S W E E T  N I G H T  A N G E L

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THE STARLIGHT HAD had barely even begun to kiss the skies of Heaven when Lucius had finally made his way back towards his favorite spot in all of the upper world. The breeze was particularly strong that night, causing the long strands of the evergreen grasses to sway about in the wind like a dance to a song. It was enchanting to see the melting of the colors during sunset, witnessing just how magnificently the blues of the day melted with the pinks and oranges of dusk. All too soon, the colors in the palette were reduced to a dark blue.

Lucius heard her before he saw her with his own two eyes. The great thundering flaps of Adelia's strong wings caused quite an orchestra of noise behind him which alerted him of her presence and arrival. There she was, flying to his side wordlessly with her palms facing the sky. Slowly, the silvery grains of starlight ascended into the dark canvas, lighting up the skies with a variety of constellations for as far as the naked eye could see.

All the while, Lucius was not able to tear his eyes away from Adelia. He was entranced by the way in which she worked, for she displayed a sort of passion and vigor towards her task which Lucius had never seen in other angels ever before.

When Adelia was done accessorizing the night sky with the glorious yellowing silver moon and dazzling stars that resembled the light of fairies, she slowly descended to the ground, her feet melting against the grass as she turned towards Lucius with a single raised eyebrow.

"I thought I told you not to come back again." She said her statement in the form of an order rather than an actual question. The hostility in her tone was ignored by Lucius, whom which simply smiled.

"You told me to stay out of the night. But how am I able to stay out of a part of nature itself?"

There was a certain gleeful joy hidden beneath Lucius's words that made Adelia nearly snort in disbelief. How that man could be such an unreasonable brute, she thought she would never know. Regardless, Lucius remained smiling with the joys of infinite lifetimes.

"It is rather great to see you again, Adelia. I promise I have no evil intentions in regards to my presence here after nightfall."

"I am never able to stop you from coming here, am I?" Adelia shook her head. Though she had previously shown much hostility, there was the tiniest ghost of a smile shaping her full lips as she gracefully sat herself down. Gently, she ran her hands against the blades of the grass, caressing them almost absentmindedly. "What do they call you, day angel?"

"Lucius," he said. "I weave the sunlight of day."

"How very befitting." Seemingly deep in thought, Adelia rested her chin in the palm of her hand as she slowly sat herself down on the earth, gazing off into the night sky as if she was in a world of her own. "You are named after the light."

"As far as I know." Lucius shrugged, the edges of his lips quirking into a cheeky grin that proved to be the brightest factor of that night.

"And I suppose you already know my name?" Adelia asked, her head quickly turning back so that she could face Lucius properly. Her feet dangled dangerously over the edge of Heaven, her eyes glittering just as brightly as the thousand stars in which she herself had placed onto the night sky. "Seeing that you were present that other night in which Calvin called out my name."

"Adelia, isn't it? Have I got it right?"

He knew for a fact that there was no possible way in which the beauty that sat before him could be named something else. Lucius had heard Calvin call out Adelia's name as clear as the ringing of crystals. It was an inevitable fact for the angel of light to learn the name of this enchanting woman. Carefully sitting himself down beside Adelia, Lucius was careful not to allow his limbs to hang out too far off the edge of Heaven. Though he was not afraid of the height, he was most certainly afraid of the fall.

There was a pool of water at the foot of Heaven's Falls that connects with an entirely never-before-seen realm that existed underneath the crystal clear waters. If angels were to fall too far beyond beneath Paradise, dipping underneath the water, they will most definitely lose their wings and become a creature of the damned.

Lucius shivered at the thought of becoming anything but an angel. He did not want to suffer such a poor fate and even though he knew fully well that his wings were highly capable of saving him during the fall, he couldn't help but be cautious and wonder what if one day they failed him.

The dark skinned girl nodded once, her lips which were as red as rubies melting down into an impressed smile. "I never thought that you would actually pay attention to my name."

"Your brother did call your name out quite loudly. It would have been impossible to miss."

For a second there, Adelia froze into a statue. Her eyes were widened by a good few inches as shock flitted through her features, fueling her expression. She was obviously taken aback by something and this caused Lucius to squirm uncomfortably in his position.

"Is something wrong? Was it something I said?" Lucius sat a little straighter, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as Adelia shook her head. Her dark curls fell over her shoulders, framing her face in ringlets that resembled that of the crescent moon.

"It is just that you said that my brother called me. Calvin is not my brother by blood, Lucius. I only call him that because we are very close friends," Adelia clarified.

"However, we are all children of the Almighty. Though not by blood, we are related by virtue."

"That is most agreeable." With a nod and a smile, Adelia seemed very impressed by Lucius's reply. He, on the other hand, had not thought it was possible to see someone like Adelia to smile so many times within the span of a simple mere hour. When they had first met, Adelia seemed as cold as winter's frost, her heart perhaps even covered by a layer of rime that seemed impossible to crack open. Yet now, she was smiling as brightly as the beams of light in which Lucius weaved on a daily basis. It was a magical sight.

The angel that sat before Lucius seemed so very different from the one he had met the other night. In fact, this one was a sweet night angel that was perhaps as candied as the delectable nectar from a pretty flower. He couldn't help but wonder if they were, in fact, the same person after all; the angel he had met yesterday and the one in which he was currently talking to.

"Might I ask," Lucius broke the silence, "why were you so cold and distant yesterday night?"

It seemed as though she had expected the answer, almost. Adelia simply shrugged, a knowing glint twinkling in the corners of her eyes. "Why, we must be cautious of everyone when we first meet them. As rare as it may be here in the blessed grounds of Heaven, there will be people out there that hold intentions that are not as pure as they make it out to be. One can never know what a person is truly thinking about."

What Adelia had said, Lucius could not help but agree. It was the inevitable fact that no matter how pure a person or a place was, there could always be a chance for a sort of tainting agent to come into the picture. The factor in question would need nothing more than a simple trigger to change at the speed of light.

Lucius prayed that he would never find that trigger.

"I agree," he said. "There can be impurities anywhere. It just depends on whether it is surfaced or simply hidden beneath viewing points."

Adelia paused for a second, simply staring right at Lucius. She was carefully examining him, Lucius could tell. With the way her shining eyes – that reflected the moon's silvery light – looked at him, it was needless to say that she was pondering rather deeply about the mysterious day angel that was before her. The sweet night angel was not able to understand Lucius.

"You know, Lucius, you are not like any other angel I've ever met. You're curious and that makes you different."

At first, Lucius beamed with pride. The edges of his lips tilted upwards so as to allow him to smile as brightly as the golden sunlight in which he weaved as a daily job. Dimples etched themselves into his cheeks, the apples blushing a light pink as he took in the compliment. However, that all changed when Adelia started to frown, followed by her next sentence that caused Lucius's smile to drop for a tad second.

"But that also makes you dangerous. Curiosity kills ultimately, both you and the people around you." Just like that, Adelia was distant once more. She stood to her full height easily, her bold black wings fluttering gently behind her as she lifted off from the ground for a split second, just hovering there before she landed back onto the evergreen grass. "Like I said before, it is best you stay out of my night."

Just like that, she was off, her huge wings dragging behind her and on the ground as she walked. Just like the first night in which they had met, Calvin, the angel with dark skin and snowy white hair, appeared from past the corner at just the right instant. Beside him was the angel with fiery red hair that resembled the fires of a raging burn. Wilhelm, his name was.

Adelia walked towards them with no hesitation, stopping right in between both Calvin and Wilhelm to flash them both an ethereal smile. She did not even turn back once to offer Lucius the luxury of receiving a final glance at her face for the night. The long-haired beauty walked on, curving corners and out of Lucius's sight, leaving him still seated by the edges of Heaven with wide eyes, a frantically beating heart, and a confused mind.

For Friday the 13th, I have many updates in store for this series. Readers of [Courting Death], you can look forward to three updates of the book to be released on Wattpad and Radish Fiction. Hope you enjoy.

xx aurora