Sorcerer in the Marvel Universe

Evenson wasn’t completely ignorant of what the Holy Light was.

At the very least, he knew enough to recite the names and general functions of most Paladin and Priest abilities from memory.

But knowing something academically and actually experiencing its effects were two very different things.

As a self-taught Warlock, Evenson had never experienced what it felt like to be exposed to the Holy Light. That was why, when he first entered the temple and began feeling uncomfortable, he hadn’t recognized the energy for what it might be.

He hadn’t even considered the possibility.

And the idea that the "angels" described by Claire might actually be Naaru?

That possibility had been even further from his mind.

Now Evenson was thoroughly overwhelmed.

There was simply too much information arriving at once. His brain felt like someone had tried to stuff an elephant into a household refrigerator and then expected the door to close.

There was, however, one thing he could say with absolute certainty.

If Naaru existed in this world, that was not good news.

In fact, any world containing Naaru was potentially bad news for ordinary mortals.

That didn’t mean the Naaru were evil.

Quite the opposite.

They had always been portrayed as paragons of light and righteousness.

The problem was the way they pursued their goals.

They were extreme.

Inflexible.

They didn’t particularly care about individual feelings, and they were perfectly willing to sacrifice others if they believed doing so served the greater purpose.

That was the natural consequence of their purity.

They were either pure Light or absolute Darkness.

There was no middle ground.

No gray.

Mortals, however, weren’t built that way.

They couldn’t be perfectly pure.

Humanity existed in that middle ground.

Gray was where mortals lived.

If a world stood directly on the front lines of an apocalyptic struggle between good and evil, then perhaps mortals could tolerate the Naaru.

When the Burning Legion was breathing down everyone’s necks, there wasn’t much room for philosophical disagreement. People had to pick a side.

That was why the Naaru became immensely valuable whenever the Burning Legion threatened Azeroth. Heroes gathered around them, accepted their guidance, and gladly followed them into battle.

But once the Legion retreated?

Who remembered the giant glowing lamp sitting in Shattrath City?

If that was how things worked on a world as chaotic as Azeroth, ordinary people living in a relatively normal world would have even less patience for the Naaru’s methods.

They would probably find them sanctimonious, hypocritical, and unbearable.

Evenson had even less tolerance for the glowing space lanterns.

After all, he himself was already so morally gray that he’d practically turned black.

Of course, that had nothing whatsoever to do with his luck.

Absolutely nothing.

"You’re unusually familiar with these creatures."

Claire studied him.

"From the way you reacted to my explanation, you seem to know far more about them than we do."

Evenson nodded.

"My magical inheritance contains records about them. They’re called Naaru. They’re extraterrestrial beings. They don’t originate from any particular planet."

"I knew it."

Melinda shook her head with the smug satisfaction of someone whose suspicions had just been confirmed.

"Gods are aliens. That’s how it worked with the Norse gods, and now apparently angels are aliens too. Nobody ever seems to consider what that does to their followers’ worldview."

"I should warn you about something."

Evenson shook his head.

"Naaru aren’t like the Asgardians. They’re fundamentally different. They’re beings of absolute Light and Order."

"That doesn’t sound so bad."

Melinda tilted her head.

Light and order were, after all, things human civilization had spent thousands of years trying to achieve.

"Not so bad?"

Evenson shrugged.

"Right now, the Sun is about a hundred and fifty million kilometers away from Earth. From here, we can enjoy its light and be grateful for the warmth it gives us."

He looked at her.

"But what happens if I put you inside the Sun?"

Melinda’s expression flattened.

"You’d be ash before you got anywhere near the center."

"Exactly."

Evenson’s voice grew more serious.

"And there’s another problem. Naaru don’t truly die. When they disperse into Light and eventually enter the cycle of rebirth, they can return as beings of absolute Darkness."

He paused.

"It’s like the Sun suddenly becoming a supernova. Everything around it gets destroyed."

"Of course."

Melinda covered her face with one hand.

"Gods are a pain in the ass."

She lowered her hand and gave Evenson a deeply troubled look.

"For thousands of years, humanity has prayed for God’s protection. At this point, I’d honestly settle for him just not making our lives harder."

"That’s quite a statement."

Evenson looked at her.

Anyone capable of saying please just don’t make things worse about the gods had clearly reached the end of their patience.

And when he thought about it, he couldn’t blame her.

One Norse god had nearly turned New York into rubble.

Now they potentially had an utterly uncompromising race of cosmic beings called Naaru to worry about.

Anyone would be exhausted.

"There’s something else bothering me."

Evenson rested his chin against one hand.

"How many Naaru are supposed to exist in this world?"

He raised a finger.

"We know Christian tradition speaks of ten archangels serving God."

The Book of Colossians also spoke of angels numbering in the millions.

But Evenson couldn’t believe all of them could be Naaru.

If there were really that many Naaru, then the Burning Legion would have been in serious trouble.

At that point, Azeroth wouldn’t have been fighting the Legion.

The Legion would have been fighting the Light Legion.

"So only the major archangels with established names might actually be Naaru," Evenson muttered.

"And if angels are Naaru..."

Another question surfaced.

"Who is God?"

If angels had been created by God, then God obviously wasn’t one of them.

There were also biblical passages suggesting that redeemed humanity would eventually be elevated above the angels.

That clearly established a distinction between God and the angels.

"This is giving me a headache."

Melinda rubbed her temples.

"We can worry about all of that later. Right now, we’re just speculating. What matters is whether these Naaru could interfere with the mission we’re currently dealing with."

"Unfortunately, that’s exactly what bothers me."

Evenson raised one finger.

"We already know Hell has interfered with the mortal world more than once. Yet neither God nor these supposed angels have ever reacted."

His brow furrowed.

"Naaru don’t even have eyes, but they’re hardly known for tolerating anything that contradicts the Light. Frankly, I’m amazed they haven’t already forced this entire world to convert."

For a Naaru, even an ally wasn’t necessarily safe from having the Holy Light forced into their body.

And these ordinary mortals weren’t even allies.

They were strangers.

"Unless..."

Claire frowned.

"What if you’re simply wrong?"

She gestured toward the temple.

"There are too many inconsistencies. What if you’ve identified the wrong thing entirely?"

"I hope you’re right."

Evenson didn’t commit himself either way.

Before anyone could say more, the door suddenly flew open.

An agent rushed into the room.

"Sir! Something’s wrong."

Evenson’s mood somehow managed to get even worse.

"What happened?"

"We took Johnny Blaze to the black priest so they could perform the ritual to remove the curse."

The agent spoke so quickly that the words nearly ran together.

"The ritual went wrong?"

Evenson raised an eyebrow.

He’d been too distracted by his own thoughts to watch the ceremony himself.

Still, he wasn’t particularly surprised.

After discovering who the temple leader really served, he’d already formed a fairly good idea of what the ritual was actually supposed to accomplish.

"I don’t know about the ritual," the agent said hurriedly. "But afterward, the monks tried to kill the boy. Rumlow is currently confronting them with the team."

"Protect the boy!"

Melinda suddenly shouted.

"He’s the key to finding Locke!"

Evenson winced and rubbed his ringing ear.

"You’re investigating a case, not storming Normandy. Calm down."

He stood.

"Let’s go see what these people are really trying to do."

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