Tall waving grass flowed with the movements of the wind, swirling in intricate patterns throughout the wild meadow. A silent form lay sprawled out in the middle of all the field flowers. A woman. Quiet and unmoving. Until her eyes fluttered open slowly. Her gaze slid to the clear sky and then to the high grass she lay hidden in. She frowned. Confused and disoriented.

“How…?”

She groaned in discomfort and felt for her shoulder. It was aching, even more than the rest of her body. She cringed in pain when she touched it and there was blood on her hand when she pulled it back.

“Oh, great.”

She struggled to sit up and with a lot of effort eventually managed it. She looked around the meadow with eyes that shone unnaturally bright. She had long blond hair that swayed all the way to the small of her back. And when she finally sat up, her wings sprang free and stretched out behind her back. They sprouted between her shoulder blades with long soft feathers in a deep red color.

“Maya.”

Her face fell and she turned around slowly. She clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“Go away, Suho.”

A tall man with silver wings landed behind her and watched her rise carefully.

“Maya, are you alright?”

His eyes focused on her wounded shoulder. As if she knew what he was looking at, she held her shoulder again. Blood seeped through her fingers.

“What do you want, Angel? Haven’t you done enough damage already?”

He stuck his sword in the grass where she could see it and held up his hands in a peaceful gesture. He tried to get a better look at her wound, but she kept it turned away from him.

“It was never my intention to hit you so hard, you caught me by surprise.”

It was quiet for a moment and Maya snorted.

“I wasn’t just talking about my shoulder, traitor.”

She carefully moved her wings and tested to see if she could still use them. The sharp pang of pain in her shoulder made her cringe.

“Maya…”

Despite the pain she was as quick as lightning to get away from Suho when he reached out his hand.

“Don’t touch me,” she hissed angrily.

“I can heal you,” he answered calmly.

“I’d rather be crippled.”

“Maya, don’t be so stubborn and just let me…”

Her harsh glare shut him up.

“Go away, Suho.”

“No.”

“And what would the other Angels say if they saw you talking to a Demon instead of fighting her?”

He quieted abruptly. Maya smiled in triumph.

“Not just talking to, but even suggesting to heal her? The others would be so disappointed in you,” she teased slowly, but each word could cut through skin.

“I’m sorry.”

Maya laughed loudly.

“You’re sorry? Because you struck at a Demon? Angels never make much sense, Suho, but you top them all.”

“I wasn’t talking about your shoulder,” Suho answered seriously.

The smile faded from her face.

“But that doesn’t change anything, does it?”

She turned her back to him and paved herself a way through the long grass. Suho followed at a distance.

“Go away, Suho.”

“No.”

“Go away,” she snarled at him and her wings turned darker. “Go away!”

“I’m sorry. I never thought you wouldn’t become an Angel.”

“And whose fault is it that I’m not an Angel, Suho?” Maya asked him coolly without even slowing down her pace for a second. “Or that I had to find out about my afterlife when it wasn’t even supposed to be my time yet?”

“I didn’t know. I had no idea…”

“What? You never saw it coming? Off course not,” Maya sneered. “You were gone. Your favorite was protected and screw everyone else.”

Her wings took on an even darker shade.

“You didn’t know? You had no idea? Since when does an Angel know more about the future than a human?”

“I had my orders, Maya. My mission was…”

“My best friend. Did you think I’d forgotten that?”

She stopped and turned so abruptly he barely had time to react before her fist hit him. It hit him so hard that he flew several yards back. He slammed into the ground. Maya walked up to him with an icy calm and squatted down before him. She smiled, but there was no warmth in it whatsoever. He tried to move, but the crash had knocked the wind out of him pretty good.

“If I was still human, I probably would have felt sorry for you. I might have even forgiven you. But I’m not human anymore, Suho. I don’t feel pity anymore. No sympathy, no compassion.”

She clamped her hand on his shoulder with a smile and pressed her razor sharp claws into his skin. He hissed in pain. Maya laughed softly.

“I only know hate, anger and pain now. Here’s the story like I remember it, Suho. The truth, the one you can’t change, even when you say you’re sorry for another million times.”

She pulled her claws back and the blood off with satisfaction.

“You came to us because you knew Demons were after Nadia. With a lot of effort and patience, like only an Angel knows how to, you managed to gain our trust. You vanquished the Demons. Except, of course, the one that got away and then returned later. You convinced Nadia to come away with you to a safe place and erased everyone’s memory of her very existence. You left me behind. Without a friend, without protection and even without any memory of something dangerous out there that knew me. Nadia now lives out her life as a human, safely and protected. You could continue your peaceful existence. And I… I became the new favorite toy of the Demons.”

She smiled again. Like a cat playing with a mouse. Suho didn’t move an inch. He remembered her with a good heart, but he was smart enough to know how dangerous a Demon really was.

“You’re so sorry, but you don’t even know half of it. An Angel like you always only knows half of it.”

“Then tell me everything.”

He stared at her with patience and understanding. Typical. She got up slowly, still with that cold smile on her face.

“When they killed me, they weren’t sure if I’d turn demonic.”

“What do you mean?”

Suho got up cautiously and stayed well out of her hitting range.

“They weren’t sure,” Maya shrugged.

“Why did they…”

He hesitated.

“Why didn’t they keep you alive until they were sure?”

“Their patience ran out quicker than my resistance. Though I never felt like I had any resistance. Not to them.”

Her face clouded, but then she smiled again and got closer to Suho.

“Want to know what pushed me over the edge?”

He took a step back, but nodded slowly. Maya’s wings gleamed so dark now, they almost looked black.

“You, Suho. You are the one who turned me into a Demon. Your betrayal changed me. It’s ironic really, if you hadn’t gone through so much trouble to gain my trust, I never would have felt that way when you left me. When I died because you left me.”

“That…”

Suho felt his guilt weigh down on him. He wished he’d never heard those toxic words, but it wouldn’t change anything. Maya was a Demon. And she became one because he hadn’t protected her. It really was a truth he couldn’t change. But she was wrong about one thing and he was going to prove it to her too.

“I’m sorry, Maya.”

She didn’t seem surprised he kept apologizing, only irritated.

“I thought it was safe to leave you there. You wouldn’t remember. You would be able to lead your life as normal. But I was wrong. I made a mistake and I’m sorry.”

As soon as she turned around to walk away from him again, he grabbed her and held her against him. She let out an angry scream.

“Let go, Suho!”

She struggled, but the more she struggled, the more her shoulder protested. She twisted and tried to bite him.

“Let go!” she shouted.

“Not until you forgive me.”

Maya stopped struggling abruptly.

“Have you gone insane?” she hissed. “Are you seriously asking for forgiveness from a Demon? Have I not just explained to you I don’t feel any of those mushy emotions?”

“If you feel hate, rage and pain,” he answered patiently. “You feel all the rest too.”

She huffed.

“Hardly.”

“But you do still feel it.”

“Let go, Suho!”

It rained sharp kicks from her heels against his shins, but he kept his iron grip on her. She hung in his arms, exhausted and breathing heavily.

“If the others see this…”

“They’ll just have to accept it,” Suho interrupted her. “I’m not letting you go.”

“Are you planning to stand here for a few hundred years?”

“If necessary.”

She mumbled something unintelligible. Suho was pretty sure it was cursing. He let his chin rest on top of her head.

“I’m sorry.”

Now the cursing was loud and clear. Suho smiled when Maya’s wings finally lightened.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated.

It was quiet for a while. The grass tickled their legs.

“Even if I forgive you, it won’t change anything,” she suddenly said. “I’m still a Demon.”

“I know.”

“As soon as you let me go, I’m going to kick your so hard, you won't be able to sit for days.”

He made a face, even though she couldn’t see it and sighed.

“Now I’m definitely not letting go.”

“Shouldn’t you be on some important mission? Save a few more innocent souls? Or in your case: destroy them?”

“Yes, so you better forgive me soon.”

“Never.”

“Then I’m staying right here.”

“Stubborn idiot.”

He laughed softly. She suddenly dropped her full weight to the ground. It took him by surprise and he tripped. They landed in the tall grass. Maya wormed her way out of his grip. Before he knew it, she was on top of him with her claws in his shoulders. She grinned evilly.

“My turn.”