Miracle. That's the word Gwen used to describe Reine's life.

They talked about her during the Moonlight Festival, after he put her on her bed. It was then Gwen told him about the traffic accident that took her left eye.

"From what I heard, she shielded a little girl when the second crash happened. It crushed the left side of her upper body… nobody thought she could make it… and when she did, there was nothing else that could describe that than a miracle."

Five years. It had been five years since he fell.

Ever since then, he didn't look back on his past. However, thanks to Vaughn, he now did. Neil turned around and looked at the peacefully sleeping Reine. Just like last time on the roof, she just fainted after they kissed.

When it happened on the roof, as unromantic as it sounded, he thought she was sleepy. Thus, he just simply took her back to her house and put her on the bed.

However, when it happened again, Neil began to think that there might be other explanations.

"This is Neil," Vaughn told the stranger. "Neil, meet Mark. He's our Reaper-in-Charge."

Not knowing what to do, Neil bowed slightly. Much to his confusion, Mark laughed. "I can totally see you are the blond and fair version of Vaughn already!"

Neil kept his mouth shut. Vaughn had been the one mentoring him through the training period, so it wasn't a surprise if some things just rubbed off to him.

"You're ready for the field trip?"

"It's not a field trip, Mark," Vaughn reminded him. "Sometimes I have no idea how you got promoted to a Reaper."

Neil looked at Vaughn quizzically. "What? Do you think Reapers were born just like that?"

"They're not?"

"Well, your Theory score isn't exactly the best in the cohort…" Mark commented. "But if you don't know about that I guess you're even worse."

Neil groaned. "I'm not exactly the studious type."

Vaughn quickly came to his defense. "Deliverance doesn't need the knowledge on how you got promoted."

Mark laughed good-naturedly. "Fair point," he said. "Okay, Neil, basically there are two kinds of Reapers: Heavenly and Hellish, based on their origins before they got promoted. I was just like you until… five years ago?"

Neil nodded, although he actually didn't care much about it. He'd just do his job: delivering souls that had been reaped by the Reaper—Mark in this case—well enough not to get sacked.

He was assigned to the Gabriel Corps: those dealing with any kind of delivery, mostly souls from Earth or either Purgatory or directly to Heaven. He had heard that sometimes they'd have a special order of delivering some kind of messages to the chosen people, although Neil figured he'd better master the art of Soul Deliverance first before thinking about that 'special order'.

"Today we got a big order," Mark announced. "Massive traffic accident."

Neil's actual power wasn't limited to communicating with wolves (and coyotes and dogs, to a more limited extent). Compared to his peers, he had a sharpened sense of smell and hearing, making it hard for someone to actually sneak up on him.

"What are you doing here, Vaughn?"

Vaughn came out from behind the trees and walked over to Neil. "You have a dying mortal among you," he reminded him. "Thanks to her, I could locate this town."

Neil didn't say anything. He knew that once a mortal was assigned for Deliverance, the agent would be able to locate the mortal wherever he or she was. Neil was told that even the end of Earth wouldn't be a problem, but he used to doubt that. He didn't now; if this magically protected town wasn't an exception, nothing was.

"So long as you have a mortal, this town is not fully protected…"

"This town wasn't meant for mortals," Neil replied. "I had no idea why they could pass through the barrier."

Vaughn sighed. "Then you're really dumber than I gave you credit for."

Neil rose and turned towards Vaughn. "What the—"

"Remember what you did, Neil."

Neil froze.

When they arrived at the scene, it was messier than depicted in classes. Mark divided the job among the team members and when he got to Neil, he said: "Since this is your Day 1, I'd give you the straight delivery. This one is on express track to Heaven."

"Can I ask why?"

"Of course!" Mark happily agreed. "She shielded a total stranger from an incoming impact. That kind of sacrifice bypasses Purgatory."

Neil nodded blankly and thought nothing of it. For all he cared, he just needed to pick her soul after the Reaping and took her to the Heaven's Gate. Simple. He took the paper and gave it a quick read. There was a photograph attached on it.

What a strange hair, he thought to himself.

Vaughn took the chance to get closer to Reine. "Mark was notified by the Court this morning. If you… rectify your mistake, you will be accepted back into the Corps."

Neil, sensing what Vaughn was about to do, dashed and pushed him away from the still unconscious Reine. "Like I'd let you to do that!"

He found his Mortal lying on her stomach amidst a pool of blood he suspected to be her own. Her left arm was twisted in an awkward angle, not to mention the bone that protruded out from it.

Beside her there was a little girl—must be the one who paved her fast track to Heaven—shaking her body carefully.

"Miss… Miss…"

She looked at him and much to his surprise, she yelled at him. "Mister! You're not going to just stand around there, right?!"

Children was favored by Him... and people with pure hearts, too. Therefore, their eyes were given the gift to see through protective aura that cloaked divine beings from mortal's eyes. He learned about that; he just didn't expect to experience that on his first day on the job.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Save her!"

Neil could still sense that his Mortal's heart was still beating, but as the seconds ticked by it grew weaker as the pool grew beneath her. It's not going to be for long until that heart stopped beating and Mark would arrive.

A Reaping could only be done if the subject's heart had stopped beating, or the subject couldn't breathe on its own for a prolonged time.

"Mister!"

Neil crouched down, next to his Mortal, and put his hand on her head—right on the biggest visible wound. He could feel that his newly acquired power as a Deliverer gathered at the hand that he placed over her. This was the time to test his limit: what else could he deliver?

Slowly, her heartbeat grew stronger.

The moment she drew in another breath and the little girl squealed in happiness and hugged him, Neil felt much weaker. He realized that the protective aura was gone.

The next moment, Mark and Vaughn came behind him, both of them were struck by the horror of his deed.

"Neil… what have you done?!"

There were moments when he thought it was a mistake as well, that he shouldn't have revived his Mortal. But now, he thought that it was the correct decision despite the cost he had to bear.

Now, he even had his senior and mentor in his hand, threatening lest he would take her away.

"How long do you think you could sustain that?" Vaughn snickered. "You fell to the Earth because of her, now you're falling even deeper than that for her! Is she worth it?!"

"Is it wrong to love someone? And I thought He was about love."

Neil sensed another figure behind him and he turned around. Mark, clad in his black cloak, stood there with his scythe. "The Divine Court was aware that at that moment, you had no feelings towards her. You were a newborn, Neil… and it is never wrong to love someone," he said. "But it is wrong if you keep altering her destiny in the name of love-coated selfishness."

Neil hissed. The appearance of a Reaper nearby a mortal—especially one that was supposed to be dead—was never good.

"This girl could make it through the barrier thanks to your power that kept her heart beating until now… and her sister was lucky, because they had been holding hands during the journey…" Mark walked slowly towards Reine. Neil released Vaughn and tackled Mark away. As always, Mark just laughed.

"Relax, I'm not here to reap her away," he said. "No matter why and how weak, her heart is still beating… I can't reap her."

"Then, why are you here?"

"Vaughn had told you about the Court's decision, hadn't he?" he replied. "I came to add something… you have a deadline."

"Deadline?"

"Five years from now… if until then you don't deliver her, you'll be incinerated on the spot. You'll cease to exist… forever." Mark touched Neil's heart with the tip of his scythe. "And by the way, your power may be nestled in her heart so it keeps beating… but that isn't hers."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Love opens two hearts so they become one," Mark explained. "In your case, every time your hearts are open to each other… your power will reach you back, which was why you're strong enough to tackle both of us earlier."

Neil gritted his teeth. So that's why Reine always faints after…

"It starts with a short fainting, and then it'll be longer and longer… until I can reap her."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's an… advanced notification, Neil," Mark said grimly. "The more you open your hearts to each other… the faster the Reaping would be."

"I won't let you sonova…"

Suddenly, Mark threw Neil on the ground and pinned him hard. Neil tried to struggle, but Mark cloaked himself in the black aura. Neil was stunned; even Vaughn who stood some distance away couldn't help but to break a sweat over the surprisingly chilling impression of the energy.

"Mind your language, Fallen Angel," he whispered. "I might seem easy… but I never repeat my mistakes… after all, there's a reason why I rose and you fell."

A fallen angel who falls in love with a mortal...

Now that the Reaper himself has made his appearance, what would Neil's choice be?

Stay tuned to find out!

Thanks for reading! Please tell me what you think of this reveal! ^^