The inside of the chapel was quiet and
dimly illuminated by hundreds of candles.
The Evangelists knelt side by side,
holding their hands together in front of them.

It was the last day of a religious observance.
None of them had moved since they started praying,
and that was days ago.

The sun rose and fell.
By the nightfall, a bell sounded, announcing the end.
One by one, the priestesses opened their eyes
as if they were waking up from a sleep.

Their eyes stared into complete darkness
instead of the familiar interior of the chapel lit by candlelight.
They blinked just to make sure their eyes weren't shut.
They still felt the floor underneath their knees,
but there was a hollow feel to it that wasn't there before.

Reflectively, one of them tried to call forth light, but nothing happened.
She gasped and started praying in a low, desperate voice.
Suddenly they were afraid, but none of them moved or spoke.
They somehow knew this was God's will.  

"You."

Suddenly a voice filled the space.
The priestesses looked up and saw a cluster of light
that was ten times brighter than the sun.
The light pulsated with fierce intensity,
but it didn't make their eyes hurt or push back the darkness around it.
It just hovered above their heads.

The priestesses stared at the light and started losing track of time. 
The contracting movement of the light gradually changed to the slow,
gentle waves of gauzy curtains blowing in the wind.
The waving light was helping the priestesses overcome their fear and remain strong.

It was difficult to tell how long it had been since the complete darkness fell—seconds? hours?
or maybe days? Even as their minds wandered, their eyes were fixated on the cluster of light.

"Tell me about the depths of the darkness you feel."

This time the voice was low, brooding, and commanding.
The voice demanded an answer, but they couldn't give one to it.

As the voice was heard, the dark space around them started expanding.
They couldn't see an inch in front of them, but they could feel the growing pressure around them.

The bigger the space grew, the farther away they were from the cluster of light.
They felt like they were falling, like the First Bearer of the Darkness
who was sent into the bottomless pit, and fear returned.

The voice was telling them something, but they couldn't hear it clearly.
They were moving away too fast.
But they knew what they had to do: fight the darkness,
no matter how deep it was, and hold onto the light, so they could share it with the rest of the world.

Almost in tandem, they started channeling their inner light.

When the cluster of light that once hovered above their heads
was nothing but a barely invisible dot in the darkness, their fear became so great that it started to show.
Their hair was soaked in sweat. Their knees could barely hold them upright.
Their hands kept falling to their sides to keep them from falling.
The priestesses didn't stop praying in a singing voice.

It felt like eternity that they prayed to dispel the darkness.
Suddenly they noticed the cluster of light was once again above their head and no longer waving.

The light had transformed into a man who emitted three sets of rays to his sides.
As he crossed himself, he spoke,

"By the will of God, we'll put you to the test,
but we'll be with you through your ordeals to witness your growth in faith and strength."

Then a bell sounded, shattering the darkness
and bringing the priestesses back to their reality inside the chapel. One by one, they stood up.

They were exhausted from praying for a long time, but they didn't feel it.
They didn't talk about what just happened because they knew; they'd been reborn as seraph,
the angels with six wings who serve God from his side and spread His grace to earth.

"How deep is the darkness in this world? Where are the places that need light?
I protect those who fight in His honor.
The army of Heaven is at my command and my sword of light shall punish evil in this world."