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Calming.
“I am not here to accuse,” said the priest, “Or to judge. I am only here to absolve, but I cannot absolve your sins if you do not take confession seriously. This is a sacrament.”
I lowered my head and shook it lightly. “Can you absolve me or not?”
The priest sighed. He then made the sign of the cross with his right hand and said, “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I absolve you of your sins. Let us recite the Our Father, and I will deliver upon you, your penance.”
Nothing happened.
Not while the priest spoke.
Not as he uttered that ridiculous prayer.
Our Father?These priests were lying to themselves about God. That flimsy old book they clung to was written by men, mortal men. Petty men who lacked the ability to create and were so filled with rage upon learning of God’s true fundamentallyfeminineidentity, they did all they could to suppress, oppress, and abuse their female counterparts for the rest of time.
It became clear to me within moments, this priest lacked any kind of real power to speak to God. She was still out of reach, and Heaven was still burning. I turned my eyes toward him again, only this time, I allowed my Light to surge through them, catching the priest’s attention.
The Light of my own eyes reflected in his, and he choked on the wordamen.
He could see me, now.
Truly see me.
“Ah… ah…” he muttered, as the word he was trying to say remained lodged in his throat.
I reached through the partition, smashing my hand through the wooden screen and grabbing hold of the priest’s throat. “You have outlived your usefulness, priest,” I said, loathing coating my words like venom.
“Ah—ah?—”
“But there is still something I can take from you.”
When he opened his mouth again, I saw a light begin to rise from inside his throat. It was a warm, golden glow that was warm to the touch, warm underneath my hand. It filled his throat, then his eyes, and as his brain began to fry, his mouth fell open unleashing a beam of Light that bathed me, nourished me, and revitalized me.
Outside, that baby began to scream, as did the woman who had been holding it. Her scream was joined by another, and another. Chaos ensued, as the churchgoers who a moment ago were deep in silent prayer began to panic, scramble, and try to flee.
The Light went out in the priest’s eyes and throat, and his body became limp in my hand. I let him go, allowing him to slump back into his seat. He deserved a little dignity, at least. When I emerged from the confessional, the entire church wasalight, shafts of Light shining up and out of the mouths of the many mortals being raptured by my angels.
What wasleftof my angels, anyway.
I made a circle around the inside of the church, following the rows of pews all the way to the front; to the altar, the shrines, and the giant crucifix that stood behind the pulpit. As I stood there, listening to the bodies hit the floor in a series of quick, successive thumps, I allowed my wings to unfurl from behind my back and studied the image of Christ on the Cross.
It amused me that in each and every one of the depictions of him that I had seen, he was always so strangely muscular.
“The lies you tell yourselves have been your undoing,” I said to no one. “This is not your world anymore. It is ours.”
Turning around, I saw my angels standing at attention. They all looked… good. Refreshed. They were wearing suits of golden armor emblazoned with the burning crown of fire that had become my crest. Our crest. A moment ago, those suits of armor had been battered, ragged, and dirty. The angels who wore them, bruised and beaten.
Now, having consumed the Light directly out of the mortals in this pathetic congregation, they looked stronger, healthier, and eager to do what was needed of them if we were going to achieve our goals. There was, however, one loose end.
That child.
That mewling baby. It had not been raptured, like the rest of the mortals here.
Curious.
I descended from the pulpit my head tilted to the side. The child lay on the ground in his mother’s clutches, screaming, crying, its face red from the strain. My angels stood aside as I approached. One of them was about to speak, about to ask me what we should do.
I simply raised my hand, and he fell immediately silent.
