Jaida suddenly felt sick to her stomach. If this was what had given Arius his barrier, his protection against Lucius's magic, then by taking it, she had nearly killed him. She glanced up at him, instantly regretting doing so. He looked shocked, hurt…betrayed. He was staring at her as if she had just taken a knife and stabbed him in the back. She couldn't take it. Never had anyone looked at her like that, and Arius had been the last person she had thought would. "So you understand now," began Lucius. For a moment, she had forgotten that he was even there. "You know what the keystone is for.""You…" she began, suddenly feeling scared again. Scared and a bit angry. "You tricked me. You made me take it…you made me take it so you could…kill him." "A little slow are you?" he asked with amusement drippin
"Human," he growled lowly. "You won't be able to keep that up for too long. Eventually your body will succumb to the demand of the keystone. You don't have the energy to use it properly." Jaida pulled Arius closer, allowing his head to rest on her shoulder. She closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest.Arius, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. If only there was someway I could make it up to you.She could feel the heat of the flames start to soak through the barrier, but she just held the keystone tightly in her hand. She had to keep this up. Their lives depended on it.Ever since this all began, you've been protecting me, and I've never done anything for you. Just this once, I wanna be the one to save you. So please Arius…don't die now.Suddenly, Lucius's attack stopped. The barrier fell, and Jaida opened her eyes to see what was going on. She was
Jaida staggered a bit as she walked, her legs starting to hurt from supporting Arius. She wasn't going to be able to make it to her house. Maybe if she hadn't had to run up all of those stairs and then go back down them, this would be easier. She had carried him like this before, but this time it was difficult. She was starting to wish that one of the cars speeding down the street would stop and offer her a ride. However, everyone in the city minded their own business. No one cared to stop in their routine to help out a stranger. It just wasn't heard of. It just wasn'tnormal. That's probably why no one ever noticed Lucius. He was abnormal. No one in the city was perceptive enough or willing to recognize anything even remotely out of the ordinary. They were all so naïve.Jaida could hear the sound of a car approaching, and she figured it would just speed by like all of the others. However, as it got closer to her, it sl
The next few days were the slowest ones Jaida had ever experienced. School seemed to last forever, and hours ticked by like days. She found it rather difficult to focus in any of her classes, and she was currently thanking God that it was the end of the week. It was Friday, but there was still no sign of Arius in school. Jaida had already answered a ton of questions about where he was, and she only said that he was sick in bed. She couldn't very well tell the truth. Only Mr. Owens knew the real reason why he wasn't in school, or at least part of the reason. Currently it was sixth hour, her English class with Mr. Owens. He knew she wasn't paying attention. She hadn't been for a while now. It was hard, because she found herself staring at Arius' empty desk in every one of her classes. For some reason, it was weird not seeing him there. It was worse because she knew it was all her fault. However, she had to keep some sense of focus. She neede
Just as she expected, he gave her a very skeptical look. She wasn't sure if it was because he didn't believe her or if he found this strange. He could always ask her mother about it, and she'd give him the same story. Strangely enough, the next thing he said wasn't even related to the lie she had just told him."He needs medical attention," he told Jaid. "Those wounds look pretty bad.""We can't," she stated. "He's…he's under our care for now. We can't afford a medical bill, you know that. Besides…he'll be fine. Just take us home, okay?""Whatever you say," he sighed. "You've never been wrong before, so I guess I shouldn't doubt you now. I assume he won't be in school tomorrow though." Jaida nodded, knowing that Arius probably wouldn't wake up for a few days. At least it would be easy to keep this from everyone else. She would just tell them all that he was sick in be
Arius didn't say anything to her as he stood up and went to his closet. He quickly got out a pair of pants and a shirt and pulled them on. He shoved his hands into the pockets, sparing Jaida another glance. She looked disappointed as she just sat there, refusing to look at him. He sighed before walking towards her. He stopped just as he passed her, his back now to hers. "I hope that…" he began a bit softly, keeping his voice indifferent, "you can believe me…when I say that I've never once used you for that." Jaida's head shot up, and she glanced back at him. He was heading for the door, but he paused again in the doorway. He glanced back, meeting her shocked expression. He just smirked a bit. "I'm not the monster you think I am, Jai," he told her before he left the room, leaving her there on his bed to think about the conversation they had just had. Jai
Jaida just nodded dumbly, seeming a bit confused. She had never looked at it like that before. She had never known that Arius was so dangerous. Of course she had always known he was a threat to anyone and everyone who crossed him, but this was indeed a shock. She really had done her city a favor by meeting him. She began to wonder if the Deslyan boy enjoyed destroying things. She made a mental note never to push him that far. If he got angry enough, he would probably go and destroy a few buildings or maybe a mountain just for kicks. Arius was indeed a threat to society, and yet he was living under her roof. What have I gotten myself into?"Hey Jai?" began Nero with a nervous smile on his face. "Um…I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention any of this to Arius. I'd kind of like to keep my body fully intact if you don't mind.""Of course," she told him with a smile and a small laugh. She wouldn't say a word to Arius, because she was sure he didn't want her knowing about him. After all, he
It was Saturday morning, and both Arius and Jaidawere already wide awake. Arius was busy lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling. He had nothing better to do after all. He couldn't very well bother Jaida right now. She was currently taking a bath, and she had told him that unless it was important, he couldn't interrupt her. Jaida's mother was working, so the two of them were home alone, and Arius was bored out of his mind. He wasn't used to doing nothing. This was one of the longest missions he had ever been on. Usually he could finish off an angel within two weeks. Then again, he had to remember that this was Lucius. He always took his sweet time on a planet.Arius was just about to doze off when the telephone began to ring. He turned and glared at the machine, annoyed that it had disturbed him. Jaida had had to explain its use at one point. She was usually the one to answer it, but she was a bit busy right now. It had run
"Arius!" she shouted, watching as he straightened a bit. As he began turning slowly towards her, she began running, sprinting as fast as she could towards him. She couldn't wait to hold him, to feel his arms around her. She wanted to hear his voice again, to hear him say how much he loved her. When she finally reached him, when she was no more than a foot away, she reached out, leaned forward, closed her eyes, and…knocked him right off his feet, both of them going over the edge of the building.The first thing she felt was his arms encircling her, holding her tightly so that she wouldn't fall. The two of them were just floating in midair, and he was the only thing keeping her from falling to the Earth below. Neither one said anything at first. Jaida was crying, her arms around his waist, placed tightly and firmly against his back. She had her face buried in his chest, her small body shaking with each joy filled sob.Arius could do not
Jaida sighed for what felt like the one hundredth time that day. Each day that passed was getting harder and harder for her. She found herself exhausted most of the time. Other times she was just bored and unable to concentrate. She knew she was staring out the window, oblivious to the topic her teacher was preaching. Usually she tried to stay focused in Mr. Owens' class simply because she owed it to him. However, on a Friday such as today, concentrating always seemed harder. She just wanted the weekend to come so that she could spend some time out walking. Even if she was alone, she wanted to just be out and away from her house. There were too many things there that reminded her of how much she missed Arius. She needed to try and focus less on how sad his departure was and more on how happy she'd be to finally see him again.However, she had to admit that the thought of him being alive, the thought of him coming back was slowly slipping from her mind. It had be
"Fine," he eventually said. "I'll do it." He couldn't fight the smile that spread across his lips when he saw Jaida's face light up."Thank you!" she shouted enthusiastically. She ran and grabbed her book bag, shoving everything in quickly. She ran back and stopped before leaving his classroom. "I can't wait to tell Arius when he comes back." And with that said, she ran from his room. He just couldn't repress the smile on his face. For the first time in the past month, she had looked truly happy. She hadn't been forging the light in her eyes or the smile on her lips. She had finally meant it. Plus, in reference to Arius, she had used the proper word. She had said "when."Never. Never in all its infinite years had the universe every witnessed such a battle. The struggle had gone on for what felt like ages, each day passing as if it had been a year, full of loss and casualty. At some points it had been hard to see an end. Many had thought it w
It was another Wednesday, another day just like every other day. Jaida was finding it a lot harder to concentrate in her classes, and if she didn't do something soon, her grades would start slipping. She knew her mother couldn't afford for them to fall too far. She would have to work harder at her job, and then Jaida wouldn't get to see her as much. Now that it was just the two of them again, she enjoyed having her mother home more. It made for good company and conversation.As he went around the room and passed out papers, Mr. Owens couldn't help but spare Jaida a sad glance. She was once again staring out the window, watching the sky. She was always so zoned out by the time she got to his class, so he did his best not to draw attention to her. However, it was hard. He was worried about her to some extent. After all, she rarely spoke up in class, and she no longer stayed after to work on her homework. He wasn't sure if she did it at home or even at all, but he
One month. One full month had passed since the Earth had nearly met a very abrupt end. However, no one even knew of this. No one knew of the battle that had taken place between the angel, Lucius, and the Deslyan, Arius. The human race was incredibly oblivious, but there were two people who knew just how lucky they were to even be alive. It was all in thanks to Arius…and partially in thanks to Jaida.School had gone on normally for her to say the least. The first few days had been nothing but extreme torture, full of her fighting off tears and telling people about what had happened to Arius. Amy and Seth had tried to cheer her up, but it just hadn't been possible. When she had relayed the real story to Mr. Owens, she had broken down in tears. No one could blame her really. She had just lost someone that she loved. It was a hard pain to cope with.As the days had gone on, she had gotten a bit better. She would talk more, even laugh on s
Arius snapped his blood red eyes open and shot Lucius his most threatening glare. This was going to be it. He had to put everything he had into one massive release of pure black magic. That was the only way he'd be able to truly get rid of Lucius. He had to destroy the angel once and for all. After all, the deal had been "no retreating." Lucius couldn't run away this time. He had said it himself. One of them was going to die today."How?" Lucius asked, watching as the tendrils of black light no longer thrashed about wildly. If anything, it looked like they were under Arius' control. The Deslyan's blood red eyes were full of fire, and all of it was being directed towards him."It's over," Arius stated. "One of us will die…that's what you told me. It's time we end this once and for all." Every bit of magic radiating from him suddenly stopped moving, the winds fr
"Jaida?" he questioned, shaking her a bit. "Don't do this. You've gotta wake up." She didn't respond at all to him. She was barely breathing anymore. He bent down a bit, placing his lips to her ear. "You've gotta stay alive. If you do, I promise I'll see you again. Thank you…Jaida.""Well," began Lucius, a very edgy tone to his usually laid back voice. "I see you told her." He slowly began walking forwards, a scowl on his face. "You know the rules. Since she interfered, I'm afraid I'll have to kill her." Arius snapped his attention to the angel, a deep, hateful glare on his face. His blood red eyes were like ice as he stared down Lucius. The angel didn't seem to notice the sudden change in his adversary, because he tried approaching. He apparently thought that Arius was too drained to fight back anymore, so he reached out towards Jaida, as if he was going to take her. Needless to say, this didn't go over well with Ari
As he hit the ground, he felt his broken wing twist a bit more, and he cried out in pain. It blocked out the rest of the sensations in his body, including the way his raw and bloody chest was burning from its recent thrashing. The pain of his broken ribs stabbing into his side was long forgotten, and the taste of blood in his mouth could no longer be sensed. As he lied there, bleeding from every limb he possessed, he found that he just didn't care anymore. The pain had become so great that he felt numb. He couldn't move a single muscle. He could barely even catch his breath. This was really it. He was dying.Arius wanted to get back up, to face down Lucius once more. He wanted to glare at the angel, threaten him, to do something other than just lie here. However, he couldn't find the strength he needed. His mind was blank, every thought being drained from it as he lied there. He found that all he wanted was for this pain to
Jaida had been running for what felt like an eternity, and she still hadn't found hide or hair of Arius. She wasn't sure where to even look. There weren't that many places in the city that a battle could be held at. They obviously didn't want anyone seeing them fight, so it wouldn't be towards the populated areas. They wouldn't have gone to the park. However, they wouldn't have left the city limits either.When she reached the residential area, the place she had started from, she had to stop and catch her breath. It was time to try a new direction. She couldn't take a break for too long. She needed to find her friend. She had to find Arius before something horrible happened to him. He couldn't die; she wouldn't allow it. He had to stay alive for a little longer, at least until she could see him again. All she wanted was to see him one more time.After taking a deep b