"Are you sure this will work?" Alison asked her friend, her wrists strapped to metal poles and a large robotic arm in front of her. She would have otherwise been worried, but she was even more worried due to the scoop attached to the end of the arm, it’s ethereal surface shimmering with power. "Can't 'we' just all calm down?"

Harmony looked up from her panel, dressed head to toe in protective gear and a look of annoyance on her face. “We’ve been over this a thousand times: your mortal form is rejecting the ethereal aspects of yourself and the only way you’ll survive is if we separate the mortal from the ethereal. You agreed to this, so we’re doing this.”

Alison sighed. “Sorry, I’m just nervous. Do you know how much pain I will be in?"

Harmony scooted her swivel chair over to the large device in which Alison was hooked up to, ensuring the restraints were fastened. "The scooper only hurts for a moment.”

Alison’s eyes widened. “I’m having second thoughts.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. It’ll definitely hurt, but nothing like what comes after.” Harmony scooted back over to the console and reached for the activation switch.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!”

Harmony turned, shocked to see her “lab partner.” Felix Aurelius, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt under a lab coat, was carrying a tray with two steaming cups of hot chocolate and two stacks of cookies. In his azure alien eyes was a look of shock and anger. “Felix,” Harmony replied, “I can explain.”

“By all means,” Felix barked as he set the tray aside and stormed over to her, “explain.”

"The two halves of Alison are in conflict with each other. This machine will be able to separate them for a little bit so they can both chill out. It's going to be one h*ll of a therapy session, that's for sure."

“And you didn’t think to clear it with me or Zane?” Felix crossed his arms.

“Listen,” Harmony reasoned as she stood from her chair, “we can discuss this-” She leaned on the console, not thinking about the several buttons and switches on the console, and accidentally flipping the switch that activated the machine.

An alarm sounded in the lab. 5 repetitions of the same tone, the silence. Alison has closed her eyes, braced for what was to come, and started to open them just as the mechanism fired. The arm lurched forward, and the scoop was plunged deep into her form.

Alison's eyes shot open from the impact. Every inch of her slowly turned to the color of obsidian as she looked down and saw her wound. Tears flooded from her eyes as she looked up, whimpering, “It hurts… It hurts so much…”

The scoop retracted, pulling out a spark of light. It flickered as it floated in the scoop, free of its mortal form. Harmony quickly pressed a button and a blue field went up around the area of the body. "Stasis Field Activated" appeared on the display in front of Harmony.

“Oh… Zane’s gonna f*cking kill us…” Felix looked at the spark with horror, and Harmony covered her mouth to muffle her terrified scream. Telekinetically reaching out, Felix brought the spark to him, his focus fixed on its dim shine.

It was at that moment that the spark shined brighter and began shaking. Letting the spark go and stepping back, Felix pulled Harmony away as well as the spark slowly began to try and take a physical form. Physical features shifted quickly as the spark searched for what it needed to create the body it deserved.

Felix watched in awe as the being was taking form. The being had taken the form of a woman in a flowing, white dress, complete with a gold bracelet and a silver necklace. The skin was a deep violet color patterned with magenta marks on her arms, and her long hair was ghostly white. Her eyes opened, revealing the silver irises of the angels.

The woman floated down a little bit, but remained hovering at least 4-5 inches off of the ground. She looked around, a look of awe displayed on her face. She looked at the walls, the ceiling, the mortals, then her arms.

"Alison..?" Felix asked as he slowly approached. "Is that you?"

"I… I am…” the woman looked up a little, as though addressing someone taller. “I am cleansed of my mortality, yet I still feel tainted. I see the chaos and the order of the universe. I see the fabric of the multiverse, and I can see things smaller than electrons. I can hear the joy of birth and the grief of death through all the universe.”

“That’s what we see and hear every day.”

The woman turned to see her brother, Zane, in his angelic form. While she was clothed in a dress, he wore armor for battle and carried a sword. “You’ll get used to it.”

She sighed, approaching him and embracing her brother. “I feel more alive now than I ever did before!” As she began thinking more, she almost felt sad. "But.. I don't know if this was the right choice. I might not be able to be with my daughter again."

As Alison's angelic side and Zane talked, Felix motioned to Harmony that they should leave the two angels alone. They took the tray with the hot chocolate and cookies and they returned to the lab above.

“Well,” Felix commented as he took a couple of cookies and one of the mugs of hot chocolate, “that was dramatic.”

"I'm starting to have my doubts about this,” Harmony admitted. “The test beforehand showed that one half can't live without the other. If they're separated for too long, both of them will cease to exist."

“Just get yourself a cup of hot chocolate and some cookies,” Felix suggested. “It’s Zane’s problem now.”

"It's mine too, Felix. I agreed to this. And I don't want my friend to die because of my actions."

“Wait,” Felix interrupted, setting down his cup. “You did previous tests? Who did you test? Funtime Foxy?”

“Funtime Foxy has already been here today.”

“Alright, that was a joke,” Felix grumbled. “Enough with the Sister Location references. Point is, this thing’s way past what science can do. This is within the realm of the ethereal. Unless you suddenly become an angel, there’s nothing you can do to affect the outcome of this little experiment of yours.”

"I know.." she sighed.

___

"Zane.. I know I should have told you before. About this experiment." Alison's angelic half said as she hung her head. "But there is something you should know. I don't have that much time left. I can hardly feel emotion as of right now. I am the mind of your sister, and the human half is the emotion, and can execute different actions. If we're apart for too long, we cease to exist. "

"That’s not how any of this works" Zane told her. "This isn’t just a part of you, this is you. Shedding your corporeal form has allowed you to become more like me, like Cain.”

"Where's Maddie?" She asked. "Is she ok?"

“See?” Zane continued. “You still feel strongly about something! You just need to get used to this… metamorphosis.”

"What if… what if I don't want to be exactly like you?" She questioned. 

“At what point did I say you were going to be exactly like us?” Zane asked. “You’re still you! You’re just… not mortal anymore.”

"Well it seems like you did. But you still think that this is your complete sister. You're wrong, Zane. You've ignored her mortal half her entire life, you all only focused on me. But enough is enough. Keep this up and you will lose your sister forever."

"Alison. Listen to me-"

"How about you try listening to us for a change, Zane?! For once in your life LISTEN." she snapped. "We're not perfect. I'm not entirely your sister. Now STOP ignoring half of her, one of these days she's going to snap and leave you if you and everyone else can't accept who she is!"

Zane was silent for a moment. He looked at the woman, then at her body, then back at her. “I don’t understand,” he admitted. “Why are you so desperate to cling to your humanity?”

"Because it's a permanent part of your sister. And it shapes who your sister is as a person." She replied. "In a way, it's what makes her special. If I was to stay separated from the other half, not only would your sister die, but I only see more chains around my wrists than beforehand. I don't care if I'm more 'pure' this way. I wouldn't be happy."

Zane was silent for another moment before coming to his conclusion. “What you do with this opportunity is your choice, not mine. However, by separating yourself, this new access to your ethereal abilities is only a taste of what we can do. If you choose to rejoin with your mortal self, you’ll lose those abilities and you’ll never be entirely one or the other. You’ll be stuck in the middle ground and be neither. Make your choice wisely.”

Before Alison's angelic half could respond, Zane vanished. She sighed. "Why can't everyone just chill out?" She muttered as she vanished

_____

The being reappeared on the ledge of a tall building, looking down at the humans below. "What a peculiar species. They have their own free will, but they can't get along with each other over stupid reasons. Yet, they’re free to have families and find happiness. How many of them do you think achieved happiness? True happiness?”

"How would I know? I've never met every single person on Earth. I don't personally know them all."

“That was intended to be rhetorical. I mean, Look at them. They come to this place when they know they are not pure. Tenno use the keys, but they are mere trespassers. Only I, Vor, know the true power of the Void.”

The woman looked completely confused, turning to the Ourani next to her. The alien shook his head, admitting, “I kinda blacked out there. The point I’m trying to make is that very few of the humans on planet Earth, and few of the Ourani on Chast, know why they exist or what their purpose is.”

"But how many of my kind are truly happy? How many are scared of trying something different, only to be punished by a strict law that makes people follow orders without thinking twice? Look what happened to my father. All he wanted was a new reason to live and be happy.  And look what happened to him."

“You only need one reason to be happy.” The alien picked a fragmented blade he had set down, and his telekinetic abilities took hold of all the different pieces. At the center of the blade was an indigo crystal, humming with power. As the pieces floated around and came together, reforming the blade, the alien finished, “Everything else falls into place from there.”

"I can name a few angels that aren't completely happy with their jobs, or the strict laws."

“They aren’t focused on what’s important.” He thought for a moment, then chuckled. “It’s funny, if you think about it. They turn away from the solution to all their problems and wonder why they don’t have any solutions to their problems.”

"Are their emotions not important? Are their needs put aside because they're not important? Is a job really that important that nothing else matters?"

"No, a job doesn’t really matter for a nephilim. An angel, it’s part of how they achieve happiness. They serve as a way of showing their thanks for being allowed to exist.”

"I was mainly talking about the other Angels. But don't the other nephilim deserve the same chance we did? Is it fair to them that only one of their kind was given a chance to do some good while they get punished for no reason? Besides, not every Angel is happy with how things are."

"The other nephilim weren’t as young and innocent as you when you died. They led sinful lives and now suffer for it.”

"Not all of them." She corrected. "My sister was abused by her mother, and wanted nothing but to have a good family. So she was taken by my dad, he was better to her, but she was punished. Despite her not doing anything wrong."

The alien shook his head. “There’s still so much you don’t understand, and I don’t blame you for being frustrated with what little you have, but you need to understand that there’s so much more than meets the eye in so many things. If you spent the time to really look into things, to truly understand these issues, your opinion would likely change.”

He then handed her a book, rather thick and protected by a black cover. “The weapon of one who understands. Not too dissimilar to that sword you have.” He stood up, turning his back to the world below, and standing on the ledge. “I don’t know everything that’s going on with you, but you need to straighten it out.” With that, he stepped back and plummeted from the top of the building.

The woman looked over the ledge, only to find that the Ourani had disappeared.

"How would he know how everyone feels?" The woman muttered. "He's never witnessed anything firsthand."

“I heard that.” The alien had somehow reappeared on the rooftop. “You do realize I’m pretty much a ghost, right? I know a thing or two about the ethereal.”

"Not everything. Now go and mind your own business."

“You’re right,” the alien replied. “I don’t know everything, but I’m certainly not whining about something because I don’t understand it! Do your research or shut up and sit down!”

The woman suddenly turned and grabbed him by the arm. "Stop acting like you're my father." She threatened as she threw him to the ground. "Acting like that's going to get you in trouble. Now LEAVE."

He just shook his head with disappointment. “Let the record show you chose this path.” With that, he disappeared.

—————

The woman reappeared back in the lab a few minutes later, wanting to rejoin with her other half. 

"Back already? That was fast." Harmony exclaimed as she sat back in her chair.

"Let's just do this before Zane comes back. Otherwise there's going to be an argument about what happened."

"I'm not going to ask." Harmony said as she prepares to drop the field. "Whenever you're ready."

The woman approached the mortal body, and at that same moment, the field dropped, the body collapsed to the floor. In an instant, the being disappeared. 

The body suddenly started to regain color, the cracks fading a little bit, only leaving faint cracks. Alison opened her eyes as she gasped for air. She began to shiver, curling up into a fetal position. “It’s so cold,” she whispered. “So… cold…”

Harmony rushed over with a blanket, wrapping it around Alison’s body. “Easy,” she calmly instructed. “Your body was basically dead for a few hours. Let’s get you some hot chocolate, okay?”

"A-Alright.." Alison muttered as she tried to get warm. As Harmony picked her up, she looked and saw another Ourani, who just shook his head at her before disappearing.

When they arrived at the lab upstairs, Harmony poured a cup of hot chocolate and gave it to Alison. The contents were incredibly hot, so Alison had to take small sips.

"Are you feeling any better?" Harmony asked as she poured herself another cup.

"Much better, thank you." Alison took another sip before asking, “You do know you’re haunted, right?”

Harmony paused for a moment, her eyes widened. "What? Are you sure?"

“I’m sorry,” Alison replied, “but I can see him. I can see the way he exists. You have to accept that Felix died.”

"I was just talking to him!" Harmony stated.

“Do you remember the 9th of September? Don’t you remember the attack? The manifestations of Darkness? The explosion?”

"I… I just… I just saw him… downstairs.. when you were hooked up.." Harmony told her. "I saw him.."

"Harmony, you're going crazy. You need help." Alison stated. "He's gone."

"I…. I….. I saw him.. he was right here!" Harmony muttered as she stepped backwards. "Felix…. You…. he was just here…" Her hands reached to her head as she began to shake. The realization slowly set in, and she started to laugh. “He… he just left to go get something… Yeah, he’s just out... He’ll be back soon…”

"Harmony, he's gone,” Alison replied. “He's not coming back." 

“No… You’re wrong. You’re wrong! He’s around here somewhere!”

“Why aren’t you listening to me? You need to accept that Felix is dead and move on!”

“Shut up… Shut up!” Harmony glared at Alison, her verdant eyes burning with rage.

Out of nowhere, Alison's hand went right across Harmony's face. "YOU SHUT UP. Listen to me! Felix is DEAD. He's not coming back! Now get a hold of yourself before I get your father!"

Harmony didn’t say a word. Instead, her eyes turned silver and her hands started to glow. Grabbing onto Alison’s throat, she began to close off her windpipe. Alison tried desperately to remove the hand, choking from the lack of oxygen. Harmony’s other hand shifted a little, forming claws on her fingers like that of Freddy Krueger.

Alison realized she had to act fast. Fortunately, she remembered a few things from what her brothers taught her. With one finger, she tapped on her attacker’s forehead and managed to command, “Requiem.”

Harmony fell to the floor, unconscious. Alison gasped for air, recovering from the attack. She looked down at Harmony, feeling no regret. "You got issues, shorty."

————

Harmony cried in her padded cell, her arms restrained by a straitjacket. "LET ME OUT!" she yelled. 

There was only silence as a response. She wanted to wipe the tears from her face, but her arms were still restrained.

As she kept fighting the restraints, she eventually pulled a muscle in her arms, causing her to scream. There was no response from outside the cell. However, a whisper grabbed her attention.

“Be still, my love.”

Her eyes immediately widened, recognizing the voice. "Felix…?" She muttered.

A warm feeling enveloped the muscle she pulled as it healed. “I’m sorry for my deception,” Felix apologized, “but I wanted to prevent this fate. I didn’t want you to come here. Now, Alison has forced this fate upon you, and you must endure terrible, painful things.”

“Why didn’t you come back?” Harmony quietly asked.

There was silence for a brief moment before Felix replied, “I couldn’t… I can’t… Not now, at least. It’s really hard to walk off a shot to the head, after all.”

"I don't want to be here…" Harmony whispered as she began crying again.

“I know,” Felix replied. “You’ll have to endure much before we see each other again. If nothing else, know that I didn’t choose to marry you for pity or a duty. I chose you because I saw something beautiful where others would’ve seen a killer. I chose you because I love you. And I will come back for you.”

Tears were now flowing down Harmony's face, and her lip was trembling. "Alright…"

“When I return,” Felix promised, “I’ll never let you go.” With that, Harmony felt his presence leave her.

Harmony collapsed to the ground, bawling her eyes out. 

“You were right to bring her to us,” a doctor noted as she watched Harmony through a camera. “We’ll get her the help she needs.”

"If you do anything to harm her," Alison threatened, "I'll come back and punish every last one of you. She's still trying to get over her husband, and I don't want you people to punish her for grieving over someone she loved dearly."

“Don’t worry,” the doctor replied. “Our methods are humane and constructive, especially when compared to the… questionable methods known to be practiced at Eye of the Storm. Is there anything else you wanted to address?”

"She eats humans when she gets a certain 'hunger'. So I'd keep little company in her cell." Alison noted.

“Is it imperative that we satisfy this hunger,” the doctor asked, “or is it something we can ignore overall?”

"Unless you want to run out of staff. Life is like a runaway dump truck: hot, fast, and full of garbage." She said.

The doctor looked at Alison with a furrowed brow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

"Don't try to stop nature from happening, you wouldn't be successful. And trying would only be a waste of time."

The doctor was silent for a moment, even more confused. “So, you don’t want us to do anything about a very clear issue that should be taken care of if it’s actually a serious threat? How does that even relate to my original question? I asked if we needed to feed her humans for her to survive or if it’s entirety psychological.”

"No, physical. And there is absolutely no way to stop it. It is a serious threat, but one you cannot stop."

“At least we have a way to clear up some space on death row,” the doctor joked. “We’ll do our best to ensure she comes out healthier than she came in.”

"You better." Alison muttered as she disappeared.

The doctor waited for a moment before taking a deep breath of relief. She reached for a nearby console and pressed a small button on its utilitarian surface. “Warden Mochrie to Ops.”

In a few moments, a man dressed in black entered the room. “What’s going on, Doc? Is she gone?”

“The woman that brought in 65034-HR has left. The subject in question is still in her little cage and awaits our first test.”

“Excellent,” the warden replied. “Did she mention anything worth noting?”

“Something about an occasional desire to consume human flesh, nothing more.” The doctor picked up a tablet and quickly typed in something. “I think I’ll focus on that first.”

“Keep me informed,” the warden commanded.