Abraxas: The Unknown

The story of the world long hidden, yet resurfacing once in a while, wiping out the existence like the great extinction. An ordinary, clumsy girl unlocks the world to the Unknown. Her life stopped being normal when she met a certain someone - This is what she thought but fate had more to do with it than her intuition.

   "Ahh! I'm exhausted!", I have been working here for the past 4 years and nothing seems to change out of the ordinary. I sit in the same old chair, same old cabin, same old room, same old cubicle mate, wait! what? who is there sitting in Deli's place? oh, I remember, she was transferred to another department, right! Well, that's one point for a change. I wonder how the new person is?'

Mirajane peeps through the small gap between the cabins to take look at the new cabin mate. She bends forward to get a better look at the newbie, that little stunt makes her slip out of her chair and she tries to hold on to the table in front of her to maintain balance but instead toppling the coffee on the table over her as she slumped down. ' "yikes!", why does this happen at a time like this? I don't have a spare dress in my office closet to wear! I'm so in trouble right now'.

"oh my gosh! are you alright? Here let me help you up.", the newbie jumps out of her cubicle and runs towards Mirajane. Helping her up and wiping the coffee stains off her office clothes, the newbie starts to speak in an unexpectedly cheerful voice, "by the way I'm Levi, Levi Kayla. nice to meet you!". ' she is so freaking beautiful and bright, I feel like I'm standing in front of a bright bulb, by standing I mean trying to stand up from my pitiful state. "I'm Mirajane. Sorry for the trouble" there goes my first impression right into the sink with an open drain. I'm so not cool. I hope she doesn't exasperate'. Getting back to her feet Mirajane let's out a loud sigh, she turns around to where Levi was standing to thank her for the help. Levi had vanished, 'wha-! where did she go? I don't even hear her walk away', no sooner did these thoughts filled up her head Levi was walking back around the corner with a package in her hand.

She handed that to Mirajane with a wink, "I hope these look great on you!". 'oh jinkies! is this Anne Klein's executive collection suit set? I bet these are worth more than all the things in my cabin put together. "this is- !" ', "for you. I had an extra in my office closet just in case. You can't possibly keep on that coffeed dress, can you?" laughing yet still keeping her cool composure and smile on her face. Mirajane had no other choice but to accept it and bowed her head as she said: "thank you very much, Levi, I really appreciate your help".

Mirajane was unaware that this encounter would have changed her entire life upside down. Not one of them was aware of what's next. The clock began to tick! the eternal time that had stopped for a long time began to tick once again with a loud gong which was heard all across the lands farther away from humans and animals, alerting every being's senses towards the clock's fury. It was heard only once but was enough to let all the creatures in the farther land to wonder what made the Clepsydra tick again. It was marked the beginning, or rather the end of something that has long forgotten yet still known, The End of The Unknown.

A few weeks swept by in a flash and without any further delay, the newfound friends ran to a nearby café on their time off during the break. "geez! would he lose anything if he could just let it go and not mention it when I worked so hard to make up for the misprint!? why should my boss have to so damn annoying? I was so in need of a break from that freaking hellish of a place" letting out all her frustration she signed. Sitting with her Levi spoke in her usual amused tone, "I'm surprised that someone could screw up so much in just one project! you are so stupid and carefree that you don't mind losing your job over this. you are really inspiring!" smiling back at Mira. 'don't think she is being sarcastic. From the time I know her, she is a really weird concept of complement and sarcasm and she seems to be fascinated by everything I do, "Hey Levi, you do realize that if anyone hears you talk this way they will definitely think you are being sarcastic and also it would have helped me a little if I knew you were being sarcastic! how can you not know when to praise someone and when to criticize? Ahh! I'm really done teaching you this. I'm so tired already". I really like Levi, she has grown on me. I rather call her my best friend now. I have never really felt that way with any of my friends before. She is so amazing and beautiful and a total role model for me. I feel like her younger sister when I'm with her'.

They order their coffee and talk about all the unnecessary things in the world. That's when Mira noticed someone was walking towards them, he was tall and strongly built and his chestnut hair was moving in rhythm with his steps and his bangs was covering most of his forehead in an elegant fashion, he was dressed in a casual wear with a plain jacket over which made him look like a playboy type.

When his light brown eyes met hers, his lips curled up into a smirk. Without her realizing Mirajane's cheeks turned faint red, noticing that Levi turned around to have a look at who it was. " Found you!" he said.

Mira was frozen in her chair as she saw Levi and the other guy were engaged in a rough verbal fight. 'maybe it's her boyfriend or maybe her ex. He might have cheated on her and that's why she had to move out and come here and now he has come to apologize. come to think of it, I haven't asked Levi much about anything personal tho her name KAYLA reminds me of something that I don't remember.

I have not seen Levi get this mad before, she was always the cool and composed one. Who is he anyway? What is their relationship?' without getting a hint Mira stood up from her chair and walked in-between the two, "hold on people! it's a public place and you are making a scene here". Levi stopped talking as soon as she saw Mira intervene, the guy on the contrary, "thank you miss, that's exactly what I told her. Not to make a scene in the public and let's talk somewhere private". '"don't get the wrong idea, Mister, I was telling you to stop making a scene and leave right now. Levi isn't interested in talking to you whatsoever so back off and gets going". what does he think about himself? I need to first take care of Levi, she looks so frustrated and worrisome'. In disbelief, he widened his eyes when she finished speaking and left holding Levi's hand and pushing against him. As soon as they both broke out of the café, the thick tension filling the cafe began to dissipate. He stood there still looking in the direction of the door where they exited and sighed "now it looks more troublesome. A good side of it, she is one hell of a beauty." he smirked.

Though getting back to work, Mira glared at Levi for some answers for the questions she had been asking. Levi had no choice but to answer them with a sigh, "he is my brother!". 'what in the name of-! brother? seriously? he so did not look like her brother. And it was a family quarrel? this was the least explanation I had expected'. Looking at her expression Levi understood what Mira was thinking. Levi began to explain everything about her ties with her family. "so that's how it is! Jin is very arrogant and I'm sick and tired of his attitude so I left home and came here. I'm surprised he took so long to find me tho, not that it matters anyway".

Mira's eyes were as wide as it could get, "you are THE KAYLA COLLABORATIONS' CEO'S sister!? And that man I just offended is the CEO?? Are you crazy? No, am I crazy? why in the world are you here? oh my! I should probably start calling you ma'am, am I even qualified to be your servant?". Levi couldn't help but laugh at mirajane's exaggerated response.

By the end of the day, Levi was able to convince her that she has got nothing to do with her family company, her brothers are the ones who would look after that and she is more than happy to work here and she is absolutely happy to be her friend. 'I still cannot process that Levi is related to Kayla collaboration, I should have guessed it when I heard her name when I first met but I was too busy making an impression that it slipped my mind! but now I know what kind of person she is, anyway and I'm really happy to be her friend. I really adore her'.

Kayla Collaboration is the biggest information and technology solution in the entire country and the profit they make is no less than the highest stock market in the country. They have connections all over the globe making the name known worldwide.

Levi showed no signs of getting back to her brother or at the very least she isn't bothered that he keeps on showing up at her workplace and at the cafe and restaurant and bars she usually visited with Mira. Jin even tired talking to Mirajane to let Levi have a small conversation with him but there was nothing that Mira could do to help, she began to feel sorry for Jin.

One day Levi did not show up to work but she left a message to Mira informing her that she is going back to her home and clear the situation with Jin, and the fact that he kept on pushing Mira into his problems and she is pissed at his approach and the fact that he is troubling her friend with his problems. Mirajane wanted to text her back saying she didn't have any problem with Jin talking to her, she, in fact, felt it was good for him to talk to someone. But she realized that nothing can stop Levi at this moment and it was too late for her to do anything.

Half-heartedly she continued with her work the whole day, all thinking about Levi and Jin. She finished her day's work at the office and left to visit the library. it was her usual place to visit most of the days. She always loved books and the library was the one place that she felt like her home. It would help her take the mind off the whole Levi situation so she headed out for the library.

The Central Library was a very huge 7 storey building with heavy-looking metal rods sticking out of the top floor as a part of the building design, it had an open garden on the fifth floor with chairs and tables for the readers. on the first floor, it had a small canteen and a vending machine. the building has two floors of the basement which contained old books and novels and references. the two floors were filled with educational purposes books for college students and graduates. and the rest was a general section that contained books of all variety and kinds.

The books from these sections were being rearranged by some volunteers from the nearby college, they were preparing and rearranging the books into different categories. Mira was one of the old visitors to the library and she was well acquainted with the staff of the library. She decided to step in and help with a little of the rearrangements of the books. She was made in charge of section K at the right-wing of the east block. She put on a green apron and took her gloves and walked to her section. there were books of various kinds and sizes all piled up into a bundle, it was impossible for her to carry that entire bundle and she began to open up the bundle and take out books individually.

She spent hours together trying to categorize the books and take them to the specific sections. She was completely drained and exhausted but she still has a small bundle to finish up for the day, as soon as she began to divide the books of that small bundle she saw a shadow covering her and she looked up to see a pretty looking face with a cheerful smile looking down at her.

He was pretty tall and looked like a college freshman wearing the same green apron and gloves, he sat beside her giving her the full view of his face and features. He looked more cute and adorable than handsome, his auburn bangs were resting on his cheeks and covered one of his emerald eyes. From her point of view, they seemed to have sparked in the dim light above the book's racks. "You seem very tired already, do need a hand with the books miss?" his voice was a melody that rang in her ears as she stared at him without answering. "if you keep looking at me like that, I can't help but blush and it sends butterflies inside my stomach" with this comment his face began to turn light red. Mira was snapped back to her senses and felt embarrassed with her staring, " I'm sorry I don't mean to stare. I do need some help with those book near your right leg, would you mind taking them to section B? I'll carry the rest of them myself".

Giving an adorable smile he picked up the books with ease and left, 'who is he? he looks so cute for a guy! And I really have to stop staring at guys unless I want them to think I'm some creep. Geez! how long has it been since I met hot guys like Levi's brother-! if that's he really is- and this guy! I should have asked his name. maybe I'm gonna meet him after I put back my books and thank him for his help'. Standing up with the rest of the books she headed out to organize them in the racks above her.

She was done except for two books still remaining in her hands. She didn't seem to recognize separating these books, puzzled with the contents, 'where in the world did these come from? from the contents, it looks like these are a vintage kinda book and I didn't know there were books like these in this library. I better go ask the staff about which rack ancient books belong to!'. One of the staff gave his ID card and pointing her towards a staircase to go downstairs on the -1 level and stack up the books on any shelf available there. Walking along the pointed directions she reached and door, entered a wide room.

It was a huge room lit by dull lights bright enough to recognize the tall shelves that ran either side until it was dark towards the end. Mira tried to look where the room ends but it just doesn't seem to end anywhere she saw, it looked way too huge than the library upstairs.

She walked along the tall shelves looking around at the old torn out books on those shelves forgetting about the books in her hands. She has always been a curious person by nature, she reached the end of the room without realizing it. The books on the farthermost end of the room seem to be untouched for a long time, cobwebs spread all through the neighboring shelves blocking the way. She didn't even try to go beyond that, right when she turned to leave the cobwebs to seem to tear down on one side and make way to the other side of the shelves. 'eww! that was creepy, it almost seemed like something is calling me from the other side. I never thought the library of this size and renowned to have a pit like this? maybe no one seems to come here very often.

Mirajane did enter the hidden portion of the shelves, all there was were a dusty pile of books, untouched, unbothered and probably forgotten.

She scanned through the shelves, her eyes randomly darting through the place before leaving. Something at the corner of the middle shelf at her height caught her eyes, 'what is that?' there was one book among the entire dusty pile that was far from being called dusty. Among the books stood a surprising clean black book. It didn't seem to have anything written on its side. With curiosity overriding her rational thinking she lifted her hand to take the book and have a look at it. She stepped forward and touched the clean black book, it felt softer than it looked. She took it out and scanned the cover of the book to find nothing written, it was plain, blank, just black all over the cover. She opened the book only to find the whole book was empty.

For the last time, she went through the book to see if there was anything worth looking at, closing the book with a disappointed sigh she returned to the beginning of the room to place the books she brought from upstairs. She stepped outside and climbed up to the registration counter only to find a security guard waiting for her. She held out the ID card that she had been holding on to and submitted her apron and gloves back. ' I didn't realize it would be this late. How long have I been in that spooky place?'

It was dark outside by the time she made her way back to her apartment. The trains had already stopped functioning for the day and she has to take a bus to her place. It was a clear night . Her path was clearly visible ahead of her as she walked along a lonely seemingly dark alley.

Her phone ran out of battery when she got down the bus, she had no way of using her phone in this situation made her even more anxious. Her senses were on detect danger mode, it soon picked up something strange to her rear. She bounced around to look for the danger from the back, her eyes went wide and hands went cold as ice making her freeze to her spot. She clearly recognized an outline of a person standing a few feet away from her. She stepped back as a reflex from her body, the silhouette moved as she did. That was her cue to start running, she turned her way to her path and began to run, she glanced back to keep an eye on the silhouette only to find that it was right behind her in arm's length. There was nothing more creepy and scary than this she made quick turns to lose the chaser still keeping her sense of direction.

The night was silent and awkwardly cold, only the noise of running footsteps disturbed the good-humored silence. She was at her limit but she still pushed herself to get to safety, even if her lungs gave out she had to run, even if her legs break she had to carry herself towards her home. Getting home was the only thought that she had now. Something didn't seem right, she slowed down to look around to find herself in a very unfamiliar environment, she quickly looked around to get any signs of familiarity in her right-now neighborhood. But the reappearance of the chasing silhouette made her panic return tenfold she soon began racing down an unfamiliar alley.

The sky that was clear began to turn dark itself, the moonlight was going dark turning the world into darkness. She couldn't see now! The worst was happening. It went completely dark and she went blind but it did not stop her from running. She closed her eyes and ran to the wide crossroad ahead as if it was the final destination of her long marathon. She almost made it to the crossroad, nearly reached it. She ran straight into the other silhouette and hit something relatively hard against her head. A strong pair of arms held her together it was too tight a grip which made her jump back, but the arms around her didn't seem to budge.

Mirajane looked up with panic-filled eyes, she couldn't see who it was. Slowly the clouds that blocked the moonlight passed and the world was lit by the beautiful moonlight once again.

She could see a charming, most admirable, enchanting smile she had ever seen on the face of the person still holding her. His copper platinum pointy hair looked like a beautiful twinkling crown. His golden eyes are locked in a gaze with Mira's. She was dumbstruck and her heart was still racing now it wasn't for running but for whole other reason entirely. "Are you alright? Can you stand?" his voice was as smooth as singing a lullaby. "why were you running so fast? I hope you know how dangerous it is to run around when it's dark", he looked concerned. "I'm um- I'm sorry I was-" she paused suddenly realizing that she was being chased until now and she turned around, she didn't find anything there. She scanned the whole alley in search of the strange silhouette. There was nothing but the unfamiliar alley and silent night. 'was I imagining it? am I hallucinating? maybe I made up the whole thing in my head. But it wouldn't feel so real if it was just an illusion. it wasn't an illusion definitely. I'm sure I was chased by someone but-! wait for a sec., is he still holding me? and he is holding tight? this is embarrassing!' she could feel her face was starting to feel warm and flushed. Watching her embarrassment, he finally let go of her. "thank you, I'm alright. I was just lost and um- anyways thank you for catching me", she lowered her head as she thanked him. "my name is Michael, Michael Josse. Pleased to meet you", he introduced himself raising his hand towards her. She took his hand into a courteous handshake, "I am Mirajane" she was very blunt in her introduction. Michael seemed to notice her confusion and smiled gallantly, "Let's go, I'll walk you home". His sudden gesture made her take a step back, "N-no! no thank you very much, I can walk home myself. I don't want to be troublesome". Michael didn't actually seem to care about her opinion as he took her hand gently and began walking. 'Wow! he doesn't even bother considering my opinion. But his hand is so big and warm, I don't know but I just feel safe and secure with him. what the hell am I thinking- no matter who it is, I can't possibly take him to my home? I must not let my guard down just because he looks charming. Don't fall for charm Mira. Don't let your guard down, "umm- Michael, I know you are trying to be considerate of me but I can't let-".' Her words were cut off by his soft solicitous tone, " my conscience wouldn't let me leave a pretty lady at this time of hour, so let's just go". Mira said nothing, something about Michael said that she could trust him but her intuition was dominant then. They walked hand in hand for a while when she spoke in a sheepishly squeaking voice, "Michael, I agree to go with you maybe now is a good time to let my hand loose?". Michael's grip on her hand became suddenly loose as she sneaked a peek at his profile, his ears were red when he turned his face to hide his embarrassment. She began smiling at his behavior, "what are you grinning at?" he asked pouting. "nothing at all", she said as she continued to smile. They approached a boulevard when she stopped in her tracks, "what's wrong? Is everything alright?" he looked back as he asked. "I think this is enough, my home is on the backstreet so I can go from here. Thank you very much for taking me here and I'm really sorry for being a burden". He shrugged his shoulders and smiled at her, "I don't blame you for not trusting me to go until your home, in fact, I'm impressed by your awareness. Anyways see you around then. I hope we can have a proper meeting next time". "Sorry about the trouble and good night", 'see you around eh? so I'll be seeing more of him then? hehe! kinda make me feel warm when I think about him'.

Mirajane takes a turn into the backstreet and marches proudly towards her home, a sense of accomplishment took over her as she saw her home from the street. I"Im home" she yelled cheerfully into the empty house as she stepped in.

The lights to her apartment turn on, a pair of glowing grey eyes becomes sharp as it stared at her house from a distance. it's hair flowing across it's preying grey eyes, the harshness of the wind nor the iciness of the night was strong enough to bestir the looming creature. Narrowing it's icy stare, "so this is the one eh? what a pain in the ass to have to deal with women! I hope it's not me who pops out of it". Giving another cold eye towards her, who is now sitting on her couch and eating, the creature pushed it's hind legs and jumped into the sky, and out of the darkness of the night, the majestic black wings flipped wide open on either side. With one powerful stroke of its large wings, it flew vertically upwards and out of sight within a flash sending a gush of wind all the way to her apartment. Her hair flew as the wind hit her, she stood up and walked up to her window to look outside. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, she closed her open window and reclaimed her seat on her couch.

Another day at work without Levi around, she was sent to an allied company for a meeting with a few international guests. Levi was surprisingly good at making deals and very persuasive. 'maybe it's because she is from Kayla family, they have a huge business and company that's been in their family for generations. She may have a born talent for all this. But it's still too good at setting deals and always, always turns out to be in her favor'. Mira grins as she feels proud of her friend, so it's just her desk and her work. Her work seems to take less time than they usually do, the rest of the day was off. Mira sets off on her own to a café she always visits.

It was surprising when she realized that she was thinking about Michael until she reached the café. 'what is wrong with me? I know he is definitely hot and handsome but c'mon Mira you are being too hung up over some random fellow you met in the middle of an eerie night! Levi had brought up matters such as "fateful encounter" and "destiny playing it's part" when she heard about Michael from Mira this morning, even though Mira had rejected the idea at first, it was in fact pushed at the back of her mind and no it just kept on popping up no matter how hard she tried to ignore it.

Chuckling to herself she sat in her favorite spot near the wide glass window in front of the café with the view of the traffic on the boulevard.

Mirajane met her old friend Violet, she was her café mate ,both the girls enjoyed each other's random company, in the corner of her eye she saw something rushing towards her, her eyes went wide as she turned her head towards the highway to see that it was not visible, the glass beside her was shattered into a million pieces as a dusty old camo wrapped Jeep jarred into the café. Everything went blank, she couldn't understand what exactly happened. Her eyes were closed and she expected huge damage to herself, she was right in front of the glass and in the path of the impact. She became sure that she might have been crushed in between and 'so this is it eh? my life is gone within a flash. I'm gonna die if not already dead, damn I never imagined my life to end this sudden, I think I might have a panic attack! but hey, I'm dead I don't have to worry about panic attacks. Oh shit! I why doesn't it hurt? oh, dear! I must have had an instant death to not feel any pain. What an easy way to die! owwww!!!!' something hit her head hard bringing her back to reality, she opened her eyes in pain.

Mira was bewildered as the scene unfolded in front of her. She was on the floor and had hit her head hard on the table beside her, she couldn't hear any noise, she turned around and saw people shouting but she couldn't hear them. It was petrifying silence, a chill ran down her spine and she couldn't move. Her head felt warm and wet, she didn't seem to grasp the situation and sat there frozen to her place.

She stared at the Jeep and the shattered glass and a bright red liquid on the floor below the Jeep, she could make out a hand sticking out of the rubble. She still couldn't hear anything, she was just there, not moving a muscle. Her eyes were fixed on the hand that was sticking out beneath the pile of rubble, tears filling her eyes, and she had forgotten how to breathe. Bright red blood painted her pale face on her side. "Mira!" from a distance she heard someone calling out for her. "Mirajane! Can you hear me?", a warm strong pair of hands were touching her shoulders, she still couldn't move or talk. "Mirajane? Look at me. Can you hear me? Talk to me.", she felt warmness flowing through her, snapping out of that daunting silence. "y-yes! it's me. I am..., um- my coffee, I-... ordered my coffee and I-i dint g-get it yet", she clearly couldn't make out what was happening with her nor who the person beside her was. It was too much for her to handle, she looked again at the hand that was sticking out. She got up to her feet with the help of the person who woke her up, she stretched out her hand towards the wreckage in front of her. "Hey! where are you going?", the voice of the person seemed to stop her in her tracks as she laid her entire body weight on the person. "That person! that hand. She is Violet, her boyfriend gave her that bracelet. She needs help, she is stuck and there is blood. She is in trouble, right? Blood and not moving means trouble, even a little kid knows that. i-I should go help her. She is- ", her words go unsaid as she falls towards the ground. Her body is still unable to overcome the trauma gave up on her.

Without a second loss, she was raised into the air by the same pair of strong arms. This time she did not fail to look at him, "M-Michael? what-what are you doing here?". "Just relax alright. Everything is gonna be fine, you just need to go to sleep. I will be here, so lay back and relax", his voice was soothing and nonchalant. Mira had no energy in her to argue otherwise. She leaned closer to his chest and placed her head on his shoulders drifting to relentless slumber.

'Oww, my head hurts. what the hell? why does it hurt so much?' Opening her eyes, she gazes up towards a familiar ceiling. "I'm home?", she sounds confused. She tries to get up from her bed, "don't move just yet. You need more rest unless you want to kill yourself", the sturdy rough voice wasn't easy to forget. "Jin? why? what are you doing here?", her voice sounded more surprised than she thought. Jin walked up to her bedside and sat down on her bed, he caressed her flushed cheek with his gentle fingers as he smirked, "my princess here couldn't take care of herself and even after getting herself nearly killed she wants to act tough, how can I leave someone this dumb and beautiful alone at this time?". ' "Um- thank you?", I'm not sure if it's a compliment. It did sound like he was worried about me and yet it didn't. "but Jin why are you really here? I mean how did I get here? what happened? oh, that's right, where is Michael?", she shot rapid questions at him. "He is here because I called him, I need little help to get you back to your place and cover up the hospital charges. And don't fall for his flattery. Jin, get out.", Levi spoke up as she appeared from behind the door that seemed closed when Jin entered.

Levi pushed Jin aside ignoring his protest and sat beside Mira, "you are one lucky girl you know. well, don't beat your head over what happened. Drunken driver and accidents are not that unusual, no casualties though. So go back to sleep and take good rest and STOP WORRYING. Alright?", her voice was demanding but it gave all the answers she was looking for. She gave a weak smile to Levi as she slipped into her covers and went back to sleep thinking 'what happened to Violet? I saw her crushed under, how can there be no casualties?'

Night at the railway station, Mira was waiting just like others for the train when she got a call from Levi, she has a habit of wandering around while talking with someone she likes. as expected she missed her train and she didn't care.

She was still on the call when the crowd started to move out quickly and people started shouting. She panicked and looked around and found a tall guy in a black hoodie holding a knife, he was walking like a zombie and drooling from his mouth, he let out a loud growl which made a small girl near him scream in terror. No one knew what was happening, everyone was running around and crashing into each other, his eyes were black completely and inhumane. He was gazing right through the large crowd into Mira's eyes. She felt the cold, piercing gaze which froze her in her spot, she always has poor reflexes for danger. 'what the hell is wrong with him? why are his eyes so black? why is he staring at me? is he coming towards me?' only questions seemed to have been shooting into her head, he began lurching towards her with the sharp sparkling knife in his hand. He gave out another growl which seemed like he was trying to say something, he growled again making the words clearer "g-give.... give it-.. to mme..give it to me!". She knew she had to run, he was coming for her and she was just as confused as she could, 'Mira run! I have to run and now. why do my legs feel so heavy? I should run, run Mira'.

She did not lose her eye contact with the man meandering towards her. She couldn't break it, it was as if he had compelled her to just stand there. Someone pushed past her snapping her out of the compulsion. Her adrenaline seemed to start having an effect now, she ran.

She was out of the underground railway station and out to the back alley. She suddenly stopped in her tracks. Her eyes went wide when she saw a man standing right in front of her. He was there a few inches away from her, drooling mouth and black eye drilling holes through her soul. He gave out the same growl, " give it to me" it was clearer this time than before. "w-what do you want?... what do you want from me?" she finally squeezed the words you of her mouth while gasping for air. "give me... give it to me!", "what the hell is it? what do you what? money?", she was losing it. She was scared of her wits and now she was frustrated. He just stared at her for a while, "give me.... the book!", " what book? I don't have any book, you have got the wrong person. I am not carrying any book with me", she spoke with her eyes scanning her surroundings to plan her escape from this lunatic. He came threateningly close to her as she took a few steps back. He swung his knife at her gazed her arm when she turned around and began running deeper into the alley.

The blood was dripping from her cut arm, the wound wasn't much deep but it was unknowingly very painful. She put pressure on her bleeding arm with her other hand as she ran. It was her biggest mistake to take the alley, she ran into the wall in front of her. "a dead end? are you kidding me?" she didn't have much choice right now. She turned around to find him raising his knife and swung down at her, 'oh my god! oh my god! I am going to die, crap... I don't want to die. please, someone, save me... please... I don't want to die' she closed her eyes as she prayed for a miracle.

A loud bang made her open her eyes and see a black jacket in front of her, a man, a man with a black jacket stood right in front of her with his back to her. And she wasn't sure who it was and she hears something snarled in pain a few feet away from her. She saw the guy from earlier laying down with the trash can over him. "Are you hurt?", the voice seemed to come from the man in front of her. "W-who are...you?" she stammered as her body was shaking in fear.

"Stop stammering, you look pathetic" he sounded mad at her. "now, now easy there tough guy. We know you are mad for getting chosen and coming out instead of us but be nice to the lady, she has just gone through a lot", a familiar voice came out of the shadows. She couldn't forget the chestnut hair and light brown eyes, "Jin? Jin..what are you doing here?", she was surprised to see him at a place like this. "Hey sweetie, sorry I am late. Are you okay? Did that jerk hurt you?", Jin bent over to help her get up. "Of course she is hurt, are you blind or what Jin?", this time it was a melodious voice which she had heard before, not sure where tho.

Another person walked out of the shadows, those emerald eyes, same as the one she had seen somewhere. He moved his hands through his auburn hair and smiled at her, "yo! we meet again". His cheerful voice and his smile reminded her, "you are the guy from the library, that day" she said standing up with help of Jin. "I am Gray. Nice to officially meet you, love", 'he sounds a lot like Jin', she chuckled at the thought-feeling more relaxed. "Introductions later! Aren't you all forgetting something?", the rough voice of the man in the black jacket made her body tense. "Looks like someone jealous of stealing their thuuunnnnder", Jin's comment made Gray burst out laughing. "Why don't you do everyone a favor by either getting rid of the free spirit or shutting your mouth Jin?", the man in the black jacket was right in front of Mira and Jin. She could then make out his silky black hair and ponytailed long strands of hair in the back flying with the wind and mesmerizing blue eyes with little gray streaks in them. He gave out a rather cold aura which made Mira take a step back in fear.

"Mitsuki you are scaring her, why don't you finish the job you are actually assigned to do?", Gray walked in to defend her from Mitsuki's cold and dangerous aura. "It's not my job until the pactum is completed. I'd rather- ", Mitsuki stopped mid-sentence and in a flash was pinning down the attacker who was racing towards them, throwing his knife away and then Mitsuki placed his right hand on the forehead of the attacker and murmured, "et liberabo eas vincula rupisse fingunt".

Mitsuki stood up from the pile of ashes around him, dusting them away from his clothes. Mira could not understand what just happened, she was standing there and blinking blankly. "What the hell just happened? where did that guy go? what did you do? who are you? what is happening here", she was a lot more confused and lost. 'Nothing here made sense, Jin was here and the guy from the library was here and also someone whom I never met is here and they are talking to each other as though they are friends for a very long time. And some random attacked her and now he was gone. He just turned into ashes right in front of me. Is that even possible?' she thought if this was all one weird dream that she would wake up from. The pain in her arm was enough proof that it was all real.

MIRAJANE'S POV

I stood there, in the middle of the night, with strangers around me talking among themselves as if I am invisible. The temperature around me had dropped significantly that make me shiver, or maybe not, maybe I am shivering because I am afraid. "Hey Mirajane, are you here?", Jin's concerned voice snapped me out of a trance.

"Can we not make this night any longer and get this over with?", Mitsuki had a razor-sharp tongue and it somehow annoyed me now. What is his problem anyway? I want to go home, away from him and away from all this mess. "Could you take out the book for a second?", Gray walked towards me with his stretched out hand. It confused me a lot more than anything, "now you are asking the same thing? I don't know where the hell this goddamned book is. I don't know what book you all are talking about. Believe me, I would throw any stupid book on his face if I had any" I erupted unable to control my anger and frustration any longer. "Alright love, I believe you. Now, why don't you just open your bag and have a look?" Gray stepped in front of me to help.

I have to show them that I don't have anything remotely signifying a book like in my bag. I opened the zip and showed the contents of the bag, that should serve them right.

I felt three pairs of eyes staring at me. Jin looked unreadable, on the other hand, Gray gave a self-satisfied grin and Mitsuki looked more irritated. "Why are you staring at me like that?" I frowned. Mitsuki came closer and pulled out a book from my bag. How in the world did that get in my bag? It was a black book, nothing special about it, but it did look very familiar. "You look a lot confused, my dear. Let me explain it to you more clearly" Jin took my hand in his, trying to calm me down.

"This book is known 'sacrum librum De anima', all you have to do is just spill your blood on it and get the pactum done with", he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. As soon as I heard the word 'blood' nothing else entered my mind. These people are crazy what the hell does he mean my blood? are they going to kill me? I have to get away from these people. NOW!

I took a step back from them. "J-just leave me alone, okay? I don't want anything to do with this sacum luvim and my blood" I began to panic and take a few more steps away. "Firstly, it's sacrum librum De anima and secondly, Jin what made you think you are the best person to explain anything?", Gray pushed Jin away from me and walked towards me, "Mirajane, I'm sorry but Jin is just kidding and he doesn't go well with human humor just like his sister", Gray threw dagger stares at Jin and looked sincerely sorry towards me. But it was still too much for me. I was still not grasping anything that's happening.

"Listen, woman, I don't have time to be considerate. Your life is in danger and you will be killed anytime and anywhere unless I protect you. The world that you know of has changed and now you no longer live in a world of peace or shit whatever you humans used to call it. So finish the pactum and let me protect you and do my job and so that you can live in this pathetic world for a few more months. Got it?", Mitsuki just threw these words at me. He must be joking, he is definitely joking. And these people are crazy.

Without another glance at any one of them, I turn my heels and run out of this freaking place. I heard Mitsuki cursing and Gray shouting at him. I don't care who they are or what they are, they are just out of their freaking minds. What the hell is happening in my life? I just want to go home. I don't understand why their crazy talk affected me so much that my eyes are blurred and tears are pouring out.

I lost my balance and I was pulled backward, someone had grabbed my t-shirt collar and yanked me backward. Just in time, I saw a sharp knife flying to the spot I stood a few seconds ago. Mitsuki flew in front of me and kicked the knife back to where it came from which was apparently nowhere, but I heard a loud grunt from afar and this time it was a woman, she looked just as scary as the man from before, black eyes and drooling. She just stood there with the knife sticking out from her head, the knife Mitsuki had kicked went straight to her head and hit her but she didn't seem to be affected by that at all and her face covered in blood as she just stared at me even though I was hidden behind Mitsuki and Jin, who just arrived and Gray holding me up.

She growled in the middle of the silent, dark, cold night adding to its eeriness, I haven't noticed this daunting silence of the night before. It wasn't pleasant, it wasn't a normal night. Something about the air felt different, why didn't I notice it before? there is some kind of transparent blanket over the sky. The usual warmth of the bright moon was gone and it felt empty and scary and all I could hear was labored breathing with low growls of the woman in front of me and the smell of the blood dripping from her open wound in the head. She pulled out the knife that was stuck in her head with ease, which made me nauseous at the sight of blood streaming from her head. It was like a freaking zombie movie in 6D.

"et liberabo eas vincula rupisse fingunt", I heard someone say the words and in a blink of an eye the woman in front of me was no more, I saw the ashes again. "Three of you! all three of you are here and can't handle a single assignment? you bring disgrace to our cult, shame on you three. And how dare you scare her like that?", I know this voice I wonder it sounded so familiar. Before I could see who it was, I knew who it was and I jumped onto her and hugged her tightly and felt the tension that had built up in my body release as quickly as possible. "oh my god Levi!!! I am really really really happy to see you here. Thank you so much, thank you fo- " before I could finish my sentence I realized, "what are you doing here and how do you know these people?" I wasn't sure whom to trust right now. If I remember correctly, she just spoke to them about an assignment and bring shame on something.

She sighed and spoke softly, "Mira, sweetie, they are my idiotic brothers and I'm sorry I didn't tell you all of this before but please listen to me first before you freak out okay?". "Hmph good luck with that", Mitsuki rolled his eyes. I began to hate this guy, even though he saved my life more than once on the same night, I still hate him.

"Levi, tell me everything that's going on. What were you hiding before? and I won't freak out" I stressed on the last part eyeing Mitsuki. I don't want to give him the satisfaction that he was right, I don't know why but it annoyed me.

"good girl, so boys secure the area while we have a little chat", Levi ordered the rest of them, and they went in different directions. For a second I expected some kind of argument but they capitulate her orders. That was surprising. "Now, please promise me that you will listen to me completely", and I give a nod in response.

"We aren't exactly humans as you think, the world that you now know is nothing but a part of a much bigger world, we are known as the diaboli, apud Cor of cult Cuore. And we are the guardians of the sacrum librum de anima and it's owner, you" before she could continue I interrupted, "translation Levi, I don't understand a thing here". She seemed to ignore my interruption and just continued, "There are other creatures unlike us who want you dead just because of the fact that you are the current owner of the anima, the black book. The ones that are on top of the list are the anguli, especially angeli absque corde. The angels without heart. They want you dead. Lucky for us that it's not all angels behind your life, it's just one for now. And you cannot protect yourself from inhuman creatures, so we have to protect you. In order to do so, you have to make a contract with one of us via the book. But you cannot choose whom you contact with, it's left for the fate to decide. As much as I want to be the one to protect you and watch over you, I cannot now that Mitsuki is the one", she sounded quite irritated by the time she finished her so-called 'explanation' which got me nowhere, in fact, it added fuel to my confusion.

The most basic question came to my mind, "by angels you don't mean, the angels, right?". "If you are asking the angels the one who protects and told to be followers of God, then yes it's them. They think the book is evil and it must be destroyed at any cost and the humans in possession of the book are considered evil-born according to them. Now let me tell you one thing, the sense of justice, what's right and wrong, morale and beliefs which you hold in your world aren't true in this. And also before you ask, I don't know why the book chooses you and I don't know why it was Mitsuki who had to contract with you, and I cannot change any of that. No one can", she thought those would be my questions? hell no! "what are you?", this was the question I had. "Devils from the cult Cuore", she shrugged her shoulders as if it's the commonest thing in the world. "The devils? you mean like rulers of hell, devils?", I open my eyes wide in surprise. Levi sighed, "like I said, your beliefs are not true in this world. The angels are good and devils are bad, it's not that simple here. And I'm sorry I am unable to explain them in detail now. But what you should know now is that you have to complete the pactum with Mitsuki as soon as possible. Trust me Mirajane, you should do it to protect yourself. There isn't much time, the three of them have put up a barrier for us to talk without being heard. The angeli is much more powerful than us and they can identify the devils in a human form unlike us. We cannot see them but we can somehow sense them. And without the contract, Mitsuki will not be in his full power to protect you. Once the bond is made and pactum is completed, he can come to you within seconds and can sense your danger as soon as you feel it. And even if he isn't at his max, he will be much more powerful than he is now. You just have to use a few drops of your blood". "I don't understand, I hate him and he hates me. How can I trust my life to him?", it wasn't the only question in my mind but I had to prioritize right now. "He will protect with his life, it's his job and his mission and for a diaboli, it's the most important thing more than his life, the angeli doesn't know completely about sacrum librum de anima, and they want to unlock the mystery to destroy it, we cannot let them know the process of pactum and the boys are taking care of that right now. As soon as they come, we will get the pactum done asap. Do you understand me?", she gets up from her place which I didn't even realize I was sitting until now.

"Levi, I know you don't have time but please tell me so I have a choice in this right now? to back out?", I didn't understand what was happening to me. I don't agree with her even if she was my best friend. I wanted more time and more information, but something was telling me it was alright. I had to get the contract done first and everything else later. But why do I feel that? why do I feel like I am being compelled into doing it? "Mirajane, the attack on you has already begun, today was not the first time. The car crash at the café wasn't just an accident. and if Mitsuki wasn't there to save your life that day pulling away from the glass window, who knows what would have happened. So please don't make any more delay and get this over with, will you?", she said. Now I finally understand what happened that day, I always wondered how I was a few feet away from the car crash when I was supposed to be in the middle of it. It was Mitsuki who saved my life that day. I didn't even know him then. I thought it was Michael, but he is just someone who happens to be there coincidentally.

"Are you ready?", Mitsuki asked walking in our direction followed by Gray and Jin. "I am so not okay for any of it. I hate to be a part of this, I just want a normal life. And I hate you, even though you have saved my life and everything I ever know is all messed up. So NO! I am not ready....." I avert my eyes towards the ground and spoke up again, "but I'm sure I'm gonna die without even knowing what's happening if I don't sign the contract with you. So I will do it. And Jin, don't ever come to explain anything to me ever again". " You are not signing a marriage contract with me so stop saying it as if it's the end of the world. It's a pactum. Just spill few drops if your blood here and I will take of other things" saying this Mitsuki stood in front of me and opened the black book. I remember it was the same book I saw in the library basement that day. The black book with empty pages. It still looked empty when he opened it in front of me.

I didn't have to make any new cuts as I had one already given as a gift by my zombie friend.

I sprinkled my blood on the plain white sheets of the book which was quickly followed by a lot more blood from Mitsuki who had now cut his palm. And I stood there and watched, the blood was sucked into the pages as if it were a sponge and then strange red lines seemed to appear in-between the pages and drew a big circle with six weirdly drawn symbols and three more symbols drawn inside with another circle in the center. There are few inscriptions all over them which doesn't look legible. And with time the symbol became more and more complex and the symbols individually began to glow, all nine of them.

Before disappearing, it gave out a little spark and vanished in the silent night. I am not quite sure what was happening as all I could see was the weird circle in front of me even though it had disappeared.

¤¤¤

Mira's eyes were engraved with the circle of vincula fatorum. She stood there like a statue with her eyes recording something. The sacrum librum De anima in Mitsuki's hand began to fade away and as soon as it completely dispersed, she fell forward onto Mitsuki's arms as he caught her falling body, she was cold and did not move and her eyes had the circle and she was staring into space.

The pactum was complete and the bond was made, but will the fate lets the bond stay strong or breaks it, is yet unknown.

Mira's POV

My head feels heavy and something is pricking my eyes. I slowly open my eyes and close it as soon as I did, it was so damn bright in the room. I always hated the idea of early bright mornings, I always felt like I was one among the nocturnalists.

I have a feeling that I am forgetting something. I snap open my eyes when the memories of last night streamlined altogether. I shot up from my bed. Wait for a second, how am I in my bed? I was outside, how did I end up here? my gaze averted to my arm which was hurt last night. It's must have been infected if I don't clean it properly. I searched. I searched for the wound in my arm. NOTHING. I mean it's not there? I remember getting cut, and my blood flowed and it hurt and it's not a wound that would be healed overnight. It just doesn't make any sense. Was it a dream? it couldn't have been. I dialed Levi, she was the one who could explain it to me.

❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋

She directly calls Levi but it goes to her voicemail. She doesn't have much choice but to confront her at work. Mirajane gets ready as usual and leaves her home for work. Makes her way to the familiar route.

"I knew I would find you somewhere around here, how are you feeling today?",  a melodious voice came behind her. Those golden eyes, copper platinum pointy hair are not something anyone could forget easily. "Micheal? hey-Hi, what are you doing here?", she squeaked in surprise. "I'm waiting to meet you of course, after the accident, I didn't get to see how you were doing and I checked with the hospital but you were gone. I was kinda worried about you, I had no means to reach you", he obviously looks concerned. "What accident? wait, how did you know about it? so you know what happened last night?", she looked at him with confused eyes. "Mirajane, I'm talking about the accident at the cafe a couple of days back, I took you to the hospital remember? and when I came back to check on you, you were gone", his eyes narrowed as he continued, "by the way, what happened last night? Are you hurt? You look really tired".

'I actually dreamt about it last night, nothing happened and it wasn't Mitsuki who saved me and it was Micheal, this is the truth and everything that happened last night must be a dream, it has to be', "Micheal, so you were the one who saved me, right?", she was just so much confused that she wanted to elucidate it again. "I carried you out of the awful sight and took you to the hospital even before the ambulance arrived and you didn't even remember that?", he frowned. "I'm so sorry, I'm just not feeling good today and I had a really disturbing dream last night and I didn't sleep well", she confessed losing the patience to come up with something else. "You must be rather very much tired if you didn't recognize my sarcasm, and also call me Mike, and can I get your number? I would love to ask you out on a date", he said nonchalantly.

"Uh-huh! A date? With me?", she was questioning him. "I don't see anyone else here, do you...see anyone else?", he sounded like he was enjoying her confused tone. "Um, I'm sorry, again, Mike, dial your number here and I'll send you a mail to it", Mira took out her phone and handed it to Mike. "Alright, here you go, all done. And I'll see you on our date. Take care of yourself, okay?", waving at her, he took off in a different direction.

Mira searched for Levi everywhere in the office but she was nowhere to be found. 'She still hasn't come back from her brother's place, I missed her too much and maybe the other guys in the dream, was just my mind, messing with me. That is the only logical explanation for what happened the night before. I must be hallucinating or maybe delusional or maybe being too much paranoid or I think I should stop watching any more stupid movies.' her nerves began to relax more. And she put aside all her confusion and thoughts for that moment. 

"Mirajane, you have a visitor waiting in the lobby", Sarah informed her, she is one of Mira's old colleagues.

"Sorry for the wrong notice dear, the deets are a little different, you have a delivery, not a visitor. I don't know why but he looked like someone visiting you", said a worried old receptionist at the lobby.

On the side of the box,

The Kayla collaboration,

West Rosewood street,

fragile

Handle with care

'So it is from Levi, why did she send it from the company and not her? maybe it is from Jin? what would he send me?', she was too busy, to open it then and there. She carried on with her work.

She carried the parcel all the way to her home without getting a chance to open it. At the front door, she struggled to dig into her bag to search for her keys and holding the parcel on another hand. She got the keys when the door to her apartment swung open, she stood there frozen with keys, her bag and parcel everything balanced in her hands and eyes wide.

"Get in, kawe, what took you so long?", the blue-grey eyes piercing through her, at her apartment door stood a tall, black-haired man. She was dumbstruck, she recognized the face. She knew who he was. She dropped everything she was holding including the parcel when her head began to throb.

The parcel box slipped through, she was staring at him. It was just when the box hit the floor, something felt warm at her feet. She watched him in confusion when he jumped at her and she couldn't even move, it felt as if, she was standing like a statue and he was moving slowly, or rather he was moving too fast for her to react. He jumped at her which made her fall back but she didn't. She was moving back along with him, he held her in his arms and flew straight into the wall on the opposite side of the door. That's when she heard, an ear-deafening sound and heat from not far away but from her apartment door a few steps ahead. The sound of the blast was blocked as soon as it happened, she opened her closed eyes and she was facing the man who held her against his chest but he was staring intensely the door with one arm outstretched towards it and she couldn't believe what she saw.

A foggy white mist emitted from his palm and she turned around to have a look at what just happened near the door. There stood a ball of fire right in the middle of the doorway which was trying to break free from the sphere that held it in the place. The sphere was made from the same foggy white mist, it was trying to contain the blast that just happened and it did not block the heat completely. It was too hot and her head hurt because of the sound of the blast before, 'I must not pass out now, .... cannot pass out, I have to stay awake' she was chanting this to prevent herself from losing consciousness. It was bearly clinging on.

In a flash, the blast that contained in the sphere of mist vanished. The walls near the door and the floor were covered with black ashes. The way to her apartment looked like a badly burnt down haunted house. The force with which he had rammed into the wall was so great that they were pinned to the wall. She was still there, with her back against his chest, a couple of feet away from the disaster that took place.

"Are you alright?", he asked her while trying to get her back to her feet. She was more lost than ever, "what are you doing? why are you here? who...who are you?".

"Geez, kawe, you are so annoying. Don't tell me you forget the people you meet within a day", he sounded more annoyed than her. "No, it's not true, I dreamt about you last night. It was a dream it did not really happen. Levi a-and Jin, Gray and you were all a part of my dream. And you are not real. I am just hallucinating, even now", she pushed him away and stepped back. Looking around and puzzled, she wasn't sure if she was in some kind of nightmare, if it was, then now is the time to wake up.

It's him, the guy with blue-grey eyes, black hair with long strands ponytailed at the back. "Mitsuki?", she was unable to process any of it. She was on her knees, with her head in her hands, she could not bear the throbbing pain in her head, "No-no this cannot be happening. It was... it was just a dream,.......why would it be real? so what happened last night....was, all of it, true? But...but I don't have,.... why would Levi send me something that dangerous, what was in that box?... why did Jin send it anyway?.... Mitsuki, why are you here?.... Do you want to kill--.....", before she could finish, she heard, "somnum".

Everything around her went black.

A long , long time ago....

Haziel slammed open the huge golden door of the meeting room leaving the 22 holy saints of Avalon speechless.

"Raffaello, you need to learn to keep your underlings under control", Ariel shouted from across the antique mahogany table. "Ariel, no one here is anyone's underling. But Raffaello, I need you to make Haziel understand the seriousness of the situation. We all know the ironclad rules of the angels and devils and it must not be broken under any circumstances. And mind you, Azazel will be punished and banished from the Avalon and nothing will stop this from happening", the stern voice of the chancellor of Avalon, Metetron made everyone in the room frown. " I understand, Chancellor, I will make sure Haziel does not create any more problems", Raffaello bowed down his head as a sign to leave the room politely.

Haziel had known Azazel as long as he can remember, among Angeli apud Cor, Azazel was the one how recognized Haziel and took him under his wing, Haziel always looked up to Azazel like a father. Though Azazel was not one of the four guardian angels, he was treated as one by Haziel. Both Azazel and Haziel belong to the group lead by Raffaello, the angel of physical and emotional healing, Lord of West.

"The meeting is adjourned until further notice is issued", the chancellor stood up from his chair and left the room followed by five of the other angels under him. The meeting room was soon vacated except for two angels who did not get up from their places, "why would Azazel do something like that? did you know anything about it?", Rochelle asked her best friend, who seemed to be lost in thought, " Mitch, what are you thinking? Did you know something about this?", Rochelle's voice snapped him out. "Roch, I need to do something. I'll meet you later", he took off without even listening to what she had to say.

Mitch left the room towards Summo Turrim, one of the named towers of Avalon, all along thinking hard about what had happened. He walked into the tower and he stood on the huge wooden block, it looked no different than a normal block of wood, except for the markings engraved on the edges. The markings seemed to have made in a very delicate manner with sharp and clear curves, stood in the middle of the tower top, Mitch uttered, "portas caeli aperuit", a light gush of air from the top of the tower made his platinum silvery long hair flutter, followed by dense fog covering the floor. A golden beam of rays from the roof of the tower on the wooden block he was standing on, the engraved wood began to shine as the light-filled the tall tower.

Mitch flew with his huge silver wings which looked very similar to his long platinum silvery hair cascading behind him. The wind was cold and harsh on the skin but he was indifferent as nothing like that could harm an angel of his rank. "Mitch, wait up," a voice from a distance reached him, he stopped midair and turned towards the familiar yet annoying voice, "I'm not going to tell you anything, Roch. Go back, I don't want you involved in any of this. Just get going", Mitch was more irritated. Rochelle stood midair a few feet away, both their wings flapping to keep them afloat.

"I'm not asking you anything, I'm here to back you up, count me in. Whatever it is", she smiled. She is a kind who doesn't leave her friend no matter the situation. She is always loyal and trustworthy. And she always stood by his side and helped him in every possible way. The thought of a friend standing up to him and supporting him, even if it means banishment from their world gave him a sense of ease and took away the fear and guilt that had built up inside. "semper fidelis", he smiled at her.

Two angles flew across the cold and dark ice land. The color of the sky began to lighten into a unique shade of blue mixed with a pinch of saffron spreading across the horizon signaling the sunrise. Rochelle was more excited at the view, it was her first time flying out of Avalon. She flew close to the ground, flapping her golden majestic wings, which was said to be the most beautiful wings all of Avalon.

"Stay low, we are going to meet someone and she is a human so you know what to do", Mitch landed as he spoke and his wings broke apart into millions of tiny pieces behind him and disappeared. His clothes changed and his long platinum silver hair cut short. He looked more human now, and so did Rochelle.

There was a small cottage that stood in the middle of a tamed meadow, with fences all around. They went through the stone walkway across the field and came in front of a door. Mitch gave a gentle knock on the door, which opened slowly. A woman past her twenties with jet black hair braided beautifully came up till her waist, her mesmerizing blue eyes added a unique beauty to her face. "Who are you?", her voice was as melodious as it could get even though she sounded confused. " Sorry for the intrusion Ms. Pura, I am Michahel Josse and this is Rochelle Rochel, we are..um... we are friends of Azazel. And...we are here to inform you that Azazel has passed away due to an uncertain accident when he was at work. I-I.. thought you should know and pray for his soul".

The sun was shining brightly over their heads as the two walked on an empty mountainside. None of them had breathed a word since they walked out of the small cottage. "That woman was the reason why Azazel is banished from the Avalon. He is a fallen angel because of her", Mitch finally broke the silence. " Amor omnia vincit", said Rochelle letting out a long sigh. "No, he did not fall in love with her if that what you think", Mitch interrupted her thoughts. " What exactly happened? what did he do? Did he not break the rule by falling in love with a human?", Rochelle began questioning him. He wanted to avoid this conversation as much as possible but she deserved to know what happened as she is the one who stood by his side. "There is more than one ironclad rule of angels and devils, he broke the rule not by falling in love with her, which he never did but he broke it by giving his powers to her", said Mitch stopping at the cliff of the mountain which they were climbing for quite a while. He sat down at the edge of the mountain. "I.. I don't understand", Rochelle sat down beside him.

"Azazel was sent to the world of living to track down Asmodeus, he received a piece of news about the devil of lust roaming freely on terra and hurting humans by calling it a hunting game. When Asmodeus met Pura, he was thinking a lot more than killing her. And when he realized Azazel was behind him, he ambushed him using Pura. Azazel was down and he did not have any other ways to save her except to give her all of his powers. He had to do his duty to protect the human no matter the consequence. Pura doesn't know he was an angel, she just thought of him as someone who saved her", Mitch sounded depressed and unhappy.

" But.. is it worth it? Is saving one human life worth his immortal life? I think he was stupid enough to fall for the trap and lose everything that mattered the most to him", said Rochelle. "Always remember Roch, no matter what the rules are, following your own sense of justice and doing the right thing for the people is what that matters the most for those who are called the protectors of humanity. Even if its a child your sense of justice should not be wavered by that. I personally admire his guts, not everyone in Avalon gets the courage to do what he did".

"If you agree with him then why are you insisting on capturing him? And I believe that you ain't one of the angel absque corde to act heartless", Rochelle's words dug deep into him. He is unsure of what he is doing, " I said I admire him and I didn't say I agree with what he did. And also I have my reasons and I am loyal to the 22. I have my job to do and I will make sure I complete it".

"You are one twisted angel, aren't you? this is what happens if you stay close to the angeli absque corde more than us", Rochelle got up to leave, " and I know why you told Pura that Azazel was dead, you are getting more emotional and playing along both sides will get you killed someday. You must make a choice, the sooner the better, and also... I think I will be coming here more often I guess, thanks for taking me with you", saying Rochelle took off from the cliff with her golden wings wide open from her back.

The search for Azazel's whereabouts went on for many centuries but ended with no clues to be found and the 22 holy saints of Avalon gave up on him. He is of no further importance to anyone as he lacks any powers of the angels. But the life for him will be even more difficult, the Avalon is gone, danger still lurks as the 12 Mephistophelian of Abaddon never lost the track of their enemy. With the powers of an angel lost, Azazel doesn't stand a chance against the devils of the Abaddon. No one knows if he is still alive or has the devils killed him. The story of the fallen angel, Azazel is yet incomplete.

On the other side of the world, Pura protected herself from Asmodeus for many years. But he doesn't seem to give up on her. Even with the powers of an angel she was too delicate and did not like violence. She thought about taking her own life to get away from the pain and suffering. Asmodeus threatened to seal her soul in the Abaddon and bind her with him, which make things even more difficult for Pura. She was not allowed to die and it was even more difficult to live.

A couple of years later, a man with greatness and purest of heart entered her life. She always thought he was a man sent to her by the heavens to put an end to her misery. Both of them fell deeply in love with each other. Myles promised to kill Asmodeus for her and only then can they truly be together. Myles had unnatural strength and his intelligence was more than an average human. His supernatural strength and knowledge put him at an advantage in the battle against Asmodeus.

But no matter how strong he is, he is still a human and he can not possibly defeat a heartless devil with shear strength without losing anything. Facing Asmodeus, devil of lust, face to face, Myles spent all of his energy to protect himself from the monstrous creature in front of him. He was fighting a losing battle, for days the battle continued between an immortal and a mortal. He was said to be the only human who has ever stood up against supernatural creatures for so long.

It was a sure victory for Asmodeus but Myles never gave up on trying hard and fighting for the woman he loved. Watching him go through so much pain for her, Pura finally realized her weakness and she wanted to become strong. She stepped in to save her lover. Fighting both wasn't that difficult for Asmodeus but he began to feel the pressure against him. It wasn't just Pura's powers and Myles's strength but it was some other power playing its role. The power of love, the power that was generated by the love that the couple shared for each other, added as a booster and quickly changed the face of the battle.

When Asmodeus reached the final stage of his immortal life, "you human, he who cannot defeat me with his strength alone and asked for the help of his beloved is the worst of all kind and your puny life holds no meaning. You are not worthy of her and you are not worthy to stay alive. I curse you for a life of that you seek to destroy and live forever as a devil that you hate so much and death should be something that you should pray for every day of your immortal devil life. You should beg someone to kill you and end your pathetic life, I curse your family, your children, who are yet to be born, to be a devil homed in Abaddon and a happy life that you always craved for will forever be a dream that will not come true", the devil cursed Myles in his final breath.

The battle ended with victory to the one who was once human. The curse immediately came into effect but Myles continued to live in the human world.

Nothing seemed to change ever since he was cursed. Myles married Pura and was blessed for a happy life, Pura always believed that happiness comes to those who are worthy and they deserved to be happy and no devil can take their happiness away from them. They are responsible for their life. The happy couple lived in bless and they forgot all about the curse when the time flew.

A human with the power and heart of an angel lived with a devil who was once a human but a devil with heart, diaboli apud cor.

Years later, the happy couple gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, the moment of the birth of the baby boy, it was heard...

The gong of the clock was heard so loud that the world woke up, no one knew where it came from. It was too loud to know if it was even a gong of a clock. It felt like the earth was split open by the earthquake. The birds flying in the blue sky scattered throughout the sky, the cattle in the meadow went crazy and began struggling to free itself from the constraints, it was just like a catastrophe had struck the Earth.

The clock, clepsydrae is an ancient clock in the realm of supernatural where it's powers are bound by none and has its own power to reactivate and can be stopped by neither the angles nor the devils. The ticking of the clepsydra is marked as the beginning of a war and will not be stopped until it's finished. It was heard throughout terra, Avalon, Abaddon, and fatherland. This is the beginning of what will be called a war of the millennia. All the creatures of the supernatural realm, including 42 holy saints of Avalon, the 12 Mephistophelian of Abaddon, Anzu of the fatherland, knew it was the time of war. A war between the forces not known, but the preparation for the war had begun everywhere.

Myles and Pura knew better than anyone to go into hiding. As soon as the gong was heard, Myles took his wife and newborn son away into hiding. They went to a land not yet discovered.

The boy had his mother's beautiful face but his father's light brown eyes and dark brown hair. The perfect baby loved and protected by his parents shows no signs of being a devil. But deep inside Myles and Pura both knew that this child was nothing like a normal human child. The eyes of the baby sparkled with wisdom and he was destined for greatness. The parents took it upon themselves to protect this child for as long as possible. Their fear that the child might become a devil stayed fresh in their minds.

The boy turned two when he was told that he would be getting a baby brother.

The world had become a chaotic place and it had been two years since the war had started. The war was fought between every known creature who posed a threat to one another. There was no talk about a peace treaty or a pact. It was just war and fighting and killing.

The small family of three had escaped the war and stayed in hiding for two years in peace. The night of the birth of the second son of Pura and Myles, everything changed. The gong was heard yet again, every creature was confused. What in the world was happening? Clepsydrae has struck again, the same noise that was heard two years ago, marking the beginning of the war, was heard yet again throwing everyone in the war zone into further panic. No one knew why it ticked again. The world became even more chaotic and some described it as an apocalypse.

The cottage in which Pura gave birth to another beautiful son was struck by lightning and caught on fire. Myles managed to pull out everyone safely. They did not have time to breathe as soon as they got out, they were surrounded by an army in black with violet cloaks. It was difficult to see if they were a human army or an army of the supernatural. Pura was weakened by childbirth and it was up to Myles to protect his family. He stood in front of the family to face the attackers, right next to him, with little feet stood his two-year-old son to fight along with his father, determination, and power he saw in his two-year-old son gave him the strength to face the enemy. The little boy wanted to fight for his mother and baby brother.

In front of the army, came a man removing his armor, his silhouette was bigger than a giant, his face had unique markings below his right eye. A pair of horns came out of his temples and stood five inches long. Apollyon also known as Satan, the arch-fiend stood in front of the family. He smirked at the sight of desperation the family was undergoing, he raised his hand in the air, "Flectere si nequero superos, acheronta movebo".

Under the lightening sky, the roar of the thunder shook the very earth everyone stood on.

In the middle of nowhere was a cottage burning and there sat a woman in her labor clothes alone, the rain pouring down on her, cleaning the blood in her clothes. She sat there unable to move, she was frozen in the place. Her husband and her son who stood right in front of her eyes a minute ago were no longer there, and her child who was just entered the world was gone, disappeared into nothingness. Empty space crept around her, she was left alone in the world. Her family she intended to protect had faded into the abyss. She could no longer hear the roar of the threatening thunder, nor could she feel the ice-cold rain piercing through her skin, she neither shouted nor cried. She just sat there staring into nothingness and her hands still gesturing holding the baby that once warmed her hands. Everything she treasure, everything she lived for, everyone she cared about, everyone she knew, everyone she loved was snatched from her in a heartbeat. Her heart stopped beating. She collapsed on the wet, hard Earth and the last drop of her tear came rolling down her eyes and disappeared just like her family.

♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢.

It was a rainy day and it's been a couple of days since the bombing at her home. Mira met Mitsuki who was her protector bound by a magical contract through a weird book that appeared to be with her and then vanished. She took the time to process the fact that what happened that night near the train station was real. The only reason she was able to adapt so quickly is that her best friend was there to help her.

She went out of her bedroom into the kitchen to make herself some breakfast, she shrieked on top of her lungs when she saw someone standing in her kitchen, "when does your yelling stop?", said Mitsuki turning around to face her. It has been many days since Mitsuki started staying at her house, but she was still not used to his presence there. "And when will you stop living here as a freeloader, you freak. Go find your place to stay", she replied with her hands still on her chest to calm her racing heart. She turned on the induction to cook her breakfast. "I have made egg scrambles, it's on the table, go have it and clean it up yourself", he said in his usual annoying tone. " What are you? my mum? Go to hell. I can make my own breakfast and I hate eggs in the morning", the annoyance between the two seem to be growing by the second.

"This is soooo not working, what in the hell was Levi thinking, we can never stay under one roof. We are like fire and ice", Mira pulled her hair irritated. This had become a daily routine to fight with each other.

Wherever she went he followed, indifferent to the glances that were cast at them, he was emotionless and insensitive. He followed her to her work, restaurants and even meetings held on a private suite. She often heard, " is he your boyfriend?", "he is a crazy stalker, isn't he?", " he looks so hostile", "why does your bodyguard have a dangerous aura around him", "Mira, he is way too handsome for you, maybe I should have a go at him", "why would the boss let an outsider walk about with one of his employees?" , "he looks like he is gonna kill you more than protecting you", " why is he always with you?", it was a nightmare.

He was emotionless to the comments he heard and completely ignored them but that wasn't the case with her. Her life was so peaceful and it became utterly miserable with Mitsuki around. She avoided as many confrontations as possible, she did not have answers for them. All she managed to say was, "Ummm--", it was an epic failure. She wanted to ask the same questions, but it was Levi who spoke with everyone and convinced them to let Mitsuki go everywhere Mira went. But it did not stop the arrows of questions aimed at her because of his presence.

" Levi, this is not working, it's way too much for him to follow me around, literally. I need my space and time, and I am always agitated because of him. You should make amends here, it's not working like that," Mira had to make it clear to Levi and get this sorted out before it became a mess.

Mitsuki stays at her place but he won't follow her around but she has to get home before the sunsets, it was peak time for the attacks to take place. This much was decided.

In those days with the devils, she understood many things about the new world she had entered. In fact, forced to enter, but it was still a mystery as to why the book had presented to her. The devils she is with is called the cuore cult. It is one of the few cults of Abaddon which come under diaboli, apud Cor. The members of the cuore cult are Levi, Jin, Gray, and Mitsuki.

There are few more cults who are similar to the cuore, they are, Mefy cult, Kaim cult, Liaison cult, Querida cult to name a few who are devils with heart.

They are often in the Abaddon and take turns to enter the terra, which is the living world. They have a supreme power which rules all over the Abaddon called Mephistophelian, there are 12 of them, calling them 'the 12 Mephistophelian of Abaddonn'. They are the most powerful devils in Abaddon.

Among the 12, five of them belong to diaboli, apud cor and the rest are as ruthless as they can be. The book, sacrum librum de anima, holds more power than any creature in the whole of the supernatural world but its powers cannot be tamed by any creature. The anima itself acts like a person while welding the power and does not let anything or anyone control it.

The people attacking Mira is not actually people, they are what is called the free spirits, they are easy to control and powerful for destruction. They are usually under the command of the angels and they have a special power over the free spirits. No devil can control or use them. The free spirits are one of the things that devils hate.

During this time, she learned a lot more about her pactum, the circle of vincula fatorum. The devil protects the human, this was what she was told when the pactum was made but there is a catch, the devil protects the human, in return, there is something that the human must offer to the devil.

"Wh----what did you just say..??", Mira yelled at Gray, who came by to fill in the gaps of the details of the pactum which was felt out.

"what the hell do you mean by offering? You don't mean a sacrifice? No, wait..!!! You really don't mean that you will take my soul? NO! THAT IS ABSOLUTELY NOT HAPPENING. I will not obey your demand, I will not sell my soul to a devil. I WILL NOT give up on my soul going to heaven and being stuck with a devil. I can not let..".

"who on Earth would take a mindless clumsy soul like yours, kawe", Mitsuki spatted at her overwhelming imagination.

"So its not my soul you want?", Mira sounded relieved.

"Just shut up and listen to Gray", Mitsuke snapped at her.

"Mirajane, you should first stop watching too many dramatic movies. No one asked for your soul and the offer that you should make will be asked by the devil who will be protecting you", Gray said nonchalantly.

She swallowed hard when she realized the weight of what Gray meant and she slowly looked at Mitsuki, who was now giving out a scheming, devilish smirk.

She was dumbstruck, 'he will be the end of me, thinking of getting attacked by the free spirits would be better than him.'.

"Gray is there by any chance I can change the devil in charge of my protection, I would like to take any one of you except for him. Forget the free spirits, he will kill me one day", she said moving away from grinning Mitsuki.

"There is no one in the world who could protect you better than him, and do not take the pactum lightly Mirajane", Gray sounded serious this time. "Anywho, I would love to be with you and protect you but trust me when I tell you this, Mitsuki is a paragon, better you make peace with it".

There are perks of the circle of vincule fatorum, one of which is what scientists fascinate about calling it telepathic communication. In the world of the supernatural, this ability is shared between the two creatures of the pactum called 'mentem addicere'. They can share their mind and communicate with each other. But only for a limited period of time. This ability draws energy from the devil and his life force.

Mira's brain went haywire because of too much information related to some other world.

"I need to get some fresh air. I definitely need a break right now. And you don't have to follow me", she glared at Mitsuki.

She went out to have a casual stroll along the streets, it was a warm evening.

"Fancy seeing you here", a handsome platinum silver pointy-haired man stood in front of her.

"Mike, hey..., haha, why do I always find you on the streets?", she exclaimed with her heart racing, she did have a crush on him but did not accept it.

"well, I am a street person if you like it", Mike joked along. Both of them, walked down a few blocks chatting and laughing. Mira pleasantly enjoyed his company.

"you are so much better than someone I know. And I like to spend time with you.", 'crap, there you go, right on the mark, I just said the most embarrassing thing out loud and now I want to dig a hole in the ground and bury myself', Mira's face began turning bright red out of embarrassment. She did not dare to look at him after her weird confession.

"haha, Mike there is a bright light on the middle of the road that's so amazing right, and ohhh look there are unusually many numbers of cars moving on the road, there aren't always that many. It looks a little crowded don't you think, yeah it does look a lot crowded. Its too crowded, or can I say rowdily crowded, hahaha", 'perfect Mira, you just made it even more obvious, someone please kill me right now', she had now turned bright red.

"it is like we are on a date now, I like to spend time with you too, let me buy you dinner. I know a good restaurant around the corner", said Mike discreetly, taking her hand in his and leading the way. She embarrassment was washed away immediately, was he being considerate or did he really like her? She asked this question in her mind along the way.

"It was a perfect date, don't you think", said Mike walking back to her home.

" I would have dressed better than my trousers for a date you know", Mira was in her PJs and was obviously embarrassed to have gone out with her crush who looked absolutely perfect in his casual jacket with a slim fit T-shirt and contrasting jeans.

"I rather prefer you like this than your formal attire", said Mike in a low voice. She clearly liked what he said. Any woman would fall for words like that. It was a classic pickup line. Pure textbook.

They reached the corner of their road, "the third building you see there, on the fifth floor is my apartment", she said. Mike did not say anything, he rather stood in his place looking straight in the direction of her apartment. She was confused by his behaviors, all of a sudden he looked serious and staring intently at her house.

His expression darkens, "I have to go, see you around".

He swiftly turned around in the direction which they had walked and disappeared around the crossroad. She stood there staring in the direction he went, completely lost. 'what the hell happened just now? Everything was perfect a few minutes ago. Did he not like this place? He looked scary before he left'.

"Hey, what are you doing standing in the middle of the road, trying to get yourself killed", Mitsuki spoke in his usual tone while walking towards her.

"huh?", she was still lost in thoughts, "get your ass into the house before its too late", his harsh words snapped her back to reality.

"Gee, yes, mum", she cussed at him.

"you do realize I hate you right?" she said.

"And do you think I am madly in love with a pig-like you, kawe", he replied curtly.

She was in an empty room, she stood right in the middle of the huge empty room. She couldn't tell the size of the room as it was too dark to see anything. She could look at her hands and her body but nothing else around her. She walked forward, and the path she took began to brighten and the rest was still dark. She turned around and her eyes went wide to see her actual body still standing in the middle of the room, she looked down at her body, her hands were translucent, and she couldn't see her legs. She began to freak out, she looked closely at her actual body and saw her eyes were empty and her cheek was bleeding and there was a pattern made. Someone had cut her cheeks with a sharp blade to draw that pattern. She began to take a few steps away from her body. She ran, she ran away from her body which scared her the most, she ran as if someone or something was chasing her. She was confused as to where she was.

She saw a door, banged it open and entered a brightly lit room and closed the door behind her. She was out of breath. In the room, there was a most beautiful dining table with candles stood in the middle. The food on the table still looked hot and looked delicious, she sat down in one of the seats to rest for a while.

She smelled something rotten, the food on the table rapidly began to rot, within seconds the room turned dim and the delicious-looking food had gone bad and began to smell like rotten flesh. The next thing she heard made her heart leap out of her chest, footsteps followed by the noise of metal scraping against the floor. The sound echoed throughout the room and she couldn't make out exactly where it was coming from and the dining table had disappeared.

"w-who is there?...... Who are you?", she yelled at nothing in particular. She looked around her eyes scanning anything and everything that could be within her sight.

All of a sudden the room went Sunbright and she closed her eyes in response. Slowly opening her eyes to get adjusted to the brightness, she saw a bright source of light, a figure made out of fire standing in front of her holding a long spear which looked like it was made of something hotter than fire, lava perhaps. She did not have time to react when the lava spear came riding through the air with force into her chest.

Pain, there was so much pain and her flesh burnt, the smell of her flesh burning was very strong and she couldn't move, 'someone... Someone, please... Please help me... It hurts, It hurts so much. Help me... Please help'.

The sky was clear and the stars twinkling in the night sky like a brilliant bulb lit on a dark velvety cloth. There were many more this night. It looked as if the stars had come to visit earth for a party. Mitsuki sat on the terrace of her house, which had become his usual place of the venture at night. He enjoyed his time alone, and always preferred to stay there rather than to stay with a human downstairs. He spent time watching the stars which he missed so much as the place he came from does not have stars.

'help me... It hurts, It hurts so much. Help me... Please help' he heard, in his mind, he felt a stab in his chest and pain exploded throughout his body and he knew in a heartbeat what it was. He vanished from that place and appeared in front of her room.

He kicked open her close door and saw Mira lying in her bed. She was sweating so much that her pillow was soaked wet, her hand clutching her chest and growling in pain. He knew how painful it felt as he was feeling the exact same thing. "Hey, wake up. Mirajane, You should wake up now.", Mitsuki shouted.

"Why are you doing this? Please stop, it hurts, it's hurting me", Mira was on her knees now with the spear still in her chest and burning down her soul. The figure in the fire did not move and then slowly withdrew the spear while rotating its hand. "don't... don't do that. Please... Stop...", she cried. "...ke up... Mirajane, you should wake up, its a dream, wake up", she heard a voice in her head yelling at her. She was in too much pain to think about it, 'this doesn't look like a dream when it hurts so much'.

Someone took her hand and pulled her off the floor and away from the fire figure, she turned to see a black figure with glowing grey eyes.

She was now sitting straight in her bed. She was panting, "what happened? What the hell just happened? It hurt like bloody hell. What was that exactly?", she stammered and cried.

Mitsuki sat next to her and wiped her tears away, "Don't cry, it is my fault to let them near you, I did not protect your mind from them".

"what do you mean? Do you know who did it?", she asked.

"I knew they would invade your dreams if they couldn't reach you at home. I have cast a spell on your home and no supernatural being can enter it without my permission. So the angels, they are doing it, finding a way to reach out to you even when you are placed inside the barrier. They took control of your mind. But don't worry, I have sealed off your mind and they cannot do it again, and..... I'm sorry", Mitsuki sounded sad and depressed.

It was the first time ever since they met, to see Mitsuki like this. He nothing but arrogant and emotionless. This was the first time he had called her name and showed any kind of emotion.

"I promise you, that I will not let anything like this happen under my watch. Now, you can go back to sleep and let me take care of the wet pillows and mattress. Stay put I'll get you new ones", he stood up and went out of the room. She didn't say anything, what he said before he left seemed more like what he told to himself than to her.

Her opinion about him changed a little that night. And she understood the depth of the situation she was in. She is not safe in her own house and she has to be more careful, her life could end in a split second.

Mitsuki left her home a few hours after she fell asleep and re-enforced the barrier he had placed on her house and the seal on her mind. It was a couple of more hours to dawn, he walked down the dark street and stopped when he heard someone behind him.

"I thought you would never leave her, but here you are. I am almost surprised", said a voice walking closer to Mitsuki.

" I could smell you miles away, I am here to warn you, stay the hell away from her. Do you understand?", Mitsuki growled.

"And I am scared", laughed the man who now stood right in front of the Mitsuki, with platinum silver hair shining in the dark.

"you were smart to put up a high level of barrier to the house, it would hurt me if I came near it and I would have exposed myself. But that pissed me off you know, so I gave both of you a little gift. I hope you liked it", Micheal raised his finger and touched Mitsuki's chest in the same place that hurt before.

Instantly Mitsuki's eyes glowed deep gray and swing his hands fiercely at Micheal who dodged it easily.

"You are mad, aren't you? Well, I'm glad to know I could get on your nerves so easily. Let's see how well you could protect her", he smirked at glowing Mitsuki.

Micheal turned to leave, "oh I almost forgot, your naive little girl is dating the person who wants her dead. And I'm gonna meet her again... Very soon". He vanished right where he stood, he did not have to hide his powers in front of another supernatural creature.

Mitsuki clutched his hands in frustration, his nails dug deep into his hand, blood dripped down his fists. He has no way to stop her from going out with him.

There are rules, ironclad rules between angels and devils, the very first one, which bluntly put, not to reveal the identity of any angels or devils to humans until they do it themselves. And it must never be broken under any circumstance unless you want to declare war against each other. But the war has already started a while now but neither of them had made the first move. The silence before the war is eerie and too quiet, like the stillness before the storm. Who is going to fight in the war, who will be the victims of this war and how much will the people have to suffer this time, no one knows what exactly will happen to the world.

"You are letting her go out with him?", Levi yelled through her phone at Mitsuki, who was standing in front of a bay window, gazing outside.

"I know we aren't supposed to tell her anything about him but at least we can stop her from going out with him, why aren't you concerned about this?", she continued to pump him for an explanation.

"Stop yelling, you do realize that he will not hurt her directly in his human form, he has to do it obliquely, he is an angel after all. She is safe as long as she is with him in public", he said impetuously.

"You do have a plan, right, Mitsuki. I don't care what it is as long as she is not harmed, that's all I ask of you. I have to go...., Bael wants to talk to me, they are asking me about the whereabouts of anima, I think it has started. It's chaotic out there and I'll be out for some time so please take care of her for me, alright?", she hung up as soon as she heard reassurance from Mitsuki.

Bael, also known as the first spirit, one of the 12 Mephistophelian of Abaddon has been appointed to collect the details of sacrum librum de anima. The anima is a source of an untapped pure power that can become a deleterious weapon for the Abaddon which could be used during the ongoing war. But the anima, as told before, does not let any creature to control its power. It is yet untamed, making it the most dangerous source of power to all the worlds.

"Hey, I know you will be going to meet a friend of yours, and I want to remind you that we have mentem addicere, so if by any chance you get in trouble just reach out, okay?", Mitsuki said politely, he was less arrogant and more desperate to do his job. "you can be polite, wow, that's so weird", Mira chuckled at his tone, "yeah, I know, the mind-reading stuff. And don't worry I'll be fine. Mike is a good guy, he saved my life a few times. So chill out", she shrugged her shoulders as if it was nothing.

Mitsuki grows impatient by the minute, he doesn't want to let her go, "I wouldn't care less about whom you go out with, but why don't you stay at home tonight? I just don't think its a good idea to go with.... never mind, just go. And I'll pick you up after dinner", he abruptly said.

"Hey, what the hell! I'm going on a date not for a school function to *pick me up after dinner* that sounds so stupid. I told you I would call you if there is any trouble, isn't that enough for you?", she sounded mad.

"Whatever, just go. And I am dragging your ass back here if I feel anything. I don't want my job to be any more annoying than it already is", he muttered.

Mira walked towards Mike, who was waiting for her near the entrance of a huge shopping mall. The restaurant was located in a large shopping mall in the city about 30 minutes away from her home. The restaurant is on the 18th floor and offers a nice open sky view. It was a gorgeous restaurant. The couple took their time to have a magnificent dinner.

"Mira, why don't you tell me more about yourself. I hardly know your complete name. I am curious about you", Mike said in a low voice as he paid the bill for their dinner. Her phone was running continuously all evening ever since she started having dinner. She indeed ignored it because it was from the most annoying person she ever met.

It was a cool night and the wind blew softly against her bare shoulders, she brought her hands closer to her chest. They were now walking along the pavement to open ground. Before she took another step, Mike took out his coat and draped it around her cold shoulders.

" Thanks, I didn't think it would be so cold", she said pulling his coat tighter.

"anyways as I was saying my *complete* name is Mirajane Rochel, and I live alone. I don't know who my mother is and it's been years since I spoke to my dad. I don't think I can recognize him even if I see him now", she stopped in her tracks and turned to him. Mike was frozen in his spot behind her and his face looked painted with sorrow and guilt.

" Quite depressing, isn't it? Such a mood killer, I know. I don't wanna talk about it, honestly", she said lowering her head down.

"I have to go, I'm sorry but could you please go back on your own or call your friend to take you home?", he said taking a few steps back before he ran off to the dark streets, he did not wait for her to answer.

She was dumbstruck, " what is wrong with him? how dare he just leave me out in the open like that, is he crazy? I am sooooo done with him!... We are soooo done, do you hear me, Mike?", she screamed in a deserted street.

"This stupid jacket, trying to be all chivalrous and cool but you are an ass, you know that", she fiercely removed his jacket and threw it on the floor and gave a good satisfying stomp, then walked furiously stomping each step and cursing him.

The wind became suddenly strong and it pushed her forward, " whoa, what the---", she swallowed the rest of her sentence when she saw her surroundings had turned pitch black. She was on a red alert right now, she looked around rather calmly assessing her every move. She heard a weird noise behind her back, and she swung around in reflex to find a blue streak shot right at her and she told her body to move but it was too late, the blue arrow-like went right through her arm tearing her skin apart, followed by a loud scream she let out. It hurt really bad, the wound had blue flames that were burning her skin. It was just like how it was in the dream but this one was real. She hit hard on the ground, wailing in pain.

She began sweating and her eyes were filled with tears, she heard loud footsteps coming towards her. She looked around in agony only to find six to ten people surrounding her with sharp weapons in their hands and empty eyes and drooling.

The free spirits.

She was terrified, the sight was too disturbing for her to think. She was on her knees and blood dripping from her arm soaking her pretty date dress, lost all the hopes of living. In that final moment when she thought she would die, only one name came to her mind, which even surprised her, 'MITSUKI...HELP'.

✾✾✾

The moment Mira stepped out of the house, he had become restless and walking around the house aimlessly, wondering what would be happening. She was an idiot when it comes to keeping her own safety and he knew it. He did not want to screw up his job like his last mission. It had been centuries since he was called out for protection. Most of the time it was either Gray or Jin who would come to Terra for a job.

The last job Mitsuki took had left him traumatized in a way, and it was responsible for his current rude behavior and detachment.

Mitsuki punched the wall of the house in frustration of what happened then. He did not want to feel the pain he felt back then. He stays as much detached from people as possible to escape the pain he had once felt. Even after the centuries had passed since it happened, he was still not healed from the pain he felt. The vision of the little boy's final moment and the scream he last heard stayed fresh in his mind. He had failed his mission then, and no matter what he did to repent for his lack of strength he never came to forgive himself for what happened that day. And he blames himself for that day. He doesn't want to face that situation again now that he was given a chance to protect a human again after centuries.

"I should have gone with her, it's useless to wait around here for her to call me. I know Micheal won't let her go just like that. I'm just being stupid, it's my job to protect her and must go to her, and now", he thought. He tried to call her but it went unanswered continuously. He put on his jacket and left the home to go to her.

The wind became unnaturally strong and his senses were alerted of the change and he began to increase his pace.

" if that idiot doesn't call for me, I can't find her. what the hell is she doing now?", he shouted at himself and began running. His arm began to hurt very badly, and his skin was torn apart out of blue and--,

"MITSUKI...HELP". Finally, she came through. A smile crept on his face and he vanished into thin air.