Josh was hit with a wave of warm, it wasn’t a bad hit but it went from being room temperature to being outside in the middle of a warm spring day with the sun beating down on him kind of warmth. He had to blink a few times as his eyes adjusted, it was bright but after a couple of seconds everything began to come into view.
He was standing in some kind of courtyard, it kind of reminded him of something out of ancient Rome or Greece but with some medieval gothic mixed in. Everything was made of white marble which while it didn’t glow was perfectly clean. The ground was marble slabs mixed with some silver bands. In the center of the yard was a large fountain with an Egyptian like obelisk rising up from the center with some writing on it he didn’t know.
“Welcome to heaven, Josh.” Said Penemune as Josh took everything in, he had expected the white and the silver wasn’t unexpected, but he was amazed at the colors and the lack of clouds. He had expected a sort of floating city in the clouds with people flying between clouds. However, the people who were walking around the square were that walking. As for the color, there were multiple-colored banners hanging between the columns that filled the area with bright vibrant colors like ones he had seen during street fairs.
“Where are we…” inquired Josh “In heaven that is?”
“We are in the Capital, the Eternal, the golden city on the Hill, the City of White and Peace. Basically, the Capital of Heaven. In one of the smaller courtyards just outside the grand cathedral.” Explained Penemune as Josh lifted his eyes upwards to see the largest building he had ever seen. It was white marble like everything else but built into the sides where massive and he meant massive statues of different angels and humans, some where golden, some where different colors of stone but most where silver in color. Flying buttresses came out in multiple directions and at the very peak was a floating silver orb
“How…how big is this church?” inquired Josh
“Height wise about the size of Mt. Everest on Earth.” answered Penemune as Josh’s mouth dropped down and he missed the rest of how big it was. “It is the capital after all, so of course it is a larger cathedral then one would find in any other city in Heaven. I believe it is slightly bigger then the archives where I work and live but it is nothing size wise to the grand Palace and government center.”
“Other cities?” inquired Josh
“Yes, Hell has circles, we have different cities.” Explained Penemune “Some are ruled by high-ranking angels, others by my sisters and brothers.”
“I thought you said you’re a librarian? You rule a city?” inquired Josh
“No…I turned down a city when my father asked where I wanted to rule, I am just a librarian so I was made head Librarian and master of the holy records and archives.” Explained Penemune as she led Josh to the edge of the courtyard. That is when he noticed that the courtyard was raised above the city itself. The city reminded him of something out of ancient Greece, he could see multiple villas and apartment buildings with many small local markets, gardens and the like. “No…I guess you could say I rule that.”
Josh followed her finger to see a massive structure in the distant, it looked like someone had blown up the Pantheon to unheard of size. The dome was a silver color which glowed in the sunlight. He could see massive offshoot of that building, each one massive in it’s own right. He didn’t even want to guess how tall it was but it reminded him of his trips outwest when he could spot the mountain peaks while being hours away from the actual mountains.
“That is where mine, or should I say our apartment will be.” explained Penemune “I know it isn’t much compared to a city but I hope you will like it.”
“I don’t care about that; I am just taking it all in.” explained Josh “Being with you is all that matters in the end.”
“Princess Penemune.” interrupted a voice as they turned to see a figure dressed in flowing white robes with a silver slash over her side. The figure had a pair of silver-like angel wings with a silver halo over her head. “Is this the human, Josh Church?”
“I am.” confirmed Josh
“Good, God was rather impressed that you protected his daughter. He wishes he could be here himself but the strike against the Iron knights is taking his focus for a moment. I am glad you accepted Penemune’s offer.” greeted the women “I am high priestess of this cathedral and I am going to preside over your transformation into an angel, are you ready?”
“As ready as I can.” Said Josh “What do I have to do?”
“Just take a walk.” Answered the Priestess as she guided the two of them into the cathedral itself. Inside was a massive main chapel with many side chapels.
Do to his time in seminary he knew a lot of different religions and from what he could see every religion and some he didn’t recognize have a chapel to themselves.
“Tell me who was the closest?” inquired Josh as he looked at one he didn’t recognize all to well.
“All where about equally wrong but in different ways.” Stated the Priestess “Not without trying to be wrong it is to be said, whenever a holy messenger of God did go down it somehow got twisted to suit the need of man.”
“Sometimes however men find the correct answers on their own. Buddha figured out a lot of the reincarnation stuff on his own, would you like to meet him, he was one of the few to go straight to Heaven no trip to hell to pay for any sins and he is such a fun guy to talk to.” added Penemune as she hung onto Josh’s arm, supporting him as some people looked at him. It wasn’t that he was anything special and from what he could see only angels had halos not mortal souls walking around.
The mortal souls strangely normal clothing for whatever time period they died in. He saw a women clearly wearing a 1920’s flappers dress talking with a man in a Japanese style robes with a samurai sword in his slash. He even saw one which looked like a goth teenager who looked somewhat unhappy about being in heaven. They didn’t have wings or halos, but they did give off a slight glow, which marked them as souls and made him stand out.
The angels also glowed but they also had wings, be it two, four, six and he thought he saw one with eight wings. He even saw a few animal like angels, an spotted an angel with a head of a bald eagle and another one with the head of a noble looking lion with a lion tail on top of his wings.
“Here we are.” announced the Priestess as they entered a side chamber to see something like a roman bath, warm seaming water covered an area about the size of an Olympic swimming pool with multiple statues lining the wall.
The priestess explained that he would walk under the water, the holy water would transform him changing his mortal form and making him an angel.
“Alright, I am ready.” Said Josh
“Don’t be afraid, I will be waiting on the other side.” Reassured Penemune as she gave Josh a kiss on each cheek before planting a passionate kiss on his lips before pulling away. She didn’t go far, she pressed her forehead against his looking into his eyes with her pink eyes. “I love you so much.”
“I know.” Confirmed Josh “I love you to, see you on the other side.”
Josh had a few moments to himself as Penemune flew over to the other side of the chamber as other priests and priestess showed up and began to chant. Suddenly the pool became covered with white and blue fire.
“Come to us human, leave your mortal body behind and join us in the skies of Heaven.” Called the Priestess as Josh gulped and took a step into the water and the burning white fire.
The fire didn’t burn him nor did the water scold him as he began to walk. As he did, his clothes where burned away leaving him in the nude as he descended into the water. He took one last gulp of air as his head disappeared below the water.
There were other figures in the water, more statues, each one much larger then he was. With each step he expected his lungs to scream out for air but they didn’t and he felt wrapped in warmth as his body and soul began to change.
Penemune held her breath as she waited for Josh to come out of the water. The first thing out was his head, his brown hair had been transformed into a rich auburn reddish brown. His face, while similar, had become more handsome with flawless skin and a smooth jawline. His brown eyes had turned as well into the reddish auburn brown color. His shoulders, like the rest of his body, had grown, he now had a much more visible set of muscles on his chest and arms. It wasn’t that he hadn’t had them before but now he looked like someone who belonged in the Olympics. Penemune blushed as she saw how big his manhood had become as thoughts that was only natural for any women be them human, angel or demon entered her mind.
One thing that really stood out was that on his shoulders and forming a V shape in the upper part of his chest was a line of scales. Scales, while not unheard of on an Angel was very rare. What he nor Penemune or anyone else knew that the scale pattern was almost identical to the pattern which graced the now demonic forms of his mother and sister.
With a burst of sudden movement a pair of auburn red hawk like wings spread out from his shoulders blades. The wings had some blacks mixed in and reminded Penemune of the pattern one would see on a red tail hawk.
As he stepped out of the water, he was now much larger standing around 7 ft to Penemune 6, which was about the difference between the two of them while they where human. As he did a halo of warm reddish brown light formed over his head marking him as an angel.
“So how do I look?” inquired Josh as a priestess came up with a towel for him to cover himself.
“Almost perfect.” said Penemune playfully, which confused and slight hurt Josh before Penemune reached up and summoning out of no were a pair of glasses which she placed over his eyes. He didn’t need glasses anymore; he could see perfectly fine and he now believed Penemune didn’t need glasses either but she still had her own glasses on. He grinned, she always said, she liked him with glasses on better then contacts, seamed that hadn’t changed. She got onto her pinky toes and gave him a kiss, that was something she always did as a human but now both sets of her pinkish wings flapped out of happiness as his new wings quiver as well. She pulled away from the kiss, but once again pressed her forehead against his. “Now…your perfect. Welcome to Heaven, my love.”