"You must be the new recruit," the voice said. "So, you say you want to earn your salvation back. You didn't seem so sure when you talked to Samantha."
"Alexis." Sean let out a small squeak as he faced the woman in front of him. "I was nervous and scared. I still am. I have no idea what's happening to me; I know I feel safe, and I followed Samantha here to you. My eyes cannot comprehend what I see. If you could please give me guidance and wisdom, I would greatly appreciate it."
"So, you do have potential." Alexis swung around to reveal her small stature. She appeared to be three feet tall, and beside her, a staff golden in color with the initials A on it.
Sean tried to keep in his laughter, his cheeks flared red. He turned around. "Though I need to keep my composure, I don't want to be sent to hell for laughing at the leader of this domain. I could be dreaming in hell if I'm not careful."
"Are you done? I could send you to The Void for that. I know my small stature elicits a certain reaction from your kind, but I am a high-ranking angel, and with a snap of the finger, you could be turned into dust. So do not mock me again."
Sean, looking over at Samantha, wanting comfort.
Samantha stared forward, her blue eyes looking at the bookshelf behind Sean, paying no mind to Sean's antics. "Alexis, Sean would like the ability to become a Dreamweaver?"
"If I may ask, what does a Dreamweaver do?"
Alexis sat back in her chair, looking at the man before her. "Dreamweaver's here in our society are those individuals with special privileges to enter the dreams of humans on Earth. You would be, as you would say it in your language, a ghost. People with high spiritual nature may be able to see you. But you go out at night on missions to enter dreams and stop the demons' attacks."
"You mean I would be fighting demons. I have no skill." Sean hissed, turning his neck to the right.
"You humans are an exciting lot," Alexis said with a frustrated look. "We do love you, but you can be dumb as rocks. You will be sent to go on several missions with a trained and more experienced Dreamweaver. Most Dreamweavers travel alone, depending on the type of demonic presence present. You will be given a gauge where you can read the demon's sinister nature. Eventually, you would develop a sixth sense to understand how demons operate in your physical realm. In time, you may be able to earn your way into paradise. This is not a guarantee; you can be tempted like anyone else can in the dream world. It is not for the faint of heart. Demons have the power to destroy your soul."
Sean thought of all the superhero movies he saw as a child and what type of outfit he would have. The part about dying and demons left his mind, and all he thought about was to slay them quick with whatever training he would receive.
"You seem to be awe-struck." Alexis looked at Sean with a slight smile. "Don't worry, the training won't kill you, but it'll feel like death. Demons are a fierce adversary, and we have to save as many humans as possible."
"Save humans, I mean, what will that even look like?"
"You enter dreams, and you save them. The demons die. I have nothing else to say. Samantha will guide you to your rest area, and you will start training immediately. That is all." Alexis looked down at the book in front of her using a pencil in her right hand to scribble something down.
Samantha nodded as she looked over at Sean, standing there still flabbergasted, glaring at the tiny angel. Samantha let out a short cough.
"Thank you, Alexis," Sean said in a hurried tone. "It is an honor to be here to do our best to serve in whatever capacity, don't expect much for me; I'm a feeble human. I've never helped myself in my life, and this is different for me. I am prideful."
"I like this." Alexis looked up for a moment and back at her paperwork. "Samantha, take care of him, please."
Samantha nodded as she turned quickly, and Sean followed suit. They went through a door to the right.
Sean's eyes once again felt as if he was in a daydream of sorts. The door led back to the room from before, and it seemed like he had just woken up. Looking back, he saw the door vanish as they hit the ground back in front of the cranky angel from earlier.
"I see Alexis didn't kill him or send him to The Void, so he's going to be one of those Dreamweaver's. I can see a loser from a mile away." The cranky angel shift his left shoulder a loud crack resonating around the magical room.
"I have hope in him," Samantha says. "I've watched him his whole life though I wish you would be more attentive. But if this is a chance for redemption, I'm going to make sure he's trained up with the best people we have here."
The old angel scoffed as he flew back up, opened another book, and wrote with a quill in a language Sean couldn't understand.
"When I get power, I think I'm going to take that guy on in a fight." Sean put his fist together.
Samantha walked forward, looking at Sean with a smile. "Even the weakest among us can take a novice Dreamweaver. You would do well not to challenge him. In his heyday, he was a great fencer in Paradise. None can match his strength or his speed. He struck with precision, but age does affect us all."
Sean tapped his thumbs together. "Your age. I thought angels lived forever. I believed the Goddess Anastasia made y'all infinite to be here forever to watch over us. It makes no sense to me you can die."
"Remember what I told you," Samantha said. "The way a spiritual being can be killed by someone of a similar nature. We can die because demons have the power to kill us. But we are firm in our own right, and a good goddess has given us strength to fight against the monsters, and most of all, to care for fragile humans. And she created humans from mana. Mana, is what you're going to use to draw out your power. Now that you are a spiritual body, you are connected to mana more than ever."
Sean nodded slowly. "Mana, I heard about it in church. The priest would always talk about the Goddess Anastasia and her love for us."
"You would have done well to listen more to the priest," Samantha said, walking forward from the library near the entrance location.
Samantha opens the door, once again astonished at what he saw. There were a variety of apartments and single-family homes. They weren't incredibly lavish, but they did have a particular charm about them. They looked like medieval-style homes but with modern conveniences. He looked up at what he thought was the sun. The ground beneath him was silver mixed with cobblestone. It was smooth to the touch and almost perfect in a sense.
"Divine Angel," a woman said, bowing and looking at Samantha. The woman also cut a slight smile at Sean.
Sean smiled back at the woman, trying not to blush. Man, she was a looker.
"Yes, there are attractive people here. But love is not your focus. I want you to know about love as part of the Dreamweaver Society. Many people get married but having children here is impossible."
"Can I get intimate?" Sean put his two index fingers together, waiting for an answer.
"I guess you'll have to find out," Samantha said, walking forward. She let go a slight giggle before walking toward the corner to a small condo.
Sean looked up, and he saw the sign in front of him changed his name. Sean Willton. Something invisible had written his name under a small piece of wood beside the door.
"Welcome home, Sean." Samantha gleamed back at him, who was almost in tears.
Sean wiped his eyes. For the first time in his life, he felt someone cared about him. I'm going to work hard to be worth saving.