Destiny soared toward the Temple, wings tense, heart uneasy.
The moment she stepped inside, the air felt wrong.
Cold.
Hollow.
Silent.
Like a place abandoned by God.
Destiny moved deeper in, her footsteps echoing in the sacred hall.
The inner chambers—once blinding with divine warmth—now flickered with fading light.
Below her feet, the souls of wicked demons remained locked in their jars, glowing faintly like imprisoned stars… but even they vibrated with unease.
The lights dimmed.
Then brightened.
Then dimmed again.
Destiny backed up, breathing sharp.
A voice cut through the silence behind her:
"Now you want to come back up here… being nosy?"
Destiny jumped.
Nina stood in the shadows, teal flames flickering in her eyes, wings tucked behind her like a predator's.
Beside her was another angel—
glowing gold, serene and unbearably beautiful.
Maggie, the Angel of Harmony and Prayer.
Maggie's voice was gentle, but her face was heavy with grief.
"It is becoming unsafe up here."
Destiny swallowed, following the two angels deeper into the collapsing Temple.
Nina spoke without looking back:
"The Temple is dying, Destiny. Literally. Without Elyon… without ANY true God dwelling in it… Heaven itself is weakening."
Maggie touched a cracked pillar and frowned.
"Years. That's all we have before Heaven falls from the sky."
The Temple trembled again, dust falling from above.
Destiny's feathers flared nervously.
"What about Morvath? Does he—?"
Nina scoffed.
"As if he would tell ANY of us where he slithered off to."
They entered the Hall of Guardians—
where titanic Stone Angels held up the weight of Heaven's roof.
But now…
Cracks ran down their faces.
Their marble wings chipped.
Their arms trembled.
Nina placed a hand on one guardian.
"If they awaken… even one of them… Heaven collapses with them."
Maggie touched Destiny's hand.
"There is a prophecy. Of a hidden God. One lost… or unborn. We must find them and bring them here."
Destiny's voice shook.
"And if we can't?"
Nina turned, eyes burning.
"Then the world burns. Heaven burns. Every realm burns."
Before Destiny could speak—
They reached the youngest of the Stone Angels.
Sanctuary.
Her face was peaceful, carved with innocence.
And breaking.
Her stone body spiderwebbed with cracks—
fractures pulsing with inner light, ready to burst.
Destiny reached out, touching the cool marble cheek.
The moment she did—
Sanctuary's world opened.
Sanctuary stood on a landscape that looked almost like Earth—
green hills, flowers, old houses—
but stylized, dreamlike, frozen in another era.
She wore clothes similar to the 15th century, but mixed with future details, iridescent fabrics and glowing accents.
Her world was peaceful.
Until—
A rustling in the bushes.
Sanctuary turned.
A creature stepped out.
It was the height of a child, yet twisted—
a jester-like demon, with black and yellow stripes.
Two curled horns.
A wide painted grin that didn't move.
But she heard its voice clearly.
"Follow me to freedom…"
the mouth never moved—
the words whispered inside her mind.
Sanctuary stepped back.
Her people behind her shouted in fear.
"Stay with us!"
"Don't go!"
"Angel, wait!"
But Sanctuary felt pulled—
pulled toward the demon like a magnet.
She ignored her people and chased it.
Through the brush.
Over the hill.
To a swirling black water pool.
Dark clouds rolled overhead like a forming storm.
Her people screamed for her to stop.
The jester reached a small hand toward her.
"Just jump."
Sanctuary didn't hesitate—
she dove into the black water.
The world swallowed her whole.
Back in the Temple, Destiny gasped as cracks rapidly split through Sanctuary's stone face.
SHHHHHH-CRACK—!!!
Sanctuary's stone shell shattered outward.
A living angel girl spilled out—
wet, trembling, glowing with wild unstable power.
She wasn't peaceful.
She was terrified.
And she attacked.
She shoved Destiny so hard the wall cracked behind her.
Nina snapped a whip of blue flame around Sanctuary's waist, binding her arms.
Maggie blasted holy light to blind her—
But Sanctuary broke free.
Her wings tore open wide—
huge, glowing, cosmic and unstable.
She didn't fly—
She launched herself upward, through the ceiling clouds.
Nina reached for her.
Maggie tried to call her back.
Destiny cried out.
But Sanctuary burst through the highest layer of Heaven and fell—
DOWN.
INTO.
THE.
WORLD.
Wind ripping past her face.
Eyes wide with exhilaration.
A smile stretching as she felt, for the first time—
freedom.
Sanctuary dove out of Heaven, wings blazing, joy on her face for the first time in her existence.
And right on her hip—
hopping, dancing, clinging to her leg—
the Jester Demon.
Its painted grin never moved, but its voice whispered inside her skull:
"We're free…
We're free…
They can't cage us now…"
Sanctuary didn't understand it.
But she liked the freedom.
She clutched the demon close like a strange little friend as they both plummeted toward Earth.
Ghost was moving through the underworld, following the scent of the stolen souls—
when he froze mid-step.
A shockwave of power ripped through every realm.
A power that felt ancient.
Innocent.
But also terribly, terribly dangerous.
Ghost's eyes widened.
"Oh no…"
The walls shuddered.
A million souls trembled.
Even the dead whispered:
"Something holy is falling."
Ghost clenched his jaw.
"That's not just any angel…
That's a pillar of Heaven."
He vanished instantly—
rushing upward toward the realms above.