Utultar lowered its divine body as to hover directly over Victoria’s injured form, the center of its’ holy ring now positioned directly over her head. “I shall enter this one’s soul and if this soul is found to be evil or malicious, the Vampire before us will be executed.” As their internal holy power accumulated, each of their eyes began to shine brightly sending beams of light around the dimly lit church. The entire room silently watched as beams of light reflected of the various surfaces only to rejoin at the vampire’s forehead.

-

Souls, whether they belong to men or beasts, are the spiritual core of the body. The soul and the body are intricately linked, the body forms the soul and the soul influences the body's growth in an ongoing reciprocal relationship. The soul of an animal, such as a bird or a sow, is unable to form into a complex-enough structure to achieve a higher sense of being. This does not preclude their souls from being artificially elevated by a higher power, but it does limit their natural potential. Conversely souls can be denigrated or damaged in such away that they can no longer function as they normally would, leaving the body feeble and mentally damaged.

Unlike the mortal body, the soul is not a physical existence and cannot readily be examined on the earthly plane. However, once a soul reaches a certain level of awareness and control over it's form they can use their soul to influence the world around them. Depending on their affinity they can utilize their soul in a variety of ways, such as astral projection or mind reading. Some soul's have accidentally developed a natural affinity with manipulating certain aspects of their soul, giving them simplistic supernatural powers. These souls are often heralded with various titles, such as: spiritualist, esp-er, medium, psychic or prophet.

Utultar received their status as archangel through their near unparalleled skill at soul manipulation. Their soul, for lack of a better term, was comprised of various virtuous souls taken from across the entire planet, over the various millennia. Through the thousands of years that it has existed, they honed their skills at manipulating various souls, to the point where they could enter and observe the souls of others. The archangel could access another's soul in multiple ways, depending on which part of the soul they chose to enter.

When Utultar entered Victoria's soul, they chose to enter via the soul's internal image. A place where soul manifests itself into a conceptual micro-verse that mirrors their souls composition. The conceptual world of violent or warlike mind would be filled with jagged landscapes, dotted with their familiar weapons of war or fortified structures. In contrast; a more peaceful soul that would create a more welcoming environment, either filled with natural landscapes or a quiet version of their civilization. Each soul is different and cultivated by the owner's surrounding environment.

-

Utultar found themselves floating in a vast twilight void, covered in twinkling stars, covering her soul in a perpetual night. Unfortunately, Remus’ actions had caused severe internal damage, creating large splinters of light on the surrounding ether. Holy light constantly seeped through the cracks in the skyline, further destabilizing her soul’s composition. The arch-angel knew that their continued presence would continue to destabilize the vampiric soul, limiting their time with-in Victoria's soul.

Below their assorted heads, lay a large floating island. Occasionally the land mass would lose sections of its rocky mass into the void, the shattered chunks of rock ignored whatever conventional logic and would simply float away in some unknown direction. Several of the larger sections were being anchored by large red chains that had been violently thrust into their bedrock, straining against the forces that continuously weakened their composition. One could even make out small figures darting around the various rocks, trying to repair and secure what remained of the island. The manifestations, resembling both men and women, performed whatever tasks they could to minimize and contain the sustained damage against their home.

The amalgamation opted to split itself apart into individual heads to best observe the various floating land masses. Most of the heads descended onto the main heart of Victoria’s soul, while others attended to the sizable cracks to minimize the damage to the interior, with minimal success. The main island was covered in seemingly lush green fields and forestry. Beneath the essence filled vegetation lay pitch-black soil, moistened by a red, blood-like liquid which shined incandescently in the dark night. As they surveyed the land, rivers of blood formed life veins from a yet unknown central point that was protected by thick stone walls.

One of the heads discovered a vast stone-quarry containing a large figure, carving massive rocks out of side of the quarry. Smaller figures scurried around preparing the extracted rocks, trying to supply any additional material to support Victoria’s internal efforts elsewhere. Despite the giant’s attempts to slow down or take a break, the small figures coursed the creature to gather whatever material they could for the other areas in need. The giant, despite its subservient role, seemed to be mostly comfortable with this arrangement. The angel's head watched briefly as they continued their work, the smaller figures eventually relented to the slothful giant partially and slowed their pace as much as they could allow, while still gathering the supplies they needed.

Contrasting the more laborious scene at the quarry, a different head explored the sparsely wooded forest which contained another giant figure. Unlike this previous figure, this giant's frame was tightly bound and chained. Basic cloth covered her more sensitive regions as well as her eyes. Her captors surrounded the creature, protecting their prisoner with stoic pride. Occasionally lewd figures would emerge from the forest, tempting the giantess with their honeyed words. The guardians had to simultaneously hold the large figure back, while chasing away the gravure figures. Despite this stand-still, many of the guardians worked with the seductresses to remove debris from the forest to be collected elsewhere. Whatever situation they were continuously engaged in could evidently be set aside for their mutual survival.

The observer that had previously been monitoring the quarry decided to following the manifestations transporting materials to their destination, stumbling across two additional massive figures. Both figures were attempting to keep a large section of the land from drifting into one of the intruding cracks. The smaller figures that surrounded them had successfully anchored a large chain into the newly formed floating section and were working on securing it however they could. The pair were exchanging banter between each grunt, either uttering curses at the holy church or boasting about their own strength. Through their labor, the island was barely kept with-in a manageable distance of the main island.

Despite Victoria’s efforts of maintain the integrity of her soul, the damage caused by Remus’ interrogation and the continued presence of Utultar were causing continuous tremors and destabilization of her soul. Her will was almost entirely focused on structurally maintaining two points, one was the central castle at the heart of her soul and the other was a separate floating island anchored by an inordinately large iron chain. In contrast to the relatively calm weather over the main island, the floating island was over-grown with thorns and other harmful deterrents. Utultar could tell that this was not comprised of anything from Victoria’s soul, rather it belonged to her familiar’s traumatized soul.

Having seen what they could with-in the time available, the heads regrouped at the main castle gate and welcomed by the vampire’s main subconscious. Her subconscious guided their guest past an array of soldiers and mercenaries, each recreated from an image from her memory. Each faceless masculine figure saluted the collection of heads as they passed by their formation, showing respect to the angelic figure as the ground trembled beneath them.

The castle, for lack of a better term, was relatively modest in design and was organized for functionality. Pathways branched from the main road, leading to various small building with their own particular purpose. The largest building was that of a library, surrounding a large and well used auditarium complete with maps and notes from whatever plan she had going forward. The central building acted as a command center for the disaster management initiative, with another of Victoria’s consciousness coordinating the various essences.

The manifestation directed several of the attending forms to guide Utultar to a central garden, where Victoria sat peacefully with Rose quietly resting on her lap. “Welcome to my inner most soul. I am sorry you have to see it in its current state.” The archangel appeared to nod, “Indeed. It is a shame that your soul is in this state. Even though it is damaged, it is clear to us that your soul mirrors our ideals. Your vices are managed and any chaotic or violent tendencies are not present.” The vampress nodded, clearly pushed to her physical limits. “Withstanding your familiar’s current state of mind, I have seen enough to make a judgement.” Utultar announced before removing themselves from her soul.

-

Utultar had returned from the vampire’s soul and now hovered in the middle of the chapel, surrounded by the waiting onlookers. “Our decision has been made; this vampire has been found to be worthy. We find that her continued existence in our shared world can be tolerated.” Gasps and shocked whispered filled the previously empty void, even Remus lost their composure. “If they were still able to, they would likely become a fine angel that would exemplify our heavenly virtues. As long as their soul remains worthy, for whatever reasons she may hold, our lord has no reason to end her life. With our judgment rendered we shall return to the heavens. Come Remus!”

The entire room watched silently as Utultar returned to the beam of light, judging all who stood with-in the silent room. “Victoria, I hope that this interaction today will not create any lingering hostilities. I bequeath you with this gift as a token of good will, all you need to do is channel some your soul into this mark and your right arm shall silence any who question your character.” A small thin strand of light shot out of the angel’s halo, wrapping around Victoria’s arm before fading into her skin.

Utultar readied themselves with Remus to return to their holy realm, they imparted some final wisdom to all who gathered. “The line in Exodus “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live*” assumes that the witch in question lives their life as a witch. If a witch were to reject their hedonistic ways and live as an honest woman, our lord would accept them into our fold as is the case here. I am sure that if you were to ask the young woman over there, she would be willing to cooperate with our mission. With that we bid you farewell. Deus Vult”

-

Simon and his fellow clergymen bowed as the angels left their plane of existence, still in shock as to how the events had played out. William was the first to move, quickly racing to check on the vampire’s condition. As injured as she was, she barely held onto her consciousness. “Simon, I am sure we have much to discuss, however might I ask to use your basement for a while.” He nodded in response to the exhausted vampire, before emitting a sharp whistle to gather the attention of the room. “Alright, the trial is over now and we have a lot of work to do. Warin! Elias! Get the crate from downstairs. Once the vampire is secure, reopen the church to the public. For now, keep her in my office. I will keep an eye on her!” With the immediate threat to her life over, she finally succumbed to her lingering pain and passed out in Williams arms.

-

*This interpretation is a creative interpretation at best. It is partially derived from the “Pray the Sin away” and repenting sinner doctrine, similar to how some churches assert that being gay is a sin but you can reach heaven by not acting upon it (eg. https://archive.fo/FUNFC .) It is convenient interpretation to allow Victoria to live.