Disclaimer: I don't own Legacy of Kain or any other identifiable pop culture references.

The next morning, Jennifer woke up much earlier than she needed to. She wandered into the kitchen to find Janos and Raziel eating breakfast.

"You're up early," Raziel hummed around a mouthful of cereal.

"And you're eating for once," Jennifer observed groggily. "Have you ever considered becoming a ventriloquist?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Raziel remarked. "Speaking of dreams, I'm guessing that you had nightmares again. Azrael must be causing them."

"Why would Azrael being here cause me to dream about alien slime molds?" Jennifer asked. In answer to the confused stares, she continued. "They could only be seen when a special light caused them to start glowing, and they had this toxin that let them control people's minds. They had already gotten to the scientist that knew how to kill them. It was a hopeless situation, and they were attacking me."

"What could it possibly mean, then?" Janos asked. He set his spoon into his empty oatmeal bowl.

"It means that I need to stop drinking coffee before bedtime," Jennifer said.

Janos then rinsed out his bowl and woke Azrael. The angel mentioned something about 'good deeds' as they left.

Jennifer had already wandered down to the bus stop and been waiting for fifteen minutes before she checked her watch and saw that it was Saturday. By the time she'd walked back home, Raziel was busy re-wiring the bedroom light. Jennifer checked the list and busied herself with gluing the replacement tiles in the bathroom. She thought it was an odd effect, putting red tiles randomly in a white bathroom.

Jennifer jumped in fright as the lights flickered and a loud thump shook the floor. She ran into the bedroom to find Raziel sprawled unconscious in his wraith form. Jennifer fought down her panic as she kneeled by Raziel's side. The fire in his eyes had turned yellow and smoldered dimly.

After several tense minutes, Raziel twitched as the balefire in his skull returned to its normal brightness. "What happened?" he asked as he sat up.

"Thank goodness you're alright. You weren't breathing," Jennifer said. She calmed down and added, "You still aren't breathing."

"I remember that I was going to rewire the light," Raziel said, looking up at it.

"That's what you were doing," Jennifer said. "There must have been a short somewhere. Didn't you turn it off at the fuse?"

Raziel shrugged, "I'm afraid I don't even remember getting that ladder."

"I hope you didn't fry too many brain cells," Jennifer said worriedly.

A quick check with the fuse box confirmed that Raziel had not bothered to turn the circuit off. Fortunately, the breakers tripped before any serious damage was done. There were no more incidents until they got the light fixed.

Janos returned alone that afternoon.

"Where's Azrael?" Jennifer asked him.

"He said he had to take care of something," Janos said.

Everyone knew exactly when Azrael got back… 2 o'clock in the morning. He was riding a very noisy motorcycle.

"Where did you get that?" Raziel demanded.

"Originally, I won it in a fight," Azrael said smugly. "Tonight, I had to claim it from someone who had been taking care of it for me."

"In other words, you beat someone up to get it back," Raziel said.

"There are pockets of culture here that I can relate to," Azrael said. "Honestly, I don't see how you put up with what they call civilization."

"I find it refreshing," Raziel retorted. "We didn't know what we were missing in the days of the empire."

"There are some advantages to this world, I admit that." Azrael ran his hand possessively over his motorcycle.

"If you want the 'advantage' of living here, you'll keep that thing quiet while the rest of the neighborhood is sleeping," Raziel warned.

Azrael's only answer to this was a sneering grin that displayed his prominent fangs. Raziel did not return the gesture, he merely quirked an eyebrow to indicate that he was not impressed by the half-implied threat.

Once the sun was up, Jennifer decided to lay down a set of magical wards to protect the house. Inside the fence line, she set a subtle field that would cause a queasy sense of dread on any intruder. The sidewalk was the only place where the uninvited wouldn't feel the foreboding. Jennifer felt justified in setting more aggressive wards on the windows. She was experimenting with the spell when Janos wandered behind her.

"Do you really expect someone would try entering through the window?" Janos asked.

"It's a very popular method for thieves," Jennifer said distractedly as she considered the enchantment.

Janos dragged one claw down the glass as he examined what Jennifer had done. Suddenly, the pane seemed to explode, tearing across Janos' face.

"Oh no!" Jennifer cried.

Janos' face instantly healed. "It is too aggressive," he said disapprovingly.

Jennifer unsuccessfully tried to adjust the spell. The exploding glass was only an illusion, but it was still bound to kill someone.

Janos easily fixed the spell so that it wouldn't go off until the window was opened from the outside.

"You're still young," Janos assured her. "I'm surprised that you were able to accomplish what you've already done. With time and dedication, you will be able to accomplish anything."

"You're scaring me again," Jennifer said.

Janos frowned. "What do you intend to do? If you want to live a magical life, you must commit yourself."

Jennifer leaned against the weathered siding of the house. She hugged herself in mild anxiety. "What did you want to be when you grew up, Janos?"

"I did not expect to be anything," Janos said sadly. "So many of us had fallen during the wars, and I was just another soldier."

"I'm sorry," Jennifer said.

"It's okay. I had always accepted what fate brought me," Janos said as he laid his arm against Jennifer's shoulders in a comforting gesture.

"I can't be like that," Jennifer whispered. Her voice regained its strength, "But you're right, I do need more practice."

They both were silent as Jennifer worked on setting the trap on the next window. This time, she managed to get it right the first time.

"There is something that I've been meaning to ask you," Janos said.

"What's that," Jennifer answered.

"When you first brought me here, you said that there was no more blood curse. It puzzles me that Azrael would still be affected," Janos said.

"I don't have a simple explanation for that, but I'll try," Jennifer said slowly. She paused in thought for a moment, then asked, "Did you like preying on humans?"

Janos flared his wings in shock and anger, "Of course not! I hated myself every time I had to feed."

"I'm not judging you," Jennifer said, holding her hands up in a sign of surrender. "You're not bound by the rules you used to live by. When I told you that you didn't need blood, you released yourself from that part of your nature."

"What about Azrael? Didn't you tell him?" Janos asked.

"Of course. It's probably because he's never known anything else," Jennifer supposed.

"But he used to be human," Janos said.

"He doesn't remember that life, he's only been told," Jennifer said.

"What about Raziel? He seems to have adapted well." Janos said.

"He's had some practice in that," Jennifer answered.