Celestial Summons

Things have gone mostly back to normal now. Sure, we're still living in Tayde, which is beautiful as ever, but it's not that different from Rosewood. The townsfolk have been very welcoming to all the refugees, including Elizabeth and I, despite us being human. Though, maybe that's just because there are already humans here.

Tayde isn't locked off the way that Rosewood and Sheere are. That would make it pretty hard to trade. You need some sort of papers to get in, so most of the humans are merchants, but there are still the occasional honeymooners.

Thinking back on it, Sofia and I never went on a honeymoon. I'll have to remember to do that when I get back. The gods promised me once, a long time ago, that when this was all done, I'd see her again.

One day.

I walk up the stairs to my room. Vol, Elizabeth, and I are staying in a hotel, though we have separate rooms. It's a proper hotel, too, not too much unlike the old Victorian stuff I used to see in my original life. Sometimes I'm amazed at how much I remember of my first life, compared to the others. I don't mind, though. It can be nice to reminisce.

Since the attack of the second greater monster, there's been a certain idea in my head. The memories of my past selves seem to paint a path in front of me. I'm not sure what the end goal is yet, but I trust myself.

I close the door behind me.

Strewn across my desk are stacks of crumpled up papers, most of them covered in drawings or long lists of numbers. I've been trying to replicate the gods' magic, you see. Celestial magic, if you will.

The only problem is. That I can't. Test it.

I have no idea whether any of my notes work, or how close I am to replicating it.

Which is why I've started working on a new project. It's inspired by the manacaster, but if I'm going to be able to cast celestial magic, I need to make it significantly more powerful. It'll have to be static. My calculations indicate that I need an AM-store nearly 3 times stronger than what we have so far.

In addition to this particularly powerful AM-store, I'm going to need several smaller ones, which I, somehow, need to separate my mana into. That would've been no problem as Number 11 or Number 12, but I haven't quite worked out how to accomplish it with a broken mana store.

Whatever. I'll deal with that when I get to it.

I sit down in front of my desk and close my eyes, letting the memories of my past come slowly to the surface. If only I could remember the sequence.

---

There's a knock on my door. This is starting to get old. I get groggily to my feet. I must have fallen asleep at my desk again. I open the door.

"Can I help you?"

Outside is a young girl. Technically, I guess she looks a bit older than I do right now. But elves just look young, so- hold on... she's not an elf.

This girl is a human. What in the world is a teenage girl doing on my doorstep? And why is she so fidgety? If Vol tried to hire me an escort or something, I'm going to kill him.

"A-are you Shawl?"

What the hell??

How does she know my name? Not Sebastian or Stencil, but my actual, real name. I've never told anybody here my name... have I? Not even Elizabeth and Vol know that.

"What do you want?" I ask, maybe with a bit too much suspicion in my voice.

"I- uh... I was told to come... here..." she mumbles and then trails off.

Right, this girl is actually a teenager. I guess I should try to be slightly less standoffish.

"How come? Who told you about me?"

Hm, not sure that came out how I wanted to.

"I was... praying..."

You're kidding me. Did one of those fucking gods send this girl to fetch me?

"Do they want me to go to a church?"

"Oh- ah- uh- yes. That's what he said."

He? Gaia's usually the one I interact with. I suppose she could be mistaking? Or it could really be someone else.

"Now?"

"Y-yes."

"Can you take me there?"

"Yes..."

I follow the young girl out of the building and up the street, away from the ocean. Tayde is still quite lively at night, but things get quieter the further up we go. Turning a few corners, I follow her through some narrow alleyways. They look like perfect spots for muggings, but we come out the other side with no problem. Crime rates are low in elven-run towns, so that's to be expected.

Looking at her from the back, I notice that the dress she's wearing is going all the way down to her ankles. It's not usually something you'd see a teenage girl wear, even in this world. She's probably a nun. Possibly in training. I wonder why one of the gods would reach out to her instead of a priest or, at least, someone older.

She stays silent until we arrive at a plaza. There's a large building with stained glass paintings standing in the center. The girl leads me to the front door and enters. I follow and she closes the door behind me.

"Do- do you need anything else?"

"Private rooms are to the right, yes?"

"Yes..."

"That's all. Thank you."

I take my seat in the private room.

Now what? Do I just call for Gaia or...

I blink. My eyes are starting to feel weirdly heavy and my head droops a bit.

"Hmn..."

Fine...

If that's how you want to play it...

Giving in to the sudden exhaustion, I lie my head against the cold stone tiles...

And close my eyes...