The meeting concluded with my eventual agreement to Michael's proposition. Once everything was prepared, I would be transported into the human realm—specifically, to an island known as 'Aetheris Haven.'
Without delay, Uriel took hold of my wrist and pulled me down another corridor. The room she dragged me into shared the same timeless elegance that had become all too familiar—walls of pure silver trimmed in gold, ceilings that gleamed beneath ethereal light. Yet, something set this space apart. Lining the walls and counters were objects appearing eerily similar to laboratory equipment from my past life.
I folded my arms, eyeing a rack of test tubes. "So, what do you have in mind?"
Uriel didn't answer immediately. She spun on her heel with an elegant flourish, a sword now resting effortlessly in her hand. Its steel edge shimmered beneath the overhead lights.
"I'm almost certain you've retained your regeneration~" she said with a singsong lilt, a mischievous smile curling her lips as she pranced towards me.
The blade shot forward, a silvery blur. I barely registered the movement before a sharp sting grazed my arm. A fine line of crimson bloomed on my skin.
Uriel's eyes widened. "Oh my stars—" She spun around, snatching a test tube from a nearby table, and hurried back, catching the droplets of blood as they fell from the wound. "This is rare. You've never bled before. A sword like this shouldn't even be able to scratch you."
"Is there a reason for this part?" I asked, still stunned by the speed of her strike.
The blood continued to drip steadily into the glass, but as I watched, the shallow cut began to sizzle and vanish, the skin knitting itself closed with a faint hiss.
Uriel blinked. The liquid in the test tube began to steam and then evaporated altogether.
"Huh?" She tilted the tube to eye level, now completely empty. Her hopeful expression collapsed into a pout as she set it back on the rack.
Choosing to ignore her sulk, I asked the question that had been weighing on me since my arrival. "So... despite my power being shattered, how is it that I still retain my immortality?"
At once, her pout vanished. Her entire face lit up. Apparently, asking her a question was all it took to dispel her gloom.
"I'm glad you asked, Lord!" She drifted away from the lab table and moved closer to me, her smile radiant. "It's a little complex, so I'll explain it simply."
"I appreciate that."
"Before creation, you existed alone in the void—as an omnipotent will, a consciousness without a body. Time hadn't yet come into being. You lingered there for an eternity, until one day... you got bored."
I raised an eyebrow. "Definitely does sound extraordinarily boring..."
"To create something from nothing, you sacrificed a fragment of your own metaphorical flesh. From that, existence was born."
I furrowed my brow. "So I am existence... and existence is me?"
"Not quite," she said, tapping a finger to her chin. "Your 'flesh' became the foundation of space and time—the scaffolding of the universe. Your physical body is the universe. That's why, when your form takes damage, reality rushes to repair it. The universe needs you alive to sustain its structure."
"So, I can die... but doing so would be extremely difficult?"
Uriel nodded. "Exactly."
"And if I did die?"
She paused, giving the question real thought. "The universe would remain. But it would stop expanding. Time would slow, maybe even halt."
"Sounds catastrophic."
"It would be. Depending on how much power your avatar holds at the time."
I exhaled, letting the weight of her words settle over me. "And since I'm only an avatar of my true self... what happens to me if I die?"
The question left my lips quietly, but its gravity echoed in the space between us.
Honestly, I was worried.
What if this body—this avatar—really did die one day? Would Atlas simply be erased, nothing more than a passing thought in the mind of a slumbering god? Would everything I'd felt, everything I'd struggled to become, vanish the moment I was no longer useful? Like a dream forgotten upon waking... would I fade, quietly and completely, as the true Caelus stirred back to life?
Was I just a flicker in someone else's eternity?
She bit her thumbnail, brows drawing together. "I don't know," she admitted. "It's not something we angels have ever had to consider. No avatar has ever asked before."
She bit her thumbnail, brows drawing together. "I don't know," she admitted. "It's not something we angels have ever had to consider. No avatar has ever asked before."
I frowned, the unease curling tighter in my chest. The idea of vanishing like a forgotten dream unsettled me more than I cared to admit.
Clearing my throat, I shifted the topic. "Considering my body self-heals... would my regalia be something like—regeneration?"
"It should be immortality!" Uriel announced proudly, throwing her arms up like a stage magician unveiling her final trick.
A familiar voice cut through her theatrics.
"Calm down, Uriel. We don't want our Lord attracting too much attention just yet."
Michael stood in the doorway, one shoulder leaned casually against the frame. Uriel stuck her tongue out in protest, but said nothing.
"I've finalised your living arrangements, Lord," he added, stepping into the room.
Moments later, Gabriel arrived behind him, bowing respectfully. "Your access into Mythoria has been approved. I just need to know what regalia you'd like listed on the application form."
I looked between the three of them, struggling to comprehend how they worked so quickly. "You may put 'Regeneration.' Thank you, Gabriel."
He stiffened, then burst into silent tears of joy.
Uriel glared from the corner, clearly annoyed by how moved he was. I quickly added, "And thank you too, Uriel."
She perked up immediately. "It's all in a day's work for you, Lord," she said with a smug toss of her hair.
Michael stepped forward, producing a small rectangular object from his inner blazer pocket. "Here."
I took it, examining the sleek black surface. "A cell phone?"
"Every teenager needs a way to communicate with their peers," he replied. "Plus... this has the key to your residence and your starter currency."
He said the last parts quietly, as if they were an afterthought.
Excitement surged through me. I grinned, gripping the device like it held the key to my future. A shiver ran through me as reality sank in—I was going to high school. In a world full of monsters and supernatural abilities, no less.
But who cared?
I was finally living the life of my dreams.
"When would you like to leave, my Lord?" Gabriel asked, still slightly teary-eyed. "We can have it arranged immediately, if you wish."
He bowed low. Something about him reminded me of a loyal knight pledging himself to a king.
And I—somehow—was that king.