Malum {Undergoing Major Editing}

Chapter Twenty-five: The Meaning.

"I don't care about my dad!" I yelled, almost trying to convince myself.

"Oh but you do! You do care about him. You saw him at your mum's funeral and you wanted to go to him but you didn't. Don't fool yourself Maia, it won't do you any good. What happened after that? You were falling. Do you know why?"

"According to psychology, it means I have insecurities, anxiety or instabilities."

"That's one way of thinking about it."

"What's the other way?" I asked.

"You believed the vision you saw was fake. You tried to change the vision you saw. The river didn't want that, so it stopped. You were falling and falling, weren't you? Unable to escape the clutches of the river. You had your own subconscious inside the river that was meant to stop all brain activity; so to protect the river, you were put in an endless loop of falling into darkness."

My heart pounded so loudly, I thought that maybe Lucifer could hear it, "b-but I came out."

"Ah yes, the loophole. You can only come out of the loop if someone you truly desire rescues you. Now who do you think saved you?"

This is a test.

"Joshua," I stated. Not a question rather a statement.

"I won't tell you who saved you, but do you truly desire him because the river knows your deepest desires even if you don't believe them."

"I-i don't understand...This never happens to normal people right? The spiralling into endless darkness?" I asked.

"No it doesn't, but you aren't normal."

"Yeah I know that but like-"

"No, Maia you are more different than you think."

"How?" I asked.

"The time will come when you'll understand everything. Now is not that time."

"You can't just do that!" I yelled, "tell me why I'm different!"

"No."

"Why not?" I screamed.

"It's not my place to tell you," he said with sad eyes.

"Since when do you care about 'place'?" I asked, anger building up in me.

"There are many things you don't know about me, Maia."

"Please...I need to know. My life was filled with unsolved puzzles and unanswered questions," I cried, "please tell me."

"Tell you what?" Lust asked, walking up behind me.

"Nothing," I mumbled.

"Father," Lust greeted.

"Lust," Lucifer returned the greeting.

"Come on Maia," Lust called.

***

"You do realise you can't stay here?" Gluttony asked.

"Yeah I know," I replied.

"When should we leave?" Joshua asked.

"Tomorrow?" I offered.

Silence. I took that as a yes. I really didn't want to leave them at the moment. It pained me when I thought of leaving them.

"I don't want to go though," I whispered.

"We don't want to you to leave either," Lust said.

"We should probably sleep," Sloth suggested.

We all hummed in agreement. Sloth directed Joshua into one of the rooms in the castle. Wrath walked with me to the room across his.

"Good night," I called.

"Good night Maia," he replied.

I walked into the room and tried to sleep. As usual, I began to dream.

Water.

I was in water.

The current pulled me down, keeping me underwater for longer than possible. I looked around, trying to see if I could somehow escape. I saw a figure floating around. I swam closer.

Is that me?

It was!

Above me, someone had dived in. Joshua. I felt the current around me tighten. However; he got thrown out of the water. A few seconds later, someone else had dived in.

Someone I knew.

He swam and swam until he reached me. The current eased up around me, allowing him to swim freely. He grabbed onto 'me' and pulled me to shore.

I knew exactly what just happened and where I was. Kind of.

The river of  Cupiditatem.

I woke up, drenched in sweat. I checked the time. It had been half an hour. I got out of bed and make my way across the hall, knocking on Wrath's door.

"Who is it?" Wrath called.

"Maia!" I answer.

"Come in."

I pushed open his door and saw him reading a book in bed.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I couldn't sleep."

He patted the space next to him on the bed and I sat down next to him.

"Can I ask you something?" I questioned, after some time.

"Yes."

"Who saved me in the river of Cupiditatem?"

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Authors note:
Yeah sorry this chapter is short and all over the place. I'll try to update soon. I've gotten all the ideas I needed ready so it's gonna be good.

Lxrxib.