Sigil: City of Doors

Sarin had bid Arloid and Sar return through the portal. She kneeled in front of the cliff, looking out over the sparkling water.

Why didn't it work? I wanted to. I wanted to get better. To help. I don't deserve it. I don't deserve this fate. But why didn't they just kill me? Put me out of my suffering.

I moved forward, and clanked. I looked down. My bone armor rattled against my chainmail. I had started to bleed. Pale, white ichor. Not even blood. Not even flesh. Not dead, or alive. A mock undead. If I were to pass that stone, I wonder if the clerics could turn me.

I knew the portals around here. I had explored when I slaughtered the paladins during my lost times. I began to slowly descend down the cliff side, until I found a alcove. I knelt down in front of the pure, bright water.

I took some in my hands. It burned in holy flame. I poured it over my bone plates. They caught alight, and sloughed off my body. I took a rag next time, and scrubbed them from my body. I stopped at my legs. I needed these to walk.

At this point I was bleeding. Everywhere. And I couldn't. No, wouldn't, channel negative energy to keep me moving. I reached into my pack and pulled out some legendary healing hits I normally sold to the peddler, and wrapped my wounds.

Leaning heavily on my stick, I followed the water line, until I found a path. A lantern archon hovered about. A crackle of lighting lit my fingertips.

“Please, if we wanted you dead, do you think you would still be here.”

I faltered.

“What, you trying out to be Illmater?”

I glared.

“Come. This way.”

The ball of light began to bob down a path. I followed, slowly.

“Not Illmater.”

“Bloody mess?”

“Devil or angel, I don't want to die like that.”

“Even without the bones, your still like that.”

“Its better.”

“No, its not. Your essence is death. You broke yourself. Threw yourself on a sword.”

“I know.”

“So why?”

“I could still kill you.”

The light bobbed up, and flashed a couple of times.

“No, you cant.”

I grunted, then fell over. Bleeding. A lot of blood. I grabbed another legendary medkit, and began to wrap myself.

“What happened to your regeneration greater devil?”

“I broke it.”

“Why?”

“Wanted to become more powerful.”

I gripped a bandage in my lips, and tighted it around a forearm.

“Is that so?”

I nodded.

“Come along.”

Using my cane, I once again dragged myself too my feet.

“So. Here’s how this is going to go. This path goes on straight, forever. It passes through many planes. You will meet many celestials. They may test you, talk too you, play chess, eat pie.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you deserve a fair chance.”

I stared at the orb.

“Do I?”

“You came to save yourself. But if it was just greed, you would be a headless corpse right now.”

“What was it then?”

“Figure it out. Come along.”

I followed. Soon, we came too a tent, and a table.

“Sit.”

I sat. The orb vanished.

I had gathered a pile of stones, and was throwing them at another pile of stones. The second pile was as tall as a mountain.

“A master of patience?”

I turned. A second chair had appeared, and on it a glowing beacon of holy radiance, to bright it burned through ones soul, and gnawed at your mind. Ever wrong deed, every crime. But also every kindness, every good act. I reeled back.

“Drink?”

He scooted a glass of ambrosia over.

“Solar?” I stifled through gritted teeth.

“I had a couple of seconds spare. Saw a creature I once ‘knew.’”

“Knew?”

“Well. Watched from on high.”

I fell backwards, out of my chair.

The glowing radiance lessened as the being lowered its angelic aura. I pulled my chair up, and dripped some blood into the ambrosia.

“Don't ruin that.”

I sipped. I put it down. Then wretched.

“Bit strong?”

I nodded, and pulled myself up once again.

“What do you want?”

“What happened to you?”

“I was dragged down.”

He tapped the table a couple of times.

“No. What happened to you?”

“I was dragged down.”

He stared at me. I averted my gaze.

“If you were dragged down, you would still be being tortured.”

“True name.”

The glare intensified.

“When was the last time she gave you a command?”

“Follow me,” I murmured.

“When?”

I shrunk in my chair. Blood started to flow again. I pulled out another bag of bandages.

“When she went down.”

“Has she kept you chained?”

“No.”

“Has she told you to stay?”

“No.”

His gaze lessened, and he took a sip.

“Then why use it as an excuse?”

My eyes look at the very interesting ground. Very… pebbleless. Even without his gaze, I could not look up.

“What was the first thing you did?”

“Punished the souls.”

“Ah. Yes. The duty of the lord of lies.”

“Where you good?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“They deserved it.”

“Even the ones that where there just on pacts?”

“No.”

“Did you work on them?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I don't know.”

I looked up at him.

“Do you?”

He was gone. There was a pitcher of pure water, and two glasses. I drank directly from the pitcher. The lantern archon came back into sight.

“Did you drink my water?”

“My water.”

“I was thirsty.”

“I was more.”

“Are you ready to leave.”

I looked left and right, checking for ultimate divine servants.

“Yes.”

“So, have a fun talk?”

“Shut up.”

The orb bobbed, annoyed.

“How long has it been?”

“A thousand years.”

“No. Real time.”

“Two seconds.”

I nodded.

“This is going to take a long time, isn't it?”

“You could die.”

I stared at the orb.

“Thats what you want, right?”

“Not yet.”

“Why?”

I stood up, wobbled, then began to walk.

“Why?”

“Why?” asked the accursed orb.

“Why?” asked the vexing beast.

“Oh, here we are.”

We stood in front of a massive forest. Trees as tall as mountains and as wide as cities, with smaller, more normal trees spread between.

“Sure looks fun too fly through.”

I sat down to bandage myself.

“You can fly right?”

“I can hobble.”

“Oh.”

“Please. I can take other jabbing. Leave my ruined flying out of it.”

“Why cant you fly?”

“Bag leg movement.”

The lantern archon waited.

“I’ll be back. Stay here.”

I nodded, and bandaged myself. There was a shuffling in the undergrowth. A dogs head poked out. I stopped my healing, and pulled myself up on my cane. A hound archon stepped from the forest. He growled at me.

I reached to my belt, and chugged a potion. The sequencer kicked into effected. The hound archon charged me, and bounced off my wards. My finger reached out, ready to shoot death and necromancy. Last moment, I averted my shot, and scored a line in the ground. The archon cut my finger off.

I pushed pushed forward, and a massive hand flew into the archon, sending him flying. I began to move as quickly as my broken body was able into the forest.

I moved along the long and winding road. A couple of times the hound archon came for me, and I sent him flying every time. Eventually, I saw a cliff. As I approached the cliff, a suspended bridge collapsed. I walked up to the edge and looked down. A river.

In a burst of wind a planetar appeared before me

“Greetings one seeking redemption.”

A very pissed and slightly bloody hound archon ran down the path. The angel failed too notice.

“I come to offer you a test.”

The ball of lights bounced off a few streets, and spun in our direction.

“Sir!”

I withdrew a massive, frosty greatsword from one of my many bags of holding. The planetar reached for his sword frowning.

“Duck!” snarled the hound archon.

My skin hardened and turn blue, and as the planetar dropped, I blocked the strike. The hound furrowed his brow.

As the lantern and planetar looked on, me and the hound dueled on the edge of the cliff. He pushed me back the entire time.

“Stop this at once hound.”

“You shall not avert my duty,” snarled the archon.

“Stop!”

He did not stop.

Eventually my back was too a tree. He through a tangle food bag at me, rooting me in place. I dropped my sword.

My eyes glowed red, my hands pulled energy from my own essence, and I rose slightly into the air.

“Yeetus Deletus,” I said the 100% cannon, actually needed phrase.

The hound archon stopped and looked at me, apparently surprised by how stupid it sounded. A meteor crashed through the mountain sized tree and hit him. More and more began to fall. I hit the ground. Fire washed over me, but it burned nothing. Eventually, they stopped falling.

The planetar stood over me, sword drawn.

“I have looked over this forever for ten thousand years. It is sacred too druids and rangers. With the destruction of the river,” he pointed to the cliff, that was now just a flat surface. “The forest will thirst. Maybe more than I can provide.” He raised the sword to give the killing blow. A sudden zap of energy. Not strong enough to actually do damage, but enough to make one jump, hit him in the back.

“What in the name of the pit,” he said, turning around. The lantern archon bobbed up, out of sword range.

“You dare, lesser creature?”

“Oh, now you say ‘lesser creature,’”

“Yes. It is not your roll to stop me from this.”

“Wasn't the dogs role to kill her, either.”

“I am aware,” he snarled.

“And what did you do?”

The planetar halted.

“’Oh, no, stop, don't do that mr dog man.’”

“Don't mock me.”

“Murder through negligence is still murder. If a doctor watched on while a nurse killed a wounded man, would you not judge the doctor as well.”

The planetars sword dropped a couple of degrees.

“You are the second stop of the redemption of a devil. A devil thats existed longer than this forest. Longer than you. And she cant fly. Yet you sentence her to death for what? Defending herself?”

“My Forest,” he said.

“It can be healed. Like she can be healed. Now get up, grab that hound archon before he kills my charge, and leave to tell Mazzas of your failure.”

The planetar dropped his sword.

“You speak the truth little one.”

“Yeah, I know. Move it.”

There was a flash of anger, but he knew what he had done. He stepped up, and headed in the direction of violent thrashing of the hound archon trying to pull himself out from under a tree.

“Can you walk Sarin?” said the orb. I mumbled something about taking a nap.

“We need to walk. That planetar will probably take about three second of convincing that you deserve death from the hound archon.”

I grabbed my stick, and barely managed to stand.

“There yah go!”

I stumbled where it lead.

“Go! Rah! Go! Left foot! Right foot!”

“Shutup.”

It took the rest of the day, but eventually we exited the forest. I walked over to a small river, and hit the ground face first.

“If you want to kill me, can you please just do it.” I said into the grass.

“I don't want to. Neither does my master. The one you spoke too, under the tent. Others are not as forgiving.”

I grunted.

“Nobody really likes you.”

I rolled over.

“Your kind of a bitch.”

“Shut up.”

“Never.”

“I cant walk. Cant move. I could barely fight.”

The light bounced over too the water, and began to radiate light.

“Drink.”

“It will kill me.”

“No, it wont. Drink.”

I crawled over, and began to drank. I got a couple of mouthfuls, before the light sputtered, and the next reached hand burned. I stopped bleeding. Slightly.

I rose into a sitting position.

“Can you heal me?”

“Enough to survive a bit longer. But your dead. Be it two weeks, or one day. We can heal you. We cant fix you.”

“I ruined myself, didn't I?”

“You meant too, right.”

I glanced over at the ball.”

“Am I wrong?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Suicidal tendencies.”

“No. No, I don't think so.”

“Not your place to judge what I do.”

“Two thing: First of all, yes, it is. Second of all, you could have just killed yourself. Your many, many things Sarin, but ‘coward’ is not one of them.”

“Shutup.”

“I saved you life, you know.”

“The hound archon wanted me dead for a reason.”

“Not a good reason.”

“What do you mean?”

“You walk these grounds on the permission of a solar devil. Tis not his place to overrule one such as him.”

“I deserved it.”

The ball zapped me.

“Self hatred is a terrible personality trait.”

“I’m supposed to be repenting.”

“You don't repent by hating yourself. You repent by keeping moving. By working too make it better.”

I looked around.

“And what am I doing to make it better here?”

“Your proving that you will make it better.”

“Wouldn't a quest to actually make it better be much better?”

The ball faltered.

“Celestia is full of self-righteous do gooders. You would prefer to test my ability to take a test rather than take a test. I’m a servant of arcadia. Would it not be simpler to reduce me to mortal, send me to make the world a better place, and a send an angel ready to strike the killing blow should I step too far from the path.”

“Let us keep moving.”

“And what about my test.”

“You survived.”

“Thats not a test. The planetar was weak, the hound archon was stupid, but I got no test. I will not go further.”

“Are you seriously going to make me go get somebody too test you.”

“Yes.”

“Your the worst type of person.”

“Your not testing me for that. Your testing if I’m worthy to be tested for that.”

The ball darted off. I dragged myself back a ways, under the shade of a tree. I pulled some food and wine from my pack, and began to eat. After a couple of hours, the ball of light came back with a deva. The both landed next too me.

“Sandwich?” I offered the ball of light half of my food. It moved in, and absorbed it. The Deva looked slightly offended.

“I am to give you a test.”

I finished off my meal, and began to sip on my wine.

“A test of faith.”

“Faith in what?”

“Faith.”

I waited.

“Jump into the river.”

“And what faith shall this prove?”

“Faith.”

“Faith in what?”

“You need not something too be faithful in too have faith.”

“Faith you will save me.”

“I will not save you.”

“So suicide?” I cannot swim. I will burn.”

“If you have faith, you will not die.”

“And how does that work.”

The deva furrowed her brow.

“You are missing the point.”

“What is faith?”

“Faith is the ability too do something knowing it if right, without proof.”

“That is blind faith.”

The deva nodded like I was dense.

“Are there others?”

“Of course there is.”

“And what would that be?”

“The knowledge you are right. That your moral compass is correct. That your judgments are just.”

“But how do you know? Are you not blind in that as well?”

“You are. But your faith is based in the rules of your god, your land. You know why you are faithful. Even the faith of a holy man is not blind. They have read their books, listening to teachings. Asking for blind faith is missing the point.”

“But you are asking us for blind faith. You are a devil. And an evil one at that. Would you ask us for the blind faith that you can suddenly turn good after so much time?”

“I would ask I be allowed to prove myself through actions.”

“So we should put faith in you, and you should not give faith in return.”

“Give me a set of rules to be faithful in.”

“We do not have time to write, let alone, edit, that.”

“I know.”

“Devilsh paperwork is what this is.”

“No, its not. The truest faith is the knowledge that you are right, with the knowledge as to why you are right. Your type of faith leads to mass killings, acts against gods wills, stupidity, book burning. Blind faith is used by the powerful to control the masses and manipulate nations. Learned faith is what a stable society is based upon. The faith the rules you know will be followed up on. The faith the taxes you pay will be used for good. That kind of faith is what should be fostered. Not ‘kill yourself but you wont die if you have faith.’”

He opened his mouth, closed it, then nodded.

“We still need you to jump in the river. It kinda leads to the next trial we already set up, and it would be a big thing to move it around, and the bureaucracy would be a nightmare.”

“Fair enough.”

I jumped in the river. The soothing waters healing some of my wounds, until eventually I opened my eyes, and I was on a small beach, next too the trail.