D&Devils 3: Celestial Artistry: Chapter 5

"So, where'd you disappear to yesterday?" A blue haired girl questions as she looms over me, her bust inches from my face as I lay down on the bench press. 

I briefly wince as I shove the weight upwards, sitting it back on the rack. 

I slowly raise up. "Sorry about that, Sister Gabriel was just teaching me a few tricks that should help us out in the field. Like how to sustain a light spear so it won't disappear as long as I'm holding it." 

"Ah." Xenovia hums. 

"She also tried to convince me to go to heaven." 

"Wait. if she offered why didn't you go?" Xenovia asks.  

Irina steps over. "Did you merely want to stay for a bit longer to say goodbye?" 

"I wanted to go... I will admit a small part of me did... but... a larger part of me didn't want to leave you to behind... you're my friends and I wanted to stay with you." I give the two of them a gentle smile. 

A small dusting of red appears on the girl's cheeks as I lay back down. "I also have a small personal goal that I want to accomplish... and if I go to heaven I doubt they'd let me leave... until I'm as strong as a Seraph, at least. And, well, by that point you two would likely be old women or dead of old age." 

"Do we really mean that much to you?!" Xenovia gasps. 

"Of course!" I beam, a small mischievous thought coming to mind. My eyes glint slightly. "I mean, I also kind of made a promise with you, Xenovia and, well, I wouldn't be much of an Angel if I broke my word so easily." 

The blue-ette lets out a sputtering cough, face flushed. 

"Hmmmmm?" Irina hums, looking between us, a suspicious hum leaving her lips. "Why... are you blushing so much, Xenovia?" 

"N-NO reason!" Xenovia protests, looking mildly panicked." 

Irina turns to me. "Angels can't lie. Why's she blushing so much?" 

I look to the brunette, giving the girl a half-lidded smug smirk. "Just because I can't lie as an angel... doesn't mean I have to tell you the truth. if Xenovia doesn't want to tell you, take it up with her."  

Irina slowly turns to Xenovia, eyes narrowing, causing me to let out a small melodic laugh as I rise to my feet. 

[Split] 

I take a seat in the grass, breathing heavily as I gaze up into the sky. My companions are at a similar level of exhaustion, Xenovia face down in the grass nearby while Irina lays flat on her back. 

"Hah... I'm getting... better." I huff, a sly smirk on my lips. 

"Mnnnn." Irina groans. "Why'd you throw sand in my eyes... I thought we were over that." 

"At least it wasn't pepper!" I beam. 

Xenovia's head perks up. "Oh? That is... an incredible idea!" 

"Xenovia." I deadpan. "We're not throwing chili powder in each other's eyes. Even I am not that sadistic." 

I smile brightly. "We save that strategy for the heathens and devils!" 

"Of course!" The girl exclaims. 

"You two kind of scare me..." Irina sighs. 

"There's no sin against fighting dirty!" Xenovia protests. 

It's been about five days since Gabriel went back to heaven and life seems to have returned to normal. 

I'm grinding experience, I'm making progress on my other goals. 

It's... kind of peaceful. 

Exorcism boot camp: {Ongoing Quest} 

Current days of Training: 59 
Successful Duel Victories (Against Unique Opponents): 3 

Special Objectives: 
Defeat Irina in a duel: [x] 

Rewards: 
6500 Exp Total 

Special Objective 7: 
6000 Exp, One magic item worth 7000 Gp. 

Irina and the blue-ette eventually come to sit beside me as we gaze across the training fields. 

"So... Xenovia, I'm curious, what was your early life like? Griselda calls you her ward... that implies you were adopted, right? Did you ever meet your original parents?" 

The girl's yellow eyes slowly stray to me as she shakes her head. "No... I've never actually met them... I was an Orphan. I caught the attention of the church because I was quite a bit stronger than the other children." 

"I don't really remember when it happened, but eventually Sister Griselda found me. After which she began teaching me. Extremely basic training to begin with, nothing at all to do with combat. We only started that after I decided that I wanted to become an exorcist of the lord." 

"..." 

She seems to have finished so I speak up. "Have you ever considered like... seeking out your biological parents?" 

"Have you?" Xenovia asks. 

"I have." I nod once. "But my mother fell, so even if she is alive I don't see us meeting going that well. On the other hand... my father's up in heaven. Supposedly a two-winged angel. I doubt he'd come to see me though. Too many bad memories I suppose." 

"I... have too." The blue haired girl admits. "I have wanted to seek them out. to ask them why. To see them for the first time." 

"They could have had a good reason." I quietly mutter. 

She offers me a sole nod, gazing up to the sky. "They could have... they could have been far too young. They could have not been able to afford a child. Or maybe... I was a product of rape and my mother couldn't bear to see my face. I just have no way of knowing." 

"Xenovia..." Irina whispers. "I'm sure that's not the case!" 

I wrap an arm around her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey. I'm sure they had a good reason... maybe they gave you up to protect you... you might be the descendant of some mythical figure like Arthur... or... I don't know, someone else in mythology. You're clearly special in some way." 

"Mnn..." The girl hums quietly. 

"What about you, Irina? How was your early life?" 

"Eh?" The girl squeaks as our gaze strays to her. "Well... it was nothing special, really." 

Her head tilts to the side. "I lived in Japan with my mother and father. We ran a little church in this place called Kuoh Town. Uhhh... I remember having a friend there. This nice girl called Issane." 

"Oh?" I ask. 

"Yeah! We used to play pokemon all the time! I... kind of miss those peaceful days." A weary sigh leaves her lips. "She's probably forgotten all about me by now." 

"Nah, she probably remembers you!" I smile brightly.  

"Anyways... my family left Japan in a hurry, eventually coming to Italy where I began to train shortly after to become an exorcist. Sometimes I just sort of wish I could go back and see her again..." 

"Well, why don't you?" I ask, tilting my head. 

"Well... the church isn't exactly... welcome... in Japan." She winces. 

"Hm. Okay." I shrug. 

My eyes stray across the field only to pause on a figure in the distance that is quickly approaching. "Oh! There's Griselda... who's that she has with her though?" 

My question attracts the attention of the two girls as they also seemingly lock onto the woman and the two beside her. 

So... I'm guessing Gabriel threw her weight around a bit in order to get some additional people to guard me. 

Neat. 

She eventually arrives with the two figures. One looks mildly familiar, white hair with streaks of black tied up in a bun behind her head, she has red eyes and is relatively tiny, she has a bright grin on her lips. Like she's just JAZZED to be here. 

The other is a more reserved girl, she also has white hair and red eyes, but unlike the girl beside her it's a solid white, she hand over her lips, eyes seemingly looking between Irina, Xenovia, and myself. Eventually her gaze focuses on me. 

She seems... hm... there's something off about her... but I can't really... put my finger on it... 

An... angel? 

No... not completely. A miracle child, then? 

Interesting. 

"Irina, Xenovia, Luce." Giselda begins as the group of three stops just in front of us. "These two will be joining your squad for the foreseeable future. This is Lint Sellzen and Sagume Kishin." 

"Hey!" The girl with white and black hair grins. "Cool to meet you!" 

"A pleasure." The other girl nods once. 

I rise to my feet. "Hello, my name is Luce. It is a pleasure to meet the two of you!" 

"So! We doin some training?" Lint asks with a bright grin. "I'm down! I love to fight! It's fun!" 

"Before that, why don't we explain who we are, what we can do and something about ourselves." I smile, looking over the two. "I'll start first... my name is Luce, I'm a pure angel with four wings, and I enjoy painting. In battle I can heal and use enhancement magic comparable to a twice critical. I've also been told that my light spears are stronger than is to be expected from an angel of my strength." 

"Ah..." The blue haired girl beside me whispers. "I am Xenovia Quarta. Ward of Griselda Quarta. I strive to be the world's greatest exorcist and am the current wielder of Durandal." 

"I'm Irina Shidou!" The brown haired girl beams. "I used to live in Japan! But I came to Italy a long time ago! uh... oh! My dad was the previous wielder of Hauteclere! But uh... I don't really have the ability to wield holy swords, sadly." 

"Me next! I'm Lint Sellzen and I'm a descendant of Sigurd! Uh... that's about it, really. I like to fight!" The girl with black and white hair beams. 

"Sagume... Kishin... Miracle Child... I have a sacred gear." The other red-eyed white-haired girl admits. 

"Oh! That's awesome!" I smile. "I've heard about sacred gears, they just sound so interesting!"

"Mhn." 

"..." 

She's not much of a talker... is she? 

[Split] 

It has been about a week since Griselda introduced us to the new members of 'Team Luce'- Xenovia's idea. I couldn't convince her otherwise no matter how hard I tried- and, well, it has been awkward. 

I mean, Xenovia, Irina, and I have connections, we've all been friends for a while now, but the addition of two new members leaves us a little... different? 

I've made some decent progress on quests at the very least. 

Special Objectives: 
Two Months of Training: [x] 
Defeat Sagume Kishin In a Duel: [x] 

Rewards: 
Special Objective 5: 
1500 Exp, Raise Physical Stats that are 18 or lower by 1, One magic item worth 4000 Gp 

Before becoming a four-winged angel that would have increased all of my physical abilities instead of just Strength. Kind of sad but oh well. 

Special Objective 10: 
4000 Exp, One magic item worth 4000 Gp. 

Sagume... can't really fight all too well. Her sacred gear's kind of bullshit though.  

If you ever have played Dungeons and Dragons fifth edition, it kind of works like that 'Command' spell where she can say one word and force someone to obey it. 

The thing is. They do the opposite of what she said. So, if she said 'stand', they would fall to their knees or lay down. If she tells someone to 'heal themselves' they'd stab or otherwise hurt themselves. 

Though, of course, one word so she can't really tell someone to heal themselves. 

Kind of a shame, as that sort of restriction makes it a little less useful, but with some creativity, I'd imagine she could be quite a threat. 

I also kind of feel for her... her sacred gear, 'Modeus Deviancy' has... kind of made her as nonverbal as she is today. She couldn't really control her sacred gear when she was younger so people kept doing the opposite of what she said. The priests forced her to be silent as her lack of control could disrupt prayer or congregation. 

My brush creates one final streak across the canvas as I nod once. 

Ping  

A quest has been completed! 

Ascension to the throne (Part 1): 
Well. Alot was lost during the last great war and as of this moment? Daddy's missing. The heavenly system is on its last legs. Prayers are going unanswered, Traitors abuse loopholes to remain in heaven, and the Angel race is dying out slowly but surely. Someone needs to fix this, and would you look at that? You've brought back an angel that previously died! Of course, it wasn't in the ideal living body, but a form of paint will have to do for now. 

Objectives: 
Reach Level 5: [x] 
Perform Miracles: (5/5) [x]  
Gain the Adoration of at least 12 people: (12/12) [x] 
Have a blast of 'Divine Inspiration': [x] 

(Unique Objective) 
*Paint 5 Unique theologically important locations or objects related to the Christian faith: (5/5) [x] 

As my paint begins to dry it's almost like my very essence has been tugged forwards, my light and my very soul are practically vibrating with excitement. 

Rewards: +1 Mythic Rank {Path Selected: Great Seraph}, 'Prayer Access' special quality. 

Prayer Access: 
You are more closely connected to Heaven's system than most angels, now, much like the Seraph, you are able to detect, intercept and even be prayed to directly! What this means for you? Well... at the moment it's not that important, but if you ever wanted to ascend, perhaps you should learn how to manage and deal with prayers. 

"Please just give me a thousand dollars" 

"-ace the test-" 

"-cheating on him-" 

"-touch her boobs-" 

"Let him die." 

"I just want to live!" 

"-Sick-Fight-Survive-Puppy-Lunch-Bless-Sinner-Stop-Cancer-Accident-" 

My breath comes out in a shaky pant as I bring a hand to my head, the echoing voices bouncing around my skull. 

I close my eyes, sharp breaths leaving my lips as the cacophony of voices and pleas begins to grow muted, eventually fading completely. 

I blink stinging tears from my eyes and quickly pack of my things. 

That was quite unpleasant. 

I can still feel them... just in the back of my head. They're silent... but I can still feel their presence... like... like being able to breathe easily for the first time after having your nose stopped up. 

It's like an entirely new sense has been opened to me and it's... a bit overwhelming. 

The other reward I received though... that is something to be excited by! 

Mythic ranks in pathfinder are... sort of this... 'add-on' rule that makes your character even more powerful. 

Think of it as a second level. 

Each 'Mythic Rank' grants you a small amount of HP as a bonus, as if you had taken the toughness feat, and grants you the ability to select a mythic 'Ability' or 'Feat'. Mythic abilities can range from flashes of omniscience to no longer aging, or the ability to see in the dark. Some of these are more useful than the others. Feats on the other hand merely take a look at the feats you already have and 'supercharge' them. For example, Toughness increases your health by one per level. 'Mythic Toughness' provides twice as much AND grants you 'damage reduction' ten 'Epic' whenever you are unconscious. 

That means that whenever something strikes you, you subtract ten from the overall damage, like resistance. The only thing being able to get over that ability being 'epic' creatures... like a weapon that's 'plus six' when the normal maximum is 'plus ten'. 

I'd imagine that in this world, 'Epic' means like... 'named' creatures and items. Ascalon would cut right through me, but forged blade eleven? It lacks history... a Legacy. A legend. Thus. It's not 'Epic'. Like the tales and epics of great heroes. huh... maybe that's why it's called 'Epic'.

Now, depending on your 'Mythic Path' you are typically granted special qualities. Of course, from where Mythic Paths kind of originate from, 'Wrath of the Righteous', they were allowed to be super overpowered as it was a single player game. I'm not entirely sure what the 'Great Seraph' path will be as... it never existed in Pathfinder... I have no idea what sort of other abilities it might grant and that's exciting! 

Ping 

Mythic Trials Retroactively triggering. 

Create Life: +1 Mythic Trial 

You have ascended to Mythic Rank 2 

Revive the long-dead: +1 Mythic Trial 

Create an Angel: +1 Mythic Trial 

You have ascended to Mythic Rank 3 

"..." 

Huh. 

Great Seraph gives me six additional hit points per rank, thus I just gained eighteen hit points in an instant. 

At first level I gain a pool of 'mythic power' which is equal to three plus double my rank, this is what I would use to do mythic bullshit. After that I gain a 'Seraphim Specialty'. Which is where I pick one of three 'core' abilities which ranges from 'once per day plus once every few mythic tiers you can imbue a weapon you are holding with holy power' to 'cast a spell that you know without spending MP in exchange for a mythic power' 

I've still got to pick some 'mythic abilities' as well. 

I should probably ponder this in my room where I'm alone and can just stare blankly at the wall... shouldn't I? 

[Split] 

Alright. So. Mythic's REALLY good. I think they kind of just gave me the Angel mythic path from Wrath of the Righteous. 

So. 

First rank, I got this neat ability called 'Sword of Heaven' 

Sword Of Heaven: 
Great Seraph can imbue their weapons with holy power. Weapons imbued with holy power deal an additional 2d6 holy damage on attacks, while spells and abilities used while holding imbued weapons deal an additional 2 dice of damage or heal an additional 2 dice of damage. This effect lasts 1 *Minute per Mythic Tier you have.  
You can use Sword of Heaven a number of times per day equal to 1 plus half your mythic rank. 

This ability is quite useful for myself! Two times per day for three minutes- it used to be three rounds... or around eighteen seconds but using a perk I unlocked at rank two I upgraded it to minutes- I can give myself a weapon that makes me quite a bit more powerful. My light spears would be dealing even more damage! Plus there's the healing bonus. 

When I use this, my Cure spell is roughly equal to a Cure two! Heck yeah! Efficiency! A two MP spell for half the cost! 

The next 'Seraph Feature' I got would be something called 'Angelic Halo' which... uh... is quite powerful as well. 

Angelic Halo: 
Mythic Great Seraph gains a celestial halo. Each ally within 50 feet of the Great Seraph gains a bonus equal to half Great Seraph's mythic rank plus 1 to AC and saving throws against attacks made or effects created by evil creatures 

Oh. And I should mention. These aren't the 'abilities' I've been physically picking. These are free for anyone who takes the Great Seraph Mythic Path. Much like 'Mythic Spellbook' which combined with my current spellbook and... well... 

My mythic tier stacks with my caster level so I'm now a caster level nine... meaning I now have access to fifth level spells. 

Uhhh... oh! Right, I gained a mythic increase to my statistics, which I put into wisdom as that's my casting stat.  

There's also been an... interesting... change to myself. 

I glance backwards, a frown on my lips as the brilliant glow of my halo casts multiple shades of golden light around my room, like a kaleidoscope of gold and white light. 

Resting upon my back are four large... gold... wings. 

Not white. Gold. Like Michael. 

Not even Gabriel has golden wings. 

Then you need to consider a few things. Primarily the Mythic Abilities I've gotten 

I got them for a reason, after all.  

a new quest, part two of the 'Ascension to the throne' quest. 

Ascension to the throne (Part 2): 
The first step. The first step of many. You're gazed up at the heavens and have made them your goal 

Objectives: 
Reach Level 10: (6/10) [ ] 
Reach Mythic Tier 5: (3/5) [ ] 
Unlock either the 'Flash of Omniscience' or 'Divine Source' Mythic Ability: [x]  

(Unique Objective) 
* Change someone's life for the better: (1/10) [ ] 

Yeah... 

I picked up some... unique... abilities. 

Firstly, the quest requirement. 

I got both. 

Flash of Omniscience just lets me... know... something. Of course there's some slight limitations. Sometimes that knowledge just won't come. The chances are seventy percent plus my level and Mythic tier. So as I am right now I have a seventy nine percent chance to know something. Twenty-one percent of the time I'll just get no answer. 

The issue with that is that I can't ask any one question multiple times. 

I've had it for all of thirty minutes and I've already used it for a ton of frivolous bullshit. I spent all my mythic points for the day on pretty much memes. 

Alright. Soooo. Uh... Gabriel doesn't like to wear underwear, but when she does she prefers silky lacy white. Her current opinion of me is that I'm her adorable little sibling that she wishes to dote upon, doing all the things a big sister should. Sleeping in the same bed, combing my hair, fixing me dinner, washing my back. 

Or, well. That's what it was up until I revived her handmaiden. Now she's kind of a little... obsessed with my happiness. 

Definitely a lot of the prior emotions still exist, but now with a 'he could change everything' undertone. 

She also believes that I'm quite stubborn... which is fair. I am. 

Uh... I managed to watch all of Magical Girl Sera-tan in under six seconds... including the episodes that haven't been filmed yet... well, I mean, for the latter I sort of just read the currently created scripts. 

I also got Serafall's personal email after that... and found out that Gabriel likes to bully her. 

Kind of petty to bully someone less than half her age, but meh. Whatever. I was planning on bullying her with her email. 

Sixth, I now know how exactly to send Serafall a message. There's a public library nearby and I can quite easily slip out of the sanctuary. There's not really much preventing us from going outside, I've been out a few times. Sometimes Xenovia, Irina and I went out to try some of the nearby restaurants. 

Seventh? 

I figured out what happened to the Tarrasque and Peluda, both fairly famous beasts that had some relation to the bible that by all means should have been placed within a sacred gear at this point. 

They're in heaven. Trapped in God's old workshop. He never finished their sacred gears. 

Eight?  

A how-to guide to get Xenovia into my bed. 

now, I didn't exactly want to USE said guide... It was just morbid curiosity. 

Then I figured out how easy it was... 

Just ask. 

Like. 

I could just walk up to her and say 'Drop pant. Breeding practice' and she'd agree. 

Like... wow... 

A little disappointed. I was kind of expecting to jump through at least a FEW hoops. 

Ninth? 

If Angels can redeem themselves... 

Yes, actually. 

There's sort of a threshold of good they need to accomplish before their wings turn white. The issue is that they are shackled with a sin they second they fall and most fallen don't really wrestle with it. 

Second generation fallen, of course, have a much easier time ascending. Sins of the father, and all that." 

Anyways, for my other mythic stuff.

Divine Source lets me be the 'origin' for domains, but at the moment- unless I take the perk again to add an additional domain of my choice- the domains are already selected. Good- with the subdomain of 'redemption'- and the Glory domain. 

What this means is I can grant my followers the ability to cast certain spells and gain the ability to freely cast said certain spells once per day. 

After that... I uh... 

Picked up something called 'Beyond Morality'. 

Beyond Morality: 
You have no alignment. You can become a member of any class, even one with an alignment requirement, and can never lose your membership because of a change in alignment. If you violate the code of ethics of any of your classes, you might still lose access to certain features of such classes, subject to GM discretion. Attempts to detect your alignment don’t return any results. If a class restricts you from casting spells with an alignment descriptor, you can cast such spells without restrictions or repercussions. If you’re the target of a spell or effect that is based on alignment, you’re treated as the most favorable alignment when determining the spell’s effect on you. Any effects that alter alignment have no effect on you. If you lose this effect, you revert to your previous alignment. 

I took it for one sole reason, really... it synergizes with my Dark Marks. 

Biblical Blindspot: 
Your dark marks have grown. You are now completely and totally immune to falling. Even the most depraved sins now do not weigh your wings. In addition, this boon 'covers' the sins of other angels if they happen to be doing said sins with you... such as unprotected, pre-marital, and really hot breeding sex. 

That wasn't the only effect. 

I'm no longer vulnerable to dark magics. I'm just... a guy... 

I don't plan to abuse this to do truly depraved things- aside from maybe banging angels... a specific angel, that is... but frankly getting rid of my vulnerability was FAR too useful to pass up. 

I flop back on my bed, my wings disappearing into my back. 

'Now what?' I take a deep breath and slowly exhale, then sit up, a small smile quirking at my lips. 

I've got quite a lot of gold from my quests... why don't I start on another painting? 

But oh... what to paint... what to paint?