Until The End Of Time

Chapter 18. Sides of the coin

Notes: The events of this chapter happened before chapter 17.

The pavement was covered in dry leaves. It was well into the winter but there was no snow, only freezing winds and dragging rains from one day to the next. This was Ayham.

He must have walked this route a thousand times in the past. With her, maybe.

Michael stood right outside of the loft, now looking dark and unwelcoming. He closed his eyes and felt the interior with his power. No one was there as expected. Michael zapped himself inside.

The large living room was as empty as ever. Michael walked through it and stopped in front of a small room on the right. The door was not closed all the way, and he could see her clothes laying on the bed, the same way he had left them last time.

The trip to the camp was informative in its own way. His new and improved power allowed him to do something he had not been able to do before. The camp's wardings were still somewhat uncomfortable, but he cut through it like a hot knife through butter. Undetected, effortless. He had no trouble whatsoever, then he hesitated.

Facing her suddenly seemed to be an enormous task. He knew how he felt about the girl, but he just didn't understand why. He was not ready. She didn't seem so special, too emotional for his liking even, but he stood there for a whole day and night, watching her until he forced himself to go away. Either that or made himself seen, and he chose the former.

Michael felt embarrassed by his cowardice. It was not like him. Looking at the bed full of her clothes brought back all of those conflicting

He closed the door and teleported upstairs. They had taken most of the valuable documents from his office as expected, but those were not what he came here for.

Michael walked to the back of his library and touched the wall. The whole side of the room lit up with glowing Enochian symbols and started to rearrange itself like a giant puzzle. Michael stepped back and watched the mechanism work itself until everything stopped.

With a hiss, the wall opened to a long, freezing hallway that seemed infinite. The archangel walked in slowly, his hand touched the cold rough surface of the brick wall. Countless shelves started to appear on different levels around him, holding many objects, artifacts and weapons, which he knew a lot would kill to get their hands on.

Michael had collected these items for many millennia, more as a hobby than anything else, until this moment. He stopped in front of a golden mirror and it sparkled in the dimmed light of the hallway like a sleeping creature greeting its owner after a long time. He traced his fingers on its outline in appreciation before removing it from the shelf, then walked a little deeper inside to retrieve another item.

"Hello there."

He whispered to the red rectangular mahogany box like to an old friend. He never wanted to use it, especially on his family, but he might be left with no choice.

Michael put both objects under his arms and carried them outside. He sealed the door shut with one wave of his hand. This vault was supposed to be impenetrable. It was funny how a human girl was the only living thing besides him to ever step foot in this place.

She was under impression that she did it without his knowledge, but of course, he knew. He knew and allowed her. One had to question why an archangel such as Michael would do something so unnecessary and out of his character like that. Michael had also asked himself the same multiple times.

One thing he had learned after this ordeal - Without trust, there would be nothing. No family, friendship, or love. Only endless mind games, lies, and manipulations. His life already had enough of that. Michael was tired. Testing their relationship was a mistake, but it had taught him a valuable lesson. He just had to never make it again.