Hollow

Chapter Twenty Two - Gabriel

"Gabriel is on watch 24/7." Gray begins to explain quickly. "His shield is constant and there is only one weak spot. I don't think he is aware of it, but I know once you are inside you will need to act quickly and take control before he has time to secure the breech. I will do my best to keep it open as long as possible." He promises as we walk quickly along the streets.

We position ourselves above the Theatre, the last show has just finished and people are leaving the theatre in a mass exodus.

Sitting cross legged on the roof top we face each other. Gray rests his hands on his knees, palms to the sky and I take hold of them, his thumbs pressing down on them gently and I do my best to allow it though this bitter soul is telling me to push him away. He closes his eyes and bows his head and I do the same, everything goes quiet as I enter his mind. I can hear nothing of the world around me only the recesses of his mind until I enter the main chamber where all his thoughts come and go. It is chaotic and wild as every mortal he is surrounded by leaves a piece of themselves in his mind leaving a constant stream of souls and it is up to him to control them and turn them into one working soul.

I move further along to where his talent lies, passing his memory chamber and moving forward until everything is silent. There are no souls or voices, just silence and I know I am where I should be. I wait, as he searches for the weak spot, then I can hear a humming, like electricity or static and I can feel it around me, it must be Gabriel's shield. Gray moves along it slowly, taking his time to search for the weak spot until there is a quiet spot, a gap where the static ends, but the space is very small. Gray takes hold of it and widens it enough so that I can fit through. I can feel him prod me and I move forward, towards the quiet space and then everything suddenly goes cold and a feeling of emptiness surrounds me. It is completely dark and I know I am inside Gabriel's talent. I continue moving forward away from the static and further into the darkness and emptiness. I had been inside several voids minds before and knew the emptiness well.

A void removed everything. Every memory every thought they pulled away and kept hidden, like files being archived away so they were unreachable. Because they did not require connections there were no human emotions remaining or lingering in any part of his mind, no remnant of a soul like that one I had in me now. It made it hard to know if you were in the right area without noise or light to guide your way but I pushed forward as best I could, being careful not to disturb anything.

I had come through the back door as it was and needed to back track to reach his memory chamber hoping what we needed would be stored somewhere. The stronger or older the memories the harder they would be to reach. I knew his childhood memories or anything before the curse would be near impossible to gain access to, but if he kept in contact with the coven then it should be easier.

I move until I see a hint of light, it was weak and fading but I moved towards it and began to feel around recognizing the memory chamber. As if I was opening draws in a filing cupboard I began to search and prod. I knew I needed to act fast because he would soon realise that he wasn't alone. As I search I touch something and stop because I recognize it, the feeling of the memory is one of many I kept inside me and I knew it could be only one thing.

I open it and see my old life.

I see the Bastion through Gabriel's eyes.

I am standing, staring up at the Origene and I can see how over powering the Origene seemed, so high above us, always overlooking us. I can see me, the old Allura standing to the right, hiding in the background. It was strange to see oneself in another's eyes. I looked young, childish even and I realised this is how Gabriel had seen me.

Though I was decades older then he there was something about me that reminded him of someone else and I could feel another memory opening behind me as if it had been a key, a trigger and I am pulled into another memory.