Walking out of the room from the opposite hall was a weird feeling for me. It has been a long day, so it was time to go home. There was a distinct change even though I entered a familiar room. Peeking through the window, an orange light filled up the room. There was just the sounds of an electric fan and loud snoring. I went to go check to find out that Lucy had already been asleep and that there was no ice cream left for me.

In the middle of her rustling in my bed, I hear a mumble.

“David, are you home?”

“Yeah I am.”

“Thanks for the ice cream.”

Lucy was half asleep. She spoke lucidly. I continued the conversation anyways.

“Maybe next time I’ll get chocolate.”

“Or strawberry.”

“Yeah… Strawberry sounds nice too.”

She shifted around in bed in her dreamlike state. Then she stayed silent. I assume she fell asleep again.

I cleaned the mess that was left behind. There was the pile of garbage from the takeout food I’ve ordered. They piled up on my computer desk and the corner of the room. There were layers of dust on the floor, on the tables and on my bookshelf. My sink was filled up with spoons, forks and plates.

I took a shower after I finished cleaning up. Lucy was still sound asleep when I got out.

If only she was always this peaceful. I wish.

I got on my computer and loaded up my one and only MMO game. When the character selection loaded up, I see my characters lined up. All of them were high leveled while there was one that Lucy made when she played the other day. I selected one of my own characters and entered the game.

The story of this game is pretty simple. You play characters that join the army in a war against hell. The game goes deeper into hell as you progress through the main story line. There are many dungeons in each area. I go back to one of the earliest dungeons called The Aegis of Heaven. It was an unusual dungeon compared to the others. The story behind it is to defeat demons who have invaded Heaven.

There was a particular reason why I have backtraced to this place. When you complete this dungeon, there is a special area where there are several angels that wait around to thank you. They all offer different things like armor, weapons and other items. The only three named angels were lined up at the exit. Each of them offered their thanks in their own words. They were the archangels, Gabriel, Michael and Raphael.

The way they were written in this game was a lot different than I have interacted in real life.

I wonder where the third angel is. There’s Raphie. Shouldn’t there be another one? Agh… I don’t want to think about it. I’ll worry about it when the time comes.

This dungeon is the only interaction with Lucifer. While it’s only a boss, there is no actual NPC that talks to you. It’s supposedly Lucifer’s first and only appearance so far. The next expansion for this game includes a new dungeon that has Lucifer as an important character you actually get to talk to.

I continue talking to the angels at the end of the Aegis of Heaven. They speak of Lucifer’s downfall. They don’t say much other than Lucifer was once an angel that went against God. There’s nothing new to take from it.

By the time I was finished, it was pitch dark in my apartment. I tried to go to sleep but I still had a lot in my mind.

When I got home, I wanted to kick Lucy out. The thoughts of her deceit lingered but then I remembered. Lucy was there when I died. She’s the one who found me. There was no way she could’ve brought me back. That’s why Raphie said that she’s the one who really saved me.

But Raphie’s last words got to me. She’s the one who brought me back to life, but Lucy is the one who saved me.

I sighed while I shifted towards the window. I peek through it to see the moonlight shining over me. It was a peaceful summer night even though I faced another near death experience today. There was something calming me.

With my thoughts filled more about Lucy, I become more aware of the silence. There was a distinct sound of breathing other than mine.

I become distracted with every breath. The sound of the bed shifting slightly whenever she moved. It was crystal clear to my ears.

Damn it, let me sleep.

The sounds continued to enter my head. Unable to sleep, I get up and go to my bookshelf. It was filled with novels and comics. Most of these books were read through twice already. I had enough to read for the day.

I reach for the top shelf for an old dusty Bible of mine. The dust scattered from the shelf. After letting the dust settle, I flip through the pages. The wrinkles really do show its age.

The Bible has many life lessons in its stories. I have only read it for the sake of my own curiosity. Now it must serve to that purpose, even for a short while.

I try to look up for references to Lucifer but then the sources from different parts. It was really hard to put together anything. Plus it was hard to read this properly. It is written a long time ago. Modern languages have a hard time interpreting it. Since it has many far fetched events, the Bible can never be logically true. But that’s a topic I won’t dive in.

There are several stories I can recall but I could never guess the real truth from this Bible. There could be many other books that have their own interpretation about this. If there’s a story about someone that I want to know that I can’t read from some book or have someone else tell me then it would be best to hear from that very person.

I close the book and put it back to it’s old space. The moonlight shines on the floating dust.

I did not care for Lucy at first. But today changed that a bit.

I spend my days so lazily without any care or progress. As the days pass by, more questions pile up one after another. I’m not doing anything, so why am I seeing more than I looked for? Maybe it’s because I have not been trying, that I feel like this.

Lucy’s past may not be revalent right now but I’m curious.

In the middle of the night, Lucy started sleep talking.

“Hey David?” Lucy asked.

“What is it?”

“What do you think of me?”

I was surprised to hear that she responded. She was definitely asleep but she spoke to me. I paused to think about her question. After a brief moment of thinking, I respond.

“I think you are a force of nature. Nothing can ever contain you.”

That was what I really think about her.

“Is that why people hate me?”

“Maybe it’s because… some people can’t ever let go of the past.”

“Why?”

I paused. My thoughts held me back but I searched for an answer. An answer that I wanted to find myself. All I could come up with is what I thought about it.

“The past is what defines us. There are somethings we have done before that we can’t ever take back.”

Lucy did not respond. When I looked at her, she had already fallen back into a deep sleep.

While questions filled up in my mind, I knew I wouldn’t come to a conclusion. I couldn’t help but think I have overlooked something. Something important should have came up today. Maybe I’ll figure it out tomorrow.

These thoughts continued through the night. It was a miracle that I was able to fall asleep. For the first time in forever, I truly felt like a peaceful night. Although the next day was not as pleasant.

When morning came, I woke up to a sick little devil. The ice cream nor taking ten baths a day was enough. So she’s been in bed all morning. Not that it’s different from any other day. There was a lot of sweat dripping on her pale face. She had a dead expression and she could barely move.

This is great!

“David, keep quiet!”

Raphie came from the kitchen with a glass of ice cold water.

Uh… I mean that’s too bad.

“Okay Lucy, make sure you drink plenty of water.”

“O-okay.”

“And don’t move too much.”

“O-okay.”

“Now rest.”

Lucy drank her glass of water then put her head down and stayed completely still. Raphie left Lucy alone and then pulled me aside.

“So, how is she?” I asked.

“She’s fine.”

“That’s good.” I chuckled.

But Raphie stared at me seriously.

“You need to take better care of this place.”

“I do. I clean this room very often.”

Although it was just in a big mess last night.

“No, I mean this apartment is way too hot. How could you live here?”

“Yeah it’s hell in here!” Lucy yelled out.

“Raphie, it’s not that bad.”

Trying to sound convincing failed. Raphie crossed her arms and asserted her authority.

“The point I’m getting to is, go get an air conditioner.”

“What?! No way.”

“Why not?”

“I do not have the budget for that. I would not have any money to buy any food for the next month. Why can’t Lucy live with you? There problem solved.”

“It’s not just about Lucy. I wouldn’t be surprised if this made you sick before too. Lack of nutrients, neglecting your environment. You really need to take care of yourself.”

“So this is just not about Lucy?”

“Of course not. You need to start taking care of yourself too. Whether or not Lucy lives here, you can’t even survive in these conditions too.”

“How will I afford an air conditioner?”

“I don’t know, figure something out. There’s a job opening where I work. You can work there until you earn enough. I’ll even pay for half.”

“Wait. Are you saying you would pay for the other half?”

“Of course, she’s my sister.”

Of course. That makes sense. You would want to take care of your siblings after all. But something came to mind.

Why was Lucy not staying with her own sister?