The library turned out to be a gymnasium-style room with rows upon rows of books and a second story set up in the center of the room with desks underneath.

   Underneath the overhang, sitting at the desks, where four star students that occupied the entire side of the table. Alciel noticed the presence of Mini and excused it; but he narrowed his eyes at Goddard, who seemed shocked when looking at his pale peers.

   "I thought this conversation was going to be private," Alciel noted.

   "This is my brother, Goddard," Paxton stated. "It's probably best that HE explain why he's here."

   "Right, ahem, well," Goddard struggled with his start, "Ah, uhm, I know about demons. Uh, I've got memories of the future? And, in ten years, the demons are going to invade. From the east. In the mountains. By the sea.... Anyway, I know all about the demons, and I've got memories on how the future will be. A whole war, and demon tactics, and lots of vital breakthroughs, and tactics, and, uh, where everything's going to happen. Soooo, yeah!"

   Goddard stopped his rambling, still nervous that he had choked so hard in front of the ANGELS he was trying to woo onto his side. He looked to Paxton for support, but Paxton was giving Goddard the most sideways glance in history.

   "Right," Alciel mentioned, "and what has your brother mentioned about our encounter?"

   "He said that," Goddard looked around for any eavesdroppers, "that you, star students, are angels. And that he accidently killed one. In self-defense."

   Goddard once again looked to his brother to verify that he was doing okay.   

  Paxton's sideways glance was so slanted, it had an event horizon.

   "Okay, well, what did WE do in the future?" asked Alciel, although he clearly doubted the story.

   "Nothing," Goddard answered flatly, "everyone here was killed."

   The angels suddenly stiffened up at the sound of that, which confused Paxton.

   "Killed, as in, star students as well?"

   "Yes," confirmed Goddard, "beheaded and put on stakes. We always assumed it was a way for the demons to tell us that the very best couldn't stand up to their might. Psychological warfare, and the like."

   The angels all moved uncomfortably, seemingly perturbed by this news at their future demise.

   "What's wrong?" Paxton asked, suddenly curious.

   "That would take too long to explain," said Alciel, although his voice had all the signs of being afraid. "And besides, I probably don't have the clearance to disclose to you two, regardless."

   "Well then make it simple and make it unclassified," Paxton told them.

   Goddard poked Paxton, gesturing that being rude would not help their case.

   "Listen," Paxton growled in a low voice, "these guys are ANGELS, right? Well something you've told them has them riled up. Now, I don't know what's so scary that it would make ANGELS afraid, but I'd awfully like to know."

   "We're going to need to confirm some things on our end," Alciel told the brothers, "but I'm very interested in this future you believe you saw."

   "I didn't see it, I lived it."

   "LIVED it?" Alciel exclaimed, his eyes opening as his expression changed for the first time since meeting the brothers. "This wasn't like a 'flash' into your head, you didn't dream this whole scenario up, you actually LIVED through the future?!"

   "Yeeeaaah," Goddard drew the word out carefully, "is that important?"

   "Potentially," Alciel vaguely confirmed, looking at one of his angel compatriots.

   Without speaking a word, the exact angel got up from his seat and hurridly rushed from the library.

   "Before going any further," Paxton interjected, "what about Mini staying with me during our tenure here?"

   "Absolutely not," Alciel denied, "especially not with another demon invasion about to happen."

   Both of the brothers paused to consider Alciel's words.

   "Now, from the future, what kind of demon troops were brought? Where they small, large; did they bring beasts or seige weapons?"

   "Hold on," Goddard said, raising his hands to the angels, "what did you say?"

   Alciel looked at the boy impatiently, then stressed, "Did they bring beasts or seige weapons?"

   "No, before that."

   "Large or small demon troops?"

   "Keep going."

   "About your future being lived rather than seen?"

   "Split the difference."

   "Not letting Mini stay?"

   "Right, that. What did you say about that?"

   "Not with a demon invasion about to happen."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

   "That's not what you said," Paxton interjected accusingly, "You specifically said, 'Not with ANOTHER demon invasion about to happen'."

   Alciel looked to the brothers, who were starting to piece together their own idea of events. Alciel then looked to the remaining two wingmen, at which point they got up and left like their first compatriot.

   "Listen," Alciel mentioned, "this REALLY goes over my pay grade, but I need your information more than anything else right now. Let's make it clear that that is the ONLY reason I'm telling either of you any of this!"

   "Fine," Paxton said, "just explain what you meant."

   Now Alciel seemed nervous, looking over his shoulders as he started to explain, "Every ten thousand years or so, demons invade this world. They gather up a large army, set some battle tactics, and open up a portal to start invading. It happens like clockwork, every ten thousand years, without fail."

   "YOU KNEW!" Goddard shrieked, slamming the table with clenched fists. "YOU KNEW AND YOU NEVER WARNED US!!"

   "Quiet down! Someone's going to hear you! Yes, we knew, but every time-"

   "YOU GOD DAMNED SHIT STAINS!" Goddard swore, activating his warrior magic and leaping over the table with hands ready to strangle.

   Paxton wasn't prepared for it, but he managed to push Goddard away just as his fingers reached Alciel's throat.

   Goddard flew to the side, landing on his arm and rolling before lunging again, blind with rage. Paxton had to jump over the table himself and act like a barrier while Alciel opened his wings and flew well out of reach.

   "I'm trying to tell you-" Alciel urged, but he was cut off again by Goddard's screaming.

   "EVERYONE I LOVED," he shrieked as his face turned bright red and tears rolled from his eyes, "ALL OF MY FAMILY! THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE!"

   "It's not the entire hum- look, you need to listen!"

   Goddard pushed off Paxton, not trying to fight anymore, but clearly overly stressed.

   "WHY THE HELL SHOULD I LISTEN TO A COWARD SHIT STAIN LIKE YOU, OR ANY RAT INFESTED ANGEL?!?!"

  "IT'S HOW WE SURVIVED," the angel roared, his voice like thunder even though he clearly didn't like his words.

  "Listen, you don't understand the big picture here; but all of the angels in this building? We're a quarter of our ENTIRE RACE. There aren't many of us left! So, yes, we've sat in this building and watched sometimes as the demons devoured humans. There's nothing we can do; this is demon territory and we can't interfere!"

   Paxton was watching his brother waiting for another outburst, but some things lined up in his mind.

   "This building," he said with the epiphany in his eyes, "it's not an angel fortress: it's an embassy!"

   "Exactly," Alciel said, "we're not some garrison here to fight, we're just here to keep our own peace."

   "Then, in Paxton's future, when the demons kill you-"

   "It means the truce was broken, and the demons are coming for all of us."

   There was a thick silence in the room, lessened somewhat by Goddard's pacing and steady wiping of his tears. There were several long, steady moments were everyone was just breathing and thinking. It wasn't until Alciel lowered himself to the floor that Paxton and Goddard managed to relax a bit more.

   "It probably doesn't help, but I'm sorry for your loss," Alciel apologized to Goddard. "I can't excuse our inaction, but we were trying to make the best of a bad situation."

   Goddard didn't look in any way like he was capable of making amends, but he closed his eyes and snarled.

   "I can't forgive you," he said through strained teeth, "but we need your help fending off the demons."

   "We need to confirm your future," Alciel stated, "but by all means, if the demons are planning on breaking the truce, you will have the entire angel army by your side when the war begins."

   The angel returned, causing Alciel to perk up as unseen words passed between the children.

   "I'm sorry, there's something else I need to attend to," Alciel excused himself.

   "Mini stays with me," Paxton declared before Alciel could leave.

   "No, she's-"

   "MINI. STAYS. WITH ME." Paxton declared once more.

   "I don't have time to argu-"

   "SHE STAYS. WITH ME."

   "FINE," Alciel shouted, raising his voice as he rushed off. "This isn't over!"

   The two brothers huffed, looking after the angel as he dared to brush off their meeting.

   Paxton considered his position, then looked to Mini to see what her reaction was.

   Mini was looking down at the floor, a blank expression on her face. Going over to her, Paxton put a hand on her shoulder, which caused the little demon to jump a little.

   "See? I told you I wouldn't let them hurt you," Paxton offered.

   Mini couldn't seem to answer, and it was clear she was conflicted.

   "What's on your mind?"

   Mini opened her mouth, but decided against it. Paxton waited, moving his hand from her shoulder to her head.

   Not a word was spoken between the library and the quarters. It wasn't until they were in the room that Paxton excused himself for a shower. Goddard pointed the way, and then the larger brother left Mini in his hands.

   Right before entering the bath, Mini finally spoke up.

   "Am I the bad guy?" she asked remorsely.

   "What?" Paxton asked, taken by suprise from the sudden question.

   "Goddard doesn't like me, the angels don't like me, YOU don't like me, my dad didn't like me, none of my uncles like me."

   Mini started to cry, snot dribbling from her nose as her eyes became pools.

   "Hey," Paxton said, softening as he went to hug his daughter.

   "It's true," Mini said matter-of-factly, turning away to avoid the hug. "Nobody wants me, they just take care of me because they think they should. When I become too much for you to handle, you'll hate me, too."

   The words of such a little girl were too much for Paxton's heart to bear. He started to cry, for the first time in a long time.

   "What makes you think I don't like you," he asked, trying and failing to hold back his own tears.

   "You don't like keeping up the illusion magic to hide me," Mini listed, "you don't like having to deal with the angels to keep me safe, you think it's annoying. You hate everything that has to do with me."

   Paxton wanted to refute the little girl, but he couldn't see anything he could argue against her words. He DID think that it was annoying to do all of these things to hide Mini from the world. It was a constant pain to keep the charade up, and he wasn't particularly enthused in keeping the game going.

   Paxton sat next to his daughter, trying to think of what he can tell this little girl.

   "You're right," Paxton admitted, "I do think that a lot of it is a giant pain in the ass."

   Mini felt a stab through her own heart. Maybe she had said it, but she had been keeping that silent hope alive that she was wrong.

   "But," Paxton continued, "I don't hate YOU. I hate the rest of the world. I mean, why can't they just accept you as a little girl? They won't look past your skin and see that you're a pure, innocent child! You're right, it pisses me off; but I'm not angry at you. I would never be mad at you! You never did anything wrong. You're just different, and I hate that they can't look past it."

   Paxton looked down at Mini to see that she was adopting a similar, thoughtful expression. It was nice to see her taking the question so seriously, but it didn't change the underlying feeling of her guilt.

   'Crystal, what do you think I should do?' Paxton thought.

   There was silence on the line, to which Paxton sighed.

   'I wish the demons weren't going to invade,' though Paxton to himself. 'People would probably be a lot more accepting if a war wasn't about to break out.'

   The train of thought then continued.

   'Wait, most people don't know that a war is going to break out. And demon worship, or the nearest equivalent, is an unaccepted, yet tolerated, religion. If Mini can make a big enough impact, maybe help a few people.... No, general tolerance is never so immediate to change.... But, in certain groups, maybe....'

   Paxton thought with such depth, he didn't even notice when Mini got up and walked into the bath without him. The sound of her exiting the bath twenty minutes later is what snapped him out of his trance.

   "It's okay," Mini said before Paxton could get a word out, "I know how to wash myself."

   "Mini," he cut off, "I've got an idea, but it's gonna be hard to pull off, and I won't do it if you aren't on board."