Lialah’s flight through the sky was almost straight up. The clouds were the best place, even on a moonless night, the face of fear Albaer made when they almost left on their own was etched into her mind. Raziel feared for her sometimes, that she knew, their teachers doted on her, as they did on most angels. But they didn’t know her well enough in Lialah’s mind, to truly be called ‘caring’.

So only Raziel was there to comfort the anxiety that thrummed through her veins. And without her sister at her side, Lialah went straight for the greatest security. Concealment. The nature of humans was mixed at best in her view, and it made ‘Square One’ all the more frightening.

‘Why did I suggest that?’ She asked herself, but she knew the answer.

And it was that answer that had her scanning the ground below. The scent of the woman was still on him when he came back, but even without it, her location was so precise that it was no problem to find the right place.

Lialah landed outside in the alley. She crouched down, Albaer’s blood was still there on the strange stone that passed for walkways here. She reached down and took some of it to her finger, rubbing the red back and forth over her pale skin. ‘Such a terrible thing…’ She thought, recalling the deep hurt of betrayal that haunted his eyes.

It stung, it stung deep. And it stung all the deeper because Lialah saw that same expression on her own sister’s face. That moment of understanding when someone deeply trusted proved they shouldn’t have been. Raziel’s pursuit of physical pleasure never bothered Lialah, not much at least. ‘But she gets so set on seeing more…’ Lialah closed her eyes, it was no wonder her sister had become a cynic.

The fact that she was okay with returning to ‘Square One’ and trusting Albaer to look after them both, was telling.

Lialah put a hand on the door and turned the brass knob. It clicked open, and she went inside. From there she followed her nose, her steps were light, gentle, and made no noise.

Finding Lisa’s room, she opened the door, closed it behind her, and approached the girl.

Lisa had her head covered by one pillow and her face buried in another. She was wide awake, and she was sobbing. ‘This is unexpected, is she genuinely sorry?’ Lialah wondered, and plucked from what she read of angel mythology among humans.

A quick rattling of syllables in her own tongue, and she cast the spell of [Silence]. The magic released, and Lisa stiffened a moment later, first for the sound of a voice, then from her own inability to produce any noise.

“Look at me, child, look at me. You’ll be safe, I promise you.” Lialah spread her wings out in all their angelic glory, and spread her arms out like she was offering an embrace.

Lisa slowly relaxed her tight grip on the pillow that she held against her head, moved it aside, and turned to look behind her. There, in the gentle yellowish light of her lamp, was an honest to god angel. Her mouth moved, she tried to speak, to shout, but no words came out. Her bright green eyes filled with fear, she touched her throat and looked up at the honey blonde figure out of mythology.

“I am your guardian angel. You may call me, Lialah.” She said in her melodic voice, “I think you know why I am here, lost little lamb. Now, I will restore your voice, but promise me you will not panic.”

Lisa gave a little tiny nod, then repeated it several times.

The babbling brook of her mother tongue rattled off [Dispel]. And as she did, Lialah raised her hand, allowing Lisa to speak.

“A Guardian Angel… for real?” She asked and drew her knees protectively up to her chest.

“Yes. We’re not normally so direct, maybe a handful of visits in person per century. But here I am. Tell me what’s wrong?” Lialah said and flapped her wings a little, carrying her floating over to the girl’s bedside.

“Don’t you know?” She asked, doubt creeping into her voice while the faint stirring of air caressed her pale cheek.

“Yes. This is about Albaer, but talking helps. So, talk.” Lialah said, and sat down on the bed.

“I did something terrible… and I did it all for nothing.” Lisa whimpered and explained all that had transpired. Lialah’s wing came out and enfolded the body of the teenage girl, drawing her inexorably closer to the body of the angel.

“So, do what he said, confess before they can hurt him more. Do you want him to hurt more when they start taunting him? You know how the rumors will go, don’t you?” Lialah gave the girl an indulgent smile and put a hand on her thigh.

“Yes… they’ll beat him up, then at school, they’ll talk about him being a c-creeper, or a s-stalker, they’ll say all kinds of mean things, and then I’ll have to agree, because if I don’t, then I’ll be the ‘Bad seed’s girl’ or they’ll say I’m into creepers. I’ll be an outcast… I don’t want to be an outcast!” She cried.

‘An angel, a real angel… this has got to be a dream, I’m dreaming… well if I’m dreaming, I’ll go with it.’ Lisa told herself.

“Do you think Albaer wanted this?” Lialah asked, and brushed a hand over Lisa’s forehead, and in an instant she transferred the emotional load taken from him while he was healed. The shock and hurt of her betrayal, it ran through her mind as if it were her own instead of his.

Lisa hurled herself into the bosom of the angel and yowled, “I didn’t mean to! I was just afraid and I said the wrong thing! The worst thing! I didn’t mean to!” Her tears burned on her cheeks until they pooled in the bosom of the angelic being, warm wings encircled her, folding the young girl into her embrace with heavenly warmth.

“You did a bad thing, he may never get over it, he may live for the rest of his life carrying the memory of you taunting him in front of his bullies, by people you wanted to like you. Why do you want that… you saw what they did to him. Why… why would you want to be friends with them?” Lialah asked, it was for her, a genuine question as much as a rhetorical one.

“I’m sorry! I don’t know… I really don’t! I just want to be liked! I don’t actually like them… I just want to enjoy my time at school and they’re the best way to do that!” Sarah insisted, “I like Albaer… but after what his father did…”

“So you’re saying you want to use people for your own benefit, and you threw Albaer to them to hurt so that you could better your chances of using the people who hurt him?” Lialah asked the question in the starkest terms, and Lisa didn’t try to deny it.

“I won’t do it again!” She promised.

“Will you tell the truth?” Lialah asked.

“I can’t!” Lisa all but begged.

“Then you’re already doing it again.” Lialah rubbed her back, “Tell me who you spend time with, and I will tell you who you are…” The angel said, “If you do nothing, nothing changes. When school begins again, the rumors will begin with it, he will suffer more humiliation, be taunted ever more, and that will be your fault.”

“I won’t tease him!” Lisa promised and looked up at the beautiful angel’s brilliant face. “I won’t!”

“But you’ll give them more to hurt him with? You must know that heaven doesn’t have lawyers, you can’t think pleading that you didn’t personally do it will alleviate your responsibility for what happens because of you? Come now, child.” Lialah said with a voice as soft as a cloud, she rubbed the girl’s back, “And you can’t think Albaer will care about the distinction either.”

“No… no I guess not. He’s already told me he hates me, and he won’t forgive me. I messed everything up… and do you know the worst part?” Lisa asked, her hands trembling around the angel, she didn’t wait for a response.

“I have a crush on him, I’ve liked him for years, since we were little, and now I’ve not only made him hate me, I deserve it. We were friends as little kids, I’ve known him most of my life, if things hadn’t happened with his dad, we might be boyfriend and girlfriend now. He’s so… smart. But he’s nice too, he was always willing to help me with my homework, study, he even saved my grandad’s life once. He found my grandpa on the floor of the store and called nine-one-one. It’s why my grandfather kept him working there, he thinks of Albaer like a grandson, though I doubt he’d ever admit it. And now I’ve messed everything up and I’m sorry…”

“You poor thing… you poor, cowardly little thing.” Lialah whispered into her ear. “If you like him that much, help him. Be brave, do you think your choices end with this one?” The angel asked the weeping girl.

“I-I don’t understand.” Lisa asked, and Lialah asked immediately…

“If you find a boy you like, and your friends make fun of him, will you join them? If a man promises you happiness, will you cheat on your husband to have it? I think you will. You’ll feel guilty again and again, and hate what you’ve done… but you’ll keep making the wrong choice because it’s easy. If you can leave the boy who helps you to be torn apart by the wolves because you’re afraid of a scratch, what can’t you do?”

“But I don’t- no- no that isn’t me!” Lisa sobbed, but she couldn’t meet the angel’s piercing blue, and hung her head.

“Prove it.” Lialah whispered, and imposed Albaer’s shock on her all over again. “Will you fix that?”

“Help me…” Lisa whimpered as his anguish tore through her mind.

“I am helping you… be glad a demon didn’t visit you tonight… compared to what you nearly suffered, this is nothing.” Lialah said, and Lisa’s eyes went wide.

“A d-demon?” She whispered.

“Yes, I made this visit to you so that a demon wouldn’t, they wanted to take you to Hell… but I am here to prevent that… but I can’t come often, and what happens to you is ultimately in your hands.” Lialah warned, and existential dread swallowed Lisa whole.

“But… but I’ll be an outcast… they’ll call me a liar, my school year will be ruined, maybe more than one…” Lisa’s lower lip quivered and she looked down again at her blood-stained shoes on the floor.

Lialah was about to speak, but Lisa jumped ahead. “Alright… alright. I’ll do it, this is my fault… I’ll fix it… but can I ask you for something?” Lisa asked.

“You can ask, child.” Lialah promised, caressing the girl’s cheek and leaving trails of comfort and warmth where her fingers passed.

“That’s what I did to Albaer… I don’t know if we’ll ever speak again, even if I do fix this. He already said he doesn’t forgive me. But, can you visit Albaer for me?” Lisa blinked her eyes up at the endless sapphire blue as her Guardian Angel rose to her feet.

“Yes, I can visit others… but why?” Lialah asked.

“Can-Can you carry my feelings of remorse to him, the way you carried his anguish to me? I want him to know how genuinely sorry I am… I won’t ever go near him again if he doesn’t want me to. I won’t. But I want him to know beyond any doubt even if nobody else is sorry for what they did, at least one person is.” Lisa said, a voice full of shame, her heart aching, her sobs were somewhat abating.

Lialah agreed. “Yes, I can do that for you. But only after you have undone what you have done.” She said, and put a hand over Lisa’s forehead, the girl felt a pulsing sensation where the angel touched her, and then Lialah drew her hand away.

“So… what happens now?” Lisa asked and curled up her legs into her chest again, her bright red hair a fairly bedraggled mess that she didn’t care about.

“Now, I leave, and you, you sleep.” Lialah whispered and held up her hand again. The casting syllables ran past her lips faster than Lisa could have understood, and the spell [Sleep] was released. Lisa’s eyes began to close like their lids were dragged down by heavy weights.

“Humans.” Lialah said, and straightened the girl’s legs out, then put her covers over her, exited the room, the apartment, and the building as silently as she’d entered it.

Out in the dark alley again, she glanced once more down at Albaer’s still wet blood in the darkness, then jumped, spread her wings, and began to fly back to what, wholly to her surprise, Lialah began to think of as home.