overseen the assimilation of eighteen souls. “No, that’s not what I meant…” Angelica grinned, “…although I’ll pass your sentiments onto Hera if I ever see her again. I meant this decree.”
Tatyana became somber.
“Do you really think we should decide who stays in Heaven and who gets pushed to the Southern Lands?” Angelica inquired.
Tatyana immediately shook her head. “No. That’s too much power for us to have.” She replied, “I think this is wrong on both Yin and Yang’s part. They need to work this out.”
She paused, turning back to admire the view. Angelica joined her. “If Yang passes this decree, I think we can say goodbye to all of this.”
“I think so, too.” Angelica agreed.
“Angelica…” Tatyana began, “you know which way this is gonna go. Take Reiko and go.”
Angelica hesitated, fighting the instinct to deny any wrongdoing. When she spoke, her words were hushed. “Not without you. Or Grandmom.”
Tatyana shook her head, and Angelica didn’t like the ominousness in her face as she spoke. “We can’t all go, you know that. This town needs us to do our jobs. But you’ve done yours a million times over. Grandmom will understand. Take Reiko and disappear. Get away from all this.”
Angelica was speechless.
Tatyana smiled. “Hey, I’m telling you to do this. I understand.”
Angelica pondered her entire situation in seconds. Hera’s sanity may have been questionable, but her views were not. Angelica and Reiko could live in Mount Olympus as a couple, free from persecution and scorn. Hera wanted equality, at any cost. She’d never hidden that. Angelica had been an escort before she’d even received her wings. She’d helped to assimilate ninety-two thousand, seven hundred and ninety eight souls over the course of her career. She remembered each and every single one of them.
She’d never failed in her duties, not once. That was part of why she stayed.
“You’ve done enough.” Tatyana whispered, reading Angelica’s mind, “You’re allowed to be happy too.”
“Tatyana!” The voice of their grandfather boomed across the landscape. The sisters turned to see both him and their grandmother, Esme, descending towards them hand-in-hand.
“Oh.” Her grandfather said coldly once he made eye contact with Angelica. “I didn’t know you weren’t alone.”
“I can leave.” Angelica offered, equally cold.
“No, honey. This concerns all of us.” Esme interjected with her typical smile. Angelica and her grandfather were still engaged in a tense standoff, each one attempting to stare down the other. “You and your sister.” Their grandfather turned away from Angelica, addressing Tatyana, “Meet us at the summit. We’ve received a message from Yevon. The decision concerning who will decide the fate of transcendents is in.”
Minutes later, a little more than three hundred Angels had gathered at the peak of Isobella Flats. Most were flying, bathing the area in a gentle purple aura. Others were either sitting or standing in the various crevices the mountaintop provided. Esme and Chinwe hovered side-by-side at the center of the throng. Angelica was several feet behind her grandmother. Tatyana flew closer behind her grandfather. Angelica had quickly scanned the crowd and repressed relief when she saw Reiko in the crowd, although she was disappointed when her companion didn’t return the look. Angelica understood why, and it made her angry. Reiko couldn’t afford even the slightest amount of impropriety. Even so, she looked sad, her beautiful, pale face drawn into a frown.
Chinwe looked around, mentally counting each of the residents. Once he was certain that everyone was there, he reached to the small of his back and pulled forth a long roll of parchment tied by a bright, blood-red ribbon. Angelica saw it and held her breath.
She looked at Reiko for comfort, but the woman didn’t even blink. To Angelica, it looked as though Reiko wasn’t even breathing. For a moment, she considered Reaching out, but held back when she saw the stony expression on the face of Reiko’s father. He stood rigid, hands clasped behind his back, at the left of his daughter. Her mother appeared softer, standing closer to Reiko with an arm around her and a hand on her shoulder. Reiko’s father was a revered escort. Those he assimilated usually wound up in positions of power, but many had been exiled in the recent conflagration.
Chinwe cleared his throat to call for order and then brushed the ribbon from the parchment, letting it fall slowly to the ground. Angelica watched it go as Chinwe unrolled the parchment.
Angelica leaned in, trying to discern from his expression what the old text might read. As usual, her grandfather betrayed nothing in his face. He leaned over, sharing the parchment with his wife, who quickly scanned it and looked up to her husband. Smiling neutrally, she nodded.
“Let it be known.” Chinwe declared, looking over the parchment to the crowd assembled before him, “Escorts across the Radiants are to continue the tradition of assimilating new transcendent to Heaven! Let it also be known that neither Yin, nor Yang will play any role in the decision of where transcendent are to reside. Final authority now rests with the escorts.”
Angelica couldn’t help wincing. It felt like a punch in the chest.
An uneasy murmur passed through half of the crowd. The others were congratulating each other.
Chinwe lowered the parchment and spoke in a quieter, less authoritative tone; “In honor of this decision and those who supported it, there will be a festival tonight at the Radiant. Hope to see everyone there. But if anyone chooses to abstain, it will not be held against them. Return to your homes.”
Angelica could feel her grandmother Reach into her mind, immediately warning her not to rise to the bait. Neither of her grandparents acknowledged her as they slowly began to fly back down the mountain, following the citizens who’d begun to disperse.
Several hours later, the entirety of Isobella Flats had gathered around the Radiant to celebrate (or mourn) the decision that had been handed down earlier. Angelica sat alone at one of the many wooden chairs that surrounded the pool, which shimmered purple even in the moonlight.
She was unable to take her eyes from the water, and she was equally unable to shake the morbid thoughts that raced through her head. What would happen if someone violent came through? Amen knew that happened enough. Would they still be assimilated or forced into an eternity of torture in the superheated Southern Lands?
Was there still room for forgiveness and redemption?
For those who clung to the old ways, like her grandfather and Reiko’s father, the answer was easy. It caused Angelica to shake her head.
She was surprised by the sudden feeling of a loving presence in her mind. She looked up to the right, and her mood immediately lightened as Reiko stood before her, beaming. “May I please sit with you?” She asked.
Angelica nodded quickly, trying to mask her enthusiasm from the conversing townspeople. She put her hair behind her ear and gave a furtive glance to a couple of Angels who were a bit too close for her liking. “Go ahead.” She motioned to one of the many empty chairs near the Radiant. Nobody had sat beside Angelica since she arrived.
Angelica found herself, again, stunned to silence by the presence of her longtime friend. Reiko was the epitome of grace in motion; tall, blessed with a slender frame that never seemed to lose balance. She was pale skinned with narrow eyes, marking her ancestry from the Northeastern area. She had gleaming, straight black hair that ran down to the small of her back and a smile that could give light to a void. Her emerald eyes sparkled as she spoke, walked, breathed, and lived.
“Angelica, forgive me.” Reiko whispered, her smile fading just a bit. Angelica frowned and quickly shook her head, “What? Why? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Esme came to me, told me that she saw me leave your house this morning.” Reiko confessed, on the verge of tears. “She promised not to tell my family, but I am sorry for what it does for you…”
“Stop.” Angelica held up a hand and spoke firmly. “First of all, my grandfather doesn’
t know, but I don’t think he can hate me anymore than he already does, and second…I don’t care what anyone thinks. If I’d had any sense, I would’ve asked you to spend the night.”
“How would we have explained that?” Reiko joked, laughing.
“I don’t know!” Angelica snapped back, smiling and enjoying the happiness of her companion, “I’m just tired of sneaking around.”
“Oh, I am too, I promise.” Reiko continued, placing a hand on her chest, “But I would rather be discovered running from your house than sleeping in your bed.”
Angelica smirked, nodding. “That’s true.”
For a moment, the two women were silent. “What will we do now?” Reiko asked sadly, as though she’d already guessed the answer.
“I don’t know.” Angelica replied, shaking her head, “But I don’t want to stop seeing you.”
Reiko beamed at the answer. “Nor I, you.”
“Reiko…” Angelica began, scarcely believing what she was about to propose. She leaned in close so no one else could hear…and to be closer to her lover. “…what if we could live somewhere and be free? What if we didn’t have to hide?”
Reiko was lost in Angelica’s eyes for a moment, and then chuckled as though the idea was ridiculous, shaking her head and smiling. “What do you mean? Where?”
“Mount Olympus.”
“But we have not been invited.”
“Yes, we have. I just haven’t told you