Stepping through the portal was like walking into a thin sheet of cool water. If Noelle hadn't been so fascinated by what she she saw once she came through, she would have definitely investigated the gateway further.
It was like going from one scenario to another. One minute she was in the Fields and the next she was in an impeccably white room that actually sparkled.
The room was completely white save for the clear blue crystal that was protruding from the ground like a stalagmite.
"You're dripping on my floor." A voice commented dryly that made Noelle jump and look around warily. But there was no one else in the room. "What did you do, fall in the river?"
Looking down, Noelle realized that she was indeed soaking wet.
The owner of the voice sighed. "I'm behind the gigantic blue crystal that's sticking out of the ground like a stalagmite. And before you say anything, yes I can read your mind and am currently reading it right now."
Noelle frowned. She did not like having her mind tapped into.
"So does everyone else; you're no exception."
From behind the crystal, a woman with long hair the color of black ink stepped out into the girl's view. Her eyes were the same colour of the sky. She was tall too and could easily pass for being a super model.
"So," The woman said, ignoring Noelle's gaping stare. "You must be the one I'm suppose to give the trial to."
Her voice snapped Noelle out of her musing.
"Yes," Noelle flushed a little. "The gladiator angel who talked to me said that it was time for my trial as an... angel."
"Gladiator angel," The woman smirked. "Yes, that term suits Aelius just fine."
So the name of the man from earlier was Aelius?
"Anyways," She said, redirecting Noelle's attention back to her. "As Aelius said, I will be the one who will give you the trial to determine whether you are worthy of being an angel of heaven."
The woman cleared her throat. "But before we go on, I guess I'm going to have to introduce myself. I go by the name of Seria and I am the Angel of Trials. Aelius serves as a messenger and is an Angel of Judgement as well."
Noelle paled. She made a complete idiot of herself in front of the Angel of Judgement?
Seria smirked and Noelle could tell she'd been reading her mind again.
"He's one of them. Luckily for you, Aelius wouldn't care either way about you embarrassing yourself in front of him." A brown file appeared in her hand and Seria began leafing through it. "Here it is! Let's see... Nicole Allie Kennedy, born January 21st of 1993 and died on May 27th 2011..." The angel looked up. "You died pretty young and you didn't even get the chance to graduate either."
Well excuse her for being too busy trying to clear up Madison's reputation from complete and utter ruin at the hands of the rich bitch Angie Hart.
"One Angie Hart decided to shoot the current girlfriend of a Jayden Matthews. Instead, you shoved the person who was intended to get shot out of the way and took the bullets yourself. Cause of death: Exsanguination." Seria looked up. "The irony of it all is that after you're killed by someone who's named after an angel messenger, you get the chance to become one yourself."
"Uh... yeah." Noelle could actually feel the jabs stabbing at her. "Are you done reading my personal file yet?"
Seria smiled. "I already read the entire thing; I just wanted to make you feel uncomfortable for my own amusement."
Weren't angels supposed to be sweet and flowery? Not teasing and sadistic?
"You've been watching too many human movies about angels, kid."
And would she stop reading her mind?
"Sorry, nope." Seria laughed at the annoyed expression on Noelle's face. "It's fun this way!"
"Probably for you." Noelle huffed, folding her arms across her chest. "Can we please start talking about what I'm supposed to do to become an angel?"
The whole theory of becoming a flying winged person sounded... weird. It wasn't that she didn't believe in them at all, but she wasn't a particularly religious person who went to church every Sunday. She went sometimes, but that was it.
"You don't necessarily have to be religious or a saint to be able to ascend to heaven. Living your life to the fullest and treating others as you would treat yourself is enough. Also, you can't be a mass murderer or have committed some atrocious crime that's inhumane; those we drop straight to hell. Any more questions?" When the blond haired girl shook her head, Seria nodded. "Right then, as for your trial..."
The woman gestured towards the crystal and Noelle stared at it.
The surface of the crystal shimmered and when Noelle blinked, she saw the face of a boy with tall spiky brown hair and caramel eyes. He looked very familiar, but she couldn't place where he had seen him. Her memories of being alive were somewhat fuzzy and the only thing she could really remember with perfect clarity were the moments before she died.
"This poor soul is Tsunayoshi Sawada. Ever since he was small he's had very unfortunate luck with life in general. When he turns fourteen, his life is about to take a whole different direction; for better and for worse."
"Why?"
"Because a baby hitman tutor arrives at his house and reveals to him that he's a tenth generation mafia boss. After that, things are never the same for him. Though he does try to live a 'normal' life despite the chaos that he attracts."
That sounded really familiar but Noelle just couldn't place where.
"He makes friends, something his old 'no good' self wouldn't have been able to do, but also deals with a ton of crap such as a criminal trying to take over his mind, rebels battling for the half of the rings they were given and then traveling ten years into the future to deal with another mafia family who is trying to take over the world and the usual crap."
Noelle gazed thoughtfully at the boy displayed on the crystal. Noelle was certain she had seen him before and the abbreviated information about his past and what he's about to go through sounded like something she'd read before.
"It should sound familiar." Seria was reading her mind again. "After all, you've watched and read all about his adventures before."
"Tsuna, Tsuna," Noelle mused. "I know that I've heard that name before."
"Here," Seria gestured towards the crystal. "Maybe this will help."
The crystal shimmered again and this time a baby wearing a black suit with a black fedora hat. He was holding onto a green lizard and his black eyes seemed to have a mischievous twinkle that no toddler his age should have.
"A toddler wearing a fedora...?"
And then it hit her like lightning.
"Katekyo Hitman Reborn?" Noelle used to read the series online though she preferred the anime over the manga. "That's it!"
"You got it!" Seria began clapping and Noelle couldn't tell if she was actually being congratulated or being made fun of.
"I'm congratulating you!"
Why did she even bother?
"So what does the series have to do with me? I thought we were talking about my trial." Noelle looked at Seria in confusion.
"That is your trial!"
"My trial has to do with Tsuna?" Noelle didn't get what she was implying.
"Of course! You're going to be his Guardian Angel!"
At that, Noelle's mind blanked. She was going to be a Guardian Angel of a fictional character? Was this some sort of joke?
"It's not a joke at all. I suppose Tsuna's adventures are nothing but comic adventures in your dimension but I can assure you that he's as real as you and me."
Seeing her stunned expression, Seria smiled.
"Is it really that surprising to know that there are a variety of alternate dimensions and universes out there. What could be fictional in one dimension is actually somebody's life or life story in another. Basically, your trial will be in another dimension, different than the one you were born in."
"How come I can't be a Guardian Angel in my original dimension?" If she became a Guardian Angel in her world, Noelle would probably be able to see her friends and family!
For the first time since she had met her, Seria looked sad even though she still had a smile plastered on her lovely face. "Because in that dimension, you're already dead. You can't go back there; that's one of Heavens laws."
"...oh." Noelle looked away from her. So that meant she couldn't see any one she used to know ever again?
"But don't you think it'll it fun to work with your favorite characters?" Seria clapped her hands together again. "I mean, most people would love to be in your shoes."
The only response Seria received was an unamused blank stare.
"In your world, ten years have passed. Those you've known have learned to accept the fact that your no longer there but they will always remember you." Seria sighed giving here a tired smile as if this wasn't the first time she had to explain this sort of thing. "If you must know, your best friend and her boyfriend are happily married and have two children; a son and a daughter. They named the daughter after you."
"What about my family?" Noelle's breath hitched in her throat.
"Not a day passes that don't think about you but they've learned to move on with their lives too."
The girl blinked. Even if she couldn't see them ever again, it was still nice to know that they weren't suffering from her decision of deciding to run onto the path of a gun.
That made her happy in a bitter sweet way; the only thing she had ever regretted when she wondered about what was going on back on Earth was the amount of pain and grief her death would have undoubtedly caused to those around her.
"Do you want me to continue with what you're supposed to do?"
Noelle nodded; the news of her friends and family having rejuvenated her attentiveness to her trial.
"As I've said before, you are Tsuna's Guardian Angel. You will be his constant companion in times of trouble because so far, his life has been nothing but pitiful."
"You're ruthless."
"I'm only stating the truth."
Stating the truth or not, she was still pretty ruthless. Noelle felt sorry for the middle schooler and was glad that there was no way he'd be able to find out about the conversation she was having with this sadistic messenger of God.
"But you will also have your own part to play in the events that will occur." Seria stated. "You didn't honestly think you were going to be some sort of bystander who just gives Tsuna advice, did you?"
Having read other people's fanfics about self-inserts being dropped into their favorite fandom and then blabbering like idiots for the first two chapters at how the very concept of being dropped into what they thought was pure fiction couldn't be happening, Noelle could say that she was not looking forward to whatever fate had in store for her.
Self-inserts had pretty bad luck when it came to trying to keep the fact that they knew what was going to happen in the near time future to themselves along with adapting to the sudden situation they had been forced into.
But now that she thought about it, her discussion with Seria over the fact that she was going to be a Guardian Angel for someone she originally thought was fictional sounded like a fanfiction plot. But what if it was...
Noelle shook her head. She already had enough on her plate without having to think about that.
"Your brain would explode if you tried to delve even further."
"Can you please stop reading my mind?" Noelle sighed, placing a hand on the left side of her face. "Well a girl can dream, can't she? But what if I screw something up and the story line goes awry?"
Seria shook her head.
"Haven't I explained it to you enough?" She said wearily, breaking out of the cheerful teasing persona she had displayed in front of Noelle. "It's not just a story. These are actual people who live actual lives. You shouldn't think of them as characters who have their lives plotted out safely for them like it was in your world."
Noelle's cheeks burned pink. Seria was right; she'd have to stop thinking about Tsuna and the others as fictional characters in a manga or anime once she got there. She didn't want anyone to start having an identity crisis over the fact that they were fictional where she came from. And she had a feeling she wouldn't like it either if some person came up to her and told her she was a character in someone else's story.
"Don't worry, you'll get that kind of thinking out of your mind once you spend some time with them." Seria reassured her.
"So when do I start?"
"Glad you asked." Seria smiled so sweetly that Noelle was immediately on guard. She could instantly tell that she was not going to like what was going to come with that answer.
"Right now!" The woman snapped her fingers.
And suddenly it felt as if the floor beneath Noelle had disappeared. She looked down and found herself standing over a black hole that she was certain was not there before.
She looked back at Seria who was still smiling.
"Have fun~!" She exclaimed, waggling her fingers in a 'ta ta' fashion.
Noelle didn't even have the chance to scream as gravity decided to take hold of her and pull her down the hole.
Were you seriously expecting an angel who was so sweet that butter wouldn't melt in her mouth? Well, I could have easily portrayed Seria like that but it's more fun this way!
I was leaning on the fourth wall somewhere in the story... can anyone guess where?