Little Boy Blue

FIVE

ASHLEY

"Why did You bring us here?" he asked, looking around dimly. It was hard for him to focus his eyes and mind on the same thing. He felt as though he was looking at the world through a pane of dirty glass. Too much had happened in too short an amount of time.

Erusidamus stroked his head. "The human needed healing and I knew that the angels are the best ones for healing hurts. They will make him completely well again, then we will return home."

Ashley smiled. "Thinking to take care of Scooby... that is sweet of You."

"No, it is not," Erusidamus said. "It is what I thought you would do. And I want you to know this," He brushed Ashley's lower lip lightly with his thumb, "I will do anything to make you happy."

Ashley blinked away a few tears. "I am sorry I keep crying, I cannot..."

A warm touch on his chin, lifting his face. "There is no reason for shame," Erusidamus said. "I, more than any other, can understand what you are feeling and why. There are things that I have done in the past that I wish could be undone, but I know that there is nothing I can do about them now. I can only accept that that person was Me, and that I must always be watchful and careful about what I do, lest I repeat past mistakes."

Ashley firmed his lips, trying to appear confident. "That is a good code to follow. I will not repeat my mistakes. I will be careful in everything that I do and I will not let that terrible power ever get out of control again."

"That is your choice and I will support you in it."

Though the words made warmth flow through Ashley, there was a knowing sadness in the tone that made unease tremble in his stomach. There was something there that he didn't like, something that he didn't really want to think about. As though Erusidamus knew the promise was futile, that someday Ashley would either lose control or would be forced to use his power to hurt their enemies. It made Ashley feel like the choice was out of his hands, like his power was something outside of him, a separate entity that thirsted for pain and death and there was nothing he could do about it.

The door opened and an angel wafted in. She was dressed in a long blue robe, her black wings folded neatly behind her shoulders. A sheathed sword hung at her waist, the hilt gleaming with a large sapphire knob on the end.

Before coming here to the Celestial Plain, Ashley had never seen an angel before. He was young and there were lots of things that he had only learned of secondhand. His education had included information about angels, about how he should always be kind and polite to them because they were family. Angels and demons were the same species, separated for countless years, changed by time, but still the same. As they always would be.

If he lived to be a million years old, he must always treat angels with the respect and consideration that he would want for himself. He had learned his lessons and knew that they were true. Angels were cousins that had taken a different path, but they were still a part of the whole. Where their evolutions had diverged was a proof of the choice both demons and angels had made a long time ago, a difference that only affected their species and none other, no matter what other beings tried to say.

Ashley climbed awkwardly to his feet and bowed, hoping that his expression showed the proper amount of respect. He didn't want to embarrass Erusidamus or himself. He was representing the followers of the Master of Gold and they were counting on him to put on a good showing. He had to uphold the pride of his people, had to be beautiful and smart and charming, everything that the Master needed him to be.

He felt Erusidamus stand beside him, a warmth at his back. Erusidamus did not bow, could not bow, for He was the Master and He was without equal in all of the universe and on all of the countless worlds. It was up to Ashley to show the proper respect needed with their unannounced arrival. He would do whatever begging that needed to be done... just as soon as he knew what was happening here.