Seraphim
Halfway to Ilias and Smith's position in the shrine courtyard the Valkyrie broke off the to side, allowing for full view of the two angels behind her.
To the left daintily walked a semi-familiar, eight winged angel of a shorter stature. Her long, pale blonde hair swaying behind her as she approached. If this was the Seraphim everyone kept mentioning she was a good bit shorter or younger than what Ilias was expecting, especially in comparison to that giant of a vanguard she had with her. She was too tall to be a child but still stood a half a head shorter than Ilias. She gave off the feeling she was in her upper teens but it was hard to tell for sure as her holy robe was unusually large and puffy, hiding any feminine curves that could of placed her age more accurately. It was so overblown it was like she was wearing a white and gold cloud. Ilias was left wondering if this was the result of a conscious choice to try and make herself seem bigger than she actually was, and therefore, more important.
It took Ilias a few moments to realize why this Seraphim seemed strikingly familiar to her. Stella honestly looked rather like an older version of the Archangel Mariel to Ilias. Mariel had been the little loli angel Eden had sent to invade Iliasburg before being pushed off by Luka...On his third try. She had been highly devoted but had a sadistic streak a mile long that nearly resulted in being declared a criminal herself. The hairstyle was the same, their facial features matched quite nicely, and despite Stella's eyes being a more vibrant shade of blue it would be not unreasonable to think the two could be mistaken for sisters.
With the way she walked forward, a soft smile on her lips, her eyes shut as if in quiet contemplation, Stella seemed to be the very definition of a sagely angel. The type of mysterious figure sent unto the world to guide mankind when needed, in their darkest hours. But underneath? Ilias could sense something else about this girl. Something reminded that reminded the Goddess of well...herself and that alone was reason enough to not trust her.
Alongside the worrisome Seraphim walked a child looking no more than ten, maybe twelve. Much like every angel, her hair was golden blonde and worn long but had a distinct curliness to it that reminded Ilias of her own luxurious locks. Her basic wings of unremarkable nature popped neatly out of the back of a nun style outfit of blue and white with small crosses of yellow embroidered in on the garment. This must of the been the child Smith spoke of.
'What the hell?'
Ilias didn't understand why the Coordinator didn't want her to stare at first, but as they came closer it became apparent something was off about this girl. Her gait was uncoordinated, her eyes unfocused and semi-glazed over, she looked detached from the world around her. Ilias could only imagine this girl looked like someone had taken a patient fresh out of a several year long coma, stuffed her in a nun outfit, and was dragging the dazed thing around. Aside from that she appeared to be covered in small burn and scorch marks. They weren't quite bad enough to be from a raging fire, but still sign enough of her being recently touched by a cascade of embers. There didn't seem to be more than a eight inch gap on her body and outfit that wasn't stained with a smudge of black soot. Even her wings held signs that feathers had been burnt clean off, and not just all at once; some looked fresh while others were half healed already.
There wasn't enough time to think deeper on the matter as Ilias recalled her promise to not stare. She just stood back as the Seraphim and Ms. Smith exchanged their pleasantries when they finally met.
"Hello Ms. Seraph, on behalf of Japan-" Smith tried to greet her
"Please, Stella is quite alright" interrupted the Seraphim.
Upon first hearing this Stella girl speak Ilias now knew she had been right to be uneasy about her. Stella's voice and tone were the verbal equivalent of trying to mask flatulence with a flowery candle, the overbearing sweetness and faux politeness couldn't drown out the stink of the condensation in her words. She practically reeked of a higher social caste.
Smith could easily sense this as well. Sadly her job was to be polite to all inhuman guests to Japan and not to call others out when her bullshit detector lit up. She put aside her better instincts and began with the usual annoying VIP banter, honed through countless dealings with extra species guests who thought far too much of themselves.
"Welcome to Tokyo, Ms Stella. We are proud to have a Seraphim in these lands and hope your stay is comfortable."
As Ms. Smith bowed to her Stella returned the favor in kind. Her escort of the child and bodyguard swiftly fell into position behind her, as to not get in the way of their master's business. It was mostly the Valkyrie that did the moving though, taking the hand of the dazed child with a unwavering resolve and guiding her through the motions. It was clearly a familiar pattern of events for the Armored One's face never even changed.
'Those two… What are they…?' wondering Ilias, sensing intrigue from this Heavenly escort.
"Thank you, I am honored to grace these lands with the light of a Seraphim" Stella spoke softly.
Smith proceeded to take out a clipboard and pen and began to get down to business, hoping the work would make this go by more quickly. "How long are you planning on staying here, if I may ask?"she questioned with the tip of her pen to the box denoting the duration of stay.
"I cannot give a definite timeframe. Holy missions are only complete when the divine deem them complete. Fortunately for me, that means I get to enjoy this wonderful country for a significant amount of time!" the way she gushed made the noble Seraphim sound like some overly cheerful tourist who didn't realize their enthusiasm was clearly lost on the annoyed locals around them.
(Zombina, from the background) "Shoot me, just fucking shoot me..."
"Of course this land shall receive the blessing of a Seraphim while I still walk its shore in kind-"
"While that is great...I have to ask about the nature of your mission" Smith interrupted while continuing to take notes.
"-Oh? Such as?"
The coordinator lightly gestured to the rather obvious sea of paper tags covering the shrine "Could you explain why you're posting these charms all over the shrine here for starters?" she asked.
Stella recoiled in bemused surprise, like a parent who had caught their child doing something foolish "Oh! Don't worry. Those are merely an old Seraphim seal of prayer. Nothing more" she assured her, teeth caught in a ever sweet smile.
With the angels of this world being magically adept (at least compared to your average human), it should of been an easy lie to make to the coordinator. Not so with Ilias around. The Goddess proceeded to rip her cover story to shreds with almost casual disregard for her schemes.
After taking a tag off the wall she held it close to her face and explained "Looks like a magical detection grid. The way it's set up now won't detect anything coming from the West and the Southern side is likely bouncing back signals from the North. It'll be riddled with false positives when done, but this is assuredly a magical relay of some kind." With her analysis complete Ilias balled up the paper and tossed it over her shoulder where the Ogre Tio was quick to pick it up and place it in a proper garbage bin out of habit.
"That is...Who is this, Ms. Smith?" Stella balked at this angel who had not only contradicted her, but had managed to figure out her game so damn easily.
Smith, on the other hand, was both grateful for the assist and more than a little curious about what was going on. "Ms. Stella, can I first ask about why you're setting up a magical relay in this (public) shrine?" the coordinator asked.
Not that it mattered none to her esteemed guest. "Sorry, but as a Seraphim my question takes precedence. I'm sure you understand" Stella excused bluntly.
"*Sigh* This is the one you requested to have brought to you today. This is Ilias, The Mother of Dawn" explained Smith, giving in to the solid wall of uncooperation that was Stella before she got a headache.
Stella's eyes lit up and she clapped her hands together. "Oh! No wonder you were able to catch onto the pattern! Our sources said you were reportedly highly intelligent! Record breaking even!"
"What sources, Ms. Stella?" Ms. Smith asked with her glasses tipped up.
As far as the coordinator knew, no one from the angel side of things should of had any access to Ilias's psychological evaluation reports. This meant Stella somehow had managed to gain access (at least partially if Ilias's rampant insanity and suicide attempt hadn't been mentioned) to sealed Exchange Program files. It wouldn't surprise her that they might of greased a few wheels to find out more behind the scenes, considering the rather absurd amount of influence the Angels had, but it was still a security concern.
Of course none of this was of any issue to the teflon-coated Divine."The highest sources there are!" Stella replied with a playful wink before focusing on Ilias again.
The Seraphim began to circle Ilias and intently drink in all her details. She could be seen visibly looking upwards and making note of Ilias's greater height (a detail amplified by her own shorter stature in comparison), gently pulling out a wing to see the pattern, even running a finger or two through her golden hair.
"Curious… Just as reported, you combine the traits of many high breed angel types..." she breathed.
This continued on for some time with the Seraphim only stopping for a brief moment when she saw Ilias's sizeable bust and frowned intently as if they displeased her.
"Ms. Stella? Are things alright?" Ms. Smith asked, trying to get back to the task at hand without running afoul of the Angelic Diva.
"May I have a moment to examine this girl in full? In private?"
The coordinator knew this was less a request and more a statement of intent. Stella was going to do this regardless of what she said, but she still tried to maintain some level of control.
"Could I ask why you would need to do that?" Smith questioned.
"I need to check her for signs that she was assaulted by the dark ones."
(Cue all nearby angels gasping and crying out in anguish.)
Even if she knew little about this world and it's angels still Ilias would of been hard pressed to miss the fact that Stella had brought up something of a sore point for her friend in the black suit. Judging by her reaction and the sobbing choir of dunces currently off to her left, it had to be something the humans and angels disagreed on. Smith looked caught between a rock and a hard place, she knew what she was going to say would not be received well by her current company, but it was her job to keep the peace between the races in this land.
"Ms. Stella, we have told your representatives time and time again, they had nothing to do with Ilias's little incident" she rather pointedly stated.
"Is it not true that one of the elder dark ones came to these shores not two months before she was attacked?!" Stella's voice actually raised as she shot back in almost hysterics.
In comparison Smith's response was cool and collected "Yes, and she's been totally harmless the entire time she was here. Besides that, she was in Kyoto during the time the event happened. There's no way she could've been involved."
This did nothing for the increasingly energized angel who began to speak of her enemies in foreboding tones.
"The dark ones are tricky! Their lies know no bounds! I would not allow them in your capital if I were you! To invite one to a seat of power is asking for trouble!"
Smith stared at Stella "But Kyoto hasn't been the capital since...nevermind (Not even going to touch that…)"
"What is a dark one?" interrupted the till-now quiet Ilias if for no reason other than to throw her besieged and beleaguered Coordinator a lifeline.
The reaction that came out of Stella made it seem like Ilias was one of those people in those time travel stories who always asked some random stranger on the street what year it was. Her look was pure befuddlement and she seemed to not know how to answer such an obvious question. Even her stoic guard, who had up till this point never made so much as a peep or gesture, seemed genuinely puzzled by this.
Ms. Smith swooped in to explain "Ilias lacks most of her memories. Well, anything reliable anyway…"
"You poor dear! To be cursed with such a large chest and be stripped of your memories! I shall check you at once!"
Ilias was less than amused. 'Who does this-...WHAT DID SHE JUST SAY ABOUT MY TITS?!'
Ilias was hauled off to a small room in a more modern building next to the shrine. While the Shrine itself was a classic wooden building not too out of place from the Village of Yamatai, the larger complex had buildings such as these for the less colorful tasks of administration and storage. No matter how ancient or hallowed this place or it's purpose, at the end of the day someone had to file paperwork and make the mop buckets somewhere.
It was genuinely surprising to see the proud Seraphim content to stand among rows of vibrant cleaning fluids as she administered her battery of tests in this little stockroom. Considering Ilias suspected this girl would normally not set foot inside such a place, she knew something was suspicious from the get go. Stella was swallowing her pride and putting aside her upper class sensibilities for the sake of the privacy this secluded room offered. This meant she was doing something that she knew absolutely HAD to be done without even her own entourage or guard knowing about it. From her own experience with Eden Ilias knew that when you had to deceive your own allies, you weren't up to much good and was on her guard as a result.
Still, outwitting your foes required discretion. If Ilias had acted even slightly suspicious of Black Alice or Promestein her grand plan wouldn't of worked. She just needed to act the fool and allow this scheme to play out around her, even if it meant allowing herself to be forced into a damn supply closet and examined like some freak of nature. If she could allow herself to be eaten to keep up a charade this was no big deal.
"Such large wings. Feather count is strange, coloration is absolutely flawless, the pattern...it's not like anything I've ever seen before. No halo...that's odd…Larger eye size is usually found on archangels, but never to this extreme…Holy energy is-Hold these for me? If you will?"
Ilias was handed two paper seals denoted by the outline of a faded cross on each but refused to take them blindly and asked "What is it?"
"E-Excuse me…?" Stella honestly looked to be taken aback that anyone would ever bother to ask her questions from within her own race.
"What...is...it?" Ilias repeated
"It's just... a small test to help measure your holy power. Don't worry, it's harmless" was Stella's excuse.
'Yeah, I trust you about as far as Luka can throw his serial rapist/lover. No way in hell I'm giving a clear reading...'
It couldn't be stated clearly enough that Ilias did NOT trust this other world Seraphim. Stella may of been content to use her position and public image to batter her way through all suspicion like a charging Centaur, but Ilias was having none of it. A Goddess couldn't outwit all the smartest minds back in her old world without being able to sense a scheme and this Stella girl absolutely reeked of a plot. Ilias had no clue what she was trying to accomplish with this power level test but decided to sabotage it, just to be safe.
'Rampant and unchecked paranoia is a valuable asset when surrounded by assholes…'
With her power still mostly gone and what was left healing her busted ass, it was child's play to force her holy energy to an artificial low for the Fallen Goddess. As per Stella's instructions she gathered "all the holy power she could muster" into her palms as she held one seal in each. After a few seconds she clapped her hands together and joined the two seals into one in a gesture not unlike a prayer. The taller of the two didn't even have time to fully open up her hands before the resultant paper was snached from them and held up to the judging eyes of the shorter one.
"A 3.1? That's barely…was I wrong…?" Stella sounded so disappointed and more than a little confused.
The Seraphim was left muttering to herself while pacing for a good couple of minutes afterward, only stopping to throw Ilias a perplexed glance or two. Something had gone horribly wrong for her and Ilias couldn't of been happier because of it. Clearly her ruse had worked although now she was slightly worried that it may of worked a little too well. She didn't want to hand this girl proper results but a small voice at the back of her mind was telling her that maybe she should've toned it down a notch with the suppression effect. The last thing she wanted was to have accidently given off the impression that she was some sub-third sphere abomination!
'I swear, if I just accidently became this world's first Fourth Sphere Angel, promise or not, I'm burning this city when I get the chance!'
Stella didn't notice Ilias's true side coming loose behind her. She was too busy taking a series of documents and charts from in between the folds of her puffy robe with the frantic pace of someone trying to dump weight off a sinking lifeboat. A sprawling mess of scrolls and papers were slammed down and spread out on a nearby counter, the Seraphim's right finger flying from entry to entry as she read. A small peek over her shoulder (easy as Stella was short) showed Ilias the girl was stuck obsessing over a map along with some kind of long calculation that corresponded with a marker denoting the Greater Tokyo area.
"329 with a magical refraction rate of-(inaudible), tags in area 2 and 4 were tripped facing-(inaudible), even if there's a chance the visual inspection was off by...no, no,no! This has to be the right spot!"
At this point Ilias may as well of been invisible to the increasingly panicked Seraphim. Whatever had gone wrong was slowly tearing her mind apart with self doubt in a way that honestly reminded the Goddess of another Seraphim with confidence issues she had created…
'Odd. I feel...rather bad about how I treated Eden now…' pondering the Goddess, thinking of her third eldest daughter.
"Then wha-Of course!"
Stella erupted in a cheer, the clouds of her momentary self doubt blow away by the winds of realization. She turned to Ilias and began to blabber on about something the Goddess didn't understand.
"The Dark Ones have made their presence known in these lands! One as great and wise as the Creator would surely send in a d-d-decoy of some kind to fool them!"
"What ar-"
"It all makes sense! A unknown Angel bearing all the physical markers of a Supreme Heavenly entity falling from the sky at the same time she re-enters our world? They'd never know they attacked a red herring until it was too late!"
"I'm not a fis-"
"This explains why you defy all our classifications but barely have the holy power of a cupid!"
'Yup, too far. Dammit!' Ilias cursed
"She MUST of created or even just chosen you for this holy task! Truly, the wisdom of the Great One knows no limits! She sought to protect herself through the noble sacrifice of a loyal daughter so that she could reach us safely! My sister's calculations were right! This is the land! I just need to find her!"
"Holy task?" Ilias, for once, wasn't acting when she said she didn't know what the hell was going on.
"Yes! You must of taken a terrible blow meant for-Ah! Never mind!" Stella closed her eyes and sighed with relief.
The terror of doubt had taken much from her and she found her desire to explain this to a lowly angel further lacking. Stella fell back into a wooden chair and began to fan herself with a paper from her stack. "It's a problem above your stature. Just know that the sacrifice of your memories will not be in vain" she said with dismissal.
Ok, now Ilias was really getting confused. What the fuck was going on around here?!
With that pointlessness out of the way Ilias believed she would be allowed to get away from the condescending aura of the abrasive and subversive Seraphim. Sadly she was shit out of luck as the topic changed to something even stupider in a slightly less secluded chamber in the main shrine. Amongst the sea of statuary and red walls, a proper tea set and mat was set out for the two by the dotting lesser angels of Stella's entourage. Here Stella wished to converse with Ilias as if she was an old friend on the matter of what she intended to do with her homestay. What this basically came down to was Stella being a passive aggressive little bitch and dropping a few not-so-subtle hints that Ilias should join her host as a biblical scholar, to take advantage of her record breaking intellect.
Feeling that tea wouldn't get her drunk enough to make this discussion bearable (and not being a fan of the drink to begin with) Ilias attempted to crack open her gift from Ms. Smith and hit the head, proper etiquette be damned!
Ilias gave a groan of disapproval and brought the expensive wine bottle from beneath her dress where she had stashed it upon entering the shrine earlier. How had she hidden it when she had no pockets or pouches? Let's just say it wasn't only the monsters who figured out the benefits of fine muscle control down there…
"Such a lovely wine! Where did you get this?" Stella questioned with the spirit in her hands. It seemed this girl had a problem with grabbing things from other people rather rudely.
'Mid-way through gates 3 and 4 if we're measuring things the succubus way' Ilias's inner voice replied
Her outer voice was more gentle and less obscene. "It was a gift from my coordinator, as a reward for my good behavior" she explained.
"How lovely! It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that a holy figure would be on their best behavior, but it's still nice to be recognized for it from time to time!" said Stella.
With bottle in hand (much to Ilias's twisted amusement), Stella put aside the tea and poured the two some of the claret-colored liquid. Based on the fact that she completely abandoned the tea and popped the cork without even asking for her permission, Ilias got the feeling she may have been dealing with another angel who liked their holy spirits in liquid form.
Four glasses later (One for Stella. Three for Ilias) they resumed their talk on Ilias's plans and the job offer as one of Stella's entourage. Ilias tried to keep her refusal civil, as per her promise to Smith, but Stella proved to be quite stubborn on the matter and didn't make it easy.
With time discussion turned into Stella lecturing Ilias on the importance of angels to do their duty and uphold faith as the cornerstone of human civilization. It was a discussion that brought Ilias much unintentioned amusement as she cozied up with her fourth glass of wine and tried not to laugh.
"It is a very serious matter for angels to find their faith and extol its values! Each of our kind must find what they stand for" Stella began . "Ilias, what would you tell others you believe in?"
'Breasts, Sexual Domination, and smashing several tons of shit out of anyone who has a problem with that.'
"What would you say to the weary traveler, seeking advice to nourish their soul?!" Stella challenged, her voice rising in tone.
'If you have an erection lasting more than four hours; imagine me naked and it'll last for eight!'
"What would your favorite holy passage even be!?" questioned the Seraphim
'Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for I am the BADDEST Mother Fucker in the GOD DAMN valley!'
When she finally got bored of this back and forth Ilias downed another whole glass in one gulp and decided to change the subject to something that had been bothering her.
"If you don't mind me asking, what was that you said earlier about my chest?" Ilias questioned as she wiped away a few lingering drops of red from her lips.
"Ah...About that…" Stella began. Ilias could tell she glanced at her pale breasts and exposed cleavage from across the mat. "You see, traditionally it has been seen as a flaw to be so...voluptuous among our kind. I suppose for one lacking memories about all our traditions you wouldn't know."
"Oh really?" questioned Ilias with a scheming smile. A gentle hand was raised up to Ilias's left breast. She lifted the pale orb and dropped it, watching Stella's eyes disapprovingly follow the teat as it bounced and jiggled. A little test she wished to perform to see just how much the Seraphim detested her size. "You mean boobs that can do this?"
*JiggleJiggle*
Stella grew visibly agitated. "Yes… A large chest is a temptation-"*JiggleJiggle*"-to lead those of unprincipled nature down the path of the obscene. We cannot hate those who naturally possess such assets as it is-"*JiggleJiggle*"-the Divine's will that their bodies were created that way. However, in our work it is seen as-" *JiggleJiggle* "Errrr...-something of a "nuisance."
"So angels tend to be naturally small chested by nature around here, is that correct?" Ilias asked
"Correct, although there are exceptions such as my bodyguard, we tend to be blessed with a more noble and innocent form" Stella explained as Ilias started to connect a few dots in her head.
'I see, if they can't all have big boobies then big boobies MUST be a sin against god!' thought the bemused Goddess before "accidentally" dropping something, forcing her to expose the valley of her cleavage to the bitter Seraphim as she bent over.
Finding a new source of amusement she spent the entire rest of the conversation drawing as much attention to her breasts as possible (an easy feat for a Goddess whose main draw was her sex appeal) until Stella finally gave in on her scholar plans and let Ilias return back to Smith just to get away from the display. Turned out that all you needed to do to force the angels of this world away was casually bombard them with lewdness until they couldn't handle it anymore.
Ilias was certain she would need this information again sometime in the future.
"And that's when he said...when he said…dammit! I forget the rest of the joke! Where's Doppel when you need her?!"
"Oh relax, I'm sure you'll remember it soon Zombina-chan!" cheered an Ogre
"Are you sure it's that funny?" questioned a Cyclops
"I'm telling you Manako, I almost pissed myself when I heard it the first time from Doppel!"
Back in the Shrine courtyard, Ilias and Stella reconnected with their escorts mid-way through a frustrated Zombina failing to tell her coworkers the funniest joke she'd ever heard from their little Doppel friend who still hadn't shown up.
More flowery pleasantries were exchanged between Smith and Stella as they fulfilled their diplomatic duties but these lacked any real substance and nearly drove Ilias and the Zombie to sleep from boredom. Thankfully something resembling action popped up when Smith found the young angel with the charred wings and outfit pressed into her legs.
"Ooof! Careful there young one" Smith told the child after she tripped into her thigh.
"I...late...worship...wrong...home…" muttered the poor thing in confusion. She seemed to have a hard time communicating effectively.
Ilias hadn't even noticed the child slipped away from her Valkyrian babysitter till she took the tumble into Ms. Smith's left leg. She had somehow gotten free from the handhold the bodyguard maintained at all times and ended up blindly wandering around on wobbly legs until she inevitably crashed into something.
"I'm terribly sorry my master, it won't happen again" apologized the Valkyrie in a solemn voice that carried with it a tone of self loathing for her failure that was so thick it was palpable.
Stella wished to assure her while she went to fetch the young one. "It's quite alright" she said.
"No, it is not. This is my failure and is inexcusable! Allow me to-"
Stella sighed "Just do your best. I always swore to you that I would make my displeasure fully known if required. It is only a small issue, I promise"
'Huh, seems she isn't as one dimensional as she first looked' Ilias thought as Stella took the hand of the child and lead her back to the Valkyrie with a truly gentle grace, not unlike the kind any caregiver would show.
"I am still sorry, I was a fool" repeated the armored angel with disdain.
"It's fine Valencia, just watch her more closely" Stella tenderly gave the child's hand to her guard.
For a moment Ilias could see Smith was torn about something. The normally confident woman with the raven black hair looked pressed to ask something about young one but didn't seem to know if it would be in good taste. It was clear to Ilias Smith knew more about the child than her (as she naturally would as one of the ones in charge of the non-humans for this area). At least enough to be worried about something it would seem.
"So how is Aurelia?" she asked finally. It was a light question, meant to be as inoffensive as possible.
"Aurelia is quite fine, Ms. Smith. And we of course are grateful for your help the other day" Stella replied with tension but no audible hostility.
(Zombina, from the background) "Oh hey! I didn't recognize her! That's the little firebug that nearly set Tio's hair on fire!"
Stella looked a bit more visibly agitated this time but tried not to openly show it."*CoughCough* Yes…As I just said, we are grateful for your help." She brought Aurelia front and center, to present her to Smith. "She is recovering well after her slight mishap. We've already gotten back to her studies!" the Seraphim declared proudly.
"Yesterday...I learned about...Street Peter…" muttered Aurelia.
"Saint Peter…" corrected Stella with a hint of agitation and embarrassment.
'Stella Seraphim, Valencia Valkyrie, and Aurelia Angel. I suppose they're better names than Angels' A through D' thought Ilias, recalling that she kinda gave up on names after Eden when it came to her own daughters. 'What's wrong with the child though? She seems...off. Not even I sent an angel out into Heaven with this many braincells missing'
"I...I...I also know...about...Saint Dumbass…"
"Saint Dismas! She means Saint Dismas!" Stella was a bit more visibly embarrassed by the obscenity-laced mispronunciation and the subtle murmurs of the surrounding angels it brought.
She raced to cover the mouth of little Aurelia with her hand and quietly shuffle her back to waiting with her guard. "Let's just move on to other subjects! He He! There's no point in covering the basics of the bible here and now!"
"No problem, Ms. Stella…" agreed a merciful Ms. Smith who felt genuinely bad for the Seraphim. "If you want, we could still stand to discuss your plans for today. As I understand it, you seek to assist the people of this city?"
"Yes, of course. It is our heavenly duty to help."
"I believe Ilias might actually have an idea on how to go about that" Smith suggested, figuring the angels might be better off listening to one of their own.
The goddess in disguise spoke up in her standard heavenly tones. "Ah, yes. I was assisting my host family and their neighbors in repairing all the damage from that dreadful storm." Ilias continued her act with a soft smile of hope. "It'll take considerable time and effort to fix everything. But with additional help we could…"
"Say no more! Of course we shall aid you!" Stella nobly declared with her wings puffed out in pride.
'Perfect. If two people with wings can get so much done, forty will make this a breeze!' thought Ilias before deciding that she may of been coming on as too soft or nice. She attempted to justify this to herself as 'Well it's not like I can leave the place a wreck if I am to live there. Besides, getting angels to do the work for me is what being a Goddess is all about.'
After internally struggling to come to grips with her own change in nature as of late, Ilias again addressed the stuffy Seraphim.
"Thank you, Stella. With the help of your aides most of the labor can get done so much fas-"
"About that…" Stella interrupted
"Yes?"
"I have a better idea of how to help. One does not necessarily need to dirty themselves to aid others."
Considering just how much Stella sounded like herself right when she was about to exploit a loophole, Ilias was naturally nervous. However, even the Goddess of Creation's unfathomably long life couldn't prepare her for the sheer level of bullshit she was about to witness.