Chapter 10: Learning The Ropes

Grace’s eyes fluttered open to find Celestia lounging in a nearby chair, one leg crossed elegantly over the other as she read from a massive book. She looked like she’d been painted there, too perfect to be real.

“…”

Grace blinked.

As soon as she registered that this was actually happening, she bolted upright, clutching her blankets to her chest.

“AHH!” Celestia barely reacted. “How… how long have you been there!?”

Celestia smiled.

“Oh, just a few hours,” she replied casually, turning a page with a flick of her wrist. “You’re quite adorable when you sleep, by the way. All those little mumbles about ‘too many pretty angels’. Is that how you feel? Hehe…”

Grace’s face may as well have burst into flames!

“You didn’t have to wait for me!” she squeaked, trying desperately to remember if she’d said anything else that was more incriminating in her sleep. “I mean, you’re probably very busy and important and—”

“Darling,” Celestia cut her off with a raised brow and a smirk, “I’m thousands of years old. A few hours is nothing.” She uncrossed her legs (which made Grace’s face around 15% redder than it already was) and stood. “Besides, how could I resist watching over our precious new arrival?”

Celestia glided to a wardrobe that definitely hadn’t been there yesterday, pulling out what looked like flowing white robes.

“Here,” she tossed them at Grace. Grace caught them with her face. “The bathing pool is through there. Do freshen up, dear. We have much to do today.”

Grace emerged from the blankets, holding up the robes. They looked expensive. And complicated. And… very, very see-through in certain places.

“Um,” she managed eloquently. “Is there maybe something a little more… covered?”

Now, it was Celestia’s turn to pause, like that had been the last thing she expected to hear. Then, she started laughing.

“Oh, sweet summer child. No, no there is not. But, hey, on the bright side, those clothes provide pretty strategic ventilation.”

“That’s not even slightly reassuring!”

“Ah, well, can’t be helped then,” Celestia winked. “Anyway, hurry up. Unless…” Her smile turned predatory. “You need help getting dressed?”

Grace nearly tripped over her own feet in her rush to the bathing pool.

“Nope! No! I’m good! Totally fine! Absolutely DO NOT need help removing or putting on clothes, thank you very much!”

Celestia’s laughter followed her all the way to the pool.

“Suit yourself!”

Grace had a feeling this was going to be a very long day.

As she walked, however, she thought about her dream, her talk with Eternia.

Grace wasn’t too sure how to feel about this new knowledge. On the one hand, she could help? That was great. Of course she’d like to help if she could.

But…

[Me?] She thought, looking down at herself. [I can help?]

She had a hard time seeing that.

—

Grace tried very hard not to stare at the way Celestia’s hips swayed as they walked through the crystal halls. She failed miserably, of course, but she tried.

[Why are all these angels so… big?]

“Now then,” Celestia’s fingers snapped, and a sheet of paper materialized in front of Grace’s face. “Your schedule, dear.”

Grace grabbed it before it could hit her nose.

“My… oh!”

Her eyes widened as she read:

GRACE’S DIVINE CURRICULUM

Morning: Combat Training with Sisters of Bravery

– Learning to not die (again)

– Weapons practice

– Flying lessons (please don’t fall, you may be immortal now but you can still feel pain so it will be unpleasant)

Afternoon: Healing Arts with Sisters of Compassion

– Basic medicine

– Divine energy manipulation

– “Hands-on” practice sessions

Evening: Morale Training with Sisters of Love

– Advanced interpersonal techniques

– Energy transfer and morale raising exercises

– Private tutorials (♥)

“That last heart is concerning,” Grace mumbled.

Celestia’s laugh echoed through the hall.

“Don’t worry, dear. We’ve arranged everything to be as… gentle as possible.” Her smile suggested she meant anything but gentle. “Though I must say, you’re taking all this rather well now.”

“Well,” Grace shrugged, “that’s partly cause it’s hard to believe this is even happening and also cause after finding out I’m basically a divine art project, everything else seems almost normal?”

“A what?” Celestia asked.

“I…” Grace thought about it for a moment and then shook her head. “Never mind.”

She doubted Celestia would hear her say, “yeah, our absentee-goddess? Eternia? Turned out she literally created me, like a damn piece of pottery” and not just laugh at that. She wasn’t even sure she believed it herself. Who knows? Maybe her dream was a total hallucination.

“In any case,” Celestia smirked. “Let’s see if you still think that after seeing your classrooms.”

They stopped first at what looked like a massive bedroom. No, scratch that – several massive bedrooms connected by gauzy curtains and filled with more pillows than Grace had ever seen in her life. Angels lounged everywhere in various states of undress, some practicing what looked like… meditation? Others…

[A-A-A-A-A-A-A-Are they… !?!?!?]

“This is the Sisters of Love’s primary classroom,” Celestia announced. “Hm. They’re up early today.”

Grace’s jaw dropped.

“That’s a CLASSROOM!?”

“Mhm. Where else would they practice their… techniques?”

“I… but… they’re…” Grace gestured helplessly at two angels who were definitely not just meditating. “How is this ‘training’!?”

“There is much to learn and much to practice when it comes to raising morale, dear.”

“Ah,” Venus called out then, descending upon Grace – [was she hiding up in the ceiling!?] “are you here to begin your lessons~?”

Grace nearly passed out.

“Nope, sorry to disappoint,” Celestia said, tugging Grace’s limp body away. “Just showing her around.”

Next came the healing halls, where Mara already was. She glanced over and waved with a warm smile that made Grace’s knees weak. The walls were lined with beds (“For practice!” Mara had assured her with a wink), and the air smelled of herbs and something sweet that made Grace’s head spin.

Finally, they reached a massive courtyard. There was a ring of some sort, a track for running, some dummies set up, and much more.

“And this,” Celestia gestured grandly, “is where you’ll begin each day.”

Grace swallowed hard.

“Right. Learning to fight. And fly. And…” She glanced back at her schedule. “Whatever ‘energy transfer exercises’ are.”

“Oh, you’ll find out soon enough.” Celestia’s hand landed on Grace’s shoulder, and was it just her imagination or did those fingers linger a bit too long? “You know, you really are handling this better than expected. Yesterday you could barely look at an angel without combusting.”

“I guess I’m quick to adapt?” Grace suggested hopefully.

“I suppose we’ll see,” Celestia laughed. “Well, this is where I leave you, little one. Feel free to sit around and wait till Seraph gets here. She’ll take care of you. Also, try not to faint during training – though if you do, I’m sure someone will be happy to catch you.”

And with that, she was gone, leaving Grace alone with her schedule and the distinct feeling that she was absolutely not ready for any of this.

Grace looked down at her schedule again, sighing.

“Well,” she muttered, “at least if I die again, I’ll have nice views on the way out.”

—

{Diana}

Fire.

Everything was fire.

Diana stood frozen, her sword trembling in hands that had never shaken before. The Primal Demon’s smile sent ice through her veins – a feeling she hadn’t experienced since becoming an angel.

Its face twisted into a terrible grin as it stepped closer, each movement like liquid darkness.

Behind her, humans fled. Smart humans. Humans who knew when they were outmatched.

[Maybe…] Diana’s grey eyes darted to the side. [Maybe I should—]

She jolted awake with a gasp, sweat making her black hair stick to her neck. Her hand automatically went to the scar over her right eye – a reminder of a different demon, a different fire.

“I… Oh my…” She was breathing heavy. As she looked around, she sighed with relief. It was just a dream.

Or, well, it wasn’t. That had happened, and Diana had done that, but she wasn’t there right now.

“Mmm…” A sleepy sound beside her made Diana turn.

Juliana stirred among the tangled sheets. As Diana calmed down, her eyes traced the marks she’d left on that perfect skin last night, remembering how the Love Sister had practically begged for each one.

[At least the nightmares waited until after the fun part,] Diana thought, pushing herself up. Her abs tensed with the movement, and really, she couldn’t blame Juliana for immediately reaching out to trace them.

“Leaving so soon?” Juliana’s voice was still thick with sleep and something much more interesting.

Her fingers caught Diana’s wrist just as she stood, pulling her back down for a kiss that was definitely not appropriate for the hour.

When they parted, a strand of saliva connected their tongues, making Diana’s breath catch.

“Don’t be gone too long~” Juliana purred, stretching in a way that was absolutely intentional. “I’m not finished with you.”

Diana couldn’t help but smirk.

“Right.”

She walked out into the hall, rolling her shoulders as she went with no top on, just black shorts.

She drew a few appreciative glances from passing angels, others who liked to get up early like she often did. Usually, that kind of attention made her feel powerful. Today, though…

[What else could I have done?] The thought nagged at her as she headed for the training yard. [Anyone would run in that situation. Anyone would…]

Diana shook her head. No need to think about that anymore. No need to think about anything, for now.

This was why she loved early morning training – no one around to see her work out her frustrations on practice dummies. Just her, her sword, and blessed silence.

Or at least, that’s how it usually went.

Diana stopped dead in her tracks.

[What the…?]

There, in her training yard, stood quite possibly the tiniest angel she’d ever seen. White hair caught the morning light like fresh snow, and golden eyes burned with determination as she tried (and spectacularly failed) to lift a sword that was definitely too big for her.

“Aaaaargh- WHOA!” The girl tried to swing it, nearly falling as the momentum threatened to take her down.

The sight was… surprisingly endearing.

Diana considered leaving. The appeal of this morning routine, getting up *before* the usual training kicked off, was the peace and quiet.

But, as the girl made another swing, Diana took a few steps forward.

[… I suppose I should show her how it’s done.]

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