"Huh...?" In front of me stood... A mature, beautiful woman donned in a pure white and golden armored dress... A large golden ring floating and faint-golden shine behind along with her long golden silky hair reached all the way down to her waist gave her a holy, royal aura. Beauty, elegance, royal, holy, all words that could describe her. 

"Grievous Lady..." She--... First was her voice, it resonated with a clear ring, almost like she spoke to the soul. Secondly... Grievous Lady...?

I... looked around, huh...? Where's Kou? "... Um, ah..." Oh, I forgot to introduce myself... I don't think this woman means any harm. "My name is Shinjii Tenshi, a Shinji Noble of the Kawachi Empire." I introduced myself with a gentle, courteous bow. 

The woman in front of me continued looking at me... "... Tenshi, is that the name you go by Lady..." Huh? Why did she--, "My name is Pristina Yggdrasil, the Angel of Bounty." Pristina... Yggdrasil, such elegant names. Yet... Lady...?

... what did it mean...?

A chair popped out of... nowhere? She than sat down. "Do not hold back, our conversation is for us only... Your friends are with the Holy One; think of it as both sides being with someone they belong to." Pristina told me in a comforting grace... How did she know I was worried about them? "Take a deep breath Lady; focus on thinking about something, perhaps yourself. Who are you?" I followed her instructions...

"... Who am I...?" A... sense of dread, regret took over...?

"Control your emotions - it is nothing compared to what you could do, but those Fragments contain absolute misery. After death - the strongest force of evil -, you collect these Fragments to weaponize Lady." Fragments... Control my emotions...? "Countless memories of misery will invade you when you think of your origin. While it is odd, thinking of the truth in your current form will only ruin you; even more as you collect Fragments of Dark." Fragments of... Dark? "Trying to remember who you are will ruin you. Try to simply think of yourself as you as the present; it will be difficult to try and not pursue the truth but it is a must if you wish to maintain yourself as you collect more Fragments." 

... ha--... ha--... I...

... ... ... I tried to think of nothing... ... ...

... ha--... ha--...

I slumped down... Huh, when did this chair come? "... I... understand..." I muttered--... I felt everything was slowly starting to make sense to myself... "... Don't question myself, don't seek the truth; that is what you are telling me, Pristina?" I took a sigh--... Did... No, thinking of it would only redo what happened before...

"Yes, and if you do see, try to forget. When you turn and your eyes open red, you will frenzy. Your hazy grey eyes are simply a shield someone imprinted onto you Lady, changing into your true eye color, violet, won't change you to frenzy, but you won't be able to control your own actions... Hope that your true self knows what to do." Wait wait--? I... grey, to violet, to red? And, what about my true self and my eyes being a shield? "I can't explain details or why such things were done; I can only tell you what would happen in these cases." 

... such vagueness... "... Understood... I can't complain if you're being vague for me, thank you." I said. My curiosity wanted to know, but... I couldn't. "Though... if possible, when I came to the Holy Castle, the strange light dome darkened. If possible, can I know what happened?" I decided to ask if I could even know why that happened. I was almost certain it was because of me, but... No, no questioning why that happened, me.

"I can tell you some parts..." Pristina said... She got off the chair - it looked like golden shining wood -, "As an Angel of the Apostle, or as the belief title me, the Authority of the Apostle, I can confirm that Apostle exist." Huh... I wanted to be surprised, yet... nothing surprised me in that... "But in short, the shield that protects Castle Astera is a shield that rejects other worldly beings, that is the shield. Don't make assumptions based on that; as much as it hurts, you can't find the truth." Huh...

... other worldly beings... I would love to make and think of everything, but... that limitation of learning who I am... "Is... there any possibility I can learn about my--..." Wait, I... can't say about myself... "About my future...?" I reworded it; it should be less about me learning about me, but more about events.

... ... ... silence... ... ...

"I... can't give an answer to that..." Huh... even she has a limit to what she knows... "I can allow you to meet it, if you wish to find indirect answers and truths Lady." Indirect answers and truths... The loophole of my protection?

I nodded... "Nothing seems to be rejecting me, so... If you could, thank you Pristina." I got up and made another light courteous bow. 

I followed Pristina out of the room, out into a golden glowing wall of light... As my hands exited, I realized something... The golden light enough it reflected back an image, this time it was truly me instead of that younger looking version of myself... I--, no... questioning it further would be unwise for the time being...

I passed through the now black-dark grey void and found myself out in a hallway. To the left was a door, behind me was the room I came from, which still had the golden glow... from this side. Between the two doors stood a... mirror... and there stood that young girl that resembled me again... 

"Is there something wrong Lady? You seem to be staring at the mirror quite intensely." Pristina asked... ah, could she not see the reflect of me? It looked quite odd to see a younger similar looking me standing next to Pristina.

... If she doesn't see it... "No, nothing." I said... "I just forgot I don't have a dress with me. Is... this fine what I am wearing?" I decided to redirect the conversation to something logical... Surely riding shorts with a blouse was improper.

Pristina...? "Follow me back into my room. I probably have some dresses will fit you Lady." Pristina headed back into the golden light, to which I followed her in. Back here... I looked around a bit more; it was clearly a place both for presentation and living. Curtains covered a significant area to the right entering here, it was probably her room. The somewhat large area that we entered in was probably a small common area for Pristina and probably a other individual. To the left... was also curtains...? Huh, did... No, chances are it probably was just storage area. We slowly walked together to the left side of the room and... Huh, a small bed with countless dresses that seemed too small for her. "These aren't my dresses if you are wondering Lady. They belong to the Heir to Angel of Bounty; or my child. I made countless dresses for when she grows older, but you should look beautiful in her dresses either way Lady." Huh--, she has a child?

I... well, I mean--, she looks young, but she could be in her 30's. Just... She had a child? Sigh, ignoring that... Pristina took a pure-gold around my size and showed it to me.

"Here, this should fit you." It... was entrancing with the golden fabric and threads...

I... held the dress. "Thanks you, I can put on the dress myself."

"Tell me if you need help." I nodded to Pristina's words before she left me alone in the curtains here. 

Luckily I naturally wore a lot of my dresses myself, so putting on dresses and such was usually easy to do. The only exceptions were the few that required another person to put on. Though I had no dresses like that, I helped Kou with so many dresses... Even though most of what the--, no, I need to start saying all my dresses were simply either skirts with elegant tops instead of dresses. Kou, unlike me, had proper dresses, and was properly tendered to my the old maids of our household before the Empire invaded again.

"Done." I came out with the golden dress... It was a little tight and small, but not to the point it hurt or constricted me. I felt a little bad for her child; when she grows to be able to wear this dress it'll be used. 

Looking around I saw Pristina reading a book... "Oh, you look gorgeous, why didn't I dress you up before Lady?" A... motherly smile befitting a woman came to her... the only thing that broke her image was her refering to me with 'Lady'. Just what does Grievous Lady mean? "It will be quite a walk to get to it's room from here, though enjoy the view as you can with your current self Lady." Pristina said as she led me out of her room. I followed and traced behind her path.

We walked through various hallways. In particular, remembering Asashio's words, I found a hallway filled with stained glass art depicting various young girls. A girl with shiny-golden hair, another with a light-ocean blue hair, one with deep-red hair, and another one with light-green hair. Above them all stood a black-haired girl... It strangely resembled... somet--...

... No, thinking about it will lead to me somehow... I threw that idea away as walked behind Pristina, increasing my pace a little to try and keep my mind busy...

A large glass panel showed into the castle's courtyard with blooming golden-flowers and two busy gardeners. Beyond them was out into the city as the castle towered the surrounding walls... Astoria, I never realized how massive it is compared to even Eris. Eris was massive in terms to most cities I've been to, but this... Astoria is something entirely otherworldly in the endless expanse of pure white.

Soon we were met with a massive door to what looked like the entrance to a throne room. A white door with countless golden flowers patterns on throne room door... until--, wait?

"Forward and you'll meet the current Royal Family who console with the Apostle. To the right of the throne room is--," The wall dispersed into light before--! Wait, a hidden door? "The true door." The throne room door was replaced as various sigils formed; the white door was soon changed into a...? A black-glowing door with countless--, no... I could read those symbols and characters. 

"... The Apostle's Gate..." The largest characters above read... The connection I felt to Dark Magic was unlike anything before--... No... Thinking about it, there was one time I felt a connection unlike before... It was when I was first handed the Grimoire that taught me my two Dark Magic spells. That... that cloaked man from before who Yatori said was a common comer seemed to have had a link unlike absolutely anything before--, "Is... this how strong Magicians feel when they feel another strong presence...?" Even without opening the door, the presence inside was absurd... Characters imprinted onto the door seemed entirely out of nature; like some lost technique... There read characters, " ' | Sealing | ' ' | Anti-Mana |' ' | Anti-Ether | ' ' | Anti-Void | ' and... ' | Life-Steal |' ..." There were so many other characters, some that sounded like they had very importance's, and some others that looked like they held low importance.

What... Spells imprinted onto objects? Is this the secret to that massive Defensive Spell that covers the entire castle? 

Pristina started to--... The link--, just what lays beyond that door? "Here... it will most likely give you an answer, Lady." I... felt drawn to go towards the door... "Wait Lady--, I need to cast some protective spells for us!" 

... it was too late... I felt drawn to go past that door... I walked forward, past into the door...

" | Holy Grace | !" I kept going forward...