The arm was filled and dripping with colors. As I held it, it began to sag under its own weight, oozing like the pair of demon wings I’d held the night before. Like a thick, viscous lava.

Even the blood-red sleeve on the arm melted into colors. It had all been fake.

I didn’t want to believe it. As calmly as I could, I asked Peal, “What did you mean when you said…you completed your mission?”

Peal arched her eyebrows. “Well, what did you think I meant? I believe there’s a human saying about “writing on the wall” that suits this situation…anyway, if you can’t figure it out, I will explain it to you: The demon we were searching for wasn’t in the Font. It was right beside you the whole time. It was Knell.”

Her wings started flashing again. “Really, I should have known right from the start. He wasn’t a strange angel, he was just a strange demon wearing a bad angel disguise. That certainly explains why he wouldn’t answer any of my questions…”

“…What are you doing with your wings?”

“I’m sending a message to Saint Toll. He’d definitely be interested in hearing the details about the corpse we’re going to pick up-”

“No! Stop sending it! You’re not picking up anything!”

“Excuse me??”

“Where’s the rest of him?!”

Peal pointed the way, staring at me incredulously as I stormed off.

I expected to see something ghastly and alien when I got there. Something that would force me to believe that the boy named Knell had never existed.

Instead, I saw him. His face, looking up blankly at the sky. His body had been torn apart; his limbs, apart from the one I held, were all missing, and half his torso was a rainbow-colored puddle.

I picked him up. What was left of him felt solid. It didn’t seem like he was going to melt any more, which I guessed was a good sign. But I had no idea what to do for him, or if anything could be done for him. Humanity had never been concerned with helping demons before.

“Yeah, that’s probably why he was attacked…Demons aren’t stupid; if one of their own kind is going around eating them, they’d definitely want to put a stop to that.” Peal was still going. “You know, it kinda…looked to me like you two were close. Did he really give you no reason at all to suspect him?”

“…I didn’t even know him for a full 24 hours,” I said quietly. “He did a lot of strange things…he did eat demons- he admitted it, and I saw him do it. And he could sit so still that you would think he was dead. And he knew why the colors changed…and he had courage and compassion, unlike you.” I narrowed my eyes. “All he said was that he was a special kind of angel. What could I do but believe him?”

“Wow,” said Peal. “Obviously, you humans don’t know anything about angels at all. We can’t even eat your food products, let alone live demons…we really should take measures to educate you about our society, so that the next clever demon who comes along won’t be able to take advantage of your ignorance.” Her wings flashed again.

“I don’t care who you tell about any of this. You won’t be taking Knell anywhere.”

“You’ll still defend him after he lied to you? Who knows what he had planned for you, or how he’ll react when he realizes you know the truth? It could be in your best interest to get as far away from him as possible.”

“I don’t believe that. But I don’t expect you to understand this sort of thing. Just leave.”

I walked off with Knell’s dripping body. I didn’t look back, but I could tell that Peal wasn’t following.

Then, she suddenly zipped in front of me. “Mercy!” she exclaimed.

“…What?”

“All this time I was so confused as to why you were doing what you were doing, but I get it now! It’s part of your moral code! Showing Mercy even to a demon…that’s humans for you~.”

I had no idea what she was talking about.

“We aren’t like you humans: Ethics and morals don’t come easily to us,” she explained. “Only the Saints are particularly good at them…but our society depends on them, so the rest of us must try, too.

“So, we have a custom: when someone displays a tenet of our moral code, everyone who witnesses it must follow suit, as well as they can, for as long as they can. I would like to help you with your Mercy, if I can. Just tell me what I have to do.”

At that point, I began to feel a bit guilty for thinking so little of angels. Maybe it wasn’t that they didn’t give a damn about anything so much as it was that they didn’t know how. They were aliens, after all. If Peal’s words were any indication, they did see value in altruism; they just didn’t have a conscience. Sometimes, they needed to be shown how to care about people.

I sighed. “You want to be merciful? Start by leaving Knell out of your science project.”

“That’s easy enough,” Peal replied. “The only complete message I sent back to the Satellite was the one about retrieving the remains of the demon in the Font. So far, I’m the only angel that knows about Knell’s true identity, and that doesn’t have to change.”

“Good,” I said. “Now, just leave us alone. The longer you stay here, the more likely it is that your friends on the Satellite will be watching us.”

“You don’t need any more help?? I could give you advice on what to do if Knell actually decides to turn on you-”

“I can handle that myself.”

“At least let me tell you this, then,” she insisted. “The demon that attacked Knell was almost certainly the demon you’re hunting. It was so large because it was a “mother” demon: a demon newly hatched from a Font. This Font.

“Judging by its size, it’s getting ready to give birth: to split off daughter forms, like I explained before. Once it does that, it’ll be significantly harder to deal with. Your life could be in danger…so I suggest you destroy it as soon as possible. At most, you’ll have just a few hours before the entire Font is overrun.”

“Okay, my wings are getting greener by the second, so I really have to go,” she finished. “It was nice meeting you…er…”

“Clarion. And thank you…Peal.”

The angel smiled and took off.