Warning: Suicidal Triggers.

The sudden decrease in numbers at the camps didn't raise any alarm at first, but soon, everyone noticed. Everyone talked about it. Fear and speculations spread like a virus. The director board tried everything in their power, but it wasn't easy to cover the fact that hundreds of people had simply disappeared. Gone without a trace. Those missing people's loved ones naturally kept their mouths shut.

It had been two depressing and worry-filled weeks for Ruby. Both her sister and angel were gone. That day when Kye didn't come back, Ruby knew something was up. Strange natural phenomena happened all day, and it wasn't like her sister to leave the camp without telling her about it. She talked to Gadreel, who gave her a grave look that Ruby had rarely seen before.

"He's back," he said. "He needs us."

"Who?" Ruby was deeply confused.

"Michael. Your sister is with him. I have to go with my brothers and sisters, but we will come back. Soon, I hope... I will come back to you."

That was basically all he said, but where would they go? What would they do? When would they be back? He didn't say.

Ruby decided to pull the ultimately shameless move. Tears, a lot of them, and some petty, empty threats. She needed Gadreel to spill a little more. After a lot of back and forth, he told her that they—the angels—had been summoned to a mission led by Michael. They would save everyone in Ayham and other places Raphael had laid claim. Still not as specific as she liked, but at least something. It was not like she could help or stop him from doing it.

And Ruby knew the situation in the city had gotten worse every day. She had lost contact with her family a while back. Many had been killed trying to get in or out of Ayham. The camp policies had changed to ensure that people didn't sneak out. Many still had families or friends in Ayham so it was understandable that everyone was sitting on fire. Ruby wanted to, so badly, to disregard the rules, but Bobby and Gadreel had kept a close eye on her. Before he left, Gadreel had also made her promise not to do anything rash. Such as following him. He would know and, that would distract him greatly. Ruby had been through enough to know that distraction could be deadly. So, here she waited, like a good fool.

 ***

Their footsteps crunching on dried leaves broke the forest's silence. It was quiet, a little too much to Kye's liking. It set her nerves on hyper-alert and made her jumpy. The only good thing was she had Michael, who clutched her hand tightly every time he sensed her fear or anxiety.

Kye looked around in wonderment. It seemed that they were in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but miles of green in all directions. She could tell that they were far from the camp. The vegetation looked very different. It must be somewhere up north with this many lush deciduous trees. The air was also dryer, and the temperature was lower. Kye shivered as she spotted an animal with huge antlers which she knew had gone extinct around Ayham. What a sight.

They stood together for a few minutes before Kye spotted some movements. By Michael's body language, he wasn't surprised. Out of the thick tree line, hundreds of people appeared and approached them. Zaaphiel was in front of the group. Everyone was walking in complete silence and order; no one talked or even looked at the others, but somehow, they all stopped at the exact same time.

Michael scanned the group and nodded.

"Brother."

They all said at once. Their voice was powerful, but it was still English. Kye knew that if they had spoken in Enochian, her eardrums would have ruptured. It would not be the filtered version Michael had used with her before.

She had spent countless time in his library reading about Heaven and the Host throughout the years. She wanted to understand more about Michael and his kind—the Heavenly creatures who had been a myth up until the moment they descended and destroyed half of the world she used to know.

Most books painted glorified pictures of them, which she knew was partly true. They were indeed the most powerful and magnificent things anyone had ever come across, but most were not benevolent. In fact, far from it. They could also be corrupted by the lust for violence and power the same way humans were, but only worse.

Two decades were not long enough to forget what the War was like, and the angels did a fine job daily to remind her kind of how ruthless they could be. However, Kye never hated them with a passion like Ruby or many people did, as strange as it sounded. She was not scared of them either, even after witnessing their power many times firsthand. She knew God was real. She had stopped praying to Him a long time ago. Where was He when his First Children trampled the planet he was supposed to love so much and massacred millions? If her kind needed someone to blame for all of their deaths and pain, He would be more of a proper target.

Michael coming into her life had also complicated things. In the beginning, he was only her meal ticket, the means to improve her family's life, so his satisfaction and favor meant something to her because of that. Then their relationship changed.

Life had not been easy at the loft at first. The competition was fierce; the environment was hostile. Her fellow domesticated companions and servants were all cunning, calculative, and hungry. Some had way more experience under their belts compared to her. They always tried to undermine her every chance they got, and it was sad—a little sickening even—to see the lengths humans went to survive and rise to the top. It was sadder because she was one of them. She learned to behave like them. At times, a little too well.

The game of survival might seem to favor the resourceful ones, but the luckiest ones were the real winners. Kye knew being Michael's favorite was mainly luck. She was smart, but was she smarter than all of them? Willing to give it all like some of them? It was just a job to her, and without Ruby, she was lost. Kye had tried to read and anticipate Michael's every action to entertain and please him, but didn't everyone do the same? Why was she chosen? She was not special in any way, shape, or form. Why would he even spare her another look?

On the other hand, it was just that easy for a young girl like her to fall for him, even when she thought she had guarded her heart well. It happened out of the blue, out of her control, and one morning when she woke up, Kye realized she had completely fallen for Michael. The archangel. Her employer. The enemy of her kind.

There was no going back after that.

It was not the way that he looked, even when he was a feast for the eyes. That was just a vessel. Not his money or power either, no matter how tempting those things were for a poor girl like Kye. She knew Michael was a cruel and volatile creature, but she had let her eyes and heart wander, her dreams and desires grow.

Kye would never stop wondering why, when, and how she had been attracted to him that way, but there was no What If in life. Everything happened for a reason, as corny as it sounded. She had met Michael, and both their lives had changed. Drastically. That was what she liked to look at it.

Noticing the daze on her face, Michael cupped it with both hands and studied her expression.

Kye looked up and smiled as the familiar scratch tickled the back of her mind. She tried her best to ignore how awkward it felt to receive Michael's affection before this many pairs of privy eyes. Somehow, she had forgotten about this.

Kye had lost count of how many times people—angels and humans alike—had looked at Michael and her this way. They either didn't understand or couldn't accept their relationship. Over time, Kye had grown numb to it. It also helped that Michael had taken her everywhere despite the open opposition or the whispers behind their backs. At first, Kye had to remind herself that she was only there per Michael's order. It was a part of her job, and anyone having a problem could take it up to him, but no one had ever done so. No one dared to. After a while, she just stopped caring about it altogether. Others' opinions didn't matter. Not when Michael was with her.

The angels' staring now brought back many memories, both good and bad, and Michael could sense them in Kye. How they made her feel. Hence, how they made him feel.

He frowned at her lowered head. Kye looked so small and almost defeated in a way. She always tried to act tough and nonchalant—for him—besides the only time she had kneeled and begged for his forgiveness. It still pained him to think about how he had treated her, even when it was her mistake. Even when it was all part of the plan. No more. He was here now, and he was going to make it up to her.

He turned to his siblings, and without a word, the angels all dropped their gaze to the ground. After everything they had been through, nothing and no one should make Kye feel less than, especially his family. They should know how much she meant to him.

Michael grabbed Kye's hand and led her away. "Stay here and wait for me." He pointed at a large boulder and gave Kye an assuring smile. "If it gets uncomfortable, let me know."

Combing his hand through her tangled hair a few times, Michael finally let go and walked back to the angels. Kye watched him for a while before dropping to the ground behind the rock. She leaned back on it and looked up to the sky, feeling heavy all of a sudden.

It all happened way too fast. Kye didn't have time to say goodbye to Ruby or Bobby. She should've left a note at least, but seeing Gadreel among the angels, it may not be necessary anymore. Michael didn't tell her what they planned. The angel assembly frankly shocked her, but by the look of it, whatever they were about to do must be important. It must be dangerous. Kye prayed that everything worked out in the end, and no one got hurt, but she knew it was a naïve thought. She didn't know who to pray to either, but she did it nonetheless. She couldn't stand the thought of losing Michael or anybody she cared about once again, especially after almost losing him so many times.

Kye peeked at the angels every once in a while. She couldn't hear anything from them. Michael must have put up some kind of barrier, partly to protect the topic they were discussing, partly for her comfort. It was hard not to be touched by his little gestures. She knew he was not perfect, considering who he was, but Michael cared deeply, even when she thought he didn't.

A light snap pulled Kye out of her thoughts. She stood up to see Michael standing there with his hands in his pants pockets. His blue eyes were wandering. They were filled with weariness and something else hard to describe. Kye approached him with a smile. She just knew that she would not leave his side this time, no matter what.

"You're done talking to them?"

She gazed at his face before turning in the angels' direction. Hundreds of them were in the shade; some walked around while others sat on the ground or leaned against the trees. Their faces didn't carry much emotion. A few were talking to each other, and when they caught Kye looking, they immediately diverted their eyes.

"I am. Are you ok?" Michael held out his hand. As soon as Kye took it, he pulled her in. His embrace was just as she remembered.

"Why wouldn't I be?" She sniffled. His hard muscles were distinguishable under two layers of clothes, and they made her sigh. "You're here."

"Of course, I am. I will always be here with you."

"You'd better be."

Kye turned her head to have a better look at Michael. His gorgeous eyes, which reflected thousands of dancing gold specks, looked almost dark blue in the afternoon light. She wanted to get lost in them forever. Running her hands through his hair, Kye tried to fix it as best as she could. Michael usually had it slicked back, but with all of the zapping around... Kye chuckled. He was still as handsome as ever. The messy bed hair only added character to his look. This was her excuse to feel the texture she had missed dearly.

Michael gazed into Kye's eyes and pulled her in for a kiss on her forehead. "It will be a lot of danger, and I can't be with you all the time. Are you sure you still want to come with me? I will try my best to never be too far away though—"

The uncertainty in his plea broke her heart. She squeezed his hands hard and whispered, "Michael, stop asking me that question! I'm more sure than I've ever been in my life. You can't even make me go away...But maybe, you can reward me."

"How? What do you want?" Michael squeezed his eyebrows together before realization dawned on him. "Oh..."

Kye bit her lower lip to stifle a laugh. This expression of his was her favorite. If she didn't know any better, she would say Michael was blushing. The corners of his mouth slightly curved up before he lowered his head, and their lips met in a slow kiss. It was everything Kye had dreamed of, everything she could have asked for plus more. She wished this moment could last forever, but eventually, Kye broke away.

"Time to go home," she whispered, trying to catch her breath.

"Time to go home," the archangel repeated. They had a whole long night ahead.

***

The old paper factory now stood abandoned on the North side of the hill, facing down the city center like a giant beast. Not far away, hundreds of glowing dots lit up the night. They were not fireflies but eyes—angelic ones—zooming on the highest, most glorious building of Ayham. The historical clock tower had been crawling with angels and even human soldiers. They protected not the building itself but what was underneath.

Raphael had moved his command center to the underground bunker and held it down there for weeks. No one could access the building without him knowing. It was warded with anti-teleporting sigils in every corner which had become a nuisance for the angels on his side, but no one dared to complain.

Raphael was walking on eggshells. He had made a huge mistake. Truthfully, several ones. His big brother now was back with a vengeance, and the remaining of his family—the majority of it—was hunting Raphael. He couldn't take it anymore. In his existence, he had never experienced something like this. He wasn't Luc. He despised his brother's actions. Angels, especially archangels, were created for war, but Raphael was not cut out for this life. Fighting, running around, hiding like an animal. This was so not him.

Guess he should've known better. Luc was a disaster. He cursed the day he had healed Luc. Should've let him suffer. Now, Luc had disappeared for days. Raphael knew his disgraced brother was obsessed with hunting that human girl, so wherever he was and whatever he was doing must involve that. It didn't concern him. Staying alive was Raphael's top priority. That meant he must win.

Raphael had destroyed a big part of Ayham. Most humans were now gathered in a handful of camps with not much to survive on. Their conditions were so poor that, as a result, the city population was reduced by more than a quarter. It meant thousands of people had died or disappeared.

Michael didn't want any of this. That was why he had tried everything to avoid fighting the Resistance head-on in the past. Now his two brothers didn't leave him much of a choice. The state of Ayham and its citizens, the disappearance of many garrisons, and the outrageous truth behind it angered him so much. At this point, how could they move forward? What was there to negotiate?

Michael wanted their crimes punished.

The angels surrounding him tonight knew their siblings on the other side were anticipating their arrival, as painfully and eagerly as they were. The bitter anxiety and heavy sorrow weighed in everyone's chest. No one wanted this. The only time they had fought each other in history, grace poured for millennia. They had never quite recovered from that, no matter how much they tried, but here they were again.

It's five more minutes, brother.

Zaaphiel appeared behind Michael like a shadow, looking straight ahead with his usual stern expression. He rarely felt this anxious, but no one could tell. He was a closed book even for the angels, and Zaaphiel preferred it that way. He existed to preserve the Laws of Heaven and natural orders. He served Father, and that was it.

Michael's eyes lingered on his brother for a moment. Behind the face of a middle-aged man, the crimson creature with two heads—a bear and an eagle—is wagging its tail anticipatingly. Michael could taste Zaaphiel's impatience. So much like his. Michael turned to the group of angels standing behind them. When they first sensed his return and later answered his call, they knew what would come next. It was inevitable. Besides the group Zaaphiel had brought with him, the rest were runaways. Defectors. Traitors of Heaven. Many used to be high-ranked angels who had given up their positions for a taste of freedom and love. What he enjoyed. They didn't run away from him or Heaven. They ran from Fate and an old, rigid system that didn't work anymore. They would be judged someday, not by him.

Michael could see their true faces turn toward him, waiting for his order.

Time seemed to stand still. Not a single breeze or insect call was detected. Michael held his hand up and forward. Like a rainstorm, thousands of invisible wings moved at the same time. Harmoniously. Powerfully. Within seconds, the hill was back to its original empty state.