The Codex: An Angel's Guide To Seducing A Human (17 page)

Yuriana turned and broke into a coughing fit.

Worried, I took a step towards the princess to heal her when a wall of ice erupted in front of me and blocked my view of her.

"Stop flashing the princess!"

I swiveled around and saw Emily flush, the staff in her hand quivering. "Armor, now! And you owe me for the dress!"

Reluctantly, I shed the comfortable but tattered dress. Then I summoned my armor and began to dress myself, starting by pulling up my padded pants.

As I did, Emily covered Ciel's eyes while glancing at me when she thought I wasn't looking, probably trying to memorize every detail to draw a picture of me. "I'll have to write this into my diary," the human muttered.

I tightened the last strap of my cuirass. "That's amazing. I didn't think you knew how to write."

Narius

We bid farewell to the princess and Ciel, and left them to finish their business. Emily and I walked south down the road to the capital, as she refused to let me fly with her. Sometime later, once my feet felt like they would fall apart, night descended upon us, and we decided to make camp, quickly lighting a fire and setting out some blankets to sleep on.

"This is the best day of my life!" Emily screamed at the moon and plopped down next to me, giggling as she groped the coin purse the princess had given her.

Disinterested in her human greed, I listened to the calming sound of the small stream humming steadily as it flowed by us.

Emily leaned against my shoulder, her lush black hair pressing against my cheek. "Hehe... life is good."

Being so close to her made the peace in my mind run away and hide behind my growing anxiety. "Really? Just for a pouch?"

She smiled with a creepy look on her face. "Among other things I saw today. Besides, I'm finally rich! I can pay the guild's debt, and take a few months off from adventuring to rest."

"But what about catching the elf? We shouldn't be just resting here."

She poked her finger against my cheek. "Not while we are still in the forest. By sticking to the road and taking it slow, we might actually find Mafis here. I'd much rather do that than arrive ahead of him and try our luck looking for him in a huge city. And if we go a bit slower, we could spend more time together. Just the two of us, and... well... I..." Jingling the pouch like a greedy goblin, she glanced up at me. "But that's not important. Do you know how much this is? These coins are not the regular gold pieces. They are the newly-minted coins, and unlike the common ones, these are almost pure gold. I can buy so much with them."

I shook my head. "Money can't buy happiness."

Emily smirked. "Yes it can, my naive angel." She reached into her pouch and tossed me a gold coin bearing the face of a bearded human. "That can buy a dozen cakes, each one fit for a lord's birthday."

"Cake?"

"It's like a bar of chocolate but a thousand times better. Also bigger."

I snorted. "Nothing can be better than chocolate."

Emily cackled and stirred her finger in the pouch, sliding the coins around. "Foolish angel, I'll make you eat those words as soon as we arrive in Lodina and find a decent bakery." She hugged the coin purse and whispered, "And maybe we can take a short break from looking for Mafis to tour the city. Maybe go to the old cathedral of your flock in the center of the city and gawk at some marble angels. Or even better yet, we could go to the beach for a nice stroll."

Gazing up at the night sky and at the beacons of heaven, I scoffed at her ignorance of the marvelous majesties of chocolates and slipped the coin into the Codex, who giggled as the foreign object was inserted into her.

Still, Emily's words weighed heavily on my heart, and I tried to imagine what the cake would be like, but the only thing that came to mind was a large chocolate molded into the shape of a Codex. Figuring it was close enough, I opened the Codex to sketch my imaginary cake with an image of Emily taking a bite out of it.

As I sketched away, Emily bobbed her head, dozing on and off until she rested her head against my shoulder. She began to snore softly with drool running down her chin.

Though the weight slowed my ability to draw, it felt nice to have her beside me. Unwilling to surrender the pleasurable feeling, I continued my work, only to stop sometime later when my exhausted mind imagined that the bush in front of me had uprooted itself and moved to the side.

Fighting the urge to close my eyes and join Emily, I looked at her lips and my heart thumped against my chest. 
Is it odd that I like her?

Not at all. I am surprised the two of you haven't mated yet.

I gently lowered Emily's head to the ground and covered her with a blanket. 
I don't think she likes me that much. She seems more interested in gold.

Oh, no. She likes you. She likes the way you smile, and I know she feels happy just being with you.

Know? How do you know that?

Well... she... told... um... never mind. Yes. I just know. I am infinitely wise!

Oh.
 I lay down next to Emily and closed my eyes. 
I hope that's true. I really like her, and I want to spend as much time as I can with her before I return to heaven.

Narius—ten years ago

I flew past the dusty tomes that filled the shelves of the Great Library, banking around the angels unloading a stack of books from a wagon. The librarians screamed for me to walk, but I ignored their cries and glided towards the spot where archangel Maeriediana studied.

There, in a dark and dry corner of the library, I saw the faint glow of a halo. The archangel, dressed in a white robe instead of armor, leaned forward in her chair. She thumbed through a large leather-bound book, using her halo as a reading light.

“Archangel Maeriediana, what are humans?” I approached the ivory desk and grinned at her Codex hanging by her side. 
In a few months, I'll have one just like it.

The archangel tore her gaze from the book. She ran her hands through her dark hair and glared at me with her piercing green eyes. “Vile creatures that need to be avoided,” she said, returning her attention to the book on Demonology.

I covered the text with my hands. “Is it true that their bodies change throughout their lives? Even when they are only a decade old like me?”

She brushed my hands away from the book and scowled. “Our session starts in three hours. Go bother your mother. Someone has taken Palkeon's Grimoire, and I need to figure out how to track the corruption so that no summoning can take place. I don’t have time to entertain children.”

“Grimoire? I can help.” I cupped my hands and focused my magic. After several moments of concentration, a slushy goo of manna formed in my hands. I offered the treat with a smile. “I learned it from a book today. Eating manna always helps me think. So try it. It tastes just like the ones everyone summons. I am sure it will help you think about—”

The archangel slapped my hands. The manna fell from my grasp and plopped against the wooden floor. “Clean that up.”

Kneeling on the marble floor, I tried to pick up the splattered blobs of manna, but they slipped through my fingers, and as the goo slithered back onto the floor, I burst into tears.

Through my blurred vision, I saw the archangel sigh, close her book and walk away.

I trailed after her and tugged on the chain of her Codex. She whirled around and struck my hand away. “I do not have the patience or the luxury to spend time on a newborn. If you cannot be bothered to go to your mother, I suggest you crawl into a hole and die.”

I wailed and clutched the hem of her skirt to my face, staining it with my tears.

The archangel’s face wrinkled as she bared her teeth at me. She raised her hand over her shoulder, ready to strike.

“Maeriediana,” Lord Halfaya's voice echoed through the library, and the archangel's hand came to a halt. “Violence isn't the answer here, especially to a cherub. Why, I remember a time when you were ten years old as well, studying hard under Astreal, waiting to receive your very own Codex and trying to summon the juiciest manna."

Unworthy to even glance at Lord Halfaya, I knelt and fixed my gaze on the marble floor.

“I wasn’t as stupid or annoying as he is, my Lord,” Maeriediana said.

Lord Halfaya chuckled, his voice brightening and warming the very air of the room as he spoke. “We tend to idealize the way we behaved as children. Our memories exaggerate our virtues and conveniently minimize our vices. Maeriediana, I know that you are trying to discipline him with harsh words, but do not be too strict with Narius. He will be helping you in the years to come.”

I felt Lord Halfaya's warm hand touch my face and wipe away my tears. “Now, Narius, remember... angels don’t cry."

Narius—present day

“Wake up, you oversized parrot,” Lord Halfaya said through the darkness, his cold finger jabbing my shoulder.

“Of course, my Lord,” I mumbled back. “Anything for you.”

"What?" Lord Halfaya let out a feminine grunt and his icy hand brushed my cheek. My eyes shot open, and I saw Emily poking me with the ice-encrusted orb of her staff.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Next to me, the campfire cackled, popping and snapping as it illuminated the dark forest. Blinking my sleep away, I gazed up at the portraits drawn across the sky in the form of constellations. “What do you want?"

Emily placed the frozen orb against my neck again and watched me squirm. “I need a favor.”

I pushed her icy rod away. "If this is some sort of elaborate trap to harvest my organs for some dark ritual by making me promise you something, the answer is—"

“No, nothing weird. I just want some paper.”

"Oh. Simple enough." I focused my thoughts and summoned a stack of parchments into my hand.

Emily reached for them, but I yanked my hand back and wagged my finger. "You need to tell me what you’re going to do with them first."

The human rolled her eyes. "It's paper. There aren't that many uses."

I held them over my head, away from her grabby fingers.

She dropped her staff and drummed her fingers against her skirt, giving me an annoyed look. "All right. Fine. I want to update my diary. Ever since I’ve been following you, I haven't had the time to keep it up," she said, leaning towards me and snatching the parchments away. Then she held her hand out. "Quill?"

I crossed my arms and squinted. "Don't you have your own?"

With a sheepish smile, she squatted before me, staring at me with mischievous eyes. "No, but I wonder if I can pluck one from a bird that happens to be sitting right in front of me..."

I winced. Edging back to safety, I pointed at my feather that dangled against her blouse. "Use the necklace!"

Emily tsked at my reasonable proposal. "Fine. Got ink?"

Anticipating the question, I puffed out my chest and grinned. "Foolish human. My feather has more than enough magic to write several books on its own. In fact, it can also erase the writing if you trace it backwards. There’s a reason why it’s worth its weight in gold."

She perked up. Getting down on her hands and knees, she crawled to me. Before I could escape, she stroked my wing, tickling me. "Interesting. Do you molt?"

The rhythmic touch of her hand sent waves of pleasure through my body. “Hehe… Every thousand years,” I answered. “Though, if they’re pulled out by force, it takes a few months for them to grow back.”

“So, if I pull them all out, they will grow back?”

My wings twitched, scraping themselves against the grass and hitting a sharp rock. The pain dragged my mind away from the wonderful sensation of her tender hands. “Wait, no!”

Emily laughed and took off her necklace. “I’m kidding.” With the quill in hand, she sat next to me and scribbled away, mumbling as she wrote. "Idiot… Dryad… princess… forest… apple… bed… kiss?"

I ignored her rambling and lay back on the grass.

Just as I was drifting closer to sleep, Emily stopped her incantation of single words. “Narius, we should talk."

I remained silent, hoping that I could go back to sleep.

Taking my silence for an answer, Emily spoke, "For the past few weeks I have been tagging along with you without asking too much, but now I think I need to ask you some uncomfortable questions."

"Uncomfortable?"

She nodded. "Narius, you said you were chasing a Grimoire to stop a demon from being summoned, but why were you, one of the junior angels, sent to deal with this?"

My wings twitched before I could control them. "I... might have done something bad."

"But what about the angels from Tristina's or Arudi's flock? Shouldn't the lady of love or the lord of order be helping you by sending some of their angels? It seems a bit odd for you to be alone."

I shook my head. "A lot of angels across all three flocks prefer not to involve themselves in human affairs, especially after Lord Halfaya was wounded. Besides, this matter was for my Lord to decide, and as long as the demon isn't summoned, he knows I am more than capable." The thought that His Lordship considered me so capable made me smile. "That's why he told me to head down to the area where Pannaxx was. He said I would find everything I needed to do my job. Then..." I shuddered at the memory of the humiliation that followed.

Emily arched an eyebrow. "I see. Well, that answers all my questions." She wrote another line into the book and with a faint blush, muttered, "There is something I want to tell you.”

I muffled a yawn. “Not now.”

The human frowned, but I was too exhausted to care. I closed my eyes, only for Emily to poke me in the neck with the quill. The pain jolted me awake, and I saw Emily look down at me, her shoulders slumped. "You shouldn't do that anymore."

"Sleep?"

She bowed her head and whispered, “Thank people by kissing.”

My eyebrows knitted together. "Why? Is it because you think I kissed you? Or because of the princess?"

Her face flushed. "N-no. That's not the point! Listen, Narius, you should only kiss someone who you really like, and no one else."

"So, just Lord Halfaya?"

Emily placed the palm of her hand against her face. "That's not what I mean." She began scribbling, filling the air with the sound of the quill scratching the parchment while whispering the words she wrote. "You should only kiss people that you really like... like me.”

"What?"

Emily buried her nose in the parchments, hiding all of her head except for the scarlet tips of her ears. In a shaky voice she answered, "Nothing."

With my sleep driven away thanks to her constant mumbling, I sat up and leaned my shoulder against her. “Say, you wouldn’t mind if I took a look at that, would you?"

She pressed the stack of parchment against her chest and pushed me away. "No! It’s a diary! This is private!"

“Private? Aren’t they supposed to be shared? I’ve read countless private diaries of ancient angels.”

“No. This isn’t something you share. How would you like it if I took your halberd and waved it around like it was a toy?”

“Do you want it now?” I asked, raising my hand.

“No," she growled. "And why would you give that away? Don’t you own anything?”

I scratched my head. “There’s the Codex, but I don’t think I can give her to anyone. Hmm… what about my library card? Or a handful of manna?”

Emily raised an eyebrow. “Anything that isn’t junk?”

I winced, but then I remembered her tribute. Reaching down to my side, I stroked the Codex and made her cough up the coin. I held it before my eyes and smiled. “I guess the gold coin you gave me would be it. This is the first thing I ever owned. Aside from my armor, of course, and the halberd that Mother gave me at birth."

“Wait. No one ever gave you gifts? Flowers? And... umm... other stuff boys like?”

I shook my head and slid the treasure back into the Codex for safekeeping. “Why would I need them? Everything I need is provided for me so that I can perform my duty.”

Her mouth fell open. “What? What about gift-giving holidays? You guys don’t celebrate something like 'Lord Halfaya Day'?”

“No. Why would one day be more special than others? We serve Lord Halfaya every day.”

Emily sighed. "And you probably never celebrated your birthday?"

I covered my mouth with my hand and suppressed a snort. “That would be ridiculous. What's so special about the day you were born?”

Emily frowned. “Hold on. What about other angels? Women—I mean, female angels?”

“What about them?”

“You never had a pretty angel come to you and give you something to draw your attention?”

I frowned back at her. “Why would anyone need to draw my attention? I am not a monster that needs to be drawn out of his lair.”

A thin smile formed on Emily's lips. “So, you are saying that no one likes you? No other angels thought, 'Wow, Narius looks really dashingly handsome. I should give him something to make him notice me?'”

My eyes darted back and forth as I deciphered her cryptic words. “As much as I would like to hold hands and hug another angel, I am not ready yet. I am centuries younger than almost all of them, and it would feel a little awkward. So, it’s not like I couldn’t find a mate. I... I just don’t want one yet.”

She stuck her tongue out. “Liar. That’s what everyone says. 'I can find one if I want.' Pfft.”

My cheeks burned. “What about you? Do you have a mate? Is it the human who sent you the letter?”

The parchments slipped from Emily's trembling fingers. “No! Not in a thousand years! Gah! That would be disgusting.”

I stuck my tongue out at her. “So, you’ve got no mate as well. Of course, it's not surprising, considering your violent nature.”

Wrinkles appeared on her forehead as the violent human scowled, her blue eyes squinting. “The only reason I don’t have one is because I haven’t tried. If I did, hundreds of suitors would line up for a chance to meet me. I’m not like you.”

I laughed. “Well, if 
I
 wanted a mate, I could find angels who would want to hug me in an instant!”

“Hug? Ha! I bet you can’t even talk to a girl from your flock.”

I jabbed my finger at her. “Well, I don’t believe that any human would wait in line for you, either.”