Chapter Text
"The headmaster asked me to come see her."
"Proceed, Ms. Nylund," the headmaster’s secretary told me.
Frankly, I prefer Ms. Rose better.
It seems so unusual to me that I scored the highest in my tier. I don't know how I even got close to having perfect scores, but atleast I had a few mistakes. I expected my sisters to excel more than me though. Lily would have been suitable for the promotion, but unfortunately she had gotten blind, which got the best of her (poor Lily). Holly, on the other hand, would also be a good candidate for the promotion, but... I don't know, I'm still doubting her ability to even have—or keep—friends. Well, she's trying though to mingle with my friend Miles, one of the archangels here in Heaven.
I never expected it, but hey! Now that I am here, I guess it's showtime.
The golden doors to the headmaster's office open slowly—yes, we angels do not know our headmasters’ names, but we know how they look like; and, the first thing I heard were soft sounds coming from harps and lyres. It was soothing to hear, but almost distracted me from my real reason for this visit.
Well, now that I am here, I began to speak.
"Headmaster? You asked me to come see you."
"That's correct, Rose. Please sit."
I sat on the rather comfortable chair in front of the headmaster's desk, which is filled with tons of paperwork and folders that are still yet to be sorted out by her. At least she doesn't crack her back from all of that.
As I took a seat, she cleared her throat, "First things first, congratulations on your promotion! It was unexpected of you to pass the exams with flying colors."
"Thank you..." I shrugged nonchalantly and smiled shyly, "I also never expected for me to pass it."
"And since you have been promoted and are one of the most skilled angels here, I'll officially give you an assignment."
"Really?!" I slightly raise my voice in shock. An assignment already!?
From what I have heard, angels have these assignments that represent humans who are... how do I put this delicately..? "Isolated from the world," maybe? The reason being is that they have enclosed themselves from all forms of love. Some of them have been hurt from heartbreaks, some of them from the death of their loved ones. That's why us angels act as their messengers and guides in order to guide them back to the feeling of love again, and—
Ugh, I shouldn't be overthinking about this matter. Shut up, Rose.
Going back, the headmaster nodded in the affirmative, "Yes. However, the details of this assignment are not what you would expect."
"W-What do you mean, headmaster?"
The headmaster then lets a thick folder full of documents drop to her desk, making me flinch from the loud thud that it produced upon impact, "I have left this assignment for quite some time since I needed someone as skilled as you to take this job. To put it simply, this human is absolutely isolated from the world. Her heart is as cold as ice and as hard as stone. I believe you are suitable for this assignment."
She gently shoves the folder towards me and I grab it from the desk. Boy, I was right: this folder is a bit heavy.
Upon laying the folder down on my lap, the first thing I see are the initials scrawled on it.
"D... Z..?"
She then began to explain while I read some of the information from the file, "It stands for Dorothy Zbornak. She's about your age, and, like I said before, her heart is as hard as stone. It was due to her divorce with some guy named Stan, and—"
The headmaster stopped mid-sentence, which made me look up from the folder, "... and..?"
She suddenly stops mid-sentence, as if her heart stopped beating (which would deem impossible since angels are immortal). She looks down, twiddling her thumbs, just before she clears her throat once more to speak.
"And... a death of a loved one."
"Poor lady..."
"I know," she nods before she closes her eyes and exhales, "which is why I am choosing an angel like you for the job. Be her messenger and guide throughout this whole thing."
I read a bit further into Dorothy's file and noticed that she lives in an apartment in Brooklyn, New York. She's a schoolteacher and—like what the headmaster mentioned earlier—got divorced after 38 years of marriage from a man named Stan... That kinda rhymed, didn't it? Hehe, I love little rhymes like that.
Although, I don't see any information anywhere about her heartbreak from the death of her loved one. I'm guessing the file isn't updated.
Gee, I feel bad for Dorothy. It's no wonder her heart would eventually turn into stone... unless you take into context the story of how Uncle Lungfist—one of the retired angels here in Heaven (well, one of St. Olaf's followers, to be exact)—had his chicken's heart turned into literal stone after accidentally feeding him with... what he thought was "chicken chow."
And with that said, Dorothy needs my utmost help... but something stopped me.
"H-Headmaster," I began after reading and closing Dorothy's file, "This would be my very first assignment..."
"That's right," she nodded in response.
"And that would mean I get to apply what I learned to this assignment."
"That's right."
"I... I don't think I can do this assignment, considering that you left this file in the dark for a little while, waiting for someone as talented as me to take the job."
"Please, Angel Gabriel did a great job after being afraid of doing as little as telling the Virgin Mary that her baby's name would be Jesus, and not Hesus," she bantered, which is typical of her—we angels know how she would comment anything out of the ordinary, but we don't know if it has something to do with her stroke when she was still a mortal from Earth, "Of course, Hesus would work, too... and His disciples would mostly consist of Mexicans, or maybe Spaniards..? Eh."
"Whatever do you mean by this, headmaster?" I leaned a bit closer.
"I'll just give this to you flat-out: Rose, you're a rookie, and rookies gotta start from somewhere. It's no coincidence that you scored the highest in your tier—which came as a shock to me, especially; but, now that you're here, take this chance to start from that somewhere."
She does have a point.
Without further hesitation, I stood up, carrying Dorothy's file on my left hand and extending my other hand for a handshake.
"I'll do whatever I can to make Dorothy be opened to the world of love again."
The headmaster shook my hand in return.
"Atta girl. I wish you the best of luck!"
"Jean, I'm pretty scared..."
"Why wouldn't you be? This is your first assignment!" Jean says while I pace back and forth in front of her reception desk and wait for archangel Miles to accompany me down towards Earth—to Brooklyn, New York, if I recall, "You should be excited, right? I know that you often anticipate in the new things that come your way."
"I know, but..." I gesticulate as I look at Jean with sheer fear in my actions, "this one is different. I-I sense an uncomfortable kind of feeling at the pit of my stomach. Boy, this is making me a bit nauseous."
"Hey, Rose. C'mere," Jean rose from her white office chair and revolves around the desk to stop infront of me and hold my hands, "Oh wow, you're trembling! Are you really this scared?"
I nod in response before immediately shaking my head, "Have you felt this way before when you received your very first assignment?"
"To be frank, Rose, yes I have," she chuckles, "My first—and only—assignment was Pat. She's such a lovely person and, surprisingly, became more caring for me as my time with her passes by."
I giggle a bit, "She must've loved you that much to care for an angel like you."
"Truly," she says, then her facial expression tweaks a bit to a resentful one, "until the day that I finally managed to leave her since my assignment with her is finished."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Jean shakes her head, before taking a deep breath and shrug, letting go of my hands, "We both learned to accept it and be with our own respective lives. Though, my memory with her still lives on... and I will never let it go, which is mainly the reason why I decided to apply for this receptionist job."
I snicker, smiling genuinely to her, "I hope this job isn't a bore."
"Oh, please, it isn't! Matter of fact, I just get to sit here and just do whatever I want, while reminiscing sometimes my time with Pat."
"Well in that case, I'm happy for you."
We both smiled at each other just before we see archangel Miles—well, simply Miles since Jean and I are friends with him, after all—entering the Golden Gates, saying, "Hey, Jean! Rose, congratulations on your first assignment!"
Miles first hugs Jean upon landing, then me, noticing that he's hugging me tighter than usual, "Miles, it's no big deal!"
"Whatever do you mean, of course it is!"
"Rose is just a bit scared since this is all new to her."
Miles looks at Jean, then back to me, "Why, I thought that you would be excited for this?"
"Apparently not, I'm afraid," I nervously chuckle, scratching an absent itch on my nape, "I just... have this unusual feeling in me that this assignment might flunk..."
"Flunk? Rose, hey, c'mon now. Stop overthinking!" Miles laughs and smiles, "You're one of the most talented angels I know here in Heaven, and one of my most cherished friends. You have that certain grace, humility, and adventurous spirit when it comes to anything that lies your way! Don't ever become someone you're not, okay?"
Wow, this is one of the very few times that Miles certainly helped me with advice. He usually confides in me for advice.
Well, I would have to take his word to heart. It's no wonder he became an archangel, after all.
With that, I nod eagerly, "Okay."
Miles lets go of my grip to pave way for me to hug Jean for one last time—don't worry, I already bid farewell to my sisters before waiting alongside Jean, "Oh, Rose, I'm definitely going to miss you."
"Gosh don't get me started! I'm going to miss all of you here for a little while!" We both remained in that hug for a few more seconds until Miles and I said our goodbyes to her.
Here we go. My first assignment begins!