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There was a sullen quiet, interrupted only by the soft, faraway sounds of singing, almost impossible for the human ear to hear. The two Archangels stared each other down, each waiting for the other to make their move before their battle began. A vibrant electricity hummed through the air between them.

Suddenly a shrill scream caught both of their attentions, and they looked down to see Donner getting away. The two exchanged looks, before each dove for the curled up boy. Michael was easily the stronger flier of the two, and he scooped Donner up in his arms, carrying him off. Jada stopped in mid-flight, letting out a howl of anger.

"I will find you, Michael!" She screamed after him as he flew off. "Wherever you may take him, I will find him, and I will find you!"

It was true, and he knew it. Still, if he could find this boy safely home, and find some way to make Jada understand.. it was the only hope he could cling to.

He sped off into the mountains, taking a moment to ask for divine guidance before being led to the Dragonfly household with Donner in his arms. It was the first place she would look, but hopefully by then he would be ready.

Michael winced when the boy yelled. It looked as though the boy had gone mad; and it was no surprise. This was why the angels kept to themselves, and did not deal with the mortal world as much as possible. Jada was an exception, being born on the mortal realm and taken care of by mortals. Most angels knew that exposure to one as exalted would soon drive any mortal mad.

Of course, this boy was mad for more than just exposure.

Michael saw the balcony, and a woman sitting upon it. He would seem an odd sight, he was sure; he silently prayed that the woman wasn't a devout, for the sight of an angel descending upon them usually meant it was their time. As he continued to descend, his armor slowly faded in place of his more familiar, and less frightful looking, robes.

He touched upon the ledge of the balcony after hovering just above it, the ball of one foot set upon it's surface in a precarious balance. When his wings slowed to a halt, he took the further step off the balcony, and remained where he was so as not to alarm her.

"Please, if you know this boy, tell me." He murmured, his voice maddening in itself with it's ethereal tone.

From this close he was able to distinguish her heritage, and his deeply grained loathing for demons kept him from coming to her with the boy the moment he said his name. Instead, he set the boy on a lawn chair nearby, and returned to the ledge.

"Donner has committed crimes against nature which are being judged. Fortunately, at the moment I am not the one to judge him; however, she who is has deemed his life the price, and he is no longer safe. I would ask that you keep him hidden as well as you can, until the matter has been settled. I fear more of my kind are on the way soon, and if no, he will be in grave danger."

The child of a demon? It figured. The only reason Michael had saved the life of the boy was to unsully the hands of the innocent angel now being used as a puppet of the power hungry. However, Michael's salvation was only temporary, and Donner was damned regardless. His judgement would come at his natural death, however. It was neither his duty nor Jada's to take the boy's life by force.

He stood upon the ledge, searching the skies. His strong demeanor held an aura of importance even as he did so. "Take him." He muttered under his breath to the woman, though his eyes remaines on the skies. He would defend this place, or fall trying.

Dragonfly's words hit upon a truth she could not have possibly known, and Michael's eyes dropped from the heavens for a moment as he contemplated his 'losses'. After a heavy silence, a soft 'Thank you', left his lips. He would not have expected someone such as her to say such a thing, especially when her own son that suffered at that moment in her arms. Demon or not, for her to have enough clarity to see past the urges of motherhood truly meant something.

His eyes quickly lifted to the skies once more, and he stood there, still as a statue. The wind ruffled the thick locks of his hair, and tugged at the corners of his robe every so often; but the cold, bitter air didn't seem to bother him.

Here he would wait, and here he would pray. He prayed that God could still hear him, and that he had not forsaken him as the angels had declared. It would only be with God's mercy and grace alone that he had any hope of winning the battle to come.

Though his eyes were on the heavens as he prayed and watched over the household, he was not foolish enough to keep an occasional glance to the paths below. Though it was rare to see an angel choose to walk, he knew that Jada was unlike any other angel. She was clever, just clever enough to think he wouldn't notice her if she walked up to the front door and knocked politely.

Therefore, as he caught sight of someone heading up towards the house, he stiffened. It wasn't her, nor was it any angel, but who it was surprised him. His eyes widened and he pushed off the ledge, his great golden tinged wings spread out, leaving a vast shadow on the ground below.

Only moments later he landed, taking a few steps toward the boy from the moment his feet touched the ground.

"You?" He whispered, incredulously. "You live here as well?"

Michael had no time nor patience to deal with troublesome teenagers and their rebellious ways. "You are the one Jada chose over her position. You are then the one dear to her heart, am I correct? Marcus, wasn't it?"

It all fit together perfectly. Whatever crimes Donner had committed, it had been against Marcus. This was why Jada was so quick to fall into the hands of the Archangels plans.

"You are aware of some transgression that one named Donner has done against you, are you not? I shall warn you now, when next you see Jada you must be cautious. She is not as she was, but it is not her fault. There are those who would see her used for their own devices, and she has been manipulated to believe that she now holds the power of vengeance. She has claimed the life of Donner.." At this he paused, feeling a sense of pity for having to explain all of this to him this way.

"And she will come for him here, once more. I stand ready to defend his house against her, but I have yet to be blessed with a true answer to the larger problem. Jada must be made to realize that she is not meant to be an angel of vengeance. Her soul must never be tainted by death, she is too pure for such a thing. If she succeeds in her goals, the lives of both Donner and myself will have fallen to her hands, and will torture her existence for all time. Marcus, if you know of any way I can stop this.. I plead to you now. Tell me how I may stop her."

Although Michael was well aware of just how dangerous Jada was now, for anyone else the conversation would sound so wrong; to speak of the girl as a threat, and such a large one.. almost villainous in nature.

So it was love. Perhaps the boy in front of him was the answer. Sadly, Michael didn't see things working out as perfectly as he could hope.

"I agree." Michael boomed out, his own determination evident. "I fear it shall not be long now. Rise to the top of this building, I will await you at it's pinnacle, and there we will wait for her. I must repeat my warning, for you mustn't be caught unaware; Jada will not be the same woman you know. Please, do not judge her by what you see. I hold firm to the belief that her heart is still innocent and true to its rightful nature."

With that, he turned on his heel, and the great wings flung him upwards with all their force. He perched on the ledge of the roof but a moment later, and turned to stand vigilant there, the picture of the guardian angel he had now become.

Him. A Guardian Angel. It was almost amusing, if he had the strength to laugh about it.

In the distance he heard the howling screech of a bird, and followed its sound, narrowing his eyes as he glared out into the distance. Was it a bird at all? Only time would tell.