“Need an Ark?” Hoon took his turn, telling jokes around the table, “I Noah guy,”

Kiseop and Soohyun laughed rambunctiously, clapping their hands together and swaying unevenly in their chairs. Kibum rolled his eyes. Angel humor.

“Wait, wait, wait, I got one,” Kiseop snickers, “Why are shoes the only piece of clothing to get into Heaven?” he pauses, for effect, “Because they have soles!”

Everyone cracked up, except Kibum, who continued staring coldly at the trio. What idiots.

“The bears in the forest prey on squirrels and fish,” Soohyun said, giggling, “I pray on my knees,”

The only one not laughing sighed very heavily, “You guys are so stupid,” he scolded, “Angel humor is NOT funny to the rest of us,”

“Oh, come on, Bummie,” Soohyun laughed, “These are golden,”

“Don't call me Bummie,” he said, “And if you want a really good joke; here's one,” he laughed, just at the thought.

“Okay,” Hoon said, “You have the floor, funny man,”

“Why did the monkey fall out of the tree?” he snickered, “Because he was dead,”

While the human-born laughed his rear-end off, the other three looked at him in horror, “That's not funny!” Kiseop said, tears in his eyes, “Poor monkey!”

“That's just terrible!” Soohyun pouted.

His pride hurt, Kibum stopped his laughter, “Well, it's better than your stupid ones!”

Suddenly, a gentle voice sounded behind the group, “Allen, did you tell them your monkey joke again?” he sighed, “How many times do I have to tell you? That's not funny. And neither is the refrigerator one,”

“Kevin!” Soohyun exclaimed, hugging the smaller boy.

“You're so weird,” Kibum said, pushing him aside, capturing Kevin in his own arms, “Besides, Kevin is mine. I found him first,” Kibum childishly stuck his tongue out at the group.

Kevin sighed. While he may love his friend, he could be a handful sometimes. Like when he got jealous. He guesses it's just in his nature to be protective over him. Not only did they grow up together, but Kibum was his Guardian. And you're not supposed to let other Guardians do your job.

“I've been wondering...” Kevin starts, wriggling out of Kibum's vice grip, “What's special about the Wing? Like, I get it. It's 'the last pure part of Lucifer', but what does that have to do with anything?”

“It's prophesied that the last pure part of Lucifer-- you-- will lead the universe into The Last Days,” Hoon explained.

“So why is it a big deal? If it's in a prophecy, then why does it need to be helped along?”

“So long as you stay pure,” Soohyun interjected, “So we needed you before the demons got you,”

Kevin seemed to be stewing over this, for a moment, “So you have me,” he started, “what now? Why are we just sitting here?”

No one wanted to answer, since it was hard to explain. But they knew Kevin deserved to know; and would get flustered if he didn't get an answer, “It's not as simple as that...” Kiseop starts.

“We need the other parts,” Kibum continued, “The Eye, the Heart. All that good stuff,”

“It is said that the only ones who are any match for Satan are his children. The only ones that can kill him, is a combination of them,” Hoon said.

“What's with all this 'it is said' stuff?” Kevin asked, exasperated. Why couldn't there be a definite answer? It's this way, or that. Why do angels have to complicate things?

Hoon laughed at his annoyance, “Because we've never tried before. It's only a theory,”

Kevin stared in disbelief. Only a theory? They're betting their lives on a simple theory? Of course; they won't be the ones to die. He will. So they were pretty much betting his life on a theory.

Kevin sighed. He missed his life being normal. Don't get him wrong; he loves Allen's new friends. But their dedication to work worried him. Not to mention he was still on the fence about the whole thing. How could he lead the Apocalypse? He couldn't lead the students in his History class through a power point, much less an entire army of angels through to the end of the world.

The young human had a question nagging in his mind. A couple, actually, and he needed them answered. Otherwise curiosity would eat him alive. He went ahead and asked the first one.

“We don't know the answer to that one,” Soohyun said, after a long pause, “We think it might be because you are technically human,”

Kevin had asked why, if he were the Wing, he didn't have wings. He felt he got the short end of the deal. He quickly turned to Kiseop as he spouted his idea.

“Maybe Satan is holding it back,” he started, quietly, “He can still control it, right? And that's why it took so long to implant itself into a human child in the womb. He chose carefully, just as he's choosing the time to give Kevin his wings,”

Kevin sighed in gratitude. That was the most straight and logical answer he'd heard all day. At least from the angels, “Thank you, Kiseop. That makes a lot of sense,” Kevin smiled.

It sounded a little sarcastic to his own ears, but the others didn't seem to notice.

“Don't worry, anyways,” Kiseop continued, “I don't have my wings yet either,” he confessed.

“Really?” Kevin asked. He was angel-born, right? Did even they have to earn wings, too?

“Yes,” Kiseop smiled, “I'm technically not out of the Academy yet. I was training to be a Guardian,” Kevin and Kiseop exchanged a few more lines, before the human's second question resurfaced in his mind.

“There's someone I met recently...” Kevin trailed off, asking his next question.

“Kyoungjae?” Soohyun repeated, “No, I don't recall anyone from Heaven called Kyoungjae. Are you sure his eyes were the same color?”

“Yeah. Exactly like Allen's. That's why I chose him to tour around,” Kevin said, his brow knitted.

“Kevin,” Kibum suddenly said, warningly, “Stay away from him. He's trouble,” Kevin looked at him, confused, “He's my brother,” Kibum clarified, “And he fell to demonhood,”

The young human shouted across the field to his older brothers, gaining their attention, but only for a small moment. The two teenagers rolled their eyes and continued what they were doing; drawing in a small patch of dirt that had surfaced in the grass field quite a while ago. They were done with work for the day, and had nothing else to do, so they chose to talk with each other. They seemed to share the same opinions.

They spoke in their native tongue; a language so dead to humans nowadays no one even knew it existed. Latin had yet to be spoken in this time.

Complaints of their shared parents were thrown around; words and defiance so bad they'd be killed for treason and suspected rebellion.

“The Elder is so stupid,” the younger of the two vented, “I can't believe he's making dad pay three animals for one bag of grain,” he kicked the dirt in frustration, huffing.

“He's just trying to get by himself, you know,” the older soothed, “And you know that whatever he's paying, half goes back to the village to share. It will be fine; we have six of each of our animals,”

They continued, and even the eldest, who was not normally so negative, complained about one or two kids his age. He seemed to have something else on his mind, though, and it truly showed when he spaced out frequently during their conversation.

Suddenly, he voiced his thoughts, after the youngest decided to give up and sit in silence, “We should run away...” he mumbled, finally working up the courage to suggest what had been bothering him for weeks.

The younger's eyes widened, “What? Where would we go, anyway?” he asked, incredulously. That kind of nonsense was unheard of, here. Nobody has ever just left; no one knows what's beyond here, anyway. The only thing that surrounds them is water.

The older, who'd suggested such a ridiculous thing, didn't reply, writing it in the dirt instead. In his native language, it read;

“Ibh han mulk daun Wreap.” A Reaper visited me.

The younger studied the text, shock settling in. There was much lore over this in their culture; terrible beings clothed in pure white light with golden wings stretching behind their majestic, perfect bodies, shedding feathers in their stead. Anytime a Reaper visited them, someone died, or went as good as insane. The powerful beings always left a feather in their wake; and those feathers were used in the most efficient, expensive medications this village had to offer.

“Ibh Wreap?” A Reaper? He wrote back.

The older nodded, lifting his stick to draw more letters in the ground. Had he gone insane, just like the others?

“Lorven hav 'Cand Preluvre', daun ould serz deb,” He said we were part of a 'Promised Land'. He let his brother read it, watching confusion pass his face, before he continued.

“Whaf ish oulk serzfem ibh 'Heaven' lorv cand.” That we could get into a land called 'Heaven'.

The younger let this sink in. His eyes soon narrowed as a new thought surfaced into his mind, “And become one of them?” His brother simply nodded, and pointed to the dirt, where he had wrote one more thing, while the younger was deep in thought.

“Movt, ishf oulk ibhla.” We'd have to die, first.

The younger immediately shook his head, refusing the offer, “No. I will not leave this life just to become a Reaper,”

“Think about it!” the older pleaded, “Please. Anything is better than here, and you know it,” he thought of all the good he could do, if he were a Reaper. Because, even though they were associated with death, the feathers of these beings healed. And they were found beside people that had been cured of deadly diseases they weren't supposed to survive. And they rained from the sky the day, long ago, when the epidemic that had been decimating their population miraculously disappeared. Deep down; these Reapers were good.

The younger did take some time to consider what it would be like. But he, however, thought of all the bad things and revenge he could carry out as such a powerful being. As if the thoughts were rushing into his head on their own; he almost couldn't stop them. They revolved around murdering everyone that had ever done him wrong. Slaughtering his entire village. Making people run to the brink of insanity, just to tear them apart, bit by bit, and scatter the pieces across the mountainside.

The younger smiled, almost evilly, and drew the consenting word in the sand.

“Hei.” Yes.

They used the knives they'd brought with them as their weapons. Slitting each others throats; they'd go down and out together.

Their lives flashed before their eyes; replaying times they treasured greatly as their lifeblood drained slowly from their bodies, soaking the soil beneath them. The eldest thought of all the good things he'd done in his life, a proud smile gracing his last feature. The younger thought of all the mistakes he'd made, all the regrets he had. Although, he didn't necessarily wish he could take them back.

The world faded to black as two beings made from, what seemed like, pure white light lifted them from the ground. The youngest faintly saw a feather, previously made of gold light, fade to a white that was dull in comparison, as it detached from his wings and floated down to Earth.

Faintly, he looked up at the Reaper, “Who are you?” he asked, in his native tongue. The Reaper translated with ease.

“I'm Lucifer. Your Guardian,” he said, “Did you enjoy the memories I replayed for you?” he asked, looking down at the human cradled in his arms. Said boy squinted as an intense light went off and on harshly in front of his eyes. He winced and closed them.

“I apologize,” Lucifer said, ashamed, and turned his face away from him, “It's so dark down here. I always forget of my tongue,”

The human didn't comment, but forgave him. Instead, he asked, “What did you mean by that? Replayed memories?”

Lucifer sighed, “Do you humans actually think that you could remember all that in your last moments?” he smiled, pleasantly, “As you die, you and your Guardian become connected, for a short amount of time. Their thoughts are yours. And normally, an angel mourns by reminiscing on all the times they helped their human out. That's what I did,”

“Angel?” he asked, “What's an angel?”

“That's what we're called. Your village was slightly off with your theory; Reapers are drones training to be a Messenger angel. They're invisible to humans, and simply bestow death on them. The human's Guardian will do the rest,”

The boy's brow furrowed in confusion. A lot of things to take in. He could barely concentrate on breathing. So, this Lucifer... He had been with him his whole life? Watching over him?

“Welcome to Heaven. Your celestial name is Eli,” Lucifer said, as a bright light manifested itself in front of them, “I'll need your help, apprentice,”

Over the next few years, Eli learned from Lucifer the ways of the angels, while working to become a Messenger. He wanted to become a Guardian, but Lucifer wouldn't let him. He said they needed Messengers more than they needed Guardians; and he would make a better profession out of the former, anyway.

Lucifer had been granted his Archangel status, Eli being his last Guardian assignment. The same with Eli's brother-- now called Kibum. His Guardian, Michael became an Archangel shortly after being done with his last assignment. Kibum was currently training to be a Guardian.

“Kill her,” Lucifer commanded, guiding Eli as to what he should do, “She had no husband, when she gave birth. Kill the bastard, too,”

Eli felt a little remorse, but he was a Reaper, and this was his job. If he was ever going to get his wings, he'd needed to take orders and carry them out. They delivered death to humans; practice for delivering messages to the darkest parts of Earth. Training for invisibility, too.

Plus; Lucifer was like a father to him. And you can't just disobey your father. Lucifer had made Eli what he is; he wouldn't be here, if it weren't for him. A silent thank you is said in his mind, to his father, as the woman and her small child closed their eyes for the final time.

Eli returns to Lucifer, waiting for his next order. The Archangel simply smiled at him, “Thank you. You're such a good follower,”

Eli assumed that, since Lucifer literally means 'light bringer', he could trust him. He thought all these orders came from God, or at least the High Angel. He didn't know why all these humans deserved to die; it didn't seem like they did anything terribly wrong. Perhaps Lucifer knew something he didn't.

The duo was able to continue on like this for many, many years. Eli started to get suspicious. He knew it took a little while longer to become a Messenger, but Kibum had been assigned to three different humans now, each living around twenty human years. Shouldn't he have already been promoted?

And he started to doubt that all these humans were really on the 'kill' list. Now, he was killing around thirty humans a day, where it used to be two or three.

But whenever Eli asked Lucifer about it; he'd get angry and threaten to lock him up somewhere in the deep, where no one would find him. When he refused, he got hit and punished.

So he gave up hims dreams of rebellion, and followed him like he always had. The desire for justice could not outweigh the fear of being trapped for eternity.

But perhaps that was always his fate.

Shortly after being grated his Messenger wings; the High Angel caught on. He knew, now, that it had been Eli killing all the humans, that were not yet supposed to die. Eli found out that, although they are angels, they cannot see Reapers while they are on Earth. It was too difficult for them to place the murderer, and Eli pointed the finger at himself, since the killings nearly stopped when he became a Messenger.

He was locked up in the deepest part of Heaven; chained to the wall. His wings, over the years of having very little 'elbow room', grew at an odd angle. They had to be broken and healed to work properly.

Eli tried to tell them he was just accepting orders from Lucifer, but no one believed him. Lucifer denied the whole thing, shunning Eli and even saying that he had tried to stop him. That he didn't tell because he just loved the boy too much to let him get in trouble.

He didn't know how Lucifer managed it. Perhaps it was because of his tongue, that he was able to lie so smoothly. Light was shed on his every word, spilling past his lips in a flow of truth and righteousness. Or so was the theory.

Years and years went by, and the only time Eli had any company was when they came to fix his wings. He suggested that they should just lock the cell, and take his chains away, but they didn't trust him. Eli could see it in their eyes.

However, on a certain day, Kibum came to visit him. Eli was surprised; the last words Kibum spoke to him pretty much said that he wished Eli had never become an angel.

He came to relay a message, “Burn it when you're done reading it,” Kibum tossed the note, down to his feet, and walked away.

Not exactly the touching reunion he'd imagined, but Eli would take it. He missed his bigger brother so much, it was like a new pain in his heart that festered every time he thought about what he had done, and Kibum's face when he found out. Broken, torn between justice and family. He chose justice.

The note, written in the language shared by the two-- the angels could only speak it; not read it-- contained one sentence that mattered to Eli.

Lucifer is building up his army.

The rest was an apology, and telling him that Kibum was going to get him released, and soon. Eli smiled. Finally. After what seemed like a few millennium; he was going to be let out of this cage.

However, he was not the same. He was far past insane. He wanted nothing more than to be out of Heaven, no job of Messenger, or even Archangel. He would wander the outskirts of both Heaven and Earth before he went to the High Angel ever again.

When he was let out, after Lucifer had been pieced up and chained in Hell with barbed wire, he did just that. Wandered. He went to Earth for a while, using his old Reaper ability to be invisible, so as to not be seen. Lucifer's army was here, too. The angels that chose to follow him in killing the human race. They were the only ones that could see him. Humans could see these banished angels; unwelcome in Heaven and Hell, but only if they manifested themselves. Humans call them 'ghosts'.

They could sometimes change their shape and appearance to people from the human's memories, but most of the time humans saw their dead relatives as a means of explaining the inexplicable. Eli thinks this is ridiculous. He didn't like wandering Earth at all, invisible beings, preying on humans his only company.

He knew, though, that Hell was the only other option, and he didn't want to be in the city of Lucifer even if it were the last place that existed. He'd rather burn and be tortured than visit Lucifer again.

But that's exactly what would happen if he went to Hell. His logic made sense, in his less-than-sane state, so he journeyed to the forbidden city. He wasn't tortured there, like he'd planned, but he did go to see Lucifer. That old Guardian tie was still there, and it seemed as though Lucifer was calling to him.

He stood at the front of his cage, the only place lighted in Hell, because of his celestial body. But it was so down deep in the pit, that no one could possibly have a hope of seeing it, unless they traveled for days, like Eli had.

“Lucifer,” Eli said simply, quite honestly wanting to use every profanity he knew towards the Fallen. But he had no motivation to spark up his desire to argue and get his way. That was so much more trouble than it's worth.

The angel only growled, “It's Satan, now,” he could not talk, Eli noticed. And when his lips parted, that tell-tale beam of light did not escape. The rumors Eli heard had just been confirmed; and he noticed that, indeed, his left eye was missing, as well as his right ear, and only one wing was pinned behind him by barbs.

“What did they do to you?” Eli asked, but did not let him answer, “Did you honestly think you could beat them?” Now, he didn't want to praise the angels. But he'd rather tear down Lucifer.

"We were so great, Eli. We could have taken Heaven for our own. Do you realize the possiblities you gave up? How much we could have had?"

"I gave up?" Eli shouted, "You could have talked your way out of anything! I didn't know anything of what you planned. You got me locked up. And I'm not going to help you get out, if that's what you're thinking. I don't owe you a damned thing,"

The prisoner didn't say anything, only stared evenly, attempting to intimidate his former apprentice. It didn't work.

“Did they tear out your heart, too?” Eli asked, observing the large blood stain over his left , “Looks like it won't grow back. That's just too bad. Guess you won't have strength to escape,” he feigned a sympathetic voice, adding in a dash of sarcasm.

“You are on my turf now, boy. And you will do as I tell you to,” Satan said, “You will become a demon. A Fallen. And, as I did before, I rename you Kyoungjae. I own you, boy. You will do as I say,”

Eli smirked. Like he could do anything from his spot against the wall, “How do you plan to make me do anything?” he asked.

“Lilith, my first in command, will not let you leave. I have given her the orders. Congratulations, my son,”

With a burst of adrenaline Satan had received from Eli visiting him, he blasted him out of the pit and into the depths on Hell, straight into Lilith's arms.

“Hello, child,” she greeted, a twisted grin covering her deformed face, “Kyoungjae, is it?”

Kyoungjae sighed. He hadn't thought about those memories in a long time. He had seen Kibum recently, and thinks that may have sent the nostalgia off. Kibum didn't see him, though, and even if he had; no recognition would have been made. Kyoungjae was different from Eli. Speech, mannerisms, appearance. Everything changed about him since their last encounter.

The only thing he knew Kibum knew about him, anymore, was that his demon name was Kyoungjae. All the angels were informed when Eli finally completed his fall to Hell. They might still be waiting for him to come back. Most angels do, but not with out punishment from the High Angel.

“Kyoungjae,” Kevin chirped, “Do you know my friend, Allen, at all?” the pair was in their art class, quietly working on separate things. Kyoungjae wanted to be left alone, but Kevin was persistent.

He sighed, “No, I don't,” he said, continuing with his soft pencil . He didn't know what he was drawing; he let his hand to the work.

Kevin stopped himself from asking his next question. No matter how curious he was; he couldn't let the demons know how much he knew already. That was his one instruction from Allen that he bothered to follow, simply because it was the only one that made any sense at all.

The rest of the class was observed in complete silence; both worrying over each other.

Kyoungjae knew that he would be whisked away to Heaven. Kevin was a lot like Kibum had been, before they both became angels. And he knew that, back then, he would die for his older brother.

And he would certainly die for Kevin, too.