Ten Years Earlier

The skies cracked, lights mixed, linked, and intertwined until a void was birthed from the cracks of oblivion.

The void opened above a ghost town, but there were still a few stragglers that exited their business to witness the miracle.

Out of the void came Zeel, Alice, and Elizabeth step by step.

Compared to all previous exits from cosmic wormholes, the trio appeared much more god-like this time.

Elizabeth had a natural halo that surrounded her body.

Alice gave off a fiery vibe, and Zeel, well Zeel was currently drifting in and out of consciousness.

Elizabeth and Alice appeared anxious and frightened.

Alice quickly ran into a nearby building, tossing out the residents with little remorse.

She could smell the stink of rapists on them so she had no guilt about what she did.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, only recently got her divinity and did not have fine control as yet.

Elizabeth walked by the men Alice had tossed out, not intent on doing anything.

Never did she expect that both men's bodies would turn into green particles and disperse into the wind.

Elizabeth was not sure about what she did, but Zeel's situation was too important to pay attention to much else.

Many people began to scatter after witnessing someone literally dissolve into dust.

However, some amongst these people immediately knelt towards the building the girls entered.

Humans were sensitive creatures, and Elizabeth's aurora demanded worship from those who lived or sought after bright lives.

The people running were those whose sin had accumulated a bit too much, Alice likewise had an aura that drove away those who had committed crimes.

Elizabeth burst into the building, pushing everything aside and finding a suitable place to let Zeel rest.

"What is happening?" Alice asked Elizabeth.

"I don't know," Elizabeth answered "You can see it too. His aura started to fluctuate during Mjump and now it is barely holding on,"

Alice had also noticed his soul slipping away; she had tried to hold it but that only made Zeel squeal in pain.

Not her brightest idea, A God of Punishment holding one of the most sinful souls in the World.

Zeel's body started to shake uncontrollably but he still managed to squeeze out a few words.

"Don't worry… I'll be fine … Only a couple of days," Zeel said before his consciousness slipped away entirely.

Alice saw his soul warping and then disappearing, while Elizabeth sat on the ground with voids in her eyes.

She had seen someone's aura disappear upon death so she assumed the worst and immediately begun to cry.

Alice was not far behind as the flame intensity behind her eyes began to increase exponentially.

"He is not dead. His soul has been pulled away by someone," The Red Queen said projecting her body onto the chair near Zeel.

Alice paused and tried to calm her mind.

She could not let everything that Zeel taught them to do in an emergency go to waste.

Alice fixed her gaze onto Zeel's body and she saw it, a small string that linked his soul to his body stretching into the void before disappearing.

Elizabeth was still sobbing painfully until Alice projected her insights into Elizabeth's mind.

Elizabeth quickly wiped her tears, rubbed her forehead a couple of times, and smiled bitterly to herself.

Alice noticed her action and sighed "You never know how much you love someone until they're gone, Lizzy,"

Elizabeth did not answer because she had indeed taken things hard thinking that Zeel was dead.

Women were complex creatures, and Elizabeth was no exception. Even if she boasted about leaving Zeel with Alice, Elizabeth knew that it was just bluffing to keep the idiot under control.

If Zeel cheated, she was more likely to cut his balls off than leave him.

Elizabeth knew she was a crazy lover but it also meant that she was a young girl in love.

The Red Queen also noted Elizabeth's and Alice's reactions.

The Red Queen immediately realized an issue she had never taken into account – Elizabeth and Alice were immature.

Elizabeth still had a teenage, human mindsets concerning love, but Alice was none the better.

Alice still had an apocalypse mind-set that was even less matured than Elizabeth.

Elizabeth lived in the human world, while Alice still lived in the apocalypse.

Zeel was beyond both things, he lived in a world where anything and everything goes.

"So what's happened to him?" Elizabeth asked rubbing Zeel's shoulder "Zeel, Wake up! You need to wake up!"

Elizabeth's shouts did not earn her any response, but Alice was much more practical.

She directly pulled on the tread that connected Zeel's body to his soul.

The next moment, Alice's eyes went blank and she found herself in a garden filled with blue-sapphire flowers.

"Mindovarus?" Alice muttered, "So many in one place?"

"Yes," Aurolana answered from behind Alice "He would always bring one when he came to visit me. Imagine the many universes he visited just to find one to bring to me every time,"

Alice immediately jumped back as flames lit from her entire body.

Blue flames lit Alice's skull as her nanites quickly took the form of a sword.

But the next moment, Alice felt the flames extinguished immediately. She felt as if she was dropped into the Antarctic Ocean.

Alice's head was frozen in Aurolana's direction.

Aurolana playfully smiled at her, showing Alice the blue flames in her hand "You would use Heavenly Flames against an Apollonian? I see Zeel has been clearly lax in your training,"

Alice could only move her eyes between the blue flames in Aurolana's hand, and the weird ice surrounding her body.

"Oh! It's called Ice 7. It is ice made from intense gravitational compression and smoldering heat that vaporizes the ice immediately.

This cycle repeats indefinitely to acquire Ice 7. You should remember that not all ice has to be cold. You can make as much as in the desert as you can make in cold areas," Aurolana emphasized "You will need this knowledge if you ever meet her,"

Alice felt her body defrost and asked "Who are you?"

"I already don't like you, so don't give me any more reasons to dislike you. Stop playing a fool," Aurolana replied dismissively.

How could Alice live in Zeel's memories and not know her?

Alice nodded in confirmation "The red spot on his soul from killing his soulmate belongs to you right?"

Aurolana looked at Alice strangely "You have eyes but cannot see. The Red spot on his soul is me, or at least a part of me. I am the only thing good about his soul and I will take it back to preserve it,"

Alice did not pay attention to Aurolana's words and instead looked around "This place feels homey,"

Aurolana giggled and walked towards Alice, patting her head.

Alice's body was soon shrouded in blue and red flames "This is where your predecessor was born. Flames of Vengeance and Heavenly Flames could only be born simultaneously in Purgatory,"

Alice did not mind Aurolana's head pats because she knew that Aurolana could not, or rather, would not kill her.

Aurolana was way older than Alice, and Alice knew of her devotion to Zeel.

"This place feels unnatural somewhat," Alice stated, hoping to get some information from the secretive soulmate.

After all, Aurolana was possibly the only person who knew all of Zeel's secrets, and Alice knew the secrets were probably darker than dark.

Aurolana giggled at the expected question "This is not true purgatory. This is a part of it Zeel made especially for me.

That means he trapped millions of souls from ever finding true rest in Heaven's Gate just to keep my soul from heaven,"

Alice held her head as her eyes flickered with red flames.

It was painful to quell the rage that would burn inside her at hearing about Zeel's misdeeds.

The souls whispering in her ear for help did not ease her burden.

Aurolana then wore a sly smile, then she picked a single Mindovarus from the many gathered in the garden and gave it to Alice.

Alice was reluctant but still took the flower because it was within Zeel's database, which means she knew it was not a threat.

"Take this one. You should know what the Mind Flowers are for," Aurolana said and moved her gaze away from Alice "It will help with your control issues,"

"Thank you!" Alice replied since she really needed one of these flowers to keep her mind at ease near Zeel.

Aurolana did not reply and simply waved her hand, ejecting Alice from Purgatory.

Aurolana wore a complicated expression while sending Alice away, but she had few other choices because what would happen next needed to occur.

The good news is; she was preserving both girl's lives by making sure that Zeel would not awaken for what happened next.

"The things we do for love," Aurolana whispered to the Tempora on her shoulder.

"Now, let's go give him a dream of the past that will keep him here for ten years," Aurolana said, smiling happily at the thought of Zeel staying in Purgatory a bit longer.

Even if she could always feel Zeel within himself, it was still unnerving to not physically be next to him.