His presence brings Hope to the hearts of those around him. She brought Light to his life when his world seemed empty.

Late in the evening, a light descended over downtown Reverse Side. It started off small, like a glowing orb. But as it came closer to the buildings it quickly grew in size. From the light 3 pairs of large shining wings emerged. This was followed by the form of a young man who was robed in opal fabric, a cerulean sarong, and trailing blue sash, its fabric the color of the deepest blue ocean. In the man's right hand he held a staff which was shining gold in the sunset light. Covering his face was a steal helm, a two bands of steal formed a cross over it. The effect of the helm made him look similar to a blind prophet.

As the light faded only the man remained. He quietly watched the city. Taking in its splendor, watching the lights and the cars below from behind his steal helm. The wings on his back never moved. They were not for flying. As an angel, he had the ability to suspend himself in midair when, where and however long he pleased. His wings were his armor in heaven, and his medals on earth. Each one represented either a life saved or a fallen angel slain.

Unlike most angels that came to earth, Takeru was not here to be a guardian. He had come to earth for his vacation. Something he had earned after thousands of years of service. The life of a war angel is wrought with peril and endless labor. At constant war with demons and possessed humans. For Takeru this vacation was paradise. And he intended to enjoy himself. After another moment of watching the city from above, he dropped down to immerse himself in the busy life below.

Takeru found himself on a street filled with bustling people. They wore strange garments foreign compared to his own clothes, and they walked around minding their own business. The people never noticed the angel amongst them because angels were invisible to the human eye. Only people born at the stroke of midnight on the summer or winter solstice could see angels. The only other exceptions were if God gave someone the gift of angel sight. And lastly, people who had only a few months left of life. Dying people could see angels because their spirits were starting to lose the connection to their earthly bodies.

In this way Takeru was not worried about drawing attention to himself. Here merely drifted through the crowds, learning the modern culture. Eventually he found himself on a quieter street. The crowds had thinned, and now there were only small groups of people wandering around. And it was here that Takeru happened upon a fellow angel.

When he saw her he knew right away she was a guardian. She was robed in white with long brown hair. She appeared to be following a young boy who was getting ready to cross the street. Takeru knew her ranking among the angels was low because she only had two wings. He watched as she followed the boy across the street, and he knew she sensed his presence when she looked up in his direction. For a moment she seemed startled, but after a nod and a soft smile she returned to her duties as if he had never been there.

It was not surprising that his fellow angel had been startled. It was not often that a war angel appeared on earth. And their presence meant great safety in the area that they appeared. But Takeru was not here to protect humans, or even other angels for that matter. Guardian angels can protect the humans just fine, and he had no intention of taking up that job again. It was a long time ago that he used to guard humans. It was his least favorable task, humans tended to be reckless, and selfish. In fact Takeru even felt a bit of pity for guardian angels. He viewed their lives as boring and monotonous.

The sun had completely sunken over the horizon when he found himself on another busy street. This one was again full of people, all of them busy seemingly with someplace to go. A group of boys passed him by and one of them stopped and glanced at him. The young man's eyes were glowing red and he let out a startled hiss at the sight of an angel. Takeru knew it was a possessed human right away. Half of him was torn. As an angel he felt compelled to drive the evil creature from the boy's body. But his other half reminded him that he was on vacation and therefore it was not his responsibility. By the time he made up his mind to drive out the creature, the boy had already vanished into the crowd, much too far ahead for Takeru to catch up.

Takeru sighed heavily. He felt the sting of guilt knowing he could have done something, but his hesitation had spoiled his chance. He scolded himself, as a war angel he should have acted on the spot-

It only took a mili-second for Takeru to find himself face first on the ground. He had landed hard, and the sound of labored breathing crawled into his ears. Instinct took over and he forced himself off the ground causing whatever had jumped on him to be thrown off. The angel whipped around quickly to face his attacker and was quick to recognize the red-eyed boy from before. Apparently the possessed kid had doubled back to challenge him.

The kid looked strange now. His skin looked stretched and unhealthy. It was as if his very flesh was ripping. His eyes glowed red with unsettling evil and each one of the boy's teeth were sharp like little fangs. His breathing was so heavy and strained that it sounded like he had a choker on.

Takeru held up his staff to ward of the boy, but the creature didn't seem to take notice of it. Instead he lunged at Takeru like a mad man.

"Hand of Fate!" Came the echoing cry. Takeru forced his fist forward and a blast of golden light burst from his knuckles. The light pierced a burning hole through the boy's ribcage. When the boy fell back, his body thrown upon the ground, and dense smoke trailed from the hole in his chest. When the smoke finally left his body, the hole in his chest closed up and the boy's body returned to normal.

With the demonic creatures gone, the body of the young man had returned to a normal appearance. And soon the human soul would take control once again. Satisfied with his accomplishment, Takeru turned and walked away.

He had barely gotten 30 feet away when a girl stopped right in front of him. She stared up at him with large eyes full of innocence. Takeru was about to pass her by when she spoke to him.

"I've never seen an angel with six wings before." Her voice was like soft melody and a set of chimes at the same time. "Are you someone's guardian?"

"No…" was Takeru's hesitant reply.

"I saw what you did for that boy back there. You were so brave Mr. Angel." She beamed at him with a smile that could warm a frozen heart.

"You see angels?" questioned Takeru. She must be a chime child. A human born on the stroke of midnight during the solstice.

"Sure." She smiled. "You are the third one i've seen this week. Only, you look different then the others." Her comment was accompanied by the tilt of her head. The gesture made her look cute, and the two sparkly pink clips in her short brown hair added to the effect. Of Course being dressed in a light pink sleeveless turtle neck sweater and gray capris, did not detract from her cuteness either.

"I am a war angel. I fight the spawn of hell and the fallen angels." Takeru informed.

"So why are you here?" she asked. "And what's your name?"

"...Takeru." He responded. "I'm on vacation." After a pause he spoke again. "May I inquire your name?"

"Oh I'm Kari~," she said with a blush.

To Be Continued...