Selen and Solaris sat silently for a while. Before Solaris swallowed his rage and sat up straight, turning to look at Selen.
She was silently staring at the fake grass, her face lacking the emotion that her voice was displaying; even if it was almost impossible to tell, she was scared.
Solaris began to think of all his experiences within hell and then how dastardly it was to send others to that place; his face gave away these thoughts with shocking clarity, and his body began to shake with surprised rage.
After a while, more of complete silence, he spoke.
"Talk to Ember; he should be of more help than me."
Solaris spoke with a note of hatred and defeat lining his voice as if he had just surrendered to an enemy.
The idea of turning away Selen burned his very soul, but it was the better option.
Solaris could possibly give the most information, but that information being helpful was another story.
While in Solaris's mind, Embers experienced life should allow him to give the necessary information for survival.
Yet as Solaris was about to explain to the stoic girl as to why he was telling her this, she spoke.
"He told me to see you."
Solaris choked on his words, leading him to simply cough.
Who does this guy think I am? I can't give survival advice! Especially not in literal hell.
"Did he now? Well…If I'm to be your teacher, then I have two requests."
Selen slightly twisted her head and asked as if confused, even if her voice and mannerisms did not reveal it.
"What."
Solaris held up his left fist, while his right arm stretched back and rested itself on the back of the bench.
Then, as one of his fingers rose, he began to talk.
"One, if I'm to teach you about hell, then I'd like for you to answer any question I may ask, as a form of payment for my information."
Selen nodded in agreement.
Solaris followed the nod and raised his second finger, his face turning grim and serious.
"And two, you won't die."
Selen looked at him for a moment, possibly taken aback by his second condition.
Yet she did not display this emotionally or even physically.
After a moment of silence, she finally spoke.
"Okay, seems fair."
With Selen's agreement to his request, Solaris snapped his fingers, and the lush and beautiful park disappeared into a normal-looking room.
The two found themselves on Solaris's bed.
"Perv."
Solaris sighed and stood up from his bed.
"Really, I'm the perv; that was the first place your mind went, not mine."
Selen simply stared into Solaris's eyes, so deeply and intently that she may have even taken a glimpse at his partially bitten soul.
"Now let's go; I'd like to do this exchange of information somewhere less cramped."
Selen looked around the massive room and then stood up.
The two left his room, Solaris grabbing his sword as he left.
Soon the two found themselves in the dining room.
Solaris had eaten in the room many times, mostly before training.
The room itself wasn't very unique; it looked like a breakroom with a few tables with benches attached, and a couple with chairs instead.
There was a lineup of food across a counter with heat lamps and cooling devices for the different types of food.
The food was always fresh and always delicious.
Solaris wasn't sure of how the food was prepared or even how it was always there, but he had an idea of how it worked.
He assumed it was Sami's Extramicy that was to thank.
He used the bandage Ember had used on him within Hell as a baseline for his theory.
Both Solaris and Selen made a plate of food.
Solaris grabbed a cold sandwich and a bowl of pudding, while Selen got a bowl of soup and a grilled cheese.
The two sat down across from one another, and Solaris began to eat.
After taking a few bites of his sandwich, he cleared his throat and spoke to Selen.
"Whenever you're ready to talk, just ask away."
Selen did not respond immediately, instead opting to eat some of her soup.
"You were in the room with me when I explained it, during the interview with John Smith, so you should have a baseline knowledge of the landscape and food."
After a little bit more of Selen's soup disappeared, she finnally spoke.
"Did you kill it?"
It took Solaris no time to understand what, or rather who, she was talking about. The being that gifted Solaris the worst birthday of his entire life, as well as countless traumas and fears. The most undeniably dangerous thing within hell, or rather the first layer.
Malith.
Solaris stayed silent for a long time, his eyes glued to the table, not daring to look the stoic girl in the eyes.
After a long while, Selen finished her soup and began to eat her grilled cheese.
"No. I couldn't. The story I told HQ was true, but some things had been omitted, and some were slightly changed. "
Solaris took a deep breath and looked up, his eyes being met with an emotionless stare.
To anyone else, this would have most certainly scared them, but to Solaris, it was comforting.
"In truth, the only reason I'm alive is...That thing let me go... I'm not sure why, but it offered me a deal: if I killed its prince, it would let me leave. I negotiated- or rather, I asked for it to spare Ember, and with all odds against me, it agreed. So Ember and I killed that Dark prince and left hell, completely broken and shattered. That's the real story of our trip. I'm not sure if the being inside of me would stand a chance against it, but I don't want to find out."
Selen stared at him for some time and then spoke in an even, emotionless tone.
"I'm glad you two made it back."