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He had been falling for a very long time.
Ai didn’t know for exactly how long he had been falling, but when he finally collided with the surface of the Earth it felt like an eternity.
He was left to stare up into the dark night sky lit up by the thousands of stars now above him.
The crater created by his fall was deep, and for a moment he contemplated just staying in said hole.
Ai was an angel who had been sent to Earth where Demons roamed the surface, to gather information on the darker beings. It wasn’t his first time on Earth but the sight of the stars from this perspective never ceased to amaze him.
His mission was simple enough. He had orders from the higher ups to see if anything in the demons’ behavior had changed, for better or for worse, and if they could in fact be talked to on a civilized basis and eventually lived amongst. It would be over quickly, and he had already played out the scenario in his head a hundred times while he was falling. He would land on earth, find a Demon, see their reaction to him, an Angel, and then go back home to his life in the skies. It was simple. He didn’t want to make a bigger scene of it than it already was, frankly Ai didn’t know why he had been chosen for the job, he just knew that he didn’t want to spend too much time in the company of Demons. The other race had never really intrigued him much, he wasn’t scared of them, but he didn’t care for a life living with Demons. Maybe that was why he had been chosen, because he was so unfazed by the entire plan. He had always been like that, unfazed by most and alone.
Ai finally sat up and brushed his white clothes clean from the dirt that had manifested in his landing.
He was about to get up from the crater completely when he heard a voice from above him say, “I think it’s down there, whatever it is”
Ai looked up to the edge of the crater in wonder, was his plan gonna play out so easily he wondered.
Another voice answered the first voice, “Well I don’t see any other craters around here smartass, so yes I think it’s down there too” with a rather annoyed tone to it.
“Ran-chan you’re so mean” the first voice whined while the other sighed deeply in what Ai would categorize as frustration.
Ai kept looking at the edge of the crater and finally two silhouettes appeared. In the light from the moon Ai could make out their dark, torn and ragged clothes, but the things he noticed first were the set of horns that curled from the sides of the heads of both beings.
Two Demons were looking down on him from above and for a second Ai didn’t know what to do. It had been a while since he had encountered one from the other species and a slight shiver ran down his spine when the grey haired demon bared his fangs at Ai.
“An Angel” the grey haired demon spat with venom coating his words and Ai swallowed a lump in his throat.
From the first glance the Demons still seemed cautious of Angels and Ai was about to set off and back to Heaven again when the other Demon clapped his hands together in excitement and said, “How wonderful! I haven’t seen an Angel for almost 200 years”
Ai’s blue eyes landed on the brown haired Demon and for a second he forgot how to breathe when he saw the demon smiling at him. Not an evil or menacing smile, but a genuine smile Ai would have never thought could have been produced by a Demon.
That smile was enough for Ai to stop his actions, this was what he was here for after all, he had to determine if Demons were to be trusted and that smile had no ill bearings.
“Quit your excitement Reiji, he’s trespassing on Demon ground, we’ll have to take him back to Camus” The grey haired demon growled and Reiji sighed and shrugged his shoulders, “I guess it can't be helped” he mumbled and before Ai had the chance to react both Demons were at each of his sides securing his arms behind his back.
“What a pain” the grey haired Demon mumbled in clear annoyance and Ai felt his heart rate speed up. This had not been part of his plan. This was not how his mission was supposed to go, he wasn’t supposed to be captured by the Demons, but he had been and he had no idea what they were gonna do to him.
A million thoughts were running through his mind as the two Demons spread their black wings and flew him out of the crater and when they landed again Reiji spoke up, “You don’t have to look so frightened, we won’t hurt you”
Ai turned his head to look at the Demon on his left side and upon looking into his grey eyes he felt more at ease, they were kind, kinder than he had imagined a Demons’ eyes to be.
“Yet” the grey haired Demon added to Reiji’s words and yet again a shiver ran down Ai’s spine as he looked to the much more rough looking demon who Ai now noted had heterochromia eyes.
“Ranmaru don’t scare the poor thing, we’ll hear what Camus says and then determine what to do with him” Reiji scolded the other but he only growled in response.
“Who is this Camus?” Ai finally mustered up the courage to speak and he truly wanted to know where they were taking him, also the name sounded far from Demon like but Ai let that be for the moment.
“It speaks!” Reiji declared in excitement and Ai winced slightly at his sudden outburst.
“Of course I do” Ai deadpanned and Reiji smiled sheepishly at him.
Ranmaru sighed in annoyance yet again before he spoke, “Camus is one of the few noble Demons in this area” catching Ai’s attention.
“Demons have a system like that?” The Angel questioned, this was new information to him, in reality Angels didn’t know much about Demons as they had distanced themselves from each other for eternity.
“Of course we do, we’re not complete savages” Ranmaru growled as he eyed Ai slightly and the blue haired Angel nodded slightly at his statement. Maybe it wasn’t that bad that he was taken somewhere within the Demon realm. The chances of him acquiring valuable information was very high and he couldn’t let a chance like that pass him by.
Ai hadn’t expected to gamble his life this much on this mission but as it looked now there was no way out of it and he could do nothing but let time show him what the Demons were truly like.
...
The two Demons had led Ai to a mighty palace all in black with spears reaching for the night sky and upon entering Ai had laid eyes on Camus for the first time.
Camus was everything Ai had expected him to be. The second Ranmaru had told him that he was a noble in the Demon world Ai had created a picture in his mind of a Demon sitting on a throne of skulls and and old swords. All clad in black, his horns long, curly and pointy and an aura of authority and danger emitting from him.
Though, Ai had not expected him to have such fair white skin and ice blue eyes.
“What’s this?” Had been his first words upon laying eyes on Ai. A snarl was clear on his lips and his thin eyebrows were raised in question.
“It’s an Angel sir” Reiji started but he was abruptly cut off.
“I can see that you fool, I meant, what is an Angel doing here?” Camus said in a loud and annoyed voice that made Ai uncomfortable, he did not like this situation at all and he had no means of escape, maybe he should have tried harder to get out of their grasps before he got this far. But then again if he did end up laying his life down here the Angels from above would know not to engage in communication with the Demons any time soon.
“Well we actually don't know sir, he hasn’t really said anything and we wanted you to make a decision on what to do about him” Reiji explained and Camus visibly rolled his eyes.
“Then speak up Angel, why are you here” Camus commanded and Ai locked eyes with him before he took a deep breath, he couldn’t show them how terrified he actually was so he prayed that his voice wouldn’t give him away.
“First off, my name is Ai and I am an Angel sent on a mission to see if it is at all possible for Angels and Demons to Co-exist” Ai began but Camus huffed in amusement at his words.
“Co-exist?” He questioned with an amused ring to his voice and Ai nodded at him.
“You Angels sure are funny” he continued as he got up from his throne and in three long strides stood before Ai.
Camus bend down to Ai’s eye level and said, “You Angels were the ones who disowned us in the first place, why would we want to Co-exist with you now?”
Ai was at a loss for words, the higher ups had never mentioned anything like that to him, he was a fairly young Angel, maybe that was why they had sent him, because they knew it was futile and he was replaceable.
Camus took Ai’s missing answer as an invitation to keep talking, “I won’t kill you yet Angel, as I find you rather interesting” he started and Ai’s eyes widened for a moment.
“But I will lock you up so you can see that we might not be as bad as your kind thinks we are” he finished before he returned to his seat and Reiji and Ranmaru led him to a cell in the cellar of the castle they were in.
“Sorry about that” Reiji said before he closed the door and Ai was suddenly left in the dark.
...
Ai didn’t know how long he had spent in the Demon’s dungeon, but he figured it would have been a few days. He figured that out was by counting how many times Reiji and Ranmaru had stopped by. Sometimes together but mostly separately.
Reiji seemed to enjoy visiting the blue haired Angel as he always brought something from the Demon world with him to show Ai and Ai was more than interested in learning about the other race and their ways.
A few days ago Reiji had brought a board game Ai wasn’t familiar with, it was called Ludo and Reiji had said it was the most fun if four people played the game. Ai had enjoyed it very much despite the lack of players and a day after Reiji had brought Ranmaru in to play yet another game, this time a card game they referred to as Uno.
In their time together Reiji had told many stories about Demons and their way of life, like how they actually aren’t as vile and murderous as they are made out to be, it’s just the way they look. Ranmaru had protested at this part though, but Ai had seen how the annoyed Demon would cuddle with stray cats that roamed the castle grounds when he thought nobody was looking, Reiji had showed him pictures after all.
Despite being locked up in a dungeon Ai couldn’t say that he had despised his time on Earth, he had actually rather enjoyed it with the company of the overly excited yet mature Demon and his tired and mildly annoyed Demon companion. Ai had long ago stopped fearing the two Demons and though he had been shrouded in darkness for a majority of the week he hadn’t been scared. Light always followed the Angels in the form of their halo and yet Ai had paid little to no attention to it.
Despite the friendly demeanor from both Reiji and Ranmaru, Ai couldn’t help but notice the other Demons that went down with an occasional meal for him, the Demons who weren’t Reiji or Ranmaru. They looked at him like he himself was a monster and the end of their days. Their glares were laced with hate and a snarl was always on their lips, covered in black clothes and and horns sticking from their head, Ai couldn’t blame them when he sat in the dark with his pure white feathery wings and clothes.
Despite this he didn’t know how to feel anymore. He had come to Earth with a purpose in mind, but after what Camus had said, that purpose seemed for naught and he could do nothing but wait and see what the blue eyed Demon would decide for him.
As it turned out he didn’t have to wait for long.
“Hey kiddo, Camus asked for you so I’m here to escort you” Reiji’s friendly voice sounded from the gate that separated Ai from everything else and he looked to the brown haired Demon with tired eyes. He had been thinking for a while about what Camus had meant and his mind was tired.
Reiji sent him a small smile as he lead him up the stairs and into the grand room where Camus’ throne was, though Camus wasn’t on it.
“He’ll be here in a second, he said he wanted to show you something” Reiji stated and Ai nodded.
“But in the meantime” Reiji started as he turned around to look at something in the shadows, “Hey RanRan wanna hear what my horoscope says about me today?” He asked in a cheery voice and to Ai’s surprise Ranmaru stepped out from the shadows with a scowl on his face.
“That you’re a giant moron?” He deadpanned and Reiji’s shoulders visibly dropped as he sighed.
“Okay first of all, rude” Reiji whined as Ranmaru stepped closer to the two, “and second of all, no, it says that I should be open to new possibilities and focus on making new friends while not forgetting my old friendships” Reiji stated and Ranmaru rolled his eyes at him.
Ai couldn’t help but let out a small laugh as he watched the two Demons interact, it was rather amusing to the Angel seeing the two fool around like that, though he had seen it before they never failed to make him laugh.
“It smiles as well” Reiji exclaimed with a delighted smile on his own face, but the smile was soon replaced by a frown and Ai quickly noticed that Camus had entered the room and now stood before his throne.
The room was lighter than the other night when Ai had first laid eyes on the blue eyed Demon, and yet Ai almost slapped himself for not having noticed the obvious.
It was actually beyond him how he hadn’t noticed the first time he had met Camus, maybe because he had been scared, he had failed to pick up the obvious. But he saw it now, clear as day and it all made sense to him. Ai looked at the Demon with wide eyes and Camus nodded slowly. Camus’ wings weren’t like the other Demons’, they weren’t bat like and ragged, they were made of feathers, just like Ai’s, though Camus’ were a dark black shade and that’s when it hit him. Camus was a fallen Angel.
“So now you see Angel” Camus stated as he spread his wings from his back and Ai gawked at them in awe. Even though they were black they were still gorgeous, majestic even.
“I was cast from the Heavens many centuries ago for the exact same reason you are here” he continued and Ai raised his eyebrows in wonder.
“In my time I suggested that Angels and Demons should live in peace with each other, but the higher ups at that time didn’t agree with my ideals and instead banned me from the skies and sent me to Earth. They took away my purity, my identity and changed my wings to black and planted horns in my skull, and now you say you have been sent here to see if Angels and Demons can actually live in peace, so tell me boy, what do you think?” Camus finished off his explanation with a question Ai had trouble answering.
He would never have guessed that the Angels had outcast one of their own in an act of fear and Ai truly pitied the former Angel before him, once an Angel of the skies but he had been reduced to walk the Earth in the guise of a Demon, how could a wound like that ever be healed?
Ai thought hard about Camus’ words, a week ago he would have thought it impossible by how hostile Camus and the others had been to Ai’s mere presence on Earth. But for the past week Ai had spent time with the Demons, he had seen that they weren’t what he had thought them out to be and he had realized that his race had lived in the fear of something they didn’t understand and that’s why they were scared.
Ai took a deep breath before he started talking, “I think we can make it work” he started as he finally made eye contact with Camus who raised a thin eyebrow at him.
Reiji and Ranmaru looked to each other with worried expressions behind Ai but Camus ignored them.
“I don’t think you should forgive the Angels that abandoned and cast you out for having ideas that weren’t ready for the time you were in, but I think we can still come to an agreement” Ai continued as he moved closer to Camus who kept staring at him with a superior look in his eyes.
“Those Angels are either long gone or have changed their minds on Demons. I was sent here to determine if Demons and Angels could live together in peace and the fact that you haven’t killed me yet proves just that” Ai said as he stopped in front of Camus and took the taller males hands in his own.
“I still see the kindness of an Angel in your eyes and you have been passing that on to the Demons surrounding you, you don’t want war Camus, you want peace just as much as you wanted all those years ago” Ai finally concluded and he watched as Camus’ stern look in his eyes softened and he sighed deeply as he squeezed Ai’s hands slightly.
“Damn Angels, always able to see right through everything” he mumbled and Ai smiled.
“Turns out we’re not as different as I thought we were” Ai admitted and he soon felt the touch of two hands on each of his shoulders and he didn’t have to turn around to figure out who it was.
They all four stood like that for a moment and maybe it was the lighting in the room, but Ai could have sworn that Camus’ wings grew a lighter color in that moment.
...
Ai had returned to Heaven the day after and Reiji had felt an unexplainable pain in his chest when he had watched the blue haired angel ascend to his home once again. He knew the day would come but not that it had been that close. He had enjoyed the company of the silent angel even though it had only been a week, and he wished he could have heard more of the stories he had to tell from the skies.
“Stop whining” Ranmaru said with a sigh directed at Reiji. It had been exactly 30 minutes since Ai had left them and Reiji was sobbing in a corner of Camus’ throne room. Camus himself was situated on his throne with a frown on his face, a frown he wouldn’t admit was caused by the lack of the Angel. He would have liked to talk more to him, to understand him and the Angels’ new way of thinking better, but his duties called.
Ranmaru on the other hand didn’t show any kinds of remorse from Ai leaving, but Reiji knew him too well to know that that wasn’t the case and that Ranmaru was actually quite sad too. He just hid it away in fear of his angry demeanor being broken.
Reiji was about to complain about Ranmaru’s inability to feel sympathy but he was cut off by a loud crash right outside the castle.
The three Demons looked at each other with surprised expressions and before they had the chance to get up and investigate the sound, the doors to the room opened up wide and Ai walked in while he brushed off his white clothes.
“I really need to work on those landings” Ai said as he coughed slightly into his hand.
He didn’t receive an answer, instead Reiji had jumped to his feet and attacked the Angel in a deadly hug which Ai violently tried to get out off.
“Why are you back?” Camus asked in confusion. The strawberry blonde male had gotten up from his throne and had power walked to Ai and Reiji with Ranmaru, both trying not to show too much enthusiasm for the Angels’ return.
“I made my report and am now free to roam the Earth as I please” Ai started in a strained voice and Reiji finally let go of him.
“The higher ups are currently working out a plan to announce it on both Heaven and Earth that we are free to mingle as we please” Ai continued and Camus smiled slightly at the outcome.
After all these years his wish was finally to be granted and he couldn’t help but smile at the blue haired Angel before him that had made it all possible. And without thinking much of it he pulled them all into a hug, much to Ranmaru’s dismay.
Ai rested in the hug and sighed deeply. This was were he belonged. He had never felt quite in place in Heaven, but when surrounded by these three he felt like he was needed, like he was loved and he couldn’t really ask for more.
And as it turned out Reiji had been right, Ludo was much more fun with four players.
