“I’ve been told it’s much worse than some worlds, but I’ve never known anything else,” I admitted. “Um, is that barrier going to be a problem?”
“Hah. The sysadmins run the multiverse, silly. We’ve got overrides for everything. Ok, I’ve got a lock, barrier bypass is approved, transport request queued… see you in a sec!”
A shower of golden light erupted out of nowhere around us, forming an intricate structure of seals that latched onto my soul and plucked me firmly out of Hinata’s body. I hurriedly merged my aspects as what I guessed must be a summoning pulled me through a void filled with swirling colors, where I somehow had a very definite impression of fast upward motion. Then there was a sharp jerk, and the chain of Hinata’s contract faded into view. Far below me Hinata hung suspended from her collar, and I could feel her choking.
I grabbed the chain with both hands and focused my will, and she vanished. I felt her collapse onto the grass in the heart of my mindscape, and sighed in relief.
Ow, she coughed. That thing ripped me right out of my body.
“Yeah, that was a bit of a mess,” I said. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting anything like that. Are you alright?”
I’ll be fine, Hinata reassured me. But I don’t want to distract you. You just concentrate on the kami.
“Right.” I returned my awareness to my surroundings, and frowned. I didn’t really want to visit the kami plane as a ghost, appropriate as it might seem. But I seemed to be fully functional despite my current lack of a body, so maybe I could fix that? There wasn’t any matter around to anchor a transformation or mold into a clone, but that might not be necessary in the spirit world. Everything is supposed to be about intent and willpower and chakra there, after all. So I fixed the pattern of my favorite transformation template firmly in mind, and tried to apply it to myself.
My translucent form wavered, stretched and solidified into the body I’d worn on the mountain. Just in time, too, because an instant later I emerged from the swirling void into a vast, brightly lit room. I was standing on a circular platform decorated with a complex mosaic of what looked like seals, which was connected to several similar platforms by a series of slender ramps and flying bridges. I had a vague impression of high-tech consoles and glowing patterns in the air and impossibly beautiful people floating about, before my attention was diverted by Astoria’s enthusiastic greeting.
“Sakura!” She threw her arms around me in an exuberant hug. “Welcome to the office of the Sysadmin. Wow, you look great! Oh, congratulations on your trial! You must have passed, right?”
I sighed. I didn’t know enough to lie convincingly, so I had to hope the truth would do. “Astoria, I think you misunderstood something. I’m not a goddess, or a candidate, or anything like that. I’m just a mortal who happens to be descended from one of you. I’m sorry, I’m not sure why you thought otherwise.”
She pulled away to stare at me. First at my face, as if I might have marks like hers. Then my eyes, and my chakra, and… something else I couldn’t see. “But…” she began with a frown. Then her eyes suddenly went wide, and she looked furtively around as if to make sure no one was watching us.
“Come with me,” she whispered insistently. “And don’t say anything else about that! Can you fly?”
“No, but I can body flicker,” I answered quietly. “If you don’t want attention, stop looking around. It makes people wonder what you’re hiding.”
She winced, but took my advice. “Alright, follow me,” she whispered, and vanished.
Her mode of transport wasn’t quite the same thing as a ninja’s body flicker, but it was similar enough that I could track her. We landed on a balcony along one wall of the vast room, outside a door with Astoria’s name on it. She opened it and ushered me quickly through, locking it behind her as she followed.
Inside was a space three times the size of the Hokage’s office, containing a desk and several chairs designed by someone who clearly thought crystal was the wave of the future and gravity was merely a quaint affectation. But the seats were luxuriously comfortable, and the walls were covered by so many plants it was like being surrounded by jungle. There was also a large window.
Outside was a city in the clouds. Thousands of islands of wood and water and crystal floated in arrangements so beautiful my breath caught, and my eyes refused to look away. I saw majestic soaring towers and cozy sheltered cottages and happy families everywhere, and for an instant I wanted to live in that place more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life.
The window went dark at a frantic wave of Astoria’s hand, and she sank into the chair behind her desk and buried her face in her hands.
“Was that… Heaven?” I asked, still feeling a bit stunned.
“I can’t reveal answers about the afterlife,” Astoria groaned. “I’m sorry, I forgot I’d left the window open. Oh, I am so dead! I brought a mortal into an Yggdrasil control node! Even saints aren’t allowed in here! They’re going to pull my license and send me back to angel of mercy duty. I’ll spend the next hundred years trying to make dying mortals feel better in their final moments or something.”
“Um, maybe no one will notice if we do this quick?” I suggested.
She gave me an incredulous look. “Are you nuts? I’m with the Host of Benevolence, Sakura! I can’t lie, and covering up my mistakes would be even worse. As soon as we’re done I have to go to my boss and tell her exactly what happened, or I’ll be in even bigger trouble when I get caught. I just hope no one else notices, and she decides to keep it quiet, or none of my friends will ever speak to me again.”
“That doesn’t sound very benevolent of them,” I observed.
“Yeah, well, they get demerits and I get demoted. It’s bad all around. But I don’t understand, how can you possibly be a mortal?” She demanded. “You speak the First Tongue, you know your name, your mindscape is a place of power. Darn it, I even tasted your lineage when we exchanged promises. This doesn’t make any sense.”
I sighed. “I don’t know, Astoria. I live in the mortal world, and no one has ever explained anything to me. I didn’t know my true name until you asked me, I think that was actually a side effect of seeing the, what did you call it? The process space? Anyway, I absorbed part of the First Tongue from the demon that was trying to corrupt me, and learned more in that world-crossing mishap, but I still have trouble with it. The Kyuubi told me that being able to aspect myself was a genetic quirk, and I’ve got a few others like being bound by my promises. But I really don’t know what it means.”
She gave me a contemplative look, and typed something on the keyboard that decorated her desk. A holographic display of flickering text appeared in the air before her, and she studied it intently. I tried to make sense of it from the back for a few seconds, until I realized she was paging through it a hundred times faster than I could read. After a moment she typed another command, and an explosion of crystalline spikes and curves that I recognized as a mortal’s system profile appeared in the air next to the display. She studied that for a moment as well, and nodded.
“I think I understand now. Oh, I wish I’d taken the time to read your file before I talked to you! Stopping by for an incident report would have been the perfect excuse to ‘accidentally’ help, but stupid me I completely missed it. But we may be able to salvage this. Would you like to join us?”
I blinked. “What?”
“It says here your world’s local pantheon got wiped out six hundred years ago, and your neighbors are all too hard-pressed to help. But your file confirms your descent from the line of Bishamon, and the rules say you deserve a chance to prove yourself. You have more blood on your hands than most aspirants, but considering where you grew up and the trials you’ve already faced I can’t see anyone holding that against you. It’s a miracle you’ve made it this far. So, would you like to be an angel?”