Chapter Eighteen

"Huh? Why do you want to interview us?" Elizabeth asked as she pulled her hands away from the keyboard. "I thought you were here to talk to the ambassador." Aeron couldn't help but grimace as he felt the bodyguard's suspicious gaze scan over his entire body. Cautious types like her were always the worst to evaluate.

"If you must know," he spoke, "we're debating bringing you two into the fold." Aeron smiled when he saw Elizabeth's hand twitch—that got her attention. "What? Are you surprised?" Most people would jump at an opportunity like this. "No, don't tell me, are Ms. Lombardi's bodyguards a couple of cowards?"

"Cowards?" Elizabeth scoffed. "What a ridiculous notion!" she thought. This man barely knew them. He wasn't in any position to be calling them that. However, Elizabeth wasn't going to get herself into an argument with an Angel. That would only lead to more trouble for Ms. Lombardi. "Hmph! I don't need to waste my time defending myself to someone like you!" she announced as she turned her back to the Cherub.

"You're afraid of expanding your responsibilities. It's as plain as day," Aeron said as he turned to her partner and grinned. "You don't understand who you are, and that terrifies you." Even Kashif rolled his eyes when he heard that.

"Are you just going to point out the obvious all day, or will you let us work?" the man's deep voice reverberated throughout the cabin as Aeron leaned back into his chair. "Disappointed, Angel? You seem like the sort of person who enjoys watching people spill their guts. Sorry to stop you while you're ahead, but neither of us is so weak that we'll crack when put under such petty insults." Aeron smirked—these two were starting to grow on him.

"Huh, colored me impressed. Most people usually start yelling by now." The Universe's worst sin, pride, was also the most common. The fact that they weren't cringing at his brazen assault on their character was quite shocking. "You two are strange, but now that I think about it, you probably already knew that. Out of the blue, you both appeared on Heaven's doormat without a memory to speak of. However, you both still somehow managed to retain enough skill to work as bodyguards. This situation is unusual, so forgive me for being curious," he finished as he rolled his fingers against the ship's dashboard.

"If you want to investigate our pasts, then go right on ahead. Who knows? You may be able to find something worth investigating," Elizabeth mumbled as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "After all, you work for the Bureau, don't you? I'm sure you have something on us somewhere." Aeron scoffed. The odds of that were slim.

"Sorry, but I'm not here to talk about your past." As he spoke, he got up and stared straight into Elizabeth's eyes. "Do you know that the eyes are the windows to the soul?" he whispered, his tone taking on a hard edge. The gaze of a truly sinful person, he found, was complex and tainted with malice. These two, on the other hand, were completely different. Their gazes—while challenging—didn't harbor a hint of animosity. Instead, they were focused on the task in front of them. "How interesting," he mumbled as he returned to his seat. "You two have the eyes of a soldier."

"Well, we are bodyguards. So, that shouldn't be surprising," Elizabeth shrugged as she cracked her fingers. "If we couldn't fight, Ms. Lombardi never would've hired us in the first place." That wasn't true, Aeron could tell—Zia didn't choose these two because of that. What that woman valued in a person wasn't something so shallow as physical ability.

"You know what I think?" Aeron started, "I think you two have a severe lack of confidence. When I look at you both, I see two strong souls. Yet each of you is content with just being the princess' shields. Isn't that boring?" he continued as Elizabeth went back to piloting the ship.

"Even if it is, we swore to protect her, and that's what we intend to do," the girl proudly announced. Ah, there it was, the value of a pledge. As an Angel, Aeron couldn't fathom why mortals bound themselves to such fragile contracts.

"You swore to protect her? Just like that?" he muttered in disbelief. Why? What did Zia ever do for them? Even though he'd just met these two, that question still burned like wildfire. The idea of someone tying themselves to another for such a minor reason was simply insane. Sure, Zia helped them when they needed it, but did one good deed equate to a lifetime of servitude? "Don't you two want to stand up and walk on your own feet?" he asked. That seemed like an ordinary mortal reaction.

"That will happen once we've paid back our debt to Ms. Lombardi," Kashif added as he tapped his foot against the ground. It was painfully evident that this whole conversation was annoying him.

"They're both loyal knights," Aeron thought with a sigh. "They must've been quite the model citizens back when they were both still alive." Those people were always the most boring to work with. However, that also meant they were trustworthy. "I guess that means my job here is done," the Angel thought as he got up and quietly walked back to the meeting room.

"Where are you going?" Elizabeth asked as she pulled a few levers. "I thought you were going to interview us." He laughed. There was no need for that when they'd already passed.

"The princess and I will be finished soon, be ready to head out by then," he told the pair, who nodded with raised eyebrows as they watched him close the meeting room door.

"That Angel is a real prick," Kashif muttered as he returned to his work. Elizabeth sighed and nodded. Why did Ms. Lombardi have to ally herself with such a horrid person?

"I'm back," Aeron announced as he plopped himself into one of the nearby desk chairs. Papers were strewn across the tabletop, and small handwritten notes were scattered all over the place. "It seems like you two were busy while I was away." Zia didn't even spare him a glance.

"How did my underlings do?" she asked, her expression smug and cocky. The silence he gave spoke volumes. "Ah, so they passed."

"They're a little rough around the edges, but yes, they did," Aeron told her as he looked through some of the notes. "Jeremy, mind filling me in?"

"Oh sure," the head operator spoke in an unusually peppy tone. "Ms. Lombardi and I were just talking about the summit, and—to be frank—you." Aeron sighed. What in the world did that mean? "You're probably confused. Don't worry; it was nothing of importance. We were just wondering what the Demons think of you."

"What the Demons think of me? When did you, of all people, start caring about that?" Zia laughed when she saw the Cherub's confused face. After all, seeing the Templar himself so off his rocker was a pretty rare sight.

"Jeremy and I were just theorizing on why you were invited to the summit," she started as she moved a strand of hair out of her eyes. "I mean, don't you find it odd? The Minister personally chose you to attend this diplomatic event, and you aren't even an ambassador. Plus, the mere fact that the Demons accepted your attendance is suspicious. You're an Angel. By blood, you're their mortal enemy." Aeron shrugged at Zia's words. He was just as curious to find out the reason as they were. However, he wasn't one to tempt fate.

"I'm assuming that you've already told her about the letter?" he asked Jeremy as he dug through his pockets. "Ah! There it is!" Thank God he made a copy before he left. "Look at it all you want, but I seriously doubt you'll find anything," he continued while handing the ambassador the crumpled parchment.

"Wow… this sure is brief," she thought as she skimmed over the unbelievably short invitation. Even in her case as a relatively low-ranking diplomat, official invites like this usually carried more information. However, this letter had none of that. Hell, it was barely even a footnote! "Dr. Leeson must've gotten one of his servants to write it." That wouldn't surprise her if that were the case. "Here, you can have this back," she finished, returning the letter to its rightful owner's pocket. "Damn," she thought with a sigh, "that accomplished nothing."

"What did I tell you?" Aeron groaned as he started to gather up all the documents. "We won't be able to find anything of worth in some old letter—Dr. Leeson is way too smart for that." If they wanted to find his boss, they'd have to think outside of the box. They could always wait for the summit and see what the Demon did. If they were lucky, the bastard might walk up to his superior, but the chances of that happening were low.

"We've been backed into a corner," Zia surmised as she shoved the photo of Dr. Leeson into her purse. Who knows? They might need it later. "Do you have any brilliant ideas, Mr. Jeremy Knight?" As she spoke into the transmitter, she felt the ship start to rumble. They were on the move.

"Sorry, but I've got nothing," the man apologized as his voice started to crackle. Aeron sighed as the transmission began to break up. All of this, and they were right back at square one. "Don't lose hope, you guys. Just keep your eyes peeled, and we'll find whoever's pulling Dr. Leeson's strings, okay? I've got to go now. My other boss is starting to get anxious. Mr. Weber, try to stay out of trouble." The Cherub in question scoffed, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, but it was a nice thought.

"I'll do my best… you have a good day now, Mr. Knight," Aeron lied as he turned off his transmitter. "You would almost think that he doesn't trust me," he mumbled, clearly annoyed, as Zia sniggered. "What's wrong? Wait, don't tell me, have you still not forgiven me for pushing you off the tower?" he cooed with his usual cocky grin.

"No, I'd never. That'd be far too crude," Zia retorted as she returned to her seat. People in Heaven didn't hold grudges! Or, at least, that's what the holy texts said. Realistically, most were just as human as they were when they were alive. Zia sighed as she pushed open the meeting room door. "If you want me to trust you, stop joking around." As she stepped onto the bridge, several red lights flickered to life.

"This is your captain, Elizabeth Green, speaking," Zia heard her bodyguard say from over the transport's intercom, "I will have to ask you all to find a seat and strap in. We're heading straight into the gaping maw of Hell!"

"Is she always this flamboyant?" Aeron laughed as he watched Kashif sink comfortably into one of the cushioned chairs. For such a big and terrifying man, he certainly knew how to enjoy life. The smile on his face was one of absolute bliss.

"You're the last person I want to hear judging her about that," Zia snapped as she settled into the nearest free spot. Who knows what that Cherub did when he was blowing up planets? She wouldn't be surprised if he did it all with a smile on his face. In fact, she was sure of it. Someone like him enjoyed the suffering of others. Even though she'd just met the man yesterday, she could tell that much, and it wasn't just her. Zia was confident that her guards noticed it as well. Elizabeth and Kashif could tell what Aeron was—those sharp instincts were one of the reasons she hired them.

"Ms. Lombardi, you probably already know this, but I've been getting messages left and right from the neighboring ships. The other ambassadors are pissed," Elizabeth called out from the cockpit. That was unsurprising, they were probably all envious of her fancy ride. Plus, having the Templar on board just added salt to the wound.

"Has Dr. Leeson complained at all?" Zia asked as she tightened her seatbelt. He was the one who held all the power at this minor summit. Thankfully, Elizabeth smiled and shook her head. The devil had remained silent, at least for now. "Good, keep up communications with the other blimps and continue on the usual route. We should be there within a few hours." As their ship flew up into the sky, the tower below began to shrink into the horizon. The ambassadors' blimps filled the clouds like a swarm of locusts, and within moments, they moved as one. "I don't know how she does it sometimes," Zia thought with a smile as she watched Elizabeth wrap several headsets around her neck. Each headset was connected to one of the hundreds of fellow pilots flying alongside them. Typically, one would need a whole team of scribes to take in that much information and properly process it. However, she didn't need any of that. When it came to such jobs, Elizabeth had natural talent.

"She'd make an excellent operator," Aeron added as he watched the clouds roll by. "Huh," he thought, "the sky's unnaturally blue today." He was so caught up with the meeting that he never got a chance to see it. It was kind of ironic. He could've flown up here whenever he wanted, but that would've been a waste. There was something special about moments like these, and, twisted as he was, he liked sharing them with people. "If I can't enjoy a moment as trivial as this, then I could never accurately judge mortals," he thought as he turned back to Zia and her guards. Maybe it was that childlike fascination that made him the person he was. "That's right," Aeron thought as he stared at the pistol hanging from Zia's belt. "After all, I've been interested in stuff like this for as long as I can remember."

Fifty-four years ago...

I'm nearly halfway through my hundred-year term, and this place keeps getting worse and worse. After looking through my previous entries, this will be the first time I explicitly write about my time here on this godforsaken planet. This rock is called Earth, and it's the latest in a long string of mortal worlds to go straight to Hell. The inhabitants are all drenched in sin, but that doesn't surprise me. After all, if they weren't, there would be no need for me to be here. What is surprising is how diverse the mortals have grown after just a few centuries. There are so many religions and cultures here that it makes my head spin. It's unlike any of the other planets I've inspected so far.

When I first arrived, I landed in a small city surrounded by dry crags and hot sand. It was a dingy little place abandoned by God and its people. Poverty ran rampant through the streets, and leprosy infected half of the populace. The priests spent their offerings on prostitutes, and their congregation spent their days slaving away in the fields. It was the pure definition of heresy and sin. If I'm being honest with myself, I was kind of disappointed. It was like solving a puzzle that only had one piece. There was no satisfaction to find in judging these people. The Almighty had already done that for me. For them, rehabilitation would have been mercy.

Tomorrow I'm going to be heading out into the desert. I can't spend the entire period in the Middle East. After much deliberation, I've decided to head north up to the Orient. I have to say that I'm curious about their exotic silks. While this world is still primitive, some of the goods the mortals have created are sublime. I saw one of the priests wearing quite the extravagant purple robe the other day, and now I want one myself. Chalk it up to my Angelic curiosity.