White. Everything was white, all of it. The roads? White. The grass? Also white. Dirt? White. Flowers? White. White, white, white! White churches and white cathedrals stretched upwards, surrounded by white grass with white flowers growing in white soil. White statues of angels stood guard before the empty buildings. The lanterns lining the streets glowed brightly, casting pale shadows across everything. In fact, the only thing that was not white was the sky. Once the brightest blue, it was now a dark, inky black like an endless abyss. There were no stars in the sky, not even one shining speck, no moon or sun shared its light with the world anymore. The Abyss swallowed all the light, just like the color. It left a nothingness like no other 'nothingness'. The black and white world left the only living creature on the street with the chilling feeling of being watched.

This creature walked upright like any other person, but it resembled a crow or raven in some ways. Its head was the most animalistic and it even had a raven's beak, but it had a few different traits. Like the puff of feathers around its neck or the long, antenna-like feathers that curled inward to form an arch, adding an extra six inches to its height. Its ebony feathers made it appear like a shadow against all the white.

This figure moved swiftly and silently, well as silently as its taloned feet would allow. It's stealth was entirely unnecessary in the empty street, which served to unnerve it. 'Not even the wrathful are around,' it thought, glancing around the area cautiously. It couldn't help but wonder where the cities inhabitants might be, especially the wraths. The wrathful angels, or wraths, were a species that, as far as it knew, liked to hang around the darker parts of the cities. They were angels that didn't get along with each other, let alone other species of angels. That didn't mean they were hostile though. 'Yet I must be careful. They may not be initially hostile, but they may become so if I were to make a wrong move…' The angel shook the thought from its head and continued on.

As it walked, the angel entered a large plaza surrounded by towering cathedrals, whose spires reached towards the dark sky. It wandered towards the fountain in the center, but stopped a few feet from it. The fountain was beautiful, carved from stone that might have been marble but was currently indistinguishable from the stones of the buildings. It was covered in depictions of angels, angels in the eyes of humans that is. Even though it was such a lovely sight, it only bothered the black angel before it. No water ran from it or filled the basin, making it a sad sight. After a moment of staring, the angel looked to the sky before turning and running to the nearest open building. It knew it heard the sound of wings. Big wings.

Ducking behind the open door of the nearest cathedral, it stilled. It was right, in the distance was the booming sound of massive wings, like thunder, approaching quickly. Moments after it crouched down it heard a swoosh, what ever it was just flew overhead. The black angel covered its head with its arms, protecting its eyes from the dust stirred up by the monster outside. Each flap sent more dirt and dust into the air as the creature landed, the gusts finally dying down as it folded its four massive wings. The little angel carefully uncovered its head and peaked out through a crack in the door, clamping a hand over its beak tightly.

Outside was the biggest creature it had ever seen, towering over the cathedral's tallest tower by at least fifty feet. It had a long, serpentine body with smooth, white scales covering it from its spherical head to the tip of its tail. Long, frail looking arms supported its weight, though it looked almost impossible, and claws twice as long as the fountain dug into the flagstone road. It had four massive wings on its back that rustled as it looked around, two resembling a falcon's wings and two like a bat's wings. At the top of it spherical head was a set of horns, curled ram horns.

The creature froze, and carefully bent down to the ground. Now the black angel could see its face, and it couldn't look away. The monster outside had a slightly withered appearance, with grayish spots across its features. Its mouth was wide and most likely filled with sharp teeth, but the angel couldn't tell because its mouth was stitched shut. There was no nose on it, just a couple slits where a nose would have been. If it were the angel's size, those slits might not have even been visible. The strangest thing about it, though, was its eyes. The whites were pitch black, its iris' were a sickly, pale yellow-green, and its pupils were white. The air was starting to smell a little like sulfur with the monster around.

It blinked its strange eyes and turned the to the hidden angel. They locked eyes for a moment and the smaller creature felt something strange. It was afraid. Its hands shook and feathers ruffled at the chill sent down its spine. But it didn't last. The monster gave a low grunt and almost seemed to nod before lifting itself up and spreading its four wings. One flap and it was back in the air, another and it was flying northwest, back the way it had come. The black angel let out a breath it didn't know it had been holding, grabbing one of it's shaky hands with the other as it slowly stood.

Not wanting to go back outside yet, it decided to go deeper into the cathedral. That way it would be safer. It hurried down the long hallway decorated with big, metal crosses and long wooden tables covered in colorless table runners. Some of them had empty vases neatly displayed on them. Its path was lit by the candles sitting in tall holders or set on little glass plates on the tables. For a seemingly abandoned city, the buildings were well kept. The angel was beginning to think the city was not so empty after all. But then, where were all of the other angels?

As it pondered the unnerving question brought to mind the hallway ended, opening up into a massive room spanning at least fifty yards. Stone columns rose to support the arched roof, the spaces between the sections now blank when they may have portrayed some kind of beautiful mural. Rows of pews lit by tall, golden candle holders led the way to the front of the room where the altar sat, raised above the ground. A crucifix was stationed at the very back of it, against the wall and more candle holders were spaced evenly around the edge. Nearer to the front was a podium with a table on either side. Each table had a long cloth over it that reached down to the ground, and there was an empty jug and tray on each.

The angel walked until it reached the altar's raised edge and stopped to stare at it. After a moment it climbed up and looked behind the podium, finding two sets of cloth. The cloth was mostly white, but one yellow line ran horizontally across the fabric with vertical yellow lines intersecting it at constant points, making a line of crosses. The creature stared at the cloth as it thought, perhaps it should use the fabric for clothes? Although, as far as it was concerned, it wasn't technically naked because it was covered in black feathers. Then again, this was the city. The angels here might not see the situation the same way. If there was one thing the black angel was certain of, it was that it did not want to be arrested for public indecency before completing it's mission.

The angel sighed, wrapping the shorter fabric around its chest and seaming it together with a simple spell to make something similar to a halter top. It took the longer, wider fabric and wrapped it around it's hips, and tying the ends together to make a skirt. Of course the skirt was loose enough to move around in, but not loose enough to fall off. The angel drifted around the altar for a couple more minutes, looking under tables and inside the jugs before growing bored. The angel hopped down from the altar, rubbing its head as it walked to the closest pew.

It was getting a headache from the voice that kept trying to break down the walls put up to keep it out. The voice was not really a bad thing, but the black angel found it a bit distracting when on missions. Make no mistake, it was greatful for it's mentor's help and always enjoyed his/her opinion, but he/she just didn't know when to stay quiet. Of course, the headache was not going to go away until it accepted the fact that they were going to have a telepathic conversation one way or another. The angel sighed and let the walls around its mind drop.

'…Are you even listening to me?! Glitch? Answer me young lady! What happened?' the voice bombarded her mind, echoing in anger and worry. Glitch was not too fond of times like this, where the voice flitted between his/her many tones.

One minute it was like hearing a worried mother, the next an angry general scolding his troops. If anyone was not used to hearing the voice talk, they may have wondered whether they were listening to a man or a woman. Honestly, even she was not sure. The voice sounded masculine or feminine based on the situation, so she had resolved to refer to it as 'they' or 'them'.

The angel girl sighed and shook her head, answering the voice monotonously, "Glitch is not here at the moment. Would you like to leave her a message so that she can get back to you?" Glitch rolled her golden eyes as the voice paused, most likely registering what she just said. She could feel the confusion through their link, the voice coming to the realization that she was toying with them.

There was a frustrated vibe that she felt before the usual sense of defeat. The voice never argued with her for long, mostly because she would probably continue the argument for as long as possible if it meant wasting time.

'You are speaking to me out loud again Glitch. Do you realize that?' They asked, a hint of concern in their voice. This time it had a light, wispy tone to it, and Glitch hated that. The wispy sound to it reminded her of her jungle home, where the wispy angels lived. They always sounded like they were whistling a tune and their voices had that same light note that the voice was using. Hearing it made her want to abandon her holy mission and return to the jungle's safety. 'If you do that, your home would be in grave danger. You know what you must do first.' Linked thoughts, right, she had to watch what she was thinking.

Realizing she was still standing, she flopped down onto the pew and sighed. "Yes, I know what I must do, but that does not mean that I have to enjoy it right? I do not even know what I am going up against, you know though." She said this with a hint of annoyance, not understanding why they would not tell her. She had purposefully left off the, 'but you won't tell me', it was already understood. There was silence as she was hit by a wave of guilt. Not hers, though, her mentor's.

'I cannot tell you that.' They told her. Of course they couldn't tell her. They never told her. She always thought that the very least they could do was tell her what she had to face. Of course, she never mentioned that, it was not very professional and she knew they felt bad for not telling. So, she let the subject drop, opting instead to talk about the strange things she had seen. Her mentor would like to know.

"Would you like to know what I have seen since I've left the jungle?" Glitch asked, even though she did not wait for an answer. It was just a formality. "I have finally seen the Void. It is unnatural and I sense a dark energy from it. No matter how much I see it, it terrifies me more than when you told me stories of it." The angel girl shivered as she glanced up at the ceiling, feathers ruffling a little. She felt her mentor send a comforting vibe through their link.

Taking a deep breath, she continued, "The colors of our world are fading away. There is little color in this city, and no color outside. It is all white, even the murals on the ceiling of this cathedral are missing." She paused, thinking over what to mention next. There were only two things she could think of. "There is also a strange creature wandering about. It was massive. I've never seen anything like it. Aside from that, there is no one here. Since I have entered this place I have yet to meet another soul. Not even a wrathful was to be seen."

'Ah, so that was the presence I felt near you. Under normal circumstances I would tell you not to fear it, but these are not normal circumstances.' Her mentor told her before they continued. 'The creature you had encountered was called a Nephilim. There are many different stories and a few versions of the Nephilim, as you already know. Though it should not actually in this world.' Glitch nodded to herself, knowing all the stories she had heard about the different types of angels.

Something bothered her though, and she thought it would be best to speak her mind at the moment. "The Nephilim I encountered was rather monstrous in appearance and it's aura held a fraction if the dark power that fuels the Void. Perhaps it is a resurrection brought on by this strange, dark energy." She stated, not knowing how the voice might react to this information.

'Yes, perhaps. Whoever it is that brought it here may have also been the one to create the Void.' They said, sighing in frustration. 'As you know, the Nephilim are a race of giants, half-blooded angels. Some were regarded as heroes to humanity, but others were terrors. I believe they bore many similarities to the giants of the Norse, but it has been quite a long while since they existed, so I may be wrong.' The angel girl listened to her mentor as they tired to figure the situation out.

As far as she was concerned, she did not really need to know much to complete her mission. If it all went well, she would be done by the end of the month. She heaved a sigh and tucked her arms behind her head. "Do not worry yourself. I have always handled these missions of mine well, have I not? Whatever happens, I will survive, just like always."

'And like always you will have to do it alone.' The voice stated, continuing before Glitch could say anything. 'I do not want to hear that you are not alone, that you have me. This link of ours works both ways. I can feel your emotions like you feel mine.' The angel girl snickered at her mentor's annoyed tone. They always got that tone when she used that excuse. With nothing better to do, she decided to humor them.

"Let us say that I did get companion. Would they be a boy or girl? What race would they be? I would be greatful for any company, but I doubt I could handle a wrathful for long." She said in mock excitement. Her mentor knew what she was doing, but stayed quiet. It was best to let her be, at least that was what they seemed to think. "Now maybe one of the archangels would make an interesting comrade. Definitely not a Seraphim though. I would be blinded and therefore unable to fight. If I am unable to fight I am naught but worthless trash."

'One man's trash is another man's treasure, Glitch.' Her mentor chided, speaking in a mocking tone. The angel girl was sure that, if she could see their face, they would have been grinning. She could not help but snicker a little.

"And that treasure will eventually become trash yet again." She stated in a matter-of-factly voice. Honestly, she should have just let it go, but she was not one to lose an argument. Her mentor sighed as she continued with her previous rambling, "Now, if I had a girl companion, I would appreciated her not being…girly. Well, just not too girly to get down and dirty or aid me in battle. Maybe I would not care once I had one, I cannot stand being alone in this place."

The voice decided to interrupt her while they had the chance. 'Now who said that you would be alone for very long here?' They asked in a tone she knew meant they knew something. She sat up straight, eyes wide. She could not help the overwhelming feeling of excitement she was getting.

"Are you trying to tell me I will not be alone much longer?" Instead of an answer she received a monotone 'hmm'. It annoyed her and she made sure to focus the feeling over their link so that it would be stronger. A chuckle sounded in her head in response.

They were very amused by her and that was obvious. Her mentor loved to annoy her as much as she loved to annoy them. Maybe this was their revenge for how she always acted so stubborn with them. She stopped thinking when she heard them start speaking, 'The future is a mystery even to me, I cannot say for certain what might happen.'

The angel girl sighed and asked, "Are you not omniscient? You told me yourself that you were." She made sure that her mentor knew she was accusing them of lying. It seemed they were, since she caught them muttering about 'little white lies'. Oh well, at least she could rely on most of their information. Interrupting their conversation, she asked, "So I may get a companion?"

'Or just a useless tag along for comic relief. That is very possible.' The voice chimed, saying it like it was a joke. The cheerfulness was rather annoying to Glitch, was her situation nothing but a joke to them? She was trying to help!

"You sound rather cheerful. In fact, you are far too cheerful about this matter." Glitch observed, throwing on an accusing tone. Then she jokingly added, "I am starting to think that you are a bit of a sadist." She was glad to feel her mentor's emotions go from upset to playful.

The voice chuckled, but tried to keep a hurt tone as they said, 'Oh how it pains me that you would think such a thing! Do you truly mean what you have said about your dear old mentor?' The angel rolled her eyes, she would have smiled, but of course she had a beak. It is not easy to smile with a beak you know. Instead she chuckled.

"How could I not think that? There are far to many signs that point to it." She replied. She heard a bit of static and she knew what that meant. They could only maintain their link for so long with the Void encasing their world and standing between the two of them. Glitch paused for a moment and asked, "Are you sure you cannot tell me anything?"

'Whatever you want to know, you must find on your own.' Her mentor said to her, sounding sad. Then they said, 'I must leave you now.'

"I know."

'Stay safe.'

"I will."

'Oh and don-' They never finished their sentence, the link breaking before they could. All she heard for a minute was static and then silence. Glitch was on edge again as she heard a rumble come from outside, but she calmed when she realized her mistake.

It was just thunder, not the monstrous Nephilim she had encountered. She hoped it rained soon, like it always did back home. Glitch sighed, thinking about how she had been doing that a lot lately. But it was not like she could help it, she was under a lot of stress, what with the whole 'fate of their world on her shoulders' thing. If it was not absolutely necessary, she would not be doing it. Her mentor did not even want her to do it! But she took on the task because her beloved mentor was trapped outside of their world by the Void. That damned inky blackness that was killing her home. Somebody had to do something about it!

Glitch thought that she was thinking too much about the mission, so instead she thought of the wispies with there ghostly glow and porcelain colored skin. They had spherical heads and long serpentine bodies, with puffy, cloud-like wings. Home sickness was horrible, she hated it. She knew she should sleep, so she laid down again, hands folded on her stomach. Thinking always made her sleepy. And it was safer the sleep than to walk around tired.

Glitch laid still as rain began to pour down, lulling her to sleep. Her last thought was that she wanted to dream of home, but she knew better. Angels could not dream.

2: Pedro

Glitch woke to a strange clicking sound, much like claws on stone. She sat up slowly and glanced around the room. The view was not the best so she stood up and as quietly as possible, flinching when her own talons clicked against the floor. She stood still and listened again. Nothing. It must have heard her.

Waiting patiently, she peered around the room again. There was nothing by the entrance and nothing by the windows. The altar was clear too, and she could sense no presence among the pews. Slowly, the angel girl sat back down, trying her best not to make a sound. She would lure out whatever was there with a little trick. It was time to play dead.

She listened again and she caught faint murmurs, though there was only one voice that she could hear. When the clicking started up again, she lay down again as quietly as possible and closed her eyes. Glitch focused on the sound as it passed beneath her. But, that couldn’t be right. A recent monster infestation was herded into the basements of the cities because no one knew how to kill the creatures. No one could get down there let alone survive the beasts.

The angel shivered at the thought of the monsters. She had killed many of them back home, they were like living shadows. Creatures made of a smoky, black substance that looked harmless but had a nasty bite to them. Of course not all of them were like that; there were the ones that had liquid-like or solid bodies that would crawl out of pools of some black liquid. She hated those the most because the liquid felt like oil but had the consistency of blood and she did not know which it was.

She pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the sound again. The clicking stopped but the murmuring was still going and it sounded like it was right beneath the altar. There was a tension in the air as she wondered what it was doing. She had checked over the altar already, so it should be fine. Unless she missed something.

Creeeeak. 
The sound reached her and she bolted upright, almost leaping off of the pew. Still, glitch caught herself before she did and lay back again as slowly as possible. She made sure she was lying on her back, her right arm up against the back on the pew with enough room to move it. Her left arm was folded across her stomach and, with each creak of what she assumed was a ladder, her hands clenched into tightly balled fists.

She closed her eyes and tried to look as relaxed as possible just as she heard a dull thud. This was followed by more murmurs, but she could have sworn that she caught a few curses. Was that a latch that just made that sound? It sounded like one of the sliding latches that always gave a quiet click when undone. There was a loud and long squeak as some kind of trap door was pushed open and a louder thud when it slammed into the ground. 

“-should really fix that ladder. Might not actually hit my head if I didn’t hafta worry about it breakin’. Aya.” Glitch heard the stranger say. From what she could tell, it sounded male, but she had encountered wispies that sounded that way but really were female. And what was wrong with their voice? It sounded stuffy, like the angel had a cold, but it also had a higher pitch to it. It sounded forced but that was still debatable. It was annoying though, that much she knew.

She heard the stranger climb out of the opening and stand up, clothes rustling a little. She was glad that she had excellent hearing or else she might have missed it. Sadly, since all she had to go by was her hearing, she could not tell who it was. All she knew was that it was another angel, most likely archangel, wrathful, or common. As far as she knew those were the ones that wore clothes and much to her dismay she was common.

More clicking pulled her from her thoughts as the unknown angel approached the altar’s edge. With the possible threat approaching, Glitch had to force herself to be calm. It would not be good to panic now. She heard the stranger gasp and she could only assume that it saw her. The stranger took a few more steps and before a loud crash sounded from the altar, quickly followed by a stream of colorful curses. 

It took all of her willpower not to laugh as she realized the stranger just walked off the altar’s raised edge. ‘How did they not notice that?’ she thought, relaxing again while the stranger picked themselves up off the floor. The angel brushed the dust from their clothes and approached her slowly. When it stood over her, she could swear that it had said something. There was a heavy sigh when it took a step back.

“What do I do...Wake her? No, no, that wouldn’t be nice…” the stranger debated as they started to pace in front of her. “Hmm…I wasn’t expectin’ to find no one here. Not since the others left.” Sighing again the angel stopped in front of her. “Guess I don’t have a choice then.” 

She felt the stranger lean over her and she guessed that it had put its arm against the top of the pew. Checking the aura of the other, she could feel an overwhelming curiosity. The other angel reached their hand out to shake her shoulder, but at the last minute pulled back. When it happened again, Glitch slowly balled her right hand into a fist and hoped the stranger did not see. Even when it hesitated again, she kept her fist tight. 

After what felt like an eternity to the girl, it finally seemed to gather the courage to ‘wake’ her. Almost as soon as the hand touched her shoulder, she brought her fist crashing into what she assumed was the side of its head.There was startle yelp as the angel backed away and tripped, landing hard on the stone floor.

Glitch leapt to her feet at the sound, golden eyes examining the stranger before her. In all honesty, she had been expecting a wrathful or archangel to be the one to find her. Instead it was a fellow commoner. The avian angel she hit stayed on the ground, staring at the ceiling, so she stood by its side and leaned over to see its face. The stranger looked at her for a minute before rubbing the place she guessed she hit, a dazed look on its face. She took the time to inspect its appearance. 

This angel was definitely a boy. His shoulders were wider than hers and he had a heavier build. If he were standing, she had no doubt he would tower over her small, five foot five inch frame. Also his hands were larger than her own, and over all, he seemed to be pretty strong. Most likely he did a lot of hard labor or something similar because she knew that most of her kind were not warriors. That was reserved for the archangels. 

Possibly the most surprising thing about him was how colorful he was. Most of his body was a vibrant shade of green, almost the exact shade of the leaves of the jungle when sunlight would shine down on them. The brighter shade of green gave way to a darker one as it went down his arms. There was a patch of red that covered his thumbs and more reds and oranges in his tail feathers that looked a lot like a macaw’s. One lone patch of golden feathers stood out on his forehead. She guessed he was some kind of parrot, if color was any hint.

He also had the characteristics of their kind, a set of antenna-like feathers curling outward and a puff of feathers around his neck the same shade as most of him. He also wore clothes, she noted with a frown. A pair of baggy, khaki, shorts with six pockets that she could see and a light blue and gold poncho with an upside down cross on the front made up his outfit. She noticed that he also had gold eyes like hers, and she wondered briefly if all of the commoners shared the trait.

Glitch took a step back when the angel boy sat up, rubbing his head again and groaning. He got to his feet carefully as he wobbled and the girl questioned whether she really hit him that hard or if he was just a good actor. The colorful angel steadied himself and stared down at her. Just as she thought, he was at least a good six inches taller.  She was ready to question him, but before she could, he chuckled.

“Geez, Chica sure packs a punch!” He laughed, watching her curiously. When the girl did not respond right away, the angel boy waved his hand in front of her face. Snapping out of her drifting thoughts, she grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm as much as she could without breaking it. She received a startled yelp and released him, regretting her instinctual reaction even though she told herself it was his fault. He caught her off guard.

Instead of apologizing like she knew she should have, she growled out a, “Do. Not. Touch. Me.” She was sure to exaggerate each word carefully. The other angel nodded as he rubbed his wrist, startled by the girl’s actions, but not enough to send him running home. “Who are you?” she questioned, tilting her head to the left. “And what are you doing here?” He flinched at her demanding tone, feathers ruffling in an attempt to look bigger.

The boy stood still as he looked at her. He tilted his head to the right to mirror Glitch and said, “I’ll tell you what I’m doing here if you tell me what you’re doing here.” She stared at him expectantly, so he added, “You first.” Glitch mumbled a few curses under her breath, but nodded her agreement.

“Fine.” She sighed. “I am trying to find my way to the House of God…but…I appear to have gotten lost along the way.”

“Why you trying to get there Chica? You looking for someone?” The angel boy questioned curiously.  Glitch shook her head, refusing to tell him.

“That is none of your concern, now is it?” She scolded, shaking her finger at him like one would when reprimanding a puppy. “Now I believe that it is your turn to answer me. Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“I’m Pedro.” He said proudly, puffing out his chest as he continued. “I’m a grounds keeper at the central provenance, er, the House of God.” Glitch nodded to let him know she was listening, and thought, ‘That explains why he seems so strong.’ Pedro leaned forward, and she guessed he was going to nudge her with his elbow, but he must have deemed it a bad idea because he put his arm down and asked, “And who are you Chica? I’ve never seen you around before.” 

Glitch felt her eye twitch at the nickname he gave her; she really hoped it didn’t stick. Taking a deep breath, she answered, “I am Glitch. I come from the jungle to the south of this city." Pedro nodded, taking in the information. He seemed surprised when she mentioned she was from the jungle, but the moment passed too quickly for her to be sure.

“The jungle, eh? I thought only wispies could survive there.” He stated, nodding his head at her and adding, “Especially now with the corruptions running about. I heard they mostly stick to the dark areas of the world, and it’s always dark in the jungle, right Chica? You must be something special.” The girl stared at him in confusion, not understanding how surviving there could make her special. It was home, everyone should know their way around their own home.

“It does tend to get rather dark, but mostly I reside in the canopy. Never have I seen the shadows there. I was surprised when I saw them for the first time on the jungle's floor.” She stated, shrugging her shoulders. She wondered if she should ask this stranger about the resurrected Niphilim she had seen, but then, what would he say? He might not know anything about it, which seemed most likely because he was just like her; a commoner.

Letting out a quiet chuckle, Pedro nodded. “I can only imagine Chica. Anyways, you said you got lost on your way? I can take you!” He offered cheerfully. Glitch nodded, grateful for the offer. It would do no good to continue to wander the city aimlessly, best to take the offer while she could.

The colorful angel clapped his hands happily and ran up to the altar. Confused, Glitch followed him. Nothing seemed different about the podium to her. She watched him crouch down and slide his fingers under a section of the floor, grunting as he lifted the heavy wood the altar was made of. It landed with a thud as he dropped it and took a step back. “There we go Chica, our stairway to heaven.”

Leaning forward to look into the hole, Glitch felt like she should slap herself. How could she forget that he had come up from a trapdoor? She had heard it. Instead of slapping herself like she really wanted to do, she tried to look deeper. It was pitch black. So much so, that she could not even see the bottom. “It looks more like a stairway to Hell.”

Pedro laughed and shook his head. “See? This is why I like you Chica. You’re funny!” He went to pat her shoulder, but stopped when he remembered her saying not to touch her. She simply stared at him, not glaring, just watching him curiously. “Anyway, we should get going.” He said. The angel boy cupped his hands and Glitch watched as a bright blue light shone through his fingers. When he opened them, there was a bright, light blue orb of light floating in the air.

Pedro repeated the action seven more times before he stepped onto the ladder. Looking up at Glitch, he said, “Follow right after me and close that door. Stay close to the light.” With that, he began his descent into the darkness. The little orbs of light followed him down, one at a time.

Once she was sure she would not step on Pedro or one of his little lights she followed, closing the trapdoor with a bang. She quickly learned that she had to be careful where she put her feet, some of the ladder’s rungs were missing after all. It must have been there for a long time then. One could only wonder how long.

Glitch looked down and saw Pedro standing at the bottom in a ring of light. It really was not that far, a good two stories at most. Why someone would have a cellar with such a high roof was beyond her, though. ‘The city was such a strange place,’ she thought as she finally reached the bottom.

"You'll wanna stay in the light Chica. The corruptions down here are pretty sensitive to light." He stated, with a wave of his hand. She took a step closer to him to get away from the edges and stared curiously at the little balls of light.

As they walked through the darkness, she asked, "What are they?" Pedro tilted his head in confusion, so she pointed to one of the lights around them. His eyes widened in realization. Of course she would not know what it was, he himself had only recently learned.

"Ah! They're called witch's lights. They  get their names from the legends of witches using them and they're pretty handy for travelling down here." He explained, hoping it was enough for the girl. When she nodded, he felt pretty relieved. Even though he could make them, he knew he would not be able to explain how he did.

Suddenly, Pedro threw his arm out in front of Glitch, and she stopped. The angel girl glanced at him quizzically. He brought one finger to his beak, telling her to be quiet, and pointed ahead of them. She could hear a strange combination of clicking claws and slithering. At first she could not see anything, but looking out a little farther, she could make out the vague outline of something moving outside of the light ring they stood in.

The two of them stood still, waiting for it to pass. Once it did, Pedro went to move on, but Glitch remained in her place. "...Chica?" He asked, turning around to see what she was doing. The angel girl stood, staring off past the light, at the place where the creature crossed their paths. Her jaw was clenched and fists balled tightly at her side.

He wanted to find out what was wrong, but he had that gut feeling to not bother her. He was glad he did not try to say anything to her when her right arm shot out to the side and straight through the center of a golden pentagram that appeared in the air beside her. The point of the pentagram pointed upward, to the sky, marking it a holy symbol, not a demonic one.

He took a step back as she whipped a sword from the center of the symbol. It was very large, probably around six feet in length, and the blade was an odd green color. The hilt seemed to be wrapped in cloth and the cross guard was a pair of folded, golden wings. 

It was an archangel's blade, he realized. The equivalent of a short sword in the hands of an archangel, but a massive long sword for the commoner girl. This did not seem to bother her though, as she hefted it onto her shoulder. Pedro wondered how strong she actually was, since the massive blade's weight had no affect on her what-so-ever.

"...Well alright then Chica," he said with a shrug, "Let’s get a move on!" With that, he went on, leaving Glitch no choice but to follow. 

The two wandered through the total darkness, protected by Pedro's lights. Occasionally the light fell on the tails or claws of monsters and sent them scattering away from the light. It was so quiet, aside from the occasional hisses and growls from the monsters or the clatter and thuds of the things they knocked over in their attempts to escape.

Glitch followed Pedro, though she was not sure if he even knew where he was going. It was so dark; she could not see anything past the circle of light. Once she thought she saw something like a black cloth flicker into the light right in front of them, but it was gone as soon as she saw it.

Aside from that nothing else struck her as odd, but that did not mean she was not looking out for something. She simply followed the angel boy to see where they were going, not worried in the slightest about falling into a trap. The sword was not just for show after all.

After what felt like forever, the duo came to a stop. Glitch only stopped because Pedro did. He pointed up to the ceiling and she looked up. Far above them, Glitch could see a small dot of white light.  She had never thought she would be so glad to see anything white again. 

Pedro cleared his throat to get her attention, and she saw that he was standing by a ladder bolted into the wall. Well, technically it was a ladder, but it looked more like a ton of metal rungs bolted there. Pedro waved a hand at the ladder and said, "Ladies first Chica."

She looked at him for a moment before stepping up to the ladder. Her free hand gripped the ladder, and she put her sword in her beak, making sure to hold tight so it would not fall. Both hands free, she started to climb. 
Pedro sighed and started up behind her, but he turned around and waved out into the darkness and hoped Glitch had not seen him. He watched the glowing yellow eyes of his guide disappear and turned to follow Glitch. 

The climb took a lot less time than the walk there, but Glitch still wondered if they had somehow walked farther underground than she had thought. It seemed like hours before she reached the top and for a moment, the brightness blinded her.

Even so, she was ecstatic. She was in the house of god and one step closer to her goal.

3: Ch. 3

Glitch took the blade from her beak and blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the light. It had suddenly gotten bright as if she had just walked out of some sort of void. 'I suppose I just did,' she thought as she looked behind her. The best way she could think of describing what she saw was a pit. It was a massive hole in the floor that stretched across the ground.

Ignoring her companion as he climbed out of the pit in favor of looking around, she took in her surroundings. They stood inside of a massive cavern of grayish-white stone. Pillars of intricately carved rock reached up to hold the ceiling that was so very far away. From what she could see, there was at least eight feet of ground from the walls to the pit's edge. It created a small walkway around the large opening and there was even a little railing around it to finish the look. The walls were rough and crudely carved and nowhere near as impressive as the pillars.

As she stared at them, Pedro spoke. "Not bad, huh, Chica? I'm still not done with 'em though." He stood right next to her now, though she hadn't heard him come up behind her. She simply glared at him for sneaking up on her, but stopped once she saw the pride he had in his skills. He did not seem to notice at all as he continued, "I know it's looking kinda rough right now, but it'll look as good, if not better than the old man's pillar work once it's done."

"It is very nice work." She commented, running her fingers along the lines. The walls really were rough, but still smoother than the average cave. It almost felt soft, which she found strange since rock was not supposed to feel soft. She was about to say something else, but froze, eyes going wide.

The ground was shaking; she could feel it in the walls. It was very weak at first, but she could feel it steadily growing stronger. It really wasn't too bad, but she had never been caught in an earthquake before. Pedro had to feel it too, there was no way he did not.

Glancing at her companion, she saw him staring at the far wall. She leaned forward and squinted a little to see what he was looking at. To her surprise, the wall flickered a few times and disappeared, leaving a giant, gaping hole. It looked like a tunnel and it was definitely angel-made. There was only one thing that could need a tunnel that big.

Before she had the chance to say anything the boy grabbed her wrist and dragged her along the walkway. They stopped not far from where they started, and Pedro ran his hands along the wall. She watched for a moment, and then glanced back at the tunnel. It looked like someone was in there, so she leaned a little over the railing to see. She could make out the vague outline of something like a human, but that was all. When she blinked, it disappeared.

The ground shook harder and there was a high pitched whistling noise that she could not place. Behind her there was the sound of something scraping along the ground. There was no time to turn around, because Pedro grabbed her shoulders and practically threw her into the newest opening in the wall behind them. Glitch stumbled a bit and caught herself, but she was knocked down when the angel boy jumped into the room after her. He was on his feet soon enough and hurried to close the entrance to their hiding place.

Once the cover slid back into place, they were plunged into total darkness yet again. It did not last long though, as the witch's lights lit up in her companion's hands. There were only two this time and the lack of light distorted the shadows of everything in the small room. Curious, Glitch looked around the new area.

The room was probably a 12x12 foot room at most, not counting the ceiling height. It would have been fine if it was just a bedroom, but it was crammed with a small wood stove, table and four chairs, a few cabinets, a sink, and a small desk. There were three bundles under the table that she assumed were some sort of mats. They sat right on top of a pile of blankets, so that must have been what the owners slept on.

"Sorry 'bout that Chica, I know you said no touchy, but it was necessary. We cool?" Pedro asked as he walked to the stove. He leaned down and pulled a bundle of twine out from the cabinet beside it, then used it to tie the grate shut. This was done with the cabinet doors as well and he stopped only when he was sure they were secured. Glitch watched him curiously, wondering why he would do that.

Then she realized that the shaking had increased. It still was not too bad and she found herself trying to think on why. She turned to ask Pedro, and found him turning the table over and laying chairs on their sides. "...What are you doing?" She asked curiously. He looked up at her and blinked, confused for a moment.

"Oh! Just making sure nothing'll get broken when the shaking gets worse." Pedro explained, adding, "It's not bad now, but it will be soon. The caves are much larger further down, so it's more room for him to avoid the wall."

Glitch nodded, only half understanding. He chuckled though, when she did and went back to tossing the mats and blankets onto the overturned table. Once finished, Pedro turned back to her and walked over. He sat down and patted the spot next to him. "Sit Chica. It'll get worse real soon." Again she nodded, sitting beside her guide on the floor obediently.

"Why?"

"Like I said, the tunnel's down are bigger further down, but up here, they're almost too small fo-" He was cut of as the ground jolted violently, making him shriek. The cabinet doors banged and the dishes inside clanked, trying to escape the sealed spaces. Glitch leaned over, gripping the wall tightly and leaving her sword on the floor. Looking across from her she saw Pedro was doing the same thing.

The closer the thing got, the harder the ground shook. The vibrations were strong enough to make the table and chairs slide around the floor. She dimly thought it would have been funny if she did not have to cling to the wall to keep from being dragged across the floor with them. The banging and clanking of the cabinets got louder too, and was joined by a strange scraping sound coming from outside.

Moments later there was one big, final jolt and an eerie silence filled the space. The two angels tried to stand, but stumbled and fell back down. They tried again, and Pedro managed to stand this time. Glitch stayed down, knowing that he was more used to the tremors than her. She took deep breaths to try and calm her racing heart, something she hadn't noticed during the tremor. 'Must be the adrenaline,' she thought as she watched Pedro undo the twine around the cabinets and the stove.

Once he was done, he reached into the cabinet under the sink and pulled out two masks. One had circular holes for eyes and a wide, fanged grin. Two spikes stuck straight out of the top, reaching about four inches. The other one was simpler; with small, curved spikes the same height as the other mask's, half circles for eyes, and a bold, zigzag line running across it where the mouth would have been. Both masks had ribbons tied to them and an indent to make it fit around their beaks.

"Here," Pedro said, handing her the simpler mask. "We don't really need them, but I wear them so the others don't get jealous." He put his mask on and tied it tightly around his head. When he glanced back at Glitch he found her staring at him again. It made him a bit uneasy, but then she was from the jungle. Who knew what she had learned from that place? He could only imagine.

"Why would they be jealous?" She asked sounding confused as she finally managed to stand.

Pedro looked at her, shocked. How could she not know something so simple? "...You don't know?"

"If I did, I would not have asked." Glitch stated, playing with the ribbons on her own mask.

"...Well...I guess you did come from the jungles-" He started, only for Glitch to interrupt.

"Yes, I believe we have already covered that topic."

Pedro continued without missing a beat, "-so you probably never met an angel who's not a wispy. Ya see, most high ranks don't actually have faces, archangels don't even have heads!"

"So?"

"...So?"

"So why would they be jealous?" Glitch asked again, seemingly annoyed by the lack of an answer.

"It makes us the closest to humans." Pedro stated, feeling relieved at the look of understanding she got.

She nodded. "I understand. Humans were made in the image of God and as the species closest to humans..." She trailed of, looking to Pedro for a sign that she was right. He nodded approvingly.

Glitch put on her mask and tried tying it. The ribbons kept slipping from her grip though and she was starting to get frustrated. She growled angrily and cursed under her breath, damning the ribbons to Hell. Pedro watched her, feeling amused by the angry girl. Sighing, he walked to stand behind her, taking the ribbons from her hands and tying them in a neat bow. She turned around, but she wasn't glaring like he had expected her to.

"...Thank you." She mumbled, surprising him.

Rubbing the back of his head nervously, he chuckled. "No problem Chica, now come on." He trotted to the door and slid it open, the little lights disappearing as he did. He stepped out with Glitch right behind him. She froze in the doorway, turned around and darted back in.

Confused, Pedro stood there, staring at the open door. He turned away only when he heard the flapping of many wings. Now he stared across the cavern at the tunnel, where a group of angels had landed. The one standing at the front of the group waved his hand and the others filed out of another door that blended into the wall on the left side of the cavern. It was directly between the tunnel and his own room.

Pedro always thought that the archangels were the creepiest of the angels. Like most angel species they all shared at least one common trait. For them, they all looked like mannequins, ten foot tall, headless, mannequins. It was so strange though, one could always feel when an archangel was looking at them, but there was never any way to see for sure. He could feel the ones leaving watching him now, and their leader too.

Once the last of them left, their leader flew over to him, landing carefully by his side. This one was the most frightening of them to Pedro. He was missing more parts than just his head. From his wrist to elbow on his left arm and elbow to shoulder on his right was empty air. There was even a space between his right knee and ankle. He still had his left hand and right arm from elbow down and even his foot, but there were just missing chunks. It was just not right.

Of course he knew the reason the archangel still had use of his limbs was because of the 'phantom limb' effect that the other had mentioned once. It allowed archangels to continue to fight with or without their limbs fully intact; after all, they were the defenders of the realm. Fighting was what they were made for.

The armor clad angel tapped his foot impatiently, as if waiting for something. This confused Pedro, since he could not think of a single thing he might have done wrong. Still, he was sure the other wanted an apology for something. Then it hit him. "Ah! Oh. Oooh...hehe...sorry Gabe. I know you want that tunnel to be bigger, but it's so big already an-" He stopped mid sentence as the other angel held up his hand in a silencing motion.

"You had said that you would take care of the tunnel. So why is it not finished," The archangel's deep, grating voice resounded in his head. It was always so strange to hear, since his friends had no need to use telepathy. Pedro was sure Glitch heard him too, archangel telepathy was universal; everyone around could hear it.

"Um...er...I...well, it-it's so big. And I'm just...just tiny Pedro...so uh..." He stuttered, unable to think properly. It was bad enough that the scariest archangel was there, but now he was angry. Pedro sighed and looked down at the ground, he had no excuse.

"What Pedro means to say is that he is only one person. You cannot expect him to have so much work finished too soon. Even if he worked nonstop with no rest or breaks to eat, it would take Forever to finish. Especially if that tunnel is a long as I think it is." The angel boy jumped, head snapping back to look at the girl. She leaned back against the wall, her sword propped up next to her and one hand on her hip.

"Well, now that there are two of you, it should take less time." The archangel stated, turning towards the girl slightly. Pedro felt the other's gaze shift off of him and saw how Glitch tensed up. She relaxed quickly and crossed her arms. "...Are you fallen? Only fallen have black feathers."

The girl tilted her head, almost like she was confused, but Pedro knew she understood. She was just playing. "Nay, I have always had black feathers. I was born like this. It is why I am called Glitch." She stated, gold eyes flashing dangerously behind the mask. "My color does not define me as a person."

"Ah, I see. I will leave it be, for now at least. Cause any trouble and I will personally cast you from our realm." He told her, sounding a bit skeptical but knowing he had no real reason to do so. After all, if she were fallen, she would not be in the realm.

"No worries, I will play nice with the other children. Unless they start something. You have my word." Glitch promised cheekily, waving her hand in a shooing motion. The archangel huffed, frustrated, and turned back to Pedro.

"You will be in charge of her. Anything that she does will fall on your shoulders. Keep her out of trouble. Do you understand?" He asked, though it sounded more like a demand. Pedro was quick to nod his agreement, but again the girl spoke up for him.

"How offensive. I may have been raised in a jungle, but I am no animal. Anything that I do wrong will be my own fault. Do not burden him more than you already have."

For a moment, he was silent, turning his invisible gaze back to her. She responded by glaring back at where she assumed his eyes would be. With a huff, the archangel turned on his heel and started walking away, saying, "Very well then. Have it your way."

She continued glaring at him from behind her mask, huffing angrily as he walked through the door. He flung his arm out as he did, almost like he was pushing something out of his way, but she just assumed it was one of the other archangels.

Pedro stared down at her from behind the mask, a mix of relief and worry shining through. "Thanks Chica, but you didn't have to...you know."

"Did not have to what? Defend you?" Pedro nodded, making her sigh. "My apologies. I simply cannot fathom why those who are meant to keep you safe would dare patronize you. If they want the work to be finished that badly, they can help." Glitch stated as she pushed herself off of the wall. "Who was that though?"

"Oh, right. You wouldn't know, would you?" The colorful angel chuckled. "That was Gabe...er...well, his name's Gabriel. He's the current head guard of his city." To his surprise, he saw her eyes light up in recognition.

"So then, is he one of the famed named archangels of the scriptures?" She tilted her head curiously. "I would not expect one of them to be so...rude." The angel boy clawed the ground nervously as he shrugged.

"Honestly not sure here. I mean, it's possible but I doubt it. Gabriel is a common name 'round the city. And besides," He paused mid sentence, glancing at his companion anxiously before deciding to continue with, "I heard the most famous of them lived in the Garden of Eden now."

Glitch was curious, knowing what she did about the human holy books. She was not sure what to ask next though. It took her a few minutes to come up with something, but when she did she felt a new presence enter. The two of them both turned to the door, Pedro happily and Glitch somewhat peeved. Even though she had never met one before, she knew this was one of the wrathful angels. The angel, definitely a man, stomped his way over angrily, grumbling under his breath so that she could not hear what he was saying.

"Stupid Gabe's so rude...pushing me like that...humph." He stopped a few feet away and she stared, curious about this new angel. His skin was the same mannequin white as the archangels' was and his eyes were the usual gold, though they were sharper, like a hawk. In fact his whole form was sharper, but thinner, than Pedro's. He was more lean and taller too, which she thought was a strange look. It made the wrathful look so...scrawny.

A forest green hoodie was over a dark gray undershirt and he even had knee length, denim jeans. A simple choker was tied around his neck with five red beads, three on top and two on the bottom to make a 'w' shape. His legs were covered in brown feathers all the way down to his gray, eagle-like feet. There were even feathers in place of his hair, brown, like his legs. There were a few gold feathers on the back of his neck and in his wings, which mimicked the archangels' silver-gold-brown layering.

"...Oh! Who's the lady? Pedro, I didn't know you had a, mmph!" Pedro was quick to cover the other's mouth, and glanced nervously at the girl. She did not seem to care much, simply staring at them with her head tilted slightly to the left. It looked like she was more interested in the zigzag stitches on cheeks, right over the scars left by a Glasgow smile cut into his face.

"I am Glitch...a friend of Pedro's." She stated simply, eyeing him curiously. "You are a wrathful?"

The newcomer nodded, grinning. "Yup, they call me Scarecrow, but I like Crow better. Also I'm a friend of Pedro's too." He told her, throwing his arm around the angel boy's shoulders. Pedro sighed and rolled his eyes as he ducked under it, moving to stand slightly behind Glitch.

The angel girl nodded her head. "A pleasure to meet you Scarecrow."

"Just Crow please lady." He corrected her, flicking her forehead. Her hand shot up and clamped onto his wrist tightly. Crow flinched back at the sudden movement, but could not go far with his arm caught in the vice-like grip.

"Wow lady! You sure got one strong grip. But...eh, could you let me go?" He asked, looking to Pedro for help. His friend only shrugged.

"Chica has a no touching rule. Try apologizing." Pedro suggested.

"And promise to never do this again." Glitch added as she slowly loosened her grip. The wrathful heaved a sigh and nodded his head. Once his wrist was free he rubbed it, a bit shocked that it hurt him but glad it was not broken.

He chuckled, "Wow, you're real strong lady, that hurt more than when Gabe knocked me down outside!" The girl only stared at him passively from behind her mask. Crow shivered and glanced away, adding, "Ya know what lady? You oughtta join the guard with me. It'll be tough since Gabe's in charge and he don't like us, but it's not impossible."

"Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no...no." Pedro exclaimed, carefully pushing past Glitch and effectively silencing her for the moment. He tried to pretend that she was not trying to burn a hole through the back of his head as he continued. "She's not joining the guard! It's too dangerous!"

Feathers ruffling in anger, she grabbed Pedro and spun him around to face her. In an oddly calm voice, she said, "I can understand that you want to keep me safe as this is my first time in the city, but I came from the jungles. I am a strong woman and I know I can handle myself."

The colorful angel flinched and nodded, saying, " I know Chica, I'm sorry. But the guard is archangels only...so you couldn't join even if you wanted to."

"Actually, there's nothing that says it's archangels only, that's just tradition." Crow stated in a matter-of-fact tone as he leaned on Pedro's head. The shorter angel swatted at his friend's face to make him back off. The wrathful chuckled as he stepped away.

"You be quiet!" Pedro demanded, again ignoring the burning glare from the girl.

"I will consider your offer."

"Chica no!"

"Great! Maybe we can get Pedro in too, he used to want in the guard."

"Crow! You know I don't-"

"Let me think about it."

"Don't ignore me!" Pedro shouted, feathers fluffing a bit. He took a deep breath and held his hands up in front of him. "I'm sorry. Just, I don't think it is a good Idea. Besides, Chica just got here; we should give her a tour first before we make any decisions, right?"

Crow blinked and scratched his head. "Sorry buddy, I forgot. I just get excited, you know?"

"I know."

"Well, now that we have made up, perhaps I can get that tour?" As if on cue, her stomach growled. She looked down and back up, adding, "And possibly some food." Crow just burst into a fit of giggles, while Pedro nodded.

"Sure Chica!" Pedro said happily, leading the way to the exit and waving for them to follow. "We can start the tour in the dining hall! That way we can all eat and then move on."

Crow grinned, patting his friend on the back. "Sounds good Dodo. Now let's go lady!" The wrathful hopped over the railing and spread his tri-colored wings, flying across to the exit. He only stopped once to look down and wave cheerfully into the gaping hole.

Curious, Glitch leaned over the rail to see what he was waving at. She was met with a pair of pale, almost creamy green eyes that glowed slightly in the dark. "That's..."

"Yup," Pedro answered, looking down and waving too. He stopped and turned to Glitch. "That's the Nephilim, we named him Carlos. Now wave Chica, he likes making friends." The dark angel stared at Pedro, feeling somewhat skeptical but also amused. After all, they named a giant Carlos. Carlos. It was hard for her to believe, but it was definitely true.

"You named it Carlos." She stated.

Pedro responded with a shrug. "A name's a name, right Chica? Besides, he likes it."

She blinked once and turned back to the pit. Waving one hand, she stared into the pit and said, "Hello Carlos. I am Glitch, a commoner from the jungle and a new friend of Pedro." She felt the ground rumble beneath her feet as his eyes blinked up at her.

"He rarely purrs like that, that means he likes you Chica." The angel boy told her as he stepped away from the railing. He started walking towards the exit and called over his shoulder. "Now let's go! There's lots to see here!"

Glitch nodded, "Coming!" She glanced back down into the pit and waved goodbye. "I will see you later Carlos," She said as she turned and ran to catch up with the others. The trio walked from the room together, with Pedro leading, and started down a long hallway. The girl could not help but feel glad. If things kept going so smoothly, her mission would surely end well.

4: Chapter 4

“So,” Glitch started as she followed the boys. “First we go to get food.”

“Yes Chica. That’s the plan.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Then where do we go after that?”

Pedro stopped suddenly, realizing that he hadn’t exactly planned it out. Deciding to be honest, he shrugged. “Dunno Chica. I’ve never given a tour before. I figured we’d just roll with it.” Crow nodded his agreement and she sighed, looking around the hall. 

It actually looked more like a cave than a hallway, with grainy, uneven walls and floor as white as the world outside. Nothing was really noticably special about them aside from the few dark splotches that looked like old bloodstains that could not be washed away. However, the farther along they went, she noticed that the wall and floor grew smoother and more even. 

Shaking her head, Glitch reminded herself to focus. Focus! She knew she should not waste her time anymore by staring at walls, maybe she should get information. Whatever the boys knew would at least be a start. So she asked, “Pedro...Crow. What do you know about what happened to the sky?” 

“The sky?” Crow answer with another question, which would have angered her if he did not sound genuinely confused. “What do you mean?”

Pedro spoke up then saying, “I think she means why is it black now.” He told the wrathful, who shrugged. “Yeah...not sure Chica. I just looked up one day and the sky turned black.”

“Yeah...yeah what he said.” Crow nodded to Pedro, adding, “Then the color started to disappear.”

Glitch let the information sink in, and was about to ask another question when Pedro stopped her. “Now Chica, I’m sure you got all kinds of questions, but how about we go on and get us some food first? We can sit and eat and answer the best we can.” 

The angel girl thought about it for a moment and nodded slowly. “Perhaps that is a better idea.” She agreed, letting the silence fall again. As they reached the end of the hall, she saw a pair of sliding doors set into the wall and the foot of a staircase leading up to the left of them.

Pedro pushed the little up button to the right of the doors and they slide open. Quickly, he ushered everyone inside and pressed a button labeled ‘G’. As the doors slid shut on them, he explained to Glitch that they were in an elevator and how it worked.

                                                                                                                                                     †††β†††

The elevator dinged and the doorsopened, letting the trio out into a large lobby area. Pedro sighed as he watched the other two, Crow was giggling and Glitch was looking around the room. There were chairs and a sofa or two scattered around it and more potted plants than Glitch seemed to think were nesessary. Nothing all too nice or fancy. 

Pedro sighed. "You know Chica, next time please don't try touching all the buttons. You might break it." He told her. She simply glared back at him, and he could not tell what she was thinking behind that mask of hers. 
"I'll do what I want dammit." She stated calmly.

Pedro gasped, hands flying up to his beak as he registered her words. Crow's giggles turned into full blown laughter  as he pointed at her. Curious, she tilted her hand and the wrathful gasped out, "Y-you said a bad word~!" 

The angel girl shook her head, deciding not to bother with the boys. At least, she would ignore Crow. Pedro already seemed to be over it, which was good in her opinion. 

'After all, curses are just words society deems bad and claims it wrong to do or use. In the end, they're still only words. It's natural. Like being naked.' Glitch thought as she tugged disapprovingly on her makeshift skirt.
Pedro glanced anxiously around the room at the other angels there before turning to face his wrathful friend. He was just managing to control himself and the colorful angel was glad.

Having calmed down a little, Crow started walking down a hall leading to the left. He waved for the others to follow and they did, Pedro telling Glitch that it was the right way and, yes, he was sure. She was quick and kept up with the boys easily enough, but her appearence earned a few unwanted stares from the oher angels.

Pedro expeted them to stare of course, but that did not make it anymore awkward. If anything, Glitch pretending not to notice made it worse. A commoner with an archangel's sword is one thing, but a black commoner girl with an archangel's sword was something entirely different. Add on Glitch's strong, self-confident appearence and slight lack of respect for authority and that's a good way to start a fight. 

"Why are there so many halls here? How many halls do you people even need?" The girl spoke suddenly, and Pedro jumped a bit at the sudden sound. As he registered her question, he had to surpress a chuckle. Leave it to her to ask something so weird.

"That's just how it was built Chica. We can't do any rennovations anymore, so we can't really fix it." He told her, hoping that would be good enough. Really though, he should have known better.

"But why?" She asked, putting emphasis on the 'why'.

Pedro sighed and shook his head. "There's not enough people. And by that I mean not enough of us commoners. We always get stuck with this work."

"Ah, I see." Glitch stated, locking eyes with Pedro. "But it is unfair, there are plenty of wrathfuls and archagels. Why can they not help?"

"It's because everyone's stuck in the past ways. The times where everyone had heir role and no one complained. When they were content, happy even, to follow regardless of if there were any laws saying they had to stay in their assigned place or not." Crow explained.

 Pedro nodded along with his friend, adding, "That and wrathfuls break more things than they can fix." He glanced over at the quiet girl, who was staring back at him confused. Just as he was about to explain what he meant, Crow piped up.

"That was one time!! Once!"

"Crow, you hit your thumb with a hammer and got so mad you tore the whole wall down." Pedro stated with a snicker.

"So?!" The wrathful asked, not really understanding.

"All I asked was for you to hang a picture in Gabe's office." The boy reminded him. 

"It is no wonder Gabriel dislikes you two." Glitch stated. Crow's eye twitched and he took a deep breath.

"You be quiet lady." He mumbled, ducking his head and stomping on to the end of the hall. It opened to a large room, but then, all of the rooms were pretty big as the size was starting to lose its impact. 
Still, it was a nice room filled end to end with five rows of long wooden tables cluttered with foods of all sorts. There were few people in the area, but most of the ones there were wrathfuls and archangels. There were a handful of cherubrim too, but they were leaving through the other exit.

"See any open spots?" Pedro asked Crow. The wrathful glanced down at his shorter friend for a moment, then scanned the tables. 

"A few, I'd say we ought to sit away from other people for now though." He suggested, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder in Glitch's general direction. "Lady might start something, what with her no touchy rule and all."

The girl huffed and shifted her sword from the shoulder it was resting on to the opposite one. "I am right here you know."

"I know." Crow responded, rolling his eyes. Then he perked up, grabbed Pedro's hand, and motioned for Glitch to follow as he led the way to a table. He was practically dragging the smaller man behind while Pedro was trying not to trip. The trio stopped in front of a bench on he far end of the room, where there were less people around for Glitch to get mad at.

The girl leaned her blade against the wall behind her and sat down, looking over the food before her. "We could have sat by the others, you know. To think you would have such little faith in me."

"Chica, you almost broke my arm when we met." Pedro pointed out, rubbing his wrist like it still hurt him. It didn't really, but he was trying to make a point.

The girl huffed in response, feathers slightly ruffled. "I only twisted it a little. You are just overexaggerating." She stated calmly. Pedro shook his head and the boys took a seat, with Pedro next to Glitch until Crow rudely weasled his way between them. 

Once they were settled, she reached over and grabbed a few apples from a bowl and started eating. She was sure to give a thanks to her mentor too. 

'You are always welcome.'

Surprised, Glitch jumped and banged her knee off of the underside of the table. The boys both stared at her and she stared back once she noticed them. This went on for a few awkward moments before Pedro asked, "What's wrong Chica?"

"Nothing...I thought I had felt something slither over my foot is all." She told them in an attempt to not seem suspicious. They still seemed skeptical, so she tried elaborating. "It happens quite often when you live in the jungle."

"Snakes?" Crow asked. The girl nodded.

"And sometimes milipedes as long as this sword." She added, tapping her knuckle against the blade as she took another bite.  Pedro shuddered at the thought of giant milipedes and Crow just looked disgusted, which made Glitch chuckle.

Crow huffed angrily. "What're you laughing at lady?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"You two, obviously." She replied with a shrug. "You made the funniest expression when I mentioned the milipedes." Crow raised an eyebrow, but if Glitch noticed, she did not show it. "Anyhow, you said you would try to answer my questions, yes?"

"Yeah Chica." Pedro stated, nodding at her. The angel girl was quiet for a few minutes, thinking over all of her questions and trying to pick which ones to ask.

"Well, I asked about the sky...what about the color? Why is everything turning white?" She asked, though she was half expecting the shrugs that followed.

"It just started after the sky went black. Real slow like. Colors faded and then disappeared all together." Crow stated with a shrug. "Dunno why."  The way he said it so calmly unnerved Glitch, but then again they did have time to adjust to it. 

She nodded even though she was a little disappointed and somewhat skeptical. It was very unlikely that hese two knew anything and if they did, they did not seem to have a reason to hide it. Shaking her head, she asked, "And Carlos? How is he alive? I thought that all of the Nephilim had died."

Again the boys shrugged, but this time Pedro answered. "They all did die Chica. But something brought him back. I actually wonder what could have been able to do that though." 

Crow nodded his agreement and waved his hand at the girl, motioning for her to get on with the next one. She blinked, trying to come up with a new question as she reached for more fruit. "Ah yes...were are the other commoners? Why is the lower city so empty?"

This time, she noticed, they hesitated. A knowing look passed briefly between them, she would have missed it if she weren't looking. "Oh, well, you see Chica...um...they all left..."

"Left? Where did they go?"

"Out into the countryside I heard. To escape the hoard of shadow monsters that just showed up one day." Crow elaborated for Pedro, knowing he did not like to talk about it. "There were too many popping up all at once and the archangels were having trouble keeping them under control. The other Grigori like you guys fled and wrathfuls moved up here."

The colorful angel nodded, keeping his head down. It gave Glitch the impression that he was ashamed of their people's actions. It was kind of strange though, it was not like it was his fault. He glanced in her direction and asked, "Anything else Chica?"

She stayed silent, back to fishing for a decent question. 'I feel as though I may be stuck with them for a while longer...perhaps I should get to know them a little,' she thought. But then, what to ask?
"How long have you two known each other?" The girl blurted out, not really thinking much of it.

Pedro blinked, confused by the sudden change of topic. He was about to ask why she wanted to know, but Crow excitedly jumped up. "Oh for, like, a real long time! We met when we were little but I was kinda meaner then. Then we met again a little before the monster showed up. And we moved in together after everyone else left."

"Oh? You two must be really close then...is he why you seem so calm?" Glitch asked.

Crow nodded, "Yeah lady!! He found this thing humans have called 'anger management'. It's been working pretty well so far."

The girl nodded, a little amused about a wrathful angel taking anger management lessons. She watched him shoot a worried glance at Pedro when the shorter boy crossed his arms and layed his head down. To her, Crow seemed to really want to pester his friend, but instead he stopped himself from shaking Pedro's shoulder.

"Is he alright?" 

"Fine Chica. I'm just thinking." He told her, practically forcing out his cheery tone and lifting his head. "Anyway, are we good to go? We got lots to see still." Looking at both of his friends and recieving hesitant nods.

"One more thing..." Glitch said as the boys stood. They glanced at each other, then back at her. Right away they realized she was not looking at them. No, she was staring at a spot in a corner of the room where no one was sitting and a cluster of large, potted ferns occupied the lonely looking place.

She pointed at the plant and said, "There. A boy looking very much like a human except for his color. He's gone now, but can you tell me who he is?" After she asked her question, she could practically feel the boys' anxiety rise.

Pedro nervously scratched the back of his head while Crow shrugged. The colorful angel thought it best to say something though, so he said, "I didn't see anyone Chica. Maybe you're imagining things?"
"No. I know he's real. The boy I saw fit the profile of the person who was standing in the darkness of Carlos' tunnel and he wears a black cloak that reminds me of the cloth I would see flicker into your protective light circle as we walked here." She turned to glare at them and growled, "So do not try to lie to me. I know you know something."

A moment of hesitation passed between both of the boys before they turned to her, Crow saying, "Later lady...I'm sure he wants to meet ya, but he's...shy..."

"And...well, we don't wanna hurt him by giving him away." Pedro added quietly. He could see the flash of confusion in the girl's eyes as she stood. 

Glitch leaned closer to Pedro as questioned him in a low voice, "Hurt him...? Is he that shy? Or perhaps anxious? Could you elaborate?" To her dismay, the boy shook his head slowly.

"You'll understand when you meet him." The colorful angel stated as he backed up and turned towards he elevator. He glanced back at the girl who nodded an affirmative, then lead the way to the next area. 
Glitch followed after the boys, a little worried but also excited. Whoever that boy was, she could not wait to meet him. She would just have to be careful around him, but maybe he would get used to her.
She had not been able tell Pedro that she had been able to see the sad look on his face as he watched them, but she had a feeling he already knew. Both of them knew. She could not wait to meet him now.