Angelic

"Knock Knock." 

The door rattled as something relentlessly pounded on it without mercy. 

Isn't this town abandoned? Who would be knocking on the door? Aaron turned his head to the side to try to see through the crack in the wall.

The pounding on the door became louder and more desperate as if it was begging to be let in. Aaron knew that whatever creature was begging to be let in wouldn't be too fond of him, and he didn't want to meet whatever caused that person to become a floating corpse.

He scanned the room and quietly retreated towards what looked to be a small cabinet that was filled with brooms and shovels. Moving the tools out of the way, he slid into the cubby, careful to avoid knocking over anything that would cause a loud noise.

Gently closing the doors behind him, he slowed his breathing to a quieter, more relaxed pace so whatever it was that was trying to get in couldn't hear him.

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard from the entrance as the door collapsed from the relentless onslaught of pounding from the intruder.

Aaron peeked through a small crack in the cabinet and observed what had forced its way inside the building. 

It mustn't have hands since it didn't open the door normally, but instead opted to break it open… I wonder if it's that Manticore from earlier? 

Aaron's eyes moved towards the door that was obscured by the settling dust.

Standing at the door was a humanoid creature who appeared to be female; she had golden eyes that pierced the darkness. The most unusual aspect of this creature was its white wings, which shone with a divine luster, emitting a warmth that felt as if he was embraced by fire itself.

A-an angel? He thought with his mind seemingly overloading from just staring at her divine figure.

The arms of the angel were shackled together with a stone that looked as if it was formed from liquid darkness, with the chain being formed from rubies. 

She was wearing a simple white dress that ended at her ankles, allowing her to walk barefoot through the debris. She scanned the room, checking for anyone who could be watching before walking towards the hole in the floor where the corpse had previously lain.

Aaron's view of the angel was gradually reduced to only being able to see its brilliant wings that radiated divine warmth.

What could an angel be doing in the Sea of Chains? 

Rumors of the appearance of angels weren't uncommon after the discovery that when holy bishops perished, they would be purified, becoming angels who walked the earth continuing their divine mission, however, they usually stayed within the Sea of Wishes far to the East, especially avoiding the three most dangerous seas.

This knowledge conflicted with the present scene of her seemingly examining the place where the deceased had formerly lain.

Could she have been sent to check the status of that man? Was he a high-ranking member of the church? 

Angels themselves weren't powerful and could only exert small miracles, such as 'Divine Light,' which purified darkness and eliminated weak curses. 

The title of 'Angel' was a loose term since while they might've had the appearance of the angels written about in the divine texts, they believed that the true angels of the world were the emissaries of the deities and that they didn't sail the seas any longer.

Many of these so-called 'Angels' openly rejected the title of 'Angel' due to them feeling as if they were impersonating true angels; however, the opinion of ordinary citizens wasn't the same as their own.

How could anyone deny that they are angels!? The bright white wings and divine light are the definition of angelic, and her beauty was incomparable to any woman he had ever met before!

Aaron couldn't do anything except observe for now, not risking the chance that this angel wasn't as friendly as she seemed; however, he thought of trying to get a better look.

The blonde-haired angel pressed her shackled hands against the floor, attempting to move the floorboards to get a better view of the foggy puddle where the body had vanished.

Aaron, who was trying to get a better view of her, attempted to move slightly, but as he pushed the cabinet door open slightly, one of the tools in the cabinet began to fall, finally hitting the floor with a loud thump.

The woman, who had previously had her shackled palms pressed against the wood, instantly turned and faced Aaron with a blank expression.

She began walking towards Aaron, who had started to back up at an increasing speed, trying to avoid any contact with the unknown angel, no matter how 'Divine' she appeared.

Reaching the farthest wall away from the woman, Aaron could only grab the nearest object in hopes of defending himself.

She continued towards him with a steady pace, stopping when she was about two meters away, giving him a gentle stare with her golden eyes.

She suddenly opened her mouth as if she had wished to speak, but closed it before saying anything. The angel looked at Aaron, finally showing emotion on her face. She moved her eyes to indicate for him to follow her gaze, however, he was too busy staring at the cuffs that shackled her wrists together.

A lone marking was seen on the right cuff with a familiar symbol that Aaron had sensed he had seen before.

That marking… Where have I seen it before…? 

The woman who had been waiting for Aaron to do anything held up her chains in front of her face in an attempt to gain his attention.

Aaron refocused his attention, shoving the symbol to the back of his mind.

The woman nodded with her head, signaling Aaron to follow her. Aaron, who was still unsure of what to do in the presence of such a divine figure, quickly followed along without any complaint.

She brought him to the hole in the floorboards where the body had vanished earlier, pointing with her head at the pool of liquid that filled the gap.

"A-Are you looking for the man who was here?" Aaron stumbled on his words, afraid that she would blame him for the death of the man.

She slowly nodded her head and moved her eyes towards the liquid and then towards Aaron again, signaling him to continue speaking.

"W-Well, he was here when I entered this building, and after confirming that he was human, I studied the islander mark imprinted onto his head, which indicated he was a native of the Sea of Chains, which led me to stumble backwards, where I then noticed he had vanished. After that, I heard your knocking and hid in that cabinet, afraid you were one of the beasts from the island who had come to hunt me."

After blurting out his whole story as fast as he could, not missing any details, he waited for her response, but she simply stared at him as if she was looking through him.

Aaron realized that she must not have the ability to speak due to whatever curse was imprinted on those shackles.

Those chains must be incredibly powerful to restrict an angel of all things! I wonder who was able to entrap an angel…

The woman slowly raised her chained hands and walked towards Aaron. She tried to reach out to place her palms on Aaron's chest, however he flinched backwards in fear before realizing that she had no intent to hurt him. 

He quickly returned to his previous spot and apologized to the angel for flinching, with the only response from her being a small smirk that revealed brilliantly white teeth hidden behind her lips.

She reached outward again, this time Aaron resisted the urge to move backwards, allowing the beautiful angel to press her palms against his chest. 

When she made contact, Aaron immediately felt all his soreness and hunger dissipate as if it had simply been taken from him. The angel's palms emitted faint light as she retracted them and smiled. She backed up and looked at Aaron once more before turning and walking outside the collapsed door.

Aaron rushed out behind her, however, all traces of the female angel had vanished, leaving him completely dumbfounded about what had just transpired.

Was it just my imagination? No, all the cuts I got from the bushes on the way here were instantly healed, while my stomach feels as full as if I had eaten three full meals. 

He was awestruck from the experience he had encountered before remembering one key aspect of this angel.

Why was she chained? And what was that symbol on the chains? 

Aaron stood at the entrance of the town hall, staring off into the dense forest, sprawling with life, seemingly in deep thought.

A mysterious symbol on a locked pair of shackles? That sounds familiar…

He suddenly remembered something of great importance.

Lying in the captain's quarters on the small Ghostship he had arrived on was a small cabinet that had a symbol that was nearly identical to the one on the shackles!

Though the one on her wrist wasn't a normal skull with strange eyes like the one on the boat, it was of a horned goat with a broken halo above its head.

Aaron, who had had his fair share of terrifying experiences on this island, decided that he should quickly check for anything else in this town and then get back to his ship as fast as he could, avoiding any terrifying creatures on his return.

He walked down the desolate road, avoiding the roots and shrubbery that grew along the walkway. He came to a building that was half collapsed however, it had a small chest sticking out from the rubble. 

As he attempted to pull it out from the rubble, it suddenly split open, revealing its contents.

Inside this chest was a singular item that seemingly had no value; however, to Aaron, it was the greatest treasure he could've found on this island.

A Diary.