Zen slowly opened his eyes, looking around. He was lying against a large tree, with his armor keeping him covered from any insects or bugs that wished to climb on him.
Zen slowly began closing his eyes once more, wanting to go back to sleep, letting out a small yawn before lying still again.
"Zen, we have to move. It's already noon." His Ghost calmly stated.
Zen opened his eyes, slowly getting up, before stumbling around for a moment, and shaking his head a little.
"What's wrong?" Ghost asked, noting his body language.
"I'm just hungry. I need to eat something." Zen muttered. "Tell me where the nearest restaurant is." Zen ordered, before summoning his sparrow and boasting off into the distance.
--
By the time he was close to the restaurant, he immediately stopped his sparrow, before transmiting off his armor.
The restaurant was located in quite a small town, having a population of about 1000 people. The restaurant itself was a small burger diner, with only a few people inside.
As Zen entered and sat down, he read the menu a little before quickly making an order. A waitress approached him, noting that he was ready to make an order.
"Yeah, I would like 3 regular cheese burgers with a side of fries." Zen requested.
"Is that all?"
"Yup."
"Alright, your order should be ready soon." The waitress said before leaving him alone at his table.
Zen leaned back on the cushion, closing his eyes while waiting patiently for his meal.
"You know 3 whole burgers is glutinous."
Zen immediately opened his eyes, coming face to face with a familiar face again.
On the other side of the table was Gabriel, wearing her blue, General suit, while sitting casually as if nothing had occurred, while staring at him with a bored, but intense look.
Zen stayed still, assessing his situation before responding.
"How do you people even find me?" Zen asked calmly.
"Angelic magic." Gabriel responded back calmly as well.
"Alright, you do know that I'm not going to go with you, right?" Zen asked, slightly annoyed and confused at why she would continue persisting after him.
"I'm here to make amends. I know that the way I treated you at first was harsh, and to be realistic, also quite...stupid." Gabriel said, gaze seemingly getting less intense.
Zen opened his mouth, beginning to speak. However Gabriel wasn't finished yet, raising her hand to keep him quiet.
"But...I still need to know, who you are, and where you come from? Because let's be honest, if you were part of a group that made sure nothing bad happens on earth, don't you think that you too would question someone like me?" Gabriel stated, finishing her small speech.
Zen stayed quiet for a moment, thinking intensely, before finally making a decision.
"Alright, I'll tell you parts of my story. Not all in one go, cause that would take hours. Plus I still don't trust you fully. Plus after I tell you something, you have to tell me something that I want to know." Zen said, relaxing his posture.
"Alright, I accept your terms." Gabriel said.
"Alright, your universe has the Good guys, being you, and the bad guys, being hell. Right?" Zen asked.
"It's a little more complicated then that...but yes." Gabriel answered.
"Now, imagine that in another universe, there is the light, and the dark. Kind of like your universe. Except, both are merely Forces of nature, or laws of the universe, and nothing more. There is no such thing as Good, or evil." Zen explained.
"I don't understand what that has to do with-" Gabriel began, confusion filling her mind.
"I'm from another universe. And my universe is a fucking meat grinder." Zen whispered. "Next question."
Gabriel stayed silent, before asking another question.
"Why did you kill those demons?"
"Because they were messing with humanity. They were a threat, so I stomped them out. I'm guessing you do the same thing, abit I haven't seen anything yet." Zen explained.
"And what about us. Do you fear angels?" Gabriel asked.
"Now, and remember, I don't need to lie, cause I can kill you instantly." Zen stated, not knowing that Gabriel could sense lies, all the while underestimating her greatly. "Any who, I don't. As long as you don't hurt me. And if I'm being honest, you don't look like what an Angel looks like."
"What do you mean, that we don't look like an Angel?" Gabriel muttered, rasing an eyebrow at his comment.
"Oh, yeah. I haven't read any of the religious texts in this universe, but in my universe, angels are said to be quiet massive. For example, in one instance they say that Gabriel, the archangel, has about a few hundred, or thousand wings, with one wing being able to cover more then half the sky." Zen explained, not realizing who he was actually talking to. "And personally, that sounds kinda cool. Like something cosmic and out of this world."
Gabriel stayed silent, not sure to whether to be flattered, or insulted by such a strange description. She decided on going with the former.
"Oh, and do I look disappointing now?" Gabriel asked, purposely hoping to get some sort of reaction out of him.
"Oh! Uhhh, no, you look pretty." Zen quickly stated, before realizing what he said. "As in, regular pretty! Well, your not regular your actually hot, IM MEAN!" Zen began rambling, trying to control the situation, but failing miserably.
Gabriel watched on, before a giggle came out her mouth. Zen immediately stopped talking, shocked at her giggling.
Soon giggles turned into soft laughter. Zen stayed quiet, feeling butterflies in his stomach. Her laughter was soft, yet melodic. Like a song that soothed you, and made you forget all your worries. This was a side he hadn't seen before.
As Gabriel stopped laughing, only smiling a little, she noted Zen staring at her in a longing way. Zen immediately stopped staring at her, merely avoiding eye contact with her, too embarrassed to look directly at her.
"Sorry, it's just that I haven't had anyone complement me like that in years. And your reaction was cute." Gabriel explained, before suddenly blushing a little herself, realizing what she said.
'OH SHIT! SHE CALLED YOU CUTE!' His Ghost screamed inside his head.
"Oh, well...uh...thanks...We're getting off topic now. Uh, so that's all I'm going to tell you for now. Now, I want to know, how do demons even get on earth?" Zen asked, his mind still somewhat on there previous conversation.
"Oh, it's a couple of ways actually." Gabriel answered, her face going back to its serious expression. "See, normal demons, Imps, hellhounds, sinners. They can't actually go to earth without some higher demons help."
"And the higher demons?" Zen asked, his interest peaked.
"They consist of demons such as the Goetic and the 7 deadly sins and there families." Gabriel explained.
"So, quick question, which one would look like a bird?" Zen asked, remembering his fight with the owl demon.
"The Goetic...how did you know?" Gabriel asked, slightly suspicious.
"I read in a book somewhere that some of the powerful demons are bird like, or something like that." Zen lied. Unfortunately, Gabriel wasn't an archangel for nothing, and immediately sensed the lie that came from him.
"Your lying." Gabriel stated.
"What do you mea-"
"I can sense sin, and you just did a sin by lying. How do you actually know?" Gabriel ordered, her facial features changing slightly to...disappointment?
"Alright, alright! While I was roaming around, I noticed this portal opening up. I went to it and had a fight with an owl demon." Zen explained, not fully telling the story.
Gabriel merely stayed silent, deciding not to pursue the question. For now.
"Here you go sir, 3 burgers and 1 cup of fries." A waitress said, coming up to their seats and placing the food down on the table. For some reason, Zen noted that the waitress didn't seem to acknowledge Gabriel, almost as if she was invisible, but soon chalked it up to his imagination. As the waitress left, Zen slid a single cheeseburger to Gabriel.
"You can have it." Zen muttered before he began eating his burger. Gabriel pick up the burger slowly, inspecting it a little, before finally taking a bite.
--
16 minutes later...
Zen handed some money to the waitress, before getting up from his table.
"Welp, it's been nice talking to you." Zen exclaimed to Gabriel, before walking towards the exit.
"Wait."
Zen stopped, turning around to Gabriel, who was now standing in-front of him.
"I didn't get your name." Gabriel said.
"It's Zen." Zen stated, finally telling his name for the first time since arriving in this universe.
"Zen, that's a nice name. I'm Gabriel." Gabriel stated, smiling a little.
"Well Gabriel, I hope to see you soon." Zen said, a genuine smile on his face, before turning around and exiting the diner.
Gabriel continued watching Zen, before Zen went completely out of sight.
'For a human, he's actually kind of cute.' She thought to herself quietly, ignoring everything around her.
--
There's chapter 10. Yeah I know it's not action packed and some might even find it boring. But to me it's practice on making some longer conversations. Sure there may be a few mistakes, here and there, but at least I get to improve over time.
Also, give me some ideas on how I should progress the story, and how I should progress the relationship between Gabriel and Zen.
NOTE: Gabriel is based off a Group called, Team seraphic sins. They have a Twitter and I highly recommend checking them out.
Here's a link for her design:
https/mobile./APieceOfHeaven/status/1385632045192257538