Chapter 1: A Meeting in Heaven
It was a vast sky, it seemed to have no beginning or end, and the horizon tinted orange with the first light of dawn gave a magical and serene appearance to the countless clouds that sailed over it. Anyone would have loved to stop to appreciate the scenery, especially if experiencing a free fall at those moments...
"So this is how I'm going to die?" sighed a young man with crossed arms after going through a cloud at high speed. "Or maybe I'm already dead?"
The young man made a gesture of scratching his head in a clear sign of bewilderment, which had no effect on his brown hair; it was already messy enough from the force of the wind. His green eyes tried to spot something in the distance but failed, and he closed them to meditate.
"I think the last theory is the most accurate," said the young man, frowning, to then open his eyes again and look into infinity. "I do not see land or water, only sky and clouds... If there is no land, can a sky really be called a sky?"
Despite his situation, he was not too worried, maybe someone with vertigo would disagree, but this strange place gave him a sense of calm. Which largely counterbalanced the idea of possible grotesque death due to crashing into the hypothetical end of his fall.
"They say that when you are going to die, life passes before your eyes. But no one tells you that it apparently passes by and disappears because I don't even remember my name." The young man let out another sigh and then showed a resigned smile. "Well, I guess it's hard to tell if you haven't had a chance to die first."
After what seemed to be an eternity, he realized that below him, a cloud did not stop growing. He knew that it was actually him who was getting closer, but the size of it was truly amazing.
After several minutes of free fall, the cloud resembled a gigantic island, then a small country, and it did not take long for it to cover all of his vision.
When he was about to crash into it, he instinctively decided to protect himself and cover his face with his arms. It was not the first cloud that he had gone through, but the magnitude of it was such that it actually seemed to be the ground of this world of an infinite sky. In the end, however, the impact was what you might expect from a cloud, actually, maybe less.
The young man opened his eyes again, not having really felt anything, and looked around in wonder... The cloud not only covered a gigantic area but also was equally profound.
"What is happening now?" Suddenly his fall started to stop for no apparent reason. "Am I losing speed?"
Not long after speaking, the young man felt that he was no longer falling but gently descending until he finally touched... the ground? It seemed as if he was standing on top of a dense mist.
He looked around and saw that a gigantic space had been created within the cloud. Now he was in a large white room made of cloud material that resembled marble but was surely not. Imposing white columns supported the smooth white ceiling that he had just passed through and formed two rows along the sides of the vast space. At the end of it, he could see a gigantic white throne that had nothing to envy ivory, and sitting on it, a woman who looked small in comparison but who was still more than five times the height of a normal human being.
Small clouds surrounded the throne, making vision difficult, so you could only appreciate partially the face of the imposing being. Even so, a soft smile could be seen on her face.
"I'm sorry that the journey was a little rough," he heard the woman say in a velvety voice that covered the entire space with serene tranquility. "But you see, you were in a very far place, I had no other choice."
After an initial surprise, the young man recovered and observed his interlocutor calmly. He expected to eventually meet some celestial being that would determine his fate in the afterlife.
"Don't worry, Ms, I'm just glad limbo isn't about falling forever," he replied. It was unknown if the other part was married or not, she sounded quite young, in fact, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Especially considering the place.
"Please, let's forget the formalities; you can talk to me comfortably." The smile disappeared for a few moments, being replaced by a small grimace of sadness, but it didn't take long to reappear. "By the way, it seems there is a misunderstanding. You're not really dead."
"'Really' dead?"
"It's a rather special situation, but be patient; you'll understand everything in due time," replied his counterpart.
"I'm not in a hurry, mysterious representative of the giants, and if I am, I cannot remember it," replied the Young Man, who decided that, if he were not dead, his counterpart would have to be a member of that mythological race to reach such a size.
"Giant?" The aforementioned laughed softly.
The expression on the woman's lips settled again, and then she rose from her throne with a grace unexpected of her immense size. The clouds around her dispersed, revealing a beautiful figure adorned with long, sky-colored hair that fell to her waist. In turn, her irises were like the dawn, and her gaze seemed to be able to observe the depths of the soul.
The imposing figure began to approach the young man, but with each step she advanced, it became smaller. By the time she reached a distance where they could touch each other if they stretched out their arms, she had already shrunk to a normal size. She was even a bit smaller than him now. However, it could be said that both of them were quite tall compared to an average adult.
"First things first," she stated. "I'm sure you do not remember even your own name, although, to tell you the truth, you have had several."
"How is that possible?" He asked, puzzled. "Am I an international spy?"
The divine figure before him delicately covered her lips and laughed again.
"Why don't we call you according to the circumstances?" She said, after thinking for a few moments.
"For me, there is no problem. But what circumstances?"
"That brings us to why I need you; I want you to deliver a message…"
"A message?"
"Oh, perfect! What do you think about the name Aggelo?" She interrupted him, clasping her hands excitedly.
"What does it mean?"
"Nothing," she replied with a beaming smile, disconcerting the newly named Aggelo. "But if you want to know, the origin of it is in an almost forgotten language of a faraway land."
"Okay," Aggelo replied, deciding not to complicate his life; after all, hardly anyone chooses their own name. "And what about the message?"
Ignoring the question, the celestial image personified woman placed her arms around the young man and squeezed him with a force that would be expected more from her former giant form than from her current delicate figure.
"Don't worry about the message. Actually, the message is you yourself," she said with a somewhat sorrowful voice.
Aggelo would have felt a little embarrassed with the sudden embrace, but in those moments, all his efforts were focused on trying to breathe under the immense pressure exerted on his ribs by the delicate arms of his attacker.
"Your mission for the moment will simply be to grow," she stated, releasing him from her embrace.
"I'll do my best…although I don't consider myself particularly immature," Aggelo replied as he tried to catch his breath. "But is that really all?"
"I don't mean for you to grow as a person, but for you to understand what you are, and in more than one way," she answered with an innocent smile on her face.
Aggelo had no more than doubts about what he had just heard, but the smiling look of his counterpart told him that he would have to find out the answers himself.
"We can talk more calmly at another time. For now, the best is for you to continue on your way as soon as possible," she affirmed, now looking into the distance. It seemed as if she could see beyond the white walls. "Your arrival may have alerted the gods, and it would be unwise for us to call attention ahead of time."
"I think I heard some words that didn't give me much peace of mind… But understood," Aggelo decided not to delve into the subject. He felt something strange ever since he set foot in the cloud (or even before that) while he was falling. Something in the ambiance that kept him calm and erased his worries. "Even though I know it's late, would you be so kind as to let me know your name Ms… Are you also a goddess?"
"What did I say about speaking formally?" she asked, frowning, but it was only for a moment, then her smile returned. "My name is Celestia, although it feels a bit strange to have to introduce myself to you… On your second question, I'll leave it to your imagination."
Saying that Celestia's smiling figure disappeared in a sudden mist. Aggelo felt how the ground lost its firmness, and without even having time to think about what had just happened, he was already in free fall again.
It did not take long for him to leave the mist behind and meet the familiar endless sky. Looking up, he could see the immeasurable cloud that was now shrinking in size the further away he got from it.
Looking down, he still could not find land. However, the divine being he had just encountered was definitely not going to let him crash into something, or at least he hoped so...
Not long after, as if the chances of an imminent and sudden end had vanished out of nowhere, an irresistible drowsiness came over him. With each passing minute, it seemed that it was harder for him to keep his eyes open until he simply could not.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone