They Don’t Care

Layliel rushed through the Pearly Gates (there were actually thousands of sets of these in Heaven) and tumbled into the bright, glittering office of her superior, Ranna. As the small, quivering angel approached her boss, she could already see that this was going to be difficult.

Amongst Heaven’s lowly guardian angels, Layliel was known for being the divine equivalent of the boy who cried wolf. She was passionate, maybe too passionate.

When Layliel had been assigned to Mary Nesbit, it had been a perfect match. The pious church going woman kept Layliel occupied well enough without giving her much to jump at.

That all changed with the **** of Jeffrey Nesbit. Now it was a new report with a litany of concerns each day.

“Layliel, this is unexpected,” Ranna said, tossing her flowing auburn hair back.

“Ranna, I have bad news. Really, really, really bad news! You need to mobilize an arch angel!”

Ran laughed out loud when she heard this. This was the human equivalent of asking for a nuke to deal with a cockroach infestation.

“An archangel? Let me guess, the daughter is into Wit-cha, or whatever the humans are calling it now. Or is she taking up smoking like a normal teenager?”

“It’s not about her, it’s about my ward! She’s stumbled onto a demonic artifact!”

The stories kept getting wilder. Mary Nesbit finding a demonic artifact? It was probably a heavy metal album. That would be a great joke to share with the other departments.

“Calm down, Layliel. I’m sure it isn’t a demonic artifact. Trust me, you wouldn’t be standing here telling me this if it were.”

“But I felt a demonic presence! Every angel can know a demonic presence without a doubt, you know that!”

Ranna sighed. Fair enough.

“Maybe it’s a low level haunting. Those can be awful and sometimes they are carried out by demons, but it’s certainly not archangel business!”

“It’s a book. A thick, old book with mysterious symbols and a dark, demonic aura. Is that good enough?”

“Fine, sure. How about this, Layliel? I’ll let my superior know and file a report. Then you can go back and keep an eye on Mary Nesbit.”

“I should do something!” Layliel cried.

“No! If it’s nothing, you’ll be overstepping your bounds as a guardian angel. If it is a demonic artifact, there is no way in heaven or hell you’ll survive your encounter. Do not manifest and do not interfere. Just, you know, keep an eye on Mary. That’s what we’re supposed to do. That’s all.”

“But What if she gets hurt?”

Layliel looked on the verge of tears. She had big, crystal blue eyes that always seemed on the verge of crying.

“Then she gets hurt. It’s not our business to protect humans from most physical harms. We are guided for their souls.”

“What if it damages her soul?”

“Then she was tempted and sinned. May she beg for forgiveness. Try and support her and watch over her. Go to it.”

Layliel sighed, looking defeated.

“You’ll make a report?”

“I’ll make a report. Now go! You have a job to do!”

“Sure,” Layliel said.

She ran off, her delicate body moving faster than the human eye could see.