Suddenly, I head Arre shout, a slight fear was audible in his tone, "Why are you here?!"

Opening my eyes, I looked up and saw the one who managed to scare Arre.

Floating above me was a teenaged girl with long black hair which fluttered in a non-existent breeze.

She was wearing tight jeans and standing almost directly above my head, so all I could see clearly was her hair and the bottom of her pure white, and undamaged, sneakers.

Jumping back, using my wings to get extra distance, I observed the situation.

She had her back toward me, but when I landed a safe distance away, she turned her head and looked at me.

This time I could see a little more, I saw her large pure silver eyes, but I could also see small red lips which were opened in a happy smile, exposing perfectly white and straight teeth.

Nothing else of her face was visible though, I still had no idea what she really looked like.

This time, I felt a sense of curiosity from her, along with a feeling of acceptance and maybe slight admiration.

Suddenly, her voice rang in my head.

 

"Eshael was my follower, my most devout believer. But then she suffered at the hands of the Elven Nobility, and only because of the Elven Goddess's begging did I allow that species to continue living...

They made my Eshael suffer.

She had stopped talking and praying after those events.

But recently, she began to brag about a boy.

She admitted loved him more than she loved me, there was a deep pride and joy in her voice.

This intrigued me, because of how much she loved me, and for many tens of thousands of years, vowing herself to me, yet she now loved a boy more than me.

You are that boy...I believe I can see why she liked you.

I have been observing you since before Eshael died... You interest me.

My name is Fortuna, but I shall grant you the honour of being able to address me in the same way she did... Call me by the name that only Eshael could, my old mortal name.

Call me Ariel."

 

With these words, the girl, Ariel, turned back to Arre.

I felt like my head was going to explode and my head spun.

My Master's original name was Eshael, she said that she used to worship the ancient Goddess of Luck, Fortuna.

Now I got to meet her.

Her words held both curiosity and a strange happiness, but they held no anger over me stealing Master from her.

Arre was snarling, exerting more and more pressure as he tried to make his spell move downwards.

But Ariel held up the massive Stygian sphere using a single slim hand, the orb was perfectly still, even the ripping and crushing effect on space had frozen.

Arre was in his full combat form, he even had all of his wings deployed as he utilized his strongest Void aura as well, the spell he had deployed was one of his favourites and one of his strongest.

But he was being easily thwarted by Ariel.

She wasn't even in a combat form, nor did she even seem to be putting in any effort.

"I am here because this child interests me." Her voice was quiet.

For the first time I was glad that a deity had an interest in me.

"Get out of here, you interfering bitch!"

Arre was starting to get really mad.

I would be happy even if I died now.

"Nah, it should be you who scurries off like the cockroach you are, Arreritichi. We know what you do, but we allow it because there has been no reason to stop you before."

Ariel called Arre by a name that I had never heard before.

Was it his true Divine Name, or was it the name that he had before he had ascended?

"Don't call me by that name, hag!"

Well, it looks like Arre made a mistake.

While Ariel seemed to be rather peaceful, that was only until he said that word.

She began to laugh, but it sounded ice cold... Even I felt an uncontrollable surge of terror, and I was the one that she was protecting, not the one that the anger was pointed at.

"Oh, I am a 'hag'?" As the ice-cold voice emerged from Ariel's mouth the temperature dropped and the clouds of gore that had yet to disperse began to freeze solid, even I was shivering as a thin layer of frost covered me.

Arre flinched.

It was both gratifying and amusing to see him nervous.

"No! No! You misunderstand, you are still a young woman." Arre rapidly backpedaled.

The girl shook her head with a sigh, "Go back to the Realm of the Gods and think about what you said to me..."

She raised one hand and gently clenched it into a fist.

Arre let out a whimper as the space around him rapidly folded, collapsing in on itself, a portal opening behind him and sucking him through.

I could see a white empty room behind him.

He was banished so easily...

A ripple appeared next to me and Soea appeared with Anna in her embrace.

Soea quickly stepped up next to me and pressed herself against me, her eyes rapidly roaming over my body. Her eyes widening as she saw the partially healed scar on my chest, and the visibly shredded muscles and veins that could be seen through my badly damaged skin, blood still leaked from all the orifices of my head.

"Thank you," I remembered to thank my saviour as the girl slowly lowered herself to the ground and turned around.

"You're welcome. Continue to entertain me, and don't change. Eshael wouldn't want that. But don't expect me to step in and save you again, since I did this to save you from the direct interference from a full deity... But I might, heh. Anyway, keep living well, child. I will see you again, and you might even see me," She giggled, then made her expression serious as she looked into my eyes.

I felt the touch of an enormous mind touch mine, unlike anything I had felt before, even the Angel felt like a gentle breeze when she deliberately tried to intimidate me, Ariel had only brushed me with a millionth of her mind.

Now her appearance no longer worried me, and I knew that as long as I entertained her, she wouldn't turn against me.

Feeling reassured, I nodded.

Ariel took one last look at me as she rippled and disappeared like smoke blown away by a gently breeze.

I was surprised.

This time, everyone important lived.

I had a second encounter with Arre, and no one was taken from me this time.

With a happy smile, and a sigh, I looked over at Soea next to me.

I had a lot to do now, for I lost my home and actually had an excuse to move around again.

As I walked, Soea hurried along behind me, still carrying Anna.

Looking at the unconscious Anna, I smiled and reached out to gently touch her head.

She was luckily fine.

I had a promise to fulfil for her, since she still couldn't do it herself, and the Angel had even sacrificed quite a bit to save her. I would resurrect and protect the Angel.

Suddenly Anna twitched and Soea let her down.

Looking over, I saw that her eyes had become solid gold.

"I wish to talk to you, before this child awakens. I know that the both of you wish to help me, but I do not wish to remember. How you described about my Soul and Primal Personality, it seems like you have knowledge of Souls and other forbidden subjects?" The Angel asked me, unlike I expected, there was no blame in her voice, unlike anyone else who knew of my knowledge.

But she had also turned against Arre and everything for which he stood, so she didn't care about my knowledge of Souls.

"I do." I looked closely at the Angel's face, "You do know that if I am to resurrect you, it will require a viable body... And to Name you."

"I do," the Angel replied to my words with a small nod, there was no hesitation, and no nervousness in her voice, "You can trust me, and I know that I can trust you. My Soul is linked with this child, and I have changed because of her... She is madly in love with you, for you saving her, for being the only other being she knows from her world, and someone who truly understands her, having suffered too."

When the Angel paused, Soea looked over at me.

Those were almost her exact words when she described my hidden feelings that I didn't notice deep in my consciousness.

"I changed...I feel an attraction to you as well, though I do not know if I like it... After what was done to me," The Angel, using Anna's body, approached and pushed herself up against me.

After a few seconds, she pulled back, "I request that you wipe all my memories from before I appeared in this child's head, when you give me a body."

"Alright."

I owed the Angel for saving Anna, and doing something like that was millions of times easier than getting her a body, so I could easily do it when I resurrected her.

At my words, the Angel smiled and sat down.

Soea calmly watched, though she was interested in this new person.

I got up, my wings extending.

Soea got up as well.

The Angel stood and smiled slightly, with a slight twist of Mana, her body changed and she sprouted two feathery wings. They looked like normal Angel wings, but I could feel that the innate feeling of holiness wasn't there, since the Angel had long almost all of her Grace.

Taking one last look around, I found myself sighing, this place was only my home for a few weeks and there was nothing remaining for me, but I felt a slight nostalgia.

My next destination had been decided, but first I needed to stop in the Dragon lair, and once there I would begin the process of resurrecting the Angel, erasing her memories, and waking Anna so we could discuss it.

I would also give the red gem to Soea, like Ariel had suggested.

Then, I would fulfil the first of Master's regrets and go to the Elven Territories and find her younger sister.

I would restore her family, and kill the current Soul Shureen, getting revenge for master and officially becoming the new Soul Shureen.

The End