Chapter 7: Selection

Grace was dying. She was absolutely, positively, 100% sure she was about to die. Again.

Her heart was pounding so hard it might just burst out of her chest, do a little dance, and then die right there. All because of a…

A kiss.

[How is this my life now?] Grace thought in panic as the Sisters of Love moved closer, looking at her like they wanted to eat her alive. [I’m an angel, now aren’t I? Is this what angels DO!?!?]

All thinking stopped when a dark-skinned beauty started walking toward her like she was lunch.

“Ah, looks like we’ve got a volunteer,” Celestia said, totally enjoying this.

“Well, aren’t you just the cutest little thing,” the dark-skinned angel said. “I could just eat you up.”

Grace made a weird noise like a mix between a squeak and a whimper as the angel’s hands landed on her shoulders. Just that touch felt like it set Grace’s body on fire.

“I… I don’t… Celestia!” Grace looked at the archangel with desperate eyes. Celestia was just watching with an evil smirk. “How is this a test again?”

Celestia laughed.

“Oh, sweetie. This is a test of what you want. Just do whatever feels right.”

[Feels RIGHT?!] Grace wanted to scream. [Nothing about this feels right! I’ve only ever kissed my own HAND!]

But she couldn’t say that. Not with how this Love Sister, or whatever, was looking at her, with golden eyes promising things Grace had only read about in her mom’s hidden romance books.

“Just relax, honey,” the angel whispered, her breath hot on Grace’s lips. “I promise I’ll be gentle… At first.”

Grace swallowed hard.

[Okay. Okay, I can do this. It’s just a kiss, right? A totally normal kiss. With an ANGEL. Who looks like she wants to EAT ME. Totally fine!]

She took a deep breath to calm down. It didn’t work.

“Well?” Celestia asked, clearly amused. “We don’t have all day, little lamb.”

Grace nodded like a robot.

[Right. Just do it. Like ripping off a bandage. A really, really attractive bandage.]

She licked her lips nervously. The Love Sister’s eyes followed every move.

“Okay,” Grace whispered, her voice shaking. “I’m… ready.”

The angel’s smile turned scary.

And then the angel was kissing her.

REALLY kissing her.

“Mmm…” Grace’s eyes went WIDE as she felt a tongue slip into her mouth, touching her own and making her toes curl.

It was too much. Too much feeling, too much heat, too much tongue…

Too. Much. EVERYTHING.

Grace’s brain stopped working.

Her body melted.

Her knees gave out.

“Awah…” She fell backwards and collapsed onto the carpet. She heard the Sisters of Love giggling, but they sounded far away.

[This is it,] Grace thought. [This is how I die. Again.]

But what a way to go.

Getting killed by a demon or getting kissed to death by an angel… easy choice, really.

Celestia looked confused, not amused. She tilted her head, her hair falling over one shoulder as she stared at Grace on the floor.

“She… failed this one too?” The archangel said. “But… this was the last one…”

The dark-skinned angel who’d just destroyed Grace knelt down beside her, looking worried.

“Oh, honey, I’m sorry,” she said, touching Grace’s hair. “I didn’t mean to break you.”

Celestia waved her hand.

“Not your fault. Our little lamb is just… weird.”

Grace managed to lift her head, looking up at the two gorgeous angels standing over her.

“What… does this mean? Did I fail at being an angel?”

Celestia sighed.

“I don’t know, little one. You’re… strange.”

Mara, who’d been watching everything, stepped forward.

“Maybe it’s time to see the Selector.”

“The… what?”

Celestia helped Grace to her feet. The touch sent sparks up Grace’s arm. Would she ever get used to these beautiful angels?

“Yes,” Celestia muttered, more to herself than anyone else. “The Selector will know what to do with you.”

Quest Completed!

Love +2

Love 3/100

Quest Gained!

Face the Selector

Reward: Answers

Grace swallowed hard, her lips still tingling. Whatever this Selector had planned, it would probably be just as crazy as everything else so far.

But as Celestia and Mara led her out and the dark-skinned angel blew her a kiss that made her knees go weak again…

… She couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit excited.

Just a tiny bit, though.

—

Grace followed Celestia and Mara like a lost puppy. Her head was still spinning from that kiss. That brain-melting, knee-weakening, totally unfair kiss that she had absolutely not been ready for.

“So this Selector thing,” Grace puffed, jogging to keep up with Celestia’s long legs. “What is it exactly?”

Celestia looked back at her, rainbow hair swishing.

“It’s a machine that figures out what kind of angel you are when even I can’t tell. You see,” Celestia said, sounding like a school teacher. “All angels belong to one of three Paths: Bravery, Compassion, and Love.”

Grace nodded, trying not to trip over her own feet.

“To simplify things a little for you, Sisters of Bravery fight demons, Sisters of Compassion heal people, and the Sisters of Love…” Celestia’s lips curved into a smile. “They keep people happy.”

“VERY happy,” Mara added with a wink.

Grace’s face burned so hot she could probably cook eggs on it.

“And you,” Celestia reached back and poked Grace’s nose, “haven’t shown any talent for any of those things.”

“Uhm, s-sorry,” Grace mumbled, looking at her feet.

“Nothing to be sorry for, darling!” Celestia said. “We’ll find out what you’re good at soon enough.”

They stopped in front of this huge golden ball covered in eyeballs. Hundreds of them. All moving. All staring.

“This,” Celestia waved her hand, “is the Selector.”

Angels started showing up from nowhere, whispering and pointing at Grace.

“Couldn’t you have just taken me here from the beginning?”

“Of course, but that’s significantly less fun.” She winked.

[Says you!]

Still, wanting to get this over with and retreat to someplace where she wasn’t being stared at like a piece of fresh meat, she walked up to Celestia.

“What do I… do with it?” Grace whispered.

Celestia pointed to a metal plate at the bottom of the eyeball-sphere.

“Put your hand there. It’ll glow gold if you have an affinity for Bravery, blue for Compassion, pink for Love.”

“That’s all I do? Just touch it?”

“Indeed.” Celestia nodded.

Grace turned to the Selector, her heart hammering in her chest.

[Sounds simple enough, I guess. Even I can’t mess this up… right?]

Grace took a shaky breath and stepped forward. Every angel was watching. Every eyeball on that creepy sphere was watching. Heck, even the clouds felt like they were watching.

[Here goes nothing… please don’t explode or something…]

She slapped her hand on the plate.

All those mechanical eyes zoomed in on her face, making her want to curl up and die (again). For a second, nothing happened.

Then…

BAM!

The thing lit up like the world’s fanciest lantern. But it wasn’t just one color. It was every color, even ones Grace hadn’t seen before, shifting and swirling so fast it looked like the ball was having a seizure.

Grace stared up at it, confused. She took a step back, just in case the thing did actually explode.

“Uhhh… is it supposed to do that?!”

The angels around them GASPED. Even Celestia and Mara stood there with their mouths hanging open like they’d seen a ghost.

Then words appeared above the Selector:

Welcome back.

[Welcome back? What the heck does that mean!?]

Grace stared at the floating words. She’d never been here before in her life!

…Had she?

Quest Completed: Survive Celestia’s Basic Training

Basic Angel Skills – Unlocked!

New Skills Gained!

「Blade of Eternia (Lvl. 1)」

Able to wield equipment made of divine light

「Soothing Hands (Lvl. 1)」

Able to pour divine energy into wounded bodies to heal them

「Golden Tongue (Lvl. 1)」

Able to raise a person’s morale through intimacy

“INTIMACY?!” Grace shrieked out loud instinctively before covering her mouth.

Her brain felt like it was about to melt out of her ears. This was too much.

“What… what does all this mean?” she asked, looking at Celestia and Mara with desperate eyes.

But the angels just stared back at her, looking as shocked as she felt. Well, maybe not that shocked. No one could be as confused as Grace right now.

“Well, well, well,” Celestia finally said, her face splitting into a grin that was WAY too excited for Grace’s comfort. “You just keep surprising me, little lamb!”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Oh, it’s FASCINATING,” Celestia replied, moving closer and circling Grace like she was examining a rare specimen. “Do you know what this means?”

“N-Not really…”

“It means,” Mara cut in, her huge chest bouncing as she clapped her hands together, “that you have an affinity for all three paths!”

“ALL THREE?!” The crowd of angels shouted in unison.

“That’s… not possible,” one of them whispered.

“Not since Eternia herself…” another murmured.

Celestia’s face went serious for the first time since Grace had met her.

“Not since the goddess who created us all,” she said quietly. “The only being who ever mastered all three paths.”

Grace’s knees felt weak. She wanted to sit down. Or faint. Or maybe just run away screaming.

“I… I think I need to lie down…”

“Oh I bet you do,” Celestia laughed, patting her head. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.”

As the angels led her away, Grace couldn’t help noticing how they all stared at her now. Not like before. Now they looked at her with… awe?

[What have I gotten myself into?]

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