"Not that I don't care about you

Just that things got so complequees

I me somebody cute and funny

Got each other and that's funny."

- Lady Gaga, Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)

giving me a motherly smile.

My mother's smile was the one that kept me at bay and whenever she smiled at me, I'd feel calmness in my heart. She was like that to me, always. She was the one who revealed to me that I was assigned to be the Angel of Love. She said to me "sooner you'll realize what it truly means" because at four years of age, I was sure that I didn't have any idea of what that meant. I was just a four-year-old kid yet I knew that it was going to be hard for me when I grew up and that I had to be the best as my parents were expecting me to be the best. My father was a King, and my mother was a Queen. In the future they would step down, and I was going to walk across the sea of angels parting, giving me a path to walk, until I reach the throne and claim the crown and be the next ruler of the angels for God knows how long.

Frantic steps could be heard as well as the strong flaps of wings outside; I didn't have any idea what was going on. When I looked up into my mother, her smile was gone out of her face. Her lips were pressed together tightly, into a thin line, and her eyes were hard and piercing as if her eyes would sort of blast a laser beam from it. Her posture became stiff.

We were at the hall, just a few meters away from their throne. I didn't have anyone to play with. Plus I knew that I was pretty much aware that I was the heir, the next King in line after my father. The toys I needed to play were swords and other weapons that kids shouldn't know if he or she is still a mere child. But I did.

When I reached three years old, though I barely remembered, I had a trainer who began teaching me about weapons. At first it was just getting familiar with the weapons as, according to the trainer, I was "going to wield it someday like a King would". I believed him and was eager to know more about it. I thought it was just like a toy, like a plastic sword – easy to carry, easy to wield, easy to throw. But it wasn't. When the trainer had me carry a sword – a silver, its edge glinting dangerously, sword, the hilt was metal and gold, made by the smith angels, who forged it probably a million times, it fell down immediately out of my hands. It was too heavy, too much, for me to carry and I remembered the disappointment etched on his face. Though he tried to fight it, it still showed. It was written all over his place. I knew that I had to push myself further just to make everything work for me, in my favor. Because I was sure as hell I didn't want to disappoint my parents now or in the future, or ever. At all.

An angel, who looked so young yet had a hard gaze in his eyes – you could tell that this angel had been through so much, obtained some much experience, enough to be considered as mature, came barging into the hallway. "My Queen," the angel bowed down to show some respect, his tone became gentle yet you could still hear the urgency in his voice. His eyes flickered to me then back to my mother, who merely shook his head. "There are things that require your attention outside, My Queen."

My mother nodded, her posture stiff as she gazed back at the warrior angel. My mother turned to look at me, and her motherly expression was now gone, replaced with something different – it was hard. I knew that look. It was her battle face look. "Hadraniel, I want you to stay inside your room, okay? There are guards that will be guarding you there. There are things that I and your father need to take care of. I'll be back as soon as I can." Without really understanding anything, I nodded like a good child I was. "Good boy, Hadraniel. You'll become a great King, better than your father, in the future." She said to me with so much admiration that it made my heart swell with happiness.

We both stood up; my mother motioned a warrior and whispered something in his ear. Then the warrior turned to look at me and gave my mother a nod. My mother slightly pushed me so I was forced to move forward and the warrior called out my name, making me look up at him. He looked the same as the guy earlier, but this warrior's face was even more mature looking. I thought that they were brothers, but I didn't have much proof about that so I let the thought fly away out my head.

The warrior led me into the room and I turned to look over my shoulder at my mother, whose wings flapped open, bright and powerful and so white, a symbol of being pure completely. She flew away, her wide and strong wings flapping, sending winds towards my direction, making my hair flew and I kind of enjoyed it. In a few seconds, my mother was already flying out and I caught a glimpse of the golden sword glinting brightly in her hand. We walked for a complete five minutes before we reached my room – there was an urgency with the way he walked, so I was forced to move a bit faster than the regular speed I had whenever I walked. As promised by my mother, there were warrior angels, five of them, standing by my door. When they saw me, they bowed and I thanked the young angel beside for guiding me and headed straight into the room. The guards were only staying outside, but not inside my room.

I was really bored when I was inside my room – there were no things to do. I didn't have any toys or any sort of entertainment that I could be interested in. I was just sitting on my bed. And then I decided to look outside through the mirror, and when I did, I saw the place was a bit darker – I had never seen this before. There were thunders, and when I focused too much, I heard that there were the sounds of the swords clashing with each other; there were growls, the hard flaps of the wings, and there were screams of agony.

Scared, I ran to the door and banged hard, and the warrior angels pushed the door open, slightly, and I told them what I heard. They just brushed it off, stating that it was just my imagination – I was a four-year-old kid, but that I knew that I wasn't crazy and didn't have any ear problem.

They closed the door. I ran back to the window and saw the same thing, heard the same thing. The window could be opened and I was too much to know that. Looking back, I contemplated whether it was a good thing to go – my mother told me to stay in my room. But I couldn't. I needed to see what was happening outside. I was only a four-year-old angel but I knew that they were hiding something from me.

I turned the lock of the window sideways, unlocking it, hearing a faint click. I opened the window wide enough just for me to fit in because my shorts couldn't push the window all the way back. I climbed and fit myself right through the open window – the sounds weren't faint now. There were blasts and other stuff that I hadn't heard until now. It was scaring me, but my father told me to be stronger and not be afraid of things – we needed to fight our fears. There was no room for being scared, for being a wimp, my father told me.

Seeing the ground made me cringe – it was too high from up here, in my room. But then I let myself fall once I was all the way through the window and when I nearly landed on the ground, I forced my wings to pop out and they were stronger that before. I was happy, feeling triumphant at what I discovered, then planted my feet on the ground gently with the help of my wings.

Beginning to move forward, I looked upward, checking to see if the warrior angels who were guarding me had felt that I was now missing. I was a kid. Of course, I was a sneaky angel. It was in the kids to have that, in our nature.

My eyes scanned the area and felt that there was really something wrong. As I moved forward, the sounds began to get louder, ringing in my ears. The screams, the clashing of the two metal swords, the yelling. This was the first time I heard such things except for the clashing of the swords because I had seen the warrior angels and my parents fight each other, practicing swordsmanship. And when they had done that, I was there watching in amazement and awe.

I walked further and further, then saw that the sky was full of demons and angels – it really was the first time I saw the demons.

Angels and demons were fighting viciously. In the ground, and in the sky. Whenever you looked, they were there, fighting for blood. I was really scared and let out a small whimper upon seeing the demons who viciously snarl at the angels. Without putting much thought about it, I ran – I knew that I should because I was just a four-year-old kid who had a skill of a toddler when it came to swordsmanship. In short, I didn't know how to wield the sword, or do anything with a sword. I still couldn't use my powers since I was just a child and it had yet to appear in the future. So it meant that if I walk there, I was doomed. I was going to be doom and this would be my last day. But I knew better than to do that.

"Dantalion!" someone shouted, and I tried to block the words, the screams, and the sound of two swords colliding with each other hard. "Forneus! You're going to regret coming into the territory of the angels!" It had to be my father's voice.

I hid behind a wall – I felt safe and secured. I sighed in relief. But then as I turned around, I bumped into someone's legs and fell down on my butt; I looked up only to find a demon in front of me, who was gazing hard at me. I opened my mouth to scream, but the demon raised a finger in the air and there was no scream coming out of my mouth.

"Hey there, little angel," the demon whispered, grinning widely. Tears began to come out of my eyes – I was really scared. I had a thought that this would be my last day; that I would get killed by the hands of a demon. "I'm Forneus. What's yours?" The erratic beat of my heart was ringing in my ears and I didn't hear his name. The demon raised his finger again, and suddenly, I learned how to talk.

"Ha... H... Ha...niel..." I whispered in a very low tone, so low that I had a feeling that he didn't hear it.

"Haniel," he said. I refused to shake my head. "Who are your parents?"

"The... The King... and Queen," I began to cry harder, but the sound of my crying was muffled. The demon's eyes became hard; my heart was racing so fast. Without realizing it, I threw my little and short arms around his left leg and cried harder. "Please don't kill me, mister demon."

To say the demon was taken aback would be an understatement. His eyes dark eyes were wide, and a shock expression was plastered across his beautiful face. I shook my head and cried harder, clutching his left leg so tight that I thought that I was hurting him already. But that demon didn't made a move a single muscle. Instead he stared at me with amusement in his eyes while I cried like a baby.

"I won't," the demon said.

"Promise?" I asked him, sniffing out loud.

"I promise," he said. "We'll meet someday, future King..." then his dark wings spread out and wide, then he flew into the sky, leaving me in shock.

Let me know your thoughts about this chapter by commenting below! What do you think about their little encounter when Adrian was still a child? ♥ As usual, the first one to comment will have this chapter be dedicated for him/her!

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