The next month seemed to fly by with no further incidents. Anaurael accompanied her mother and father into town each day. Whenever Willis appeared, she feigned worry and fretting. He was kept far from her. But, one sunset, as she waited for Imperius to appear, she heard an odd chuckling and giggling from the main toolshed. Frowning, she got up and paused at the sight of a little glowing goblin with a giant bag of treasures. A purple cloth was around its waist, and a small hood of the same color was over its head. It was a Greed Goblin. One of many.

They came in a variety of colors, but this one was a stark white to show it was known for gathering treasures most of the time. She was warned that they were little thieves, but she found it amusing, as it seemed to sort through all of the old and useless farming tools with fascination. At her approach, it looked over and seemed to jump with fright.

"No! It's okay!" she said quickly with her hands up. Then she sat down to show she was harmless. The goblin chittered and looked around nervously. Now that it knew she wasn't a threat, it settled down again to watch her. It had a massive, sharp-toothed, grinning face with beady red eyes. It's body was skeletal, but very swift in movement from running from various humans that it stole from. It chittered again and watched her.

Looking around, she found a broken tool to carefully hand over. It paused at this. She was giving me an item? Freely? It seemed to jump for joy and reached over to snatch it from her hand. Giggling at its good fortune, it vanished away in a shimmering, golden portal it created out of thin air. She found herself laughing. What she didn't expect was to see it several times throughout the week. It had taken a liking to her. The guardian angels decided to allow this. The goblin held no malice, and it seemed to make their charge very happy. The Greed Goblin was a demon that they knew of, but one of the more harmless ones. This one would be tolerable. It also provided a form of amusement to them from the daily toil.

"Anaurael! Have you seen my good cooking fork?!" her mother scowled.

"I don't think so. Let me look outside," she said. When she walked outside the cottage, she saw the Greed Goblin holding it with pride. "Oh. I need that. My Mother uses it."

It looked at her irritably. It wanted it. She looked around and found a discarded garden shovel that had a broken handle. It was falling apart, and they had no need for it. On gesturing to the shovel for the fork, it paused. It seemed to be undecided. Then it agreed to the trade. Smiling and nodding, she took the fork back to her mother.

"It was outside?" Lilaurael asked with confusion.

"It was. I don't know how," Anaurael shrugged. Oh, how her parents would chase off the innocent little creature! She didn't want that to happen one bit. Later in the day, she sat outside with a small snack of dried fruit and meat. She was surprised when it appeared and shuffled rather close to her. When she offered it some food, it sniffed it and accepted a couple pieces. "It would be nice to know your name. I don't even know if you understand me."

"Gurzick!" it said with a beaming, toothy grin.

"Gurzick? Oh! That's your name!" she laughed. It giggled again and went through its bag. At the sight of a good sword it had, she sighed. "I need a better weapon. I was always told to train hard, but my weapons are so useless! Ah, well."

"Eh?" it asked. She got up carefully to keep from startling it, and she brought out her training sword. It whooped with glee, grabbed it, and shoved it into its bag.

"No! I need that!" she groaned and sat down. What she didn't expect was a massive bastard sword being pushed into her face. It was giving her a trade. It seemed to think now that any item offered to it was a trade from the shovel and the fork. Her jaw dropped. The sword was excellent quality, fit in one hand, and seemed to give her a far faster attack. It even seemed to give off an icy chill, too. "Thank you! Um...yes! Thank you so much!"

"A Greed Goblin?!" Lilaurael gasped from the entryway. Gurzick squeaked and seemed to hide behind its bag. "Get it out of here!"

"No, Mother! It's okay! Gurzick is a friend," she said and rose up quickly. "It traded out my sparring sword for this one! Look!"

"I...oh..." her mother paused at the quality the sword had.

"I've been seeing it around here for the past week. I gave it some broken farm tools. It trusts me now. To a point. It's really okay."

"That thing stole my fork, didn't it?"

"It did. But, I traded it for the broken shovel we left in the corner," Anaurael grinned. "When I showed it my sparring sword, I think it saw it as another trade."

"Fine. But, it can't steal anything from the house!" her mother warned. "Let's hope your father is just as lenient as I am."

"I know," she agreed. Gurzick saw that the mother was smiling at it, and it grinned back with a small wave. Thinking now, Lilaurael decided to try something. She went inside and walked out with a bent spoon that was sitting in the utensil bin for a while. She handed it over, and the goblin whooped with a form of glee once more. It snatched it and sorted through its bag to pull out a pouch brimming with gold coins. On handing that over, her mother gaped with shock.

"It can stay!" she said quickly. A spoon wasn't really a weapon, so the goblin saw it as a valuable trade item. It never had a spoon before. When Gurzick vanished to show off its new prizes, Anaurael laughed and rose up from where she was.

"It comes and goes when it wants. It's fine by me," she giggled.

"This will cover all of our funding for the next two months. Yes, Gurzick can stay. As long as it doesn't steal from us, and we give things over as needed," her mother smiled. When Ilerael came back an hour later, he was informed of the Greed Goblin. As much as he wanted to shoo it off, he was impressed with the sword his daughter was given. At the sight of the gold pouch, he found himself grinning.

"I'll look around for anything we don't need. We'll hand them over a little at a time. That will work," he nodded. "As long as it doesn't come into the house."

"We know," Lilaurael chuckled. The rest of the night passed joyfully. But, it was later in the evening that Anaurael found herself waiting for Imperius that the Greed Goblin appeared again.

"Hello, Gurzick. Nice to see you," she smiled. It chuckled and seemed to hop around happily. Then it squealed at the sight of Imperius glaring at it.

"Demon spawn!" the powerful angel snarled out.

"It is harmless," Izarius said, as he walked out from the house. "The Greed Goblin is beneficial to this family. It works in trades and gives coins. Even weapons."

"He's telling the truth!" Anaurael smiled. "Look at the sword it gave me in trade for my practice one. Isn't it well-made?"

"Hmm..." Imperius thought and studied the sword. He glared at the goblin now. "I cannot tolerate any form of demon filth around my ward!"

At this, Gurzick seemed to falter. It wanted to stay. It liked the girl. It may not be able to speak back, but it understood everything. Looking at the massive angel now, it whooped at a thought and sorted through its bag. Pulling out a massive, two-handed sword made with unholy etchings and pulsing with a green tinge, it dropped the blade at Imperius's feet. Anaurael's jaw dropped at the powerful blade.

"It seeks to impress you," Izarius chuckled. "or so it appears."

"That...is Scourge..." Imperius said with a touch of disbelief. "Where did you find this?!"

"They are known to raid various parts of everywhere. Even the Burning Hells," the guard said.

"Fine. I'm a touch impressed. But, I am still angered. You gave her a sword. She lacks a shield. Help her with that, and I might be more lenient," Imperius snorted.

Gurzick thought and whooped again. Now it pulled out a shield that resembled a tower shield, but it was pulsing with the Light of the Heavenly Arch of Heaven. It appeared to be made of ivory and lined with gold. Anaurael was in complete shock over what the goblin was doing. Imperius could only stare with disbelief. The goblin gave over a shield called The Ivory Tower.

"It has accomplished its goal," Darius said.

"I will not let her touch the sword, but I will let her use the shield," Imperius said. The sword was claimed, anyways. It was too valuable to give back over to the goblin. "The weapon you gave her is nice. But, she needs one that is better. Accomplish this task, and I will trust you. To an extent."

"She has angel blood," Izarius said. "Can you bring her an angel sword?"

"Huh," the goblin thought. Then it looked through its bag. Not finding anything, it snapped its fingers and vanished. When it came back just seconds later, it grinned with pride and presented a sword that pulsed with even more of the Heavenly Arch. Imperius was speechless at the Skycutter blade. He glanced at the giggling goblin, and then to his guards. He looked down at his just as speechless ward. Then he redirected his gaze back to the little giggling goblin.

"You are tolerable. But, if you want to prove your worth once more, find me a weapon that radiates with intense unholyness. One that would make all tremble at its the merest sight!" Imperius commanded. "Find a weapon that would make myself deem you worthy at this time. The sword you gave first would work. But, find one more."

The goblin looked at him with complete amusement. It would handle one more weapon. But no more freebies! Sighing, it snapped its fingers to vanish again. At the massive, glowing red, two-handed bloody axe with the engraved skull on it, this was now presented and dropped at his feet.

"Skorn. Impressive," Izarius smirked.

"You have proved your worth," Imperius nodded. "Just stay out of my way, and you may linger. Do we have an understanding?"

"Aha!" Gurzick beamed. Imperius was now rather amused. A Greed Goblin could get in, practically, anywhere it wanted. He could use it to his advantage. As much as it was a demon and would need to eventually get killed, he would allow it to linger for its usefulness. Imperius now ignored the goblin and gathered up Anaurael to hold in his arms.

"I don't think I can use what was given to me," she sighed.

"Not yet," he agreed. "You need to be trained properly. I would do that, but you would need to come to my Halls of Valor for efficient training. I trained Ilerael and Lilaurael. Training you would be no problem. In time, when you learn all that can be taught here, I may have to take over."

"I would find it enjoyable," she smiled. "Is that what you tend to do when not here?"

"Most of the time. Although, I do admit, I find watching you far more enjoyable."

"Watching me?" she blinked. "Do everything?"

"I tend to."

"So...even as I bathe...?" she asked with a small, hard blush. He went silent instead of answering her. She knew her answer to that right away. "I see..."

"Should I not?" he asked gently.

"Well...most would deem it inappropriate to do so..."

"But, those are mortal rules. I don't abide by them. I am an Archangel of the High Heavens. I am Valor, itself. There is no need for me to be bound down by such guidelines," he snorted.

"I hope I am worth looking at."

"Why do you say such a thing? I have no need to look at any others."

"So...I was the first that you've...?"

"When it comes to dealing with mortal angels, yes."

"It's good to know," she smiled and yawned.

"Rest now. I am here. Nothing will hurt you," he said. "And you. Keep quiet. Be seen and not heard! If she rests, you are to make no sounds!"

Gurzick was laughing over all the treasures it had. On glancing up at Imperius, it gave a small sigh and chuckled lighter to itself. Imperius started to get annoyed, but he paused at a touch to the cheek of his helmet. The way she gazed at him sent a strange feeling through him. It was something he never felt before when holding her. She was looking at him with such a gaze of care and devotion. He actually caught his breath. He didn't even realize that his own hand came up to gently push away a lock of golden hair away from her face until he did it.

"I'm not...really tired..." she admitted.

"Is that so?" he asked. He was, normally, in a foul and irritable mood. But, when he was with her, that mood never had a chance to appear. He felt like himself again. She managed to carefully rise up in his arms to fully hug him to her.

The guardian angels were in awe of their powerful leader acting so calm under the touch of an angelic mortal girl. It was something that relieved them and worried them. They were relieved, as he was able to think for himself. They were worried, because this new change was different. They wouldn't know what to expect, but time would tell.

"This is what I need," she whispered and rested her head against the base of his neck and shoulder armor. "It's what I always need."

He gave a deep, weary sigh of relief. He felt as though some form of a weight lifted off his shoulders every time she hugged him like this. "In two years' time, I may have to bring you to my Halls to train you. You need to learn how to fight properly."

"I will await that day with joy," she chuckled. "Imperius?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you tell me of the battles you fought?"

"I told you much."

"You can tell me your stories over again. I don't mind. I like hearing them."

"Do you?"

"Oh, yes! Like how you lay siege to the gates of Hell? I loved that one!"

"And how I slew Diablo?"

"Yes!" she giggled. He turned his head to look at her now, and he paused at how close her face was to the opening of his helm. A full minute seemed to pass before them. She still had a hand on his armored cheek. He finally sealed the gap. Her mouth fit perfectly between the armored plating that slanted up from his spectral chin and over his invisible eyes. She was not expecting the kiss at all. Neither was he. When he pulled back, they were both in their own state of euphoric shock.

"You are mine," he finally whispered.

"I know. I always was," she whispered back. He kissed her again and let her rest against his shoulder. He straightened up fully and seemed to glare around him. He found the area empty. The guardians had convinced the goblin to leave. As he began to tell her the story of Diablo's defeat again, there was only one thought in the back of his mind. Auriel was right. I love her.