Joyless.

Based off of a Green that isn't mine

It had been days
But it only felt like hours
Time had melded together since it happened
Gabby doesn't remember it
Doesn't remember her
But you do
He made sure you did
To make it so you never went against His word again
But you didn't care, there was no way you could
You WERE going to get her back, no matter what
And nothing was going to stop you
It was the middle of the night, and you hadn't been able to go to sleep.
This had become a regular thing the past few nights. Sleep meant dreaming, and dreams meant seeing an illusion of her again.
But that night you had a plan, and it was time to carry it out.
You get up out of bed while carefully avoiding disturbing Gabby's rest. The less she knows, the better.
Throwing on some casual clothes, you looked at yourself in the mirror.
A disheveled man looking to throw a Hail Mary.
Pathetic.
You walked towards the bedroom door and opened it, the door creaking as the light came flooding in from the hallwa-
"Jonah?" A voice called out from behind you. "What are you doing up this late? Where are you going?" Shit.
"I just need a walk. Clear my head and everything. I'm still a little..." You struggled to find the right word as images of your daughter flashed in your mind.
"Out of it."
"Do you want to talk about it, Jonah?" Maybe if she could remember that would help, but she couldn't.
She never could.
She was designed to never understand.
"It's fine, I'm sure I'll feel better after this walk."
"Alright then, just... be safe for me. Please, Jonah. Don't do anything rash." Did she know what you were planning?
You turned around and did your damnedest to put on the most convincing fake grin you could. "When have I ever done anything rash?"
A faint smile grew on her face. "Alright. Love you, dear." She bought it.
"Love you too, Gabby." You closed the door behind you. Would that be the last time you ever see her?
Walking past your living room, you saw the two other residents of your house fast asleep.
Zaggy was asleep in the recliner chair, sitting directly across from the TV. He fell asleep watching the entirety of Columbo. Again.
On the couch next to the chair, Francis slept. He had in his grasp a box of poptarts that he was halfway done with.
You felt a pang in your heart. Would this be the last time you see them too?
Before you could ponder any longer, you opened the front door and stepped through to find your daughter again.
You WOULD find your Joy.

Edenville was quiet at night.
It was a bit odd for you to see the town like this.
Usually at this time you'd be fast asleep, cuddling with Gabby
And in the day there was always something going on, always someone around.
Anon out training with Mikey, Gary offering free injections, that robot out cleaning the streets
But out there in the dim light of the moon, there was no sound
and all you saw were the lights of the street lamps and the shadowy forms of houses.
There was one last place to go before you sealed your own fate.
Only one person that might be able to help you before you go off of the deep end.
Stopping in front of what you thought was her house, you looked at the name on the mailbox to make sure.
In the ever enveloping dark of the night, you struggled to make out the name:
Angel Noelle
Yep, this was the right place.
Sure it's the middle of the night, but you were desperate.
You've never met her personally, but Gabby had worked with her before as a sort of substitute from what you can recall.
And Joy had always talked about her with a sparkle in her eyes, "The teacher who could do anything" was what she called Noelle.
She was able to manipulate the world around her with the power of manifestation, or at least that's what your daughter said.
Maybe Noelle could just manifest Joy back into into your arms and then everything could go back to normal.
The thought made you smile as you approached the door
being able to come home from work without a worry, Gabby giving you a peck on the cheek as you walked in through the door
Joy running up to you and giving you a big, wide hug, wrapping her arms around your legs and asking you to play with her
Nobody coming to interfere with your life, nobody getting wiped away from existence because of what they are...
You came back to your senses.
You've been standing outside of her door for quite a bit.
"Alright, here goes nothing..." You said to yourself.
You reached out to knock on the door, but you noticed something on it.
Was that... a note?
You took it off the door and held it close to your face to read it: "Out on vacation. Will be back (maybe)"
Your heart dropped as soon as you saw that note.
your hopes and dreams of a true happily ever after, gone.
But this wasn't where you intended to go anyways.
This was just a last minute thought before you plunge into the depths of darkness.
Walking off deeper into the night, you steel yourself for what was to come.
Nothing pleasant, you could guess.
You had heard about something that would potentially be able to bring her back.
You didn't know what it was exactly, but it was something... evil.
But you didn't care what it was, or what it would cost to use it.
As long as it could bring back Joy, then you'd do anything you could to get your hands on it.

Joy had talked about a lot of things with you
At times, she didn't even really make sense
Like that one time she started ranting about brown bricks and Inspector Gadget
But there was one thing that definitely stuck out to you, at least now it did
She had mentioned something about an object that could grant wishes, but for a terrible price
Something that her friend had, apparently
While you don't know what person would let their child have something like that, it was quite convenient for you.
You approached the house, hoping this wouldn't end up like the last time
"Well the lights are on, that's a good sign at least." You muttered to yourself as you glanced at the window
Finally making it to the door, you stopped for a second to listen in
The sounds of a disorderly household reverberated through the wood of the door
Video games blaring through a TV, two young voices yelling, accusing each other of cheating
It actually sounded kind of fun...
Too bad you were here on business.
You rung the doorbell placed right next to the front door, long and hard to make sure they heard it over the noise inside
Instantly the house went quiet. The sounds of frantic skittering and organizing were hearable through the door
the light visible through the window suddenly turned off, and the blinds shut
It seemed like whoever was there, didn't want to speak to you.
You sighed and got ready to turn around, defeated, but then...
The door opened slightly, but with no one in sight that could have opened it...
Pushing open the door lead into a dark hallway, with a light switch at the end of it
from what you see looking in from the front door, it would have seemed as if there was no one there. A total disconnect from the cacophony not even half a minute earlier.
Well, here I go.
You took your first step into the house, deciding first to make your way over to the switch to get some light in here
The wood floor creaked under you, as you took one step after another, making your way deeper into the house
"Hello..?" You call out, but nothing answers.
The hallway only seemed to get longer the more you traveled into it
But finally, you made your way to the light switch
"Well that was easy enough." you think out loud as you reach over to turn the lights on
The switch is now on ON
As soon as the lights turn on, you hear a loud noise
SLAM!!!
It seems like you counted your blessings a little too early
You whipped around to face the now closed door and saw two little lambs, both of them turned away from you
They slowly turn their heads around in sync and...
Their eyes.
They were four dark abysses that stared right back at you
And as you stared into those depths, they bore a hole through your soul
It felt like you were getting spiritually cavity searched
You tried looking away, but there was something stopping you, like there was an invisible force holding your eyeballs in place
"What are you doing here?" They both asked with their voices overlapping each other perfectly
"U-uh..." you started to sweat a little bit. "Where are your parents?"
"Benny is out. What are you doing here?" They returned to their original question.
"Well I heard that there was s-something that granted wishes here and-"
"YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?!" the male lamb exclaimed, his eyes shrinking to what seemed to be normal size
"Damnit Adam, you ruined it!" the other lamb gave Adam a light slap across the back of the head
"Ow, that hurts, Eve!"
And just like that, every bit of tension was drained from the situation
Eve crossed her arms and looked at you with a casual gaze.
"Well I guess since this is ruined anyways, we should introduce ourselves. I'm Eve, and this little lovable idiot is my twin brother, Adam."
"I'm not a idiot..." He looked down at the ground with a hint of sadness in his eyes, a far cry from the emotionless void they were earlier
"What was that all about? You scared me half to death back there!"
Eve shrugged "Scaring people is fun sometimes."
You shrugged back. "Eh, fair enough. So you two actually have the wish granting thing that Joy talked about?"
"Joy..? Who's that? And how did they hear about the TV?" Adam responded. Damn, it would seem that even her friends don't remember her. Wait, did he say it was a...
"It's a TV?"
Eve sighed and gave Adam a side eyed glance "Come on Adam, could you at least give it a little more mystery?"
She looked back over towards you "But yeah, it's a TV. It's kept in the basement. The door's right behind you."
You turned back around and noticed a door to the right at the end of the hallway.
You walked over to the door with the twins following you and opened it
Greeting you was a dark staircase leading into an abyss darker than the depths of the twins eyes
Your heart pounded, as fear mounted in your body
but you paused for a second remembering Gabby's old lessons that she taught you as a kid
The dark can be scary, but it can also be peaceful.
Breath in...
Breath out.
as you took a few steps down the staircase. You hear the twins calling out from behind you.
They looked just like they did when they closed the door
"Be careful not to lose your soul, Jonah."
As you turned back around to continue down the staircase, you knew one thing
You were wrong about the staircase being darker...
Wait, did they just call you Jonah?
Whatever. However they got your name, it didn't matter
Not this close to getting Joy back.
Descending downwards, the staircase groaned
Deeper and deeper, into the darkness...

Would this ever end? It felt like you've gone down hundreds of steps
You suddenly placed an uneven step, almost falling over trying to go down a step that wasn't there
Finally.
You look around the basement, noting that unfortunately you hadn't gained night vision during your descent
It was going to be hard to find this TV without a light
Whelp, it was time to find a light switch for a second time in this house, and it was definitely going to be harder than last time
You immediately began to grope the walls like your last name was Blazkowicz
Although, you didn't have to search for long before the TV revealed itself to you
The sound of static emanated from the wall to your left
Walking towards it, you notice there was a tarp put over the TV
Sliding it off presented you with the sight of pure static with a CRT TV surrounding it
"Now how does this work..." You say, running your thumb across the logo on the upper part of the TV
... Samson? Was that even a real brand?
"It's already working, Jonah." The TV replied to you
Or rather, a being inside of the screen called out to you
You could barely make out a silhouette from behind the static
"Tell me, what are you here for?"
"Can you bring back someone that was erased from existence?"
The figure approached the static veil that covered his televised world
Were those bunny ears on his head? Was he a demon hare?
He couldn't have been, he had wings... what was he?
"Interesting... and who would this someone be?"
"My daughter, Joy. She disappeared and I need to get her back, please. no matter what."
You heard him make a noise through the static feedback. Was that a chuckle? "Hmm... sorry, I can't help you that."
No.
This couldn't be it.
"W-what? Are you sure? Please, I'll give you anything! Whatever you want! I'll even give you my soul!"
There has to be a way to bring her back, right?
"Tempting offer, but not interested."
Before you knew it, you were on your knees in front of the TV, your head held low
Was there really no way to bring her back?
Were you really going to live the rest of your life without her?
Tears streamed down your face
"Please."
You slammed a fist against the bezel of the TV
"She... she didn't deserve what happened to her. I don't know if I could go on without her..."
"Sorry bud. I'm sure little 'Whatever-her-name-was' was a good little human, but that's the end of this. I can't help you."
The streams of tears only grew
You haven't cried this hard since you were a child
You must have stayed there for a good ten minutes before the tears died down
The bunny on the other side of the screen started openly laughing at you "Hell you're pathetic. Are you done yet?"
"Joy."
"Hmm?"
"H-her name was Joy." You let out a small sniffle. "And she wasn't a human. She was a nephilim."
Instantly the static froze in place, making no more sound
"... A nephilim?"
"Yeah, she was a nephilim. God came to my house to erase her from existence. I'm the only one that remembers her now."
The hare takes a long pause
"You know... maybe I CAN help you..."
Your gaze rose again, witnessing the static beginning to dissipate
"You can..?"
The grey and black curtain finally lifts, and you finally saw who you've been talking to
A blonde bunny with a swirled piece of hair in front of his forehead showed on the other side
His robe blew gently in the wind as he stood on top of his cloudy backdrop
Looking directly you, he gave a warm and charismatic smile
Almost TOO much so...
"I think we could make something happen here. You see, I can't grant wishes, but I can help yours come true."
"What do you mean by that?"
"It means that I can't bring Joy here, but I can take you to her."
"Are... are you planning to kill me or something?"
"No Jonah. She still exists. And I can lead you to her."
"What? Are you being for real..?" Was he really telling the truth? Could Joy still be alive?
You put your face right next to the glass
"Where is she?! Tell me!"
"Patience my friend. We have much to discuss. But before we get to that, let's make this official, shall we?"
He cleared his throat "My name is Angel Azazel, but you can call me Azzy. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
He held out his hand up to his side of the TV screen and a purple flame appeared around it
"Shake on it?"
Could you really trust him?
Did it really matter if you could?
In your moment of hesitation, you closed your eyes and went back to a seemingly distant memory...
It was the middle of the night and a thunderstorm raged on outside
You left the livestream on for the night, so Gabby was out helping children with their bedtime woes
Your door cracked open and your daughter stepped into the room with tears in her eyes
"Huh? What's wrong Joy?"
She struggled to get the words out of her mouth "The... the thunder outside..."
"Do you wanna sleep in here with me tonight?"
Joy silently nodded her head and approached the bed, climbing in with you
She was absolutely shaken, and even with her arms hugged around you tight she wouldn't stop crying
She dug her head deep into your chest to try and gain some form of comfort, with no success
"Come on Joy, there's nothing to be afraid of."
She looks up at you and whimpers "But.. but.."
"Because I'll always be here to protect you. No matter what."
"Really?"
"Really."
She slowly stopped crying, and with that the rain and the thunder turned to a light drizzle
A pleasant pitter patter against the window of your bedroom
"Thanks papa, for being here for me..."
After saying those words she drifted off to sleep peacefully, with you following suit shortly after...
You opened your eyes
A sharp determination filled you as you extended your hand through the screen
It warped as if it were a puddle, your hand disrupting it's natural stillness
Your hand reached through the flame surrounding Azzy's hand painlessly and grasped it
"Ah, good choice."
"Brace yourself, Jonah."
With those words spoken, he yanked on your arm as hard as he could, pulling you completely into the TV.

---

Your consciousness returned to you
As you awoke from your slumber, the dreams of yours lingers in your mind hazily
You've been having these dreams for the past few nights, but you never were able to remember what they're about
One thing was certain, they gave you an intense sense of dread, like something wasn't right
Like something was missing
"Jonah..." You threw your arms to your side, expecting to find your ward lying next to you, but yet you found nothing
"Jonah?" The shock of him not being there jolted you wide awake
Did he not come back last night?
Your mind immediately gravitated to all the worst case scenarios
"Did he fall into a ditch and hit his head?"
"Did someone kidnap him??"
"Did he get stabbed out in the street???"
Taking a deep breath, you sorted out your thoughts and calmed yourself down
It was possible that he was just somewhere out in the house
You've woke up with him just being in the bathroom before, so maybe you'd check there
Rising out of bed, you quickly glided through the air over to the closet and threw on one of your many golden robes, before exiting the room
You looked down the hallway at the doors that lined the walls
Another odd feeling passed over you
Was there not another door in this hallway at one point?
Brushing the feeling aside, you floated over to the bathroom and knocked
"Jonah, sweetie? are you in there?"
Getting no response, you opened the door to complete darkness
You checked every nook and cranny of the house, but there was no Jonah
You sigh with a look of defeat as you sat down on the couch and leaned against a particularly nice and soft cushion...
"Good mornin Angel Gabby!" The 'cushion' spoke to you with a southern accent
"Oh, hello Francis, I didn't see you there..."
Francis laid directly behind you, half-full poptart box in hand
He looked up at your face to notice your sorrowful expression
"What's got you lookin so down Angel Gabby?"
"Jonah stepped out last night and he never came back... I worry for him, Francis."
"You don't give the guy enough credit, Gabs." a dark grey bunny came walking in with a steaming hot cup of coffee
"He's a smart kid, he's probably just fine." Zaggy sat down in the recliner chair that he had claimed as his own and leaned it back
"Zagzagel, you don't understand. The things that he told me a few days ago concerned me a lot."
"Well what did he say?" Zag took a drink of his coffee
"He... he said that we had a nephilim child together."
At that moment, a look of pure shock washed over the gray bunny's face as he choked down the sip of coffee that was in his mouth
"YOU WHAT?!"
"But we didn't! I don't have any idea what he was talking about. At first I thought it was a joke, or maybe he was mistaking a dream for reality, but he seemed so adamant about it."
Still recovering from the shock, Zaggy set his coffee mug down on a small end table that stood to the side of his chair
"Jeez, You almost gave me a heart attack..." He exhaled, most likely feeling a little more relieved about the situation
"But if that's the case, then why would he even think that?"
"I don't know. All I know is that I saw him last night before he left. He was staring at himself in the mirror. For as long as I've known Jonah he's always been a cheerful ray of sunshine, even when worst came to worst. But in that moment, he looked... depressed. Like he had never felt a moment of joy in his life. I knew I should have stopped him from leaving..."
Your fingertips met your chin as they slowly slipped upwards to cover your face.
"Gee Angel Gabby, that sure sounds serious." Francis wore an expression on his face that echoed your own as he discarded an empty box of poptarts to put a supportive arm around you
"You've got that right, I didn't know how bad things had gotten with the kid..."
The room became increasingly quiet as the mood got as low as it possibly could
After a long time of silence, Francis spoke up with an idea to break the ice
"M-Maybe we could start callin around and seein if anyone saw him out last night?"
"Well... it wouldn't hurt to try." Zag got out of his chair and walked up to his room, to use his rotary phone, no doubt
Following his lead you take out the phone that Jonah got for you, a flip phone, and started making calls yourself
To your dismay, no matter how many people you and the other two called, no one had seen Jonah last night
This was no good, you were never going to find Jonah like this.
You look up at the empty room, both Zaggy and Francis were off in their own rooms making calls all across Edenville, trying to find any hint to where Jonah could be
Putting your phone away, you flew over towards the door determined to find him
The entire time you were calling, you had one angel on your mind
One angel that would possibly oppose you and Jonah
He didn't have a phone
But even if he did, you would want to confront him directly
You opened the door to greet the fresh open air and the afternoon sun
Before you took off away from your home, you looked into the sky and spoke
"Please be okay, Jonah..."

You arrived at your destination, landing gently on the porch in front of the door
It had to be him, you knew it
You repeatedly slammed your fist against the door, making it known to the whole neighborhood that you were there
"Cease with your incessant banging, I'll be there in a second!"
A voice called out from behind the closed door
He always looked at you and Jonah with a look of distain on his face, it was obvious that he hated the fact that you two were even together
The door opened to a light gray rabbit with golden hair, who wore a white robe with a golden cross on it
Now what could be so important tha... Gabriel?"
He gave a look of surprise, with something else beneath the surface of his expression...
"I'm gonna ask you this once, Marty. What. Did. You. Do." You demanded answers from him, with each word you took another step into the house, forcing him to back up until his back touched the wall
His large ears drooped as his expression changed again, showing you what it was that was bubbling underneath
Panic.
"How did you know..?"
"So it WAS you!" You clasped your hands around Metatron's throat and lifted him against the wall effortlessly. "What did you do to Jonah?!"
"What? This is about J-Jonah?" He struggled to get out his words, his airways almost completely blocked by the death grip your hands had on his neck
"Of course this would be about Jonah, who else would this be about?" Your grip started to loosen, as you became less sure that Marty was the reason why Jonah disappeared
No. He has to have some involvement in this. You tightened your grip again
"You're hiding something from me Metatron, I saw it in your eyes! If it's not about Jonah, then..." You thought back to what Jonah said the day he started acting weird
"Before he left, he said that we had a nephilim daughter named Joy. Is that true? Is that what this is about?"
There it is again, that wide-eyed panic.
Both you and Marty knew that you hit the nail on the head
"Jonah remembered? But that's impossible!"
The truth hit you hard
You stumbled back in disbelief, abruptly letting go of Marty, letting him fall to his feet
You had a daughter? And someone made you forget about her..?
You tripped over something on the ground and fell flat on your ass
Everything started to make more sense to you
That strange feeling that something was wrong, that something was taken from you
The dreams you had been having that you couldn't remember
It was her
It was all her
A daughter that you couldn't even remember
An array of questions came to your mind. Who would do this? Why? How would anyone even have enough power to manipulate the memories of an archangel? Unless it was...
There was only one being in this universe who could have done this
If it was Him, then there was no hope in getting her back
But you had to be sure
"Who did this? Please, tell me."
He crossed his arms, looking down at you on the ground. "I think you already know the answer."
"Just... please."
He took a brief pause, before giving you the answer. "God did it, and I had assisted him in bringing it to heaven for erasure."
He turned his head to the side, looking away from you. "Please understand Gabriel, that... abomination, it was too powerful to be kept alive. It had taken care of, or else this entire universe would have been at stake."
You look up at Marty, revealing the flood of tears that flowed freely down your face, matting your fur
"...How old was she when she was erased?"
"She had been alive for six years."
You hung your head low. "Six..."
Six years of memories you had forgotten
Her first words, her first time walking, her first school day
Her laugh, her smile, even her face...
Was that really all gone to the wind? Just like that?
This didn't even feel real to you
When Jonah spoke to you about all of this, you thought he was mistaken
That it would have been impossible
'How would I have had a child that I didn't even know about?' You thought to yourself at the time
Look at who's the fool now
The angel who lost both her child, and now potentially her husband
You silently stood up from where you sit on the floor, making your way over to the still open door
"Gabby, don't go off and do anything you'll regret, rashness will get you nowhere. This was for the best, and God's will is final."
You turned around to look at him, giving him a pained smile with tears still in your eyes
"Now when have I done anything rash?"
"Wait a minute!" sensing that something was awry, he ran over to the door to try and stop you from leaving
You took off with enough force to leave behind a sonic boom, knocking over Marty and preventing him from following you
Now you knew where Jonah will be, and you hoped that you'd be able to make it in time
In time to stop him, or in time to fruitlessly help him, you wondered your own intentions
There was only one thing you knew for certain in all of this
Nothing will ever be the same

---

Blinding lights pierced your closed eyelids
Gabby must have turned the ceiling fan light to get you up early again...
You rolled over in the grass, ready to fall asleep again, despite it feeling like you had already been asleep for months
"Just give me 10 more minutes..."
You say in a low grumble, so low even you could barely hear your own voice
and with that said, you start to drift away, back into a dre...
Wait, grass?
Your eyes shot open, realizing that you weren't where you thought you were
You sat up to a scene of green grass rolling over a grand array of hills in front of you, going on as far as you could see
Then you remembered everything
Your daughter's disappearance, the deal with Azazel, getting pulled into the TV
That explained how you ended up here, but there was still something that felt incredibly off about your current situation...
Putting your hands out under you, trying to stand up on your feet showed you exactly what gave you that feeling
Your arms were completely covered in short, gray fur, and they led into hands that only had four keratin-tipped fingers
Delaying your ascent, you bring your hands up in front of your face, looking at them
How could this have happened? Did Azzy do this?
What the hell...?!" You brought a hand to your fuzz-covered throat, realizing your voice had changed too
You sounded so young, like you were a kid again!
you put your hands out under yourself again, to help finally get up onto your hooved feet and to confirm your suspicions
You stood quite a bit closer to the ground than you usually did
You had been turned into a kid, in more ways than one
Saying this was overwhelming to you is underselling it, to say the least
You slipped your hands into the wooly mass that replaced your hair
Your heart rate rose and you started to hyperventilate, panic starting to find its way into your mind
"I see you're awake." You whipped around to find the source of the voice, a golden hare sat at a picnic table
"Azzy, what the hell happened to me? Were you the one who did this to me?"
He gives a light chuckle. "As humorous as I find this, I wasn't the one behind it. Now calm down and sit, we have much to talk about." He motioned to the side of the table closest to you, an open seat that was waiting for someone to sit down on it
You whispered under your breath, trying to calm yourself "Deep breaths, man. you can make it through this."
You take the aforementioned deep breaths as you walk over, slowly finding control over your emotional state again
Sitting down across from the Angel(?) showed you how much smaller you really were. Gabby only came up to a bit below your waist when she wasn't floating. But yet here you were, in front of another hare about as tall as Gabby, yet being shorter than him. Jarring.
He waved his hand across the table and, in a flash of light, summoned a full, warm kettle of tea and two tea cups on small plates
Picking up and pouring some in cup closest to him, he looks up to you and smiled
"Would you like some? I heard this kind is quite good for the nerves."
"What's with the hospitality? You were making fun of me not too long ago."
Azzy started pouring some into your cup anyways, despite you not answering the question, and then he put the kettle back down
"Ah, you'll have to forgive my rudeness. I was just a little... disappointed at the prospect that I might have been summoned for nothing. But if your daughter is the nephilim that I've been hearing so much about, then I'm more than happy to help!"
"That you've been hearing about?"
"Oh yes, I have an informant in heaven that has been telling me about everything that's been happening. It's been quite abuzz ever since she was brought up there."
The hare started taking a long sip from his cup
For some reason, you felt compelled to join him in taking a sip, before you both set your cups back down onto the table
Hmm. You do feel a little more relaxed after drinking that!
"So... what's the situation? How is Joy still alive?"
"Well, 'God' can't destroy her at the moment."
"...What? But how..." that didn't make sense. If God is omnipotent, then wouldn't destroying her be easy work?
"That's simple." He says, as if he were reading your thoughts. "It's because the one that sits on the throne of God is a false one."
There was a moment of silence between the two of you, your brain shot, trying to comprehend if what Azzy said was even possible
"You're joking right?"
His brow furrowed as he explained. "Unfortunately there are no jokes to be had here. Father has been MIA for quite a while at this point. And now in his absence, an usurper to the throne has come forth. Supposedly an angel who goes by the name of Oz."
Oh. It seems like he wasn't joking.
Azazel spoke more, "Before I continue Jonah, I have to ask. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to get your daughter back?"
"Yes." You answered without a moments hesitation, strangely calm about the prospect of going up against an angel strong enough to usurp the throne of God
Azzy, however, had his eyes narrowed and his fingers interlaced in front of his face, as if he was still not convinced of your commitment
"Even if this false God uses your own bonds against you, will you do whatever it takes to stop him?"
This time you hesitated. Use your own bonds against you, what could that even mean?
Your hesitation was short lived, however.
"Yes." You answered him. "But... why do you care about any of this? What's your end goal?"
"Truthfully, I fear that the power that Oz is seeking could spell the end of this universe."
"For real?!"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. Now, are you still in? I'm being generous here, letting you back out even after we shook on it."
You brought the cup of tea back up to your face and drank it all in one big gulp, before lowering it back down to the tiny plate
Another deep breath was had
"Y-yeah, I... I have to. For Joy."
The bunny's deeply serious face transformed back into a radiant smile as you spoke your words
"Wonderful! That's what I like to hear. Now, let's go over the plan..."
"N-N-NOW AR__VING AT: OUTER HEAVEN"
A loud, robotic voice spoke over the derelict train's intercom systems, snapping you out of your recollective stupor
The glitchiness in it's voice spoke to the disuse of this way into heaven
Not to mention that the train has enough plant and vine overgrowth to be legally classified as a flora exhibit
You stand up and walk over to the door of the train, acutely aware of the weight in your robe's only pocket
A means to an end.
The train screeches to a halt as the door struggles open
However, as you stepped off of the train into the unknown, your brain went back to Azzy's final words that he uttered to you before you boarded the train
Out of everything he said to you, this perplexed you the most
"By the way, if you start hearing random voices in your head...
"... Just try to ignore them, okay?"