Opening my eyes, I see what I assume to be Celestia. On both sides of me are a handful of other people, who by the energy they give off, I assume they are also new Gods and Goddesses. As for the surroundings, behind us is a large opened gate with some kind of portal in the centre. On various platforms to the side and in front are what I assume to be other Gods, likely here to take note of the new ones.
I try to access the System, but it seems like that won't be possible. Given the situation, when the System said 'remove the shackles' then it meant that I wouldn't be bound by the System. If that's that case then there should be some changes to my body.
Giving myself a quick check, there aren't any physical changes, but I do feel a little bit weaker compared to before. If I were to guess, it's likely something to do with the System, I probably had some kind of skill or ability that was bound to the System and couldn't take it with me. Seems like I'll have to take some time to figure things out.
But before anything, I need to know what to do, I'm just a vulnerable little girl in a new place after all. My distant hearing should still work, let's see if those three winged people that are approaching us have anything to say.
"Quite a few people this time," one of the approaching men says.
"Compared to the last time the gate opened, it doesn't take much to have more than one," another man says.
"One, two, three, four... twelve people in total, this actually is quite a few people, should be the second-highest for a single opening, it truly is rare for so many people to achieve the status of Deity at the same time. But doesn't the one seem a little familiar, her aura feels strange," a woman says, pointing at me.
"That woman? Hmm... yes, she actually does have a familiar feeling, an unsettling one. It should be related to the Divinity she comprehended to fully ascend."
"I agree, the feeling is unsettling, I'm curious as to what her Divinity is, but at the same time I'm not sure if I truly wish to know," says the other man.
The three people soon stand before all of us and look each of us over one more time. From the looks of it, everyone besides me seems to be aware of what's going on. But they all look a little nervous, I'll admit it's amusing to see, but where's their pride a Deity?
"Greetings to you, new Gods and Goddesses, welcome to Celestia. As most of you know, I am the Seraph, Gabriel, to my side are two of my brother Uriel and Michael, we --"
Cutting her off, I interrupt asking, "so what is Celestia? And what is a Seraph?"
I get some looks from everyone around me, but I'm a scientist, an engineer, a magical girl, and an adorable genius, nothing ventured nothing gained. Who cares what these people think of me.
"How rude, jus who do you think you are!" Uriel shouts.
That's my cue, using some magic I create a bright light show behind be and pose as I say, "I'm the girl who's eternally seventeen and everyone's adorable genius~, it's magical girl Serabane-chan~."
Looking at the expressions on everyone's face, I'm almost certain they're thinking something incredibly rude about me right now. Well, almost everyone, there are two people behind these winged folk walking towards us, a man with ten weird tails and a small woman who at first glance seems human. Unlike the people around me right now, that ten tailed man seems to be satisfied with the way I introduced myself, at least someone here knows true culture when they see it.
Michael notices the direction of my gaze and turns his head back as the colour of his face instantly drops as he says, "know I now why this girl felt familiar and why we found her unsettling, but that shouldn't be possible..."
"What's wrong brother--" Uriel says turning his head in the same direction as Michael, only to immediately fall silent.
Gabriel also turns her head, but unlike her brothers, she remains silent, but it's clear that she too is nervous after seeing the two people approaching us. Seems like they're pretty important people around here.
To the confusion of the other new Gods and Goddesses here, the three siblings move to the side as the two new arrivals stand before us. With a closer look, by appearances alone, I'd say he's my type. He seems a bit aged but still rather handsome with a bit of facial hair. Speaking of hair, his is quite unusual for a guy as it goes down to right above his waist, but the look fits him. Although his tails are weird as I can see through them, I can't help but feel an urge to fluff them. My intuition says I'll get along very well with this man, but more importantly than that, I feel some kind of connection to him.
"To what do we owe the pleasure, Lord Akkre? Last I heard, you had quite a few people chasing after you for the recent trouble you've caused them," Gabriel says.
"When isn't there someone trying to find me? Anyway, this girl is under my jurisdiction," he says pointing to me.
"But there are proper procedures that we have to go through for every new God and Goddess," Gabriel says.
"Screw the procedures. I'm the one who brought her here in the first place, not to mention she has comprehended my Divinity, thus she is my responsibility."
"I had a feeling that was the case but no one should be able to gain enough comprehension on your Divinity for apotheosis."
"She wasn't lying when she said she was a genius. Regardless of what you say, she's coming with us, and don't tell Raziel I was here."
Giving his final words to Gabriel, Akkre walks over to me and the next thing I know, me and Akkre along with his companion are in a completely different location. Interesting, so this is how it feels to be on the other hand of a sudden teleportation.
"Wow~ what a forceful man you are~ but I don't mind that type~," I say in an attempt to tease him.
"I can be a bit forceful at times, but for you, young lady, would you like to force me down," he says leaning in close to me.
But before we can continue, the woman at his side coughs and brings our attention back, "So then how about we introduce ourselves. I'm Tsuki Kojuuin, this fool's wife," she says dragging him back a bit by the ear."
"Ahem, right, and I'm Akkre Kojuuin, the Keeper of Eternity, and the one who's Divinity you managed to comprehend, even if it was just a small portion of it. By the way, later, we should take some time to discuss magical girls together."
"I knew you were a man of culture the moment I laid eyes on you. As always the intuition of the great Serabane-chan was right, I believe we are going to get along quite nicely."
"Can we just move on towards the topic at hand," Tsuki says.
"Alright then, party pooper~, what is Celestia and can you tell me more about your, or rather, our Divinity?"
"Celestia is the realm of the Gods, think of it as a grander scale of the heavens in Grauntia," Akkre says.
"Then what is your relation to Grauntia?" I ask.
"I'm the one who created it, as for how it's related to our Divinity. I won't go into too much detail right now, but at its core, it is the cycle of creation and destruction for all things, including more abstract things such as the concept of space. I must congratulate you, you are the first ever to succeed in achieving godhood from my Divinity. To begin with, there aren't a lot who have tried but all before you have died before succeeding. Now then, let me ask you Serabane the Mountain Destroyer, or perhaps I should call you by your original title, Serabane the First Human of Grauntia, who you like to become an Aspect of Eternity?"
"That's a nostalgic title, I'm interested, tell me more."
--
"Serabane-chan is very interested~... but I want two conditions."
"Depending on what they are, so let's hear em'," Akkre says.
"First, I want to be able to mess with the people of Grauntia, I've still got some people I want to keep an eye on, so I want the authority to come and go in Grauntia."
"That's fine, I can give you the highest authority within the System, just below me and consequently Tsuki."
"That's actually related to my second condition, the two of you are Soul Bound if I'm not mistaken, so in regards to the soul, for all intents and purposes, you two are the same person. I want in, I want to be Soul Bound to you as well."
"That's a significantly more delicate matter," Akkre says, as the carefree attitude he previously had is turned to a far more serious one, "I'll need to ask why."
"I'm sure you know what it's like to live for a long time, especially as an immortal. It's lonely, and since I could never really get along with other long lived people I was always alone. According to my gut feeling, we have somewhat similar personalities so I feel we would get along nicely, my intuition also says I won't regret binding myself to you in some way, so if I'm going do it, I'm going to go as far as I can. And my intuition has never failed me before."
"So it's the legendary 'woman's intuition', but what you're basically asking for is that I marry you, not that I'm a stranger to polygamous relationships in my capacity as a former Ruler."
"That's exactly it~, Serabane-chan's got a nice body after all~, especially compared to the washboard over there. Oh, don't tell me you're a ped--"
"Wait! Please don't finish that sentence. I'll agree with your first condition, just give me some time to think about your other one. For now, you two should speak about it, if Tsuki doesn't accept then I won't either," Akrke says as he leaves the room.
"Alright, putting the joking aside for now, I do think we should have a talk about this. I am aware of the ramifications of my second condition, at least on a basic level," I say, turning to Tsuki.
Rubbing her head, Tsuki sighs and says, "you don't even know the half of it, this is a far more difficult proposal than you seem to be aware of. And we really do need to have a long chat about this. His position is a sensitive one so things like this need to be treated with caution. let's go to a more comfortable space."
Following her, we move to another room to sit, starting one very long conversation.