It wasn’t long before angels flew toward them from the city. When they landed, Alisson could tell they were of the lowest hierarchy, the only one he was familiar with. They had visors that covered their eyes, and white liveried uniforms. At their backs were their wings, which did not resemble the feathered wings of a bird but were rather two-dimensional glowing wedges of glowing energy. The same could be said for their halos, which were similarly dull and white, flat things, that hovered over their heads.
“Halt and state your business.”
The lead angel said, extending an arm out at the four mounted Nekomata. Like most angels, they had long golden hair. Others in the formation bore grey and white hair, however none of them appeared armed. Alisson couldn’t tell their genders either, they were all fairly androgynous.
“I have come to speak with your Seraph.” Alisson started. “I will comply however necessary in order to facilitate this. These three are my traveling companions, pay them no mind.”
The lead angel nodded, and brought a hand up to their ear for a moment. “SC has recognized who you are. Please proceed forward to AB-0. Another TAC team will help you there.”
Alisson didn’t understand their words completely, but nodded anyway. The angels braced their wings and then shot into the sky, and began flying back toward the large structure, or city, whatever it was.
Alisson looked to Celis and the apprentices, and then reined his horse, moving forward once more. As they approached, angels sometimes flew low overhead, in pairs of two and four, and like the previous team, they were unarmored and small physically. Higher in the sky, Alisson could spot angels that wore heavy suits of armor, who appeared much larger, their wings and halos had varied colors, and they had with them large weapons, but Alisson couldn’t make out too much from such a distance.
Reaching the base of the city took time, and it became apparent just how massive it was. It had the circumference of an average city, sure, but by virtue of its walls extending high in the sky like a hill, it appeared staggeringly large. Perhaps it was the largest single artificial structure Alisson had ever seen. Alisson realized suddenly that there were no gates or ground transit from the city.
Another group of Angels descended from the skies. These were large, but unarmored. Unlike the previous angels, they were clearly male by the broadness of their shoulders.
“We will bring you and your mounts into AB-0. Allow us porters, sir.”
Alisson tepidly agreed and dismounted. The large angels hoisted himself and his party one by one, and rose into the sky with shocking speed. The wings on the backs of these porter angels were large and seemed to exhaust pure mana out of their tips as they rose. They reached sufficient elevation, and were brought into one of the hangars Alisson had spotted whilst on the ground.
Celis and himself had used flight spells before, but Marenix and Ashlynde were dizzy and unstable on their feet. To greet them, Alisson saw the first angel that did not have a visor to cover their face and eyes.
“Greetings, I am Seralus Ubulus Therulus, an Archangel of the Lowest Order, but you may refer to me as Seralus. I will be your guide here in AB-0.”
Their tone of voice was more human than the other angels had exhibited. They had golden hair and blue eyes, and a princely face, and combined with his tone of voice, Alisson was led to believe this was a male.
“Likewise, Seralus. Unfortunately, I would rather not disclose my identity publicly, I wish to be discreet here.”
Seralus nodded. “That was the conclusion of SC, Strategic Command. We know who you are. Rest assured, your presence here will be kept a secret for the time being. Follow me. Your mounts will be kept safe for the duration of your stay as well.”
They were led by this Archangel through the hangar, and Alisson finally had the time to take in the surroundings. The whole hangar was made of metal, with inlines of blue lights from corners and extrusions. Angels came and went, of varying sizes and armaments. Some were inhumanly large, armored warriors, and others were small and frail children.
“CAP is go for launch. Clear bay three-one.”
Alisson could also hear sporadic announcements through some sort of intercom in the hangar.
“We don’t get many outsiders here, as we turn most away at our borders.” Seralus explained as they walked. “We recognized you as you crossed into our territory, so SC sought to not deal with you as a normal intruder. That is to say, the four of you are probably quite overwhelmed, as have been other outsiders when they first visit.”
They approached a door which slid open without anybody moving it, and they stepped through it to a hallway.
“You’ll have to excuse the lack of flightless accommodation, most of the pathways in the AB-0 are for flying only.”
Every few meters on the wall Alisson could spot a hanging cross. He didn’t know much about the Angel’s culture, but it seemed to be an important symbol. They passed through another of those sliding doors, to a room that was full of visible air. As Alisson stepped in, it appeared to be incense or vapors of some kind.
“As outsiders, your bodies are too unclean to be in the presence of any higher-ranking among us. This room is for outsiders to cleanse themselves, but as it is rarely used, you will have to excuse the lack of capacity. There is a changing room and a shower. Please strip down and cleanse yourselves one at a time. Then adorn yourselves with these robes.”
Seralus motioned to some folded white robes across a table.
“I can go with Alisson together in the shower, it’s okay!”
Celis suddenly grabbed onto him, smiling gleefully.
Seralus cleared his throat. “Such promiscuous behavior would warrant banishment. Please refrain from it.”
“Wha-…” Celis frowned, and looked up to Alisson.
“We are guests here, Celis. We must do as they say, and reciprocate the hospitality they are giving us.”
“Fine.” Celis grumbled, and let go of him.
Despite the Archangel’s apologies, Alisson was surprised by the accommodations afforded to them. The shower and the changing room were cleanly and had smooth walls, and warm, inviting lighting.
The water was odd however. When it touched Alisson’s skin, he could feel a sting. He accidentally got some in his mouth and it tasted salty, and sharp, before it began to similarly burn the inside of his mouth, and he spit it out. By the time he was finished, his body felt completely different. He ran a hand along his skin, finding it to be smooth. He then realized that the callouses on his hands had disappeared, his fingers and palms were now soft. He suddenly worried for his ability to hold a weapon.
As he exited the changing room, adorned in the white robes, he asked Seralus just what the water had done.
“The holy water cleanses you of bodily hair and other imperfections…Or perhaps in your case is it fur?”
He tilted his head, pondering.
“Hair.” Alisson responded quickly. “We are not animals.”
Seralus bobbed his head. “My apologies in my presumption. We angels do not need things like callouses to better grip objects, as a shell of divination surrounds us, and hardens to our needs.”
“We don’t have such a thing.” Alisson frowned.
Seralus bobbed his head in understanding. “It is not something that you cannot attain, however.”
Alisson’s eyes widened if ever so slightly. Attaining that power may aid him as a form of armor. Seralus noticed this and smiled. “All will be explained when you meet with the Throne.”
“You say this shell protects you, but I saw Angels wearing armor before.”
“Yes, our shell protects us to a certain extent, but armor worn by those of us who can afford the weight will always help. However, it must be admitted that for most warriors, they wear it for purely aesthetic purpose, as their shells form the shapes of armor that you gaze upon.”
Alisson scarcely understood, but nodded anyway.
“Wow! I’m so soft!” Ashlynde bobbed with glee.
“This feels really weird…” Marenix muttered, staring at his hands.
“Your prior clothes will be cleansed and blessed for your departure. For the duration of your stay, please wear these robes in the meantime. If you were visitors of a less notable standing, then like the water that cleansed you, your belongings would also be immolated. Now, follow me.”
Again they followed the Archangel guide through another hallway. The walls here were of stone construction, in stark contrast to the prior rooms. He didn’t know if it was aesthetic, or that the city was built in layers of different materials; That as the city expanded in size, more layers were tacked on, like an onion. The crosses here were also wooden, and seemed ancient.
“Please also cleanse your bodies with a small meal. Then, the Throne will see you.”
They reached another room where food was laid out.
It was just bread and water. Upon biting into it however, Alisson could admit then and there that it was the best bread he had ever tasted. The water was similar in taste to what he had felt in the shower, but to a lesser extent, he could feel a slight burn within him, that gradually faded as time went on.
They were then led to something Alisson was more familiar with, the next room appeared to be a more normal church hall, with pews and an altar. Though it was made of wood and stone, and its light sources consisted of candles, and not the metal and magic lights of the exterior layer. There was a large hole in the ceiling above the altar.
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“Please kneel. The Throne is arriving.” Seralus said, kneeling and closing his eyes.
The four Nekomata did the same, and after a moment, with a rush of air, came a large angel through the hole in the ceiling. They descended with intense speed, but similarly slowed gracefully before they touched the ground. They had long, silver hair, and sharp, silver eyes. Their shoulders were broad, their jaw was strong, and they easily stood taller than Alisson. His wings expanded outwards a great deal, and his halo was noticeably larger than the other angels Alisson had seen.
“I am Constantius Trasuntias Illsatius, a Throne of the Highest Order.” They spoke in a regal, authoritative tone, “You may call me Constantius.” He looked over the four of them. “I see you have been cleansed well.” His eyes rested on Alisson. “Alisson Vi Nuam. You said you wished to speak with our Seraph?”
Alisson bobbed his head and Constantius continued, “Know that mere outsiders like you are not allowed in her presence. Only we of the Highest Order may speak privately with Her. If you are intent on communing with her regardless, it will have to go through me.”
Alisson furrowed his mouth, but Constantius went on, “We did not invite you here to simply tell you this, however. We can tell that you, Alisson, and one of your companions,” His eyes flicked to Celis, “Are pure of spirit, untethered to any force; unlike the rest of your people. I believe we have an understanding of why you came here because of this, and so, I would like to extend to you an offer.”
He rose his hands up, and looked down at Alisson. “Learn the teachings of the Trinity, follow in our footsteps, and become one of His children, like us.”
Alisson looked on quizzically at the Throne, but couldn’t deny that the offer made him intrigued. “I was under the impression that those of the HACA were not inclusive to outsiders in their midst…Especially those not born Angels.”
Constantius shook his head. “What do you think we ‘Angels’ are, Alisson?” He paused for a moment, before answering himself, “We are Man. We are Human, made in his His image. You Nekomata may have different blood, but look upon your faces, for you are Man as well. At first we were all-accepting, as we were taught…But due to the grimness of this world, we were betrayed by those we sought to help, thus we became more wary. But you, you are a reputable man, pure of spirit, and free from control, if anyone would be worthy of converting, it would be one like you, Alisson. If you demonstrate your worthiness, you too can receive His blessings.”
Constantius motioned to his wings. “You do not have to decide right away, but know that our arms open to you and your companion. Your apprentices are not so fortunate, we would need time to cleanse them of the same ill-spirited control that grips the rest of your species.”
He must be speaking of the Influence. “You can remove it?” Alisson asked.
Constantius shook his head. “We have never tried, but we are confident that all can be welcomed if their hearts are pure. If you committed yourself to Him, we would let you convene with the Seraph, and we would offer you our support for what we believe a most noble and just purpose you have endeavored upon.”
The Angels seemed to know more about Alisson than he had ever revealed to them. They probably had a pretty good idea of his situation; Their leadership must’ve inferred much from the fact that he was free of Influence, and traveling alone here. The personal boons they offered were tantalizing. To have them as allies as well…It was starting to sound as though this was something that was worthwhile.
Alisson closed his eyes. “…What would you have me do?”
Constantius smiled. “We are aware that you most likely do not wish to be here for very long; and we will work with you to that end. We are nothing if not adaptable. To start, how much experience do you have in flying?”
Alisson looked to Celis warily. “I have dabbled in flight scrolls and spells in the past, the same with Celis here; However these two apprentices have no experience.”
Constantius nodded. “To first become one of us, you must fly with us; Show us your courage and valor, and demonstrate your resolve. To this end, we have a new problem that you are familiar with: The Irine Principality.”
Alisson looked up at him with a frown.
“They have begun a two-pronged offensive against the foxes to the south. Their northerly army skirts our territory, and as result, their aerial-mage defense network has intersected our defined territory. Thus, in both defense of our land, and as per our agreement with both the Lady Sidonia and Queen Tsuhagara, we will be initiating a strike upon this army. You will join them. Is this acceptable?”
Alisson thought for a moment, and then nodded. “I will have to think about whether or not I will accept your offer in its entirety, but I can assure you this: Given the opportunity to weaken Irine, I will help as best I can. They are a threat to us all.”
“That is good to hear. The operation begins at dawn tomorrow. In the meantime, you may rest in the Cloister. Archangel Seralus can answer your questions further, but I must take my leave in preparation for the strike. Farewell, Alisson.” He shined a smirk, “May you decide to embrace the Lord.”
He shot into the air and was gone in the next instant through the tunnel in the ceiling.
…
The Cloister was perhaps the largest enclosed space Alisson had ever been within. There was an indoor garden, rows of pews, stained glass, and the architecture was breathtaking. Greenery hung from the high ceilings, as there were hundreds of chandeliers hosting thousands of candles. The room was so large that at the ceiling there seemed to be clouds. There must have been hundreds of angels here. Some were floating in the air, speaking with others, some were sitting at the pews, their hands interlocked. The angels here seemed to be of the lower hierarchies; Thus the Cloister was probably the place where the angels without personal dormitories were put out to pasture.
Since their meeting with the Throne Constantius, Alisson had spoken with Seralus at great length on what it meant to be an Angel. It was already quite late into the day, and the apprentices had dozed off on the pews while Alisson continued to speak with Seralus, Celis listening intently.
In speaking with Seralus, Alisson had attained a fairly comprehensive history of the Angels. It appeared that even a lowly Archangel was well learned here.
The Angel’s began their history as most peoples did: They arose from the ground. The ground under AB-0 was a holy site where the Angels had taken refuge for untold millennia, before emerging upwards, and creating the superstructure that would become AB-0. The people here had always been magically gifted, but they didn’t see it as magic, but rather the will of God, and that divinity granted them the abilities to fly through the sky and control a shell.
Thus, from what Alisson could surmise, these people had, in being religiously driven, adapted their magics and created themselves in the image of the scriptures that they venerated.
They also had their roots deep within military tradition. The ground under AB-0 was perhaps a military base of some kind, far in the past, and this permeated and melded their society into one that was highly centralized and disciplined. An Angel had both a duty to advance themselves spiritually and physically, and in doing so aid their fellow Angels, the collective as a whole, in surviving.
Other than AB-0, the Angels had a few outposts across their territory, where they gathered raw resources, but thanks to their adept magics and frugal way of life, they required little. They took in those that wished to join them; lost souls with nothing left, ready to be melded into Angels. Though this practice of assimilating outsiders seemed to have sharply declined in recent years with the expansion of Irine as a superpower.
The Irinians were scared of the Angels. Terrified, even. In years past, Irine had tried to conquer the Angels, and almost succeeded. They breached AB-0’s superstructure, and were on the brink of winning. But the Angels’ ferocity and fanaticism led them to keep fighting, outlast the Irinian aggressors, and eventually develop and reawaken their fighting roots that they had thrown away in the desire for peace.
All Irine had done, was prod and awaken a titan of power; And Irine knew it.
The Angel’s dominated in one field and in one field only. Air power. A large, seasoned Irinian army could do nothing if their supply lines were bombed from the stratosphere by Angels, and their men picked off by hit and run attacks from the skies. Thus it was solely because of the Angels that Irine had developed their own air power – Aerial Mages. Among the three great human nations, Irine had the largest contingent of these Aerial Mages, in an effort to contend with the Angels. They were elite magicians that specialized in air operations, as the name implied.
Thanks to their exploits in the air, the Angels also had an incredibly powerful information network. High ranking, powerful angels known as Vigilants circled high above their territory, with extremely sensitive magic spells detecting all ground and air traffic in and out of their nation. The Angels probably had scouts over Irine and other nations by this same logic.
As he conversed with Seralus, it became clearer to Alisson how a city-state like the Angels, despite being so small in territory and manpower, could exert so much strength.
These were disciplined professionals, loyal to a fault, bound by their faith, and powerful as individuals. To have them as allies would be a great boon for Alisson. All the while, Alisson was waiting for Seralus to say something out of the ordinary, something to give the Angels a bad light, a dark side from which every nation had; But no, Alisson couldn’t immediately decipher an underlying fault with their culture. But of course, AB-0 was a large place, and he knew nothing of the day-to-day life; Alisson was willing to stand corrected.
He then asked more on what it was like to be an Angel, the personal experience, what one had to do, what they had to sacrifice.
At first, the blessing of the Lord, that was, the augmentations the Angels made to their bodies, had such a great strain on them that their lifespans had shrunk far below the average human. It was probably because the human body wasn’t built for the raw amount of mana that coursed through the angels. Over time however, perhaps by natural selection, and the refinement of their powers, the Angels’ lifespans were increasing, but were still below a normal human’s. The higher ranking angels however lived longer lives, perhaps by virtue of a better understanding of their blessings or by a body that was more receptive to them.
Alisson wondered if these blessings would similarly cut his lifespan down. Regardless, it was a sacrifice he was willing to make, if it even applied to him. Perhaps because of his Bacilla, those powerful mana conduits of his, it would allow him to better control the powers of an angel, or at least, Alisson could hope.
The Angels were brought up to rigorously study their scriptures and history. They were sorted into different roles depending on their affinities, hence why the porters earlier in the day were all large and physically capable, used for manual transportation. This, Alisson found to be a little dubious as an emerge of a caste-based society that created oppression for those unfortunate enough to be born among the lower levels. The angels looked to be treated like tools for the greater collective; but by that metric, what nation wasn’t guilty of doing the same to some extent?
A pair of familiar twins were sent to deliver them more bread and water later in the day. Alisson had rescued them from a band of slavers in the north on his previous mission. They were quick to thank him and bow their heads. Alisson couldn’t help but pet their heads. They were children that were used as low-priority messengers; given that they were not high-ranking angels, they probably didn’t have much longer to live.
After once more tasting the best bread he’d ever had, and water that was similarly starting to grow on him, he continued his talks with Seralus. He wanted to know what would happen to him, were he to agree to join them in their covenant.
Seralus conceded that Alisson, because of his high rank in another nation, would be treated differently, and leadership would probably make an exception for him, in granting him their powers and techniques whilst letting him an unprecedented degree of autonomy away from AB-0. Not something Alisson could complain about, but the way Seralus saw it, a fellow child and brother would be thrown out into the world to fend for themselves. Alisson responded tenderly by saying he could very well handle himself, but admitting that a peaceful life within AB-0 certainly wasn’t abhorrent to him.
Seralus continued by saying that Alisson would have to undergo some sort of tribulation, a ritual that would be painful for him both physically and mentally, and in doing so, he would gain his wings and halo; but the specifics would be up to a higher ranking angel to decide.
Overall, from what Alisson could gather, the Angels were offering him their blessings, in exchange for a spiritual commitment. Other than that however, they would let him do as he pleased. An arrangement that Alisson was quite amiable to. He just wondered how the Seraph would react to his plans to betray his own nation, and if they would suddenly turn their backs on him, and side with Sidonia. However, if these Angels were as morally just as they looked, they would side with him. At least, Alisson hoped.
Before any of that though…
He would need to prove himself, along with Celis, in tomorrow's engagement. It would be the first large-scale attack on Irine since the Angels had been nearly obliterated by them; It would function as a declaration of war, in solidarity with the Queendom and Sidonia.
The Angels wanted vengeance. Alisson was happy to oblige them.
***