Chapter 4: Angels

Grace’s eyes popped open and, for a second, she was convinced she’d just had the world’s weirdest dream. Maybe she’d eaten some bad mushrooms and hallucinated the whole “dying while fighting demons” thing.

Because there was absolutely NO WAY what she was seeing right now could be real.

[What… the… heck…?]

She was sitting on what looked like a mountain peak, except it wasn’t an actual mountain. It was made of pure white marble. Like someone had taken an entire quarry’s worth of the stuff and just carved a mountain out of it. Clouds swirled around her feet and she couldn’t even see the sun, though the sky was this blazing shade of gold.

Ahead of her, rising up into that golden sky, stood the biggest fanciest temple imaginable, making her little farmhouse look like a sad pile of sticks in comparison.

Her body felt weird too. All light and floaty, as she pushed herself to her feet. The last thing she remembered was bleeding out in the dirt next to Nymera, and now… this.

She looked down at herself, half-expecting to see her torn-up nightgown and a body that resembled ground meat. But nope! She was completely whole and injury-free. And dressed in this flowing white robe that felt way too breezy in certain areas.

[Great. I’m dead AND I’m flashing my butt to whoever walks behind me. Perfect.] She tugged on her dress, pulling it down.

She looked back at that structure up ahead.

“I… guess I’m going in there,” Grace muttered, taking a step forward. “Not like I’ve got a ton of other options.”

Her bare feet made no sound on the stone as she walked forward. She passed between columns and up ahead, she could hear voices. LOTS of voices. Mostly angry.

She followed the sound, her heart doing the nervous chicken dance in her chest as she walked through a doorway.

These massive doors made of gold and pearl stood wide open in front of her. She stepped through and promptly forgot how breathing worked.

She was standing in the biggest room she’d ever seen. And it was PACKED with…

…Angels, she realized, her jaw practically hitting the floor.

They were EVERYWHERE. Lounging on stone benches like they were at hot springs, hovering in midair like walking was for losers, and standing in little groups that radiated the kind of tension Grace usually associated with tavern brawls about to happen.

Some of them looked like Nymera, with big muscles and physiques that screamed “I can bench press a horse.” Others had bodies like that woman from her dream, which was to say they looked very lewd. And others were small and delicate-looking, like what Grace imagined forest spirits to look like.

And they were all arguing. So loudly Grace thought her ears might start bleeding.

“The mortal realm is falling apart as we speak!” an angel with wine-colored wings shouted. “We need to act NOW!”

“And do WHAT exactly?” another one snapped back coldly. “We’re barely holding on as is!”

“I say we pull back,” a third one chimed in. “Let the mortals handle their own mess for a few years. Eternia will surely—”

“ENOUGH!” An angel shouted and everyone shut up instantly. Grace felt that shout in her bones. This angel stood at the back on a tall chair that made it obvious she was in charge. “We will deliberate calmly, but…”

She stopped talking. The lady noticed Grace standing there before anyone else did.

“Uhm,” Grace called out, her voice tiny in the sudden silence. “Excuse me?”

Every head turned toward her at once.

Every eye stared at her.

Grace felt the weight of all those stares and all she wished for was that she had actual clothes on instead of this flimsy excuse for a robe that barely covered anything.

Whispers broke out everywhere.

“Who is she?”

“So small…”

“Those eyes…”

Grace’s skin tingled from all their stares. Surprise, interest, curiosity, judgment. The hairs on her neck stood up.

The angel in charge floated down from her chair. The angel stopped right in front of Grace. So close that Grace could smell her. She raised her hand and held it above Grace’s head.

Grace squirmed while the woman closed her eyes.

“Oh, it’s you,” the angel said, her powerful but surprised. “The one Nymera vouched for.”

The room got quiet again.

It wasn’t a question, but Grace answered anyway.

“I, um, yes? I mean, I think so? We kind of… died together…”

In an instant, the whispers turned into shouts.

“She fought alongside Sister Nymera?”

“Against a PRIMAL DEMON?”

“Impossible!”

“Look at her, she’s so tiny! I could fit her in my pocket!”

“But those eyes…”

The angel moved her hand from above Grace’s head to her chin, tilting her face up. Grace’s heart started racing. Those strange, beautiful eyes looked at her like she was the most interesting thing in the room.

“Tell us,” the angel ordered softly, “exactly what happened.”

Grace swallowed.

“Well,” Grace started, trying not to let her voice shake, “it went something like…”

And so, she told her story. How she’d gone shopping that morning, met Nymera (leaving out the part where she’d stared like an idiot), had that weird dream, heard screaming and ran toward danger instead of away from it like a normal person would, and finally stabbed a demon in the back.

Nobody said a word when she finished.

Then:

“She killed a PRIMAL DEMON?”

“With a KITCHEN KNIFE?”

“Focus on what matters – she KILLED it! PERMANENTLY!”

“But did you see her blush when she called Nymera beautiful? Quite charming…”

The angel still holding Grace’s chin didn’t move, but her expression changed. Grace couldn’t tell if that was good or bad.

“Well,” she finally said, smiling, quiet enough to where only Grace heard her. “This is certainly going to be interesting.”

The angel’s thumb brushed across Grace’s lower lip. Grace’s thoughts scattered completely.

[I think my heart just stopped.]

“Welcome to the Angelic Dominion, little one,” the angel said, her voice low and warm. “Come, allow me to save you from all this… whispering and swooning.”

She turned around (nearly hitting Grace with her wing) and walked away, clearly expecting Grace to follow.

So, Grace did. What else could she do? Say no to the beautiful, terrifying angel who clearly ruled this place? Not likely!

—

Grace hurried after the angel, trying not to trip while also trying not to stare at those rainbow wings swaying with each step. And…

Well, they weren’t the only things swaying.

[Why am I staring at her backside? Stop it, Grace!]

But she couldn’t look away.

The whispers of the other angels followed them down a corridor that looked like it was made of moonlight.

“I am Celestia,” the angel said without looking back, clearly amused. “And you, little one, are already causing quite the stir~”

“I didn’t mean to!” Grace said quickly. “I just saw Nymera in trouble and I had to… to…”

“Jump between her and a Primal Demon while wearing nothing but a nightgown?”

“I… also had a knife…”

“Ah, right, your kitchen knife! How could I forget your legendary weapon?” This lady teased.

Grace’s face burned red.

“W-Well, when you say it like that it sounds stupid.”

“Oh, it was.” Celestia glanced over her shoulder with a look that made Grace’s knees weak. “But also brave. Brave enough to where Nymera saw fit to have you join our ranks as an angel.”

Grace stopped.

“That… Is that why I’m here?” She looked down at herself. “I’m going to be an angel?”

“Indeed. And, I am going to try to make this new career of yours easy to learn and adapt to. Though I should warn you, it’s been about a hundred or two hundred years since we had a new angel, so I might forget some things.”

Grace nearly fell over.

“Two hundred years!?”

“Give or take a few hundred,” Celestia waved her hand like she was discussing the weather. “Now then, the Angelic Dominion. We exist in the same general realm as Linaria – that’s your world, dear – though, separated by a sort of veil. You’ll see that veil yourself at some point, but think of it as a thing that separates the mortal world from the spirit world.”

Grace swallowed hard.

“So, I really am… dead?” She asked quietly.

“Hm? Oh, yes, your human body is very dead,” Celestia replied like she was talking about yesterday’s dinner.

“You could sound a little less casual about that!”

Celestia laughed.

“But darling, death is just the beginning! Look around you – this is your home now.”

Grace did look around, and her mouth dropped open.

They’d come out onto a balcony floating in the sky. Below them spread a city that shouldn’t have been possible – towers of crystal, white stone, and gold rising through the clouds, gardens with flowers and gems surrounding them, and angels flying everywhere.

“The training grounds are that way,” Celestia pointed to floating platforms where angels fought with weapons made of light. “The libraries are there, the healing halls there, and– are you listening, dear?”

Grace wasn’t. Because floating in front of her eyes were words that definitely shouldn’t be there:

Eternia’s Blessing – Detected!

Unlocked: Saintess System

Initializing…

Initializing…

Initializing…

“What…” Grace squinted. “What is that?”

“What is what?”

“Those, uhm… floating… words! And…” Grace’s eyes widened as she looked at Celestia. Words floated above the angel’s head too. “The gold-colored words above your head.”

Those letters above Celestia’s head read:

[Level 99]

Celestia stopped walking, raising a brow.

“A what?”

“That number over your head! The ‘Level 99’… thing!”

“I.. can’t recall any numbers being part of this process,” Celestia said slowly, studying Grace with new intensity. “Are you… Are you certain you’re not seeing things? No one has ever mentioned seeing numbers before.”

“Can angels hallucinate!?”

Celestia’s face told Grace that no, they definitely couldn’t.

And yet…

System Initialization Complete!

Welcome, Saintess Grace!

Tutorial Beginning…

“Oh no,” Grace squeaked. “There are more words. So many words!”

Celestia frowned slightly.

“I… I don’t know anything about ‘floating words’, my dear. But I’ll look into it later. As I said, it’s been a while since we’ve welcomed anyone new.”

[Great. I’m seeing things no one else can see. That’s not worrying at all!]

First Quest Received!

Quest Category: General

Quest: Survive Celestia’s ‘Path Selection Process’!

Reward: Basic Angel Skills

“Um,” Grace said weakly. “Is it too late to go back to being dead?”

At that, Celestia smirked.

“It is, yes.”

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