6. Case 1 part 3 (1/1)

i stood in front of the church again as dawn

oke over the city.it was the morning after the day that i first found the angel and my parents thought i was going on a normal morning walk. oh how little they knew.no, instead i was out here playing the hero.if that fog had been any indication, this place had some sort of connection with that weird tv world. and from what i could hear around town and online, word about the 'moving angel' was already spreading. how long until someone walks in and stays just long enough to get caught in the fog.better it be someone like me who at least has some idea of what to expect. someone who had already pulled this off once before.i opened the gate and walked in as i steeled myself. the memory of the pain from the lightning blast played again in my head as i tried to ignore it.it had hurt, but i had lived.just like i was going to do today.i walked up to the statue and waited for a bit. i took a deep

eath before glancing down.the fog had already reached halfway to my feet.now that i was actually waiting for it, the fog felt slower. kind of annoying to be honest. drawing it out made it worse, and i started wishing for it to just get to the statue to get this over with.i let out an annoyed sigh as the fog finally reached its target. i stepped back and prepare myself as i heard a noise from behind me. i glanced back to see the yellow fog at the base of the walls rise up until they surrounded me on three sides.the church itself was still there though which was nice.that aside, i still had the statue to deal with. i looked back to it and saw the fog start to climb up the column that it was standing on. the fog reached the feet of the angel and instead o climbing any further it went into the angel and started filling it with a golden glow.i squinted as the glow got stronger and stronger until i was finally forced to close my eyes to block out the light. the light faded after a second and i opened my eyes again, trying to keep the angel in my sights.and boy, did i get a sight.the angel was no longer stone. she was also no longer 3 feet tall. balanced on the pedestal was a fully grown woman made of flesh and blood.and a lot of flesh too… was i blushing, because i was trying not to blush?she still had her long hair and bare feet as well as her four wings. they were made from golden feathers now but they still looked the same. but aside from that, she looked almost unrecognizable.instead of the simple dress her statute had, she was wearing a series of black leather straps that only covered… 'strategic' parts of her body. aside from those her only other clothing was a cloth band over her eyes decorated with an eye.well, unless you counted chains as clothing, in which case she had a pair of chains as well. each one was connected to an iron

acelet on her wrist. with the way she was holding them, she looked like she could start swinging them around at a moment's notice.she… turned her head towards me and started floating above the disc."child of man, are you here for penance?"her lips didn't move. her lips didn't move and i could hear her voice all around me. was she in my head? i was pretty sure she was in my head."what do you mean by penance?" i asked as i looked around to see if there was anything else around.there wasn't."my lord has placed me here to perform a task. i am here to accept penance from humans who have defied the lord and partaken in unholy arts,""what do you mean by unholy arts?" i asked trying to not think about the fire balls and curses i was throwing around last week."the power called 'persona'. a vile magic created from the strength of the human heart," she explained. "for power to be born from such a place is unacceptable to the cycle,""i see," i told her with a gulp. "so what kind of penance are we talking about here?""are you here to offer penance then?" she asked as she twitched her wrists and clanked her chains."i would rather know what the penance entails before answering that," i said as i raised up a nervous finger."there can only be one penance that can be offered that can outweigh the sin of engaging in the vilest of sorcery," she said as she lifted her hand up a little before snapping it back down. the chain sang through the air as it followed her movements until it slammed back onto the ground, kicking up a line of dust. "the life of the sinner, given over to be purified,""i was afraid you were going to say that," i said as i summoned the card behind my back. "i'm going to have to pass on that whole penance thing,""if penance will not be given," the angel said as she rose higher into the air. "then penance shall be taken,""come persona," i summoned lamia just as the angel dove right at me. lamia formed an agi and threw it at the angel as she drew her arm back. she twirled to the side as the fireball went past her. lamia and i dove to the side as the angel swung both chains down on the ground where i had been standing.i scrambled to my feet as quickly as i could as the angle swung back around at me. i summoned lamia again who rushed forward into the air with her nails glowing purple.as fast as she was, she wasn't a quick turner was she? lamia crashed into her back and stabbed her nails in. lamia started to fade away just as the angle rolled in the air and swung both chains into lamia.i grunted as the chains smashed into lamia's gut and i felt the pain mirrored on my own body. it was nowhere near the pain i had felt during the lightning bolt, but it was enough to make one thing clear.any damage taken by lamia was mirrored back to me. which i guessed made sense, she was a part of me.still, even if i did take the hit, at least i got something out of it. i watched the still turning angel and waited for the purple glow of the poison to start.it never came. instead she completed her turn and came flying towards me.did blight fang only have a chance to poison, or was the angel immune? either way i had to think of something else and think of it fast.okay… why had she

oken off in the first place? all it had done was open her to attack and make her attack from a different direction, i glanced back and saw the church behind me…she was an angel, a servant of god. this was a church, a house of god. what kind of servant destroys her master's house?if this worked then whoever made this trap was an idiot.i rushed for the door, summoning lamia mid-run. she slammed into the door and bust it down just quickly enough for me to run into the church without slowing down.i backed away from the door and got ready for anything.instead of bursting through the door like me, the angel calmly landed on the ground and walked in through the door."to think that such a vile creature would seek sanctuary," she said as started walking towards me. "you only prolong your own demise,""persona," i said as lamia appeared on top one of the pews. i could feel her magic as it formed into a curse that washed over the angel. "you know i'm starting to understand why my parents never took me to church,"the angel grimaced, and i was pretty sure it wasn't just because of the rakunda that i just hit her with."when you failed to submit to the lord, i believed you to be some sort of heathen at worse and a heretic at best," she said as she held her hand up and the chain started to glow. "but to think i was facing something even worse, an apostate,""is that really worse?" i asked as lamia shot a fireball at the angel. her head snapped up as the chain came to life and sliced the fireball in half."of course it is," she explained as both chains started rushing around the church, avoiding any and all parts of the church and instead coming right at me.i ducked under a pew as the chains flew overhead and the angel kept talking."at least the heretic worships the lord, even if they do so incorrectly. at least the heathen carries some faith in their heart, even if it placed in pagan gods. but the apostate?" she said as the chains shrieked through the air. despite the speed of the chains in the air, the angel was speaking as calmly as ever."the apostate has nothing in their heart. none are as deserving as death as they are," she announced as the chains wrapped around the pew and came right at me.i rolled to the side as they flew past me again, only for the chains to stop in place.i got to my feet and looked around the room.the chains had stopped moving and had instead frozen in place. the chains were glowing with a golden light that looked like they were holding the chains up.i reached into my pocket and grabbed the receipt of the book that i got yesterday. i still had it and it looked like it was about to come in handy.i tossed the already crumpled up ball of paper onto one of the nearby chains.it burst into flames at mere contact."you have stepped onto holy ground. i cannot attack you within this," the angle explained. "however if you were to just so happen to touch one my chains and burn to death… well wouldn't that be such a dreadful accident,"i had to admit, she somehow managed to sound completely sincere about my death counting as an accident. still i could see a bit of a flaw in her plan."wouldn't the fires burn down the church too?" i pointed out."these chains create holy flames," she calmly explained. "even if you were to collapse onto the ground burning, not a single beam or nail of this place would catch fire,"well there went that idea. had to think of something else. the air was so thick with chains that i didn't have room to summon lamia. not unless i was okay with them going through here. and considering that i just learned that damage to lamia was reflected back onto me, maybe not the best move.had to keep her talking while i thought of something else."so who exactly put you here?" i asked, hoping for more information on what was going on."why the lord of course," the angel said clearly. "who else would have command over me?"okay so i could see three possibilities here. first one, she was telling the truth in which case… yikes. maybe best for my sanity to just assume that that one's not the correct choice here. second choice is that she's lying. in that case there wasn't really a point in asking her questions. and the final option was that she thought she was telling the truth.i could work with that last one."so you were put here to kill persona users right?" i asked as i looked around for anything in the room that i could grab without burning myself. "why? any reason besides it being 'dark magic'? because that doesn't sound like enough for me,""it is not your place to question the ways of the lord, nor is it mine to explain them to you," she said, just as calmly as when we started.i had also finished my search and it did not look good. the only thing close to me was a copy of the bible that had been left on the pew. with nothing else to work with, i just stood there, the church dead silent except for the rustling of chains…chains that had been dead quiet a few seconds ago.there was no way that it was that simple was it?"i don't know, i would say that anyone who gives his creations free will and then gets annoyed when they don't worship at his feet is a pretty crummy creator," i told her before waiting for her reaction."that you cannot see the greatness in his plan is the fault of none but yourself,"and there it was. her voice, posture, and face were all as emotionless as ever. but the chains…the chains were rustling even harder. they clinked and jumped at me, like she wanted to

eak her own rule and attack me. she was holding back… and i could work with that.because even if i was going to die, i wasn't going to die without making this angel regret being created.i grabbed the bible from the chair and held it open to the first page."just what are you planning on doing with that?" the chains stopped moving, almost like they were stunned into confusion. "are you planning on converting now? i have to warn you that doing so will not save your life,""so no matter what, you're going to kill me? no way to talk you out of this or settle this diplomatically?"the angle just shook her head."okay then, in that case before i die, i want to test something," i snapped the book closed and then held it over a chain.i dropped the book as the chains went wild."you abomination,"i sneered as i caught the book with my other hand. "i guess the chains really are selective about what they burn,""handle that holy book with care apostate," the angle demanded as the chains shook. i swiftly ignored her and opened the book back up.i quickly closed my eyes and asked forgiveness from every book in the world for what i knew i had to do."now let's see how the pages do," i tenderly grabbed the edge of the page and tore it off.the chains exploded in a flurry of movement, filling the air with screams as flames leapt off them and landed harmlessly on the church floor."what are you doing?" the angle screamed in my head.looked like she really could do other emotions."well i figured," i told her as i set the torn page down and grabbed the second."that if the book is immune to the chains,"rip."well then the pages should be too,"rip."and i the pages are immune,"rip."well then i can use the pages,"rip."as armor to get past your chains,"rip."might take me a while to get enough pages to cover myself in though,"rip."but i have you here for company, so that's nice,"i gave the angel the most sincere, happiest smile i could as i gleefully tore off another page.she screamed in rage as she

oke. the chains all rose up and then fell back down on me like two chains once more. i summoned lamia who pulled me out of the way as the chains

oke through the floorboards.the screaming grew louder.the angle rushed forward, the chains falling to her sides as she knelt around the hole she had just made."no no no," she repeated as she reached into the hole and grabbed the wooden boards below. after pulling them back up she set them to the side before digging back into the hole.was she…? oh my god she was. she was reaching for each individual splinter.reaching for something so small probably meant that she was completely distracted. and from what i could see, my rakunda curse was still on her, so her defenses were down.she was wide open and i wasn't going to get a better shot.i crushed lamia's card as she appeared in front of me."burn," i commanded as lamia sent a fireball at the angel who burst into flames. unlike her own holy flames, my fires jumped from her burning body to the wood around her.i turned around and walked away, the church beginning to burn along with its angel. i put some distance between us and sat down to watch the flames.it took a while, but eventually, i was sitting in front of a burned down husk, no trace of an angel or a church in sight.i got to my feet and walked to the gate to the courtyard. looking past the bars, all i could see was an endless sea of fog."well now what?

case 1 end