Chapter Text
artwork by magical-mistral-art on tumblr!
One would think that having a whole eternity ahead of you must be really nice – truly a wonderful gift, being able to procrastinate or follow your dreams, or even both, as long as you want. However, time alone wouldn’t allow you to do so. Mikleo knew it all too well: if you have time, but you don’t have freedom, your life is nothing but a real bore. Being an angel wasn’t easy, especially if you were, like Mikleo himself, a minor angel. Having to wait for your turn to be given a job, praying and attending rituals everyday, refraining from trying the mortal pleasures (especially icecream, Mikleo really wanted to try those), always wearing something with white in it – it all seemed like a fair price to pay in order to have eternity in your hands, but after a couple hundred years you could easily start to regret what you’ve asked for.
Not that Mikleo asked it, he was born this way. This is why he wondered what it was like to be a human. Yes, angels weren’t allowed to taste human desires, but they did have emotions, wishes and dreams. Suppressing them was the solution for most people, but Mikleo was young, and repressing everything only caused him anger. Moreover, seeing his friends all getting a job only caused his wrath to grow.
“I’m so tired of waiting” he complained one day to his friend Edna, who worked as a go-between angel. She grunted.
“I should be the one complaining” Edna retorted “I got a job, yet I can’t work”. She was right – only couriers worked regularly, because they were passing messages between angels, whereas the go-betweens reported from angel to humans. And since humans received direct messages from angels very rarely, Edna didn’t have really much to do.
“But you love doing nothing!” Mikleo complained. She grinned, and that’s when he realized she was teasing him, as always.
“Exactly” Edna smirked, “I said I should be complaining, but I’m not like you, Meebo. I can handle being eternally perfect and beautiful”
Mikleo groaned in frustration while making a bashful expression, a combination which only further delighted Edna’s mischievious character.
Their friend Lailah interrupted their bantering just few minutes later. She worked as guardian angel – this included returning to Heaven sometime, since time didn’t exist there, but also coming in contact with humans and their habits. There were many rumors of guardian angels having fallen in love with a human and consequently give up their immortal life for them. Mikleo thought that was very romantic, but he could never do something like that.
“Hi guys” Lailah greeted, smiling cheerfully as always. Mikleo smiled at her, soothed by her motherly presence.
“Hello, Lailah” he greeted, “how is Rose?”
Rose was the girl Lailah was assigned to. According to Lailah, she was a rascal, yet a very kind, generous and brave young lady. However, sometimes Lailah complained that she won’t listen to her hints – since humans can’t see their guardian angel, they have to give their protected ‘signals’ – and only got away from trouble due to sheer luck.
“She’s doing fine, actually, she just turned sixteen! Her friends threw her the biggest party and I stole a piece of cake” Lailah confessed, joining her hands together. Mikleo nodded, smiling even though he was a bit jealous of her experience in the human world.
“That girl must be very dense to not have noticed Lailah’s presence by now” Edna commented with a grin. Mikleo sighed, but Lailah prevented him from bantering back.
“Actually, there’s an urgent matter that requires your attention, Mikleo” Lailah said, giving him a letter. He raised a brow, “What is this?”
“A letter from the Council” Lailah announced, grinning widely, “you’ve been chosen as guardian angel!”
“Guys, I’m going!”
“Be careful, Sorey!”
“Of course, mom!”
“Good luck with your test”
“Thanks, grandpa!”
Sorey smiled as he petted his loyal companion, Mason, the purest golden retriever you could find in the world. “Let’s go, Mason” Sorey grinned as he proceeded to crash into the nearest wall. Mason barked.
“I know, I know, you shall guide me” he sighed “sorry, it’s that sometimes I forget it…”
Mason barked again and licked the pain away from his owner’s face, which made Sorey laugh. “Hey, I’m not hurt, nor sad! I’m as bright as always! C’mon, we’ll be late” he gently took the leash and let his dog guide him to school.
“It’s him?” Mikleo asked Lailah, looking down at the human boy. Lailah nodded.
“His name is Sorey! He is very cheerful and friendly, plus he loves his family and his friends so much – he also knows Rose, so we’ll see each other often!”
Mikleo hummed as he continued to watch Sorey, sighing when he saw him bump in the wall.
“He’s a disaster” he concluded.
“Aw, don’t say that! He has dealt with many problems a kid like him shouldn’t have even known about” Lailah pouted, “he’s such a good kid”
“You sound like his mother”
“Oh, you should met her! Her name is Selene, she’s a strong, independent woman! She raised Sorey all by herself, only when her son was five years old her father came to help”
Mikleo nodded, observing the boy. It sure didn’t look like he had a rough life – he smiled so happily, like he had not to worry about a thing. But truth was, he had actually had it tough. Mikleo felt the strange need to protect him.
“Say, Lailah, was he– Lailah?” Mikleo noticed that his friend had disappeared, probably went back home. He sighed and decided to approach Sorey, to study him: he had big bright green eyes, messy brown hair and somewhat puffy cheeks. Rather tall, Mikleo knew that if he couldn’t fly, Sorey would be taller than him, and this would bother him a bit. However, there was such tranquility in Sorey’s movements, his voice and his smile, that Mikleo couldn’t help but feel relaxed at his side, feeling his worries about his first job fade away instantly.
But Mikleo was still a little worried. Sure, Sorey followed his dog, but he often spaced out, looking around even though – Mikleo had understood it – he couldn’t actually look. Despite that, Sorey was daydreaming while walking: maybe he trusted his dog too much. Mikleo cringed while glancing at it: how could someone even trust that thing?
Suddenly, the dog stopped. He smelled the air, and Sorey asked what was wrong. In that moment, Mason started barking loudly at Mikleo.
“Hey, Mason, calm down” Sorey said, in slight distress. Mikleo tried to stay calm, but he was caught off guard, and hid instinctively behind Sorey.
Mason followed him, and Mikleo let out a yell. “Quiet, please! I’m just trying to protect him, you know!” he tried to explain, terrified.
He saw Sorey tilt his head slightly. Then, he watched as the human kneeled to cuddle with the dog, calming him down.
“It’s okay” he said, soothingly, “I’m okay, you’re a good boy”
Mikleo started to breathe again, and smiled when he saw how much Sorey loved his friend. Lailah was right about that, he thought.
Then, the unexpected happened.
Sorey smiled at him, a hand behind his neck. “I’m sorry my dog has caused you trouble, I’ll make sure it won’t happen again”
Mikleo nodded “It’s okay, don’t worry about it” he smiled, then paled. There was a minute of silence. “Wait, you can hear me?”
Sorey looked confused. “Of course I can” he said “well, I can’t see anyone, but my senses are pretty sharp! Plus, why are you asking me? It’s not like you’re whispering”
Mikleo was at loss of words. He had never heard of humans coming in contact with guardian angels.
“You… you shouldn’t hear nor see me at all” he stuttered, unsure about what to do.
“Why? I think your voice is really nice! I bet you sing wonderfully” he smiled. Mikleo blushed slightly. “That’s not it” he protested, covering his face. Then, when he removed his hands, he saw Sorey there, smiling and waiting patiently for an answer.
He’s persistent, he thought. Mikleo sighed for the hundredth time that day. He guessed it couldn’t hurt for him to know. First of all, since it had never happened, there wasn’t a rule against it. Secondly, he was sure Sorey wouldn’t believe him.
“Actually, I’m not a human” he said, “my name is Mikleo. I’m your guardian angel”
There was a moment of silence, and Mikleo felt embarrassed, insantly regretting what he had just done. Then, he saw Sorey grinning brightly.
“Really?! I have a guardian angel? That’s so cool!” he exclaimed, beaming with joy “My name is Sorey! You probably know that, but I wanted to introduce myself, I don’t want to be rude to my protector!” he giggled, putting his right hand forward “Humans shake hands to seal friendship!”
Mikleo chuckled, amused by his reaction, and shook his hand “Pleasure is mine, Sorey” he said “now, I suggest you walking rapidly if you don’t want to be late at school”
Sorey nodded. “But will you come with me?”
Mikleo smiled. “Of course, Sorey”
Sorey was beyond happy. Not only did he have a personal guardian angel, but he also had a kind, caring, smart and funny one. Mikleo never made him uncomfortable about his inability to see, making up for whatever Mason couldn’t help him with. For instance, Sorey had discovered, to his delight, that Mikleo loved books.
“So you do have books up there” Sorey wondered with a mouth-agape look.
Mikleo couldn’t help but chuckle. “Of course we do” he told him, sitting on his bed, legs crossed, “in order to get a job, angels need to study. Plus, every soul that enters Heaven must be recorded, as well as important historical events. I spend quite a lot of time in the Holy Library, it’s huge”
Sorey’s eyes sparkled with interest in Mikleo’s direction. “Really? Do you? How is it like?”
“There are nine floors, but the access to some of them is restricted, in certain sections it’s even prohibited” he explained, “I’m allowed to visit only the first three floors: there are tomes about common knowledge, history, human history and what you call mythology”
“I see, sounds awesome! And what’s your favourite genre?”
“I have a wide taste in literature, but I especially like mythology” Mikleo had a fond smile on his face, “you see, there’s this book, which is actually my favourite, that is called Celestial Records. It’s about the archaeological artifacts angels left in your world”
“Aw, man! I would really like to read it” Sorey pouted childishly, which Mikleo found quite cute, “I really love hearing about archaeology! It’s what I would like to study once I finish high school”
Mikleo’s eyes widened. “Really? But…” he refrained from saying something that could hurt Sorey, and smiled instead “That’s a wonderful dream, Sorey”
Sorey lowered his gaze. “I know, there’s the possibility I won’t be able to do that. But I want to try. When I lost my sight, my history teacher was the only one outside my family that understood me, and helped me so that I didn’t need the textbook to learn” he smiled slightly “his name was Mayvin. I could never thank him enough. He’s teached me the value of history – and the only way to find out what’s happened is by studying archaeology”
Mikleo listened to him, leaning closer each time he saw Sorey’s eyes darkening with sadness. He ran his hand through Sorey’s hair, which – Mikleo noticed with surprise – were very soft. Sorey was relaxed by the other’s touch, and leaned his head toward Mikleo’s hand, craving for more. Mikleo smiled at the involountary action and continued his comforting movement.
“Sorey, forgive me if I hesitated, I– I know for a fact that if you put your mind to it, you will be certainly able to become the best archaeologist in the world. I have no doubt about this” Mikleo nodded. Sorey smiled.
“Thank you, Mikleo. It really means a lot to me”
“Also, just for you” Mikleo smirked and, with a gesture of his hand, made a heavy book appear on Sorey’s lap. The teen touched it in order to figure its identity, then grinned. “Is it the Celestial Record?”
“Yes, it is” the angel nodded, “and I’ll read that to you, every single page, every single night. How does that sound?”
Sorey was at loss of words. “Mikleo, I… I… thank you!” he exclaimed, hugging tightly his guardian angel. Mikleo blushed at the sudden contact, but wrapped his arms around Sorey nevertheless. “Don’t mention it”
Since he was little, Sorey had dreamt a lot. In particular, since he lost the ability to see. Sorey loved to dream, because there he could see.
The dream he made more often was also his favourite. He dreamt about a young boy, most likely his age, who was very beautiful: he had fair light skin, like porcelain, short white hair with aquamarine tips, and mesmerizing lavender eyes. The first time he dreamt him was when they were both six years old. The young boy was playing with two girls slightly older than him, and he looked very happy. Sorey would have liked to go and talk with him, but he couldn’t – it was a dream, after all.
When he started highschool, Sorey was at least able to listen what the young boy said. He was taken aback by how wonderfully he had grown, his delicate figure still masculine and strong-looking. He caught bits of the conversations he had with his two friends – grown as well. Once he woke up, Sorey remembered little, but he knew he had fun, like he was there with them. He would love to interact with that pretty and kind boy.
Since he met Mikleo, however, Sorey had started to think less about the mysterious boy of his dreams. Mikleo was there, and he was real. He wished to introduce him to his friends, he knew they would adore him. And maybe they would describe him to Sorey, because he actually was very curious to know how he looked. He imagined him to be quite good-looking: by touching his face, Sorey had found out that he was, in fact, quite right.
One night, he found out something that left him completely astonished. In his dream, the boy was talking with just one of his friends, the blonde one. He was laughing, and she was teasing him, as always.
Then, he heard the boy talk. “What are you saying?! This is nonsense” he exclaimed, way louder than his usual tone – that’s why Sorey could hear it. He got a step closer.
“I just– it’s my first job, I want to take care of him properly. He is such a nice guy, I wonder how it would be if we were both humans. Maybe I’d get to go to school with him, eat ice-cream together, we’d even grow old together”
Sorey wondered what was that all about. Did this mean the boy was not human? And who was the guy he was talking about? Sorey couldn’t help but feel a little sting in his heart.
“Well, you’re his guardian angel. You can do lots with him without having to worry about going back home early, do your homework or paying your bills”
“I know, Edna. But… I actually wouldn’t mind it if Sorey was by my side”
Sorey’s eyes widened with surprise. He put together the information he gathered but still couldn’t believe it. A single word escaped his lips.
“Mikleo…?”
But just as Mikleo, startled, turned back to face him, the dream ended.