Angel Monarch

Not like she wanted to send Agnes away too much. It was nice to have someone so stoic around.

Nothing interesting happened in the past few days. Kim spent most of her time training alone or with Agnes. It was interesting and enlightening.

Agnes was weaker than her, but only if they used everything in their power. On a fair one-on-one fight, Agnes beat her ass 9 out of 10 times.

Her progress was slow, but Kim hadn\'t given up. The place which she was visiting would help her even more... If they accepted her apology, of course.

A few hundred meters down the main street loomed the ominous giant building. It was the shape of a heptagon, with one tower at each of the angles. Golden flames burned atop the seven towers.

According to some, the flames had been burning since the temple was built.

This was The Temple of Eternal Flame, which housed most of the Angelic Order. This was the Order\'s largest church because the one in New Constantinople was not yet built.

Over the last few days, Kim learned a great deal about how this side of the world operated.

After waiting for half an hour in that small room, Bran found Kim sitting on the couch, while sipping some soda she found in the fridge. He didn\'t look surprised, which was a bit infuriating, but at least he seemed approving.

They spent a few hours talking about everything she needed to know. It was strange how many secrets he told her. It made Kim wonder... Was Bran stupid, or just didn\'t care about those secrets too much?

In the end, she didn\'t care. Bran didn\'t give her any orders, he only told her to train and be prepared for the future... Whatever that meant...

They placed her housing inside Sera\'s former mansion. Cass and Agnes lived there too, which wasn\'t a problem since the building was huge.

It was also quite convenient, because there was a gigantic training building right next to the mansion. Kim spent most of her time there, but even with Agnes\'s help, it wasn\'t enough... She wanted to train with the best of the best. Discover exclusive content at empire

Back when she killed those three Angelic Order members, it seemed quite easy, but again, she didn\'t fight fair. Kim asked about it and everyone told her the same. If she wanted to get better in actual combat, she had to seek out Lilith.

So that\'s what she did. The enormous gothic temple had a large underground complex beneath it, which held Earth\'s largest secret army. That was her destination.

Walking towards the temple entrance, Kim felt worried. She wanted to train with the Order, but their leader ––Lilith––hated her guts.

Kim didn\'t know what to expect. She sought Bran\'s advice, and he supposedly spoke to Lilith about it, but Kim wasn\'t convinced.

Nearing one of the seven entrances, there was a constant stream of people, some entering, some leaving. Their faces were a mix of anger, sadness, determination, and hope.

These expressions didn\'t surprise her, and she felt them even more than the regular citizens did.

After learning where Sera was and what she was enduring each day... Kim felt that her own suffering after losing her family wasn\'t even comparable to what Sera went through every day.

Learning about Sera\'s past, and hearing her name praised by the whole of New Athens, helped a lot with getting her head straight. Kim still felt awful and deep down she still had a flicker of revenge burning, but it was getting smaller day by day.

Kim stopped before the entrance and looked up at the carving above the doors.

It depicted Sera with her wings holding out her hands. Her face had a serene expression, and her eyes were closed. The Angelic Order\'s motto was inscribed below the carving…

\'From the Ashes, We will Rise!\'

With a sigh, Kim turned her eyes forward and walked into the temple.

...

It didn\'t take long for Kim to find a way to the secret part of the temple. In fact, it was very easy, since one of the Sisters was waiting for her already.

The older woman in her golden robes didn\'t say a word. She just led both Kim and Agnes to a restricted corridor. There they entered a random door, then opened a few secret passages, and after a few minutes, they were inside.

The area was indescribable. Both Kim and Agnes stood in awe as they stared down into the gigantic carved hall of the Angelic Order.

They stood at the top, on a balcony. The last floor of the hall seemed to be about 100 meters below, and it held thirty or forty different levels.

A giant statue of Sera, which was a recent edition, occupied the middle. It was very close depiction of the actual person. She stood there in her usual leather jacket. Her glaive or flames were nowhere to be seen, and she held a gentle smile on her face.

The statue was distinct and incomparable in its design. Every artist would try to either capture Sera\'s warrior or leader side, but this one tried something else... They captured her human side.

The only added symbol was a small seven-pointed star on her jacket, right above her heart.

Agnes stared at this statue for a very long time. Kim\'s attention, on the other hand, got attracted to a different sight.

From the balcony, she stared down and watched as hundreds of people, either in robes or in golden armor, walked around. The people differed by a lot. Some were young, others older. Some were female, others male.

There were even children running and playing, which was a bit strange for Kim. Their parents were part of the Order, and they took their kids down underground too.

"Enjoying the view?" Asked a young feminine voice from behind them.

Kim didn\'t have to turn around to know who the person was, but she did anyway. Lilith hadn\'t changed at all, but her eyes held less contempt when they looked at Kim.

She wore her signature robe, with the giant seven-pointed star on its back. She had her golden hair in a neat braid. Her swirling purple eyes bore into Kim\'s soul.

With a bit of nervousness, Kim took a step closer, then went to one knee, but before she could say a word, Lilith spoke again.

"Get up. You may not kneel before anyone, except our Leader!"

Kim looked up with confusion, and as she rose from the floor, she asked... "Aren\'t you the Angelic Order\'s Leader? You and your husband, I mean."

Lilith snorted in amusement. "Nope. We are the commanders of this army. We are the main recruiters. We are its founders and parents, but we are not its Leader... This army only belongs to the Angel Monarch, the Deathless Phoenix, Seraphine... Our Lady!"

"You best remember this if you planning on joining us!" With that, Lilith turned around and began walking away.

For a moment, Kim wasn\'t sure what to do.

"You should go after her." Said Agnes from behind her.

Kim looked at the older woman with confusion, and only now did she realize she would proceed from here alone. They haven\'t talked about it; they haven\'t really talked about anything. Kim just assumed that Agnes would continue to shadow and help her.

With a sad sigh, Kim looked towards the passage where Lilith had disappeared to and followed in her footsteps.

The corridors were dark. The only illumination the Order used were torches, which was weird and medieval. It also created a nice, creepy aesthetic, Kim just couldn\'t get enough of it.

She caught up to Lilith a few minutes later. She was standing next to a tall, younger woman. They were talking, or more like Lilith was talking, and the other woman just nodded along.

When Kim came close enough, Lilith stopped and turned towards her.

"This woman here is Astrid. She will help you get settled. Someone will bring all your stuff from the mansion; you don\'t have much anyway... Astrid will help you with everything. Congratulations on joining the Angelic Order!"

With that, Lilith walked away yet again, leaving both Kim and Astrid standing in the middle of a hallway.

The two women stared and gauged each other for a few seconds. The tall woman had long, whitish-blond hair, which was placed in an uncomfortable-looking braid. Her irises were white, which was a bit unsettling.

She stood straight as a nail, her whole body covered in the Order\'s signature armor. It didn\'t nothing at hiding her voluptuous body though, nor her defined muscles.

Looking down at Kim, Astrid smirked, then began walking away without saying a word. Kim followed close behind, trying to keep up with the giant woman\'s bounding steps.

She led her to a stairwell, then down another corridor and another stairwell. They repeated this a dozen times. The whole place seemed like a labyrinth, which wasn\'t a coincidence.

An attacking force would have a very hard time fighting when they did not know where to go. Each stair was in a different place, which further complicated the design.

After a few long minutes spent in pure silence, the pair had reached a corridor that differed from the others. It had a few people in them, with many doors opened.

People were chatting, laughing and just having a great time together. The place reminded Kim about the time she spent in school.

Many greeted Astrid by name, but she just nodded at them, keeping her quiet, taciturn persona going. These same people looked at Kim with both confusion and interest. Some tried to greet her as well, but she was too overwhelmed to notice.

Astrid led her to a door at the end of the packed corridor. She opened it and entered, with Kim in tow.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The room was not too big, but also not too small. It held two beds, a small kitchen area, a table for dining, a wardrobe on both sides and a night table for each bed. The kitchen had a mini fridge, a microwave, a hotplate, a coffee machine, and a few drawers.

There was a door inside the room, which led to a small bathroom. The place was cozy looking.

Astrid walked towards one of the beds, then plopped down and said her first words to Kim...

"Welcome to your new home, Tiny!"