Adam slowly made his way to the large, 3 meter tall door in the back of the bastion. Its visible screws and steel contrasted against the gleaming metallic copper of the rest of the door. Knocking gently, Adam stepped inside for the second time.
With an ominous creak, the heavy metal door swung shut behind Adam, encapsulating him in a deep darkness. He could hear the fluttering of wings, as if a large, winged creature was nearby. His spiritual senses, sharpened now after weeks of training and practice, flared with the nearly familiar warning signs of there being an overwhelming presence nearby.
He went lightheaded.
This almost feels like it does when I Shift sometimes…
Adam shook his head to clear it, dispelling the light sensation of dizziness and taking a deep breath.
“Honorable Cherubim, Mr. Juhend, er, Mr. Sureb sent me here. I displayed some form of anomaly during my last mission.”
The fluttering of wings could be heard, and a sudden loud clang resonated in the chamber as light filled the area. Adam was, very briefly, greeted with the familiar sight of the interior of the bastion’s tower- various crevices in the walls to allow for complicated airflow and moon-like light radiating downwards from above.
He was unable to scrutinize this scene for long, for the seraph was not present in front of him in the form of a simple human figure.
What graced Adam’s eyes was a monstrosity. A dozen feathered wings were plastered over an obscenely emaciated, vaguely humanoid form. Its face, if it could be called that, was elongated to the extreme, with a curved and sharp nose, and rows of teeth similar to the maw of a goose. Its arms stretched out as if to mimic its wingspan. Almost like tentacles, they extended themselves across most of the interior of the tower’s chamber. Where its feet should have been were instead squirming masses of feathers, snaking and coiling as if they were tendrils of some half-autonomous living thing.
This was the true form of the Partial Divinity known as the Emaciated Seraph, one of the 12 Cherubim of the Many Winged Angel.
Adam’s mind was assailed by smells, sounds and sensations that he couldn’t place. He heard the sound of steel clanging, children laughing, bonfires crackling, dogs barking and people screaming. He smelled burnt flesh, fresh cinnamon, orange rime and spoiled milk all at once. He felt the prick of knives on his skin that made him drop to the ground, the feeling of a terrible aching sore in his stomach that made him vomit, but also the sensation of being held by a lover, of warmth spreading through his form, and of icy chill seeping into his bones.
Adam’s physical senses couldn’t keep up. Soon, he was overwhelmed, in a puddle of his own vomit on the floor, clutching his stomach as his nose and eyes slowly bled.
Then, he felt a familiar sensation.
The sound of rushing water, of a slightly oily, filmy substance between himself and the spiritual reality around him. He opened his eyes to behold the Cherubim’s divine form again, and this time, he didn’t flinch. Its voice, like a thousand cawing ravens, echoed a half dozen times through the room.
“Interesting. Very interesting.”
Adam coughed up a small amount of blood, mixed with his own bile.
“H-honorable Cherubim, m-Mr. S-sureb sent me here to see you…”
“Yes. And see me, you finally have. You resonate…differently than others, child.”
“Differently?”
“Yes.”
“... Uh… How so?”
“You lack corruption.”
Adam wore a puzzled look on his face.
“What do you mean, I lack corruption?”
The cherubim fluttered its wings, causing a number of dusty feathers to fall to the ground.
“You resonate as if you are in the Physical World, there is not so much as a hint of any influence of any Realm within your soul. And yet…”
Swifter than Adam could blink, the creature was directly before him. It stood well over 3 meters tall, and Adam’s spiritual senses soon started to sound alarms once again.
“And yet you live in the unshackled presence of a divine form. Thus, you are interesting.”
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Adam shivered. Not from any cold or draft, but from the realization that this terrifying being before him, this divinity, kept emphasizing how interesting he was. It felt like being the subject of some experiment.
“Adam Broek, you may leave for your next mission, I have determined all I am able to at this point in time.”
Adam flinched; the overwhelming presence of the cherubim’s divine figure was still rattling his psyche. At this close, he could barely keep his head up, let alone direct his eyes anywhere besides the floor.
“W-what did you determine?”
A moment of silence fell across the tower. The sound of a flutter of wings was heard as darkness quickly engulfed the room once again. The copper door opened with a clang.
“That you are divine, child.”
…
Adam ate his lunch in a daze. About all he could manage was to scoop gruel into his mouth.
Divine… Me? How? In what way? I’m not even a Chosen!
It wouldn’t lie about that, right? But then, how do I explain Mr. Juhend’s divination failing, or that the Cherubim couldn’t find me during the first Shift here? Maybe that monster was actually attracted to me… Shit, I don’t know where Mr. Juhend went, I need to ask him!
Adam was about to get up from the table when he heard someone sit down next to him with the clatter of deliberate intent.
“You’ve been avoiding me for days.”
Adam glanced over to behold Hannah. Her blonde hair was, like usual, cascading down her back in an elegant fashion. She was wearing a white tunic and brown pants, a far cry from her usual dresses or more fashionable designs. It was training gear.
“Oh, uh…sorry?”
Hannah scoffed.
“Sorry? We go into a dangerous Realm, nearly get eaten by some mind manipulating monster, and then you avoid me for days afterwards just to say a half-assed sorry when I finally talk to you about it?”
“I…uh…I’ve been busy…”
“What, busy reading books on sewer layouts and herbology? Don’t give me that crap Adam.”
Hannah stabbed her fork into a piece of meat on her plate, taking a deep breath before continuing.
“I joined the task force to make sure you and Gusto and Jezebel would be safe. I can’t trust you to not get hurt, and clearly, I was right. And now Jezebel is off who knows where living an actual life, and I’m stuck here playing babysitter for someone who doesn’t even think enough of me to maybe question how I’m doing after almost dying.”
“Oh, uh-”
“No, no excuses.”
Hannah cut into another piece of meat before continuing.
“This shit is why we broke up, Adam. You know... you knew that I didn’t want to be a Passenger after that first Shift. But you just had to take me with you to Shift to the Many Winged Angel’s Realm. And then, after that, that, that fucking horror novel of an experience we had there, you didn’t even check in on me. And now, you did it again.”
Adam’s face was beet red at this point, he was huddled into his chair, accepting his fate for the day.
“I talked to Mr. Sureb. He’s going to help me find a Realm I harmonize with well. I plan on becoming a Chosen.”
Adam’s head shot up.
“Chosen? I thought-”
“Yeah. I don’t want to be a Passenger at all. But I’ve never had some mystical aversion to getting better at the magic side of things. And with the stunt you and Gusto just pulled, I clearly can’t trust you out there by yourself. Not to mention the fact that I clearly can’t expect you to support me out there either.”
“Of course I would support you out there!”
“Then why don’t you support me back here?”
Hannah stood up, her food left half-eaten on her plate.
“I plan on being strong enough to not have to worry about some dumbass dying on his way to save me. I suggest you figure out for yourself how to support your teammates, while you still have them.”
Storming off, Hannah didn’t glance back at Adam, who was still seated in total surprise.
…
Vice Admiral Bruenor Flos trekked through muck and grime. He and a portion of the missionary fleet had been in the waters around Martes for some time now, and he had just received intelligence that a number of cultists were discovered in a nearby village. Allegedly, they had been apprehended by the local authorities, but one could never be too careful when dealing with an active warzone.
A group of soldiers, all Passengers, trudged through the muck behind him. It had rained heavily the day before, and the area they were in had a large amount of clay in its soil. The water pooled easily, and this entire region of the country was caked in mud.
“Damn country can’t even secure its own prisoners. Why does a Vice Admiral need to trudge on foot to some backwater village to pick up a few cultists?”
One of the soldiers behind Bruenor spoke up.
“Sir, it was specifically requested by Mr. Juhend Sureb that you secure the prisoners. We don’t know for what purposes he requested you, but the Emperor also signed off on it.”
Bruenor scoffed.
“I was being sarcastic and rhetorical, sergeant. I do read my damn mission briefings before going into a warzone on foot.”
Bruenor sighed.
“Only another two hours of trudging through all this mud and ruining my boots and pants before we get to meet the vermin that made me have to get off the ship.”
“Yes, sir.”
In the night sky above them, shrouded by clouds, a single faint star, unnoticed by even the emperor himself, slowly had its light bleed down. Down towards the ground, its trail bled into the sea, near where the missionary fleet was stationed.
