Chapter Text
The soft scraping of Gabi’s metallic tools against the bare circuits in front of him was barely audible, but Raf listened intently, holding her breath. She could barely do more than focus on the sound since moving closer to look was impossible.
Between her and Gabi sat Uriè, her hazel eyes laser-focused on his moving hands, and her face creased with uncharacteristic seriousness. Raf could always count on Uriè to be her beacon of light, so it was more than fair to reciprocate and support her in her occasional hour of need. She needed all the support she could get this time around, what with her dearest camera on the line.
And so, the two girls sat in silence next to Gabi—their only hope in such trying times—their postures so tense from anxiously waiting that their feathers bristled up like a scared cat’s back. Neither would dare get closer and accidentally disturb him while he worked, so this was the next best thing.
Gabi didn’t pay them much attention, of course: he was too busy prodding around with his tools to concern himself with anything—or anyone. He easily tuned out the world around him when he tinkered away, especially when the wares weren’t his. Raf remembered a couple times back in Angie Town where she had to physically pull him away from his desk and shove food into his mouth so he would eat. He had a habit of forgetting himself sometimes.
“Lampo, more to the left please,” he requested, and the firefly mascot complied. Uriè’s glowing insect shone its light as indicated, hovering just right for him to see better inside the open camera in front of him.
“I think I see the issue…” Gabi finally declared, delicately pointing to something deep inside with his tool. “Uriè, care to confirm?”
She scooted even closer. “Yes! That’s the oneiric filter, it should be aligned with the relay mirror and the lens.”
“That too, I guess…”
He grabbed a thin, long, needle-like implement from the toolkit next to him, and reached deeper into the camera. “I mean here, see? Something’s jamming this gear train. Film, or paper, or… whatever it is this thing uses to print pictures.”
If they weren’t currently in a classroom, Uriè surely would’ve screamed. Instead she wheezed out in horror, “My hypnoid foil!”
“Yes, the thing you just said. Seems like it got stuck when the other components were unaligned.”
“How did that even happen?!”
“You tell me, I barely know what I’m touching here!” he threw up his hands in the air in defeat. “Maybe you accidentally moved them around while loading the foil inside?”
“Just look at the placement, you can’t touch the oneiric filter without dismantling half the camera. Also, hypnoid foil comes in a pack! It wouldn’t be exposed to the gears like this normally.”
Her two friends looked at her in utter confusion, but Uriè didn’t mind them. Instead, she buried her face in her hands and huffed in frustration. “Some brute messed with my baby and ruined an entire pack of dream-printing material!”
Ah. That was definitely easier to understand.
Her yellow feathers ruffled up, tickling Raf’s arm as she scooted closer; she gently patted the shorter angel’s back, but her wings barely smoothed down.
“First I couldn’t find my camera, now this… How am I supposed to take pictures in class today?”
“If you ask Professor Irene I’m sure she’ll have a camera you could borrow, and if not then we could share?” Raf offered kindly.
They were in Conscious Photography after all, and class hadn’t formally begun yet. The request form was readily available at the teacher’s desk; borrowing dream cameras was the norm for the vast majority of first year students. The only reason Uriè didn’t borrow one like the rest of them was because she had her own model, and a better one at that… when it wasn’t jammed, of course.
“Hey, I may know nothing about cameras but I do know how printers work,” Gabi smiled, then pointed at his resting bumblebee mascot, “And Ginger here is excellent with small components, we can realign your thingies back in place with the right instructions... So how about it, sunshine? Care to boss us around for a bit?”
Uriè nodded enthusiastically, her sparkly nature easily overcoming her previous concern. Gabi quickly put himself to work with a content grin: he loved having the chance to help out with his tinkering.
While her two friends were busy, Raf moved away for a bit and left them to it. Two’s company, three’s a crowd, as the saying went. Her knowledge of cameras was laughable compared to Uriè’s, and Raf knew better than to snoop around when Gabi worked.
The young angel scooched away on her floating chair. The table they shared, much like all the others in the classroom, was broad enough for her to move away until she could not hear them whispering anymore. Their shared workbench even had a set of rails that went around the table’s perimeter, and a wheeled toolbox could be rolled down the affixed tracks so it could be easily shared around by the students occupying each table—not that Gabi needed it, he kept his own toolkit at hand.
Still, Raf pushed the toolbox their way just in case, and then casually resumed her way to the edge of their workbench. Her remaining friends waited for her in the table next over, and they clearly wished to be clued in on what was happening.
“Psst! Raf!” Ang-Lì called her first, “How’s our master surgeon doing over there?”
“The patient’s stable" she humored him. "Seems like someone messed with Uriè’s camera while it went missing.”
“We have a saboteur in our midst! Great, I’ve always wanted to solve a crime mystery!”
Dolce raised an eyebrow at him. “Maybe it was an accident and the person just needs some time to come around...? My sisters do that sometimes.”
“Or it could’ve been a devil,” said Miki nonchalantly. “They like to prank newbie angels sometimes by ruining their stuff.”
The conversation suddenly stopped. Three pairs of eyes turned to look at Miki as she casually rested her elbows on the table, and then her chin on her hands. It was hard to tell if she was serious or not.
“Oh, um… I don’t think so?” Raf broke the silence, though she didn’t sound as confident as she’d like, “We found it in the common room this morning, so…”
“Definitely not a devil then, since they can’t enter the celestial wing,” said Dolce, relieved.
However, Miki cautioned them further. “I wouldn’t scratch it off the list just yet. If they really want to mess with you, devils will find a way to do it, and make it look casual while they’re at it. The worst ones are especially patient and cover their tracks.”
That made Raf pause again, the words slowly sinking in despite her efforts to keep them out. She pushed away the forming thoughts about Sulfus as best she could—surely he couldn’t be biding his time with her like that. She’d rather believe otherwise than feel paranoid for no reason.
Things between them had remained relatively civil all through the rest of September: no more big shows of strength, or taunting her into a trap, or getting her in harm’s way for the thrill of it. He’d make mean jokes with his friends or simply ignore her for the most part, and she was fine with this. Well, as fine as anyone could hope to be with a devil anyway. They tied the metaphorical score after the crashing incident and neither of them seemed interested in a tiebreaker, so by all accounts they were even… Weren’t they?
A gentle hand patting her shoulder brought Raf back to the present. Next to her, Dolce sighed with a resigned smile.
“You and I both, Raf. We’ve got a rough flight ahead of us with those devils.”
Raf cringed inwardly. “Is Kabalè that bad, then?”
“She’s a mean one for sure, keeps calling me everything but my name.”
“Let me at her,” Miki growled, suddenly perking up. “I’ll show her—“
With a boop to the nose, Dolce cut her off. “Don’t be silly, she’s all thunder and no lightning. Besides, you definitely know better than that!”
A giggle escaped her at Miki’s slightly indignant expression, her puffy pink hair bouncing lightly as she laughed.
“Kabalè only knows how to be mean, which is more sad than angering if you ask me... I’m worried Edoardo will listen to her once we start doing projections next semester, though.”
Raf’s eyes widened suddenly.
“Good grief, I’ll have to talk to Andrea.”
Not just talk, she’d have to convince him to be good, and compete with Sulfus while at it. She hadn’t even considered next semester, never mind projections.
“Yeah, I don’t envy you two,” said Ang-Lì. “Your terrestrials are just too complicated, and that’s saying something. Can’t wait to join Cosmic Biophysics for my second year.”
Miki simply scoffed with a knowing grin. “You think Professor Cimentus’ faculty is easier?”
“No offense, but I’d rather do cool lab stuff than wrangle teenagers all day.”
“Even with the brick-sized books you have to read?”
“I like reading,” he shrugged off, adjusting his glasses.
“Fine, fine! Whatever makes you soar, little guy. I just thought I’d let you know, you’ll have to face seraphic equations applied to earthly physics—”
“HA! Joke’s on you, I came to Earth specifically for those!”
“Augh!” she cried out theatrically, holding her chest like she’d been just wounded, “Mercy! His nerd power—it’s too much!”
With a dramatic swoop, Miki fainted on the table. The laughter from her friends was too contagious however, and her dead act was quickly betrayed by her own hiccuped snorts. When Uriè and Gabi approached them, the four angels were still a chortling mess.
“What are we laughing at?”
“Miki,” Dolce pointed at her friend still lying over the table, “She was smitten by Ang-Lì.”
“Couldn’t be helped, sunny-girl. I’m just that charming,” he said with a wink.
Miki raised her head from the table, feign indignation in her voice, “Don’t let him fool you, it was his nerd aura that did me.”
“You mean my awesome Biophysics plan. Also I thought you were smitten?”
Miki shrugged nonchalantly. “I got better.”
Moving past Uriè, Gabi patted the toolkit under his arm, a proud smile forming on his lips. “Wait until you hear where I’m goi—”
“Tech and Support,” they all said in unison.
“Well I sure am, thanks for asking!” he said with light sarcasm. “But I bet you don’t know what I’m specializing in.”
“Whatever it is, if you don’t get to fix my equipment again it’ll be a shame,” said Uriè as she playfully nudged his arm.
“Sorry, it was fun overall but I don’t think dream cameras are my calling.”
“Shame, shame.”
“Well I think it’s great Gabi, having clear goals like that I mean,” Raf chimed in. A sheepish smile formed on her lips. “It’s something I could learn for myself. I don’t know yet if I’m staying past our first year…”
He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Really? You’ve always seemed sure about Guardianship to me.”
“Right? That’s what I’ve been telling her!” said Uriè with an exasperated smile. “Besides, having doubts is normal, don’t pluck your feathers over it. I’m split between Guardianship and Oneiric Compositing myself.”
“At least you know you want to stay to make a choice, I’d be happy with just keeping Andrea from lying himself into a corner, and hope the lesson sticks in case I don’t.”
“Well if you want to keep him out of trouble for longer, you’re welcome to join Dolce and I,” Miki offered. “Not to brag or anything but not every angel is cut out for the job, and you seem to be prime guardian material with a knack for—how did Professor Temptel phrase it the other day?”
“Something like, ‘a knack for finding helpless little strays’,” Dolce quoted. She must’ve been right since Miki gave her a thumbs-up.
Raf couldn’t help but chuckle, even if she didn’t feel much like laughing at the moment.
“I’d count myself lucky if my stray stopped being so helpless. I know Andrea is a good boy deep down so I know I have a chance, but I don’t think I can make it work when I don’t know the root of the problem.”
That gave Miki a pause as she mulled over Raf’s words. Dolce, however, continued.
“I’m sure you’ll figure him out sooner than later! Worst case, you have the whole year to do it.”
“That could change next semester when we finally get to try projection. It’s hard enough to keep up with Andrea as it is, add Sulfus influencing him to the equation and—“
“I think it’s also important to remember, Raf…” Miki spoke again, her voice firm but gentle. “Our job is to guide our wards, but it’s ultimately their choice who they’ll become down the line.”
“I know, I’m just trying to prepare. I want to do everything right.”
Miki paused briefly, her expression hardening. There was a hint of fierceness in her still gentle voice as she spoke next, “Even if you do everything right, there’s always a chance he won’t listen to you. It’s not a failure when that happens, but it is when you let it get to you.”
Raf’s brow furrowed and color crept to her cheeks.
“I know that too,” she muttered, mostly to herself. “I will still try my best to do things right.”
To say she felt embarrassed would be an understatement—not so much by what Miki said, but by what it implied about her.
That she lacked in something, somehow. Courage perhaps, or good sense. Raf knew she may not have much of the latter, but the former…
Despite her fears she’d come to Earth, and she kept coming back each weekend to realize her goal. That was either the definition of bravery or stubbornness—either way, she had what it took. If she gave the impression of the contrary though, she was objectively doing something wrong.
She had much to think about now.
“Woah there, what’s with the war face?” Miki chuckled. Any semblance of her previous fierceness was now gone. “You okay there girl? I wasn’t too hard on you was I?”
“Ah—yes! Yes, I’m good!” she rushed to answer. “I was just uh… letting the lesson sink in.”
“You must look like you’re plotting a murder when you read for a test—” Ang-Lì began before he got promptly cut off by Uriè’s elbow nudging him.
“Come on, let’s not be mean funny-boy.”
“It’s good Uriè,” Raf winked at her, “I’ll scare him off myself when we group-study.”
Candid and warm, the laughs of her friend group quickly melted Raf’s concerns away—for now, at least.
Turmoil sat in the back of her mind, a nebulous urge to dive deep into her newfound perspective. It would remain there for the time being, until Raf could process better, maybe even ask Nelli on how to approach things from now on.
Indeed, the young angel still had much to think about and the day was just beginning, which meant it was probably going to be a slow one, perhaps for the best.
Raf could only hope it was for the best.
-o-
Irene was the kind of teacher whose patience could be considered proof of divinity. Only a higher being with a greater purpose would be able to instruct an entire class of clumsy first year students on how to handle delicate equipment like she did, without losing one’s marbles in the process.
This is what meeting the High Spheres must feel like, Raf thought as Irene checked over her borrowed camera. The adult angel shifted the item around with gentle but expert hands.
“Here you go sugar, if you remove the lid like so”—she popped off the cap protecting the lens—“Eccola qua, as the local terrestrials say! You can take pictures again.”
Raf hid her face in her cupped hands in total embarrassment; she expressed her thanks between her fingers and peeked to see Irene move on to help out the next set of students and, perhaps a bit selfishly, the young angel hoped other students made her same mistake often enough so she wouldn’t look too much like a spaz.
Conscious Photography was one of those classes she could ease herself into very naturally; she may not be into it as much as Uriè, but Raf enjoyed the lessons nonetheless. She’d been weirdly distracted today, however.
Normally, the spacious atelier of the Oneiric Compositing faculty felt freeing. It was very airy in a good way, with its high ceiling and wide frosted glass windows; the soft natural light coming in reminded Raf of the glasshouse at the botanical garden in Angie Town. Without all the plants, of course, though the steely columns arching above her could be thought of as tree-like, with the way they curved down to form decorative spirals near the tiled ceiling.
She turned to look at her friends for a bit, but all of them seemed focused on the task at hand—readying their cameras and mascots for a small trip outside. It was so roomy their voices would echo if they were loud enough, so everyone for the most part kept quiet or chatted in whispered tones like they would in the library.
All around her, her classmates sat in silence and worked while Raf tried to quiet down her own thoughts. Her mind was torn between the current class activity and her need to delve deeper into a million other things, all of them related to a single source: the Eternal Guardianship class.
Untangling the mess of ideas and doubts hadn’t been easy, oh no. Poor Raf had spent her entire morning scribbling on her notebook, battling her own head, following one line of thought after the other in search of something coherent, but more often than not meeting with a dead end—or worse, a knot of self-doubt that brought her back to the start. The introspective had been enlightening, if tiresome. Her hand hurt after filling three whole pages of messy, senseless notes.
It paid off in the end, at least. One, she did find out she was terrible at organizing her own thoughts—did she always think in circles like that back in Angie Town?—and two, her insecurities so far boiled down to the lack of answers behind Andrea’s bad habit, and her inability to prevent Sulfus from sabotaging her.
Because the longer she stayed on Earth, the more confident she felt about everything, Raf found; everything but her toughest subject, Humanism 101. Everything else she could handle well enough, but those two boys were the bane of her existence.
For a moment she thought if having a crush would occupy her mind half as much.
She perished the thought.
A wandering mind would currently do her no good. Conscious Photography required her attention, urgently so. Raf had been stuck on her little introspective too long after all, and the last thing she needed was her guardianship problems seeping in to other classes, meandering too long and missing out on—
Focus already!
The thought did the trick.
“The basics of terrestrial consciousness!” Irene began from her desk at the front of the class. “You may take pictures with your camera easily enough, but you won’t be able to understand it at all if you don’t know what you’re looking at. And if you can’t interpret a still somnograph correctly, imagine what managing an entire dream is like!”
Turns out ‘oneiric compositing’ was just a fancier way of saying ‘dream-crafting’, Raf learned on their first week. She also learned that the process was tightly knit to guardianship in many ways; both fields of work required scouting for a terrestrial and studying them before intervening, for example. For the sake of simplicity, Irene had them studying their assigned wards from their guardianship lessons.
“Today your focus should be on capturing positive thoughts, or thoughts that best represent your ward’s personality. Remember sweeties, our three field rules for this class: only take pictures while the subject is awake, only take pictures with your mascot present and active, and most importantly...”
“Don’t forget the VETO,” the young angels recited in unison.
Ah yes, the VETO. Everything circled back to Sulfus or Andrea today, it seemed.
Deep down her worries remained—what would be of her ward and how big of a threat her rival really was. It had little to do with their current photography assignment, but Raf’s mind kept wandering there looking for answers.
Focus girl, come on.
Yes, first things first, paying attention. Miki said it best on their first day of school, Earth was the kind of place where small things snowballed into problems if she didn’t keep her eyes peeled—for what exactly, she needed to define. Look out for Andrea? Or maybe Sulfus? Both? Either way her actions were very limited by what she was allowed to do in class...
Her eyes darted to the dream camera between her hands.
When used on a terrestrial while they were awake, the picture taken would show their conscious thoughts at the time—hence the name of the course, Conscious Photography. This insight was crucial to the process of making dreams or nightmares, and it definitely complemented guardian work.
Thanks to the dream camera, Raf could take a peek into Andrea’s mind: his perception of reality, his intentions behind his current actions, or even more abstract stuff like snippets of memories or wishful thoughts if she was lucky enough.
Unfortunately for Raf, Andrea’s conscious thoughts so far told her little about him beyond what was evident on the exterior: she spent the entirety of September trying to capture his deeper thoughts as they surfaced, but the boy had a very… straightforward mind.
“He either thinks on his feet or he improvises, almost no in-between,” Raf mused out loud.
The class group moved beyond the confines of the celestial atelier and into the eastern hallway of the school’s third floor. Together, cameras in hand, the angels approached the nearby staircase, moving like one in a single orderly line. Once they exited their ‘safe zone’ and reached the second floor, they would spread around and look for their assigned terrestrials to do their fieldwork, mascots at the ready.
‘So what’s the plan then?’
“I was hoping you could tell me,” said the girl with a sheepish smile, holding the tiny ladybug close in her palm.
They’d have to be quick with this conversation—the angels wouldn’t be alone in their photography exercise for long. Fieldwork, be it for guardianship or dream-making, had to be done in pairs as per school rules, and she well couldn’t discuss her plans to beat Sulfus in front of him, now could she?
Her mascot’s soundless voice rang clear in her mind again. ‘Before we think of a new strategy, we should recap what we’ve done so far.’
“Right,” Raf nodded approvingly. She offered her shoulder to her mascot, and Nelli promptly fluttered to rest on it. “I researched terrestrial lying habits and I kept a close eye on Andrea while at school.”
The reading material had been useful somewhat, the angel recalled. It didn’t help her find a pattern or a cause, but at least she could scratch off the more obvious answers.
‘What else?’
“I send you to him over the weekend all the time... Do you think that’s still useful? We get to see some of his home life that way but—”
‘There is no obvious correlation between his home life and lying since he doesn’t spend much time at home.’
“Yes, he hangs out with friends a lot.”
‘It could still be a sign of something else,’ Nelli offered.
Raf hummed, then dug out her notebook and a pencil. Her mascot had a point, she should look into it: her ward either had a very active social life, or he could be avoiding his family for some reason. Even if Andrea’s compulsive lying wasn’t tied to it, there was a chance it could clue her in on other stuff down the line. She made sure to note it down for later—quickly, before the class group began their descent to the second floor.
“On that same note, we didn’t find anything in Andrea’s social circle that would drive him to lie so much, either.”
‘Did you look into his lies as a whole?’
“No pattern there, he spins tales all the time without rhyme or reason, there's barely any ‘purpose’ behind it,” she air-quoted, rolling her eyes. “It’s pretty much compulsive at this point.”
‘Have you checked?’
“Checked?” Raf parroted quizzically.
‘With the somnographs,’ Nelli clarified. ‘Are you catching his lies on camera?’
A pause.
“... I haven’t.”
Taking pictures to catch him in the act and peek into his inner motives! How did it not occur to her before? It was so obvious!
Maybe because she’d just assumed her Earthly One lied on the fly all this time... But she hadn’t looked into it from Andrea’s perspective—certainly not for her Earthly Profile report, which suddenly felt very, very important to have.
‘Perhaps your focus should be on taking a specific kind of picture…’ said the ladybug.
“You think that’ll work?” Raf tentatively asked. She hadn’t tried it before, but she could only hope it wouldn’t be another dead end. Her feet were running out of stairs and her mind out of time.
‘It might point us in the right direction, so it’s worth the shot. You won’t lose anything by trying.’
With a last hop, Raf caught up to her classmates at the bottom of the stairs. Their trek was not over yet, as Irene promptly guided them away from the staircase and into a nearby corner; the risk of accidentally touching a terrestrial would be lower there.
“There’s just one problem… Half the time I can’t tell when Andrea’s lying,” Raf whispered to her shoulder.
‘Then take pictures half the time you do.’
“Oh, right...” Truly, Nelli was the perfect voice of reason she needed. “I’m so glad to have you Nelli. Thank you.”
The ladybug’s voice sounded pleased with itself as it spoke one last time, ‘No problem, it’s what I’m here for.’
The sound of loud chatting and hollering stopped the angel from continuing her conversation. As the noise grew closer and closer, a very familiar cackle rose proud and clear above the rest, echoing down the halls.
He should really volume-check that evil laugh of his, Raf thought.
Soon enough, the devils appeared. The rambunctious lot pushed and shoved each other on their way down the stairs. Even in the chaos, it wasn’t hard to single him out—he was right at the helm, as loud and boastful as always. Sulfus made his entrance with the carelessness of fire, his energy visibly spreading to those around him.
Today would be one of those days for Raf, no doubt.
The devils joined the angels in their little corner, led by their own professor: he was a lanky elder with a dark beard so long it seemingly reached his knees, his bony hands holding onto a cane for balance. He left quite the impression when compared to Irene: the plump woman looked all the more kinder, with her round face and rosy cheeks framing her bright little smile. Despite teaching the same course, Raf could imagine their classes were vastly different.
Quickly, Irene moved to the front with her arms open, as if inviting a dear friend into a hug. “Good morning, Professor Igor!”
“Greetings to you and yours, Professor,” he saluted back with a throaty voice.
“Yes! Good morning to you as well, devil students.”
“Do not bother with the little maggot-munchers…” Igor growled suddenly, glaring daggers back at the young devils behind him. “They are feisty today, for whatever reason. Stir them too much and they might explode.”
“Oh my! They must be eager for today’s class then,” said Irene without missing a beat, “How lucky are we!”
A long-winded wheeze escaped Igor’s mouth, a ghastly sound that could be easily mistaken for an agonizing croak. It took Raf a hot second to understand—he was actually laughing.
“You are too kind, Professor Irene,” he spoke again, though his words felt less like a compliment and more like a reprimand.
Once they were done with pleasantries, the two instructors dug out their respective lists and began their roll call; one by one, the named students would pair up with their counterparts and leave to photograph at their leisure for the next couple of hours.
It was only then Raf realized she’d come up with an objective for Andrea, but she still hadn’t decided on anything regarding her rival… the one who, according to Miki, was likely biding his time to play tricks on her—despite her best efforts to believe the contrary.
Perhaps it was her angelic nature bringing out misplaced optimism, but at her core Raf wished he’d come around and respect her, or that at least he’d leave her alone. Really, you couldn’t fault a girl for hoping.
If there’s a chance he’s scheming, though...
Slowly, she moved away from the devils as much as she could, trying her best to blend into the angelic crowd; experience had taught her Sulfus had a talent for singling her out at the worst possible time, so she couldn’t risk his attention while discussing him.
“Psst, Nelli,” she whispered to her shoulder, hoping her mascot was still perched there.
‘What is it?’
“We didn’t come up with a plan for Sulfus.”
‘What is there to plan for? You can’t even do projections yet.’
“I know but—“
‘Just don’t let him bother you.’
Easier said than done. Maybe Sulfus wasn’t a literal monster, but he was quite masterful at pestering her. His constant jokes at her expense, the mocking smiles, how he kept pushing her buttons with the ‘my angel’ shtick...
Her eyes tilted towards the devil students. Just for a second, but a second was enough.
Sulfus blinked a couple times, seemingly puzzled that their gazes met. He quickly pulled his lower eyelid and stuck his tongue out at her.
“Ugh, he’s such a pest…” Raf grimaced.
‘Yes, but he's also harmless. Sulfus can’t do much about you, and you can’t do much about him,’ Nelli’s voice insisted. ‘Pay attention to what he does so he doesn’t catch you off-guard, but otherwise ignore him.’
Once more, Raf peeked at Sulfus from the corner of her eye. He was still looking at her, an eyebrow raised like a silent question and a sharp-toothed grin forming on his lips. She met the challenge in his eyes by sticking out her tongue at him.
The co*cky grin on Sulfus’ lips widened.
‘Seriously, Raf?’
“What? He started—”
The loud tap of Igor’s cane against the floor interrupted her.
“Sulfus! I’m not getting any younger, Spawn!”
“Yes Prof, I could tell,” he answered, underlined by the laughter of his classmates.
Igor’s tail cracked like a whip behind him in response, shutting his students’ mouths quickly. However, Sulfus kept his rude little smile as he walked front and center.
“Raf darling, you too,” said Irene, gently ushering her forth. The young angel did as told, and found herself face to face with her devil counterpart once more. Whatever doubt or fear she had went away when gold and blue met again in a shared challenging gaze.
With cameras at the ready, wings unfolded, and their undivided attention on each other, they silently ghosted through the floor together.
-o-
“Are you kidding me?”
Alessia looked at Edoardo with wide eyes, her voice somewhere between incredulous and indignant. Their nearby classmates cowered somewhat, but Edoardo stood his ground.
Click, click, click.
“I won’t trade you three scudi for one player,” Alessia insisted.
The latest craze in school—filling up the newest FIFA sticker album for the upcoming world cup—had taken recess by storm. Children went around trading the numbered figurines in hopes of completing their collection, and it was good business for Edoardo. Most of the time trades went well enough, but…
“If you don’t like my offer then you’re welcome to try your luck somewhere else.”
“I did! You’re the only one who’s got it right now,” she said as she pointed at the coveted sticker in his hand. “Please Edoardo, I just want the one sticker. Don’t you want something else for it?”
Click, click, click.
He gave it some thought, his eyes darting between Alessia’s pleading eyes and the object she was willing to beg for; the perfect chance to earn something other than stickers, no doubt. He finally voiced his newest offer, “Ten euros and it’s yours.”
“You want ten euros for a single sticker?!”
“It’s supply and demand.”
“An armed robbery is what it is!”
Click, click, click.
Neither Alessia or Edoardo could hear the four invisible Eternals hovering above them, three of them readily taking pictures with their cameras. Kabalè, Misha and Gabi would take shots now and then, but Dolce watched over them mostly in silence, waiting for the perfect chance.
“Well, look at the twerp go!” Kabalè smiled, going over her latest picture.
She leaned over to Misha to share the results; from the corner of her eye, Dolce caught a glimpse of the image showcasing Edoardo’s most recent thought—of him proudly pocketing a bright red ten-euro bill. The mocking giggles of the two devils were particularly grating on the angels’ nerves.
“I want to tell them off,” Gabi murmured, hands tightening around his camera.
“Don’t,” Dolce cautioned him, her voice just as low. “They’re not worth listening to right now.”
“So they’re worth listening to sometimes?”
“Maybe when they mean real trouble, but right now they’re harmless. Nasty, but harmless.”
He huffed in frustration, but relaxed somewhat. “You have some serious patience for people, Dolce.”
“Thanks! It takes some serious practice.”
She had to remind him as much as herself. As long as they couldn’t use projection, no matter how close or loud they were, terrestrials would be none the wiser: the devils could be as obnoxious and cruel as they wanted, it wouldn’t make a difference. It was a double-edged sword, however.
In moments like these, Dolce wanted nothing more than to bring out the better side of Edoardo, because he was good!
Kabalè only saw the worst in the boy, if her timing for taking pictures was anything to go by. Meanwhile, Dolce was after something much more valuable with her dream camera, but also rarer; as such, she simply paid attention for now. Patience would reward her in the end.
In any case, their current assignment was more important than caring about the devils, and if they were distracted while the angels were at work, that had to count for an advantage… right?
“Why do girls have to ruin everything?”
The sudden intrusion caught everyone’s attention quickly. It was an earthly boy from Edoardo and Alessia’s class, who just had to butt in with his two ugly cents.
“What did you say to me, Filippo?” Alessia asked through clenched teeth.
“I said, why do girls have to ruin everything?” the boy, Filippo, insisted without an inch of shame. “Go be a pain somewhere else, you’re hogging the line.”
“I can be a much bigger pain, I guarantee!”
“Just try to punch me Alessia, I’ll leave you crying.”
Click, click, click.
The two devil girls snickered without an inch of remorse.
“Bet you a bag of hot chips Alessia socks him in the next two minutes.”
“Two bags she punts him first.”
“What are you two on about?” Gabi finally snapped. “How is any of this funny to you?”
“Well, look at bumblebee boy trying to be brave,” Misha grinned smugly, “Do you want to start a fire, Gabi-hun?”
“Neither of you can use fire.”
“Oh, honey… Literal much?”
“How about you two?” Kabalè mocked them next. “Got that little flash trick you haloheads do with your eyes?”
“You can try me down for size if you want, Kabalè,” said Dolce as she moved forward to meet her rival, “Or you can go look for Sulfus to be an actual threat for you.”
“You’ll wish it was Sulfus when I’m done with your stupid pink—“
“Alright, that’s enough!” Edoardo’s voice rose over theirs, effectively stopping two scuffles without knowing. He let out a frustrated sigh. “Filippo, cut it out. I can handle my own business.”
“I won’t spend the entire recess waiting for you to put her in her place, fifone.”
“My place?” Alessia scoffed, “You mean my foot in your mouth if you don’t zip it?”
“What’s a girl trading football stickers for anyway? You don’t even like sports!”
Edoardo deadpanned. “Dude, this is FIFA.”
“And?”
“We’re Italian, Filippo!” he pinched his fingers emphatically.
“I doubt she is, she’s a carrot top.”
“Are you joking right now?!”
Alessia’s hands tightened into fists. “Leave it be Edoardo, you can’t reason with this—”
Filippo cut her off by shoving past her, slamming three stickers into Edoardo’s hand. Three shiny crests from three different playing teams... Three scudi.
Click, click, click.
The picture of Alessia in Gabi’s hands made him frown. She was literally seeing red—a scarlet haze permeated the crumbling, unfocused world framing her raging face.
“I can’t believe this is my best shot yet,” he groaned.
Back and forth, Edoardo’s eyes darted between the coveted sticker in his hand, Alessia’s heartbroken face, and Filippo’s smug grin. It was very clear he just wanted to hurt her, whether he needed the sticker or not, and he was using Edoardo to do it.
It made Edoardo look sullen, trapped—caught between an offer he couldn’t refuse and the strong desire to turn it down out of principle.
It was only then, with steady hands and a somber expression, that Dolce finally took her shot.
Click.
Nobody noticed when Andrea approached.
“Good morning everyone!”
His sudden greeting broke the tension between his three other schoolmates. At the very least Alessia perked up, and Edoardo looked almost relieved at the interruption. The boy wasn’t alone either: he was closely followed by Raf, who quickly swerved up and joined the two other angels in the air.
“Hey, hope I didn’t miss too much,” she said with a sheepish smile.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Gabi breathed out, “The devils are feeling bold today, the more of us the better.”
“Where’s Sulfus?” Dolce whispered to her. The last thing they needed was Kabalè deciding to include him on her threats after all.
“Oh him? He’s lurking around today for some reason.”
They spotted Sulfus easily enough: he was stalking them from afar with an easy-going smile, not even bothering to hide. The devil readied his camera and moved closer to the earthly students, looking for a different angle.
In the meantime, Andrea pointed at the infamous sticker in Edoardo’s hand. “Are you still trading for that one?”
“Forget it Andrea! Nobody’s trading with a cheater like you,” Filippo immediately jumped.
Edoardo, however, clicked his tongue in consideration. “What are you offering?”
“Four new sealed packs.”
“Deal.”
“WHAT!” Filippo yelped. Nobody really minded him however, as they were all busy sealing the deal.
“There you go! We’ll be in touch for more business?”
“Just go away before I get suspicious.”
“Eddai, those are sealed and official!”
Raf hurriedly leaned down, her eyes scanning the four packs that were now in Edoardo’s hands.
“Thank goodness, they really are,” she sighed in relief. For once, her ward was actually truthful.
Click.
The distant but clear sound of Sulfus taking a picture made Raf’s face go from relieved to perplexed in a second.
Just as quickly as he came by, Andrea took Alessia’s hand and together they promptly left the scene, leaving Edoardo oddly pleased with the outcome. Filippo, however, was livid.
“What’s wrong with you, Edoardo?!”
“Yeah! I’m with scat-brains on this one,” Kabalè growled from above, “What’s wrong with you Edoardo? I had that bet in the bag!”
“He had a better offer, what can I say?” said Edoardo nonchalantly.
“You would seriously trade with Andrea? He’s a cheat and a trickster!”
Edoardo paused to slick back his blonde hair. “Well, maybe next time I won’t have to do it if you behave properly.”
“What, you mean I shouldn’t joke around with Ale?”
“That. Don’t ever speak to a girl like that again. It’s disgusting.”
“Right,” venom dripped from Filippo's words, “I forgot you were a pansy.”
With a disgruntled look, Filippo finally left, and Edoardo couldn’t be gladder; he let out his held breath, and went back to trading around with a small, satisfied smile on his lips. The same couldn’t be said about the two devils hovering above his head.
Kabalè let out an indignant cry, “Sulfus, what is wrong with your ward?! You better fix him next semester!”
The red devil, still a good distance away, merely chuckled.
“Don’t laugh it off you bonehead! You owe us hot chips for this!”
“Ugh, I can’t deal with him right now…” Misha sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “He’s lucky he’s pretty.”
“Ew. Misha, get checked. Also don’t let him catch you saying that, he’d become insufferable.”
“Uh-huh, like he could get any worse than this…” she trailed off. “Whatever, the mood is dead and I got what I need, I’ll head back to class.”
With a flip of her long braid, Misha moved towards the main building, not before glancing at Gabi one last time; when he returned the shameless stare however, she winked, then left.
“Yeugh! She keeps doing that!” he recoiled and kicked the air, flustered.
“Does she wink at you often?” Raf mused, patting him in the back.
“All the time... She keeps calling me pet names, too. I don’t know how she does it, but she makes ‘honey’ sound demeaning!” He took a deep breath, then exhaled. “I’m calling it quits for today.”
“And I should go after Andrea,” said Raf as she pointed to the courtyard. “Will you be fine alone, Dolce?”
With a confident nod, she reassured them, “I’ll be more than fine. I got my assignment for today.”
Dolce looked at her single shot of Edoardo. He was looking away from Filippo’s offer, and extending his open hand to Alessia instead. This somnograph showed his most likely choice right before Andrea showed up; in other words, that he could be altruistic without prompting on her part. The lack of any money in the picture supported her theory, and the way he tried to defend her pretty much confirmed it. Sure, he’d picked Andrea’s offer when the opportunity presented itself, but he had good intentions when it mattered. He was kind when it mattered.
Change needed time, time needed patience, and patience needed kindness. Edoardo was ultimately a child who needed kindness, and she would help him discover it within. That’s what guardian angels were for, right?
-o-
The trio said their quick goodbyes, wishing luck on Raf for the assignment. The blue angel parted with a small smile on her lips, never minding a certain red devil following after her.
It seemed like all that worrying she did back at the atelier had been for nothing: Raf’s rival couldn’t be more passive today. Even when they reached Andrea in the school’s courtyard, Sulfus kept grinning to himself a good distance away from her, clearly in a good mood. There was nothing indicative that he’d planned something dastardly, so Raf assumed he was simply teasing her with this new tactic; either that, or Miki’s presence was enough to keep him at bay.
“Welcome back,” the taller angel greeted. “How did it go?”
“Andrea unknowingly stopped Alessia from maiming a schoolmate.”
“Which one?”
“Uh… Fili-something?”
Miki hummed knowingly. “Filippo. He’s in the same classroom as Alessia, Edoardo and Matteo. Definitely too set in his mentality for a guardian’s influence, otherwise you’d see one of the seniors working on him.”
Raf couldn’t help but cringe somewhat. “Makes sense… He didn’t strike me as the nicest while I was there.”
“He sure ain’t,” Gas suddenly chimed in from his perching place near them. The short devil scratched the base of his horns. “He’s fun to watch but the guy’s a dunce—no offense to Miki.”
“Har, har. That’s your best one yet, Gas.”
He must not have detected the sarcasm, since his face actually lit up.
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“I reckon you mean it somewhat, since angels can’t lie and all.”
Compared to his first day’s bravado, Gas was incredibly meek: when paired with his own kind he eagerly joined in, but he otherwise kept to himself. If there was a single devil who could be deemed harmless, it was probably him.
Not for the first time that day, Raf’s eyes drifted towards Sulfus, just to check he hadn’t changed tactics yet… or in all honesty, out of curiosity—it wasn’t much like him to pass the opportunity to tease her. Not to mention that single picture he took back there during the sticker exchange, it was odd enough to raise some questions. Deep down, Raf’s instincts told her the devils were too riled up in general for this to be nothing. It didn’t annoy her so much as made her curious, but she had work to do.
In the meantime, the three earthly friends hanged out on their usual corner of the courtyard. Recess would soon be over, but there was still enough time for a little chat, namely—
“Are you alright Ale? You look upset,” said Matteo as he put down his album to look at her, concern clear in his voice.
“Just crossed paths with that rude codfish Filippo…” she answered with a sour expression.
“Oh, uffa.”
“Uffa indeed, that unbearable twit…” She took a deep breath, in and out; then she dug out something from her pocket—a handful of stickers—and put them next to Matteo’s album. “There, I traded you a bunch.”
“Oh, wow!” his dark eyes lit up as he looked through them excitedly. “Thanks a million! You saved me a lot of grief… I can’t barter to save my life.”
Click, click.
Both Miki and Gas made their move and took a picture. They quickly checked over the results, and grimaced: it was a strange, unfocused mess, with a zooming blot that could somewhat be identified as Matteo running away. Overall, Raf found this particular somnograph to be almost anxiety-inducing when Miki leaned to show her.
“Oh, Matteo,” Miki sighed, “You’re too shy for your own good, buddy.”
“Sometimes I wish he’d spice it up a bit. But at least it’s easy work,” Gas commented.
She raised an eyebrow at him, “You devils are awfully chummy today, aren’t you?”
“And you angels are actin’ like we stole from you or somethin’.”
“Funny you bring it up—”
“Right, that reminds me!” Andrea jumped up. He dug up the sticker he traded from Edoardo and presented it to Alessia, “Here you go.”
She gasped in delight, grabbing it quickly. “Si ‘nu babbà, Andrea!” she squealed.
Alessia promptly pocketed her gift, then took Andrea by the shoulders and shook him enthusiastically. He reciprocated, and their mutual shaking somehow turned into a strange little dance, the two of them twirling around and laughing. It took some gentle prodding, but even Matteo joined the happy circle eventually.
Taking advantage of their terrestrials’ joyful pause, Miki leaned towards Raf again.
“I got what I needed,” she whispered, “Will you be alright on your own if I leave?”
Raf nodded; the green angel did a quick salute, then turned and left.
Not a second passed before Gas spoke with great relief, “Thank the Spheres, she’s gone!”
He turned towards Raf with the closest thing to an evil grin his round, freckled face could make. However, just as he opened his mouth to speak, Sulfus appeared by his side.
“Hey Gas, go back to class.” His eyes were fixed on the lone angel before him.
“Um, boss...?”
He didn’t turn to look at the shorter devil. “I handle her, you handle the loot.”
Sulfus didn’t have to repeat himself: as soon as he finished his command, Gas dropped down and clipped through the floor with incredible ease. And so, the two rivals found themselves alone.
“So, you’re finally done goofing around,” Raf’s eyes locked with his once more.
Sulfus bared his sharpest grin yet. “Missed me now, my angel?”
“Hardly,” she scoffed. She made a pause, then tentatively asked, “What’s this about some loot?”
“None of your business, that’s for sure.”
“Someone stole and messed with Uriè’s dream camera today, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that?”
Sulfus looked at her quizzically. “You think one of us did it? Or better yet—you think I’d tell you if we did?”
“Devils love to gloat.”
“And angels love to sing, but you don’t see me asking how’s choir practice.”
A pause.
“That’s… fair,” Raf openly admitted. It surprised her how easily she could agree with him sometimes. “You didn’t answer my question, though.”
“If I did, would you answer me back?”
“Is that why you wanted me alone?” Raf mused, now genuinely interested.
Sulfus grew quiet, his lips forming a thin line as his mouth clamped shut. Raf waited patiently for him to say something, but instead it was the Earthly Ones below who spoke next.
“I thought you didn’t care for the FIFA album this time?” Matteo asked.
“I don’t, but this is Raoul’s favorite player. I know he’ll be happy to have at least this one, even if we’re not filling our Panini together like previous years.”
“How’s liceo going for him?”
“Fine,” Alessia’s voice sounded somewhat strained. “He’s convincing our parents to let him pick me up from school on weekends… so we can all hang out like before.”
A bit of an awkward silence grew between the three friends. With a soft look, Alessia patted them both on the back.
“Let’s talk something else,” she suddenly chimed, then turned to Andrea, “Remind me to buy you ice cream next time we go out? It’s the least I can do for that trade.”
“Why? What did he trade?” asked Matteo.
“Four sealed packs—”
“For a single sticker?!”
“It’s Edoardo,” said Andrea, crossing his arms, “What did you expect?”
“Wait…” Matteo squinted at him, “Where did you even get four packs? You’re not collecting either.”
“Oh, those were from the Premier League.”
It took Raf a hot second to realize what her ward had done; his two friends, however, were decidedly quicker.
“You traded him stickers for a different album?”
“Andrea, you duped him!”
“Don’t exaggerate, Edoardo will be fine,” he shrugged their concerns off. “He trades around so much he won’t notice—and if he does, he’s Edoardo! He’ll find someone to trade them with.”
Raf’s breath hitched. Could her ward be any more brazen?!
“I don’t like it Andrea,” Matteo said. “You should’ve told him those were Premier League packs, it doesn’t feel fair otherwise. Everyone’s focused on the FIFA album right now, finding someone to trade anything else with will be harder.”
“Eddai, like Edoardo is any better,” Andrea rolled his eyes, “The only fair thing about him is that he’s a weasel to everyone equally. He’s lucky I didn’t trade him counterfeits.”
“He did try to trade me a single player for ten euros…” Alessia muttered. “Maybe what Andrea did wasn’t the best, but Edoardo deserves to be repaid in kind now and then.”
Again, silence formed between the three friends.
The Eternals flying above them were just as wordless. Or at least, Raf was—to say she was especially appalled would be an understatement. Sulfus, on the other hand, was laughing himself to tears.
“High Spheres above,” she croaked finally, “This boy has no shame.”
Her rival’s guffaws grew louder in turn, but she couldn’t mind him right now.
This had been, so far, Andrea’s worst lie yet. He’d never done it to harm anyone before: if anything, most of his tricks were to his own detriment, and he rarely ever gained something from it—that’s what made his lies so hard to detect or understand. While the situation may not be too grave in a grander sense—there were decidedly worse crimes than swindling album stickers—the apparent lack of guilt or principles behind Andrea’s actions shook Raf to the core. Today it was stickers, but tomorrow…
The scariest realization flashed in her mind.
Andrea had successfully tricked his own guardian angel.
Flipping through her notebook frantically, Raf scanned her own words on the matter, looking for some kind of missing clue.
How? How did she not see it? She’d kept a close eye on him this entire time and there simply was no sign! Nothing Andrea did or say changed, he’d lied as naturally as he breathed. For the life of her, there had to be a way to see through him, if she had any hope of stopping the boy from getting worse as he clearly just demonstrated he could!
Sulfus chuckled next to her, his boastful laughter finally dying down. “Oh, it’s even funnier now… That's what I call payoff!”
That’s when it dawned on her.
Back when Edoardo and Andrea had made their exchange—when Sulfus had taken that singular picture.
He’d known.
It felt like a bucketful of ice water hitting her in the face. Both the bucket and the water, in that order.
The sound of a bell-like tune broke her from her stupor: the familiar ring of Andrea’s smartphone notifications, coming from below her. The earthly boy quickly glanced at the screen, then sighed ruefully.
“Hey Ale, could you repay me the favor with something different?”
“You mean you want something other than ice cream? Who are you and what did you do with Andrea?” she teased.
“Could you help out Matteo with practice today?”
From the corner of her eye, Raf saw Sulfus raise his camera. Hesitant, she raised her own; she grew suddenly, keenly aware of everything happening around her—her attention equally divided between her rival and ward. She held her breath in. If her theory was correct...
“No way, you promised you’d help me out! Don’t lump it on Alessia now,” Matteo suddenly jumped.
“Look, I don’t want to bail on you,” said Andrea with a pleading voice, “But I just got a reminder for a medical appointment... I can’t skip it!”
Click.
Raf heard the telltale mechanic sound of the shutter next to her and fumbled to take her own picture of Andrea.
Click.
Her blue eyes darted towards the small screen on her camera, clearly displaying its latest shot.
She gasped.
The somnograph showed Andrea’s most recent conscious thought, clear as day: he was sitting in his room with none other than Ginevra, both of them firmly grasping videogame controllers, laughing at the TV screen in front of them.
There was, simply put, no doctor’s appointment.
Andrea had just lied… And Raf had finally caught him in the act.
“FREAKING FINALLY!”
The pigeons on the roof startled away.
“Legion’s horns, are you okay?” Sulfus asked, looking genuinely concerned. She was too busy laughing and pirouetting in the air to care, though.
“Yes-yes-yes-yes!” she chanted, each ‘yes’ highlighted by her fists pumping up over and over.
By the time she finally came down from her high, Raf’s breath was raggedy and her blonde hair was a tangled mess; still, the biggest, widest smile adorned her ecstatic face. It was also apparent that Andrea and his friends had re-entered class, since the courtyard was now devoid of any terrestrial students. Had she really missed the bell ringing?
Sulfus looked her up and down, seemingly baffled but also amused by her little moment of euphoria.
“Got it out of your system, Raf?”
“Oh, you have no idea,” she breathed.
“Is that an angel thing, or are you just naturally that unhinged?”
“Is that the fabled question you wanted to ask me before?” Her hands reached to tuck some loose hair strands behind her ears. “I guess I’m the kind of girl who really owns her victories.”
“I think you answered a question I didn’t even know I had,” he admitted. “Seriously, what possessed you?”
“I’ll tell you, if you tell me about Uriè’s camera.”
The devil gave it some consideration before he finally said, “If it was a devil, it wasn’t me or my friends. We have better things to steal.”
“You mean the loot?”
“Now, my angel,” he chided, “Answer me first.”
One question for another. A simple, fair exchange. Not exactly what Raf would expect from a devil, but so far today Sulfus had been rather civil—and in a way, she sort of owed him.
“You know what? Sure, I’m in a good mood.” The angel proudly raised her camera. “Today I finally caught Andrea lying on camera!”
Sulfus snorted. “What, like it’s hard?”
“Well…”
“Wait, you mean to tell me—all this time you couldn’t tell?”
“I know he lies often, alright?” she defended herself, “I just… hadn’t caught him in the act before.”
If one didn’t know any better, the way Sulfus exploded in laughter would make you think Raf had just told him the mother of all jokes. She couldn’t help rolling her eyes, but she still waited patiently for him to finish.
“Oh, this is precious,” he finally managed to say after calming down somewhat.
“Liberating, isn’t it?” Raf mused sarcastically.
“I mean, I should’ve guessed! You’ve always looked so lost in this class.”
“Hey, I’m a decent photographer, alright? Somnographs are an entirely different thing—”
“Sure thing, Raf.”
“—And Andrea’s just a really good liar!”
“If you say so…!”
“Seriously, he is!” Raf’s hands shot up as she began pacing in the air frantically. “Goodness, half the time he doesn’t even need to lie. Why couldn’t he just tell Matteo that Ginevra’s coming to his house? Maybe they could all hang out together or something!”
Sulfus chuckled, his golden eyes glinting with amusem*nt. “You’re such an angel, Raf.”
“Yeah, I would hope so!” she scoffed, “One of us has to be. That’s how it’s supposed to work.”
“Right, and I’m a devil. Which is why I get it and you don’t—lies are a devil thing.”
She opened her mouth to say something when the realization hit her.
Lies are a devil thing...
Lies are a devil thing.
Of course!
It felt monumental. Like some kind of universal truth had just been revealed to her. No wonder she couldn’t figure it out, even with her friends’ help. The answer was so obvious in retrospective!
He could tell when she could not, he could detect Andrea’s lies where she failed. Because lies were a devil thing, and Sulfus was a devil.
A devil who, at the moment, was turning to leave. And she still had one question left.
“Wait, Sulfus!” Raf called, and thankfully he stopped.
“What?” he turned towards her, mildly annoyed, “Making fun of you’s getting old and I need to get back to the others.”
“Because of the loot, right?”
“You’re still on with that?”
She simply shrugged. “Humor me?”
While he did raise an eyebrow, Sulfus actually considered it. He mulled over his options somewhat before he finally spoke, “Halloween’s coming up, so we’re stacking up on snacks.”
“That’s it?”
“Earthly snacks,” he specified. “Swear you won’t tell the teachers and I’ll get you marshmallows or whatever.”
“And what if I do?”
“Oh, I know you won’t, my angel. You don’t seem the snitching type…” He smiled crookedly at her, “If you did, though, I’d know it was you—and I would do way worse than a missing camera…”
And so, with a final, sinister cackle, Sulfus left.
Relief washed over Raf as she let out a shaky breath she didn’t know she was holding. Not because she'd been scared of his thinly-veiled threat, but because she had to hide her thoughts from him long enough not to raise suspicion.
Quickly, frantically, Raf opened her notebook and readied her pencil. She scribbled down some quick bullet points separated in two neat columns and connected the dots: the tangled mess of lines had her drawing some conclusions, the kind she could jot down more coherently down below.
Never in her life Raf would’ve guessed that her rival would help her realize her next step. And yet here she was, tracing her newest, greatest plan yet… A bit reckless, too, but her latest conversation proved that there was a way around it.
Or perhaps more accurately, that Raf was probably a bit unhinged, like her rival had suggested.
The answer, however, could not be more clear; both in her pages and in her mind.
“I need Sulfus to help me,” the blue angel declared with finality.
-End-
