Archangels of War

I shut the door to my room, tossing my blazer on my bed. I was already tired from the long, overly eventful school day, and my argument with Kami didn't help things. She was also the type of person to hold a grudge and remain steadfast in her beliefs. So, I doubt that any approach could have diffused the situation any better than what I had chosen to do. And yet I still felt like I could have done something better. For a few seconds, I just stood there, staring at the dark blue walls of my room. They were barren. Except for one painting. It was abstract art. Just a collection of colors that all swirled and gathered at a center point in the canvas. Red, green, blue, purple, maroon. All kinds of colors covered the canvas. All erupting from one point. I didn't really know why I liked it so much, but I did. It made me think of all the different things that go into a person, beliefs, personality, emotions. All of these things combining at the center. At the heart, of the canvas. 

Alright, that's enough admiration of art. I moved away from the painting, heading to a nightstand which was right next to my bed. It was a decent sized bed, and beside the nightstand closet and painting, it was the only thing I had in my room. I opened a drawer on the nightstand and reached into it, grabbing a red box. It was fairly small, about the size of a pack of cards. After which, I headed out of my room and walked down the hallway until I arrived at the bathroom which was on the second floor. I set down the box on the counter before turning to turn on the sink. I was planning to splash a little bit of water on my face, in hopes to somewhat wake myself. For a prolonged period of time, I just stared at my reflection. Dark black hair that covered my eyes. My skin was a sort of ivory tone. I used a hand to push my hair out of my eyes. Two dark black pupils stared back at me. Kami was right. They made me look like a dead man. 

I splashed some water on my face, before wiping it off with a towel that was behind the door. I grabbed my box and headed downstairs. Kami was nowhere to be found, but I could hear the water in the downstairs bathroom running. I wonder how long she'll stay mad at me for. I tried not to think about our argument too much. I'm sure she'll be fine by tomorrow. 

I made my way to the side of the staircase. I was meet by a white wall with nothing there. I put my hand on the smooth surface, and a few seconds later, a click could be heard. The door slid open without any more effort on my part. I stepped inside the secret passageway, walking down into the basement. I heard the door click shut behind me. It was fairly dark in the passageway, however the deeper i descended, the more light there was. After a few seconds of walking, I made a right turn and found myself in a very brightly light, and undoubtedly impressive, room. From the opposite wall to the entrance point, there were three massive screens. One on the front wall, and two on the side walls. The monitors were easily larger than 82". Just under the massive TV's, was a fairly long desk that looked very futuristic. It was made of metal, and blue Leds lit it up. It had a keyboard as well as a bunch of other buttons. All of the walls in the room were made of metal and shone a bright blue color. There were also a bunch of boxes stacked in the corners of the room. I made my way over to the monitors. I tapped my feet twice, and a chair materialized behind me. I collapsed into it with a groan. 

"Open." I muttered. Instantly, the three large screens turned on, blasting the room with light. It made it possible to see that the color of all the metal that everything in the room seemed to be made up of was black. Leaning forward, I typed a command into the digital keyboard, before pressing a green button. The screen flash blue as it shifted over to a call screen. A profile picture of a pink bear plushie appeared as well as the caller ID, 'Yuki'. However, it never was allowed to ring once, as the call was picked up instantaneously. 

On the screen was a woman who looked to still be in her 20's. She had blond hair that descended down to below her waist. She had cool blue eyes, like the ocean. She wore jeans that were held up by a spiky black belt. She also wore a shirt that had the sleeves cut off all the way up to her shoulders. She wore a gold necklace that went straight down between her chest, before showing a heart shaped pendant. She also wore the same butterfly earrings as Kami, except they were pink instead of blue. She looked down at me with a grave expression. She spoke, and despite the cold in her voice, it still sounded as sweet as honey. "Raiden, I thought I taught you better than to keep a lady waiting. 

It was this moment when I realized that I had completely forgotten to come up with a good excuse. "I was-" However before I could feed her some bullshit lie, she interrupted me. 

"Not only that, but..." She leaned into the screen, as if she could smell through it. "You smell like women." 

*** 

I was shocked by that statement. For a brief second, I seriously believed her. I mean, I did talk to a lot of girls today. And most of them were touchier than necessary. Guilt started to creep up in the back of my mind, until I realized that we were on a phone call. Which goes to show how high of a regard I held her in. I seriously believed she could smell all the people I had interacted with through the screen. While I was having this moral dilemma and realization, I kept a blank expression on my face. "Don't say nonsensical things like that." 

"Hah! So, you are guilty, I can see it on your face!" My poker expression didn't work on Yuki. 

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I continued to play dumb. 

"Not only do you leave my waiting for over 30 minutes past our appointment, but You do it to go fraternize with females?" Her expression was piercing, and I felt like I could sense her magical energy flowing from across the screen. "Normally, you know how this would end, right?" 

I nodded, swallowing. 

"Well because this is the first day of school, I'll let you off the hook!" Her entire tone had completely flipped, and she was speaking in a high-pitched, vibrant tone. "However, the next time it happens," Suddenly, her voice flipped again, becoming low and dangerous. She was staring acid death at me. She didn't even bother finishing her sentence. After a few seconds of letting me revel in my terror, her smile returned before she said, "So, tell me how your first day of school went!" 

3 personality changes in the same minute. Shes definitely bipolar. "Oh, it went really well. Heading through the magic forest went smoothly, and we even got a tour for the student council president." She held up one finger. 

"Continue." 

I had no idea what the finger meant, but I continued to detail my school day. "After which, me and Kami checked out the school, which lead to me being a bit late to class. That caused me to become my teachers, VIP." She laughed. And then put up another finger. I was starting to get an idea of what those fingers meant. "I also ended up making three pretty cool friends-"

Another two fingers went up.

"And I meet up with some cool third yea-" 

Another two fingers. She was at, five now. The smile never left her face. 

"And we meet the student council..." 

Three more fingers went up. She was holding eight. Her smile appeared more strained. She didn't even bother to elaborate. I knew exactly what she was counting. My question is how she knew which ones were the girls. I said very vague things. Is this chick an actual witch? 

"This chick, is your master, and I believe she deserves a little more respect." Yuki said through gritted teeth. 

"Sorry master. It won't happen again." She was reaching the limits of her patience, so I decided to backpedal. 

She eventually put her fingers down, but her blue eyes seemed to bore straight into my soul, saying the things her mouth didn't. "So, you were summoned to the student council. What for?" 

Happy for the subject change, I answered. "Kami got a position on the student council. And she accepted." 

Yuki whistled, clearly impressed. "That girl is seriously impressive. First day as well?" She then returned her gaze to me. "What about you. Knowing her, she wouldn't leave that room unless you were offered a position as well." 

I paused for a split second, and Yuki was able to easily figure out my answer. "You declined, didn't you?" 

I nodded. "It didn't align with my mission. that's why. I'm here to protect Kami, nothing more. I also didn't like the way Kami just brought it up on my behalf. I was fin-" 

Yuki shook her head. "Your still like this? Raiden, I do hope you understand why Kami did what she did." I paused, confused by her statement. 

"Of course, I understand why she did what she did. It's just, I don't need her doing things on my behalf. It's nothing she should have to worry about." 

"You just contradicted yourself." She sighed, looking at me with a solemn expression. "Raiden, you should really take a moment to understand your own feelings, instead of just throwing them away. Just because you're on this mission, just because of everything that happened to you, doesn't mean you still have to live like this.... Enjoy yourself, Okay?" 

I didn't reply. She was the third person today to bring this up. I just nodded. 

"Alright then, I'll be signing off. Make sure you're not late for the next one! Goodbye!"

The call ended, and the screen flashed back to the faint blue light of the home screen. I sat in my chair, unable to gather my thoughts. So, I did what best helped calm me down. I grabbed the red box and opened it. Inside, was a case filled with cigarettes. I grabbed one slowly, before shutting the case and putting it back in my pocket. I then used a fire spell to the light it, before taking a puff, breathing out smoke into the cold air of room. 

What the hell do they all want from me? And why does it have to do so much with my own heart?