It took Raelyn less than a week to single-handedly map out a schedule and then put the abyss on it. And that alone was remarkable.

She was available at all times to smooth out any kinks, wrinkles or answer any questions. This meant that she and Lagrius were often napping at odd times just to catch up on the sleep they were missing.

He wanted to say there was no change, but the Abyss was suddenly a well function corruption machine. Jobs were getting done more quickly and efficiently for the first time ever.

Lagrius was officially impressed with her skills, but he wasn't about to tell Raelyn that.

In fact, he had been trying his best to not go anywhere near her since their kiss. Lagrius had enjoyed that kiss too much. He had wanted to repeat the experiment, he wanted to taste her lips again, but he had restrained himself. He was supposed to be seducing her, and if kissing her set off that sort of reaction, he wasn't going to be seducing her, he'd be falling for her, which couldn't happen.

He had been hiding from her, in his own home.

He would scuttle out of the room if she entered it. It was downright pathetic and he was only getting worse.

He had been fantasizing about kissing her, running his hands through her white hair, getting his hand up her white skirt and into her white panties. He found himself staring at her, thinking about ravishing her as she went on about her project. Sometimes he would be curling a tendril of hair around one of his fingers as she sat beside him just marvelling in the shine, the bounce and the softness. Why the hell was that girl so damn soft. It made him want to touch her more.

This was starting to get downright disgusting. It was almost like he was dating her or something.

Lagrius had been sitting alone on his couch watching bad TV when Raelyn had suddenly appeared and flopped down beside him.

"I'm so tired," she told him. Lagrius merely nodded, refusing to open his mouth in case the incessant stuttering blabber, that he was prone to around her now, came out of his mouth once more. "It's too bad I can't stay too long."

"What? Where are you going now?" Lagrius asked.

He was angry with how much time she spent away from him, even if he was trying to avoid her. Truth was he enjoyed his time with her, even if he was acting like a love struck idiot. Though he tried to tell him self that every minute away from him was one minute less that he could have spent attempting to corrupt her.

"I have to go to the Ring of Torture. Apparently Mischev is having some trouble," she said. "I was sort of hoping you would come with me. He would react better to me if you were there."

Lagrius sighed and turned off the TV. "Okay," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "But let's make this a quick alright?" And with a snap of his fingers they were sitting in Mischev's office.

Outside, they heard him yelling.

"I don't know how your breaks are supposed to work and I don't care if you think Rolfin would. If you want the answer so badly, why don't you ascend and go ask him yourself?" Mischev stormed into the room, slamming the door behind him. "I hate angels!" he shouted.

When he turned around he found Lagrius and Raelyn sitting in the chairs across from his desk just staring at him. He glared at Raelyn and pointed at her. "I'm not apologizing. I hate the lot of you!"

Raelyn shrugged it away as if it hadn't bothered her at all. But it bothered her. Lagrius could tell now. It was the way her spine straightened, like she was donning invisible armour. So he was immediately angry for her, even if she wanted to pretend she was fine.

"No problem what-so-ever. Now you seem to be having some minor difficulties. Would you like to tell me about them?" she asked.

Mischev sunk into his chair, he leant back leisurely. He glanced to Lagrius, who was flat out glaring at his friend, before turning his thoughtful look to Raelyn.

"I would you like to hop on The Mixer for a while. See how pure you are after that ride."

Lagrius's glare darkened. He knew exactly what that machine was, and he wasn't going to let Raelyn anywhere near it.

"Behave Mischev. She's here to help," Lagrius warned, his tone as dark as his scowl.

"I don't want her help," Mischev snarled.

"You know, Rolfin wasn't instantly the Master of Torture. He asked for a lot of help when he first started," Raelyn said and both men promptly shut up.

That was literally the worst thing she could have ever said to him.

Mischev stared at her for a brief moment, his eyes blinking as if assessing what she had just said. He then promptly leant forward. "Oh yeah?" he asked. She nodded and he sat back again. "Then I definitely don't need your help."

"Alright," Raelyn said with a sigh. She got up and headed for the door. She then paused, "Oh, Rolfin said if you ever need help the code to that locked drawer is 1864. He told me to tell you that if I were ever to come across of you."

Lagrius watched her leave and then turned to Mischev, who was eyeing the lock dubiously as he turned the dials. Mischev had never gotten the code to the safe locked under his desk, Rolfin had ascended and not told anyone the code. Mischev kept trying random numbers that he thought meant something to his mentor, but hadn't been able to open it. He kept joking that he'd throw it out, or give it to some poor soul to try all number combinations as an eternal punishment until the poor soul got it open, but he never had. He kept it under his desk. Sometimes Lagrius was certain that Mischev was trying random codes himself.

"Isn't that the year you were appointed his assistant?" he asked.

Mischev nodded as the lock clicked the two exchanged glances and then Mischev pulled the drawer open. He pulled out a massive tome that Lagrius recognized as the one that Raelyn had given out and single letter.

Mischev chuckled at the book before tossing it aside. "Well played," he said, ripping the letter open. "That angel of yours is a crafty one."

Lagrius couldn't help but smile as he left the room, leaving his friend to his letter. Raelyn really was good at giving people the assistance they needed, even if they didn't want it. When Lagrius got out of Mischev's office, he found Raelyn talking to one of Mischev's newer underlings. She was fluffing his green hair that seemed to be turning a bronze color. She looked to be rather upset. As Lagrius drew closer to them he could hear their conversation.

"I can't believe this is where you went. Is this really so much better than the White Kingdom?" she asked.

The young demon smiled. "Yes, it is. Much more fun down here. And best of all, no stupid charges to worry about redeeming. They were never grateful for what we did for them anyway."

"Charges?" Raelyn echoed. "Those ungrateful charges are now mine, Cantin. You said you were only going to be gone a few days, remember, and now I have them for all eternity because I was the last person to fill in for you!"

Lagrius suddenly understood what was going on. Cantin, with his bronzing hair and smoky blue eyes, was a fallen angel that Raelyn evidently knew.

Cantin's eyes glanced up and found Lagrius behind Raelyn. He smirked at him before turning back to Raelyn.

"I'm sorry you got stuck with my souls, but everyone in the White Kingdom knows you're a pushover. I knew you'd take my last shifts, and I knew that you would be pushed into keeping them. It's not my fault you don't know how to say no," he said with a shrug.

He saluted Lagrius before leaving, while Lagrius glared at him. He was going to put a hand on Raelyn's shoulder when she suddenly broke the silence.

"Pathetic, right?" she asked.

"What is?"

"He's right, you know, I am a pushover. Everyone knows that I can't say no. Its how I got some many days behind me in my short career. I let myself get dragged into horrible situations, I let myself be over worked doing everyone else's jobs because I know they won't do it if I don't help them," she explained.

Lagrius bit his lip. "That's not necessarily pathetic. You clearly like helping people, and you're good at it," he told her. Raelyn turned her glared to him and Lagrius sighed. "Fine, it's pathetic. But I can see why people get you to do their jobs. You are honestly amazing at it. Look at what you did for Mischev, how did you even get that letter and the book in there?"

Raelyn began walking down the aisles of instruments, she ran a hand over each one as she went.

"The letter was always there waiting for him. Roflin left it before he ascended. It tells him why he ascended and how good at the job he thinks Mischev will be. The book was easy. I figured Mischev would throw his away or purposely lose it and Rolfin had told me the code ages ago, so I slipped the book in the first time I dropped them off."

Lagrius laughed. "You little trickster, you," he said. "You know, I've been meaning to ask you this, but how do you know so much about Rolfin? Are you and he friends?"

They had reached the exit now. Raelyn stopped and turned to Lagrius, she glared down at Cantin who was examining the machines and cleaning them and tightening the bolts and screws.

"I was the one who redeemed his soul," she said with a mischievous reddened twinkle in her eye and a devious grin on her face. There was this terrible sudden woosh and with a tremendous crash, all the machines fell apart, collapsing into a million pieces.

Cantin yelped and looked around at the damage. He turned to Raelyn with shocked eyes as she began to cackle. She opened her hands a multitude of bolts and screws fell out of her palm. She continued to laugh as she skipped off leaving Cantin to deal with Mischev who was emerging from his office to see what the commotion was all about.

Lagrius had to jog to catch up to her and as he did, he realized that the roots of her glossy white hair had gone black.

[----]

Though everyone was very mad at Salym for her little idea at the meeting, there was little to no hiccups with the new program.

The best part was that the salvation numbers started going up the same day they started implementing the stricter regimen and actually monitoring the Guardian's progress. So Salym didn't feel so bad when she reported to her shift to find that the other Arch Angels still wouldn't talk to her, she had kept Raelyn's vacation uninterrupted and the Almighty was happy with Salym's thinking. With the way she was going, she was bucking for best friend of the century and a new promotion all at once.

Salym sat in her chair, looking over the scrying pools, making sure the Guardians on earth were okay, and actually doing their jobs. She was absently watching the pictures that flashed over the glassy surfaces, when suddenly a Guardian Angel appeared beside her.

"Uhm... Salym?" Owl asked. Salym jumped and turned to him. He wasn't scheduled to be on earth today, so it was surprising to see him there.

"Are you filling in today?" she asked him, unaware of any changes in Guardians that day.

Owl shook his head, his grey hair falling into his eyes that never once looked up to her, but only darted to her vicinity every now and then.

"I was wondering if you had heard from Raelyn yet?" he asked her timidly.

Salym's eyes narrowed at him. "Why would you ask me about that?" she wondered.

Most people knew that her and Raelyn were close, but not many would know that she had said she would send updates about her vacation. She wondered who had told him.

Owl shrugged. "I don't know," he responded evasively. "I always see the two of you together and she's always talking about you. I figured she would have contacted you by now."

Salym turned back to the scrying pools, just to be certain that everything was still alright. She knew Owl was very dependent on Raelyn's help, but he had always seemed competent. He had worked at the same efficiency as he had before Raelyn had left so this was somewhat surprising.

"She's on vacation," she reminded him. "She's, no doubt, having so much fun that she's forgotten."

Owl huffed, his hands were on his hips, his foot tapping against the floor. Since Owl had never shown any outward signs of emotion before Salym would have to guess that he was getting agitated.

"I know she's on vacation, but she said she'd check in with me and I haven't heard from her. I'm starting to get worried," he cried.

Salym turned to him surprised. It was the first time Owl had ever raised his voice. He was now looking at her directly, his thin mouth was set in a firm frown and his grey-blue eyes were darkening with fear. Suddenly Salym was curious, Raelyn and Owl had always acted somewhat strange to her and his behaviour now was only cementing this observation.

"What is exactly is going on between you and Raelyn."

The question came out of her before she even recognized that she was speaking. Owl straightened, and took a step back. His eyes widened and his mouth hung open in horror. Salym watching him, wondering if there was something more than a dependent work relationship going on between Owl and Raelyn, and she was about to push him about it now that he was vulnerable. That was, until something else grabbed her attention.

There was a sudden pop and then Jamli was standing behind him.

"That's it!" he cried. His rainbow hair hung limp and was singed at the ends, he had burn marks and scratches all over his arms and his white robe was covered in unidentified stains. "I can't do it! Raelyn is a saint to put with what she does. I quit!"

Salym jumped to her feet. Raelyn had the heaviest work load of any Guardian, well over a thousand souls. He couldn't quit, no one else would take on her souls while she was gone, all that extra work would fall to the Arch Angels and Salym was not about to start doing actual Guardian work again.

"Quit!" she echoed. "You can't quit! What about your charges?"

Jamli stared at her like she was crazy.

"Gurl, I'm not quitting my charges, I'm quitting Raelyn's. You can get someone else to deal with her crazy-ass ratchet souls, I am so done!" he cried, he snapped his fingers and was gone again.

Salym ground her teeth in agitation. She glanced to Owl who looked concerned but clearly she couldn't interrogate him now. She had bigger things to worry about. With a sigh she sunk back into her chair, and said the only thing that came to mind: "Shit."