Story: Dawning Radiance

Genre: Dark Fantasy/Romance/Action

Rating: T

Claimer: I own each and every one of the characters in this story, so please do not use them, as they are my babies...enjoy!

After I finished staring at the lightly beaten up envelope for a good five minutes or so, I sat on the edge of the roof, letting my legs dangle in the air while I slid my finger under the flap and pulled the letter out, but I hesitated unfolding it before stuffing it back into the envelope and slipping it into the back pocket of my jeans.

When I walked back into the house, I nearly collided with Malachi, who gave me a warm smile and rested a hand on my shoulder. "There you are Little Demon, I was wondering where you'd gone off to! Come now, the food is absolutely delicious, and I'm sure you're hungry after such an eventful afternoon" he told me, steering me towards the partially opened dining room door.

I definitely wasn't prepared for all of the people that would be there.

Every chair but mine and Malachi's were filled with holy Ethereals of all sorts, and when we entered the room, each pair of eyes settled on the two of us.

Settled on me, to be more specific.

Malachi greeted everyone we passed with a kind smile as we made our way to our chairs which coincidentally were right beside each other.

The head of the table is where Malachi sat, with Nate on his right side and me on his left. Beside me sat Damien and then Valshe, while Nigathiel sat next to Nate.

I took my seat gingerly, trying my best to avoid looking at Nigathiel so I could at least try to keep my temper in check. They soon started grace while Damien and I rolled our eyes at each other and shifted uncomfortably in our seats.

They hadn't even gotten halfway through when one Angel stopped, cleared his throat and unclasped his hands, letting them fall loosely at his sides.

Some of the others noticed him and stopped as well, and more stopped after them, until the room went silent while we all watched the Angel expectantly. "Brother Mikhail, is something the matter?" Malachi asked, following his gaze to where Damien and I were sitting.

Mikhail pressed his lips into a firm line, looking as if he was thinking carefully about what he would say next "My deepest apologies Malachi, but I feel that we are not properly expressing our love for our Lord if not everyone is offering Him the praise He rightfully deserves" he explained, eyes shifting in between the faces of the everyone there, finally touching on Malachi, and then on us, the two Demon boys.

"Perhaps Mikhail has a point; having two Demons present while we're joining together in our worship of Him may be showing Him that we are falling into temptation…" another Avenging angel woman added, worry written on her fair face.

Once more of the guests began to voice their negative opinions on the matter, and the room grew even noisier, Malachi stood and raised his hand and slowly, the room came back to order "Brothers, Sisters, I'm surprised to find that you'd think this way! Wouldn't our Lord love nothing more than for us to accept others into our homes, no matter who they may be? If we were to turn them away, or worse, force them to believe as we do, only then would He become angry with us, as we are supposed to accept and care for any and all who may need it" Malachi preached, finally taking his seat once more.

The room stayed silent for a while after that, until Nigathiel cleared his throat with a little smirk on his lips. "He may have a point; from what I have heard, these two Demons have been here for quite some time now and have so far caused no trouble for anyone, is that correct?" he inquired, looking around for the hesitant nods of the others sitting along the table.

"If this is so, then I can see no reasons why they shouldn't be allowed to stay with us, even if they don't praise our Lord as we do. Isn't that right, Xander?" he turned to look at me with a calculating grin and raised his long stemmed wine glass in my direction, and I nodded with a forced and unbelievably stiff little smile.

Damien suddenly raised his hand lazily smirking with amusement when Malachi nodded at him to continue "Actually…" he began, leaning back in his chair the slightest bit "This is probably going to be our last night here since we were planning on leaving tomorrow after lunch" he announced, and I could see the relief on some of the guests faces.

Apparently, Damien noticed as well, because he shrugged "Yeah, yeah, don't you worry your holy little heads; we'll stop 'polluting' your perfectly wonderful Heaven with our vile temptations" he commented, resting his cheek on his hand with an easy smile.

After this, grace was finished and dinner passed by slowly as usual; though everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves, many of them even adding Damien and I into the conversations.

Once dinner had finally drawn to a close and people had begun to file out the doors, I took the chance to retreat to my room and shut the door, making sure to lock it behind me.

Taking a seat on the bed and tapping the transparent orb on the bedside table so it lit up the room in an eerie whitish yellow glow, I pulled the letter from earlier that night out of my pocket and smoothed it out in my hands.

It seemed like it was old, even though it wasn't too bad for wear, and hadn't yet been opened when I'd found it.

Sliding the paper out of the envelope, I took a breath and unfolded it carefully in my lap, letting my eyes run across the neat, curving letters.

My sweet Xander,

I realize that you may not know who it is who wrote this quite yet, and I'm afraid you never will. Though you might not believe it, I am your mother, Rosallia Harlow. You never really had the chance to get to know me before you were taken from me by your father, whom I hope has treated you better than he had I over the years you've lived with him. I tried so hard to be able to keep you, but I'm afraid that as you know, that never happened. When I left your father, I was able to fall in love with a man who has been watching over me since I was young, though I'm afraid that will most likely end soon. Anyways, we got married, and the boy who gave you this letter is his and my son, and your brother, Nathaniel. You might not believe me yet, but the man I married, Nigathiel, along with your brother are higher beings. They're Angels! You must think I'm a crazy woman, ranting on about silly things like this, but don't worry; soon you will come to find that the world isn't exactly as normal as it may seem. Even though we never knew each other very well, I have a very big favor to ask of you, okay? Please, even though this is very sudden and probably very hard for you to process right away, please watch over you little brother and try to stick together alright? You two are family, so that's how it should be right? You two may be from different worlds, but you shouldn't let the little things keep you from being happy. That's all I wish for, is you and your brothers happiness. I love you with all of my being, and wish I could've seen you just one more time before I passed on to Heaven, but this is just fine, so long as you are okay.

P.S. Ask Nate or his father about anything you may want to know about me or anything else okay? There's no need to be afraid of them; they're both very understanding.

Your loving mother,

Rosallia Harlow.

I resisted the urge to crumple the letter into a ball and lob it into the

trash can. What the Heaven was this supposed to be? Surely this was just a ploy by those Angels to trick me into trusting them again…right?

It had to be.

After all, my mother had died giving birth to me hadn't she? That's what my father had always told me…and he wouldn't lie about something that important.

Should I even bother getting myself deeper into this by asking the Nephilim about it? As amusing as that might be, I didn't think it would be worth getting caught up in the lies this letter was probably made up of.

But it never hurt to try.

Pushing myself to my feet, I crossed my room in a few long strides and opened the door as silently as I could manage before stepping into the hallway and closing it behind me just as quietly.

Padding my way down the hall to Nate and Rey's bedroom door, I paused just outside it, listening carefully for any indication that a certain someone was inside as well.

He snuck up on me before I had a chance to even knock on the door though.

"Might I ask what you're doing out here at this late hour, Xander? Standing outside my son's bedroom door nonetheless! Hopefully you weren't planning anything reckless…" Nigathiel's voice grated on my nerves, and I whipped around to face him, his lips curved into an amused little smirk.

Bristling, I backed a few steps towards my room, glaring daggers at him all the while "That's none of your business, you…" I held my tongue, not wanting to give him any cause to turn around and make an even bigger scene.

But he didn't seem to want to let it go.

His smirk turned into a grin, and he took a half step towards me. "You…? Did you have something else you wanted to add to that, Xander? It sounded to me like you did…" he pressed, leaning closer to me.

Biting my lip, I shook my head jerkily "Absolutely nothing" I sneered, resisting the urge to spit on him and barricade myself in my room once more.

Surprisingly, he nodded with a little shrug "You know" he commented, closing the distance between us and leaning over so his mouth was inches from my ear, setting me on edge "You really are just like your father" he whispered before pulling away and turning to head back down the hallway.

Pushing off of the wall I'd pressed myself against, I grabbed his shoulder and spun him around, jerking on the cloth of his shirt and trapping him against the wall as I had earlier "What the Heaven is that supposed to mean you prick? Like you have any right to talk about him anyways!" I shouted, forgetting the fact that the rest of the household was probably asleep.

Nigathiel scoffed, holding his hands up in a mock surrender "Now, now! Don't wake up everyone else with your yelling! You know I didn't mean that as a bad thing, right? No? Heheh, come on Costello, take it down a few notches!" he teased, transferring his nickname for my father to me, sarcasm dripping off of just about every word of his speech.

Behind us, I heard a door open and close before I felt a pair of hands yanking me away from him.

Thinking it was Damien, or maybe Valshe again, I complied, turning my head to explain, but found myself looking at Nate instead, and immediately jumped away from him.

He looked tired, and his hair looked slept on, brown strands twirling and sticking up in every different direction.

Under different circumstances I might've laughed, but at the time, I couldn't find it in me to even crack a smile. "You wanted to talk to me?" he asked, and with a glance over my shoulder at Nigathiel, I nodded "We can talk in my room then. If that's fine with you…" he grumbled, rubbing sleepily at his eyes as he led me back to his room.

Just before he shut the door behind us, he tossed a quick look over his shoulder "Oh, and Dad? Don't tease him so much; you know he doesn't like you" he called to the figure sauntering down the hallway towards the stairs "Will do, Nathaniel" he replied just as Nate shut the door.

He dragged himself across the room and flopped onto his bed, face buried in the pillow for a few moments before he sighed deeply and rolled onto his side, patting the spot next to him for me to sit down.

"So…tomorrow, huh?" he asked, propping his head up with his elbow and watching me intently "I guess so" I confirmed with a shrug "He didn't tell me about it either, but we have been here quite a while, so I guess we might as well" I added, looking around his spacious room for something to watch while we talked.

He'd closed his eyes and looked as though he was close to falling asleep "Huh…" was all he had to say to that.

For a while, we sat in the comfortable quiet of his room, until I figured he'd fallen asleep and moved to stand up "Where are you going?" he questioned, vaulting to a sitting position, suddenly wide awake.

I scoffed with an amused smile and looked down at him on the bed "Move over" I told him, and he scooted over to the other side of the bed despite looking confused.

Lying down beside him, I looked up at the skylight above his bed and crossed my arms easily behind my head "Gross" Nate muttered, making me glance over at him with an eyebrow raised. "You're getting Demon germs all over my bed" he teased with a grin, and I laughed with a roll of my eyes "Shut up! Like I care what you think!" I shot back with a defiant smirk of my own.

Now that I was laying down, one of the pictures on his nightstand caught my eye, made me quiet down and remember just why I'd come in the first place.

In the frame was a woman in her mid-twenties, with straight, jet black hair that fell to just about her shoulders. She had lightly tanned skin and dark blue eyes that seemed to be endless and her mouth was open in a delighted laugh. She was slender, but had slightly wider hips and a golden wedding ring was shining on her finger.

She was chasing a little boy at the beach; most likely the younger version of Nate, who couldn't have been more than three or four from the looks of him.

Both looked like they were very happy.

Nate noticed me looking, and picked up the wooden frame before handing it to me gently "This your mom?" I asked, sliding my finger along the edge of the cool glass that held the photo in place. He nodded with a forlorn smile "She died when I was pretty young…seven maybe?" he informed me fondly, leaning back on the headrest of the bed.

Hesitantly, I pulled the envelope out of my pocket and handed it to him along with the picture, and his eyes widened "Where did you get this?" he demanded, turning it over in his hands with a worried look on his face.

I shrugged, trying to brush it off as nothing, but probably not doing too well "You dropped it earlier" I replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world "So you read it…?" he asked quietly, toying idly with the torn flap between his fingers.

"Yeah, it was addressed to me after all" I told him, turning to watch him "Is that real, or not?" I questioned as he began to look a bit hesitant and nervous "Why wouldn't it be?" he finally returned, turning his gaze to mine "You said she died when you were seven" I said, motioning to the picture "And if that's the truth, then why hasn't it been opened yet? If she really entrusted you with this letter, then why hadn't you opened it yet?" I continued, hands clenching into fists.

Nate seemed to be struggling to find an answer for that one, shifting uncomfortably where he sat "I…I just didn't want to, I guess. Mom never really wanted to talk about you because she was so upset over leaving you, so I figured it would be kind of…wrong…" he stammered, handing the letter back to me with a little frown.

He didn't seem like he was lying but…that didn't have to mean anything.

After everything that had happened to me, all because of the holy Ethereals, I was no where near ready to trust what this one had to say, and sighed in frustration, running a hand through my hair impatiently.

"You're lying" I stated simply, trying to ignore the hurt look that flashed through his eyes; it was gone faster than it came. "Oh?" he asked with an almost disappointed smile, letting himself slide further down the bed and resting his head on a pillow "You think so?".

I didn't answer right away; I was too busy trying to figure out what that emotion had been when he'd said it. He almost sounded upset for a minute there. Pulling the letter out of the envelope and holding it up in front of me, I nodded "My mother died giving birth to me" I told him emotionlessly as I bent one of the corners of the page a few times.

Sighing, he set the frame back on the nightstand and shrugged "Or she left your dad when he started to beat her. You know, like he did to you?" he suggested, just the slightest bit of acid in his tone, a smug way of telling me he knew a lot more than he let on to.

Shoving myself into a sitting position, I glared at him fiercely "How…? M-my dad never hit me!" I defended, biting my lip "Yeah he did; our dads used to hang out, remember? He used to tell me that he even hit you when they were over. Threw stuff at you and everything" he informed me as my expression grew more and more guarded.

"What are you getting at?" I hissed, fists quaking and trembling as I clenched them. "I'm just pointing out that your dad might not be as good a person as you made him out to be" he offered calmly "As if yours is any better! It wasn't his fault he was like that…he just…"I trailed off and, no longer able to look at him, turned my gaze to the floor.

The room was silent again; the mood electric, "You shouldn't lie to yourself so much; it doesn't help with your mentality much. If you…" he began, but was interrupted when there was a knock at the bedroom door and Valshe poked her head in. "What're you guys being so noisy for? You know it's like, two thirty in the morning right now, don't you?" she commented, stepping into the room, moving towards the bed and letting the door swing shut behind her.

Nate didn't seem to mind that she had come in, barely even acknowledged that she was there except for when he moved over to make room for her in the bed.

"Anyways, if you didn't believe she was your mom too, then why are you here? Nothing I told you would've changed your mind. Which means that you know what I'm saying is the truth" he stated, not once taking his eyes off of mine as he spoke.

Valshe looked between the two of us with her slim eyebrows raised "Now that you're next to each other, I can see the similarities…did you not believe him before Xander?" she asked with a knowing smile.

I blanched, and looked at her with surprise "She already knew? What the Heaven? Why didn't you tell me?" I watched them as they smiled guiltily at each other before Nate shrugged and Valshe began to twist some of her silvery hair between her fingers "Yeah, she already knew…we talk a lot more than you realize we do" Nate informed me with an amused tone "And you never asked me about it; you've been too busy being moody" Valshe added with a smile "I almost never get to see you anymore!" she exclaimed with a slight pout.

Great, so now my 'friend' and my little brother were teaming up on me.

Wait.

Not my brother! My friend and the Nephilim kid! He wasn't my brother!

But at this point, who was I kidding? I knew my father was abusive, and he had a lot more pride than most people did, so for him to tell his son that his wife and the boy's mother had left him because he'd hit her? It wasn't going to happen.

I suppose it wasn't too bad for Nate to be my brother anyways; it's not like he bothered me that much, it was his…

His brother.

Nate had an older brother, and he hadn't been mentioned in the letter even once, so how would it work out that Nate had an older brother without my 'mom' knowing about it?

"What about Rey?" I questioned, looking up from my clenched hands, catching Nate off guard. "What about him?" he asked, cocking his head to the side the slightest little bit "In the letter, it never mentioned Rey; just you…so how…?" I paused and looked over his face, which had a somewhat satisfied expression on it.

Beside me, Valshe giggled and looked up at Nate "Can I tell him?" she asked excitedly, grinning when Nate nodded his approval.

Confused, I turned my attention to Valshe who was smiling at me intently "Alright, but you can't tell anyone, okay? Not even Damien, got it? This is about your little brother, so you have to keep it hush hush" she told me, face suddenly serious.

My face contorted in disbelief and confusion, but when she stayed serious, I finally sighed defeatedly "Fine, whatever" I replied with a roll of my eyes "Not 'fine, whatever'! This is actually serious, so promise, okay?" she shot back with determination, leaning towards me a little bit. "I promise! Just tell me already!" I exclaimed impatiently, resisting the urge to throw my hands in the air in exasperation.

Apparently satisfied with that, she nodded and crossed her legs, her elbows propped up on her knees with her chin resting on the back of her palms "Alright, so…you know both Nate and Rey, but how much have you been told about them?" she asked quietly, her smooth voice sounding almost melodic, making me wonder for a split second if she got into singing.

"Not much…I mean, Malachi told me some completely cryptic riddle thing one of the first days we were here. Something along the lines of 'even though they're inseparable, they're almost never seen together' or something like that" I told her, mimicking Malachi's prim and proper tone he always used when he was talking to me.

Nate laughed "That's actually about right" he commented with another amused little chuckle, before motioning for Valshe to continue.

"That's really it? Wow, you two really have that secret on lock, don't you?" she laughed to Nate, who nodded with a proud grin "Anyways, If you think about that for a while, you might have a pretty big hint…no? Fine…Nate's the only one mentioned in the letter because Rey hadn't been born yet; Rey is Nate's brother, but…well, he doesn't exactly have his own body." Valshe paused for a moment and twirled her hair between her fingers again.

It must be a nervous habit or something.

My eyes widened as my mind put together the pieces one by one, but I was still filled with disbelief at what Valshe was trying to tell me.

"Rey is an alter personality; Nate has Multiple Personality Disorder"

A/N: indescribable music: I'm glad the characters really stick out to you! I try to put a lot of effort into them, and they're kind of, in a way, living in my head (sometimes I catch myself thinking 'How would :insert character here: react to this? XD) I think we might be coming to fairly close to the climax, so the plot is only going to get better (I hope!) so I really hope you keep reading! You have been a loyal reader from the beginning and I just want you to know that your reviews probably make my day/week when I read them every time because I know that I have a loyal reader. Thank you for sticking by me as I claw my way through this story, and I'm very glad that you like it!

A. Montgomery: Hey! How's your summer going so far? It's good to know that someone who can write as well as you likes my writing and is willing to review it! Like I told Music, reviews make my day/week/whatever! I'll be sure to tag you on fb whenever I put a new chapter up, so you don't have to worry about missing one! And if I were to tell you what may or may not happen (especially with Valshe and the boys!) it would probably ruin quite a bit of the story, so I have to resist the urge to spoil the whole thing and keep writing!I'll get to it eventually! Oh, and I'M REALLY SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO GET THIS CHAPTER UP! I've had a pretty hectic summer so far.

Devil wingz: I just posibly almost peed myself when I got on here and saw that you reviewed my story 9 times! I think I was rolling around on my living room floor squeeling for a good ten minutes or so :laughs:. I'm sorry you hate cliff hangers so much, and that I just keep adding them in. Please bear with my insanity, at least until the end of the book! From what I imagine it being, the view from Nate's house is pretty wonderful. I wish I could go there myself, but that probably won't happen (even though I'm kinda crossing my fingers) I know I haven't had Rey in the story much, but I promise that he pops up a lot more frequently now that Xander knows the whole story. Valshe has also kind of taken a backseat lately too, but as she says in this chapter, Xander's been moody and super busy, so she's bussied herself getting to know the Holy Ethereals a little better! Just so you know, I am NOT AT ALL tired of your reviews! Like I've been telling everyone else, I LOVE reviews, as they make me feel like people are enjoying my writing!

Now, to the actual A/N.
Dang, that one was long! But then, I haven't written in a while, and I think I'd rather write longer chapters than shorter ones. I realize I have a habit of cliff hanging you guys a lot, but I just can't help it! My mind comes up with so much stuff that I just NEED to keep putting cliff hangers in here! Speaking of which, how many of you saw any of this coming? :raises hand: I did! I think we're just about to the climax of the story, maybe possibly, but since I want to get this published once I'm done with it, I might have to drag it out a little bit more.