Chapter 76: The Tide Turns

Morning light hit Grace’s face like a celestial alarm clock, yanking her from a dreamless sleep.

She blinked, taking a second to realize she was completely alone in bed. No Petriel squished against her side. No Alia sprawled across her legs like a horny octopus. Just Grace.

[Well, that’s new.]

Arms and legs spread, starfish position fully engaged, she allowed herself to enjoy this rare quietness.

It couldn’t last forever, though. She pushed herself up, fingers combing through her white hair. Her body felt good—stronger than before.

It had been a week since Petriel had popped her celestial cherry, and her training had gone into overdrive in all three paths. She was getting better. Stronger. More confident.

And… well, just a little bit hornier. Just a little! And, mainly because her roommates couldn’t keep their hands off each other for five fucking minutes, obviously.

Not cause she was actually hornier or anything. Obviously.

“Oh fuck yes! Right there!”

[Ah, there it is. Heaven’s ambiance.]

Grace sighed, rolling out of bed and grabbing a simple robe. She didn’t bother with underwear—what was the point anymore? Someone would just try to peel it off her within the hour anyway. Probably.

She padded into the common room and stopped dead.

“Oh.” The singular word escaped from her lips against her will.

Diana was on the couch, naked as always, her muscular body shining with sweat. Petriel was bent over in front of her, face mashed into the cushions, making adorable little squeaking noises as Diana railed her from behind with a golden light-strap (her words, that was what she called that construct she always made. Apparently it was a “strap-on” or something). And Alia—because of course Alia was in the mix—was perched on Diana’s shoulders, grinding against her face, back arched as she moaned at the ceiling like she was praising Eternia herself.

The weirdest part wasn’t the incredibly complicated sex happening five feet away. It was how completely unsurprised Grace felt about the whole thing.

She sighed.

[Of course. They should rename this place the Sex Wing.]

“Morning,” Zephyr said casually from the kitchen table, sipping tea and reading a scroll like there wasn’t a literal sex festival happening in their living room.

“Morning,” Grace replied, joining her. “Any more tea?”

“Mmhmm.” Zephyr pushed a steaming cup toward her. “Just made it.”

Grace took a sip, watching as Diana slammed into Petriel harder, making the healer cry out like she was being murdered by pleasure.

“Should we, uh…” Grace gestured vaguely at the trio.

“What? Join in?” Zephyr raised an eyebrow. “You’re welcome to, but I just showered.”

Grace stared at her.

[And Zephyr’s the “normal” one… I’m so doomed.]

“No, I meant—” Grace sighed. “Never mind.”

Zephyr smiled knowingly.

“You’re getting used to it, aren’t you? Angel life.”

“I guess I am.” Grace watched as Alia shuddered through what was clearly a mind-melting orgasm, her wings flapping wildly. “A week ago, I would’ve died from embarrassment seeing this.”

“And now?”

“Now I’m just wondering if they’re going to remember to clean the couch afterward.”

Zephyr laughed, a light musical sound that somehow cut through Petriel’s increasingly desperate moans.

“You’ve changed, turnip girl.”

Grace smiled, tracing the rim of her teacup.

“Yeah. For better or for worse, I guess.”

They sat in comfortable silence, the sounds of enthusiastic sex serving as their morning ambiance. Grace found herself absent-mindedly studying Diana’s technique—the way she gripped Petriel’s plump hips, the rhythm of her thrusts, the flex of her abs as she worked. She caught herself, though, and shook her head, ripping her eyes away.

[Don’t ogle the annoying Bravery Sister, Grace. You can do better than her.]

“So,” Zephyr said, cutting through Grace’s increasingly inappropriate thoughts, “ready for another day of training?”

“Always,” Grace replied, focusing back on her friend. “Seraph’s been drilling me on aerial maneuvers. Says I fly like a ’drunk pigeon with one wing.’”

“Sounds like her.”

“And Mara wants me to try healing multiple people at once today.”

“Ambitious.”

“And Venus…” Grace trailed off, her cheeks heating up.

Zephyr grinned.

“Venus what?”

“She says I need to practice my… tongue techniques.”

“Well, she’s the expert.” Zephyr glanced pointedly at where Alia was now collapsed across Diana’s lap, looking absolutely wrecked. “Though you could probably get some pointers from Diana too.”

Grace almost spat out her tea.

Before she could fire back, Diana let out a grunt that sounded like a warrior’s battle cry, and Petriel screamed, her whole body convulsing. The light-strap flickered and vanished as Diana pulled back, looking smug as hell.

“Morning, Sunshine,” Diana called, noticing Grace for the first time. “Enjoy the show?”

“What show? That was nothing,” Grace muttered.

“That’s not what Petriel was saying a minute ago.”

Petriel, still face-down on the couch, managed a weak thumbs-up.

Grace shook her head. This was her life now. Demons and divine quests and naked angels having sex on every flat surface in sight.

And she’d gotten used to it way faster than she’d expected.

—

“HIGHER! FASTER! YOU CALL THAT FLYING? MY GRANDMOTHER COULD FLY BETTER, AND SHE’S BEEN DEAD FOR THREE CENTURIES!”

Seraph’s voice echoed across the training grounds as Grace banked hard left, wings straining as she barely dodged a series of golden light arrows blasting in her direction. Sweat dripped down her face as she pulled up sharply, wind whipping her hair back.

This was morning routine now. Aerial combat with Seraph screaming increasingly creative insults from below. It was exhausting, terrifying, and somehow exhilarating all at once.

Grace barrel-rolled through a tiny gap between two training towers, feeling stone brush against her wingtips. She was getting better at this. A month ago, she would’ve face-planted into the wall and become angel jam.

As she spiraled back toward the ground, her mind drifted to Eternia’s dream revelations. The Seven Pillars, created to hold all the goddess’s negative emotions. The Root, filled with Eternia’s dumped feelings of resentment and abandonment. And somewhere out there, six more Pillars waited, each containing another chunk of darkness that Eternia hadn’t wanted to deal with.

[And I’m supposed to clean up this mess… somehow. Great job, Eternia. Real responsible deity behavior.]

“GRACE! WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING!”

Grace snapped back to reality just in time to see the ground rushing up. She pulled up at the last second, her toes skimming the grass before she shot back up.

“Sorry!” she called.

Seraph crossed her muscular arms, scowling.

“Distracted again? What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”

“Nothing,” Grace lied, landing beside her commander. “Just focusing on the moves.”

“Bullshit,” Seraph replied, but there was no real bite in her voice. “You’ve got that look again. The ’carrying the weight of heaven’ look.”

Grace sighed.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Only to those of us who’ve been watching you like a hawk.” Seraph clapped a hand on Grace’s shoulder, nearly dislocating it. “Well, whatever it is, you’re not alone in it, alright? Remember that.”

The words were surprisingly gentle coming from Seraph, and Grace felt a rush of affection for the brash commander.

“Thanks,” she said softly.

“Don’t thank me yet!” She clapped Grace’s shoulder so hard it almost popped off. “We’ve still got an hour of training left, and I plan to work you until those pretty wings fall off!”

[And we’re back to normal.]

—

Grace sat cross-legged on a healing mat, eyes closed, hands hovering over three small potted plants that Mara had deliberately fucked up. The exercise seemed simple: heal all three at once instead of one at a time.

In practice, it was like trying to pat your head, rub your stomach, and recite the Eternal Codex backward while balancing on one foot.

“Feel the divine energy flowing from your core,” Mara instructed, her voice warm like fresh-baked bread. “Don’t direct it with your mind. Let it find its own path through your hands.”

Grace tried to follow the instructions, feeling the warm glow of healing magic building in her chest. She’d gotten better at channeling it since her Root adventure—her Compassion attribute had jumped like a cat on catnip.

She summoned the System interface in her mind.

「Status」

Bravery: 43/100

Compassion: 48/100

Love: 30/100

Her Love attribute had seen the biggest jump, nearly doubling after her night with Petriel and subsequent “practice sessions” with various angels.

[Is that all it takes? Sex? Because if so, I could hit 100 pretty fast at this rate… Not complaining.]

“Concentrate, Grace,” Mara reminded her.

“Sorry,” Grace murmured, focusing again on the plants.

She let the healing energy flow out, splitting her focus three ways. To her shock, golden light streamed from both palms, touching all three plants at once. The sad, withered leaves perked up, brown spots fading to healthy green.

“I’m doing it!” Grace exclaimed.

Mara’s smile could’ve lit up the entire Dominion.

“Excellent work! Your progress is remarkable, Grace.”

Pride bloomed in Grace’s chest. It felt good to succeed, to feel her powers growing. Maybe she really could handle whatever bullshit awaited her with the remaining Pillars.

「Skill Level Up!」

「Soothing Hands has reached Level 3!」

「You can now heal multiple targets」

「Note: Healing will be reduced in efficiency per the amount of targets affected」

Grace smiled at the notification. Progress indeed.

—

“And that is how you make a woman see stars without even touching her most sensitive areas,” Venus concluded, pulling her fingers from the moaning angel sprawled across the demonstration bed.

Grace sat with the other students, watching as Venus wrapped up another “morale training” session. A month ago, she would’ve been hiding behind her hands, face on fire. Now she was taking mental notes like a diligent student.

[Curling motion with the fingers, pressure on the upper wall, maintain eye contact… got it. Might need to practice this later.]

Thoughts like that still made her blush hard, though. She’d changed, sure, but she was still Grace.

“Any volunteers to practice this technique?” Venus asked, her golden eyes scanning the room like a predator.

Grace kept her hands firmly in her lap. She might be more comfortable with angel sexuality now, but she wasn’t quite ready to finger someone in front of an audience. Baby steps.

As another angel eagerly shot her hand up, Grace’s thoughts drifted back to the Pillars. The Root had been contained, at least temporarily, but what about the others? Eternia had mentioned their locations, and Grace remembered the western coast was home to one called The Tide.

[Water-based corruption would be… what? Flooding? Drowning? Tentacles? It’s always tentacles with these things, isn’t it?]

She shuddered at the thought. Each Pillar represented a different negative emotion Eternia had thrown away. What dark feelings were lurking beneath those waves?

When the lesson finally ended, Grace headed back to her quarters, desperately needing a shower after a full day of training. As she passed a water fountain, her System pinged with a notification.

「New Quest Available!」

Grace frowned, stepping aside to check it privately.

「Pillar Investigation: The Tide – Travel to the western coast of Linaria and investigate reports of villagers disappearing into the sea」

「Category: Love」

「Reward: Skill Evolution – Aura Cleanse → Aura Manipulation」

[Love category? The Root was Compassion… I wonder what that means. Something dirty, probably.]

She was still pondering this when a messenger angel approached her.

“Grace Lightsinger? Archangel Celestia requests your presence immediately.”

Grace nodded, her heart sinking a little. She’d enjoyed this week of relative normalcy—training, learning, watching her roommates have increasingly acrobatic sex on various furniture. But she’d known it wouldn’t last.

The real work was just beginning.

She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and headed toward Celestia’s chambers.

Time to face the tide.

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