Improper Guardian

Chapter Twenty Eight

By: Brenli

"So?" Rujiel said darkly. Oh, this was truly a bad, bad day. He couldn't have Nema, and Nyssa… well Nyssa was never his to BEGIN with… and now there HE was. With his dragon tattoo and his broad white wings. Michael. "What the Hell are you doing here, White Wing?"

Michael met the crude greeting with a sour face. "… I'm hunting. Maybe you could tell me where your beloved Queen is."

"Fuck you. She doesn't need to see you anyway."

"Never said I wanted to SEE her, did I?" Michael had absolutely NO idea how these lies were flowing from his mouth so easily. Somehow, in the presence of this Ruji bastard, the lies flowed so smoothly. It was almost sickening. "If I have to lay my eyes on her, it's just to kill her, is all!"

Rujiel had acted with a swiftness only a Rabbit seemed capable of, taking Michael up by the neck of the dark cloak he wore as a Hunter. "I dare you to make that threat again…!"

"Feh!" The Fire Angel grinned cruelly and kicked himself away from Rujiel's grasp, landing a particularly painful one in his ribs. "A shame I didn't bring my sword with me! I'll have to kill you off in a less bloody way!"

"What are you gonna do? Burn me to death? You think I can't DODGE?" And in response to Michael's sudden burst of flame, he rushed to the right. "This game is gonna get old, Michael-SAMA!" But it was as at this moment that Michael managed to catch the bottom of Rujiel's shirt on fire. In the midst of the fire Rujiel swore and ripped off the gray fabric, his black wings beating off the flames before they could do much damage to his pale skin. "Fuck!"

Michael couldn't help but grin, allowing himself to get lost in this fight. "I think I'll enjoy roasting you up. A toasted treat for your fucking Queen! Wouldn't it be great to see her cry her little eyes out?" He lied easily. "Or if she won't care, someone else will! Some other little Rabbit whore!" The Fire Angel prepared to say so much more, to lie so swiftly and about so many things, but he was quickly pounced on. The rough ground seemed to tear at the fabric of his black cloak as Rujiel brought him down, an enraged yell exploding from him.

"… RUJIEL!"

Oh, no. Was it…?

She ran forth, her little, pale hands grasping Rujiel's equally pale shoulders. "NEMA, GET OFF!" Rujiel cried, trying to shake her off, but she maintained a firm grip, continuing to pull at Rujiel's shoulders. There she was… the wound still at her neck… not even washed…! It was going to get infected at that rate… And though the Fire Angel had boasted of wanting to kill her, he really did want her to go get that washed up, at least. Why the Hell did he bite her like that? Oh, if only he hadn't popped so many fucking pills!

For a very short moment, her red eyes clashed against his. They echoed more pain than Michael would have liked to admit seeing, but she seemed more worried… for HIM… HIM? Completely foolish…! But there she was, her pale hands still pulling at Rujiel, and she cried, "YAMATTE!"

And then Rujiel let Michael go, clearly frustrated, and did something he would come to regret. The Fire Angel watched Rujiel strike her once across her pale face. "HE IS THE ENEMY!" He screamed at her, "WHAT IS IT WITH WOMEN? NEVER CHOOSING THE GOOD MEN!" And he pushed her. And Michael watched her fly back and hit the back of her head against the rough bark of a tree.

This sudden violence… it was mild compared to what he saw on a normal basis, but this particular violence… released on HER… it woke up a part of the War Angel that had been lying under layers and layers of loneliness. And so he was on his feet and running several strides forward, able to intercept Rujiel's charge with enough force to remain standing, two men caught in a struggle for two different reasons, white wings clashing with black.

Michael had forgotten that Nema had an amazing tolerance for pain. Suddenly, there she was again, pulling Rujiel's shoulders. It was Michael's turn to tell her off. "THIS ISN'T YOUR FIGHT, FUCKING QUEEN!" He swallowed the lump in his throat as he watched the internal pain cross Nema's ruby eyes once again. But it was true, in a way. This wasn't her fight and he wanted Nema far away from this.

Still she stayed, still she pulled, her hands slipping from Rujiel's shoulders and gripping tightly onto Rujiel's black feathers. "RUJIEL…! STOP IT!"

"I'll kill him…! And make it all better!" Rujiel suddenly drew an army knife from one of his pockets, flipping out a fresh sharp blade, and began making the motions to stab the Fire Angel through his heart. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"NOOOO!"

Two pairs of red eyes and one pair of blue-green ones widened simultaneously, surrounded in a shower of bloodied, ebon feathers.

Nema was horrified. Completely, utterly, truly horrified… How had she let that happen? Caught up in the urgency of the situation… spotting the flash of light off of Rujiel's blade… she'd suddenly let go… she'd suddenly… ruptured Rujiel's wings, and now Michael quickly stepped back and allowed Rujiel to fall to his hands and knees, shoulders shuddering in the pain.

The loss of wings had always been described as nothing less than indescribable. Whether one had white or black wings made no difference in this horrible situation, in which the insides deteriorated and the back burned until one was nothing but a shell, horrid, hungry. No longer a person or even an animal… something so much lower. A ghoul and nothing more. And now Nema let the horror and guilt wash over her as she dropped down next to him and she cried to him. "R-Rujiel…! Oh my God…!"

"…G-God…?" Rujiel managed to choke out in his pain… The truth was, the pain was so intense he couldn't bear to speak. He watched and felt her pale arms slip around him, and she cried into his ear.

"I'm sorry! … I didn't… I'm sorry…!"

"N… Nyssa…" Rujiel said through gritted teeth. "Take care… of Nyssa… and L-Lill..iel…" He tried to hold down the strange growl that was forming in his throat.

But Michael heard it all too clearly. "… Nema…" He said quietly. He knew what was next. After so much time watching Rabbits get Wing Cut… of cutting the wings off Rabbits, himself… he knew… it took less than a quarter of the time for a Rabbit to…

Rujiel was not finished with his final, humanistic words. "Tell her… I l-love her… N… Nyssa…!" He growled out miserably.

"NEMA! RUN!" Michael took hold of Nema's arm and pulled her roughly to her feet as Rujiel let out an animalistic roar and seemed to explode into the strange, gruesome, half-rotten form that was a ghoul. And Rujiel was no longer Rujiel… but an empty, ugly shell… A hungry shell.

"GO!" The Fire Angel commanded, warding off this albino ghoul with a wave of flames. And then he took her by her pale hand and ran with her, the ghoul at their heels.

Nevermind that they were no longer one. That all the time spent on opposing sides had caused enough pain to make them feel like they were from separate worlds. That Nema was a Queen of a Revolution… and Michael wore the dark cloak that supported the execution of her kind. Suddenly, their pasts didn't matter. At least for this moment, the only thing either of them were focused on was survival. In this, at least, they were allies. Finally allies in something.

Nema blinked aside the tears and immediately changed directions to try and confuse the ghoul that had formerly been her heartbroken friend, Rujiel. Michael was only two steps behind, looking back every now and then to ward off the ghoul with more fire. But now that Nema had changed directions, Michael quit and hoped her trick had worked.

"JESUS, IT'S A GHOUL!"

"RUJIEL?"

"QUICK! IT'S TOO LATE NOW, CHASE HIM OUT OF THE TERRITORY!"

"I SAW THE QUEEN AND MICHAEL!"

"NEVERMIND THEM! THE QUEEN CAN KILL HIM!"

If Michael wasn't too busy trying to stay alive, he would have liked to slay whoever those Rabbits were for saying that. He didn't need to hear something like that… He knew that with powers like hers she definitely could kill him, but it wasn't like he was okay with that kind of threat. He wasn't okay with the idea of death hovering between himself and the Rabbit girl he'd fallen for. Too many other things got in between them, as it was.

Now the ghoul was caught between chasing its two victims and running from the barrage of bullets that were aimed at it. It screamed in anger and eventually found Nema's trail again.

"FUCK!" Michael swore and sent yet another wave of fire at the ghoul, not paying much attention to the scream that left Nema. Soon he found out just why she had screamed. In the heat of the chase she'd tripped and taken a much deeper fall than she had expected, and now Michael joined her as they stumbled, collided into each other, and slid against the scratchy ground. Michael took hold of her and tried to roll onto the bottom of this awkward position, taking most of the scraping, but the unlucky pair reached the edge of another ledge and began a short freefall which concluded with Nema hitting ground first, her head enduring another collision against a tree. The two groaned in collective pain as they inadvertently slammed their foreheads against each other.

Michael bit back some swear words and laid still as Nema cringed below him, both of them covered with his black cloak, camouflaged in the dark.

"Where are they…? Where's the Queen?"

Michael held his breath, watched Nema struggle to hold hers as tears cascaded down the dirty, scraped, but somehow still beautiful face she possessed.

"… She must have killed him off or something. It's much too quiet for both of them to be alive."

"What if… SHE is dead?" Then they both heard a sharp slap.

"Our Queen is much too good to die. Where is the ghoul?"

"… Rujiel is no where to be found, now."

"… Wake up all the guards. We'll comb the territory to be safe."

And then they were gone.

"… My fucking head…!" Michael finally said quietly, pressing his hand to his forehead. He didn't bother to mention that he and Nema were pressed against each other in the dark. It was awkward territory that he was going to try his hardest not to acknowledge for both their sakes. But what could he do, now? Pick a fight with her? He doubted she could put up her fists at this time… and his head hurt way too much.

"… Michael…" Nema said quietly as she cried. At first, he couldn't respond. She spoke his name with an aching sadness that he wasn't sure how to respond to.

After a long moment, with his hand still on his head, he asked her, "… You okay?"

And she choked on a sob and wrapped her sore arms around his shoulders, pulling her up against him. And she said nothing as she buried her face into his neck and cried. She cried and cried, for many things, for many reasons. For Rujiel and Nyssa and Lilliel. For the ones like Isobelle. For herself. For Michael, too. She just… cried. And after a moment, Michael's hand left his forehead and moved down to brush tears and dirt from her pale cheek. "I…"

Michael took her hands away from his shoulders and slowly pulled away. He fought the urge to kiss her. She looked like she was in dire need of a kiss. A small one. On her lips. Or just her cheek. Or just her forehead. Something small to at least show that she was cared for. Even if it was by him, one of the enemy.

He watched a cross look fall over her, and she wiped back the tears on her face with the black sleeves of her shirt… no… his shirt. HIS shirt. … She still had his shirt? … She was wearing it? "I…" She said again, with the tones of anger beginning to show through.

And then she struck him. She flung herself at him, and he, too tired to care, allowed her to pin him. And she slapped him hard across his dragon-covered cheek, the pain registering as minor when compared to the all the other scrapes and bruises he now carried… and the sharper internal pains. "I… fucking HATE how much I love you!"

And maybe that should have been obvious… that she still loved him. Maybe the suffering in her eyes during each fight should have sent the message to him. Or maybe, a part of Michael had always suspected that she still cared, though the vast majority of him believed that she was disgusted with him, hated him, had moved on. But now, with her wearing his shirt, having just embraced him… and now blatantly, honestly saying it to him… Michael lay there with his stinging cheek and blinked up with sharp blue eyes, his mouth opening to say something, but nothing coming out.

"Get out of my head…!" Nema cried to him, begging, lonely, angry. "Why can't I FORGET you? Why is it that you can DO what you've done and I still can't… KILL you? You let my life fall apart…!" Her pale fingers dug into the black fabric of his cloak. "… You have the nerve to single me out when you fight…" She took one of his hands and pressed it against the wound at her neck, which was definitely going to be infected now that dirt had gotten inside. "… Kiss me… nibble at me before you bite me THIS bad…! Are you having FUN picking on me? Hurting me?"

For the second time she slapped him. His hand remained over her wound. He allowed himself to feel how badly he had hurt her, the texture of torn flesh, and dirt, and dried blood, and knew this didn't compare to the internal wounds either one of them had dealt to each other.

"You promised once…"

Michael opened his eyes, still deep blue before Nema, and listened to her voice drop into a sad quietness.

"… Don't you remember? You promised me that you would stop hurting me if I told you it hurt… Is it REALLY… not that obvious that I am… dying inside? Do I seriously need to sit here and spell it out for you?" And then she cried out, "It hurts, Michael…!"

From far off Michael could hear voices… What a horrible time for other people to exist…! "Nema…"

She hadn't heard anything. "Why can't I stop loving you, when I even had… him?" She didn't need to say his name. They both knew who 'he' was. "And so what if it wasn't true? So WHAT if he was thinking of Nyssa, and I was thinking of YOU? He was still the better man…! And I… God… I still love you!" And then she fell down onto his scraped up chest, her tears stinging the tiny scrapes he had endured. "… It… hurts…" She cried softly. "It hurts…"

The voices were getting louder, now. The Fire Angel placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her up and away with more urgency than he had meant to. Nema stumbled back and remained on the ground, crumpled, banged up, suffering. It was… somehow… worse than the other things Michael saw in this war… or any other war, for that matter. He tried to speak. The only thing that left him was a sigh. And after shaking his head, he leaned forward and finally kissed her. It was a shy kiss, small, soft, pressed onto her pale forehead. And she cried, and he continued to kiss her. He would have preferred to stop the world at this moment. It was far too much to go through for a sorry couple like them. He was done. She was done. The world could stop existing, now. And he could keep kissing her until she was plain out of tears to cry.

But the world stops for no one. And Nema heard the voices, and pushed him away. It felt more like Nema had ripped out a decently sized chunk of his heart. "Go." She said firmly.

Michael's blue eyes narrowed, and he took her by the shoulders. "Nema-"

"Go now…! Or I will kill you!" Nema pushed him again, this time spreading her broad, dark wings and beginning the flight upward, toward the voices that approached.

"My Queen!"

"Don't bow." Nema said with a commander's tone, though she also sniffled.

"Yes… Nema-sama… that man… Michael turned Rujiel into a ghoul…!"

"No. It was my own doing."

"… What?"

"An accident… I would never kill Rujiel willingly."

"… I see. We must get you home. We're still checking the area for the ghoul…"

And then Michael heard them leave. He wasn't sure what would have been more appropriate… sitting here and letting the sadness fall over him… or killing off the Rabbits who had intruded on Nema's heartbroken speech. He was surprised to hear a kind of broken chuckle fall from him. It was, in no way, a sign of happiness. "… Yeah. I know it hurts..." And he left, just like Nema told him to.

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"He loves me… he loves me not… he loves me… he loves me not…" Doll giggled and pulled off one white flower petal at a time, letting them fall carelessly onto the water in which she sat. She was taking a bath, not out of any necessity for cleanliness, but because this was often what she did in order to unwind. It was here, in her own little personal onsen, surrounded by flowers, that she could lie back and daydream. She didn't have to worry about a single soul bothering her here, and she liked it. "He loves me! Wait…" A pout suddenly crossed Doll's face. The last petal she had pulled off was actually two petals stuck together. "He loves me not…" And then the little maid snarled and threw the stem behind her. "Who cares about stupid flowers, anyway? They won't tell me if Uriel-sama loves me or not!"

Doll sighed and leaned back. She was being childish again, she knew it. But here, in her private bath, she needn't worry what anyone thought about her playing silly fortune-telling games. She could use flowers to find out if anyone ELSE loved her! Like… Katou! 'Cause APPARENTLY, Katou did think she was cute. "… Hmph! Katou is just a pervert! He doesn't count!" And then she thought about it for a moment… and plucked another flower. "… This is just 'cause I'm bored." She told no one, as though the other flowers, or maybe the flower she'd just plucked, needed to be reassured she wasn't serious about finding out if Katou was truly interested. "He… loves me, he loves me NOT. He loves me… he loves NOOOT…" And as she plucked each white petal she allowed herself to wonder if Katou was even worth plucking petals over. He was crude, perverted, and a cookie-stealer.

Whoa! … Well, hellOOO.

Hmph! Just a pervert, indeed!

Are your gears a little out of wack?

… And a big jerk!

… You okay? … Sorry about the gears thing…

But sometimes he was a little kind…

If you'd just smile, kid, you'd be a total knockout.

… Still perverted, though!

You're pretty, 'kay? Geez, who the Hell blew up YOUR ego?

Hmph! Doll didn't HAVE an ego! She'd probably have one if Uriel actually decided to look at her the way she wanted him to, or if Uriel said things like, "You're pretty," or even, "You're a total knockout." Yes, Uriel could get away with saying that to her. But not Katou! It wasn't like Katou really cared about her, anyway, right?

He decided to stick you in this pretty little body of yours, and for what? So you can make him tea? ... You can't possibly be OKAY with serving tea all day and not getting anything in return!

Doll allowed a strange sort of laugh to fall from her as she plucked a petal. "Isn't that some kind of life, he says? … He loves me not… He right, it's not much of a life, is it? … He loves me…"

He can't expect you to wait forever, can he?

No, he couldn't expect that from her. It was inhuman to expect anyone to wait forever. Doll couldn't wait forever… "He loves me not…"

Someone's gonna steal you away!

Doll held her breath as she picked off the last petal. "He loves me." And it was almost like she could her him already…

I'm gonna steal you away!

"…" Doll blinked rapidly and then quickly threw aside the stem. "… Doll, you're dumb!"

"Oy…! Anyone here? What is this place…?"

Doll choked. She was deathly afraid to turn around, but she did it, anyway.

And then she screamed bloody murder.

"Jesus, Doll! Calm down!" Katou clamped his hands over his ears. Then he realized what Doll was doing. "… This is a bathroom?"

"GO AWAY!" Doll screamed and screamed, her face turned a vibrant shade of red. Oh my God… Katou was LOOKING AT HER! SHE WAS NAKED! "DON'T LOOK AT ME!" Oh this was NOT GOOD!

"DOLL! STOP SCREAMING OR –"

The screaming and wild splashing suddenly stopped, and he opened his eyes.

"… DOLL!"

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"… So that was messed up. Don't hyperventilate, Doll…! It's scary! I thought you'd drowned yourself!"

Doll slowly stirred and groaned as she came to. She was lying on her belly, in her bed… one of her maid dresses sloppily put on, with the back zipper unzipped. She could feel her key still stuck inside her back. "… Uriel… sama?"

There was a long pause. "… Thanks, kid. Thanks."

Doll jumped. "Katou?"

"Yeah?" Katou promptly stuck a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. He seemed more than a little annoyed thanks to Doll's misidentification, and she knew it.

"Katou…! I…" Doll took the key out of her back and zipped up her dress, trying to smooth out the wrinkles. "… You know, only Uriel-sama has my key! It's only natural I'd think that you were…"

"Yeah, well, whatever." Katou shrugged it off, but he still seemed angry. "… So, I think you should know I got the hallways all wet... your hair dripping everywhere and all."

"… Why did you do that…?"

"'CAUSE I WAS LOOKIN' FOR YOUR KEY, THAT'S WHY!" Katou snapped. "I was lookin' for Uri, but of course the one time I seriously need to find him, he's M.I.A.! Just my damn luck. Anyway, so a lot of the hallways are wet. I couldn't find your key so I think I must have tore up half the mansion lookin' for it. I found it, though. Could you believe it's not even in his bedroom? It's in the library! Who the Hell puts something that important in a LIBRARY? Hmph. Fucking stupid."

"… You were running around with me NAKED?"

"NO! Why do I think I'm not wearing my shirt anymore?" Katou pointed to a nearby chair, on the back of which was draped his simple shirt, wet with the water Doll had been covered with. "Must think I'm stupid, don't you?"

"Don't put words in my mouth! If I think you're stupid I'll tell you!" Doll pouted.

There was a long moment of silence. Katou seemed preoccupied with his cigarette, but Doll couldn't help but notice that his mouth was curling into a soft, disappointed sort of frown. If she didn't know better, she'd think he was about ready to go into a corner and cry, or something. She wondered if there were tears in his eyes…

She ended up coughing and choking on the smoke he blew in her face. Katou got up to leave. "Anyway, rise and shine. If you want me to clean the mess, kick me or something."

"Katou…!" Doll said after a couple coughs.

"What?"

"Thank you…!" Doll clutched her key to her chest and smiled. "That was very kind of you. No one ever tries to look for my key… Uriel-sama doesn't count because he knows where my key is, anyway… Everyone… usually leaves me where I am and looks for Uriel. No one ever tries to help me themselves…"

"Yeah… well…" Katou seemed at a loss for words. "… You're welcome."

"Katou!"

He looked over his shoulder. "What NOW?" He said this with a smile, however peeved he may have sounded.

"How can I repay you?" Doll immediately regretted asking him this question. He stared long and hard at her, and that scared her.

Then he smiled. "… Bake me cookies." And then he left.

And Doll found herself smiling. "… Pig."

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"Please… neither one of us can bear to do it ourselves. But you know… that it would be better if the child did not live. She is Improper. She must be spared that kind of life…"

The man and woman before the Fire Angel were overshadowed in this tremendously dark room, but he didn't care. He sneered. "It's not my job to pick off infants. Go to some other Hunter."

"Please…!" It was the woman who spoke, now. "Believe us when we say it would be more fitting if you did this…!"

"… Fine. I'll make it quick."

He turned. A single light from a hanging toy shone down into a simple wooden crib. A child cooed. Michael looked down at the little Rabbit. She was dressed in a simple, white cotton dress. She smiled from behind her pale fist and blinked up at him with huge red eyes, having no idea that he was a threat. Even when he pulled out a dagger and let the light reflect off the blade and onto her little hand, she seemed to find this harmless. Maybe the little infant wanted this.

No. That was silly. She was too young to know that daggers brought pain and ended lives. Well, then. Time to get it over with. With a simple motion Michael thrust the dagger deep into the little I-Child's chest. The parents cried. The little infant had died too quickly to make more than a strange, unfinished coo. Michael shut his eyes and pulled out the dagger, turning to face the child's parents. "Feel more at peace?" He spat. Then his eyes widened.

The forms of Setsuna and Sara fell together in mourning. When they looked up, they looked beyond him, and yet their gazes seemed to go beyond the crib, as well. So he turned away and held his breath.

There she was in a simple, white cotton dress, blood flowing from the wound on her chest. "Crooked." She said simply. She was… cheerful sounding as her little bare feet moved across the floor and to the crib. She smiled at Michael and pointed at the child. The infant began to sob wildly. "It was crooked."

Michael couldn't think. "… N… Nema…"

"Is that what you are going to call me before you kill me?" Nema took the infantile version of herself up in her arms. "What is a name to a baby who will not live much longer?"

"… But… I didn't… this isn't right…"

"But nothing ever is." Nema said simply, happily. "You should finish what you have begun." Michael watched in horror as Nema held her younger self before him, and as it cried in pain, Nema only smiled. "I will even hold myself still for you."

Michael shook his head.

"Then you would have me suffer. You really are cruel, aren't you?" Nema laughed, but her laughter stopped short in her throat as Michael stabbed the infant for a second time. Ironically… it took shutting his eyes to stab straight.

When Michael finally dared to open his eyes, the infant was no more, and his dagger was stuck in Nema's chest. "… It… hurts…" She said in a strangely peaceful tone, and then collapsed, her pale body falling from the dagger's bloody blade.

The room lit up. Setsuna, Sara… Raphael… Lucifer… Uriel… so many people… all gathered around the scene. Michael dropped the dagger and dropped down, cradling the limp body. Her eyes were locked upwards… she was smiling… It was the strange, peaceful smile that truly dug into the Fire Angel. He ignored all the faces plainly looking down at him. "… This… isn't what I want… I didn't know…" Michael screamed at Setsuna and Sara. "You didn't tell me it was her!"

"She needed to die." Sara said tearfully, and Setsuna added, "Her life would have been horrible…"

"… Raphael!" Michael looked up with pleading eyes.

The Wind Angel shook his head. "You know that would be cruel of me."

"… What are you so sad about? It wasn't like you loved her." Lucifer said coldly.

"I did…!" Michael snarled up at his unemotional brother. "I did love her…! I still love…" He hung his head and then he cried out loud, "I STILL LOVE YOU!" As though this might bring her back.

Michael jumped again, blankets flew, and he struggled to catch his breath. "… Another fucking nightmare…" He was sick of this routine. He fell back onto his bed, trying to focus on other things, but the only thing that echoed in his head were two words. It hurts.

After all the time that had gone by, he was a little surprised that Nema had remembered that promise he had made to her. He remembered that promise and those days, though. Locked in a house with Nema all day… it was hard to believe that at one time he had loathed that idea. Now he wanted those days back.

There was a knock on his door. "FUCK OFF!" He immediately snarled. There was a sigh and then paper was slid under the door. Then whoever it was left. After a long moment in which Michael glared at the door, he got up and picked up the paper.

It was a newsletter in regards to their position in the war. Usually Michael went ahead and burned these, having no interest in the number of Rabbit casualties except his own. But the headline immediately caught his eye: BLOOD FROM AN ANGEL OF GOD WILL PROVE TO CLEAR OUT THE RABBIT POPULATION!

Michael blinked and immediately began to read. The article ran thus:

As many will know, the great Cheriour-sama has required many drawings of blood from one of the cheif Hunters, Micheal-sama. Up until recently no one has known of the reason behind these actions, but now it has been miraculously revealed!

The blood of Michael-sama, the Elemental Fire Angel, becomes a deadly compound strikingly similar to Assiah's napalm when put through purification processes and then frozen. Below we have two pictures: one of a rabbit prior to exposure to the blood, and one after.

Michael stared long and hard at the image of the white rabbit and the image of the charred remains that he assumed were the very same rabbit. His own BLOOD could do this…? Below the images was a small message. "R.I.P. Liberty the Rabbit. :)"

Michael scowled at the stupid humor and continued reading.

Cheriour-sama has finally revealed to us a most interesting and spectacular plan to take the Rabbit population and ultimately exterminate them. He has taken this blood, which he has aptly named Holy Blood, and created a very large arsenal of bombs. Though most are small, do not be fooled, for they each pack a powerful and deadly punch..

We shall start with the warriors of the Rabbit nation, for it seems they are the ones more ready to die, anyway. As you may have noticed most of our official attack plans have been pushing the Rabbits to the Fields. It is at this place that Cheriour-sama has decided to begin using the Holy Blood…

Michael read on through the article as it went into detail about leading the Rabbits into a valley within the Fields and then setting off the bombs. A landslide would form and bury them all, forcing them to burn to death in Michael's "Holy Blood."

He finished the article. He burned the rest of the newsletter. And somehow, in spite of all this information now sitting deep in him, the first words to really successfully form in his mind were: It hurts.

God… what would he do if he went there… and saw her… being buried alive… her beautiful, pale flesh becoming charred and black…? He knew that she would be one of the fighters at the front of the line. In spite of her position as a war leader, she had a fondness for taking up that spot. It was reckless of her and if Michael really had the chance he would have forced her to the back where the war leader is supposed to stay. But Nema always took to the front… she would be… one of the first to go.

Could he… handle that?

Suddenly Michael looked up at his door, from which was hung his black cloak. He tore it down, not caring that he had ripped a hole in the hood. And then he opened his door and left, and the cloak remained on the floor.

He wasn't ever going to HAVE to handle the idea of Nema burning in his own blood.

He marched and marched. He went down on flight of stairs and entered a hallway. And then he barked out a commander's order, throwing open several doors. "ON YOUR FEET, MEN!"

Yes, these were his men. Each of them Powers, and before they had ever become Rabbit Hunters, they were Michael's warriors. It had been so long since they had taken any orders from Michael, but they remained faithful to him, and though they were tired the each came forth and stood at their respective doorways, only half-dressed. But they would have been crazy to waste time dressing when Michael commanded them to stand.

Michael marched up and down the hall, sharply observing each of them. They were each in good shape. War did that to the stronger men. One thing disgusted Michael. Most of them had decided to throw on their cloaks, though they were all only half-dressed, otherwise. "I see you've gotten cozy with your cloaks, men." The War Angel sneered. "Take them off. That's an order. Take them off!" Without even giving them the chance to take them off of their own accord, Michael lit the bottoms of the cloaks on fire and watched as his men tore them off quickly and stomped on them. "I'm only sorry I didn't do this earlier…" He said under his breath, and then he stood at the doorway and said these words.

"I have told you time and again that after my 777th kill we would pull out. I have had faith that each of you uphold that deal, and that your allegiance is to ME, and not to Cheriour, who is a coward who will not face me. Was I wrong in having faith in you, men?"

"Sir, no sir!"

"Good, then! I come to you now to tell you there is a change in plans. As of TONIGHT, we are no longer Hunters! Should a Hunter come to you to speak, you will tell him NOTHING! If you are invited to go on a hunt, you will not go! You will not take part in this plan involving Holy Blood and you will NOT, under ANY circumstances, refer to Cheriour as your leader! You will each pack your things tonight. If it takes all night you will not sleep, and if it takes all morning you will not eat breakfast. You will pack and you will leave for our main base, and you will stay there until further notice. Is that understood, men?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"I can't fucking hear you!"

"SIR, YES SIR!"

"Good! You are dismissed!" Michael finished his firm speech and left. He didn't care if he was loud. A part of him hoped that everyone heard and knew that Michael's troops were leaving.

He went up to his room and shut his door. What he didn't tell his men was that he himself was not leaving. The newsletter had said that he had three days until the big day, and he was going to spend those three days getting information. He would find a way to get those bombs Cheriour had made and he would find a way to destroy them. Or he would place them all around THIS place and set them off. Surely, Cheriour was hiding SOMEWHERE in here. If he wasn't, oh well. He'd find him and kill him off eventually.

Michael opened up his window and looked out, allowing a low sigh to escape him. Three days… that wasn't much time. But he would make due with the time he had. He would try to save her. "… Just sorry it took so long." He said to no one, and then he tried to get some rest.

He had a pleasant dream, this time. He was reliving a night he had already shared with Nema. She laid upon her bed, dressed in that pretty black corset, about to slip into slumber, and he had her rosary wrapped around her fingers, and he was making a holy promise. But the promise was different this time.

"I promise to protect you, and I promise to save you if anything comes to hurt you."

"But above all things, do you promise to love me?"

"I promise. On God's holy rosary, I swear it. On God's holy rosary, I seal it."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

AUTHORESS NOTE: Mmmmmmmmph, so glad it's summer break, now! Nothing to keep me back except for work and my ever-increasing need to clean my room… eheheh.

ANYWAY, yay for 28 and whatnot! I still can't believe that I'm going to cross over 30 chapters… I mean, that can't be healthy, can it? Hmm… Oh yeah, and yay for the holy promise thing, but I'm not sure if any of you remember Michael giving Nema a holy promise because that was like a THOUSAND chapters ago (or just on chapter 11)!