Juliana heard something almost comprehensible, if not for the thundering sound produced by whatever was uttering the words. With each syllable, the pressure mounted on her; with each complete word, it felt as though the very world was breaking apart.

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  A powerful gust of wind nearly lifted her off the ground; however, the wind was visible, a golden hue flickering around her and caressing her skin. Meanwhile, she could also perceive its completely different effect on the undead surrounding her. They were disintegrated like sand sculptures in the wind until nothing remained, either standing or collapsed on the ground.

  Then she heard it—a fluttering of wings and a sensation of something shining down on her from above.

  "Child of this world, you tread upon forbidden ground."

  On the dark sky stood a figure so captivating that Juliana could hardly describe it. A woman, clad in a white robe, young and beautiful, had wings adorned with golden feathers surrounding her. Juliana could see her eyes, glowing bright and golden, piercing into her as if reading her very soul.

  “A-an angel?” It was all she could say, tears beginning to form in her eyes, her heart beating as strongly as it ever had.

  The young woman fluttered her wings; she was not beating them to maintain her position but merely standing in the sky, floating at the same height.

  The being descended slowly, hovering a few meters above the ground, allowing Juliana to gain a clearer understanding of its form.

  “Oh, child of this world, your skin is one I have not seen in many ages. A child wearing the color of the asud’dha…” The angel placed a hand on her own face, a sorrowful tone in her voice. “Yet you tread here, in the Holiest of Lands.”

  Juliana couldn't comprehend much, but the angel was communicating in a language she could somehow piece together, similar to how she deciphered those written symbols back at the graveyard. What was even stranger was that the angel spoke without even opening her mouth. The words seemed to flood directly into her mind, much like the weird blue panels.

  Hope swelled in Juliana's chest. “Please, can you take me out of this place?"

  The entity stared at her, its glowing eyes impossible to look away from, yet fixed on her nonetheless.

  “Oh, child, you are in the Holiest Land, and yet you pray to leave? How odd. How did you arrive here? This place was removed from the world long time ago. [Locked] beyond the reach of even the chosen.”

  Juliana slumped down, even a goddamn angel couldn't resolve this madness. She cried silently for a bit and explained her story between sobs. She detailed of how she was a simple and unimportant girl, poor and mediocre. How she was working shitty jobs and how she died after a stupid prank. She talked about her experiences so far, the weird blue panels, the shadow speaking to her and how ominous was the message of being cursed.

  When she explained about the unknown figure and about the supposed curses the angel girl got even closer, now but a few meters far. Her wings extended to her maximum and her feathers ruffled, vibrating slightly. Between the angel's feathers eyes emerged, not human, all of them almost the size of a face, they looked much like golden jewels, faintly glowing as they bore their gaze into the young woman on the ground below. Each eye moved independently, each looking at a random bit of Juliana's frame, analysing her.

  “Oh, child. You speak such absurd happenings. You claim to be cursed by the gods themselves, but I see into your soul and find nothing that would entail their attention.” Her wings fluttered in the air, she was flapping them in any way, but conveying the idea of how nonsensical it was.

  Juliana, looked at the angel, not even an holy being at her side. Indeed, she was stuck in her own personal punishment place, a hell to call her. However, it still didn't make sense of why she would be placed here.

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  “Why you call this placed the ‘holiest land’ or something, if this place looks so horrible? The room I got in had blood oozing from the walls, I don't know…”

  The angel frowned, her multiple eyes glaring at her from between her feathers.

  “oh, asud’dha, you are blind to it. No wonder you kind no longer be. But I do not judge your limitation, for the Holiest Land is forever [locked] from the gaze of the children of this world.”.

  This time it was Juliana that frowned.

  “But I am not from this world, I said it already. Where I came from you don't see angel's, giant chickens or zombies.

  The angel hummed, moving slowly in the air.

  “We know there are other worlds, other creations of the gods. It is not impossible for it to be” the young winged woman got even closer, now a few inches apart. “You are not asud’dha from this creation. I see not why would Them from Above would make the effort to bring you here, but I can see their lingering word on you”.

  “Well, they said I was cursed by a higher being”.

  The angel hummed again.

  “ Even in my time asud’dha, as hated as they were, never had received such attention from Them. You are connected to higher beings in the oddest way possible.”

  The angel pointed one of its slender fingers at Juliana, and a frightening feeling of doom loomed in her heart even before the entity spoke.

  “I must admit, child, that I do not know how to proceed. I am uncertain about why I am here, whether I should smite you down or consider any other course of action.”

  Juliana paled as the pressure around her, much like with the shadow figure, forced her to the ground. Groaning in pain, she felt her frame being crushed inward.

  The entity was relentless. Her mere presence focused on the repulsive human below, and soon, she would become a splatter of flesh and entrails staining the floor. That’s when the angel felt it—a chilling gust of wind against her left ear. It was blood-curdling, freezing her in place. It was the angel's moment to fall to the ground; her wings faltered, weak and trembling. Her frame appeared even smaller, like a child prostrated on the ground. Only then did Juliana feel free from her grasp.

  “Fuck.” She gasped, her breath ragged. She looked at the angel groaning on the ground, just as she had moments before. Her eyes darted to her meat cleaver; it wouldn’t be difficult to finish the creature off, but killing an angel certainly wouldn’t improve her curriculum right now.

  Juliana rose to her feet and gazed at the scene before her. The angel had once displayed a magnificent visage, but now she looked pathetic. Just like me, I guess.

  "I-I am have made a mistake. Please forgive me, oh Powers from Above. I will not encroach upon what is yours alone!” the angelic girl cried weakly.

  Juliana did not consider herself a nice person; in fact, she was a bitch in every sense of the word. However, she did not derive pleasure from the suffering of others, at least not when she was not responsible for it.

  “Uh… are you alright?” The girl angel screamed, high pitched, like a crying child.

  “Please, can you plead Them to forgive me?”

  Juliana frowned; this place was becoming so wonky that now she had to play the role of intercessor and beg to god (or gods) for someone's absolution.

  “Hey, big guy… guys? I don't know. Can you, like, let this one go? You all hate me, right? I’m the one who’s cursed here… that would explain why she’s attacking me.”

  The angel continued to groan, the pressure causing the very fabric of space around her to distort. "Can you beg harder than that!? I am dying here”.

  Well, that is some holy messenger, uh… Juliana pondered for a again about how ridiculous everything happening had been; she even had an angel begging for her help.

  “Hey guys, can you, hmm… stop killing the angel here? Didn’t you send her for some cosmic reason or something like that?” Juliana extended arms arms, in a dramatically begging motion.

  The pressure surrounding the angel intensified, distorting a larger area. She could no longer even make a sound anymore.

  Well, I tried.

  The large blue panel appeared again.

  Wait, I have to kill that angel as well?! Okay, now that's giving me the baddest vibes. Ever.

  And them, yet again, more blue panels popped up, this time, two at the same time.

  +

  Hmm… what?

  Pick your choice