Chapter 156: Celestia’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Idea

Despite the brief spike in tensions, things simmered down after Grace came back to the Dominion. She wasn’t sure why, it wasn’t like the Veil had a lower chance of swinging by and swiping away angels or something, but she was glad her presence had randomly had a beneficial effect.

In the night, Grace practically skipped toward Celestia’s chambers, ready to announce her team for the Bloom mission. She’d already mentally planned everything. Petriel for healing, Venus for… Venus things, and Mara for maternal support when things inevitably went sideways. Again, she planned to be the only fighter, to continue building her independence. And, after being the sole fighter for the Void’s mission, she was feeling fairly confident.

She pushed open the door without knocking, a habit Celestia had never bothered correcting.

“Hey, so I’ve decided on—”

Grace froze.

Celestia stood in the center of her study, arms outstretched, rainbow wings spread wide. But her usual prismatic glow flickered, shot through with veins of blue-purple energy. The same corruption Grace had seen in Isolde. In the Veil angels.

Sin energy.

“Celestia, what the heck are you doing!?”

Celestia’s eyes snapped open. The corruption vanished instantly, rainbow light reasserting itself.

“Grace,” her eyes widened. “You should knock.”

“And you should not be messing with Sin energy!”

“It’s… research.” Celestia lowered her arms, trying for casual and missing by miles. “Experimentation. Nothing more.”

Grace crossed the room in three strides.

“That wasn’t experimentation. That was practice.”

“There’s a difference?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, archangel.” Grace grabbed Celestia’s hand, checking for corruption residue. Clean, thankfully. “How long?”

“Grace—”

“How. Long.”

Celestia sighed, suddenly looking far too guilty for a multiple-thousand-year-old being.

“Since the abductions began. Just small amounts. Controlled conditions.”

[Controlled conditions my ass!]

“Are you insane? Actually insane? You’ve seen what Sin energy does to angels!”

“I’ve seen what it gives them.” Celestia pulled her hand free. “Power, Grace. Real power. The kind we might need if Azrael attacks.”

“The kind that turns you into a literal demon!”

“Only if you let it.” Celestia moved to her desk, shuffling papers with forced nonchalance. “I’m the oldest angel alive. My will is stronger than—”

“Your will means shit when corruption gets its hooks in you!”

Celestia’s wings flared.

“Watch your tone, newcomer.”

“Watch my—are you serious right now?” Grace wanted to shake her. “You’re literally playing with the exact thing that destroyed Azrael!”

“Azrael made her choice.”

“And you’re making the same one!”

“It’s different!”

“How?”

Celestia slammed her hands on the desk. Books jumped. Grace jumped.

“Because I don’t have the luxury of staying pure while our people disappear! Because someone needs to be strong enough to protect this realm when you’re gone!”

“…”

The words hung between them, raw and painful.

[When I’m gone?]

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Can you guarantee that? Can you, Grace? You’ve been fighting Pillars and Primal Demons… Tell me, what if one of them lands a lucky hit? What if one day, your inexperience betrays you? What if you’re gone as quickly as you joined us? Then, what?”

Grace hadn’t thought about it. Didn’t want to think about it.

“T-That’s not—”

“You’re temporary, Grace. Or, you could be. For all I know, you could be a beautiful, powerful, but temporary solution.” Celestia’s shoulders sagged. “And the problems are permanent. The Veil. The demons. The slow decay of everything we’ve built. Someone needs to be strong enough to hold the line when… Or if at some point you’re gone.”

“Not with Sin energy.”

“Then with what?” Celestia spread her arms wide. “Divine power that requires human virtue to fuel it? In a world where humans barely remember what virtue means?”

Grace stepped closer.

“You know what I see when I look at you right now?”

“A leader making difficult choices? Because that is what you should see.”

“Fear.” Grace reached up, putting her hands on Celestia’s shoulders. “You’re so scared of losing that you’re willing to become the thing we’re fighting.”

Celestia glared.

“Is that so wrong?”

“No. But this?” Grace gestured at the lingering traces of corruption in the air. “This is.”

Celestia paused.

Then, before Grace could react, Celestia pulled Grace into a hug, sudden and fierce. Grace stiffened, then cautiously wrapped her arms around the bigger woman.

“I’m trying to protect everyone,” Celestia whispered into Grace’s hair.

“I know.”

“I can’t lose any more angels.”

“You won’t.”

“You can’t promise that.”

Grace pulled back enough to look up at her.

“No. But I can promise that turning yourself into a Sin-powered weapon isn’t the answer.”

Celestia’s fingers rested gently on Grace’s cheeks. She sighed.

“When did you get so wise?”

“Probably around the third Pillar.”

They stood there for a moment, the ancient archangel and the former turnip farmer, both carrying weights too heavy for their frames, looking each other in the eyes.

“No more Sin energy,” Grace said firmly. “Promise me.”

“Grace—”

“Promise. Me.”

Celestia sighed.

“I can’t promise that.”

Grace stepped back, straightening her clothes.

[… I’ll get that promise one way or another.]

“We’ll talk about this again later,” Grace conceded, not wanting to overwhelm Celestia. “Now, I came here to tell you my team for the Bloom mission.”

“Already? You just got back.”

“And every day we wait, the Veil gets stronger.” Grace counted on her fingers. “Petriel, Venus, and Mara.”

“No Diana? No Seraph?”

“They’re needed here. Besides, I can’t keep depending on the same people to watch my back.”

[Plus Diana’s one bad day away from declaring war on the entire Veil by herself. If I end up running into a Veil member or something… It might be better not to have Diana around for that.]

“You’ve already taken Venus out on more field missions than she’s been in for the last couple of decades.”

“She seems to enjoy it well enough.”

“… You’re sure about being the only fighter?”

“I’ve handled worse alone. At least this time I’ll have backup for everything else.”

Celestia studied her for a long moment.

“When?”

“Soon. Maybe tomorrow morning. Once the Bloom is done, the Pillars will have been dealt with.”

“And then?”

Grace didn’t have an answer for that. After the Pillars, what? Face Azrael? Retire to a nice cloud and take up harp lessons?

“One crisis at a time, I guess.”

—

The next morning, Grace stood in the main courtyard watching Venus arrive in style. The Love Sister leader descended from the sky in a swirl of pink silk that definitely wasn’t regulation angel wear, landing with a dancer’s grace.

“Grace, darling! I hear we’re going on another adventure.”

“It’s a mission, not a vacation.”

“Everything’s an adventure with the right attitude.” Venus adjusted her definitely-not-practical outfit. “Where are the others?”

“Here!” Petriel landed hard enough to stumble, wings flapping frantically. “Sorry! Sorry. Lost track of time in the healing halls.”

Mara arrived last, touching down with the serene dignity of someone who’d never rushed in her life. She’d traded her usual flowing robes for practical combat gear that somehow still emphasized her… maternal… milk-heavy assets.

[Focus, Grace. Mission now, appreciation later.]

“So,” Mara said, looking around their small group. “This is the team?”

“This is it.”

“No offensive specialists besides you, again?”

“I’m offensive,” Venus offered. “Ask anyone.”

“That’s not what she meant,” Petriel said, then blushed. “I mean, um, you’re not offensive! You’re lovely! I just meant—”

“Breathe, sweetie.” Venus patted Petriel’s head. “I know what you meant.”

Grace cleared her throat.

“The plan is simple. We fly to the eastern forests, find the Bloom, figure out what it needs, purify it, come home.”

“That’s not a plan,” Mara pointed out. “That’s a wish list.”

“It’s worked so far.”

“By luck and stubbornness.”

“My two best qualities.”

Venus laughed, bright and genuine.

“I’m beginning to enjoy field work.”

“Is everyone packed?” Grace asked. They all showed off a few somewhat minimalist sets of equipment. Venus didn’t bring anything at all.

Grace looked at her assembled team.

[I feel like this is either going to be brilliant or a disaster. Probably both.]

“Everyone ready?”

“As we’ll ever be,” Mara said.

“Which isn’t very,” Petriel added.

“Perfect!” Venus clapped her hands. “Unprepared is when the best adventures happen!”

Grace spread her wings. The left one still twinged from the Void encounter, but she ignored it. No time for weakness.

“Eastern forests. Stay together. If we get separated, head for the tallest tree you can find.”

“Why the tallest?” Petriel asked.

“Because that’s probably where the Bloom is.”

“How do you know?”

“I don’t. But dramatic corrupted entities love symbolic locations.”

“You sound rather used to this,” Mara admitted.

“Of course. I’ve purified six of these things by now. Come on, ladies, let’s get this done quick and clean!”

Three nods. Three sets of wings spread. Three angels who had no idea what they were flying into but were coming anyway.

[Let’s go save the world. Again.]

They dove off the platform as one, heading east toward whatever plant-based nightmare awaited them. Behind them, the Dominion grew smaller, its defensive preparations continuing.

Grace tried not to think about Celestia, alone in her study, surrounded by books on Sin energy. Tried not to think about the fear in her eyes, the corruption in her wings.

[One crisis at a time. Save the Bloom. Then save Celestia from herself.]

The wind caught her wings, carrying her forward. Whatever came next, at least she wasn’t facing it alone.

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