Marveled, the four of us openly stare at the rare sight in front of us. As I get a better look, I discover that one of the angel's wings is broken. Without a second thought, I jump up and head over to the injured angel.
"Are you okay?" I ask as I slowly creep over to the angel on the floor.
"Who are you? What do you want?" the angel asks. His voice is full of irritation. He seems on edge but at the same time doesn't seem to care.
"My name is Viola Winter," I answer crouching down in front of the angel. "I was in the forest when I heard a loud crash. Was that you?"
The angel scoffs and averts his gaze from mine. "Why would you care? It's not like anyone is going to believe what I say."
An angel becomes a fallen angel when the Sky Council deems that the angel has done something wrong. The angel in question will stand trial and prove his or her point that he or she has done nothing wrong. Sadly, the Sky Council has final verdict despite any evidence that is given. When the angel is deemed guilty, he loses his angelic blessing which gives him the power to fly into Eshea's Sky District and his wings slowly fade into black.
The sudden drop from the Sky District must have shocked him, and the fallen angel couldn't compose himself fast enough to recover. Whatever trial this fallen angel was facing, it appears he didn't win. Even so, he is adamant that he didn't do anything wrong which means that he's either lying or telling the truth.
"Can you tell me your name?" I ask, trying to make eye contact.
The fallen angel crosses his legs and slouches down onto the floor holding his head in his hand. "Michelangelo but everyone calls me 'Michael' for short."
"Okay, Michael. Are you hungry?"
Surprised by the strange question, the fallen angel glances down at me without moving his head. "Why are you asking me that?"
"It's only right to treat guests to a meal if they visit during meal hours," I reply innocently smiling.
"You don't even know who I am. Why would you trust a stranger in your house? Besides, shouldn't your parents be making that call to feed guests in the first place?"
I stand up in front of the fallen angel and firmly stare down at him catching his attention. "I know who you are," I say laughing. "You are Michelangelo. A fallen angel who happened to land in my forest. Do you happen to know who I am?"
"How should I know?" he responds with an attitude.
Putting one hand on my hip with the other stretched out to the fallen angel, I warmly gaze at the man in front of me. "I'm Viola Winter. Head of the Winter Family. I'm the one in charge here, so I get the final say. Let me ask you again. Are you hungry?"
He tries to hide it, but the fallen angel's stomach gives him away. "Maybe just a little," he mutters, avoiding my eyes. He takes my hand, and I help him stand back up.
I gesture over to the door where my four aides are now standing. "These four will escort us to the main house where we will have a late dinner," I kindly announce. "Before we have dinner, you must wash up first. You are covered in dirt and leaves, and no one wants to eat in that kind of state."
The fallen angel blushes when he sees me smiling but looks away and crosses his arms. "You don't have to tell me that I'm dirty, you know? I already knew that, but I didn't want to sound rude since you're offering to feed me," Michael presumptuously says.
I couldn't help but laugh at his childish nature. However, I have to face the fact that he is a fallen angel. It is very rare for there to be fallen angels since one would have had to be accused of doing something extremely heinous or harmful in order to get a guilty verdict. Whatever it is that he was accused of, I have to find out if he will be a danger or an asset to this family.
—
"Is the food good, Michael?" I ask as I prepare another forkful of spaghetti.
Without the least bit of restraint, the fallen angel digs into the food set out in front of him. "This food tastes better than what we eat in the Sky District!" he exclaims, gobbling down food spoonful after spoonful.
"My Lady, is it really okay to let him eat freely like this?" Alex whispers into my ear.
I observe the Delic, Isaac, and Xander, and they all seem to be having the same thoughts.
"Well, seeing how he is eating now, it seems like he hasn't eaten a proper meal in a long while," I respond back. "If I didn't do anything, he could have ravaged the pantry for food." I glance over at Michael who appears to be having a drink break. "Do you have any plans after this, Michael?"
The fallen angel looks up at me confused. "Not really. Why?"
"I would like to have a talk with you while the others are cleaning up. Will that be okay?"
"I mean, sure, I guess so. I don't have anywhere to be," Michael says as he wipes his mouth with the tissue.
After everyone finishes their dinner, Delic and the twins clear out the plates and cups as they carefully pack the leftovers. Isaac guides me over to my office desk and pushes in my seat. I motion for Michael to sit in the chair on the other side of the desk. Once Michael is seated and comfortable, I change my demeanor from harmless to serious, and Michael feels the sudden pressure from my eyes.
"Do you know why I asked to speak to you, Michael?" I question as I clasp my hands together on my lap.
"I didn't at first, but judging from how you're looking, you probably want to know how I ended up like this," Michael answers, trying to match my pressure.
"Well then, I can skip the small talk and ask directly. Why were you thrown out of the Sky District? Depending on your answer, I will determine whether to have you killed or not."
Michael doesn't answer at first. He kind of fidgets a bit, but he appears to be trying to think it out. "I didn't do it," he whispers to himself.
"You need to speak louder, Michael," I demand, leaking some of my cold aura around him.
"I didn't do it!" Michael yells slightly shivering from the cold air.
"What is it that you are claiming you didn't do?" I continue to press.
"I was accused of abandoning my partner and running from my mission."
I rescind my aura and lean over the table. "I'm going to need you to elaborate."
Michael begins to explain that he was a part of a teenage spy operative that the Sky Council was secretly creating without the mayor's knowledge. Their mission was to investigate the wrongdoings towards children outside of the city. The operative split the teenagers into pairs and gave each pair an organization to investigate.
Michael and his partner were assigned to observe the Black Snow organization who have been kidnapping children all over the Northern Country. However, both of them were captured. It wasn't too long after that Black Snow overheard one of Michael and his partner's conversations and discovered that they were undercover spies.
During the heated battle to escape and free some of the children, Michael's partner was tangled in a net that was thrown on her. He tried to free her, but some of the members of Black Snow were closing in on them, so his partner told him to leave her and escape with the kids. Michael didn't have the heart to leave her behind, but she finally convinced him to go.
When he arrived back in the Sky District, Michael was charged with abandoning his partner. He was thrown in a holding cell for several days with only bread and water until his trial. Michael did his best to try and convince the Sky Council that he didn't want to leave his partner, but no one believed him. In the end, he was found guilty on charges of reckless abandonment and mentally incapable of performing duties.
"I did everything I could, but with no evidence, I couldn't prove my innocence," Michael finishes feeling mixed emotions of sadness and anger.
"Ah! I remember you!" Isaac claims from beside me. "You and your partner were in the cages across from me. When you tried to free everyone, I was one of the first few cages you two unlocked. I was already a good way away from you all, but when I turned around to see if you were behind me, you were trying to get your partner free from the net. When you ran away from your partner, I went back to try and get her loose, but we both ended up captured again along with some of the slower children."
"So that was your dark figure that ran past me? Did this girl purchase you from them?! Are you a slave owner?! Are the other three also slaves you bought?! You filthy child!! You disgrace!!"
Michael stands up and attempts to hit me.
"I would watch your mouth if I were you," Delic threatens as he holds one of the table knives to Michael's throat.
Seething, Xander stands in front of me to block Michael's path. "How dare you insult our master that way."
"My Lady would never stoop to those lowly creatures' level," Alex defends using his water chains to restrain Michael's lifted hand to hold it back.
I stand from my chair and walk over to stand in front of Michael. He tries to look down at me but struggles a bit since Delic has him trapped by the knife.
"Now you look here," I start in an intimidatingly calm tone as I am already upset by his sudden accusations. "I am not a slave owner and never will be one. Those who work for me chose to by their own freewill. They also have the option to leave if they wish to do so. I have shown you great hospitality and was willing to listen to your story with no judgements, and this is how you respond. Jumping to conclusions just because a former slave you failed to free stands in front of you. It would be in your best interest to calm down and sit before one of my men accidentally hurt you. Do I make myself clear?"
Michael slowly nods his head so that he doesn't get cut from the knife. I wave my hand for Delic and Alex to release Michael from their hold in which they promptly do so. Michael falls onto his chair weak from the trap he found himself in. I hop on top of the desk to sit and cross my arms. I glare down at him lifting his gaze with a flick of my foot.
"Do you have anything you want to say?" I ask as I proceed to stare into Michael's eyes.
"I'm-I'm sorry for disrespecting you, Viola," Michael stammers, wanting to break eye contact but scared it will have horrible consequences.
"That's Lady Viola," Isaac asserts from the other side of the desk with an angry look on his face. "When you are in the Young Lady's presence, you will address her as such."
"S-sorry. My apologies, L-Lady Viola," Michael whimpers, tempted to shrink away.
I hop off the desk and bend over to be eye level with the fallen angel. I put on my brightest smile and ask, "Would you like our help to prove your innocence?"
"What?"
I walk back over to my chair and sit down resting my elbows on the desk. "I'm asking if you want to continue having a false charge on you or if you want to prove to everyone that they are wrong?"
"But why would you do that for me? I have greatly disrespected you and your men. Wouldn't you normally kick someone out or even kill him for something like that?" Michael questions as the onset of utter confusion jumbles up his mind.
"Mmmm... maybe any other mafia or organization would, but I have a different set of morals. A stranger today is an ally tomorrow," I respond with a wink.
Dumbfounded, Michael sinks deeper into his chair. "What on earth did I fall into?"
Since it is already late, I have Isaac prepare the second bed in his room for Michael to sleep in. It does seem kind of funny to have a vampire and an angel sleep in the same room together, but I doubt that there will be any problems. The twins get me ready for bed, and Delic organizes my table for tomorrow's delegation of paper signing. After a long evening, we say our good nights and drift off to sleep.
The next morning comes with its own set of problems. Isaac and Xander get me ready in the morning while Alex and Delic help the cooks prepare breakfast, so there was no one to watch Michael. I know Michael isn't a little kid, if anything he looks a bit older than me, but I still didn't want him wandering around the estate and surprising everyone. Basically everyone that works for me is human aside from my four personal aids and the dark elf village, and even though they are used to interacting with other races, it still surprises them to find other non-human races on the estate.
I didn't have much time to scan the estate since I had morning practice with Edward and the twins, so I had Isaac look for Michael despite his loud pleas to stay with me and have Delic search. It surprisingly didn't take long for Isaac to find Michael, though. He was just sitting in the trees next to the training hall.
Edward awards us a short break since the twins and I were able to successfully kick through five boards of wood that were suspended twenty feet in the air. I skip over to where Delic, Isaac, and Michael are sitting and drip from the water bottle that Delic handed me.
"You are surprisingly strong, Lady Viola," Michael compliments as he tries to find the courage to make eye contact.
"Well, of course she is!" Delic jumps and excitedly yells. "Master is stronger than any of us aides which is why we desire to serve her!"
"Now, now, Delic," I say as I drag Delic's arm to make him sit down. "I'm not as strong as I want to be, but I am strong enough to hold my own."
Xander takes a long drink from his water bottle and wipes the sweat from his face, "The first time we met, I challenged Master to a sparring match before Alex and I decided to serve under her. It's sad to say that I lost miserably." Xander laughs and scratches his cheek.
"You should have seen her fight a couple months ago. She battled against a girl who had a specialized glove containing the superhuman strength of ten dark elves," Alex adds on. "I couldn't do anything but watch it unfold, but, man, Lady Viola really fought hard with the help of Delic and his wolf pack."
"Really?!" Isaac shouts jumping up and down. "You wouldn't expect the Young Lady to have such fighting prowess in such a small body."
"Eh? I wouldn't mind serving a master like that," Michael responds after listening to their stories.
"Then why don't you?" Isaac asks as he points over to me. "Why not serve Lady Viola? You just said you wouldn't mind right? Plus, she said that she is going to help you prove your innocence. Shouldn't you try to repay her for her generosity?"
Michael looks over at me. I shrug my arms and say, "It is up to you if you want to serve me. If you serve me for the purpose of repaying me, then you are free to quit once I prove your innocence."
"Unless you end up like us who were in the same arrangement and decide to continue serving the Young Lady," Alex jokes as he nudges his older brother.
Michael thinks it over for a little bit. Edward calls the twins and me back over to the floor to continue our training, but right before I walk away, Michael grabs my wrist. I turn to look at him to find a serious expression on him.
"I would like to serve under you as my repayment for your help until we prove the Sky Council wrong," Michael declares.
"That's fine by me," I respond genuinely with a warm smile.