“Alyssa Meadows. Are you prepared?”

Staring at the haughty form of Tenebrael, Alyssa had to frown. “This conversation again?”

“Conversation?”

“Are you prepared to make yourself prepared? That whole thing? We did that last time.”

“Yes.” Tenebrael said with a knowing nod of her head. “I recall. But now the context has changed. I am not asking if you are prepared to make preparations. I am asking if you have prepared yourself and are prepared to demonstrate said preparations.”

Alyssa had definitely made preparations. She was a little sleep deprived. The last two days had been mostly cram studying from the moment she got up until the moment she passed out. Kasita, Irulon, Fela, Brakkt, and Companion all stopped by, wanting something or other. Alyssa shooed every single one of them away without even hearing them out. Unless the palace was burning down or gaunts were outside her door, she didn’t want any visitors. Except the occasional servant bringing food.

Though, should she need to sequester herself in the future, she wasn’t sure that she would need servants to bring food.

It was likely unnecessary, but she had taken some time to clear out her room of any extraneous objects. Both her bed and her desk were shoved into the corner, leaving a large empty space in the middle of the room. Or it had been empty before she had created the rugged metal table that now stood ready to show off all of Alyssa’s accomplishments. The table was currently clean and unadorned with anything, just the stainless steel she had crafted it from.

Tenebrael floated on the other side of the table, hovering in something resembling a sitting position, as if she were a judge on her courtroom’s bench. Alyssa stood opposite from her, staring over the top of the table. She had no chair near her, though she supposed the bed wasn’t that far away if she needed to sit for whatever reason.

But for now…

“Last week, you asked for a pizza.”

“That is correct.”

“And you still want one?”

“I merely wish for you to conquer your fear.”

Alyssa crossed her arms, glaring a little. “I’m not afraid. It wasn’t a fear issue.” Putting her palms down on the table, she looked Tenebrael directly in the eyes. Without even looking down, a red and white picnic-style tablecloth spread across the table, draping over each side. A wooden chair popped into existence right behind Tenebrael.

Having practiced gravity manipulation to quite an extent recently, it was a simple matter to pull the chair toward her, forcing Tenebrael down into it. Though it probably wasn’t that big of a force. Tenebrael could surely have ignored if it she had wished. But it was nice that Tenebrael was humoring her for now.

“Welcome to Meadows’ Pizzeria. You want pizza? We got pizza. What kind of pizza? All kinds of pizza! We got cheese pizza, Japanese pizza, a trees pizza, or a peas pizza, how about a keys pizza? Flees pizza? And our special for today is a skis pizza.”

“Skis?”

“Served only after dragging you up a mountain, strapping wood to your feet, and shoving you back down!”

“Are you… alright, Alyssa? Was this too stressful of a task?”

Narrowing her eyes, Alyssa glared at the angel. Some people were just so uncultured. Shaking her head, she spread her hands over the table.

“Fine. Something more custom? We offer personalized pizzas. Name your pizza. Whatever you want. Canadian bacon? Sausage? Pepperoni?” She waved a hand, creating several full sausages, each of the type she named. “Vegetables?” Green onions, peppers, a zucchini joined the sausages. “Pineapple? You monster,” she said as an entire pineapple plopped down on top of all the rest. “Large, medium, or small?” Three full pizzas appeared on top of a cardboard platter. One vegetable, one barbecue chicken, and one a meat-lovers. All three were cooked already, releasing their enticing aroma into the room. “Or maybe you would prefer take-and-bake?” A personal pizza joined the others, this one uncooked but ready to go into an oven. “You want buffalo wings with that?” A box of the spiciest wings appeared on the side. “How about a diet coke? Lime or vanilla?” For a bit of flourish, the two glasses did not appear prefilled. The glasses were chilled with frost coating their sides, as if taken directly from a freezer. Dark liquid flowed from her fingertips, filling each glass.

It wasn’t exactly the brand name’s version of the cola. She hadn’t been able to find a real recipe or even all the ingredients. It was all some big company secret. Rather, this was a close approximation that she had found on the internet. The taste was perfect as far as Alyssa could tell—maybe the magic had filled in the blanks and created what she wanted instead of what she read about—but it had been years since she last drank a real one, so her memory was a bit shoddy. She had completely stopped drinking soda shortly after high school.

Still, she thought her presentation was quite impressive, if she did say so herself. She planned on doing the same thing for her friends later on… after double-checking with Tenebrael that everything was fine and safe to eat. She had been taking little nibbles during her experimentation and it all seemed fine, but she would prefer confirmation from someone more experienced before she went all out in consuming what she created.

With the smorgasbord in front of her, she spread her arms wide and glared a dare for Tenebrael to say that anything was inadequate.

The angel didn’t say anything. Not right away. She looked over the entire table a few times. After a moment longer, she reached out and started inspecting the various foods. With the pineapple, she created a little blade with the tip of her little finger that looked rather like a miniature lightsaber. She sliced the top off, letting her look down inside the fruit. She did something similar with the sausages, inspecting each of them.

Alyssa had to wonder how much of her inspections were just for show. Angels were not omniscient, but surely Tenebrael could simply know whether they were the real things or not.

“Impressive,” Tenebrael eventually said, once she was finished looking everything over. “I’ve only one complaint.”

Crossing her arms once more, shifting her weight to a more aggressive stance, Alyssa glowered. “Oh yeah? And what is that?”

“No anchovies?”

Alyssa’s glower turned to a disgusted grimace. “That’s horrible. Worse than pineapple.”

“I mentioned this little challenge to Iosefael during the week. She likes to watch humans, so I would assume that she knows what she is talking about when she tells me that lots of humans on Earth enjoy anchovies.”

“Yeah, well, lots of humans on Earth should be committed to sanatoriums.”

“Mhm… So? Make me an anchovy pizza. Can you?”

Pressing her lips together, Alyssa slowly shook her head. “No. I can try, but it will probably end as primordial goo. I haven’t looked up fish at all.” The fact that people sometimes put fish on pizza completely slipped her mind during her week of research and experimentation. “But asking me to create one wasn’t the point of the test. The point was to see if I could create foods. I have.”

“That was not the point. Or at least not the whole point. We are attempting to ensure that your body is used to divine power coursing through it on a far more natural level than the current state of affairs. All in preparation for using the far more direct power of the Throne. Part of that is expanding on your already adequate skills. Being able to create food is, indeed, a moderate step forward. Actually, it is more impressive that you’ve managed to cook some of these,” Tenebrael said with a glance at the three still hot pizzas. “It would be good to continue expanding this ability, of course. Anything you try to create that turns into a primordial substance should be prioritized. Obviously avoid anything dangerous, such as toxic gas…”

“Yeah. That reminds me. Is primordial goop toxic? I was quite nervous about trying any of my food for fear that some of it was that ooze, but eventually decided that my creations were good enough.”

Tenebrael gave a melodious chuckle. “They certainly seem good now, though I doubt I could consume any of it. As for your question… I am unsure. There isn’t really precedent.” Holding out a hand, she created a bowl of the far more pure version of the greenish ooze. “It really only exists at the very edge of the universe.”

“The literal universe?” Alyssa had to ask.

“Indeed. I believe Earth’s scientists have decided that the universe is ever expanding. A sort of stretching out of everything in existence. Or scaling, rather than stretching. Unfortunately, they cannot witness the full beauty of the universe. Limited by what they can observe, which does not account for everything. They cannot see the weavings of the Throne or the primordial edge of the universe as it grows and expands, not in scale but in pure size.”

Glowering at the bowl of green-hued ooze, Alyssa scowled. “Are you trying to tell me that this is dark matter?” The subject had come up during her research, though she hadn’t read too in depth on it. Mostly just the initial few paragraphs of its wiki entry. But those initial paragraphs were good summaries. Ones that let her know a few facts about what she now suspected this substance was. Except there was a problem. “You aren’t supposed to be able to see dark matter.”

Tenebrael just shrugged. “I only know what I hear from Iosefael.”

“You two chat about dark matter often?”

“The subject of Earth’s understanding of the universe came up during our chat this week.”

Alyssa gave the angel a flat look. “The same chat that involved anchovies?”

“That’s the one,” Tenebrael said like she was pleased that her point was getting across. “As for whether or not this would hurt you… I don’t think it would hurt anything, but it might not be pleasant… ah… passing through. I wouldn’t consume much, were I you.”

“You could have just said that in the first place.”

“Are you not seeking a greater understanding of everything?”

Alyssa opened her mouth, hesitated, then clamped it shut. “Fine. You might have a point. Though I don’t feel like I understand anything better. If anything, I’m more confused.”

“I can’t imagine,” Tenebrael said with a peaceful smile. “But I didn’t exactly come today with discussing reality on my list of things to do. Rather, I have this for you.”

After setting the bowl of primordial goo down near the pizza, she reached a hand over her shoulder and into the feathers of her wings. She pulled out a little glass orb. A crystal ball, much like the one that Alyssa had created in her earliest attempt at crafting anything, back when Tenebrael had left her in a moment of stopped time. It wasn’t quite the right size, being about twice the size of a baseball, but it was similar. She held it out and Alyssa accepted it with a raised eyebrow.

“What’s this for? I could have made a glass ball myself, you know.”

“It isn’t exactly glass. Rather, it is something that should react with various amounts of divine energy. That reaction should… return the energy to you.”

“I don’t… What do you mean, return energy to me? I can store some for later like a battery?” That didn’t seem like it would have much use. No matter how much Alyssa used Tenebrael’s power, it never felt weaker or stronger. It just was. She supposed that she didn’t know how much she could use at once and maybe a battery would help with that if she discovered a limit, but…

“Not quite. This might be somewhat painful, even. But it is necessary if you wish to accomplish your goal.”

Alyssa pressed her lips together, glancing down at the orb. After a moment, she nodded, waiting to hear more.

“It is well and good that you are using the divine power. I want you to keep doing as you are doing, crafting whatever comes to mind and otherwise experimenting with the power. Simply using it is helping your body grow accustomed. But this will take the power and divert it back to you in slightly randomized ways every time. Think of it like… gaining a resistance to poison through ingesting small doses, skin darkening due to sun exposure, or hands gaining calluses after repeated working.”

“None of that sounds good. Tanning causes cancer and I got a mild infection from a callus once. Drinking poison is obviously bad.”

“Indeed.” Tenebrael’s face was completely serious as she stared at Alyssa with her glowing eyes. “I don’t imagine this will be deadly, but it should not be taken lightly either. I want you to pour just a little divinity into it, which it will then shoot back to you. Just a tiny amount, especially at first. Over the course of this week, I want you to slowly ramp it up. I would recommend… one hour a day seated in front of this. No less than twenty times during the course of the hour. No more than forty. And I want you to do one right now, just so that we both know it works properly and won’t kill you.”

“And if it does kill me before you can save me? You’ll eat me?”

“Of course!” Tenebrael said with too-bright of a smile.

Alyssa sighed. She had expected that, but… well… Waving a hand over the table, Alyssa destroyed all food and related products on the table, leaving nothing but the smooth metal surface and the crystal ball. She dragged a chair over and took a seat. Tenebrael, still on the opposite side of the table, lowered herself enough to keep just barely above eye level.

It was a bit interesting. Lately, Tenebrael had been far more… down to Earth. Or Nod, as the case was. When Alyssa first met Tenebrael, she was always haughty, always keeping a superior air about her. Every time she appeared, she would invariably appear high up, forcing Alyssa to crane her neck upward. Even while simply talking, she would still generally be at least a few inches up off the ground.

Nowadays, she was far more likely to appear at ground level. Or even sitting, as the case had been during the pizza presentation. She still appeared behind Alyssa, always out of sight, but Alyssa didn’t have to search the skies if she spotted a black feather. And, just as she did now, she usually tried to keep her eyes at least roughly level with Alyssa. It was a small courtesy, one that Alyssa might not have noticed were it not for their frequent and regular meetings. Even the way Tenebrael talked now was different from before. She was far less of the ‘I am the supreme god of this world, bow to me and lick my feet,’ and instead far more… casual. For lack of a better word.

Thinking back, she couldn’t quite remember when it started. When Tenebrael had changed how she acted. Alyssa wanted to say that it was around the time Tenebrael first started wearing that glove over one of her hands, right after she proclaimed victory over the Astral Authority. Alyssa hadn’t asked about the glove or the shift in mannerisms. For the former, she could make some assumptions. The only reason Alyssa could imagine that Tenebrael would hide something was because it was likely an injury of some sort. Which fit well with the timeline of the fight with the Astral Authority. Tenebrael hadn’t ever bothered to explain, so she hadn’t asked.

As for the mannerisms, Alyssa imagined that Tenebrael had gotten at least partially over herself. Or maybe she simply realized that there was no reason to keep up her act in front of Alyssa, who really didn’t care for all that nonsense. At the same time, Alyssa was a little afraid to comment on Tenebrael’s more pleasant mannerisms, fearing that pointing it out might get Tenebrael to revert out of embarrassment.

So she simply looked to the glass orb. “Alright. Walk me through this.”

“There isn’t much to walk through.” Pointing a finger, Tenebrael made a little poking motion. “Just make a little light, just like you do when you were trying to replicate the light from my halo, except inside the ball. All it should take is a very small amount.”

Holding her hand to the side, well away from the orb, Alyssa snapped her fingers, creating a momentary flash of light. “About like that?”

“Maybe a little less, if you can manage.”

“In terms of intensity or how long it lasted?”

“Both.”

“Right.” Alyssa tried a few more practice rounds, making the room look like a strobe light was sitting off to the side. Every single time, Tenebrael made a motion with her fingers, pinching her fingers closer and closer together. Eventually, Tenebrael gave her a hesitant nod.

The hesitancy gave Alyssa a tingly feeling in her stomach, but she really wasn’t sure that she could go much smaller. She wasn’t even sure that the last five attempts had been all that different from each other. After trying a few extra times, just in case, without any notable change in intensity, Alyssa placed her hand on the orb.

She took a breath…

And flashed a light…

Everything went dark.