It was darker outside, but if I wanted my presence to remain unknown, I still couldn't go out the front entrance. I climbed out the same window I came in from, and made my way back to the Hellmouth. Then I paused.

I had only been kicked out of Hell two hours ago at most. I probably couldn't return yet. And Heaven wasn't an option.

I followed the blackstone path instead, deciding that, if I was going to kill time, it'd be better to do it in a time period where things were actually interesting. The blackstone path, of course, was now recognizable as being a tar road. Another part of Heaven that was ruined for me- I was starting to understand why we weren't allowed to wander outside of Heaven for very long.

When I came to the small empty town on the other side, I immediately headed straight to the oak leaf building that contained the portal to the cycling Earth. It was actually sort of weird, now that I considered it, that the portal was in such a place. Could humans from the past potentially use it to head to the present? I stopped to read the sign before going inside- Oak Leaf Group Home for Children, it read.

Jumping into the pit was once again a pain on my nerves. I stood on the edge for awhile, just staring into the abyss that I knew wasn't real and I knew wasn't there. But it was so wide, and a cold breeze seemed to well up out of it. In the end, I sat to sit on the edge- and indeed my legs could dangle- before letting myself slowly fall in.

I awoke on the floor less than a second later. Now I didn't know what I was going to do. If I went down the Hellmouth on this Earth, I would still end up in about the same place as if I took the elevator down in the present. And I had no idea how, or even if, Hell was being guarded.

I went out to the yard of the group home and sat down on a stone bench. For an children's home, there seemed to be strikingly no children. It was a hot spring day. Didn't children play on days like today?

I watched the gardener work for awhile, weeding plants and clipping dead leaves. I was quite bored. I decided to use my apathy about this cycling Earth to my advantage.

"Hey!" I called. "Gardener!"

The gardener stood up slowly, but didn't turn around. I still couldn't tell if they were male or female.

"What."

"Seen anything interesting? Angels, demons, I don't care. I'm bored."

The gardener turned to face me for a moment, but then turned back. "Fuck off."

"I have a day to kill here at least. There's gotta be something you humans do for fun."

The gardener sighed. "Look, a lot of you fallen angel fuckers head over to the Purgatory Cafe off on Lake Street. Go there. Don't stay here or I'll chop your fucking head off."

I frowned. "I'm not a fallen angel." I did not like being called one either.

"If you stick around, you're going to become one pretty soon." I couldn't tell if they were threatening me or warning me. I went off without another word.

Lake Street ended up being a side road that ran through a pine forest. The only building on the road was the Purgatory Cafe, a low and flat building that seemed to have it's origins as a cabin. It didn't really look like a cafe either, more like a bar.

I came to the door. Even now, in the middle of the day, I could hear plenty of noises: music, laughter, and the sound of silverware. It probably wasn't the best idea to go in. But I had time to spare. And my blade, of course, in my pocket.

There was a sign on the door:

"No angels, no demons."

And I went in.

A man stopped me a moment later. I knew him, actually, but since he was a fallen angel I couldn't call him by name.

He couldn't do the same, of course, and I suppose he thought I was also fallen. It was impossible to tell at first glance. The only major difference was in wing color, black instead of colorful.

"Luxury." He said. His name was pretty fitting, considering I knew he had been felled for theft. He had a habit of taking things, and wasn't always aware of it. It had been a while before they caught him though.

"Creed." I said. We shook hands.

"I wouldn't have guessed you the type to fall." Luxury said. "What'd they get you for?"

"Deviation." I said. I didn't really know what the word meant, but it sounded correct. "Not following the rules."

"Really? You? I've always thought you to be the pet of the Arch-Angels. Very subservient. Like a dog."

"I still am. Rule-following, that is." I wasn't confident on my acting skills, and decided my new fallen angel persona was pretty similar to my regular self. "But I saw some things I wasn't supposed to." That was actually true. On a couple of levels.

"What?" Said Luxury, sounding delighted. I sort of forgot people were interested in this sort of thing.

"Certain things on the battlefield. Violence. I- I've seen the Arch-Angels fight before." And I had. But any good angel forgets these things.

He could read my face. "Don't want to talk about it, huh? Here. Have a seat. Meal's are all on the house. That means free, by the way."

He sat me down and left me alone. Purgatory was a lively sort of place on the inside. Very messy. A number of odds and ends were everywhere- each table had a couple knickknacks in the center, and the walls were covered with full shelves or else contained nailed on artifacts. Signs, posters, drawings, gemstones- it was a busy sort of place.

I knew a lot of the fallen angels, and likewise, they knew me. No one came to sit by me, but they were catching glances between bites of food or chess turns.

Up on a narrow stage, a man was playing an upbeat and hopeful piano tune. No one was paying him much mind, but the music was heartily appreciated.

Luxury went up on the stage, and the piano ended gradually. He got up to the microphone, and I braced myself for whatever was coming next.

"Gentlemen! Selected ladies! We have a new star among us today. Creed. You'll probably recognize him as

'that one guy we were all sure was a spy for Michael.' But hey, he's here now. Ironically enough, it's his bizarre attachment to the Arch-Angels that has brought him down tonight- he seems a little bit scarred for life, actually. But hey, who among us isn't?"

People clapped, and I felt myself blush. They did this for every angel, of course, but I did not like the attention. And I'd feel pretty guilty if any of them found out I was lying to them, on a moral basis alone.

"Creed, please come up on stage so we can all see you. It's not very easy to tell who you are when you sit in the dark like that, you know."

In my embarrassment, I scrambled up to the stage and bowed my head slightly. When Luxury gestured to the microphone, I took ahold of it. "I have nothing of interest to say."

People laughed and clapped, and I wasn't sure if I had been telling a joke or not.

"Hey Creed!" Someone called from the audience. He ran up to the stage, and I recognized him instantly. Fus- I mean. Uh. I didn't know his new name yet. But he had been my friend for a long time.

He seemed excited to see me. "Conifer." He hugged me. I hugged him back, but felt pretty guilty about it. I mean, I had been pledging loyalty to Michael not too long ago, and now I was getting intimate with a bunch of his fallen.

"What happened to you? I saw you just a bit ago."

"I did too. How was Hell?"

"Ah, well-"

"Hell?" Now Luxury was intrigued. "You were in Hell?"

"It was a mission from Michael." I said meekly. "Just carrying a message."

"Michael sent you to Hell? Wow. Really, how'd that go?" Luxury asked with a large amount of energy.

"I thought you were spying, and all that." Conifer said. "Ambassador and spy. Forever snooping on his behalf."

"Uh, yeah, that was the gist-"

"Wow, what went wrong that you stayed for only three months?"

"I got... caught? It's pretty simple. I was sent home a week ago."

"A week ago?" Conifer pursed his lips. "Really, Creed?"

"Yeah. Michael was disappointed, but it wasn't long before I was back in his pockets. And then everything else happened. And then I fell." The chronology made sense to me.

"Nichael." Conifer said.

"Mm, yeah?"

"Nichael, I fell yesterday. You weren't in Heaven yesterday."

"'Forever snooping on Michael's behalf', yeah. Sounds about right." Luxury said. I could see the disappointment in his eyes.

There was anger from the other fallen angels, sitting in the shadows, but none tried to get up.

"She isn't going to like this." Conifer said, looking with great fear towards Luxury.

"I'll be the one to tell her." Luxury promised. "Save you her wrath."

They circled me, and I wasn't sure what was about to happen. Fallen angels didn't have any Grace, of course, so they couldn't use blades. I guess they might have had guns though.

As they hovered at my sides, I slipped my hand into my pocket and put on my ring.

Swords, or specifically, angelswords, are strange and rarely make logical sense. Any angel who's been in the army has one, though they're not at all custom. They take the form of simple rings. Often there is a design carved in it, leaves and shapes and the occasional word, but it makes no difference. The moment you put one on, you can feel it- it almost itches the skin if you don't draw your blade.

And of course, swords are not always swords- they can be anything. They, like our wings, are simply made of Grace and have no definite form. But they can become solid at will, and thus are quite good at piercing flesh. I usually used my as a sword. But I wasn't limited to that. I had, on occasion, made a spear for hunting or a morningstar for close combat.

I drew myself a sword this time. I was most comfortable with it anyways, and it took less than a second for it to solidify into my hands. It weighed a good amount, but was still lighter than real steel.

I stood ready to attack. Conifer and Luxury were noticeably intimidated by my sword, but had not backed off. "There's been a misunderstanding." I said. "I am not fallen, but I am not spying. I am bored. Please let me go, I don't want to harm any of you." In truth I couldn't care less.

Next- and I truly do not know how this happened, as I swore I was at full attention the entire time- Conifer suddenly swung at me with a pan. It smashed into my head and sent me straight to the ground. I lost the concentration needed to both maintain my sword and hide my wings, and as I lay on the floor in a heavy daze, I was vaguely aware that my wings were brushing against the floor of the stage.

Someone was crouching over my back- I was starting to lose consciousness, and I couldn't really see or hear anything. I think I heard someone say sorry.

Then I blacked out.