A searing white flash of light.
A burning heat so intense it threatens to dessicate skin before it can even sear it.
The raucous cacophony of each church bell ever rung now singing together in disharmonic choir.
Divinity exsanguinated, painted across the room as the chaos begins to fade.
An eternity playing out in the span of a second before the room settles into a dark silence.
And, she realised, there is no pain.
But there is a warmth. Behind her there is a warmth. The tactile sensation of another being pressing in close, of arms wrapping around her chest, of hot breath unfolding through her hair and settling on her scalp.
She was almost surprised to hear a voice.
"Good? Good... I think good. I think I'm- I think I'm doing good."
She heard a gentle chuckle from behind, felt the vibrations of their chest against her back, felt herself almost slip away just for a moment.
"Good? Good! That's good. That really is good. You’re so very good."
Their arms gently slid back as they pulled away, an almost cold emptiness settling in where there was once warmth. A thought slipped into her mind; it's lonely, it's scary, please come back. Wait, came another, that doesn't seem right. She was fine by herself why would she-
"Now that we've gotten all that troublesome empyrean energy wrought out we've got so much quality raw material to work with. And I've done a fantastic job, if I may say so. I've managed to keep all your urges, those angelic compulsions, near enough untouched! You might feel a little bit empty, a bit disoriented, right now but that's to be expected. It's honestly a miracle you're able to even talk! Though I suppose with a halo as heavy as yours was, miracles should be considered something of the mundane."
Her Halo? What about her Halo? Did something happen to it? It must have, she thought, something must have changed. But it felt the same, the same old impulses, the same old desires. The eternal compulsion to aid, to fly to the rescue, but something was missing.
The lazy spinning of her mind was interrupted by a sudden burst of static; above her, inside her, darting through her nerves from spine to fingers tips, a radiating bliss. There was a hand gripping her Halo. Pressing it down closer and closer to her head.
Haphazard inquiries mumbled out awkwardly between her lips, an incoherent murmur of muddled thoughts.
And again, she heard a gentle chuckle.
"Now, now, love, as I said, you're going to be a little disoriented. But it's alright, everything is going to be alright. Just relax."
Another burst of static, another wave of bliss melting away her thoughts. Somewhere deep inside her she thought she could hear the gentle thrum of angelic resonance, the warmth of celestial light, just above her head. Then around it. Then below it.
But somewhere deep inside was too vague, too incoherent, for her swirling mind to consider, let alone seek.
That is, it was until she felt a sharp heat tighten firmly around her neck.
She snapped upright in shock, and with such an unexpected lightness she felt she might launch straight into the ceiling. Something was off.
"What? What happened? Where am I? My head's... Not pounding? I'm dizzy, I feel so floaty, I'm forgetting something, I'm too light, I'm forgetting something. But I can't be. It's all here, I know it is. What's missing?"
"Ah, ah, ah." Came the calming voice once more, "Everything is going to be alright, just as I said. And you're right, my darling. Nothing is missing. Everything is there. Stop. Relax. Think."
She paused to collect her thoughts and took a deep breath. A calming, soothing, simple, easy deep breath. Easy. It was easy.
No, it shouldn't be easy. Something is wrong. Very wrong. Her Halo would never allow for that.
Without a second thought her hand rocketed into the air to grab at her Halo and-
She sat in stunned silence, both hands now up, groping haplessly at the air.
She was still here. She wasn't not here, her thoughts proved that much at least. But how? Without her Halo how can she be? Angels save, Halos direct. No Halo, no saving. No saving, no angel.
Her veins went cold as the realization set in. Arms lowering, fingers tracing tentatively down her chin, brushing down her neck.
Feeling the unmistakable protruding radiance of her Halo.
"How does it feel?" Came the familiar, comforting voice as their figure seemed to almost glide in front of her.
No, not just a figure. Here was something more. What she saw was an answer. An answer to what was missing. An answer to her compulsions. An answer to her Halo's direction. An answer to her angelic creed.
They leaned in close, almost filling her vision, a finger resting gently beneath her halo, caressing it softly.
It felt so light like this.
"How does it feel, darling?" They asked again, their voice laced in a warmth that seemed to cut through any hesitation she might feel.
She looked up into their eyes and saw everything. Her divine mandate in all its beauty. This was where her devotion always should have been.
"I can imagine nothing more perfect, my Divine"
