>>6098811“Argia Candente,” Carnaval says with a voice like echoing bells, “I wish to speak to you.”
You behold the Angel of Ansàrra, standing in front of you, her glass wings tinkling like far-off bells beckoning to a celebration. Carnaval flexes her marble fingers, as if she wanted to reach out to you — but hesitates and pulls back.
“I have heard your name many times upon the lips of your Master,” she adds. Her voice is so smooth, almost liquid, <span class="mu-i">metallic.</span>
You notice, because you can’t think about anything else to do at this moment. This is the <span class="mu-i">Angel.</span>
Ever since you heard about the Holy Land, you thought about its white shores, the tall towers capped by blue domes, the noble standards flowing in the wind. A land of plenty and of health, a land of full life and life fulfilled, under Ansàrra’s undying watch.
But you have never been to the core of Madua, not to mention ever even saw Her floating palace. You have heard Her voice and you have felt Her presence, especially the other day when Soralisa reached out for you in the Well, and tonight, many times.
But the living Angel.
Here.
For you.
Each of the crystal feathers making up her wings shines with a crimson glow that bathes her smooth skin, like light scattered upon a vermillion sea. Her gilded eyes search for your face, inscrutable. She smells like molten iron, like acrid burning oil, like incense and with the tinge of spilled blood. She is prayer and punishment, and she’s here.
“How— how may I be— of service.” You put together your words, pulling them from the fragments of your scattered mind. Carnaval frowns a little, her wings tinkling softly as she adjusts her posture, hunching over to lose a couple inches, seeming less threatening perhaps. Less glorious? Unlikely.
“Now I had my chosen line wrenched off me. This is indeed a momentous occasion.” She tilts her head, giving you another long look. “It is I who wanted to be of service to thee. Due to my carelessness, you and your companions have been assigned to a mission far more dangerous than your rank or your experience may guarantee. An oversight that has troubled my heart and weighed upon my wings.”
[cont.]
CAPTCHA: KPS2... this brings me back. 