21

Long before any demon soldier appeared angel and human were gone. Uriel had taken William to a portal nearby, leading to the ruin once known as Isaacs home. William stood dumbstruck, his eyes fixed on the charred walls. He had seen destroyed houses before – more than a year ago, at his first accidental trip to Hell, for example. Gilles de Rais had pulverised Dantalion's mansion like a castle of sand. So far, destroyed premises didn't bother him, but those premises had always been demons'. To see this house in shatters felt different. For the first time William was truly shocked by supernatural forces' doing. Destroying buildings in Hell that could be rebuilt with a snap of devilish fingers did not feel completely real. What harm did it do? But this time people he knew got hurt. Real people. People who could not simply redo everything within seconds. The living place of a family was gone, most of their treasured belongings along with it. What for? He had no clue.

Because they fought there, William thought, because they did not care what destruction they might cause. He looked at the man standing next to him. According to Sitri, Kevin had known of the attack beforehand, thus send them away. If he indeed had known, why didn't he spare the house and its inhabitants? Did he even care? "You know nothing about that angel!" Who had said that to him? Had it been Dantalion?

At times like these he felt the truth of those words. And yet he refused to believe in it. He knew Kevin for years! Kevin, who was always as gentle and calm that William used to believe him to be a weak coward. Kevin, who'd fulfil every given order as best as he could, who did not fear to speak his mind to his young master, who needed mere seconds to deduce Williams emotional state. Kevin, who could not harm any living being, who listened patiently to everything, who comforted and guided him.

But he did not know Uriel.

Yes, you do, a sly voice, usually buried deep inside his mind, whispered. Images came to him, resurfaced memories of a figure in black and white, cold and majestic, hovering ten metres above him. Uriel; cold-hearted, almost bare of emotions, feeling absolutely in his right. He remembered indicting the angel. "Why did you take my sister? She was a woman of believe." He remembered the pain of loss and his growing wrath at the uncaring creature as his memory repeated words spoken lifetimes ago in a language he shouldn't be able to understand. "Those who live their lives according to His law shall gladly sacrifice their existence in His name." 'I do not care' in modern day language. She was but a pawn, a means to bend his will, as he was a pawn, too.

The gentle man, the brutal angel. His soft smile, a face hard as stone. The friend worrying for his well-being, the nemesis torturing him. The man comforting him at his parents' grave, the celestial being reaping innocent souls only to hurt him. Which was real, which was the mask?

Not too long ago he already pondered about that, when he searched for a Christmas present for his friend. Weird. Christmas time must have been in another lifetime.

The blonde's gaze swiped burst walls, splinters of wood and glass, furniture ... the living room where they exchanged presents. The couch was toppled over. The chimney looked as if burnt from outside, as did several parts of anything his eyes found. Like they had been hit by a rain of comets, William thought. He tried to imagine the night after he and Isaac had left. In his imagination the staff ran headless about, screaming in terror. Fire rained down, windows shattered next to them, the roof gave way. How many died? There was no blood visible anywhere he could see, though.

Once more his eyes slunk back to Uriel. Did he even care?

A shock crept over his skin as he realised the direction his thoughts were going. With a firm shake of his head and a stiff 360°-turn he reprimanded his brain: These images you show me do not belong to me! I am not Solomon. And Kevin is foremost Kevin, whoever he might have been centuries ago.

Kevin turned his head to look at him as he marched past him and remarked: "No human was hurt. They fled before it became dangerous."

William nodded stiffly.

There he was, his Kevin, who could tell what he was feeling like others could tell the weather after looking at the sky. The thought of asking Kevin about what exactly happened crossed his mind. He did not, though, for reasons unknown to him. What might Isaac have felt when he returned here?, he wondered.

Kevin gently put a hand on his shoulder, simultaneously putting an end to his internal pondering. "We should return to Stradford. It isn't wise to linger."

At the mention of Stradford William realised that holidays must be over for some time by now. He didn't give it a thought until then. How long was he missing already? What should he say to justify his absence?

"Do not worry", Kevin's voice sounded, "No one will doubt that you've been struck down by a nasty case of flu. As for the reverend, he was present for every day since the start of term. Everyone remembers attending mass each morning."

Wordlessly, William stared at Kevin. Or did he look at Uriel? Hearing him talk about manipulating people's memories so airily - to imagine that he would temper with one's mind without second thought - was scary.

"You know nothing about that angel!"

His gaze searched the ruined house again. "No human was hurt." Not nobody... no human. Did it mean that someone had been hurt? Maybe even killed? Kevin's face was an emotionless mask. It looked wrong. As long as he could remember, Kevin had always smiled kindly. Even when a younger William had scolded him that it looked sheepish and infantile, those thin lips had always been bent in a gentle arc, spreading warmth. He wanted to see him smile again.

At the same time the image of Kevin covered in blood re-emerged before his inner eye. A sudden need to touch him formed, to convince himself that Kevin was alive.

"Kevin?", William addressed this need, unsure what to say to him. The angel looked at him patiently. Now what? Are you alright? Are you alive?

Cursing his infantile urge the boy stammered "It's cold!" to say something. Oh great, it sounded dumb nonetheless. His cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment.

Kevin's expression changed, as if he knew.

"Now, shall we go?"

The man who raised him smiled at him, gesticulating towards the portal he just created. William smiled back.

The portal did not, as expected, lead to the school grounds, but spit them out in front of an abandoned, small church. The surrounding lands looked equally deserted, speckled with patches of wild frozen grass. The door was closed, the windows layered with dust, indicating that it hadn't been used for quite some time. What on earth did they want in a place like that? Did Kevin get his portal wrong? Raising an eyebrow and opening his mouth to inquire William got intermitted by a tense "I just need to check on something. I'll be quick." before a rigid Kevin cautiously opened the door and stepped into the building. Bewildered and curious William followed, his gaze scanning the small hall. But except for dusty benches, half-burned candle stumps and a lectern it was empty. Kevin quickly marched towards said lectern, strained like walking to his own guillotine. William just saw his back, saw the tense shoulders drop. Not daring to move or make a noise, he watched his friend standing there, staring at the ground for a moment. Whatever Kevin was looking for, its absence seemed to make him ... sad? The boy wasn't sure.

Before the moment dragged on for too long the angel turned, stiff, expressionless, strode past him and out of the building.

Huh? William went after him, worried.

He found Kevin outside, his eyes closed, head down. William approached slowly. For a moment the pale face displayed grave pain, before the angel exhaled, raising his head and opening his eyes, all back to a blank expression.

Helplessly William watched him, at a loss what to do. He should comfort him, he was aware, say something reassuring, maybe lay a hand on his shoulder. Damn, why couldn't he think of anything? Stupid, useless brain! You can come up with Latin, Mathematics, Physics, but you do not provide friendly words for a friend in pain?

Kevin rose his hand and a silvery spark detached from it, dancing in mid-air. A new portal formed in silence. When it was ready, Kevin turned his head, shaking William to the core.

A forced smile obscured his fine features. His face was still young and beautiful, but the weight of its bearer's age shone through the lines. How tired he suddenly looks!, William thought, gulping. Whatever Kevin found – or did not find – in that church posed a heavy burden on him. Yet he acted as if everything was fine. Didn't he know that his faked smile screamed the opposite?

It's okay, William wanted to say, You can tell me. You don't have to hide your worry. He wanted to take his friend's hand and squeeze it, wanted to tell him he could confide in him. He wished Kevin to trust him as he trusted Kevin. Instead he merely nodded as his Butler asked: "Ready? Normal life is waiting." and walked over to the magical door when he made an inviting hand gesture.

Why, he asked himself while they strode along the familiar corridors of Stradford, didn't I ask him?

Some classmates greeted him on his way to his dorm, much unnoticed by the boy. Why didn't he inquire answers or gave comfort to Kevin? Did he fear the answers he might get? But it was over now, wasn't it? Or would there be another attack?

Plucking up his courage he stopped walking and faced the man next to him to finally demand some answers – to find out that it was not Kevin walking beside him but Mycroft. Huh? When did he lose Kevin? Puzzled his head flew from side to side, checking if the angel was anywhere near, but he was gone.

"Twining?", Mycroft addressed him. Apparently he had been talking to him until now. He'd been too lost in concerns to notice, he observed with a feeling of guilt.

"You're still a little put through, hu? Must have been a heavy case of flu."

"Ah y-yes."

"Then it's a good thing you returned on a Friday evening. You'll have two more days to recover and get started with classwork." The dark haired boy smiled honestly at him. "I was glad when your letter arrived, finally announcing that you're getting better. You've never been missing two weeks in a row before! As you requested I wrote down what we've been reading so far and put the notes on your desk ..."

"Sorry for causing you trouble!", the blonde hurried to say, thankful nonetheless.

Good old Mycroft! Within minutes he managed to return William's world to calm normality as he walked him to his room, informing him of the latest events and homework on the way. They spent the rest of the evening together, catching up on Physics and Chemistry over a cup of coffee. For some wonderful hours neither Heaven nor Hell existed, just a pile of books and a lively discussion about Maxwell's equations.

When night time came and everybody was required to frequent their personal rooms, however, William was unable to occupy his mind with reading Shakespeare's King Henry IV for literature class. The normality he had been enjoying dissolved when there was nobody to divert his attention. So he gave in to his loud mind, put the book aside and laid down for the night. His dreams were cramped with letters he never wrote, marionette-like students circling him like zombies and culminated in the whole school being nothing but a stage, teachers and students all dangling from the invisible ceiling on puppet strings and a giant Kevin pulling the strings of a Mycroft-puppet. No, he didn't rest well that night.

Luckily on a Saturday sleeping in did not lose him any points with teachers. He missed mass and breakfast, but Kevin should be used to his absence and food could wait. This day would be dedicated to work. And what was best: Since the demons knew where he had been there was no bothering and bickering about his safety! Everybody would leave him peacefully alone. His conversation with Kevin could wait, he decided, until he was confident enough to hold i- SCRAP THAT until he had time to spare for minor supernatural catastrophes! His life was confounded enough as it was, he had no wish to elaborate on that. Still he felt immensely relieved to see Kevin stride across the courtyard, so much so that he even paused his reading to open the window and wave uncharacteristically cheerful at him. Witnessing his butler wandering the small grate between life and death apparently left its imprint. Kevin had beamed at him and waved back as he continued his stroll, leaving a sheepishly happy William to his texts. That meant all was well, right? It had to!

On Sunday morning he cut mass again. Of course Uriel noticed the repeated absence of the blonde, but didn't heed it much attention. William had never been one to pray frequently and he would never be. The angel had come to accept the fact.

William, however, did in fact not catch on missed classes this morning. Currently he wandered the third floor corridor, music and arts tract, in search for room 3.701 b, clutching a letter in his hand.

Dear William,

Due to family matters I couldn't return to school in time.

I will, however, come back the morning of Sunday, 21st January. In order not to go into class completely unprepared, could you meet me beforehand to update me on the most important information? You dislike sitting through mass anyway, and I think Pastor Cecil will understand.

Let's meet in the old music room.

Isaak

The letter arrived yesterday. He only read it in the evening though, leaving no time to talk to Kevin. But he wouldn't freak out just because William cut morning mass (again). He should know by now that William was a lost case.

Sorry to have you wait this long for a chapter update! I was busy studying plus this one is a filler chapter between events. Those are most trouble for me. I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless and promise to be faster with the next installments.