Chapter 59: Executive Oversight

They arrive through a portal into what looks like the heart of an alien jungle.

The two merrily walk into a conglomeration of plant life that came from dozens of worlds and timelines woven together into one dense, impossible garden. Colors and species that don’t belong in the same reality growing side by side without complaint. Vines with the texture of starlight coil around trunks that pulse faintly like something breathing, and somewhere overhead a canopy of translucent, glowing petals drifts down in slow, lazy spirals that never quite seem to land, as if stuck in a little time-loop of their own.

The angel leads Serenith through the undergrowth, both of them humming with quiet contentment.

"I’m Milrenia," she offers over her shoulder. "Second seat of the Twelfth Choir, Sixth Beta Order, Fifty-Seventh Branch of the Chorus of Virtue."

"A pleasure." Serenith replies.

"What’s it like, down in there in the mortal plane?" The angel asks.

"Same as always." Serenith shrugs, "Complete chaos."

They share a soft, easy chuckle.

Voices drift through the trees, and they step into a small clearing where a table sits buried under scattered pages. Some stacked, some strewn across the grass, a few drifting lazily through the air on their own.

The Sun Goddess and Moon Goddess sit at the table. The Creator stands off to one side, weaving new trees and flowers into being with idle flicks of divine light.

"Can you please focus?" the Sun Goddess snaps at him. "We still have dozens of realities to finish reviewing and you’re fondling flowers again"

"Almost done." The Creator sighs wistfully.

"The Spirit Mother’s flooding us with souls again." The Moon Goddess sighs. "We can’t keep up."

Milrenia clears her throat, and both goddesses turn.

"What do you want," the Sun Goddess asks, clearly not in the mood for another distraction. "We’re busy!"

"The little angel has come to report," the Creator says, without turning from his trees. "The one we sent with the demon lord."

"We’ve handled a dozen demon lords this millennium alone. Be specific." The Moon Goddess frowns.

"The one who flirted his way into the job. Lucious... or something."

"Lucien Vale," Serenith offers. "Human of mortal plane E12-D7-H, he was resurrected as the Demon Lord of mortal plane E47-G3-A, tasked with correcting the balance."

The Sun Goddess’s nose wrinkles. "Oh... him."

"I do wonder what he’s been up to." The Moon Goddess chuckles. "He seemed... interesting."

The Creator dusts off his hands before finally joining the table. He conjures a cup of holy herbal brew, and waves Serenith closer.

"Go ahead, dear. Deliver your report."

A glowing orb swirls into being before her. She approaches it reverently, sets both hands against it, and her eyes roll white.

Screens fold open in front of each god, flooding with everything Serenith has seen and experienced since arriving at Lucien’s side.

Months of their time together flashes past in seconds and the screens fold shut again a moment later.

Silence.

Then the Creator bursts into laughter.

"That was certainly... interesting." The Moon Goddess admits.

The Sun Goddess just stares, muttering that something must be seriously wrong with that mortal’s soul.

Serenith’s eyes flutter open, the orb dissolving as she releases it, and she looks back at the three of them, patient and pleasant and entirely serene.

"He’s dangerous," the Sun Goddess says. "He corrupted an angel. Throw him into some forgotten reality, or the void itself, and be done with it."

The Moon Goddess studies Serenith with something like fondness. "That would be a waste. Whatever he is, he is talented."

The Creator agrees, chuckling. "Unconventional methods. Undeniable results. I’d like to see exactly how much chaos one mortal can cause."

"You’re gambling with realities," the Sun Goddess snaps. "With the celestial plane itself, if his corruption ever managed to reach us."

"You give him far too much credit," the Creator replies. "No being has ever breached this plane. None ever will."

"Ask the angel," the Moon Goddess adds. "She’s spent every moment with him for months. No one’s better positioned to judge who he actually is."

The Sun Goddess turns to Serenith, and the Moon Goddess shakes her head. "Not her that answer. I want the real one. The mortal one."

The Creator snaps his fingers, and Serenith finds herself standing in a blank, featureless white void.

She’s unbothered at first, smiling, glancing around pleasantly, waiting patiently for whatever heavenly task would be assigned to her next.

But then, all at once, the pleasant haze cracks as the mortal part of her mind takes over once again.

Her face floods with horror instantly.

"Where... where am I? Hello?!"

"Apologies for the lack of scenery." The Creator’s voice answers from every direction at once. "You are in the celestial plane, and we needed direct access to the mortal part of her mind, rather than let it actually see the celestial plane and risk destroying it, I’ve moved your mortal consciousness here instead. A small, temporary pocket."

Serenith is already on her knees, weeping, the moment his voice registers in her mind.

"What’s wrong?" he asks, finally noticing.

"Lucien! He needs help. The Beast Mother took him. I couldn’t save him! Please! Please send me to him!" She cries out.

"Well..." the Creator says, "that actually answers my question rather well. I’ve never seen an angel this attached to a mortal. Clearly he is doing something right."

She wipes at her tears. "Thank you. Please, he needs—"

"We won’t help him," The Creator adds. "But we won’t rush to destroy him either. Whatever happens now, he handles alone. As was the agreement."

"He could be dead already." Serenith cries.

"His own fault, for leaving his territory. He was warned. We even made it a rule."

Her tears start again, "It was my fault! I should have stopped him. I had every chance! Please... don’t punish him for my mistake. Please! Give him a chance!"

The Moon Goddess’s voice drifts in. "He’s left an impression on you. One capable of melting an angel’s heart, apparently. How rare."

"He’s the worst kind of deviant," Serenith admits. "But he has a good heart. He’s a good man under all the chaos. And I... I love that part of him. So please... please let me see him again."

"This is absurd." The Sun Goddess groans, " Stop torturing the poor thing and just show her what he’s doing."

"It’s good for her emotional growth," the Moon Goddess says.

"She’s an angel! She isn’t supposed to have emotional growth."

"I want to see what he’s up to as well." The Creator laughs. "I’m invested."

A screen folds open before Serenith while she’s still sniffling and wiping tears from her face.

When it flickers to life, her face blushes completely and her eyes go enormous before both hands fly up to cover them.

The Creator howls with laughter.

"Honestly... from a purely biological stand point, that is actually truly impressive. I didn’t know a mortal could do that to a demi-goddess." The Moon Goddess admits.

"That man might actually be some form of primordial chaos given physical form." The Sun Goddess mutters. "What was the Spirit Mother thinking?!"

Serenith doesn’t hear any of it.

The mortal part of her mind completely was flushed with a rage so all-consuming and total it causes her halo to briefly flash red.

She stands up ramrod straight, halo flaring bright, face twisted into a scowl, flushed crimson from her toes to the top of her head,.

"I’m going to smite him," she snarls, "I’m going to fucking crush him!"