"I can't believe my training is finally over," Rose declared, looking at her partner with a smile as they walked through the familiar streets of her town. All the shops and markets were the same as before, but somehow they felt different that day—brighter, more hopeful, surreal.
"I can't believe you look so disgruntled after sleeping through it all. You didn't even know what you were doing at night—right up until this morning," he answered, rolling his eyes.
It was true. She had never known that every night for a whole year, she was replaced by a
doppelganger and sent to the Angel's camp to train as an Ambassador, until that very day.
"I know that, Locious, but it's not fair. Honestly, even though I didn't remember any of it, now that the knowledge is all in here," she said, pointing to her head and earning another funny look from him, "Now, I feel utterly exhausted. The first time I was taken there, I barely had a moment to comprehend what was happening before they shoved me into an arena to learn Jiu-Jitsu. Me! A person who has never once resorted to violence. I almost wet myself when you came at me."
"Anyway, the worst thing was the mini-tests I had to take after each lesson. Who would have thought that becoming a human emissary for the Angels would require so much academic study?" she muttered with a shiver. She had finished her university degree a few years ago and held a stable office job. She didn't excel there, and she didn't consider herself particularly intelligent because she disliked studying, but she valued money and stability. A career, therefore was necessary for someone like her, who didn't possess any other talents to rely on. Well, until a year ago, that is. Now, she was proficient in martial arts, disguise magic, demon categories, the rules of the Demon Association and Angel Society, among many other mandatory subjects required to continue in this line of work.
"But now that you've passed the tests and been accepted as a member of our group, shouldn't you be celebrating instead of pouting about the exhaustion? And you were lucky I had to cover for Steven for a few weeks while he was on a special mission. Otherwise, you would have ended up with a few broken bones after all the trash talk you threw at me back then."
Rose laughed, recalling the torrent of insults she'd vomited after the initial shock wore off. It happened every time she showed up, and she would come up with new ideas every time, right up until her instructor changed and a much scarier-looking guy took Locious's place.
The astonishing part was that they were polar opposites. Despite never knowing the true scope of the world beyond human perception, people could still maintain preconceived notions even when faced with the unbelievable, and she was a clear example of this phenomenon. At first, she thought that Angels were supposed to be uniform, made from the same mold. What a surprise it was when she compared them and realized that they were definitely not carbon copies. Locious looked like a youngster, with his blonde curly hair and almond eyes. Even the way he spoke, casually as if they were just colleagues, gave the impression he was around twenty-five years old. Steven, however, was a terrifying figure. They were both the same height and had similar builds, but where Locious had a friendly smile and cracked jokes, Steven's eyes looked fierce. They were a dark blue, like the deep ocean, and when he looked at you, he seemed to be
prying into your soul to find any flaws and tear them apart. It wasn't only his eyes; his whole demeanor seemed like a flame, ready to pick a fight with whoever stood in his way. And this man just happened to be her trainer. Talk about bad luck!
"I should get a left rabbit leg," she whispered, and instantly realized her words had escaped her mouth when Locious looked at her as if she'd finally lost her sanity, which wasn't entirely improbable. They had spent a whole year getting to know each other, after all.
Despite their first encounter in training and many days of exchanged verbal and physical blows, Locious and Rose had somehow become close. They talked while others trained, enjoyed having breaks together, laughed at each other, and he would scold her whenever she lost her focus while studying. He played a major role in her graduation, and she would be forever
thankful to him. Without his help and support, she wouldn't have been able to master most of the material they had to learn by heart.
"Sorry, my mind was wandering. By the way, where are we going?" she asked when she noticed they weren't even near her house. After receiving her memories back and getting the approval to start working, he had said they were going home. She thought he meant her house, but that was definitely not the right direction, and it made her suspicious. What was he plotting?
"You'll see soon," he said, turning a corner into a grimy alley. It looked thoroughly run-down, but as they walked deeper, she noticed that there was some kind of camouflage spell cast around it. The further they went, the brighter and tidier the surroundings became, and at the end of the alley, a beautiful, large motorcycle was parked.
"Jump on, it's almost time," he said with a smile, handing her a helmet.
"Is this yours? How come you never said you had this magnificent machine sitting here? This is crazy!" she exclaimed excitedly, but he didn't answer. Probably he couldn't hear her over the sound of the engine, but she climbed onto the bike anyway. Her heart began to hammer in her chest. She had always loved speed and adrenaline, so she wasn't scared at all. The pace at which the bike shot through the streets was astounding—so fast she couldn't recognize the places they were passing by. She laughed the whole ride until they stopped in front of a building.
It didn't look out of place, and there wasn't anything remarkable about it, except the large sign that read "AG SOC".
That's when she understood. This was the office where they would be working together from now on: The Angel Society headquarters on Earth. Even though she had learned all about its rules, functions, and tasks, it had felt like a distant dream. Seeing it now, in real life, felt overwhelming. She just stood there, tears welling in her eyes.
"Cloudy Head!" he shouted, calling for her attention with a beaming smile. "Welcome to your
new workplace, my dear partner." He opened the door and waited for her to enter.
She took a deep breath, thought to herself: "This is what I've trained a whole year for. My new journey starts now" and walked in with him.