[Note: This chapter is yet another branch of the second subsection from the last chapter, recycling some of it for consistency]
But then, the wind shifts, as if there's a sudden gale. Not powerful enough to blow you back but definitely noticeable, like the sea breeze at the beach. Cold chills ran down your spine, you had a weird, ominous feeling about this. The sky inexplicably darkened as if it were night time, but at the same time, the sky looked full of stars, as if you were in some remote location, away from the city's lights. However, that made no sense, you were pretty deep into the city right now.
Suddenly, you heard the roaring of thousands of flames, and that night starry sky soon became filled with something. It took you a few seconds to understand what you were seeing, and even longer to truly process it, as you found yourself surrounded by what had to be thousands, if not millions of angelic figures floating in the sky, the way that rows upon rows of them surrounded you made you think of what a full crowd in the ancient Roman Colosseum would've looked like, except that every single one of these 'spectators' had magnificent, flaming wings and they themselves emitted a fiery golden and reddish aura.
Then, all at once, their voices resounded with an ominous sounding chanting in a language you couldn't hope to recognize, but it definitely sounded like an ancient or even a dead, largely forgotten one. You felt fear anchor your feet to the ground and freeze most of your body in place. Why were you seeing this? You were just a simple teenager heading to the church for some counseling... did this somehow piss off someone upstairs?
Then, another light emerged in the sky, one with such radiant intensity that was greater than that of the Sun, forcing you to close your eyes and cover them with your forearm. Once again, you heard the loud roaring of flames, but this one sounded closer. The intense light subsided and you hesitantly opened your eyes, which immediately widened in shock upon what you were looking at. There was a throne that looked like if it was made of solid gold with countless gems and jewels embedded into it. It had four large wheels that themselves had wheels within, and they were all full of eyes.
More uncomfortable chills ran down your spine, feeling that you were seeing something you were clearly not meant to. Sitting atop that throne, that flew uncannily fast and then came to an abrupt stop, gracefully landing a few meters in front of you. Atop the throne sat a woman, dressed in clothes that you managed to recognize as the attire of ancient Hebrew women, albeit a much fancier version of it. Her face was obscured by what looked like a hooded veil, though you could see that she had bronze, or a similar skin tone. Behind her head, a large ring seemingly of pure white light shone.
At that moment, you wanted to run away with every fibre of your body, yet you remained in place, something within you prevented your legs from moving and stifled your voice. The woman's delicate looking lips curled into a smirk, and just then, above her 4 symbols appeared, made of raging flames that burned without any discernible fuel, making no smoke, right in mid air.
Your heart skipped a beat. Despite having only gone to Church a few times, and having a few stories read to you by grandma Regina, you were fairly sure that you could recognize it: the Tetragrammaton. Upon realizing this, you covered your eyes with your hand and turned your head away, but your legs refused to move, as if bound to the ground by an unseen force.
This very supernatural looking woman let out a faint chuckle and the chanting from above ceased immediately.
"Why are you covering your eyes and averting them, child?" She asked, her voice was deep but still feminine, and definitely sounded authoritative, like an Empress of old.
You gulped nervously, unsure how to proceed. Should you just answer? What little you knew of those old testament stories suggested strongly against it. And you still were baffled beyond belief, why would God appear before a simple, unimportant teenager?! You didn't even dare question the veracity of what you'd witnessed, instead you just accepted that it was happening and the best you could do was roll along with it.
"You may speak now" She said in a calmer tone.
"I... I remember reading that no human can look at God and live to tell the tale" You said with a shaky voice, each word you uttered felt like it could trigger a dagger shot right at your heart though fortunately, nothing of the sort happened.
"Looks like someone did his homework" The woman chuckled again "You may open your eyes and look at me though, for you will not die from it"
Very hesitantly, you obeyed, no longer covering your eyes with your arm and turning to face her. However, looking at her still made you deeply uncomfortable, almost as if every single cell within you sensed the sheer danger of the situation. Having some situational awareness, you hadn't fully processed it yet, but you knew that you were right now standing before the presence of God, who for whatever reason took on the shape of a woman. But still, it felt wrong and slowly you got down on your knees and ended up doing a full prostration like what you'd often seen in anime, albeit those were often in a much more lighthearted, comical context.
"I like your attitude" The woman said "However, I'm intrigued. Most mortals would be eager to ask so many questions, and yet you're not..."
It felt like the riskiest thing you'd done in your not-so-long-life but you mustered whatever courage you had left and asked just one question "Can... Can I ask just one thing without getting killed for it? I'm afraid of getting burned or turned into a pillar of salt, or anything that kills me..." You asked, glancing upwards at her.
The woman simply nodded and gave you an amused smirk.
"W-Why did you appear to a simple, unimportant teenager?"
When the woman's hand moved, you couldn't help but flinch, which prompted more amused giggling on her part. She merely brushed a few strands of her hair with her hand.
"That is a fair question, given your own limited knowledge as a mortal, one that's not even fully grown up at that" She said
"But then again, I think you understand that my own knowledge and understanding of things goes FAR beyond human comprehension, don't you?"
"Y-Yes!" You felt incredibly lucky not to have suffered for it, but were still deeply afraid.
"Hmm?"
"Yes... ma'am?" You gulped, but despite her face being obscured by the hooded veil, you sensed that it was still not good enough.
"Yes... Your... Holiness?"
"I kind of like that one" She said, laughing a little more. She then pulled the hooded veil back, revealing her face. Something compelled you to look up and see it. It was what you half expected at this point, she looked like a pretty lady of Middle Eastern origin, adorned in a way that only befitted an Empress. However, her eyes were different, there were no irises nor pupils, they simply glowed with white light, like two miniature moons.
"Your mother raised you well... and that is to say a lot for someone who doesn't worship me" She then said, gesturing at you to stand up. Your body did so without you actively ordering it to, a very strange feeling.
"Now, to properly answer your question from earlier... I have appeared before you to aid you in your little personal quest" She said.
"H-Huh?!" This was by far one of the most unexpected things you heard, but in light of everything that had happened up to this point, it wasn't that surprising in comparison.
"You want to rid yourself of those flawed, sinful impulses, do you not?" She said "Not many are willing to fight against those, and for that, you deserve a little help"
"Oh..." You had no idea what to say at this point, though you nodded in agreement.
"It's very commendable, seeing someone so young taking active part in trying to better himself, trying to rid himself of the disgusting desires of the flesh..."
"That's not what you said when we made those two sculptures in clay!" A man's voice was heard, coming from somewhere unknown but above. In a mere instant, the woman frowned and gathered fire into her hand, angrily throwing it upwards to the sky.
"Shut up!" She angrily yelled and then took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. You dared not ask what was that, for fear of becoming her next practice target.
"Come, I shall rid you of your impurity" She said, extending her hand, which glowed with white, unnatural light. You felt that said light somehow radiated cold instead of warmth. Somehow this felt like it was either too good to be true or that this could be something else beyond what you really wanted, but, could you question God? You didn't think so, and thus, you slowly began to walk towards her.
At that moment, the once clear night skies became clouded, which got you to pause. The woman sitting on the throne also took notice of it, and her lips curled into a scowl, but then she ignored it and looked at you again.
"Come, my child" She said.
Almost immediately after, lightning struck from those dark clouds, hitting the woman herself! Most specifically, her hand, although it didn't look like it sustained any visible damage but it certainly hurt, as she grunted in pain.
"Hands off... Asherah!" Another woman said, descending from the clouded skies, sporting two large feathered wings. This woman had long blonde hair and fair skin. But unlike the one who you had presumed to be God, this one had a much more curvaceous figure, bearing a great resemblance to Lillian's, although with a much larger chest, and it didn't help that her clothes were too revealing, one could say that it was most likely some sort of bikini with a precolumbian Mexican indigenous theme to it.
"First of all, you're no child of hers" The blonde woman said as she made her landing, standing between yourself and Asherah.
Once again, you wondered what the Hell Heaven you got yourself into...
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May 12, 2023
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