t have that type of time,’ Kayla answered bluntly. ‘As for giving her your power, I’m not sure…

‘I have tried to contact the Fragment of the Primordial Dragon of Light inside your body: Aether, but he did not show any response.

‘If my guess is right, then he’s probably suffering a backlash because of your intense use of Apprentice of the Primordial Light…’

‘Hm, if that’s the case, then let’s go all out, Kay,’ Raven suddenly said with a serious expression. ‘Please, disable the blessing: Avavia’s Affection and activate the blessing: Infinity’s Will!’

‘Rave-‘ Kayla tried to speak, but Raven interrupted quickly.

‘It is either do or die, Kay, what do you expect me to do?’ Rave sounded stern, yet very calm and gentle. ‘Previously, you never allowed me to use this because of the side effects and the possibility of corruption, but think about it; I can’t get corrupted if I’m dead…’

‘I- but, listen, do we not have any other plans? Didn’t you teach me to run if we can’t win? Rave, we have to find something else…’

‘I am truly sorry, but you know better than anyone else that there’s nothing else that we can do…’

‘But- Rave- what do I do if you get corrupted?’

‘If you get the time to worry about me getting corrupted, then it would mean that we have survived. At that time, I trust that you can think of a solution yourself, Kay.’

‘And what if you never-‘

“Ahahahaha!!” Suddenly, a rather familiar hysterical laugh sounded across the void, from the direction where two extremely powerful entities were fighting just a moment ago.

‘Uriel’s body has been destroyed!’ Kayla quickly reported. If she had a heart, it would be pacing like a rabbit running from a hawk…

“I really appreciate saving me the time and not running away,” Michael said after throwing Uriel’s body away. Quickly, he started making his way towards the trio. “For that, I’ll make sure your pathetic lives end a little bit less painfully than originally planned, ahahahahaha!”

“Rave!” Maya yelled as she stepped in front of Raven and Kayla, ready to sacrifice her life for them.

“Maya, believe in me…” Raven suddenly said with a solemn expression as she pulled Maya behind her and stepped forward to meet the coming tyrant.