Morning dawned and we set out for the Snow Shrine. Thankfully the weather was better that day, sunny and less cold than usual. Probably around twenty below zero, which was apparently considered "balmy" on this continent.
Sonya and I were better provisioned, having bought thick coats from a village store that enabled us to endure the six hours in the cold much better than we had the previous day. It was still freezing. If polar bear girls can't stay warm wearing thick coats, what chance did we have? Still, between the temperature being up a little and the coats, it wasn't as bad for us. When we made it to the Snow Shrine, I could almost move my fingers.
Inside it was a bit warmer than outside, but still well below freezing. Finding Eden wasn't a problem. She was the Snow Shrine's only denizen. I'd almost forgotten that complete nudity had been her preferred mode of "dress", since she'd dressed in grand white robes on my world once she'd taken on Ilias' job. In this world she was still the Seraph despite Ilias' absence, and "dressed" the part. As in, she didn't dress at all.
"So cold…." Eden said by way of greeting.
"Maybe put some clothes on?" Sonya responded.
"It is not my body that is cold," Eden replied. "It is my heart. It pains my body that I can do nothing but await the return of Ilias. First off, who are you people? If you interfere with my praying, I will burn you all to charcoal."
"Eden…" I said longingly. Eden had meant so much to me and we had seen each other all too infrequently over the years. The sad part was that I could call her anytime and knew she would come. Which is why I'd rarely called her. I wanted to run and embrace Eden, but had learned from hard experience that it was a very bad idea.
Eden ignored me, focused on Ilias. "Are you the fake Ilias mentioned in the reports?" the Seraph asked. "I'll bring you a swift death for impersonating her before me!"
Oh no. It was going to be a fight, wasn't it? Eden strode over to Ilias, a stern look on her face. I thought of trying to restore Ilias to her full size, but knew that would just provoke Eden. It would appear that I was magically altering Ilias, which would signal that she was obviously a fake. I had underestimated Eden, however. The Seraph looked Ilias over, then sniffed her as if Eden was a monster, able to identify people by smell. Given how close to Ilias Eden had always been, maybe Eden could identify her smell. Whatever the case, Eden's face lit up with a smile.
"I have long awaited the arrival of this day!" Eden exulted, her warm smile that I'd missed so much returning. "Oh, Ilias, it is you, isn't it?!"
"I knew you'd recognize me!" Ilias exclaimed happily, hugging Eden as they did a happy dance together. "You always were my most trustworthy and loyal servant!"
"I am honored to receive your praise, Goddess! This day shall be the most glorious day of my life! But you must explain your current appearance. Has some misfortune befallen you?"
"It's a long story, Eden," Ilias said.
Ilias commanded me to pull out provisions and prepare some food. I decided to play along, not because I was afraid of Ilias, but because I didn't want to incur Eden's wrath. I built a small fire in the cave and cooked up some vegetables, since I knew Eden probably didn't eat meat. Turns out she wasn't a huge fan of veggies either, but I'd spiced them just right and she seemed to enjoy the novelty, politely complimenting me on my skill. Ilias told our story as we ate.
"Oh, how heartrending!" Eden exclaimed when Ilias was finished. "For you to have walked such a path of hardship to come here! It's wonderful to see that you found such loyal servants to protect you and make your journey a little easier. But I pledge to you that from now on I shall be at your side, my Goddess. I shall accompany you until the world's end!"
"Eden," Ilias said. "We need you to release the barrier around the Ilias Temple so that we can go inside."
"I will do so as soon as we get there, Goddess. If we walk, we can be there in only a few hours!"
"Eden, are you strong enough to keep my human companions warm on the journey?" Ilias asked. "I don't think they would survive traveling in the darkness when the temperature plummets."
"Even in my weakened state, such a thing is child's play for me," Eden replied.
The Seraph hugged Sonya close, her angel body glowing. Sonya looked distinctly uncomfortable being embraced by a naked woman, but since it was a Seraph Sonya had to assume it was all right as the good Ilias follower that she was. Sonya's unease turned into pure joy as Eden's warmth filled her. Eden did the same for me. Alas, there was no sign of familiarity in those eyes. To this world's Eden, there was not even a hint of recognition. I was just a random human to her, merely a servant drafted into service by the Goddess.
"Eden, you're still pretty strong," Ilias said. "Do you think you and I combining our power would be enough to perform the Seraph rebirth ceremony?"
"The Seraph Rebirth Ceremony? You mean…. Bring Micaela and Lucifina back into this world?"
"Seraph Rebirth Ceremony?" I asked. I'd never heard of such a thing. I wondered why my Ilias had never brought Lucifina back.
"It's the original ceremony by which I created Micaela and Lucifina out of my own essence," Ilias explained. "I don't have enough of an essence to do that now, but the holy energy in the world is so dense I might be able to reform them just from that. If Eden's power added to mine is enough."
"We shall make it enough!" Eden vowed. "the Hall of Creation would be an ideal place to do the ceremony! It still stands and is only an hour from here!"
"We could always use more powerful allies," I said. "Let's go!"
As we walked, Ilias tempered my expectations.
"I don't want you to think that what I'm going to be creating are two fully powered Seraphs," Ilias warned. "That's impossible without my own body to draw from. The best I'll be able to do is create smaller versions like myself as I am now. But over time, they'll mature and grow and become more powerful."
"How long will that take?" Alice asked.
"Oh, not too long, a thousand years or so."
That didn't sound very helpful. But since it seemed to make Eden and Ilias deliriously happy, I decided to support their endeavour.
We arrived at the Hall of Creation on schedule. The time flew by, since I couldn't stop staring at the tall, completely naked woman just strolling through the snow in complete comfort. The fact that her aura kept Sonya and I warmer gave me an excuse to stay close to Eden. As a result, it was the most pleasant walk since I'd arrived on the Snow Continent.
"The Hall of Creation is completely frozen," Ilias lamented. "It used to be such a beautiful and majestic place."
"The fall of Heaven was truly a great tragedy," Eden agreed.
"I wonder why it became a frigid wasteland?" Promestein asked. "We're at too low a latitude for this to be natural. And I know angels wouldn't choose this."
"As you know, I am not a science person," Eden replied. "I only know that it had something to do with the disruption of mana."
"Interesting. I wonder if we solve the problem, if the Snow Continent will take on a more tropical climate?"
"It looks like the Hall of Creation retains the structure to facilitate the concentration of holy energy," Ilias said. "Let's head to the altar in the back of the hall and perform the ritual. Eden, are you all right? I thought you were enthsuastic about this?"
"I am, it's just…." Eden started. "I'm fine, Goddess. I was once jealous of Micaela and Lucifina, but having our family back together brings me great joy. I have missed them more than I thought I would."
We reached the altar, and Ilias took a deep breath. "Okay, let's see what we can create here. We're both weakened. We might not be able to pull this off. But we really should try. I need my Seraphs by my side again, even if they won't be what they were."
Promestein stood next to me, looking fascinated.
"Normally I don't get excited about purely magical rituals," Promestein whispered. "It's the intersection of science and magic that really excites me. But the uncertainty, the uniqueness, of this event. I've never seen the Ritual of Creation before. I can't help but feel excited."
Eden still looked discomfited.
"Eden, before we begin, please be honest with me," Ilias said. "Is there something about this that's bothering you still? It's not lingering jealousy, is it?"
"No, my Goddess," Eden replied. "Initially it was, but my joy at seeing them again overwhelms my old, immature feelings. Life on the surface has changed me. I feel so petty for feeling that way in the distant past. My concerns are of a more practical nature. Can you really trust Micaela and Lucifina? What if they rebel against you as they did in the past?"
"I've changed as well due to living life on the surface," Ilias said. "Perhaps this time I'll give them no reason to turn away from me. I'm excited about this. It's a new start. I'm going to try to get it right this time. And the first thing I'm going to do is make you First."
"F-First?" Eden stammered. "Ilias, I am not worthy to be your First Seraph!"
"I've treated you badly in the past, Eden. Micaela and Lucifina will be much weaker than you, probably for centuries. They'll have few memories of who they were. I need you to be their big sister. Their leader. Your service has earned you the position of being my most trusted Seraph. While your loyalty may have been misplaced at times, I still appreciate it. I wish I'd told you that sooner."
"Ilias… I…!" Eden began not quite knowing what to say. "If I wasn't so certain that you are my Goddess, I wouldn't believe it! But I have seen how living a life without divinity can change us. It is only sensible that you would also change. Your strange group of friends has undoubtedly contributed to your new outlook. My Goddess, please, use every bit of my power to restore my…. Little sisters."
"Then let us begin!" Ilias announced. "Eden, concentrate your power on me!"
I was dizzy with anticipation. I assumed it was because I was eager to see Micaela live again, and to meet Lucifina for the first time. But there seemed to be something more. The thought of meeting Lucifina was making me tear up. Why? Lucifina wasn't my mother. She was this world's Luka's mother! Was chaosization beginning to affect me as well? Were the memories and experiences of other Lukas seeping into my own consciousness?
I had never witnessed the true power of a Seraph. I was awestruck. And this was Eden in a severely weakened state! The infusion of Eden's power grew Ilias to her full size and added a majestic, regal glow to Ilias that I hadn't seen since she had last been her complete self so long ago.
"By the command of Ilias, Goddess of Creation!" Ilias shouted. "Descend upon here, fallen angel Micaela and fallen angel Lucifina!"
The actual magical process seemed quite similar to the way that I'd reformed Ilias using the Rings of Brocia. Ilias was concentrating holy energy and compressing it as one would form a diamond out of carbon. How powerful the holy being created would be depended on the quantity and density of the holy magic sculpted for the purpose. It wasn't actually rocket science. Even someone as simple as me could grasp the concept. It was simply a matter of raw power. The ritual was a smashing success. I'd expected little Seraph children. Thanks to Eden's support, they were Seraph teenagers. Not bad at all, but…
I turned away instinctively when I realized both Seraphs were naked. I found myself staring directly at Eden's massive chest. She smirked and pointed back towards Micaela and Lucifina. I reluctantly looked.
"I'm glad to meet you, Ilias," Micaela said solemnly to her creator. "Micaela has descended."
"It's nice to meet you, Ilias!" Lucifina said with more enthusiasm. "Lucifina has descended!"
Even though Micaela and Lucifina were the same age and maturity, Lucifina looked substantially more child like.
"Not bad," Ilias said. "This exceeds my expectations. What do you think, Eden?"
"I fear I failed you," Eden replied. "But if you are satisfied…."
"Come along now, Seraphs!" Ilias said. "Follow me and we shall conquer together!"
"I shall do my utmost to serve you," Micaela said, bowing her head.
"Yay! Let's kill a lot!" Lucifina said bouncily.
"Heh heh," Ilias laughed uncomfortably. "I may be your Goddess, but Luka is your leader. He has a no killing rule. Obey him as you would obey me."
"It is good to meet you, Leader Luka," Micaela said to me.
"I'll be the best not killer you ever had, Luka!" Lucifina exclaimed. "I'll give your opponents heck!"
"It is wonderful to meet you two," Eden said, approaching the two smaller Seraphs. "I am your older sister, Eden."
"Treat us well," Micaela said.
"Yes, do your best by us!" Lucifina added.
As our enlarged party left the Hall to head back to the village for a good night's sleep, Alice sidled up next to me. Since I was in Eden's vicinity, her whispering was quite futile.
"Are you really okay with this?" Alice asked.
"Micaela and Lucifina were on the side of right in every world I've ever heard of," I said. "I think they'll be great assets."
"Yeah, eventually," Alice argued.
"The word of a Seraph is inviolate," Eden interjected. "We have been ordered to follow Luka. But Luka, is it true that we can't slay our enemies? That seems… unwise."
"It's not a hard and fast rule," I stammered. "We just don't kill anyone unless we absolutely have to. Most opponents we face are weak compared to us. There's just no need to be so harsh with them. I feel bad just beating them up or sealing them. Even opponents at our power level aren't always out to kill us. Those we can fight using nonlethal tactics. We only go all out against opponents who both pose a grave danger to us and are intent upon or deaths."
"So you're basically mortal now, Eden?" Promestein asked.
"I have lost most of my divinity," Eden answered. "But I am not quite mortal either. None of us angels are. We have acquired some basic mortal needs, such as food, and are now able to experience some mortal sensations, such as the way they taste food. We have even discovered that we can derive some pleasure from…. Intimate encounters. We'd always wondered why the humans reacted as they did to our sexual skills. Now we have some idea. I do not believe that we are yet experiencing the full range of sexual sensations, however."
"How about pain?" Promestein asked, pulling out a small device that emitted a bolt of electricity and sticking it into Eden's side. Eden jerked slightly but betrayed no other reaction.
"Dammit," Promestein said, disappointed.
"We have not fallen that far yet, wayward angel," Eden said with a smirk.
"Eight, you've been uncharacteristically silent through all of this," I said.
"I'm just waiting for the main event," Alicetroemeria replied. "I have a feeling that tomorrow I'm going to get a lot of answers to my questions. I'm super excited!"
Just as super excited were Micaela and Lucifina, who were merrily skipping through the snow together. Micaela was so fascinated that she seemed was even smiling along with her more bubbly sister. I decided to make an executive decision and establish a dress code once we got back to the castle. Clothing for everyone! At least minimal levels. I realized that might be hard to enforce, but I just couldn't have naked angels running around. Most monsters at least had some natural covering.
We stayed in the Pocket Castle that night, which Alice placed just outside the village. Lucifina and Micaela were fascinated, and since they had never been taught to hate monsters, greeted them with enthusiasm. The monsters, by now used to friendly angels(and in Ilias' case sometimes inappropriately friendly angels), reciprocated their joy.
Alice was torn between wanting me to have my strength at maximum and wanting her strength to be at maximum. She reluctantly decided to leave me unmolested that night, realizing that if the core of the problem was to be found the next day, that I was probably going to be the most important team member. It wouldn't do to drain me the night before.
The downside to that was that I lay in my own bed, apprehensive about what was to come. If Alice had drained me, at least I'd sleep well. It was ironic to me that some of the toughest decisions that had to be made on this adventure were simple things like when and what to eat, or in Alice's case, when to eat ME and when not to. How far should we walk? Managing supplies and the energy of the individual team members is as important as any decisions one will make in a real life adventure. I was beginning to wonder if I should go to one of the weaker monsters like Rami and ask for just one orgasm to help put me out for the night. As I was contemplating that, there was a soft knock on my door. It was Sonya.
"Are you still awake, Luka?" Sonya asked.
"Yep," I replied. "Nervous about tomorrow."
"I would think you'd be a veteran at this sort of thing," Sonya said, smiling as she sat on the bed next to me.
"I am a veteran of 'possible last night alive' nights. But in the past I knew what I was getting into. A final battle, usually, against a known opponent. This feels different. I don't even know if there will be an opponent. Maybe there won't even be danger. I wish the White Rabbit would at least tell us what to expect, whether we'll have to fight or not."
"I have a really bad feeling about tomorrow," Sonya sighed. "Do you think it's this chaosization thing? Making us know things we shouldn't know? Maybe part of me remembers something like this."
"Maybe. Or it could just be understandable jitters. But if you have an specific memories, visions, dreams… let me know, okay?"
"I promise," she said, squeezing my hand. "Luka, I wish I had power. I feel so useless. No, just… just don't," she said, cutting off my objections. "I know I have value. I heal people, I can fight a little against weaker opponents. But as we add more powerful allies, I'm not sure what my purpose is. The angels can all heal."
"I can take you back to Iliasville if you want," I offered.
"I've thought about it. But if anything, I need to be here for Luka… My Luka, if he comes back. I don't know how that will happen, but I'm sure it will happen wherever you are at the time. Maybe it happens when our mission is completed, maybe it happens if you die. I don't know, but if there's any chance our quest ends at that temple, I need to be there. I'm all Luka has."
I was glad to see that her mind was drifting back to this world's Luka as our quest was reaching its climax. She'd been talking as if the younger, simpler Luka held no interest for her anymore, and that concerned me. I felt as if I was getting in the way of their relationship. But I also knew that there might not be a relationship. Luka's destiny was Alice. It was always Alice. I felt terrible knowing that there was no way to spin Sonya's future in a good way. I worried about her. About her safety on this adventure, and about her holding a torch for me. Maybe I was just old, but I saw her as a very young woman who knew nothing about the world and was too vulnerable to life's disappointments. I couldn't bear to see her heart broken. But I also knew that she would find someone, someday. I had to keep her safe and buck her up as long as I was around. I needed to prepare her for her future as best I could.
"Oh well, I could always take a vow of celibacy," Sonya laughed through her tears, as if reading my mind. "I always wanted to be a priestess. I'm probably more qualified to do that now than anyone in the world. I know Ilias better than any human ever has. Maybe they'll make me the first female pope."
"Does the pope have to be celibate?" I asked.
"Yeah, all the really high ranking church officials are," she replied, seemingly relieved to be talking about something else. "Although we don't have to, Priestesses are encouraged to…. Help male parishioners with… um…. Sexual therapy. But once you get to the bishop level you're supposed to be pure and celibate, whether male or female."
"That is so weird," I said, remembering just how contradictory the Ilias faith was when it came to sex. Monsters were forbidden, monogamy was strongly encouraged, and yet there were ritualistic orgies that would have done pagans proud in certain situations, not to mention the "therapy" Sonya was referring to. Angels could be particularly perverted when meting out reward or punishment to the followers of the faith. Valkyrie had told me that she had once been required to have sex with a man for ten thousand years as punishment for his grievous sins. For my rebellion against Ilias on my world, even though I'd never pledged allegiance to her in the first place, I'd been threatened with twice that much. Minor slights, such as disrespect to an angel, were often punished with just a few orgasms, although many men insulted angels on purpose to get laid. Even if it was a little S&Mish, as I had experienced from Cupid and Valkyrie on one occasion. I still winced at the thought of Cupid biting my balls.
"Can I stay with you tonight?" Sonya asked. "I don't want to do anything inappropriate. I just want to be held. Is that okay?"
I told her that of course it was, and she crawled into the bed with me. It turned out to be just what I needed. That was the true value of Sonya, her superpower. She always seemed to know just what to do when I was fearful or depressed. I drifted happily off to sleep with Sonya in my arms.