Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist. I don't own any of the angels mentioned in this story. I don't own the idea of how Raziel looks, Cassandra Clare does. I stole that part from City of Glass, which if you have the time, the Mortal Instruments series is an amazing read. On with the chapter!

The black shadow twisted, pulling itself together, and a body started to form. Leigh, Raphael said, I'm usually not the one urging you to do this kind of thing, but you have to use your abilities NOW. Michael added, Your friends won't live otherwise. They continued to urge me on. I closed my eyes and covered my ears, though I already know that it wouldn't do any good. I found the strength to look up. Everyone in the mirrors were screaming, falling to their knees. "What are you doing to them?" I pulled my knife, eyes starting to glow. Now was not the time to screw with me.

"Why lovely little angel," it replied, "I'm only showing them the past."

I couldn't hold it in anymore. The wings erupted from my back; a pure white light filled the cavern. The red n my hair faded, and turned darker, if possible. My skin paled, and I was wearing a black Roman-style dress. I started whispering in Latin, "Saint Michael, the archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil…" the black knife turned into a gold sword.

The demon covered his ears and said, "You dare say that prayer at me? That disgusting Michael cast me out of Heaven and into Hell himself. Anyone who wants protection from him has made themselves my enemy."

"Really?" I asked. I buried the sword to the hilt inside him.

He merely swatted me aside. "That tickles." He pulled the sword out, now stained black with its blood. "You know, little girl, that hurt. But, I haven't had this much fun in years."

I start muttering, "Raziel, Angel of Mystery, come to my aid." I cut my wrist, ignoring the mild sting. The white blood forms a circle around me. He appears, wearing a white loincloth. He has tan skin, blond hair, and golden, alive, glowing runes of the language of heaven. In each of the feathers of his wings, there was a golden eye. I pointed at the demon. He nodded, and created a golden bolt of energy. It tears through the demon, but it retaliates. Pulling a knife from its neck, he stabs me in the abdomen. The pain was awful. Just as I drifted, I heard it say, "Nighty-night, angel" with disgust.

XXXXX

I opened my eyes. Angels were coming towards me muttering in their strange language which I somehow understood. They were saying things like, "Is that her? Michael's lieutenant?", "She's awfully young, don't you think?", and "Yes, but she's very pretty for a human." I didn't understand where that last comment came in. I saw six-winged seraphim, four-winged, four-headed cherubim, toddleresque putti, and others. Was this heaven? "Am I dead?" I asked to no angel in particular.

I looked at my side, where Raphael was kneeling by me, shaking his head. "You're not dead. However, you did puncture a lung, chip two ribs, and get stabbed in the spinal cord. Were you human, you would be dead. But you're not human, so you'll be up very soon. You were brought here to be told something, since you never listen otherwise." He looked at Michael, who was pacing at my other side.

He stopped and nodded. "Why you have your powers." he paused briefly. "You're aware of your Catholic lineage. Correct?" I nodded. On both side of my family apparently I had umpteen generations of Catholics. "Your family was chosen because of that lineage, also because of the devotion of your father and late grandfather." I nodded again. My grandfather was a Grand Knight in the Knights of Columbus. You, your brother, and your sister all had potential. However, we knew what would happen with Charles, and Michelle was far too weak. You were different, however. You had a bright future, and you were strong. I saw how determined you were a few weeks before you received your first gift." I almost stopped breathing at that memory. "Since then, you have been given many gifts, all for one purpose. So you could be my lieutenant, who carried out my work. You will have to experience quite a journey before you before you are strong enough, however. Raphael," he turned to the angel tending my injuries. "Is she well enough?" Raphael nodded. Michael turned to look at me again. "That journey starts now, Leigh."

XXXXX

I regained consciousness. The demon was heading for Ryuji, who was drawing the demon away from me. It was sweet. I was still in angel form, but Raziel was gone. All fear of ding gone, I stood up and yelled, "Hey ugly! Yeah, you! You missed!" the demon's and Ryuji's faces were the pictures of shock.

The demon walked toward me. "Have you had enough yet?"

I glowed stronger in response, creating another golden sword. "Are you kidding me? I'm just getting warmed up." I flew around the demon, something I didn't really feel comfortable doing. Yeah, laugh it up. The angel is afraid of heights. I took a new approach: exsanguinations. Flying in circles around it, each time I got close enough, I slashed its abdomen or throat. With each slash, I became more bloodied. Before long, I myself resembled a demon. It could barely stand, but obviously, I couldn't be the one who killed it. Ni-chan rushed in, and took over the fight. I returned to Ryuji.

"L-Leigh," he sputtered.

I returned to be human. "You bet your ass." I grinned, and ignored the wave of fatigue that washed over me, which always accompanied turning back to human.

"What the hell was that?"

"That was something you never saw. Do you understand?" He nodded. By now Hirotaka was fighting the demon in darkness. "We have to watch them, so that if Hirotaka loses the upper hand, we can step in."

He nodded, holding a pistol in one hand and prayer beads in the other. I grabbed a knife, and took a rosary out of my hoodie pocket, and removed the article of clothing, showing the tank top I had on underneath. He flushed when he saw me in something that showed off my body shape. He just pulled a Shima and stared. "Uh, dude." I flicked the back of his head. "Eyes up here." I heard mirrors shattering, and people escaping them. "Ryuji," he turned to face me again. "We have to watch them, too." He nodded. I tie the jacket around my waist whenever Ni-chan returns, grabbing Hotaru's hand, leading us out two by two. I was paired up with Ryuji.

Once we got out, Ryuji showed his relief at seeing me alive after taking that hit in the stomach. "Thank Buddha you're alright." Then, he hugged me. After a second of pure shock, I hugged him back. Maybe he did care… He turned to talk with Rin.

My phone rang.

You're not eighteen anymore

Five years should have been enough time

For you to grow up and get over it—

Masterpiece by Bayside. Charles' ringtone. "Charles," I answered in English, relief evident in my voice. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear from you."

"Hey, Nick." I smiled at his name for me. It was his way of making fun of my tomboyish habits like hating dresses, getting in fights with some of the football players, which I always won (I kinda have a rep back home), wearing baggy clothes, and even taking my brother's basketball shorts (hey, he had, like, 20 pairs, and they're comfortable). "I have news." He paused for dramatic effect. "I'm getting transferred to the Japan Branch of my company. I even have the latest in translation technology."

I was about to drop the phone. He was coming here? This was great! "Are you shitting me? Because if you are, I'm going to take the stick shoved up Michelle's ass and put it up yours."

"Would I lie to you about something like this? Wait, don't answer that. But my plane's taking off right now, and I should be there by midnight tonight. He told me the gate that he would be at. "Can you and a couple of your friends pick me up?"

"Yeah, sure."

"See ya, Nick."

"Bye, Chuck." He hung up, and I walked over to Muki. "What are you doing at midnight tonight?"

She looked at me weird, because I was still blood-spattered, and said, "Nothing…" obviously confused at why I would ask her that.

"Good. Do you want to help me pick up Charles tonight? He's getting transferred here."

"Your brother Charles? Talk-about-him-and-die Charles?" I nodded. "Sure. Why not? I want to learn more about America anyways." I gave her a death glare. She shrunk back. "Or I could watch the touching reunion between brother and sister."

"Great! Now that you're on board, I'll ask Rin." I walked over to him. "What are you doing at midnight tonight?"

"Nothing important. Just sleeping. Why?"

"Can you help me pick up my brother at the airport? He's getting transferred here."

His eyes widened. "I thought your brother was a touchy subject. As in you almost killed me for talking about him!"

I waved a hand. "I'm over that. Besides, you can see a clone of me if I was two inches taller, had blond hair, lighter eyes, eight years older."

"Okay, I'm in. I want to see just how close you two were."

We walked over to Muki. "Okay, I'm going to regret this, but it's open season on brother questions."

Muki, of course, started. "Just how much sdo you two look alike? Do you have a picture of him when he was 16?"

I sighed and pulled out my phone and found a picture when he was 16. I showed it to them. They looked at the phone, then back at the phone, then back at me. "You weren't kidding." Rin said, completely freaked out by the resemblance. A boy with poofy blond curly hair, light blue eyes with a little gray. Besides that, we looked exactly alike. "That's just freaky." Muki agreed. Then thought of something. "Wait. There's something freakier." She snatched the phone and surfed out until she found 'the picture'. The one with a 6 year old me and a teddy bear. They started dying. Rin was gasping for air "Leigh had a teddy."

I once more got defensive. "It is a James Tiberius Kirk collector's item." I hit them both.

Rin recovered. "So, what's he like?"

I searched for the right words. "You know how there are some people who get along with everyone, but aren't fake? That's what he's like. It's like there's this light inside him and if you were lucky, he would share some of that light with you. Some people can hate him, but not many do. He's also one of those people who don't study but still do well on tests. He's not always patient, but he does make time for you. He's just an amazing guy."

"When's his birthday?"

"Christmas."

"And I thought that my birthday was close to Christmas. His is on the holiday."

We continued for a while about that. Talking freely about Charles felt so great. For that moment, life was almost perfect, even though I was away from my American friends.