chapter 2

The weekend had gone by rather quickly, but that was probably because Jaida had spent most of her time out shopping. Currently, that was what she was doing on this Sunday afternoon. She had a lot of stuff to get Arius and she was using her own money, the allowance she had gotten from her mother. She needed to get Arius some "normal" clothes, as she put it, so he had been forced to go with her. It was no surprise that he picked out all black clothing. He obviously wasn't into variety or color.

Everywhere they went, people stared at them for one reason or another. Jaida noticed that a lot of them were girls her own age. It was no surprise though. She had to admit that Arius was nice to look at. She would even say he was cute if he wasn't always scowling about something. In reality, he was one of the cutest boys she knew, but his attitude needed some serious work. He was by far the rudest person she had ever met. The more time she spent with him, the harder it was to act pleasant. He was forever referring to her as "woman" or "human" depending on how close to other people they were. He never called her by her name.

There was only perhaps one aspect of the boy she liked, something that made him bearable. Every time he saw something he didn't know about, he'd ask her, and he'd listen very intently as she explained it to him. He was almost like a child, constantly questioning people's actions or items, and then he'd hang on her every word. For someone who hated humans so much, he sure did want to learn about them.

"Why are there so many stores here?" he asked her curiously, glancing around a bit.

"Because there're too many things to buy, and they wouldn't all fit in one building," she explained, but this didn't seem to answer his question too well.

"But we've been to at least three clothing stores," he told her. "And why did you pay more here than at the other one?" Jaida was starting to get just a little annoyed. This wouldn't be easy to explain to him.

"Because these clothes are a different style and made by a different company," she told him.

"Then why not have just one company? Wouldn't that make more sense?" he questioned, but Jaida didn't respond. She couldn't think of anymore answers to give him. He just gave an irritated sigh. "You humans are so pathetic."

They were currently leaving a department store, and to Jaida's surprise, Arius had taken the bags, claiming that they were "too heavy for a weak human girl." It's not like it bothered her, but at the same time she didn't enjoy being called weak. She just couldn't read him, so she wasn't sure if that was really the reason. The gesture seemed almost nice and would have been if he hadn't had to say that about her.

"Where to now?" he asked, seeming just a little bored with the errands.

"Um," she began, going over her mental checklist. She had already bought him some clothes, shoes, a few things he had insisted he needed, and the utensils required for school. However, they still needed to get his text books. They could pick them up at the school, since the principal was probably there right now.

"Let's go get your books for school," she told him as she turned the corner. Arius only followed silently after her, not seeming to care either way. He always seemed to have an air of indifference about him, as if nothing really bothered him too much. If she told him they were going somewhere, he'd follow without question.

They walked a little while until they came to the school building. Even though it was Sunday, the lowest level of the school was open. That was because of the administrative office, where people like the principal and the vice principal remained in order to help people who were seeking information about the school. They also allowed people to take the exams on Sunday as well.

Arius followed Jaida into the building, and she brought him back to the office where he saw the same two men from the other day. There was the one in the gray suit, the assistant principal. The other was the plump man who had used the machine to correct his test. Both seemed to be working on something, filling out a few papers, but their eyes quickly went to Jaida and Arius.

"Hello again," greeted Jaida with a smile. "We're here to pick up Ariu's books."

"Ah, yes," said the principal as he ran merrily over to a stack of different class books. He grabbed the ones for Arius' classes and then walked back over. "And of course, the price has been lowered greatly. Only ten dollars for all of these books!" Jaida smiled and took out ten dollars from the small amount she had left. It was a little sad really, because she had been saving this money for a long time. Now it was nearly gone, all because the arrogant boy next to her wasn't human. If her life wasn't on the line, maybe she wouldn't be so helpful. Then again, she couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him. He had been torn from his world and placed on a strange planet with creatures he hated. He probably missed his home, even if he didn't show it.

"Thanks," said Jaida as she took the books from the principal. She and Arius then turned around, leaving the office. Just when they were nearly out of the building, someone called out to Jaida. Both of them turned and watched as Mr. Owens ran down the hallway towards the two of them.

"Hello Jaida," he greeted with a smile. "Fancy meeting you here." There was a bit of sarcasm in his voice, but she knew why. She spent more time at the school than she did in her own home.

"Hi Mr. Owens," she greeted, doing her best to hold onto the six books in her hands. Arius must have noticed this, because he quickly snatched them away from her. "Hey!" she yelled, turning towards him.

"They're my books," he stated. "I'll carry them." Even with the bags he was carrying, the stack of books didn't seem to bother his arms at all. This little act, however, had earned him Mr. Owens attention. The teacher quickly recognized him as the boy from the roof.

"I'm glad to see you're alright," he told Arius, receiving a raised eyebrow from the boy. He glanced to Jaida for an answer, but she seemed a little angry with him right now.

"His name's Arius," she told Mr. Owens. "He'll be starting school here on Monday. I'm helping him get ready."

"I see…" began Mr. Owens. "Do his parents have the money to send him here?" Jaida just smirked, wanting to brag a bit about Arius since she knew he wouldn't say a thing.

"Actually, he passed the test," she told her teacher. "And not only did he pass, but he didn't get a single question wrong."

"Astounding," Mr. Owens stated with a look of admiration directed towards Arius. "I never would've guessed…that's great." He smiled and then glanced down at his watch. "Well, I need to get going, but say hi to your mom for me, alright?"

"Sure thing," she said sweetly as he ran past them and out the door.

"Who was that?" Arius finally asked, watching as the blonde man ran down the street.

"That's Mr. Owens, our English teacher," she explained. "Now let's get going. There's still a few more things we have to get, and I'm running out of money." The two of them left the building, now heading back out into the city to finish the errands. This didn't even compare to all of the things they had to do when they got home. There was a lot that Jaida needed to explain about school. She only hoped that Arius was as good at learning as he was scowling.

A bell rang somewhere inside the huge building, but it echoed perfectly out into the front yard. There were kids standing around everywhere, all dressed in black and white. The girls all wore white shirts and black skirts while the boys were dressed completely in black. They all seemed to be talking amongst their friends, ignoring the other groups around them.

Two people stood at the front gate. One wore a smile as bright as her green eyes, but the other only looked on in slight confusion, a scowl upon his face. His hands were deep into the pockets of his uniform. On his back was a black backpack that held all of the necessary things he needed for a day at school. He began to wonder how a normal human could carry so much. It was nothing to him, but for his companion it seemed a bit difficult.

"Well, here we are," Jaida said brightly. "Come on, Arius. Let's go." He followed behind her, glancing around curiously at all of the people. He had never seen so many humans in one area that were all around the same age. It's not like he really cared though, or at least he wouldn't have if their eyes hadn't been following him as he walked by.

"Hey Jai?" he asked, stopping Jaida dead in her tracks. "Why is everyone staring at me?"

"First off, I told you not to call me that," she told him. "My name's Jaida."

"Jai is easier to say," he claimed.

"Your name has the same amount of syllables as mine does," she shot back at him, seeming perhaps a little annoyed.

"I don't have to say my own name that often," he told her, not caring whatsoever about what she thought. "I could go back to calling you 'woman' if you'd prefer that." Jaida scowled a little out of irritation but eventually gave in. She wasn't fond of nicknames, but it was better than what he normally called her.

"They're staring at you," she began, deciding to answer his question, "because you're new here. That, and your eyes…they're not exactly normal." Arius just gave a small, indirect glare before deciding to completely ignore all of the eyes that followed him. He could hear people murmuring amongst each other, saying things like "I've never seen him before" and "why is he walking with Jaida? Does she know him?" Needless to say, most of the gossipers were girls, who were constantly staring at him for reasons he didn't quite understand.

"Jaida!" called out two voices at once, instantly drawing her attention along with Arius'. They both turned to see two people running towards them, one boy and one girl.

"Hey Amy, Seth," Jaida greeted, smiling to both of them.

"Where were you all weekend?" asked Amy. "I called you about five times, but your mom always said you weren't home."

"Oh, you know," said Jaida, smiling secretively. "I was around." She noticed that her two friends were now staring at Arius, who still wore an indifferent look upon his face. He was studying both of them, but you wouldn't be able to really tell.

"Who's he?" asked the boy, Seth.

"This is Arius," introduced Jaida. "He's new here. I've been showing him around and stuff." Arius received a kind smile from Amy, but from Seth he got a small glare. It seemed the brown haired boy didn't like him very much. His blue eyes were rather narrow right now. However, his glare wasn't anywhere near as threatening as it needed to be to spark Ariu's interest. The Deslyan simply glanced at Jaida and then at Amy.

"Hi," she said cheerfully. "I'm Amy. It's nice to meet you." Not wanting to say anything but not wanting to seem like a complete jerk, he nodded in acknowledgment. Amy was a very pretty young girl with wavy blond hair and soft brown eyes. Her smile was brighter than even Jaida's.

A bell sounded within the school, and the kids outside all began to walk into the building. This meant that the four of them should get going as well. Jaida began to lead Arius through the doors, and Amy and Seth followed close behind.

"Okay," began Jaida. "Since your schedule is the same as mine, our first class is science." Arius nodded and followed her down the hallway and up a flight of stairs. He couldn't help but notice that Seth and Amy were following.

"Your schedules are the same?" squeaked Amy cheerfully. "That's so cool since I'm in half of those classes!" Seth just growled out of what seemed like frustration. Arius wasn't sure why the boy was so angry, but he decided to simply ignore him. It was easier that way. He didn't want to draw too much attention to himself. Even thought he was trying to remain indifferent, he had to admit that he was happy when Seth finally left them after four flights of stairs.

"Just how tall is this building?" Arius asked, directing his question at Jaida.

"About…forty floors…maybe a few more," she began. "I guess I've never really counted before. But don't worry, there's plenty of time to get to the classes. Our passing time is always around ten minutes. Plus there are elevators for going really far distances, like from math to gym or other things like that."

Arius recalled the other day when Jaida had explained all of this to him. According to her, the floors were all divided into subjects. Every three floors contained a different subject, like science or English. The school had four grades in it, ranging from the ninth grade to the twelfth. He and Jaida were eleventh graders, or "juniors" to put it simply. Each student was allowed six classes, four of them being required. There was math, English, science, and history. The other classes were electives, which for his schedule included gym and government. He would definitely need Jaida's help with that one. If he didn't even understand their culture, how was he to learn politics?

They walked up to the tenth floor, and Arius watched as students flocked into the classrooms. He wasn't exactly sure which one was his, so he followed Jaida and Amy. They eventually made it into a room that was currently rather noisy. The kids were all talking and playing with some of the equipment. The teacher, a short white haired man in a lab coat, quickly greeted Arius and then ushered him into a seat near Jaida and Amy. Arius could already tell that school was going to be interesting. He stole a glance at Jaida as she conversed quietly with Amy, and then just resorted to staring out the window, waiting for class to begin.

"So," whispered Amy, making sure that Arius wasn't paying attention to them. "Just where'd you meet him, huh?"

"Family friend," lied Jaida, hoping that Amy would believe every lie she had to tell about Arius.

"He's so cute," Amy squeaked. "I love those red eyes. They're so different." She smiled brightly as she altered their conversation a little. "Did you see the way Seth was glaring? He's obviously jealous."

"Jealous?" questioned Jaida curiously, not completely following her friend.

"Yeah, he obviously likes you," stated Amy with starry eyes. "He's jealous of Arius. He thinks you like him." Jaida was about to respond, about to tell Amy that there was no way in the universe that she'd ever like a guy like Arius, but the bell rang before she could say anything. All of the students quieted down as the teacher took his place behind his desk. He started talking, and the students all began jotting down notes in their notebooks. The lecture had started. School was in session.

Arius' first day of school had been interesting to say the least. He had already decided that he didn't like history of government. Math, Science, and English were alright, but gym was his favorite. They were currently doing a unit on running, and he was honestly surprised at how fast some of them could run, Jessie included. She was the best one out of them.

During lunch he had sat with Jaida, Amy, and Seth. Jaida and Amy had spent most of the time talking amongst each other while Seth shot Arius small glares from time to time. It's not like it bothered him much. No matter how hard they tried, humans weren't in any way threatening to him. He knew he could easily take all of them out, so no matter how much Seth glared, Arius just didn't care. He only arrogantly ignored him.

Currently Arius and Jaida were leaving the English room, their last classroom of the day. However, school had already been out for an hour. Jaida had wanted to stay back in order to finish her homework before she got home, and she had explained the importance of it to Arius. Needless to say she had made sure that he finished his as well. Now they were on their way out, heading down the hallway. Jaida was talking to him about something, but he wasn't paying her too much attention.

"I finally found you," a voice whispered in his ear, and he froze, his crimson eyes widening in surprise. Jaida stopped as well, noticing how bewildered he looked right now.

"What's wrong?" she asked him curiously. He was glancing around the hallway, seeming almost nervous.

"Did you hear it?" he asked her, staring right into her bright eyes.

"Hear what?" she asked, answering his question with one of her own. He didn't bother responding and instead turned around and ran down the hallway. Jaida followed after him, having a pretty easy time keeping up. He was heading towards the end of the hallway where there was a staircase that would lead to the roof. She followed him up the stairs and then through the door he had so forcefully thrown open.

Jaida was instantly met with the wind in her face as it tossed her hair around. She didn't remember it being quite this windy this morning. She wasn't sure why Arius had come here, but she noticed that he was now walking away from her. She was about to follow after him when he abruptly stopped and glanced back at her.

"Stay there," he ordered forcefully, and she obeyed. She wasn't about to get on his bad side. She could see how tense he was. If something was upsetting him this much, then it couldn't be good. "Come out!" he shouted with a snarl. "I know you're here!"

Jaida just stood there, watching, when the wind suddenly seemed to pick up, whipping her hair around her. She suddenly felt a bit cold as the breeze stung at her bare skin. She noticed that Arius was staring into the sky now, his fists clenched tightly as he stood in a fighting position. He was obviously expecting something…or someone.

Jaida gasped as she looked a little higher, seeing what he was staring at. There was something floating above them, but it was too far away. That changed, however, as the creature plummeted to the world below at a mind numbing speed. It landed perfectly on its feet, and that's when Jaida finally saw exactly what it was that had Arius so worked up. Before them was a man with long, unkempt blond hair, the color of the sun. His eyes were as blue as the sky he had come from, and his robes were a snow white. He was dressed very similar to the way Arius had been the day she had found him. This man, however, was in everyway different. Upon his back was a pair of white wings, the wings of an angel.

"Finally," Arius snarled. "I knew you were here somewhere, Lucius." The man, Lucius, only smirked in response before letting off a rather cruel sounding laugh.

"I can't believe it," he began, giving Arius his best smirk. "The council must really think I'm a problem if they sent you again. Unfortunately, even if you are a top ranking Deslyan, you're no match for me. You never have been." Arius cracked his knuckles, giving off a smirk that was nearly as wicked as Lucius's.

"We'll see about that," he stated as his nails seemed to increase in length, becoming more like claws. In a single moment, his black wings shot out from his back. He flexed them a bit, not having extended them for quite some time.

"I'm surprised," he began, "that they sent you to a planet like this. It's small compared to some of the others."

"You should know why," stated Lucius. "The human race is rather pitiful. It doesn't deserve to exist. That's why I'm a bit curious as to why you're here. I thought the Deslyan council would agree." Arius only gave an arrogant laugh as he flexed his claws a bit.

"Don't kid yourself," he told Lucius. "We're nothing like you cretins. You can't just go around wiping out planets. You have no right to play the part of a God!" Lucius only smirked, but his eyes began wandering the rooftop. His smug look fell a bit when he noticed Jaida standing a ways behind Arius. She was watching them both with interest more so than surprise. She didn't seem to be afraid at all.

"A human," he said with a wicked looking smile, seeming rather amused. He then returned his attention to Arius. "I didn't think a Deslyan could allow a human to see them like this. You're breaking the rules." He waved a disappointed finger at Arius, but he quickly returned his interest to Jaida. He extended his hand, his palm facing up. Jaida watched in awe as a ball of yellow light seemed to spring up from nowhere, now clutched in his hand. "How about I just get rid of her, and then we can continue this battle?"

He received no answer, so he brought his arm back and then threw the glowing ball towards Jaida. She watched in fear as it grew larger the closer it got to her. It was going to hit her, she knew it, but before it could reach her, Arius swiped his arm through it, breaking the ball of light apart. It eventually dissolved away, and Arius' arm seemed completely unharmed. The light hadn't hurt him at all. He shot a dark glare at the man before him, looking a bit threatening even to Lucius. The white winged boy only snarled in disgust.

"Pathetic," he sneered. "Protecting a worthless human. They all have to die anyway, so why not just let me kill her now?"

"Just shut up and get on with it," demanded Arius as he prepared himself for a fight. However, Lucius only smiled as his body began to fade. It slowly turned a white color, and before they knew it, he looked like nothing more than a figure made of cloud mass. Without so much as a word, he dispersed, leaving behind no trace that he had even been there.

Jaida stood there in a complete state of shock as her mind raced to try and register what had just happened. At one point she had been sure she was going to die, but Arius had protected her. She began to wonder why when hundreds of new questions formed on her mind. Who was that man? What was the council? What did he mean about the human race having to die? There was only one person who could answer this for her, but she highly doubted he'd tell her anything.

She watched as Arius relaxed a bit. His wings soon folded and began shrinking down into his back, once again leaving no visible indications that they had been there. He then allowed his nails to return to a normal size before he turned around and fixed Jaida with a hard stare. He didn't seem angry at least, but he was in no way pleased with her.

"Um…" she began cautiously. "Arius? W-who was that?" Arius just gave a disgusted scowl before walking over to her.

"That was an angel," he snarled, watching the surprise wash over her face. "Not so fond of them now, are you?"

"He…he was an angel?" she questioned, still in a state of disbelief. "But how…? He tried to kill me."

"Damn right he did," said Arius as he slammed his hands into his pockets.

"Thank you," she said, and his expression faltered a bit. It was obvious he wasn't used to being thanked for something. "You really saved me."

"D-don't be stupid," he stammered quickly, his scowl once again appearing on his young face. "I only did it because I knew Lucius wouldn't want me to. That's all."

"So you did it to get back at him?" Jaida asked, sounding a bit disappointed. She had been hoping that maybe Arius wasn't as cold as he wanted everyone to think.

"Exactly," he told her as he walked towards the door. "Now let's go."

"Wait!" she called as she ran over to him. "I'd like an explanation. You owe me that much."

"I don't owe you anything," he said as he began heading down the staircase. "You can't tell me what to do."

"Please Arius?" she pleaded desperately. "This is my home, and I wanna know what's going on. What did that man mean when he said the human race had to die? Exactly why are you two here?" Arius didn't say anything as they entered the hallway. He still hadn't spoken by the time they left the building, and Jaida knew better than to probe. If his mission was that classified that he couldn't tell her about it, then she wouldn't bother him.

"…Lucius wants to destroy the planet," Arius answered at last, earning him Jaida's attention. "He's here because the angels despise the human race. I don't blame them, but not even we'd go far enough as to exterminate the Earth."

"But why?" she asked, sounding disappointed about something. "Why do they hate us so much?"

"Because the human race has become so pitiful. You rely far too much on technology, and then what do you use it for? Wars. Your countries build weapons in order to destroy one another. You're all so blind and ignorant, and I guess the angels are sick of you. You see, they believe that only the creatures deemed as 'worthy' have the right to keep living, but they're the ones who decide what worthy actually means." He clenched his fists tightly out of anger. "They have no right to play the part of God! But that's why I'm here. The council sent me to stop them from destroying this world. For some reason, they think the human race is worth saving. Why, I don't know, but I'm not about to disobey."

Jaida said nothing as they walked down the streets, heading back towards her house. So much had happened in just one day, and it seemed like the more time she spent with Arius, the more confusing everything got. She had only known him for about four days, and already he was messing up her normal life. Now the question was if she believed him. It was hard not to, but something didn't feel right. Perhaps there was more to this than he was letting on. At least it was nice to know that he'd protect her from Lucius, even if it was just to tick the angel off.

She stole a glance at Arius' scowling face but quickly averted her eyes to the ground. She really wasn't all that fond of the black winged boy. He was cold, rude, and arrogant. He was the opposite of the people she usually kept in her company. However, she had to help him in order to guarantee her life. Besides, if what he had said was true, he was actually there to save their planet. It was hard to believe that a creature as demonic as him was their savior. Again, though, this aroused a question in her mind that she had contemplated a few times before. Could she trust him? Could she really trust this Deslyan that thought of humans as nothing more than insects? For now, she didn't have a choice. She would just have to keep an eye on him until she could come to her own conclusion.