Saint Anna raised her head in a daze, tears still staining her face as she gazed at the familiar face so close to hers.
Her voice was soft as seawater, her eyes almost smiling as she said:
"I retain her memories and feelings, along with that Old God's countless years of experiences and suffering in Hell. But it's hard to say that I am either of them."
She turned her head and looked toward the enormous Old Gods Body.
Over two thousand years of mingling and conflict.
In a sense, both that Old God and that Seraphim had already died. Only the collision and interweaving of chaotic and orderly powers had kept them from finding complete release. Their souls had remained entangled, until they were finally shattered and reassembled in a chaotic ascension, merging into a new individual.
And that new individual...
"Is me."
She closed her eyes, as though remembering, or perhaps reflecting.
Saint Anna released the arms wrapped tightly around her and instinctively stepped back several paces, her face filled with bewilderment and disbelief.
The Self-Binding Angel's expression dimmed as well, and she clenched her fists.
"But I still remember you, my sisters."
She opened her eyes, a faint smile on her face.
"I will treasure this gift within my soul as the most precious legacy I have received. At least amid Cthulhu's endless suffering, it was this warmth, and the hope of seeing you again, that kept me from going utterly mad the moment I was born."
She reached out to them.
Her eyes were filled with tenderness.
"So, if you're still willing to acknowledge me..."
"I can swear that I will inherit this name and spend the rest of my life protecting you, just as I did before."
The Seraphim Leader of the Holy World, that