A.N.: So I realized that originally, in the first story of this series ("Have Yourself a Merry Little Incest"), Harold was originally going to be a rather minor character. But he came into more prominence in the second ("Pumpkin Up the Party") and now, he and his angelic boss are key characters. Weird, eh?
There was a flash of light, and the five found themselves standing at the base of a tall and steep mountain.
Alex looked at it. "Ugh," she groaned. "Couldn't we have popped out at the top?"
Justin turned away from the mountain so that he could face Alex. "Alex," he chided. "You should know that mountains are symbolic of a spiritual journey, which is why we obviously have to climb the mountain. If we -" suddenly, a faint "dinging" sound as though a bell ringing caused Justin to turn around. Behind him, set into the side of the mountain, there appeared to be an elevator that Mike had called.
"Come on in," he said, holding the door open for everyone. Justin looked vaguely disappointed, but Alex merely looked smug.
They boarded the elevator, and Mike pushed the button for the top.
"It's still a bit of a trip, at least for an elevator," Mike said.
"I'm curious about something," Harper said, finally working up the courage to speak to an Archangel. "Archangel Michael, is Harold your subordinate because you and he have similar attitudes or is it the other way around?"
"Haha," Mike chuckled. "It's definitely the former. He wasn't always under me, even. He used to be a member of Raphael's group. Raphael is a great angel, of course, and I love him, but, ah, his disposition didn't mesh quite well with Harold's. Raphael is a bit... I dunno how to say 'prudish' without sounding rude, but I guess it's kind of like that. I mean, it's not that he's a prude per se, but..."
"He was distinctly uncomfortable around me," Harold admitted. "He tried to be polite about it, but my vulgarity and lax attitude sort of made him nervous. It was funny, though, he's too polite to mention anything."
"Yeah," Mike continued. "That's why to get Harry transfered, I said to Raphael, 'Hey, I'd hate to take away as good a guy as Harold, but he's got skills that I really need in my department. Would you mind if we applied for a transfer for him?' Raphael said he'd try to manage the best he could without Harold."
"He seemed pretty relieved though, haha," Harold said. "I feel kind of bad about it. I mean, I tried to restrain myself."
"Anyway, this worked out the best for all involved parties," Mike said. "So really no big deal."
Around then, the elevator dinged again, signaling that they had arrived at their destination. To the surprise of the three humans aboard, the elevator opened into what looked like the lobby of a modern office building. There was even a reception desk with a woman sitting behind it.
"Hello Jeanette," Mike said to this woman as he exited the elevator and approached the desk. "How is it going?"
"Well, thank you, Michael," she said. "There is an emissary from Gabriel waiting for you in the meeting room."
"Ah crap," Mike said. "Has he been here long?"
"No, he arrived just a few minutes before you did."
"Oh good. I'd hate to keep him waiting. See," he said, turning to the humans in their party. "He would never complain about it to me, since that would be out of line given that this emissary is - likely - an inferior to me, technically speaking. But he might tell Gabriel who would complain even higher up."
"Makes sense," Justin said.
"Did he say what it was about?" Mike asked Jeanette.
"The Ether Bunny," she replied.
"Ah good. These four are helping me with that matter, so I'll let them in on this. Thanks, Jeanette."
"A pleasure, Michael," she said as the five began walking down the hall, largely following Mike.
Mike and Harold stopped in front of a door with a little plaque on it that read "Meeting Room".
"OK, before we go in, we should brief you guys. Um... just don't talk, that should be good," Mike said. He thought for a moment. "Yeah, OK, that should be good."
He opened it without further ceremony and stepped through. It was a smallish room with a round conference table in it. Someone - presumably the angelic emissary from Gabriel - was seated at one end, but he rose when Mike entered the room.
"Lord Michael," the angel said, bowing. "It is my honor to represent Lord Gabriel."
"It is an honor to receive a distinguished guest," Michael said, returning the bow. Justin noted that his bow was not as deep as the emissary's, signifying his higher rank. Neither Harper nor Alex noticed or cared.
"These are my esteemed visitors," Mike said, motioning to the humans. "And of course, you know my colleague Harold." Harold gave a bow that was about as deep as the emissary's. The angels all then sat down, and after a brief moment of confusion, so did the humans.
"Lord Gabriel has sent me to warn you that he has just discovered that there may be a diabolic or demonic plot to prevent the binding of the Ether Bunny this year."
"Does he have any intelligence on the faction involved?" Mike asked.
"Not much. We only know of one agent in it, and he might be working alone."
"It would be nice if he were independent."
"Indeed, especially because he's a category five demon."
"Huh, a cat-five demon wouldn't normally be working alone," Mike said, rubbing his chin. Justin only now noticed that there was a bit of stubble on it.
"That is why we suspect that it may be part of a larger plot."
"Is it possible that he may have been manipulated by a more powerful devil?"
"That is something that we have considered. Unfortunately, our information is currently incomplete. I do have some information on whom we think the demon is, though," the emissary said. He slid a file folder over to Mike, who picked it up and began to leaf through it.
"You will naturally want to get to this right away," the emissary said.
"Oh, yes," Mike said. "You are dismissed."
The emissary bowed again and left the room.
"All right, let's get to my office," Mike said to Harold once the emissary had left. They both stood up and began to walk further down the hall, Harper, Alex and Justin following them.
They came to a door at the end of the hall. This one had a plaque that read "The Office of Lord Michael" in some fancy font. As Michael began to open it, Justin wondered what the office of an Archangel would look like. He felt a delirious sense of excitement to be what was probably one of few humans to see this. Unfortunately, he was sorely disappointed. Once Michael opened it, it looked like a rather normal office, and not even a particularly nice one. In fact, it almost looked like a sitcom cliché. It was small, cramped, and messy. There were a desk and two visitor chairs, but all were littered with papers and other small objects. There was a filing cabinet in a corner behind the desk, but it was stuffed and overflowing.
"Ah, have you seen my suitcase?" Mike asked Harold. Harold dug around under the desk.
"Got it," he said.
"Awesome, thanks," Mike said. Harold pulled the suitcase out.
"I can take it," he offered.
"Thanks again," Mike said.
"So what is our plan of attack?" Harold asked. Mike looked around at the gathered people, the office looking even smaller when crowded with people.
"Thoughts from the audience?" Mike said with a slightly ironic tone, addressing Harper, Alex, and Justin. "I know this is probably a lot for you to take in."
"Well, I would say we should research the demon a bit," Justin said after a brief pause. "But it seems more important that we find the Ether Bunny as quickly as possible. After all, wouldn't it be true that if the demon was trying to do anything, we'd find it by finding the Ether Bunny?"
"Ah, excellent, you're going for the direct route. A man after my own heart," Mike said.
Justin beamed to have won the approval of an Archangel, but Alex slapped him for being lame.