-Verse 7-

Everyone got to their defensive stances. The angel that appeared before them may know vital information about God.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you...", said the angel softly, extending her hand towards them as a sign of friendship.

The quartet interpreted this differently and got ready to attack. Hinata triggered the hammer, but it didn't fire.

"W-what...?", he said, confused. His finger gripped the trigger tightly, yet nothing burst out. He tried lunging forward, but his feet were frozen in place.

Otonashi, Kanade, and Tenshi found that they couldn't move as well. "What did you do?", shouted Otonashi.

"I merely froze you in place, dear. Resorting to violence won't solve anything.", replied the angel. "Why are you here? What do you want? Who are you?", asked Tenshi while narrowing her silvery-blue eyes.

'''Oh my, where are my manners? I haven't introduced myself yet – I'm Hope. A pleasure to meet you.", said the floating figure while smiling amiably. "Anyways, Tenshi Kanade, I was sent here to fetch you – rather, give you this.", she said while holding up a gemstone.

The gem was of a cerulean blue color, and sparkled like a star in the night sky. It was round and small, about the size of a pea.

"Don't be fooled by its small size. They say that big things come from small packages.", said Hope with a wink. "Someone special sent me here to give you this. As a Lost Angel, you aren't supposed to die. Someone, or something, must have been very powerful in the Dark Arts to wield a weapon infused with pure evil to send you here.", she said.

"Wait, why do I need that gem?", asked Tenshi, still suspicious of the figure. Hope let go of the gem while it floated its way to Tenshi's necklace. A bright blue light shone from it, as it infused itself with the G-clef.

"To get back to Earth, of course! You have to take care of something there, don't you?", said Hope. Tenshi swallowed, "D-does that mean that... Hitan-" "Dear, I haven't got much time yet. I'm not powerful enough to stay in this dimension for more than fifteen minutes. My time is running out."

Tenshi allowed her to continue. "You see, that jewel, called the Life Stone, allows you to go back to the human world even when in the afterlife. You won't be a ghost, no, but a living, breathing, human, as fit as you can ever be."

She pointed at the gem. "You're able to bring two people at most with you to the human world, but only two. As I've said before, I may be a powerful seraph, but my ability is limited to this: you can only go back for a week at a time. After the week passes, the gem will need to recharge, and will transport you back here. The time between the afterlife and the human world is different – a week there is a day here. A week here is a day there. That way, when you leave for the other place, you'll only be missing 24 hours."

Hope tilted her head lightly while tapping her chin. "Umm... what else? Oh, to activate the Life Stone, you must close your eyes and chant this; O Stone of Life, Grant me the power to rewrite the rules of life itself. Open the portal back to mortality, back to humanity, back to myself."

Tenshi nodded, and asked, "But wait-" Suddenly, Hope's body started fading away into a bright light. "Oh my... make it quick, dear...", said Hope. "Shall I be able to save my brother from the Demon?", asked Tenshi, hope brimming in her eyes.

The angel smiled, and said, "Why do you think you were sent back? Good luck, dear. I'll always be with you..." And with that, she disappeared into the light. As soon as the tiniest trace of her being had faded away, the others found that they could move once more.

"Tenshi...", said Kanade while walking up to the said girl. Tenshi just stood there, clutching her G-clef necklace tightly. "Would two of you guys want to come with me?", she said while facing the trio.

Hinata, Otonashi, and Kanade looked at each other nervously. Of course they would all want to go back to the human world. Suddenly, Hinata spoke up. "I... I'll stay. I have to look over Yurippe and make sure that she and the SSS won't get into any trouble while you three are gone."

Otonashi and Kanade smiled in gratitude. "Thank you, Hideki.", said Tenshi while hugging him. "Should we go now? I mean, it's pretty late – it's almost midnight.", said Otonashi.

"The earlier, the better.", said Tenshi, determination shining through those silvery-blue of hers. "So... see you guys soon?", asked Hinata. "We'll be back in a day, onii-chan!", said Tenshi with a wink. "Let's go!", she said while Kanade and Tenshi came closer.

The three joined their hands in a circle. Closing their eyes, they recited the spell. "O Stone of Life, Grant me the power to rewrite the rules of life itself. Open the portal back to mortality, back to humanity, back to myself."

And as soon as they had uttered the last word, a large, glowing, golden circle appeared on the ground. Strange, celestial writings appeared and wove their way through the air.

A brief flash of light engulfed the trio, and just like that, they were gone.

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-Verse 7-