Unlike the previous Evolutions, her fourth one felt pretty peaceful. There wasn't any burning pain inside her soul, nor the usual mind crushing headache.
It felt like floating atop a wide expanse of water. Gentle waves rocked her body, caressing her entire existence. All thoughts and worries left her mind, leaving Sera in pure tranquility.
She would've preferred the peace and quiet, but a nagging feeling began creeping on her back. There was a deep anxiety growing in her heart, as if she were forgetting sothing important.
Her hazy mories gradually began clearing as the sound of shuffling footsteps reached her ear.
Confused yet curious, the Angel sat up and glanced around. She was in the middle of a wide expanse of deep blue water with no land in sight. Above, lazy clouds crawled along the bright green sky.
Sera climbed to her feet and summoned a dress made of light Angelic tal, which imitated silk. She took a step forward but stopped imdiately upon hearing and feeling the water beneath her feet.
She glanced down and titled her head in bewildernt. There was no ground beneath the water, yet she wasn't sinking.
"Weird..." she whispered to herself, causing an old, grandmotherly chuckle to echo from the elderly woman standing nearby.
The old lady looked human, albeit much shorter than normal, similar in size to a few month old Nick. Upon recognizing her, Sera imdiately turned away with a tired sigh.
"What do you want... Fate..." she asked, her voice without the slightest bit of respect towards the Conceptual God.
"? I don't want anything... I just felt the birth of a new, powerful Stellar and ca to check her out... Is curiosity a cri?" said the elderly woman's kind, ethereal voice.
Sera groaned in annoyance, then suddenly her eyes went wide, and she glanced towards Fate, shocked.
"Why aren't you rhyming? I thought you always rhyd to make your prophecies feel more ambiguous!"
Fate just chuckled and walked a few steps closer to Sera...
"Well, I can rhy again if you truly want that, but I'm not forced anymore... My physical manifestation exists depending on how you perceive . You've changed a lot in the past two years. You don't see as a prophet who rhys, aning I can finally talk normally again!"
They both stayed silent for a mont until Sera processed her words. She sighed again and asked while staring at the endless horizon...
"Where are we? Could you get back to Earth? I've got work to do!"
While talking, she kneeled down onto the sea surface and pushed her hand below the waterline. It resisted for a mont, but eventually gave way. The water didn't feel any different, yet as she pulled her hand away, it felt sticky and it remained perfectly dry.
"This place?" asked Fate, motioning with Her arm at the endless ocean. "It's nothing special. One of the many abandoned or forgotten Realms. It's void of life save for microscopic creatures... Ti passes here slower than compared to Earth, so we can stay as long as necessary!"
Sera turned towards Fate and narrowed her eyes. She detected hints of a lie in Her words, but Fate pretended to not notice the Angel's accusatory gaze.
"You should spend so ti getting used to those new powers. I doubt you can defeat an Ethereal without using your entire arsenal!"
For the mont, Sera decided to entertain Fate. She might reveal so useful information, which could help her defeat Victor.
"What's Victor's power?" She asked in a rather demanding tone, which caused an amused chuckle to echo from the elderly lady.
"It doesn't matter... The distance between a newborn Stellar and an Ethereal is too vast, unbridgeable... He doesn't even need to use any powers to defeat you..."
The Angel growled, disliking Fate's answer, even though deep down she agreed. However, Her words revealed the lie Sera noticed earlier.
She glanced down at the old woman with annoyance and asked, "There's no ti difference between the Realms, is there? You want to keep here while Victor crashes the tournant."
Fate glanced up at Sera. Her tiless eyes held no emotion other than infinite patience. She stared with a comfortable smile, like a grandmother gazing at Her naïve grandchild.
"Indeed... If you stay here, most of your friends will survive the encounter. At least the important ones that you've been nourishing will. The rest are... irrelevant!"
Her smile widened a tiniest bit upon seeing the hatred flash through Sera's gaze. However, Sera controlled herself and didn't punch the old lady in the face... albeit she really wanted to...
"And if I return? How many will survive then?"
The old woman simply shrugged and glanced towards the horizon. Her eyes narrowed as she gazed through the fabric of reality, but after a few monts she just sighed and shook her head.
"It's impossible to tell... The lines get entangled, creating a hub of neigh infinite possibilities with no probability difference... You might save all your friends or lose everything you've ever loved... Staying here is the safest and best opt—"
Before Fate could've finished her sentence, Sera's determined voice cut through her speech.
"I'm leaving. I would rather try to save everyone than hide away while my friends fight and die... Now, bring back!"
The old lady just rolled her eternal eyes and raised her hand about to snap her fingers. However, before that, she glanced at Sera one last ti...
"Sothing big is about to happen in that arena. It clouds even my vision... There are simply too many Fates about to cross, and the outco is impossible to tell... My only advice is... follow the light!"
Sera frowned and was about to ask sothing when Fate snapped her fingers. The distinct sound echoed around the Angel as reality fell into darkness.
She felt the watery ground disappear and, a mont later, she found herself back in the Hall of Mirrors. The place's dilapidated state disappeared. The mirrors weren't cracked anymore, revealing Sera's exhausted expression.
Castiel's body was also gone, which caused a pang of pain in Sera's heart. However, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Since Castiel had passed away and the Hall had repaired itself, Sera assud she'd inherited the control over this place.
She focused on the surroundings, and a second later found exactly how to control it.
Deep down, she wanted to explore the power behind the Hall and exactly what it could do, but ti wasn't a luxury she possessed. Instead, she simply dismissed the Hall and a mont later, she appeared floating above Bea's forest, at the arena's center.
Her eyes curiously glanced around. Through the Aegis System, she saw the cheering crowd, and a mont later their voices resounded inside the Colosseum.
The people scread with joy upon seeing their Goddess appear. They believed she had won the tournant, and finally the fate of Earth's Realm was decided... She could only smile at their naivety...
She awkwardly waved at the crowd, while Bea and Faith both appeared before her.
They both looked relieved that Sera had survived and successfully Evolved, which ant Faith also beca more powerful. Her shadows looked much deeper and more terrifying.
As for Bea, she also felt when Sera beca a Stellar, albeit she received no power changes. Not that she cared about strength, Sera's wellbeing was all that mattered for the World Tree.
Sera wanted to embrace both won, but also managed was a fragile smile. They all knew this battle was far from over, so the celebrating needed to wait.
While the cheering continued, Sera made a floating platform from Angelic tal. Behind her back, four wings closed near her body, which she realized embarrassingly late.
At the top, she had pristine white-feathered wings with maddening yellow eyes. Below it, her wings made of cleansing golden flas, glowed. Next ca her silvery wings, made of Angelic tal, then... a fourth one.
At the bottom, a familiar pair of crystalline wings flittered. It had a mirror-like surface, which reflected Sera's sad and tired expression.
"I should've known I would inherit his wings too... What a cruel reminder..." she whispered to herself, but upon seeing Bea and Faith's worried curiosity, Sera just shook her head.
It wasn't the ti for moping. Even though her mind could barely focus on the task at hand, she tried her best to chase away all the useless, depressed thoughts.
Eventually, her mind cleared just as the shouts and chanting began dying down. Soon the announcer's voice echoed through the arena, which imdiately sent a shiver down Sera's spine.
"Ladie and gentlen! It looks like we've a winner! Please, everyone! Give a large round of applause to the new controller of Earth's Realm! Our Goddess, Lady Seraphine!"
The voice was similar to the male announcer's, but it felt different. It held much more enthusiasm and little to no reverence towards Sera. When he said Goddess, it sounded more like an insult than zealous fervor.
However, what truly gave away the announcer's identity was his first sentence. Neither the male nor the female announcer ever began their speech without addressing everyone on the planet.
While the spectators cheered and scread in excitent, Sera turned towards Bea and Faith. Both won also noticed these issues, sa as all their friends hiding in the bleachers.
When the cheers began dying down, the announcer's laughter echoed through the arena.
"And now that the fights are over, and only one person is left standing... It's ti for the Finale!"
The crowd glanced around in confusion, and after a second, the feed on the screens changed, revealing sothing unexpected and horrific...
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