Chapter Text
Water gently drizzled down from the sky, drenching the gravel underneath the girl’s feet, but it never splashed on her. She could still smell the wet ground all around her; feel the coldness in the air chilling her skin, giving her goosebumps; hear the constant, soft pitter-patter like a million muted whispers.
She closed her blue eyes longingly. The rain was here, but not with her. She wondered if this was how it felt to mourn something forgotten.
And then they came.
Among the mists of rain came hundreds of silhouettes: faceless ghosts of no name and nearly formless, their shadows barely visible in the foggy whiteness of the pouring rain; they walked ahead into nothing… quietly, oh so quietly weeping…
They moved past the lost girl in the rain and shifted forward into the white nothingness in the horizon, leaving her behind to deal with the sorrow on her own. She somehow knew in her bones, even if she ran after them, she’d never catch up to any of them.
The girl still ran in the dry cold rain.
She ran, and ran, and ran. She ran under the downpour, yearning to reach something—someone, anyone, beyond the white mist and the wet gravel!
The girl jumped and the chilling wind picked her up by the blue wings stretching out from her back, and for the first time the rain dug into her her sun-kissed skin like a million icy pinpricks.
The girl climbed and soared up, up, up.
Her face, damp with tears both her own and the heaven’s, soon found the shifting gray clouds; they parted around her body seamlessly and closed behind her like a curtain, and she found a shifting sea of rumbling storms below her. Waves and waves of slate-colored clouds, and the air brimmed with sparks of static and the acrid smell of ozone.
Wings of blue carried her onward, braving the roaring sea of clouds that rose and fell underneath her, and lightning and thunder danced just in the corner of her eye. The rain still followed her upwards and defied gravity with her, but the girl did not mind its company.
Her voyage was close to an end. Glistening under the rose gold rays of the first lights of dawn, the lonely shadow of a man stood there among the clouds, facing right at the raising sun in the sea of clouds, braving the upward rains as he melted under the light. The girl wondered if this was how it felt to be devoted.
The man in the rain raised a drippy black hand and pointed up.
The girl’s blue eyes followed. Then, her wings.
She followed the raindrops rising upwards and saw the absolute darkness of night: cloudless, limpid, starless… save for one.
One lonely star burning in vivid red against the black backdrop threatening to engulf it.
The girl moved towards it to bask in its warmth, hoping to reach it before it died out.
“My angel,” the star beckoned with its voice of melted gold.
The closer she flew, the hotter the air became.
She understood the lone star’s call deeply and wished nothing but to reach it…
“Raf,” it said pleadingly…
Warmly…
And the girl wondered if this was how it felt to be—
“You’ll be late for school if you don’t wake up, you know,” her mother insisted, and Raf sprung from bed so fast she nearly hit the ceiling. She plopped back down on the soft mattress and briefly battled to untangle herself from her sheets.
Sky trumpets! How long did she oversleep?! She shouldn’t have left packing up for last minute! Oh, did she even have time to eat anymore?!
Raf rushed past her mother and out of her bedroom, down the stairs and into the kitchen. The warmer air carried a nice familiar scent of sugar and spices but she had no time to enjoy it: she all but tossed herself into her chair at the dining table and wiggled around until she was somewhat seated.
Her father smiled from near the stove. “Speeding up so early?” he asked, slowly stirring something hot and bubbly in a cooking pot.
Raf blinked confusedly. “But mom said”—she looked up at the clock and gasped indignantly—“MOM!”
The faint sound of a hearty chuckle reached the kitchen from the floor above.
“Oh, don’t be a meanie to my baby,” her father said half-seriously. Moving away from the stove, he brought the pot with him to the table and took out a ladle from his apron pocket. “Eat slowly and take it easy today, love. I can drive you to the NimBus station if you want.” He then served Raf a scoop of hot creamy porridge on a bowl.
“It’s okay dad, I’m not a little twinkle anymore.”
“Then why are you still such a cutie patootie, hmm?” The man giggled and leaned down to plant a kiss on Raf’s forehead, and the gold curls of his beard tickled a smile out of her.
Overall, the family’s breakfast went rather smoothly: the three of them sat together at the table and sprinkled their meal with all sorts of small talk, mainly about their hopes and expectations for the rest of the day. Raf was always glad to spend time with her parents in general, but she especially appreciated their soothing company before going to school.
Now see, as the good and responsible girl she was, Raf the angel was eager to restart her lessons after a week-long break between semesters—yes, really! Why wouldn’t she be? After she put herself through so much to get to this point, this next half of her school year could only be easier than the last!
But attending the Golden School was a big deal. Otherworldly levels of big, in fact.
Not all angels her age had the chance to form themselves on the Terrestrial Plane; she’d been lucky to make it into the program and survive her first semester, and now she had to keep up the good work and stay out of trouble for the rest of the year, which was easier said than done all things considered… mainly, considering herself.
Because Raf was an angel just as much as she was persistent, impulsive, and a total klutz to boot. Hardly what anyone would expect from describing an angel, no? But on the bright side, it left her with plenty of room for improvement.
Raf liked to think she still had what it took to leave the safety of Angie Town and venture beyond the Higher Plane, and come back up not only in one piece but better than when she left. This had been her personal goal so far, and she was determined to find some sort of answer with her efforts. There were plenty of challenges ahead, obstacles only Earth could provide: it was up to Raf’s own skill and disposition to surpass them or fail trying.
“Do you think that’s what my dream was about?” Raf asked her parents through a mouthful of toothpaste, leaning down to wash her mouth at the bathroom sink. Now that she was wide awake she had the chance to stop and think about how strange her dream had been: it wasn’t just a nightmare, even if there was something uncomfortable she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
Lingering next to the open bathroom door, Raf’s mother said, “You’re anxious about your first day.”
“Well, compared to my actual first day at the Golden School, I’m not anxious so much as—”
“Fluttery?”
Oh my… she really was walking on air! Raf quickly grounded herself, and her mother’s hands reached out to brush her long blond hair into something presentable. Their joint reflection in the bathroom mirror made it clear as day, how much and how little they were alike…
The girl knew this was how it felt to yearn to grow up.
“It’s alright to feel uncertain even if you’re also excited. Earth can be a tough place just as much as it is wonderful: as long as you listen to your teachers and your mascot, you’ll brave whatever storm may come your way.”
“And remember, mistakes are like molting feathers,” her father chimed in with Raf’s bags in tow. “It’s only natural we all have a few on our backs, don’t let them keep you from flying.”
He handed his daughter the luggage with yet another tickling kiss on the forehead, and for an instant Raf felt rather disoriented. She hadn’t realized until now, but the three of them were standing by the entrance.
The world beyond her door awaited for Raf no longer.
-o-
Through the sinuous cloud forms and buildings of Angie Town she flew, landing carefully and taking note of her luggage just in case.
Schoolbag? Check.
Suitcase? Check.
Time?
The large gold and azure clock hanging above the wide gates of the NimBus station greeted Raf’s vision, and…
“Oh, for the love of—” she shielded her eyes from the sun rays blasting into her face. Good grief, why did the sun always seemed to target her? “Rude!”
“Hey Raf,” called a fierce voice, and Raf turned around to find her friend Miki. “Who do I need to teach manners for you, girl?” said the fierce green angel while cracking her knuckles, her dark almond eyes narrowed into a sharp glare.
She was about to answer when Dolce, ever the lovebug, caught her by surprise with a good morning hug. “It’s okay, I don’t think you can punch the sun for me,” said Raf with her face still half-buried in the girl’s soft pink curls.
“Give me a couple thousand years and I might!” Miki joked… hopefully. “Come on, we’ve got time before they let us board the Nine. I say we treat ourselves and take our sweet time.” She then linked her arms with Raf and Dolce and brought them inside.
The interior of the NimBus station buzzed like a beehive full of large auto-spheres and traveling angels coming and going, in and out, following the rhythm dictated by the timetables; but the three girls had no intention of joining the working cogs of the station just yet.
“Aren’t you excited to finally start classes again?” the pink angel said happily with a skip on her step. “I’m over the moon! We’ll get to try a ton of new stuff this semester!”
Miki nodded as she began to number them off. “The challenge room, mascot projections, open field work, school trips to the city, summer camp…!”
Raf’s blue wings buzzed on her back and gravity struggled to keep her feet on the ground!
“Well, aren’t you fluttery today,” Dolce smiled at her.
“You’re the second person to tell me this morning.”
The three fledglings stopped at one of the stands for a snack, but their chat about the Golden School was still far from over; on the contrary, it was like they had nothing else in their minds!
Raf knew it was kind of an inevitable subject when they were just a trip away from destiny’s call, so to speak. She knew from their shared time as roommates both Miki and Dolce had their goals all figured out: the wanted to become guardian angels on the long term, which was more than what Raf had planned for herself…
All this to say she actually had no plan, not beyond the vague notion of finishing the school year. How was she supposed to choose anything when she hadn’t figured herself out first?
In fact, how was anyone supposed to know?
“I mean—why guardianship? How do you know this is it?” Raf asked earnestly.
Miki answered first. “At the time I liked the idea of going to Earth and having a big adventure, and there’s no bigger adventure than helping Earthly Ones out.” She looked pensively at the bottom of her cup before taking a long sip. “I’m glad they still let me stay despite flunking my first try. I want to do it right this time around.”
With how confident she usually was, it was easy to forget that Miki was repeating the first year. Failing on one’s first try was nothing to be ashamed of, but understandably it could still be a sore spot; the fact that she was willing to try again spoke volumes of her, because Raf wasn’t sure she wouldn’t just return home if she ever found herself in Miki’s spot…
Raf raised her cup like a toast. “Let’s try our best together.” Her two friends were quick to join with their own drinks and smiles.
“You know, I also didn’t choose to become a guardian right away,” Dolce said. She reached for a napkin from her sparkly pink bag and wiped the milk moustache from her face. “It was maybe… fifth on my list, give or take? Anyway, I spent the last year trying a bunch of apprenticeships for my dream jobs, but none of them clicked as my job, so here I am.”
“And you feel like you got it right this time around?”
“So far so good! Let’s see if Edoardo and I work out and then we’ll talk!”
“It can’t be worse than your apprenticeship with that famous fashion stylist,” Miki joked with a grin.
“Ugh! Can you believe Lapo Piumanza thinks redheads shouldn’t wear pink? That’s quitter talk!”
Nothing could have prepared them for the following rant on color palette schemes, but Dolce’s expertise was very welcome regardless; she could be talking about drying wall paint and make it sound whimsical.
With the clock still in their favor they made their way across the NimBus station once more, this time to the very back of the building where their transport awaited.
Looking at the Caelum 7 terminal again, the excitement was still there, bubbling in the bottom of her stomach like butterflies in a jar, but most of her fears seemed to be gone now. She knew what laid beyond the white clouds of Angie Town this time.
But she also felt a buzz in the back of her mind—anxiety, she recognized—when she parted ways with her suitcase and joined the boarding line, and although it was barely a whisper compared to her first trip, Raf couldn’t shake off the nagging feeling in its entirety either.
I’m a big girl now, she reminded herself.
This semester would teach her and she was ready to learn. The list in her mind, born from her own expectations, coated in cautious optimism, was simple enough to keep track of.
Confidence? Check.
Responsibility? Check.
Mindfulness?
“What’s with the war face, speedy-girl?” Ang-Lì greeted her suddenly—where did he come from?!
Raf did a double take before realizing the boy wasn’t the only one to show up while she’d been zoning out.
“That’s just her game face for when she’s in the zone. I bet Sulfus would go bald if he ever saw it,” said Gabi quite confidently, and next to him Uriè hummed in approval.
The mention of her rival made Raf’s core jump in her chest. “I’m sure we’re all going to be great this semester,” she rushed to say. The less attention they put on the subject, the better.
Much like Miki and Dolce, Ang-Lì and Gabi knew well what they wanted out of the Golden School program. The boys had always wanted to specialize themselves on Earth and it showed.
“Who’s pumped for Positive Energy class? I’ll solve those seraphic equations so good, I’ll make Prof Cimentus literally sing my praises!”
“And Professor Terence better prepare himself. I’ve already drafted four possible projects so I can begin work as soon as possible.”
While Raf had known Ang-Lì since the beginning of the school year, he’d threaded through Cosmic Biophysics with the same ease as he joked around. Likewise, Gabi had always loved tinkering with electronics for as long as either of them could remember, so it came as no surprise that he wanted to join Tech and Support.
Even Uriè, who was the most indecisive after Raf, had a decent picture in mind.
“Since we’re finally crafting dreams and using projections this semester, I might finally choose to become a muse or a guardian… I can always try both anyway, right?”
She certainly could: Uriè was more than capable of shining bright on her own in more places than one. She’d always been Raf’s beacon in the darkest night, and she no doubt could extend that same grace to others in need.
Now finally complete, the group climbed up the launching platform and boarded the NimBus 9 together. With them came other angelic students of the Golden School, eager but orderly. Little by little they entered, their rhythm as constant as the slow ticking of a clock. Soon all seats would be occupied, but…
Tapping her fingers against the seat’s arm rest, Raf grew restless by the minute.
It was too early for take-off, she knew. Too early to fly, even if her entire being begged for it—to plunge beyond the clouds and get just a little bit closer to…
To what?
There was no rush. In every sense of the word. Raf was early for once, that was good. Time was on her side, she had enough of it; it was only a matter of using it productively. Responsibly. Most angels didn’t choose a fixed purpose until they’d gained their second pair of wings anyway. She had all the time in the world to go at her own pace.
Ah, but Raf was not the sort to stay aimless or still for too long.
Raf had always been fast to take the leap.
“Say, Uriè?”
The yellow angel stopped her conversation with Ang-Lì sitting behind them and turned to Raf instead, only to immediately burst out laughing.
It was only then Raf realized—she’d been floating in her seat and her feathers kept fanning poor Gabi in the face.
“Sorry!” she squeaked and immediately dropped down.
Gabi tried to reassure Raf he was fine but kept sneezing every time he opened his mouth, so he just gave her a thumbs-up and called it quits.
“You’re very fluttery today,” said Uriè with a grin.
“Good grief, that’s the third time today…!”
“Is it just school or are you starstruck right now?”
“Starstruck!” Raf repeated. Right! Even young angels like them resonated with celestial bodies from time to time, and thus were influenced emotionally, physically, and even in their sleep. “I think you might be onto something? Like, listen—”
She tried to be as detailed as possible with what she remembered: Uriè was the best of their class in Oneiric Compositing, meaning there was no better angel for the task!
So they sat and talked as they often did, with one listening and the other speaking. Dreams of rain that would not wet, of ghosts in the misty cold that wept just out of reach; of uplifting winds and lightning storms brewing in a sea of changing clouds that rained upside-down; of a shadow man melting away in the sun, and a pitch-black night sky with a single lonely star.
When the tale was over, their roles reversed: it was now Uriè’s turn to speak, and Raf’s to listen. Her best friend spoke now of anxiousness for a renewal that wouldn’t reach her, and the fear of being left behind; of a changing path that could elevate her, and the path was as mutable as it was threatening, but it would finally let her surpass herself.
“It’s the next part I’m not entirely sure what it means,” Uriè said. “If you’re really starstruck, then the red star could be the one that’s influencing you right now.”
Raf shrugged to herself, not entirely convinced. “It sort of talked to me, though…”
“What did it say?”
“Uhhh…” Raf suddenly remembered how affectionate the star seemed, so in retrospective… “I think it was my mom calling me.”
If Uriè was satisfied or not with her super awkward response, she didn’t say. “What about the shadow in the sun?”
“The man in the rain? I get the feeling I’ve seen him before…”
“You mean he’s a recurring dream? Or could he be someone you know?”
“I think… Both?”
The figure had been nothing more than an inky blob barely shaped like a person, but somehow Raf knew him to be familiar. Same for the ghosts in the mist and their faceless sorrow.
“I think it’s tied to my accident in November.”
Until then Raf hadn’t realized how cold her wrist was, when Uriè reached for it gently and put her warm hand over the fading scars on her skin. The mark of five fingers—earthly fingers—who grabbed her on accident, marking her.
Breaking the VETO had been one of, if not her lowest point from last semester.
It had been a point of no return for the young angel: Raf had learned how reckless, stubborn and immature she could be, and the price she’d pay if she messed up again.
It had been the beginning of her secrets, the kind she had to keep even from her friends. Angels weren’t supposed to make deals with devils, yet her truce with her rival Sulfus was still in place; only time would tell if the changes coming this semester would also change the nature of their dynamic.
Raf knew about keeping secrets just as much as she knew about mistakes. She did both a-plenty during the first semester and it took a toll to get where she was now.
Uriè leaned against her shoulder, half-hugging her with one bright yellow wing. “You need to give it time, Raf.”
“I know.” It should be impossible to have too much and too little time simultaneously, but here she was—Raf the angel of walking contradictions. “You really think it’s just a matter of slowing down?”
“What else could it be? I mean, have you learned anything new by rushing yourself?”
In many ways, yes. Her path of choice had been unique, and so were her lessons. In fact, when she thought back to her community service hours for ruining the library and the workshop…
“I definitely won’t be a twinklesitter,” Raf said rather solemnly.
“You… were stuck with daycare hours?”
Hey, as long as she learned something from it…
She must’ve made a sour face, because soon enough Dolce, Miki and Ang-Lì reached out to hold her, and even Gabi joined in on their strange group hug—it got even more awkward when the NimBus 9 finally took off and they sprawled on top of Raf like a line of very silly, wonderful dominoes.
With so many warm hands holding her, getting all fluttery again was rather fun.
-o-
The last couple of stragglers pushed inside through the closing doors of the PartiBus Infidelium and their misery fed the mockery of those who reveled in it—and no laugh was louder, bolder or crueler than Sulfus’. Even when it earned him an elbow to the ribs from Kabalè, the young devil kept his toothy grin on his lips.
His pride kept him from admitting it outright, but for once he was actually excited to return to the Golden School; his escapades from the last semester were bound to pay off in his favor this time around and, as a devil worth his salt, he was ecstatic to reap the benefits.
And besides, riding the Infidelium never got old for him—who in their right mind could be grouchy while traveling on a massive monster drill powered by rockets?
“Awww, is widdle Kabalè frumpy-wumpy because she’s sleepy?” Mefisto teased while approaching too closely. As if the door hadn’t given him enough of a beating already, this earned him his very own punch in the gut from Kabalè. The lanky devil plopped like a fell tree on the spare seat behind them, right next to Cabiria, wheezing and gasping like a fish out of water while the quiet girl had a ghastly chuckle at his expense.
Sulfus casually swatted Kabalè in the back of the head, although he only did it for fun and totally not because she was being annoying. “You need more patience if you want in on the long con with me.”
She seemed to weigh her winning chances in a fight before she ultimately sat to his right, as usual. “Patience is for haloheads,” she muttered, burying herself in her hoodie jacket.
“Only if you use it for good.” With a single snap his fingers sparked alight, the glow of his flame matching the gold in his eyes. “We’re using it for fun instead.”
On the seat left to Sulfus, Gas squirmed uncomfortably: his chubby arms were quick to grab his duffel bag and hug it closer to him. This only seemed to embolden Sulfus even more, and he leaned forward for every inch that Gas backed away.
“Chill out, cheeseball,” said Kabalè to Gas. “After keeping me all night booby-trapping your treasure bag there’s no way he’s going to burn it.”
“Since he already burned down a school once, I reckon he’s mighty capable of doin’ it again…”
“Oh yeah! My fifth Golden School back in May,” Sulfus grinned all-too-proudly.
He’d been particularly satisfied with the outcome in that one, even if he didn’t exactly plan for it. Sure, he’d stuck all the desks to the classroom’s ceiling and rigged them with fireworks, but it never crossed his mind the cleaning staff would try to pull down more than one at a time.
Oh well… Happy accidents.
Suddenly the ground shook with a loud rumble.
The PartiBus Infidelium roared like a hungry beast: it shook the devils sitting in the passengers’ cabin to the bone with its thundering motor. Sulfus rushed to hold the safety bar above his head and lowered it to his lap with a metallic clank, smiling excitedly as his companions did the same. The engine revved one last time as a final warning before the driver let go of the brakes with a booming screech.
The massive vehicle shot forward with such power, Sulfus felt his body pull back against his seat from the sheer velocity! Any devils not seated yet were sent flying to the back like weightless confetti. Even with no windows and reinforced walls he could feel it—the drill point was now spinning at vertiginous speeds, ready to pierce through solid rock.
Sulfus tensed in anticipation. He could sense the heat of the engine blasting off even inside the relative safety of the passengers’ cabin. The air grew hot and humid within the enclosed structure and he basked in it, trying to absorb the heat for himself; he was far too young to do it effectively, but it was enough for the fire in his chest to flare up inside him.
Any second now!
The cabin creaked and shook with a final blast and tilted upwards, and Sulfus felt himself become weightless as the massive motor-spike lunged into the air and—
BOOM!
The drill stabbed the cavernous dome above Zolfanello City!
And thus began its violent climb to the Earth’s crust through a roller-coaster of collapsing tunnels. It was far from a smooth ride, but Sulfus wouldn’t like it any other way: he let himself be tossed and carried by the turbulence with a toothy grin so wide his cheeks hurt.
“So what are you plannin’ this time, boss?” asked Gas casually—or as casually as one could in a giant drill moving at mach 10.
Any devil worth their salt knew scheming and honesty were like gas leaks and matches: they always blew up in one’s face if they were in the same room. The last thing Sulfus needed was any of them snooping in his business and learning of a certain angel and him, among other things…
At the same time, however, his plans required…
Ugh… Stupid teamwork.
“Well, I’m all for creating opportunity for myself this semester, so… Isn’t there anything you guys wanna do?”
The best way to get devils on your side, Sulfus knew, was using each other. Tit for tat. As long as everyone got what they wanted, it was usually fine. And what did his friends want anyway?
“The pink thing is fair game, right?” asked Kabalè. “Bet I can make her weep just by using my projection.”
A simple enough request, even if Sulfus didn’t share the deviless’ enthusiast for tormenting angels. As far as he could remember, the secret truce he had with Raf only applied to them: if any of their friends wanted to dish out some mischief, especially between rivals, neither of them could intervene much to avoid suspicions. So for the sake of keeping peace—
“What are you betting?”
—but especially his benefit, he’d play along.
“Bag of corn chips.”
“Make it double and I’m in. Also, no help from predictions.” Sulfus raised his voice so the other girl could hear him. “Got it, Cabiria? No dice on this one!”
He felt something creep on his shoulder and saw a pale hand, palm up with fingers extended. “Teeth,” Cabiria demanded, and Sulfus couldn’t decide what unnerved him the most—that she’d ask for teeth or that she expected him to carry any with him. He had no choice but to slip her one of his newly patented IOU cards instead.
“I was hopin’ to start tradin’ for even better stuff,” Gas chimed in, “I just need you to back me up with some muscle, otherwise I’m definitely gettin’ mugged for my trouble.”
Just the fact that Gas was willing to put it so bluntly said a lot about his lack of malice, the poor thing. Sulfus had to wonder if this weakness could be framed as bravado instead… He made a mental note to tell him later.
Technically he already owed Gas a favor for all his help last semester, even if he didn’t realize: thanks to his dedicated efforts Sulfus had enough fuel stashed away for his emergency getaway plan. All he had to do now was keep the boy’s loyalty…
By asking for more favors, of course. Gas loved feeling useful.
As discretely as he could with the safety bar holding him in place, Sulfus slipped a folded paper to Gas; the smaller devil took a quick peep at the paper’s contents and his eyebrows shot up from behind his sunglasses, but ultimately he nodded and put it away.
Sulfus chuckled to himself. His ‘shopping list’ was inconspicuous enough, even if the components were still hard to come by; getting the last pieces he needed in exchange for protection was a steal.
Guess Cabiria won’t wait long for those teeth.
He could sense Kabalè’s curious glare on him and he promptly ignored it. Her snooping around in his business was nothing new. However, just when she was about to try her luck—
Clacka-clacka-THUNK! The Infidelium shook violently in a corkscrew motion!
They’d pierced the last layer of the Earth’s crust, officially entering the Terrestrial Plane.
“Dude I’m gonna blow chunks!”
Huh. Had Mefisto always looked that green?
“If you get barf on my hair, I swear on my horns—”
Before Kabalè could finish her threat, Cabiria leaned to whisper something in Mefisto’s ear and he changed colors again, this time growing sickly pale. He quietly straightened in his seat, his nausea mysteriously gone. Sulfus would rather never learn what the ‘remedy’ was.
The PartiBus Infidelium skidded to a stop and with a last roar from its revving engine, the trip was sadly over for Sulfus, who could never get enough of it.
The safety bars raised up, and thus began the race for the exit door by two dozen scrambling imps. So out went Sulfus and his entourage, stepping out of the motor-spike like royalty while the crowd parted around them—around him, as they should.
They were greeted by a cold wet day of late February, the locked gates of their prison-to-be for the next six months or so, and most interestingly, Misha. Because of course she’d be early for school.
“There you are, my favorite turnips.” She had that mean spark in her green eyes while she toyed with her long braid. “Took you long enough to get here.”
“Nobody sane wants to go back to school, you maniac,” Kabalè said so sharply she may as well be branding a knife.
“Exactly. Some of us have a little more ambition… Right, Mefisto?”
“Yeah! Dudette and I have”—he waved both hands in an arc—“future prospects of absolute gnarlidom.”
“… That’s not a word.”
“Maybe you can live in that cage but I’m a free soul, yo.”
Indeed, no matter how smart Misha could be, she’d never be smart enough for the bottomless sinkhole that was Mefisto’s mind—the reason why Sulfus didn’t bother enlisting him, he was down for whatever—the only thing they shared in common was their desire to join specific faculties.
And no matter how smart Misha was, Sulfus was on a mission to recruit every last one of them…
“Congrats to Miss Egghead for having school all figured out,” the young devil clapped sardonically. “I guess the rest of us are left with… everything else, really.”
“Oh? You don’t think I should go to Universal Law and History?”
“You do know they only teach us what is convenient to them, no? Mefisto at least picked nightmare-crafting, there’s not much brainwashing that could happen there—not to his hard noggin. What’s your rush in learning a bunch of lies, Misha?”
“Here’s the thing: I know exactly what I want and how to get it, Sulfus.” She inched closer and closer with every word. “But boys like you don’t know where you’re headed other than out of the Golden School as soon as you get a chance, and I’m not betting on a flighty horsefly.” She stopped just short of an arm’s distance, batting her eyelashes so innocently one could almost forget her sharp little smile. “So let’s keep business out of it and just have fun, hmm?”
“Not bad, Miss Future-Lawyer.” Sulfus could concede that much, but only that much. “If fun’s what you want then fun you’ll get. Just one tiny detail I’d like to correct…”
Beyond the closed metal gate, on top of the Golden School’s only tower, a large sphere of shiny chrome lowered from the silvery skies and landed.
The red devil’s lopsided smile was true to his words but not his sickly-sweet tone.
“I don’t run from anyone or anything. I simply do what I want.”
-o-
The passengers of the NimBus 9 thanked the pilot as they exited one by one, forming an orderly line to recover their luggage from the cargo compartment. The first signs of the coming spring were just sprouting down below, beyond the tall confines of the school’s clocktower.
It was quiet—
BANG! BANG! BANG!
—until it wasn’t. As he tossed the lit line of firecrackers at the angels’ feet, a devil hollered and cackled loud and proud, basking in his cacophony of terror!
Oh, Raf would know that ridiculous villain laugh anywhere! She always heard him first!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
He wasn’t alone either: his usual cronies underlined his laughter with their own guffaws. They enjoyed the show with proverbial front row seats to the chaos and cheered him on! ‘Again! Again!’
All the while Raf rushed to the exit of the NimBus and past the straggling crowd, wings at the ready!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
He’d brought a whole bag of tricks and he wasn’t scared to use it, not even in angel territory. Why would he ever be? Every devil worth his salt knew that rules were meant to be broken!
And when his fiery fingers were just about to light the next row—
A strong gust of wind had snuffed the flame in the young devil’s hand.
The grin in Sulfus’ lips reached his gold eyes when he found her immediately, even in the panicked crowd: blue and gold with a spot of red.
He hailed her with open arms from his perching spot. “Well, if it isn’t my angel!”
“Sulfus,” Raf greeted him back, blue eyes defiant as ever, but something playful pulled up the corners of her mouth. Gone was the fluttery mess from earlier this morning: her wings folded behind her back, not a single feather out of place. “Did you get lost on your way to the basement or were you looking for me?”
Any other devil would’ve taken offense at an angel talking back: no wonder Raf’s friends were quick to back her up, wings wide open and feathers bristling. Sulfus’ own group had a similar idea, if their bared teeth and horns were anything to go by.
To everyone’s surprise but Raf’s, Sulfus laughed genuinely.
The loud chaos that had once reigned over the clocktower was now replaced with stunned confusion, though the pair did not share in it one bit; instead, they shared banter.
“If I’d known you were riding on this egg-mobile I would’ve brought bigger fireworks!”
“And you would’ve missed every shot. Remember, I’m still faster than you.”
This was their new normal: the truce they’d secretly crafted and perfected over the last semester, based on their own rules and a whole lot of trial and error. Somewhere down the line, their efforts became a game only they knew how to play.
It was all they’d ever wanted from each other, really.
Sulfus hopped down from his perching spot by the edge. With each step of his heavy boots the angels backed away, all but one. “Looks like this semester won’t be boring after all, if you’re so eager to face me.”
Raf didn’t even flinch at his theatrics. She instead tipped her halo at him with her head held high. “I’d be happy to show you what I’ve got.”
Their audience let out a collective ‘oooh’, but neither of them cared much—the pair was much too focused on each other to notice anything else… including the approaching authorities.
“Causing a ruckus already, Sulfus?” Temptel said, grabbing the startled imp by the ear and dragging him away a number of steps. “I hope to see that same energy in my class, you rascal.”
Not too far behind the devil woman was her counterpart, Arkan. The angelic professor softly put his hand on Raf’s shoulder to make his presence known, and the once confident girl immediately turned to salt.
“Let us all disperse, please. There is no need to clog the entrance to the celestial wing.”
“That goes for you as well, my naughty little devils. You heard Professor Arkan—shoo!”
Under the watchful eye of the two guardian mentors, the crowd hesitantly began to move. The angel students formed a line again to enter the celestial wing through the clocktower’s attic door, and the devils regrouped by the edge of the tower to make their way down to the basement, where their infernal wing awaited.
And that was the end of that, it seemed.
“Come, my pupil.” Temptel let go of his ear, but only his ear: her attention was very much still on Sulfus. “I know you can do worse if I leave you to it.”
Worse? You bet. Sulfus had the kind of fire that put him leagues above most imps his age: some of them, like his friends, were eager to prop him up even further and follow in his blazing trail. Those who didn’t, he could handle. They all learned to bow down one way or another in the end.
Raf was different.
Sulfus turned to look at his rival one last time. Sure enough, Raf still had that glint in her big dumb blue eyes, and that little challenging smile that fanned his inner flame with the promise of fun, even with Arkan still holding on to her.
That look on her face was priceless to him.
Sulfus was proud of himself for making the choice to keep her trust, even if it took a while for him to get there. It was also for the best that nobody ever learned of what he’d done to reach this point: he was willing to try and do better for himself now, no more pleasing others if he didn’t feel like it.
In return for playing nice, at least by devil standards, he could trust Raf to betray his expectations only in the best way possible.
He would not jeopardize his last chance ever again.
Temptel ushered him away while muttering something about not tempting fate or the VETO, but Sulfus felt bold enough today to ignore every last word of it; so when his gaze found Raf’s, he did nothing to resist the urge to wink at her, right before plunging down the tower and flying away.
With the devils gone from their roof, all the angel students finally let themselves relax. That is, all but one.
“I trust you’ll be more prudent with your challenges from now on, Raf,” said Arkan with a kind but firm tone. “This semester will make you oppose each other more closely. I have every confidence you can face Sulfus as your rival, but don’t be too eager to indulge in these exchanges either.”
Raf’s gaze was still fixed where Sulfus used to be.
If it were any other devil, Arkan would be right. He technically still was: they were still rivals, they were still on Earth, and this was still the Golden School. There were rules neither of them were keen on breaking—namely, the VETO.
However, that’s all they ever wanted from each other: a challenge, not an enemy. They had to keep a distance out of professional respect, not suspicion or fear.
That was the most crucial difference between them and everyone else.
Raf knew Sulfus had far worse enemies than herself; this wasn’t his first Golden School, and the heads of the Infernal Department wanted him gone and shipped to a military camp. Sulfus would uphold their truce and even go out of his way to help her, and this was entirely out of convenience.
Raf also knew Sulfus better than most angels knew their counterparts—down to his lies, with that crooked smile of his that he couldn’t help but use. He was as cunning as he was capable, and no doubt there would be times he’d try to trick Raf; she had what she needed to counter it, and if not… Well, he was the best devil in their class after all, she wasn’t looking for an easy win.
Which brought her to the last point… In every sense of the word, Sulfus really was the best devil Raf had ever met.
For every devilish quality in his vast arsenal of senseless evil, there were also a number of little priceless things she admired about him.
He was curious and a quick learner. He listened and cared more than he let on with mere words. He was smart, insightful and full of confidence, and little by little he’d managed to coax some out of Raf as well; it may not be that much, but it was a start, and she had Sulfus to thank for it.
As one rose in her tower of angels, and the other sank in his basement of devils, Raf and Sulfus rested assured they had everything to gain from their carefully shared secret.
They had all they’d ever wanted from each other.
Nothing could ever change that.
-o-
The life of the forest slumbered in the cold, but not for much longer: as the days grew longer and the sun blessed the world with its warming touch, nature stirred awake little by little, bringing with her the gifts of spring.
Mud.
Mud, mud, mud.
At least if it was cold enough it would be solid mud, but no. It was wet, slushy, sticky, pasty mud. Would it kill anyone to at least put some gravel around here?
Ah, but there was no point in complaining. Malachia had already lived through worse things than dirty boots sloshing in wet muck.
In the quiet stillness of the forest he was invisible. His body blended with the shadows of the trees around the metal fence; slithering away from the school building and deeper into the woods, he made sure to leave no trace even in the mud. He was done observing for today.
Observing… Oh, how he’d missed it.
He’d missed it all. The colors, the textures, the taste and smell…
The warmth…
For all the faults of the sun, there was its warmth to make up for the rest of it.
Malachia had always been a talented observer. It came with his true vocation. It was how he’d found his way around and inside the Golden School without being found out.
From one of his pockets he pulled out his hand-drawn floor map to jot down his newest discoveries. Thoughts into words, words into bullet points; reread, assess, conclude. Without a method to the madness it’d take forever to learn what he wanted, let alone obtain it.
Still not fast enough.
By now he’d found most blind spots in the premises. He’d also learned auto-spheres and motor-spikes had different landing points but the same schedule; he had to check, or he could risk being discovered from above. It helped that Eternals were too busy with their silly husbandry of Earthly Ones to pick him out in a crowd.
Even in the solitary woods, Malachia could still find a plausible excuse for his presence. Terrestrials were dang near everywhere these days…
Right on cue, he heard the dull thud of steps approaching him and smiled.
The unsuspecting jogger dropped on the muddy trail with a wet splat. One touch! One single touch from his fingers could knock out a grown adult!
“Oh, buddy, look at you!” Malachia clicked his tongue. If the guy hadn’t been jogging, he would’ve just frozen up. The mud hadn’t done either of them any favors, but at least he wasn’t wearing bright colorful sportswear.
“I know my way around a mess, worry not.”
Malachia felt the newly obtained energy coursing through his body, feeding into his strength. For now he limited himself to dragging the unconscious body into the nearby bushes and propping it against a tree trunk.
Quick hands made quicker work of the muddy jogger’s belongings: a zip pouch with a phone, wallet, a granola bar and a water bottle.
He took a couple bills for himself before he moved in on his real objective.
“Let’s compare maps, then…” he mumbled to himself, taking a bite of the granola bar in one hand and checking the satellite map on the other. As soon as he was done with both he returned everything to place, including the empty wrapper. In a couple minutes the sleepyhead would wake up filthy from head to toe, but would be otherwise unharmed.
Off he went, deeper into the forest and away from the trails, in search of his second objective of the day.
Malachia took no joy in the quiet, still shapes of the empty woods; he was too used to silence and solitude at this point for it to effect him, but it didn’t mean he had to like it one bit.
The lonely man found some solace when his boots finally stepped on an old cobbled road instead of just mud. He was on the right track.
This relief did not last long.
With every step forward, the trees morphed into gnarly masses of darkened bark, their nude branches tall and bare like bony claws. They groaned and creaked as Malachia rushed past them, as if his mere movement threatened to topple their charred remains.
Around him the soil dried and cracked into dusty chunks, revealing pasty black earth between the cracks. A single step away from the cobblestone road would mean sinking underneath the treacherous surface and becoming trapped, hopefully only up to the knee…
A gust of wind like a wet cold breath stroked Malachia right at the base of his skull. The foul thick air smelled of staleness… no.
Death.
He would not stop until finally, he saw it.
There, trough the overgrown brush of the forest, stood the ruins of a castle.
“The Castle of Gorth,” Malachia whispered. Anything louder could disturb the ghastly peace he came looking for.
It was perfect.
The perfect base for his renewed operations at the Golden School.
-End-