Paradiso

Part V - Tentazione

Doelle's head spun as he blinked awake. He gritted his teeth against the pain and forced himself to sit up despite it. As he observed his surroundings, he realised where he was—Heaven's hospital. He had been here often, though he'd never had to stay for long; the work of a guardian angel was dangerous, but the most skilled could escape danger with only minor injuries. Judging by how the most immediate source of pain he felt was his temple, he suspected he'd succeeded in coming back relatively unscathed again. At least physically. As the events of the mission came flooding back to him, he felt that his pride had been wounded severely.

"Oh, thank the King!" A familiar voice said beside him. He turned sharply to meet Zanda's dark, freckled face. Her round cheeks were dimpled by a relieved smile. "I'm so glad you're awake, sir. You took quite the hit from that demon..."

"It was nothing." Doelle pushed the covers of the cot off of him and moved to get out of there.

"W-wait, wait!" the young angel said, reaching to stop him but evidently finding herself too anxious of his authority over her to actually do so. "We should wait for the nurses to say you're okay to go. They'll be back soon, I'm sure."

Doelle glared at her. The baby pink light of her eyes dimmed under the cold blue light of his own. After a moment, though, he sighed and rested his back on the headboard, resigned. He stayed silent and closed his eyes. He wanted quiet; even the sparse conversation they'd had so far had aggravated his sore head.

For a minute or two, it seemed that he would get what he wanted. Then he didn't. "Um," Zanda began, her voice timid and with an awkward waver, "the demon... I was w-watching you confront him—I-I was just trying to watch to see how you handled a situation like that, I promise it wasn't anything weird! You know, to learn—" though she was trying to reassure him, Doelle paled with embarrassment the moment she said she had seen what happened— "but um, I was just wondering—well, this actually is probably also helpful for learning, so—what exactly had been your plan with him?" Finally seeing the look on Doelle's face, she panickedly added, "Oh my goodness, I'm sorry for asking it like that- w-what I meant was-"

"Stop," Doelle snapped. The idea that someone had seen him in such a state—almost completely flustered by a vice, with it's arms wrapped around him, drawing him closer—made his head pound even more. He took a breath, trying his best to compose himself. "I had thought I could potentially diffuse the situation and convince it to leave. I suppose it escalated from there." He sighed. "It's good you had been so observant," he added quietly, trying to play the mentor role he had been given.

"Oh," she said faintly. Though she had stopped talking, the restless rustle of her pink wings betrayed the fact that she wanted to say more than just "oh."

He glared at her again, gaze sharp and discerning. "What is it?"

Zanda babbled out stuttered word fragments, trying to gather her anxious mind. It was terribly annoying. "I- um-" she said, her voice weak. "I saw... y-you and him were dancing..."

"The demon started that." His answer was immediate. Absolute. By all that was light, he just wanted her to stop talking about it. He didn't want to remember it. Didn't want to think about that... that leaping in his chest, the feeling of his breath, the glow of his eyes. It was all his fault. He had said it himself; he was a "general trouble-maker." Sure, Doelle may have been part of the disaster. He may have been on the brink of temptation. That much blame, he could take. But it all started because of that demon.

"R-right, right, I shouldn't have to ask." Zanda's wings rose around her in such a way that it looked like she wanted to crawl into herself and hide. Good. Then she knows I'm speaking the truth.

"Only mortals would be tempted by so vulgar a vice as him," he said. "I was able to resist, of course. As agents of the Prince of Light, we must resist the Prince of Darkness and his people. All of them." No matter how charming. He shoved that little addition back to the farthest corner of his mind. He had resisted. Of course he had. He was the perfect angel, a shining example of good. However, that little part of him spoke up again. But you almost gave in.

Almost.