Aka Amy

Since it seemed like my former-roommate wasn't going to be leaving any time soon, I reluctantly made him a cup of coffee then the three of us sat down to continue the conversation in the living-room.

Me and Tess were together on the love-seat, while Mike sat across from us on the sofa.

"You know I didn't just arrive on the mortal realm right?" I asked as I stared at the angel sitting across from me. "Depending how you look at it, I've been here since nineteen-ninety-nine. So how come your boss is only just interested in me now?"

After a sip of coffee our guest replied, "Uh, ok so He's not always paying attention to this stuff? And I'm guessing your power and divine presence were locked away when you didn't know who you were. Like I could sense a little trace of divinity on you up close, but that was it. So He probably didn't know you were around until recently. Then He'd have waited a bit to see if you were sticking around, rather than just passing through."

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair, "Fine. I'm still not giving you an answer till I know who he is. And that's not a guarantee I'll agree either. I might want to look this guy up first, before I agree to a meeting."

Mike looked uncomfortable as he responded, "We're not talking about some big-name God ok? Nobody you've heard of, nobody you learned about in Greek mythology or superhero movies or anything like that. You know this stuff right? Like, no offence but you're not exactly a big name either, you know?"

Tess responded, "Amy might not be well-known but she does have a Wikipedia entry."

I suppressed a giggle as I sipped my coffee. Mike could probably guess that my girlfriend set up the entry for me herself.

"Anyways Mike," I brought the conversation back on track, "I'm still going to need this guy's name. If you can't give me that now, then come back when you can. But don't come back first thing in the morning on a holiday or a weekend. Or better still, don't come back at all. Just send me a text."

He still seemed uncomfortable, but he drained his coffee then set the cup down on the coffee table. He dug his phone back out of his jacket pocket then started tapping away on it, and a few seconds later I heard my phone ping with a new text message.

I went and got it from the bedroom, then opened the message as I returned to the living-room.

'His name is Kai but please don't tell Him I told you that.'

"Your secret's safe with me," I smiled as I looked over at Mike. "I don't get why that's such a big secret. It's not a bad name, nothing to be embarrassed about."

My ex-roomie rolled his eyes then got to his feet and asked, "So what's your answer to the invitation? Yes or no?"

I shook my head, "I'll get back to you. I need time to think it over. And even if there's nothing on this guy I'm still going to try and look him up."

Mike reminded me, "He wanted me to get an answer before I left."

"Fine," I rolled my eyes. "The answer is I'll get back to him later. I'll text you or something ok?"

"All right," he sighed. He bowed once more, then just vanished without a sound.

Tess had another sip of her coffee and commented, "You know? Six months ago this whole situation would have freaked me out a lot more."

I laughed, "This time last year I probably would have flipped if I saw my roommate do that, or if I found out he was a real live angel."

In a slightly more serious voice I added, "I'm still quietly freaking out a little bit though. I've known what I was since last summer and it never even crossed my mind that there might be others around. I should have thought of that."

"Do you think this guy's a threat?" my girlfriend asked, her tone and expression were both suddenly serious.

"Probably not?" I shrugged. "I mean, if he was then why warn me he's around? I might need to spend some time refreshing my memory on some of this stuff though."

Tess finished her coffee then got a thoughtful look on her face. "So assuming this guy's like you, I mean not a big well-known popular God, and he's got at least one angel working for him... Does that mean you've got angels working for you too? Or how does that work? Do you have to create them, or hire them or something?"

I found myself staring at her as my eyes widened. It only took a moment to think through the old memories, then I cringed and spoke her name.

"Ravenna?"

My girlfriend frowned, "What -"

Theresa's words died in her throat when the strange woman appeared, standing in the living-room in almost the same spot where Mike disappeared from a couple minutes earlier. But where Mike was dressed in a modern suit and tie like he was ready for church, our new guest looked like something out of a creepy renaissance painting.

She was taller than my girlfriend and slimmer than my sister. Her skin was fairer than mine almost to the point of looking pale, while her eyes and lips were dark. She wore a long gown of the darkest black imaginable. Her long hair was black like liquid jet, and both her hair and gown rippled and moved as if blown by a non-existent wind. Her huge black feathered wings stretched out as far as they could in the confines of our apartment. In her right hand was a long narrow sword, the crosspiece and pommel looked like silver while the grip was pure black.

In other words she looked like some kind of goth angel of death, but she immediately sank to her knees. She placed the sword on the floor at my feet and bowed deeply before me and Theresa. Her voice was equal parts serious and respectful as she asked, "You called, my Goddess?"

I sighed, "Stand up Ravenna, talk to me not my fuzzy slippers. And you can drop the whole 'dark angel' routine, let's see something a little more modern."

The angel straightened up as her appearance flickered. Instead of the tall severe-looking angel of death, she looked like your typical emo goth college student. Her hair was still jet-black but now it was cut to shoulder length, and her eyes were hazel. Her skin stayed pale but at least she looked healthy. She looked somewhere between Tess's age and Hailey's, like maybe around twenty-four. She was shorter than Tess but a couple inches taller than myself. She was wearing black boots, black leggings, and a knee-length black dress. She had black nail polish and black lipstick, and some silver jewelry added a little bling.

"No way," Tess stated as she stared at our guest. "You're one of the baristas at the cafe just off campus!"

I rolled my eyes, "She was also Miss Black, Jodie's sixth-grade teacher. Though she looked older and dressed differently back then. And more recently, she's been teaming up with Leah and Kreff and me in that video game. Isn't that right, Raven?"

The goth angel shrugged, "The last time You gave me anything to do was eighteen-forty-seven. Meanwhile You've spent the last six decades hanging around on Earth slumming it with the mortals. I've been bored! And so what if I've been watching You play house with Your girlfriends?"

"If you've been watching all this time," I said with a frown, "Then you know I'm not the same person you used to work for. You know what happened in ninety-nine right? Why didn't you say something? Why didn't you remind Amethyst who she was, or intervene before Amy Sullivan died?"

"Not my job," Ravenna replied with another shrug. "You're my Goddess, I had to assume it was all part of Your divine plan. Unless You tell me otherwise, I'm not going to interfere with Your designs."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair as I realized she was right. Despite the snark and the attitude she was created to serve Amethyst, not question her or tell her what to do.

"Ok," I said as I shifted back to the reason she was here in the first place. "We were just visited by an angel named Maikel, who works for a god called Kai. Do you know anything about this Kai?"

"Yes my Goddess," my angel replied. "Like You, he once oversaw a small community of mortals. His original home was in the northern Netherlands. And like You, his people have all but forgotten him. It's likely that some of his people emigrated here, and one or two of them brought his memory with them. I don't believe he is a threat. It's more likely he is hoping to form a partnership, or perhaps he's looking for some sort of truce."

Tess frowned, "How do you know so much about him? Have you met him?"

Ravenna ignored my girlfriend, she acted like Tess wasn't even there. From the old memories I knew she wasn't trying to be rude. She simply didn't answer to anyone but me while she was here on official business. Still, I wasn't going to let that stand.

I stated, "Theresa is my girlfriend, you'll treat her with respect and answer her questions Ravenna."

"As you wish my Goddess," she responded to me. Then she addressed Tess, "I haven't had anything official to do in the last hundred and seventy-five years, so I've been keeping tabs on the comings and goings of other Gods and Goddesses, and their messengers."

She added, "I have never met him or his messenger. I only know of them through conversations with others like myself. There are a few of us who meet infrequently to talk, trade stories, and compare notes."

I asked, "So should I meet this Kai guy?"

Ravenna's attention returned to me, "I am not Your counsel my Goddess, I cannot tell You what to do."

"Do you think it would be safe for me to meet Kai?" I asked instead.

"Yes my Goddess," my angel nodded. "It would be prudent to bring me along, I can provide information and if necessary I will fight for You. But my understanding is Kai is not a dangerous God."

That led my girlfriend to frown again. "Are there other Gods around who are dangerous?"

"Yes," Ravenna replied, but she didn't elaborate.

I'd have to talk to her about that but I didn't want to get into it now, and I wasn't sure it was something we should discuss in front of Tess. I didn't want her to get worried about that stuff, and I knew it definitely wouldn't be safe for her to get involved in it. Instead I decided to take the conversation in a safer direction.

"Thank you Ravenna," I told her. "If I decide to meet Kai I'll ask you to accompany me. Where are you staying? I assume you have a place on Earth, if you're working as a barista and playing video games?"

The angel nodded, "I've been in a an apartment north of the city for the last few years. I'd have been closer but..."

She looked a little uneasy as she admitted, "I couldn't find You until last summer when You suddenly re-appeared. If You wish, I will relocate somewhere nearby immediately."

"You'd just up and move if Amy told you to?" Tess asked in surprise. "Why would you need to be closer, when you can obviously teleport here in an instant?"

Ravenna responded, "I would do anything my Goddess wished of me, without question or hesitation. I exist to serve Her. And although I can travel quickly with magic, my senses do not cover the globe. Had I been closer I might have detected an unknown messenger intruding on my Goddess's space."

"Thanks Ravenna," I sighed. While it was nice having her provide information and insight into stuff I either didn't know or had forgotten about, the whole servant thing was getting awkward and I was sure Tess would have some comments about it. "I'm not going to tell you to move closer, I'll leave that up to you. I won't complain if you want to be closer, if you think that's the best option."

The three of us were quiet for a few moments. I couldn't think of anything else to ask her, Tess looked like she was thinking about all the revelations we'd just had this morning, and my angel just stood quietly waiting for my word.

"I think that's all for now," I finally decided. "You may go Ravenna, I'll call you if I need anything else. And I suppose I'll see you online, or at the cafe."

"Yes my Goddess," she said as she bowed deeply, then as she straightened up she vanished.

I sighed and leaned against my girlfriend, who wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

She gave me a gentle squeeze and commented, "So in the past hour we've learned angels are real, there's other Gods wandering around Earth, and you have a snarky immortal goth servant girl who's been patiently waiting for you to boss her around for almost two hundred years."