Aria sat down across from Jason as he finished eating, ignoring the way her wings squished against the chair. Not feeling pain and being invulnerable made things like discomfort a thing of the past.
"Things might be a little weird for you when you get back to campus," Aria informed him cautiously.
"Oh?" Jason asked with a frown. "Why do you say that?"
"Well, there were a lot of students videoing our encounter with the demons that Calypso redeemed," Aria began slowly. "It was pretty apparent that we were in close contact with you. I would imagine your face is all over the internet right now as people try to puzzle out what your connection to the angels is."
Jason facepalmed, groaning as realization hit. "I can't believe I didn't think of that. Yeah, I'm going to get mobbed by all my dorm mates with questions about you."
"It will probably be a lot more than dorm mates," Aria warned with a small smile. "We've experienced this before, and things have only become more intense since then. You're probably going to have media corporations, influencers, religious figures, and everything in between seeking you out to learn more about the angels."
"Oh my god, you're right," Jason groaned again. "I wonder if I should take a short break from school."
"Do you mind if I join you?" Arturiel asked hesitantly, standing at the entrance to the veranda.
"Not at all," Aria smiled welcomingly at the newest archangel. "Did you try flying yet?"
"Yes!" Arturiel beamed, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "I can't believe how fun that is. I've done a lot of things in the last few million years, but this still sits in my top ten favorite things to do."
"I know, right?" Aria grinned back at her. "Arturiel, this is Jason. Jason, this is Arturiel. She'll go down in history as the first demon to have been redeemed, as well as the first angel to have changed class to an archangel."
"Hi, nice to meet you," Jason nodded at the beautiful angel, his face coloring slightly.
Poor Jason, Aria thought with an amused smile. He's surrounded by beautiful angelic women on every side.
"Hello, Jason, I've heard so much about you," Arturiel greeted him with a warm smile.
"About me?" Jason asked in surprise, suddenly self-conscious.
"Of course," Arturiel nodded, gesturing at Aria. "They've told me all about the work you've been doing to help them purge the nanobots from the agency contractors. It's going to be a monumental undertaking. Probably the biggest hack in history, and you are going to be the star in the history books."
Jason blinked as he finally saw the magnitude of what his project would achieve and his role as the chief organizer of the entire thing. "Wow, I guess I never saw it from that perspective."
"That's because you are a good person, Jason," Aria told him fondly. "You've been focused on the outcome of this project rather than personal glory."
"If I was mortal and a few million years younger…" Arturiel sighed, an impish grin on her face.
"Uh…um, didn't Aria say that mortals and angels could, you know…" he made some vague gestures as his cheeks reddened.
"Yeah, but I've heard you're planning on having a family," Arturiel told him with a regretful sigh. "If you slept with an angel, you would never be satisfied with a mortal woman."
"How thoughtful of you to point that out," Emily snorted a laugh. "He's going to be fighting women off after those videos hit the internet, especially when people learn that mortals can be raised to angels. I've seen people suggesting the possibility already, after the autists of the internet revealed that Aria and Clarice lived perfectly mortal lives before meeting Calypso. They'll see any friend of angels as a gateway to immortality."
Jason had a sick look on his face as he realized just how crazy life was about to become for him.
"I'm going to grab a laptop and check it out," Aria announced, her curiosity getting the better of her.
Jason blinked as he watched Aria reach through a small portal in the air and pull a laptop out of the library. "How far can you make a portal to?"
"There isn't a limit," Aria replied absently as she opened the laptop and logged in. "We're Cherubim, so we can travel to the highest light realm. I could open a portal to Proxima Centauri b if you want to take a peek at an alien world."
"Is there life on Proxima Centauri b?" Jason asked in amazement. "Are there really aliens?"
"Of course," Arturiel replied with a shrug. "There is life everywhere in the cosmos."
"But they aren't as far as you've been taught," Aria told Jason with a shake of her head. "We flew over to Alpha Centauri the other day and it was way closer than four lightyears."
"That's the hardest lie for the demons to keep up," Arturiel revealed with a shake of her head. "If people actually thought about how far light years really are they would realize that stars should be winking out of sight all the time. At those distances, a microscopic dust particle would be large enough to blot out the closest star. There are so many rogue planets, space dust, asteroids, and comets that you wouldn't even see stars at all at those distances. One of the demons in charge of psyops came up with the flat earth theory to discredit anyone asking questions about the distance of stars. It keeps search engines from showing anything relevant and just shows flat earth propaganda."
"Seriously?" Jason asked, dumbfounded. "So, all of those stars we see at night are actually close enough to travel to?"
"Well, it would still take a long time if you were flying rocket propulsion vehicles," Arturiel replied critically. "But if you used EM propulsion vessels, then yes, they are easily within range."
"My mind is blown," Jason breathed in amazement. "Why aren't we seeing aliens all of the time then?"
"You do," Arturiel answered pointedly. "They just get explained away as swamp gas. In this quadrant the only thing travelling between worlds will be demons. Earth isn't the only world they've overrun. The fact that angels can be turned into demons and that, until now, the reverse wasn't true, made it a battle of attrition where angels would inevitably loose."
Aria froze as she was suddenly vividly reminded that she shared emotional bonds with three other angels. Her face burning, she staggered to her feet and began weaving toward her room. "You two carry on, I'm going to…to…to go lie down for a bit."
Arturiel and Jason watched her in concern that turned to confusion when Emily started laughing wickedly.
She heard Lexi staggering toward her room as well. This was going to definitely get awkward.
XXXXX
"What was all that about?" Jason asked Emily curiously.
"The four of them went to the Garden of Eden on the sun earlier," Emily explained, her lips twitching with mirth. "They ended up with their spirits becoming bonded to each other in such a way that they feel each other's emotions, and to some extent, sensations."
"The Garden of Eden is on the sun?" Jason asked incredulously. "How is it not burned to a crisp?"
Arturiel started laughing again, watching Jason with amusement. "The sun isn't hot, Jason. The light is a result of electrical currents travelling through channels of plasma that connect star systems to each other and interact with the materials on the shell of the sun. There is a habitable world below the shell of the sun. The only hot part about the sun is the corona above it."
Jason looked like a fish out of water as his mouth moved without sound and his eyes bugged out.
"You'll have to unlearn a lot of what you've learned in life for the cosmos to make sense in a world of angels and demons," Emily commented wryly.
"So, what's going on that is affecting Aria so much that she had to leave?" Arturiel asked Emily curiously. "Are one of the other's in trouble?"
"Clarice and Calypso are having an…intimate moment," Emily explained with an amused smile.
Arturiel blinked, then shook her head wonderingly. "I'm still having trouble seeing a Seraph so personable. My entire understanding of them is that they are cosmic figures far removed from things like personal relationships."
"That's probably part of the problem with the cosmos right now," Emily pointed out critically. "Perhaps Seraphim need to experience some mortality to gain perspective and learn compassion and empathy."
"Are there really only four other Seraphim?" Jason asked, feeling a sense of awe that he was interacting with a being that would one day sit at the top of the ruling class in the cosmos.
"There were nine, originally, but there are currently only four that remain in the light realms," Arturiel responded, her face full amazement. "I still can't believe I have actually been talking to a Seraph. They are never seen outside of the higher realms of light."
"Do regular angels and archangels live in the light realms?" Jason asked curiously.
"We lived in the lower light realms once, before the realm of mortality was created," Arturiel replied with a wistful smile. "It was such a wonderful place. Thoughts influenced the reality around us, allowing us to bring our ideas to life. The rules are so much more restrictive in the mortal realm. I wonder if we'll ever be allowed to return. The majority of angels still live there, but many of us were selected to oversee the mortal realm."
"I get the feeling that things are going to change a lot, now that Calypso is ascending," Eric commented contemplatively. "Whatever force has arranged for my daughters to become intertwined with Calypso seems to have a motive that involves a changing of the guard from what I can see. I wonder if there are any other Seraphim like Calypso that will arise out there in the cosmos."
"I think there just might be," Emily commented with a mysterious smile.
"What are you looking so mysterious about?" Eric asked with a raised eyebrow.
"If I told you, I wouldn't be very mysterious anymore, would I?" Emily responded archly.
Arturiel stared at Eric thoughtfully. "It definitely feels like we are on the brink of a great change. The appearance of a divine instrument is both terrifying and extraordinary."
"What's the significance of divine instruments?" Jason asked curiously. He felt both overwhelmed and excited at the sheer amount of knowledge he was gaining on how the cosmos actually worked and the true history of life. Questions were competing for priority in his head as he stared at a being who had been around for more centuries than he could imagine, with answers to some of life's biggest questions.
"The divine instruments are tools for altering reality," Arturiel explained, her face filled with reverence. "I'm still agog that I've actually seen a divine instrument. Only the Seraphim can use them or even hear them played. The power they unleash by fully ascended Seraphim is too powerful for lesser beings to be nearby when they are played. That's probably the main reason there haven't been hosts of invading angels from the other Seraphim. All Calypso would need to do is play that harp and it would wipe out all but the Seraphim and possibly the Cherubim."
"Does it require all four instruments to rewrite reality?" Eric asked intently. "Or could they do it with just the two?"
"Just the two?" Arturiel asked, her face startled. "They have two?"
"Oh, you haven't heard about Aria yet, have you?" Emily smiled wryly. "The Lore Boar was the other half of her spirit. I get the feeling that she was at least a Cherubim before she became a mortal, and that their spirits can't be contained in one body. Anyway, when Calypso played a song for the Lore Boar with that celestial harp it transformed the Lore Boar into a divine instrument and merged with Aria. She now possesses a tin whistle that is one of the divine instruments."
Arturiel stared at her in shock, blinking as her eyes stared off into space. "There are so many things in that explanation that boggle my mind. First of all, the Lore Boar was real? I thought it was a myth."
"That's why they went to Eden," Emily explained, smiling at something she found amusing. "The Lore Boar was inside the Tree of Life. You can thank Grodek for putting us on that path. He kept insisting that we needed to speak with the Lore Boar. He must have known that Aria's other half was there."
"And Aria is the one in possession of the other divine instrument?" Arturiel exclaimed, her eyes troubled.
"She is," Emily nodded firmly. "Why? Is that unusual?"
"I thought that only Seraphim could play divine instruments, or be near them when played," Arturiel muttered distractedly. "I'm almost positive that's the case."
"Maybe they are only deadly when a Seraph is fully ascended," Eric suggested, raising his eyebrows as he looked at his wife. "We were all present when Calypso played the harp the first time. We ascended more than twenty levels as a result."
"What are these ascension levels you are referring to?" Jason asked curiously.
"When an angel is transformed from a mortal form, they aren't at the peak of their power immediately," Arturiel explained, glancing at Emily and Eric appraisingly. "There are triggers that cause bursts of development, increasing their powers and abilities. It usually takes much longer for an angel to ascend, but I only have angels and archangels as a metric for how quickly they evolve their abilities and power. Perhaps Cherubim and Seraphim ascend much faster."
"Or perhaps they are developing at the same speed, but their power is just so much greater that it appears to be quicker," Jason suggested insightfully. "Maybe they are still fairly week compared to what they will eventually become."
"That's a good point," Arturiel admitted with a nod. "It's difficult for me to comprehend just how powerful a Cherub or Seraph is. There are stories of Cherubim destroying entire star systems, so who knows just how powerful they will become?"
"That's a terrifying thought," Eric declared with a shiver. "I'm not sure I want to have that kind of power."
"It's a bit late to make that decision," Emily told him archly. "Besides, that's exactly why you should have that power, instead of somebody who would want to destroy an entire star system."
Jason nodded his agreement. "Power in the hands of those who seek it is the last place power belongs."
All of the angels suddenly stared upward, their eyes wide with shock. A moment later the darkening skies lit up with auroras. The three angels all turned in unison to stare back inside the cabin where Aria had gone.
"Well, I suppose there are some perks to a unified consciousness," Emily noted dryly.
Arturiel was blushing slightly as she met Jason's confused gaze.
"What's going on?" Jason asked in mild alarm. The auroras were still washing the skies with vivid ribbons of green and pink color.
"I expect the sun just had the equivalent of an X50 class solar flare," Arturiel murmured with a small smile. "Judging by the sounds from the cabin, anyway."
Jason frowned, forgetting that angels had super hearing. "Is it something we should be worried about?"
"No, but I suspect Calypso will have some new powers when she gets back," Emily smirked. "Clarice as well. Maybe even Aria and Lexi"
"Oh," Jason blushed as he finally grasped the context clues.
"That's my girl," Eric declared proudly, his eyes sparkling.
"You and I need to figure this portal thing out and make a trip to the sun too," Emily told Eric with a very direct gaze as she slipped her arms around his neck.
"We sure do," Eric replied with a smoldering gaze.
Jason looked at Arturiel awkwardly, trying to think of something to change the subject. She was watching him with a knowing gaze, her eyes filled with amusement.
"So…do we need to worry about any of these other Cherubim showing up?" Jason asked, desperately trying to fill the silence.
"I haven't the faintest idea," Arturiel admitted with a sigh. "The movements of the mighty were too far removed from my station as a lowly angel to have any idea what they might do."
Devon walked through a semi-permanent portal that connected Tamra's property to his and began making his way up to the cabin. Jason had never met the man, but knew he was also postponing his ascension to angelhood until he experienced parenthood. Devon was whistling as he walked, a cheerful expression on his face.
Jason squinted at Devon as he moved out of sight beneath them and entered the cabin. "Where does that portal open up?"
"That goes to Tamra's house," Arturiel answered with an indulgent smile. "The two of them hit it off pretty well."
"Should I know who this Tamra person is?" Jason asked curiously.
"Do you see this shirt that is custom fitted to accommodate wings?" Arturiel asked, gesturing at her form fitting shirt. "Tamra is our tailor. She makes costumes for various theaters and movie production sets."
"Before Aria found her, we had to either use a lot of safety pins to hold our shirts together, or as Clarice put it, join the bra club," Emily told him with an amused grin. "They've had their clothing destroyed on multiple occasions, so if you ever see them running around in bras, you'll know they've burned through all of the outfits Tamra has made for them."
Jason tried really hard not to imagine the gorgeous angels running around naked or in bras, but it was a futile effort. His cheeks colored and he started trying to remember code snippets, scripts, or anything else that would get the images out of his head. The throaty chuckle from Emily as she observed him sent heat up his neck and ears as he blushed furiously.
"What did I miss," Devon asked pleasantly, his eyes alighting on Jason. "I see we have a guest. I'm Devon, Emily's brother."
Jason stood up and walked over to shake his hand, glad for the distraction from his thoughts. "I'm Jason. I've been working on the hacking project to kill off the nanobots when Calypso sings for the world."
"It's nice to finally put a face to the name," Devon said, shaking his hand with a firm grip. "Thank you for putting this project together. It's personal for me."
"That's right, you used to work for this shadow agency, didn't you?" Jason remembered, recalling his first conversation with Calypso almost a week ago.
"Indeed, I did," Devon grimaced, clearly unhappy with the reminder. "It will be great to give other people the chance I had to put it behind them."
"How far is-" he broke off as a tall angel suddenly appeared behind Emily, radiating power. He had the same double layer of wings that Aria and the others had. His golden eyes glowed brighter for a moment before firing a brilliant white beam at Emily.
Jason's eyes couldn't keep up with what happened next. Aria had suddenly appeared between her mother and the other angel, her own eyes firing off a beam of her own that intercepted the first beam. The angel stumbled backward in surprise at Aria's interference. Before he could react further, Aria fired off an intense beam of light into the angel's neck, vaporizing him instantly.
"Who the hell was that?" Eric asked in shock as he spun around.
"Someone who thought they could do a sneak attack and whittle our numbers down," Aria growled, her eyes filled with righteous fury.
"That was a Cherub!" Arturiel exclaimed in shock. "You just killed a Cherub like it was nothing!"
"It is nothing," Aria declared grimly, her eyes glowing as she scanned the surrounding area. "Now. Just like anyone else will be if they try to harm my family."
A second later, Clarice and Calypso appeared on the veranda, Clarice glowing like the sun as she also searched the area. She looked like she had been in the middle of getting dressed when she teleported, her shirt only partially buttoned up and leaving very little to the imagination. Jason quickly looked away.
"It must have been a second or third order Cherubim," Aria commented as she failed to see any further threats. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to kill it, right?"
She addressed the question to Arturiel, but Calypso answered.
"It was a first order Cherubim," Calypso declared firmly. "I can sense the residue of its essence."
"So, Cherubim's of the same order can kill each other?" Aria asked with a frown.
"I didn't think they could," Arturiel replied uncertainly. "They would have killed each other long ago if they could have. The first order Cherubim are the oldest angels besides the Seraphim because nothing can kill them."
"Until now, anyway," Clarice pointed out with a satisfied grin. She rushed over and hugged Aria tightly. "Thanks for reacting so fast."
"Of course," Aria replied softly. "Nobody's getting past me. Also, finish buttoning up your shirt before Jason dies of asphyxiation."
Clarice laughed, breaking the tension as she quickly finished buttoning up her shirt.
Jason let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He decided Arturiel probably wasn't being facetious when she said she didn't want to make mortal women a letdown for him. Angels all seemed to be formed to perfection.
"I guess we know the other angels are aware of us now," Aria commented musingly. "That was a pretty cheap shot, trying to teleport in and assassinate one of us on the sly. These angels really aren't much better than demons, are they?"
"There's a reason the mortal realm was created," Arturiel pointed out sadly. "It was supposed to be a kind of school where they could learn what compassion and empathy were as they experienced pain and loss. Unfortunately, only a few angels from the higher triads were sent here."
"Oh my god," Jason breathed as he had a sudden realization. "Was I one of the angels that was an asshole? Is my spirit bound to reincarnate here constantly until I learn my lesson?"
"I'm afraid so," Arturiel nodded with a look of compassion. "I should point out though, that the first triad was very indiscriminate in who they consigned to mortality."
"You could say that again," Grodek snorted with a disgusted look on his face as he appeared in their midst. "Mortality was just a weaponized prison to send people that were inconvenient. I remember you, Jason, and you were a decent angel. Too decent, so they sent you here so that you would stop getting in the way."
Jason stared at the blue imp in fascination, feeling a fleeting sense of familiarity. Grodek stared back at him appraisingly for a few seconds. "They didn't count on a Seraph awakening and gathering a host of angels that could resist their power though. Having demons decimate the angels' numbers was all part of their master plan to prevent humans from ascending again. There are some pretty shrill screams in the upper triads right now, I can tell you that."
"Why was I able to kill that Cherub?" Aria asked Grodek with a puzzled look. "Calypso said he was the same order of Cherub as me."
"Maybe there is more to you than you thought," Grodek replied cryptically, then let out a snort of amusement. "The remaining Cherubim are going to be a lot more cautious when they find out Kadmiel is no longer with them. They thought they were untouchable until now. It's going to be glorious to see the fear on their faces when I tell them Kadmiel is no more."
"That was Kadmiel?" Arturiel gasped, staring at Grodek in shock.
"Was, being the operative word," Grodek laughed evilly.
Arturiel seemed to sway in shock as she stared at Aria and Grodek in a state of disbelief. "He was one of the first to turn on his Seraph, Lucifer, before he was cast out. He was one of the most powerful Cherubim of the first triad."
"Oh, I remember well when he turned on Lucifer after gathering so much support for him," Grodek snarled in rage. "The little weasel thought he could stop the revolt if he pulled the rug out from under him. The little snake was always slithering through the ranks, poisoning the minds of anyone who didn't fall in line. He's responsible for more angels being sent to mortality and consigned to demonic assimilation than any other person."
"There will be many more who join him before we are finished," Calypso remarked sadly. "I'm not sure there is any way for them to be redeemed, even through mortality."
"Good riddance," Grodek grinned wickedly. "Every horror you have seen down here on this world can be laid at their feet. There are billions of other worlds just as disparate. A quick end is a mercy they don't deserve."
Jason scratched his head, trying to make sense of all the information dropped in front of him. He had only discovered angels and demons existed less than a week ago. Now it seemed that all the horrors of the world could be laid at the feet of a despotic group of angels who had taken over the cosmos and created mortality prisons to hold anyone who objected to their rule. Whoever he had been before his incarceration was clearly an angel of some influence. The idea that he had been imprisoned in an incarnation loop filled him with an unaccustomed feeling of righteous fury.
"It's time for the show," Aria declared with an excited grin at Calypso. "Are you ready?"
"Absolutely ready," Calypso smiled eagerly as she made her way to the theater where her equipment was set up for the video conference. "Let's go heal the world."