Chapter 13: Prayers

In the end, Grace’s first day as an angel had been… intense.

She’d been thrown around by warrior angels all morning (while trying very hard not to stare at their abs), smothered by healer angels all afternoon (while trying very hard not to melt into their softness), and spent the evening learning things about kissing that made her face burn just thinking about them.

But, she got through it.

Hidden Quest Completed: The First Day!

Rewards: +5 Bravery, +5 Love, +5 Compassion

Bravery: 10/100

Compassion: 15/100

Love: 11/100

[At least I didn’t faint this time,] she thought proudly as she watched the sky shift colors.

Unlike Earth’s sunsets, the Dominion’s evening was like watching paint swirl across the heavens. Orange clouds melted into deep blue, creating patterns that looked like they’d been drawn in watercolor by some divine artist.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Grace definitely did not squeak as she spun around to find Celestia standing there.

“I was just coming to check on you,” the archangel smiled, and oh, that wasn’t fair at all. “How was your first day of training?”

“It was…” Grace searched for the right word. “Educational?”

Celestia laughed.

“Oh? Do tell.” She moved closer, and Grace caught a whiff of her perfume – something ethereal that made her head spin. “Though… you seem to have quite a lot on your mind.”

Grace nodded, thinking about everything she’d learned. About Diana’s morning lesson in strength, about Mara’s afternoon teachings of healing energy, about Venus’s… unique teaching methods.

“I do, actually. I was wondering about—”

“Before that,” Celestia cut her off with a smile that promised trouble, “there’s something I want to show you.” She extended her hand, and Grace’s heart skipped several beats. “Come.”

Grace took Celestia’s hand, trying very hard not to think about how soft it was or how the archangel’s fingers intertwined with hers so perfectly.

Again, at least she hadn’t fainted yet today.

Yet.

—

Celestia led Grace to the edge of what had to be the prettiest cliff she’d ever seen (though admittedly, her cliff-viewing experience was limited). Below them, clouds stretched endlessly like a sea of cotton, painted in sunset colors.

“Do you hear them?” Celestia asked, her voice soft.

Grace blinked.

“Hear what? The wind?”

“Focus.” Celestia moved behind her, hands landing on Grace’s shoulders in a way that absolutely did not make her brain short-circuit. “Close your eyes. Listen.”

Grace tried very hard to focus on anything besides how warm Celestia felt against her back.

And then… she heard them.

Voices. Hundreds, thousands of them, floating up through the clouds like whispers on the wind.

“Please, anyone…”

“I need help…”

“If someone’s listening…”

“Just this once…”

[What the…?]

“Prayers,” Celestia breathed, her lips close enough to Grace’s ear to make her shiver. “This is where we hear them all. Where we choose which ones we can answer.”

Grace’s heart ached at the desperation in some of the voices. Men, women, children – all calling out for divine intervention.

“How do you pick?” she whispered.

“It’s up to you,” Celestia’s hands squeezed her shoulders. “Although I retain the right to instruct you, and the other angels, I often decline to force anyone to answer a call. But, it’s good for you to understand how this works. So,” she clapped her hands. “Focus on one voice. Let it draw you in. Pick something simple. Nothing too complex, please.”

[Okay… Something simple? Alright.]

Grace closed her eyes again, letting the voices wash over her. Most were faint, like trying to hear someone talking underwater. But then…

“Please… my sister… she’s ill…”

Something pulled at Grace’s heart. The voice was young, scared, but determined.

“Well… If I had to, I’d choose that one,” she said firmly.

Celestia leaned in a bit, her hands still on Grace’s shoulders.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“What direction is it coming from?”

“Uh… That direction,” Grace pointed.

“Well then.” Grace could hear the smile in Celestia’s voice. Could practically feel it against her ear as the archangel leaned closer. “I suppose there’s only one thing left to do.”

Celestia moved in front of her. She slid her hands from Grace’s shoulders and down to Grace’s hands, taking them.

“What’s tha—AAAAH!”

Celestia pulled Grace to her, and still holding onto her, stepped off the platform.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Grace clung to Celestia like her life depended on it (which, to be fair, it kind of did). The archangel’s laughter rang out over the wind as they plummeted through the clouds, her rainbow wings trailing stardust behind them.

“Grace, darling,” Celestia’s voice was rich with amusement, her breath tickling Grace’s ear, “you do remember you have wings now, yes?”

Grace’s eyes snapped open.

[Oh. Right. Those.]

“Just close your eyes,” Celestia purred, her arms tightening around Grace’s waist. “Feel them. They’re part of you now, as much as your arms or legs!”

Grace squeezed her eyes shut, trying very hard to focus on anything besides how perfectly she fit against Celestia’s body. She could feel them – massive, warm, tingling with power just waiting to be released.

[Just like Venus said, but in a wildly different context… don’t overthink it.]

Grace took a deep breath and…

WHOOSH!

Her wings burst out in a flash of light, catching the wind and suddenly they weren’t falling anymore. They were…

“I’m flying!” Grace’s eyes went wide as she pulled away from Celestia (immediately missing her warmth). “I’m actually flying!”

“Beautiful,” Celestia breathed, and when Grace looked over, the archangel was watching her with an awed expression. “Well done!”

They soared together through the sunset clouds, Grace getting bolder with each wingbeat. She tried a little spin and nearly crashed into Celestia, who caught her with a laugh that made Grace’s whole body tingle.

“Having fun?” Celestia asked, still holding Grace perhaps a bit closer than strictly necessary for flight instruction.

“This is amazing!” Grace couldn’t stop grinning. “I can’t believe I’m actually—wait, where are we going again?”

“You tell me,” Celestia giggled. “It’s your prayer. Take me to it.”

Grace swallowed hard but nodded. She closed her eyes, tried to listen to it again, and finally moved toward it.

They spiraled down together, Grace definitely not watching how Celestia’s hair whipped in the wind or how her wings scattered rainbow light with each beat.

Grace’s feet touched grass with all the grace of a drunken chicken, but hey – she was still standing!

“Not bad,” Celestia landed beside her with considerably more elegance. “Though we’ll definitely need to work on your landing technique.”

“You pushed me off a cliff!”

“And you flew beautifully.” Celestia’s smile was absolutely criminal. “Eventually.”

Grace wanted to protest more, but honestly? She was too excited about actually flying to be properly indignant.

“Now, again, it’s your prayer, darling. Take me to it, and go ahead and ask me one of those questions of yours.”

As they walked through the moonlit fields, Grace finally voiced what had been bothering her all day.

“Is this really all we can do?” She gestured vaguely at everything. “I mean, I get how kissing helps people feel better, and healing saves lives, but…” She bit her lip. “Those demons. They’re still out there, still hurting people. How do we actually stop them?”

Celestia’s wings shimmered in the darkness as she considered the question.

“The truth is,” she said finally, her voice softer than Grace had ever heard it, “before you came along, we couldn’t do much about them at all. Push them back, yes. Delay them, certainly. But actually stop them?” She shook her head. “That power died with Eternia. Or so we thought.”

Grace’s heart did a complicated flip.

“Until me.”

“Until you.” Celestia’s smile was gentle but her eyes held something more intense. “Now things can change.”

“But…” Grace looked down at her hands – hands that yesterday had been covered in dirt from farming, and today had been learning to channel divine energy. “Me? Fighting demons? It feels…”

“Impossible?” Celestia laughed. “Darling, you killed one wearing a nightgown.”

Grace’s face burned.

“That was different! It only even let me get close because it didn’t know I could hurt it. I doubt that’s going to happen…” She trailed off as a sound caught her attention. “There!”

Behind a fallen tree, they found them – two girls huddled together, the older one clutching her sister close. The younger girl’s breathing was shallow, her skin pale in the moonlight.

“This is it, then? Well?” Celestia’s voice held a challenge. “Show me what Mara taught you today.”

Grace swallowed hard and approached. The older girl looked up, eyes wide with fear that turned to wonder as she saw Grace’s wings.

“Are you…” she whispered. “Are you real?”

As soon as she heard that, warmth bloomed within Grace. That hope, that same hope she’d felt when she looked upon Nymera, was now being directed at her.

How couldn’t she walk a little more confidently after that?

Grace smiled.

“Very real. May I?”

The girl nodded, letting Grace kneel beside her sister. Up close, Grace could see the fever burning in the child’s cheeks.

[Okay, just like Mara showed you. Don’t overthink it.]

Grace placed her hands on the girl’s forehead and closed her eyes. She remembered how it felt in the clinic – that warm, golden energy flowing through her fingertips. She let it build, let it grow, until…

Light spilled between her fingers, soft and pure. The girl’s breathing eased, color returning to her cheeks.

When Grace opened her eyes, both sisters were staring at her in awe.

“This,” Celestia said from behind her, voice rich with something that made Grace’s heart flutter, “this is what Eternia made us for.”

The older girl burst into tears, throwing her arms around Grace’s neck. The younger one was already sitting up, touching her own face in wonder.

“Thank you,” the older sister sobbed. “Thank you, thank you!”

Grace held her close, feeling something warm bloom in her chest that had nothing to do with divine energy.

Hidden Quest Complete: First Healing!

Compassion +5

Current Compassion: 20/100

Note: Not bad for your first day on the job~

Maybe she couldn’t fight demons yet. Maybe she still had a lot to learn. But this?

This she felt she could do.

“Ready to head back?” Celestia asked, extending her hand.

Grace looked at the sisters still clinging to her, and then at Celestia.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

—

It wasn’t like flying was second nature to her all of a sudden. Not just that, but flying up was significantly harder than flying down, so Grace struggled a little.

That did nothing to wipe the smile off her face, though.

Soon, like they passed through an invisible veil, the Angelic Dominion came into view suddenly.

They landed on the same platform they’d jumped off of. Celestia steadied Grace, looking into her eyes.

“Well, how’d your first excursion go?”

“That was… that was great,” Grace replied, eyes gleaming. “When I healed her, I felt… I felt…”

“Yes?”

“… Like I really matter.”

Celestia chuckled.

“Oh, you do not know how true that statement is. Now, come,” Celestia gestured at the massive city. “I trust you’ll be working just as hard tomorrow.”

“W-Wait!”

“Hm?”

Celestia stopped a few steps ahead. Grace looked back down the edge of the platform.

“… I wanted to ask you, are we…” She turned back toward Celestia. “Are we truly immortal?”

Celestia nodded slowly.

“You’re thinking of Nymera?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Celestia walked a little closer.

“Well, to answer that question, we are immortal… Mostly. In truth, just as demons cannot be killed, so can we not be killed.”

“B-But-”

“Primal Demons, however,” Celestia continued, answering Grace’s question before she could ask it, “they can kill us. And you can kill them, and presumably all other demons.”

“… Just me, huh.” Grace was a bit dejected. “Doesn’t seem fair.”

“You’re right. It isn’t.” She smiled. “Before you, it was Eternia who could slay demons. And, if you are even one percent as powerful as she is… It truly won’t be fair. For the demons.” She turned away. “Now, come on. You have a long day and longer days after that to look forward to.”

Grace gave the platform one last look.

She could do it. And only she could do it.

Before, it was scary. But, now… After those girls looked at her like she alone could bring them safety, she wanted to do it.

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