Chapter 1 – Temptation
Stuart was about to take his English oral exam. He was ecstatic because it was his last exam. He had no doubt he would pass, and not a shred of fear entered his heart. He imagined what it would be like once he started working as a translator – doing little and getting a lot. He couldn't wait to hear, "Congratulations, you passed." For him, having his knowledge confirmed on paper was enough. He already had a vision of himself – a wealthy future, without financial problems.
"Yes. That's exactly what I want," he said to himself, opening the door to the room. At the end of the room sat four examiners at a long table. By the window, an older man (he'd come straight from England). Then he looked at the young blond. He had an unpleasant expression on his face, small eyes, and his skin hung like a pug's. To his left sat his teacher. Called "the axe" by everyone, no one else was as strict about learning English as she was. Next to her sat a young man. He looked as if he'd never teamed up with a comb. He glanced at the last chair. There was no one there. This puzzled him. As if reading his mind, the disheveled man replied.
"Mrs. O'Brien will be here in a moment.
" "Wasn't it supposed to be Mrs. Lesicka?" he asked in his native tongue.
"Yes, but she felt unwell and we needed a quick replacement.
" "I understand."
Stuart began pacing the room. He calmly awaited the arrival of the last examiner. He deeply hoped the woman who would arrive wouldn't be as sharp as his teacher. Suddenly, a beautiful woman entered the room. She took every step with distinction. The disheveled man and Stuart both gasped at the sight of her. She had long black hair and rather mysterious brown eyes. She captivated the men in the room. Instead, the teacher invited the woman to sit down. The guys wouldn't be staring so hard if she weren't wearing such a short skirt and had a nice low-cut neckline. Things were heating up.
"Sorry I'm late. I came as soon as I could. There's a terrible traffic jam," she said, apologizing and sitting down, taking an empty seat. She flipped her hair back and crossed her legs. She had beautiful legs. Stuart stared at her for a long time as she unpacked. He didn't even hear her when she asked for his name.
"Excuse me. My name is Stuart Mak.
" "Shall we begin?" the older man asked in his native language.
"Yes, please."
Stuart began to get nervous. He wasn't as confident as he had been at first. His knees began to shake, and his hands began to sweat. He tried not to look at Mrs. O'Brien, but some unknown force kept drawing him to her. He didn't even realize he was answering idiotic questions, completely off-topic. He was speechless. He couldn't concentrate. He was completely bewildered by the new examiner.
"Could you at least tell us what the weather's like today?" the disheveled man asked.
"Beautiful..." he replied dreamily, gazing into her eyes.
Outside, the rain was falling even harder. Lightning cracked the sky. Stuart immediately seemed to snap out of his trance.
"I beg your pardon," Mrs. O'Brien said, "but I regret to say that nothing will come of this, Mr. Mak. You'd best go back to kindergarten, because what you've just said is beyond their level of knowledge. You've answered almost none of the questions. You're not choosing the right words for your sentences, and you're using the wrong tenses. I was told before I came that I was coming to see an intelligent man, and what do I find here? In short. You failed.
The other examiners agreed unanimously. It was a complete shock for Stuart. With this news, he walked out the door and sat down in a chair. He felt weak. How could he have failed the oral exam just because of some stupid girl? He couldn't accept it. A beautiful woman had just left the room. He was the last one to graduate, so she had finished her work. She approached him and whispered in his ear.
"Beware of temptation..."
A red flame flashed briefly in her eyes. Her hazel eyes turned completely black. She walked away from him and entered the elevator, leaving him alone, who no longer remembered anything about his meeting with Mrs. O'Brien. The beautiful woman smiled to herself and disappeared into the elevator.
Chapter 2 – Life is a game, and I'm in it...
He spotted her. She was flying toward that enormous building. She was grinning from ear to ear and excited—he could sense it. It was certain she was up to something. She was probably trying to pull another prank on someone. He'd been watching her from the moment she pushed the little boy into the street, right in front of an oncoming truck. Luckily, she managed to save him—just in time. He followed her, trying to figure out where she was going, until he reached the front of the university. It was pouring rain. He longed for shelter. He flew to the room she'd entered. Fortunately, she hadn't noticed him. He knew how much she hated being interrupted in her duties. This "friend" scanned the many faces, until finally, entering the English exam room, she chose her victim. She picked out the last name on the list of candidates taking the English exam. To get there, she had to get rid of one person. She chose the innocent examiner. Mrs. Lesicka began to convulse. She was quickly taken to the hospital. The angel couldn't help her, though he desperately wanted to. When he was sure the examiner was fine, he returned to his "friend." She was just beginning to give her opinion. The boy stood there like a pillar of salt, having failed.
He shook his head in disbelief; he hadn't expected her beauty to drive Stuart mad. He stood in front of the elevator at the bottom, waiting for it to descend. He was lucky he hadn't recently transformed into a human and could be invisible to everyone.
The lights changed on the numbers as the elevator descended, stopping at the letter P.
"Hello Mare..." he greeted her as she exited the elevator.
"Can't you see I'm human? They'll think I'm crazy when they see me talking to myself, Mikael.
" "I'm here about the boy...
" "Which one?
" "The one you pushed under the truck.
" "It's a shame you managed to save him. Because you did, right?
" "What do you think?"
She didn't answer. Instead, she stood in the corner and watched to make sure no one was passing. She transformed into her true form. In an instant, she became invisible. Black wings sprouted from her shoulder blades, her tailbone lengthened and transformed into a real tail with a spear. Her claws grew larger, harder, and completely red. A pair of horns sprouted from her head. In Mikael's opinion, she was the most beautiful devil of them all, but he had never told her so, because he was an angel. Mare looked at him. She liked doing this. She was searching for something. His feet were fine; no claws were broken, neither on his fingers nor toes. She liked them more than her own because she loved the color navy blue and its shades. Mikael's body was completely blue, but not all angels looked like that. He was special to her in that way. There was one thing she hated about him, though. As an angel, he was supposed to look out for everyone, even himself, and yet he wore the same tattered trousers all the time. He looked pathetic next to her. Yet there was something about him that she both deeply feared and hated. It was his eyes. His gaze pierced her. It was so crystalline and deep that it was impossible to tear herself away from him. She was drowning in him. She glanced briefly at his face. She found what she was looking for: a scratch, quite large, on his right cheek. It was fresh and not yet healed.
"Is that from that truck?" she said, parting his light green hair and pointing to the scratch.
"No. From the curb. Most of it has healed," he pointed to his right wing. It was ragged at the bottom.
They stepped out of the building into the rain. They narrowed their eyes and took to the air. They flew for a long time in silence. Mare's red dress fluttered in the wind.
They rose above the clouds. Mikael pulled a steel feather from his pocket. Mare, on the other hand, removed a necklace with a small phoenix-shaped key attached to it. They both threw the objects into the air. Above, two clouds opened, allowing them to fly into them. Mare's clouds were black and flashed with lightning, while Mikael's were snow-white. This was where they always parted ways. They didn't often see each other in their cities. They met on earth, where, among other things, they worked. Mikael saved everything, Mare destroyed everything. Somehow, they often bumped into each other. It was usually at the hospital or the scene of an accident. Mare loved to soothe the pain of patients. Sometimes she succeeded. Other times, Mikael or another angel interfered. They were supposedly friends, afraid to admit it, because friendship between a devil and an angel is impossible. In the City of Angels and Devils, camaraderie was permitted, but no angel or devil had yet dared to take such a step. Such thoughts aroused fear in some, interest in others, but camaraderie between enemies had yet to materialize. Consequently, the rulers of both Cities had tried many times to reach an understanding. Unfortunately, each new move led to failure. One day, however, everything changed.
Chapter 3 – Life is a game... Or perhaps torment?
Mikael flew to his cottage. It was a small hut, covered with rushes. Inside, there wasn't much. In the left corner, a bed. Right next to it, a cabinet large enough to hold only his key and underwear. To the right, a desk, a chair pushed up against it, and a lamp. That was all he needed. He neither ate nor drank, so he didn't relieve himself—unless he was human. He looked around the room and collapsed onto the bed. He was already tired. He hadn't slept or rested for a week. And today, he had saved a little boy. By now, he could feel the truck running over his right wing. Fortunately, most of the wounds had healed and the bones were healed. He closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep, thinking nothing more. He just wanted to rest. Late that evening, he was awakened by a strange sound, and immediately afterward, he felt someone straddle his chest. He immediately opened his eyes. That someone was Mare.
"What are you doing here?
" "Get up quickly! The rulers request that we gather on the main patio!
" "Devils and angels together!
" "Yes, get up and let's go...
" "I can't..."
The devil jumped back and tugged at his hand. She had a mysterious expression on her face. He noticed that delight and satisfaction again.
"Wait a minute, you know something," he said, pulling her closer to him so she wouldn't open the door just yet.
"Okay, I'll tell you. I just found out about it. The rulers of both cities are organizing a supposed competition. The goal is to reconcile angels and devils. The rules are simple: one angel and one devil pair up. Their task is to compete with each other and help each other.
" "I don't get it.
" "Angels do good deeds. Devils do bad deeds. And we've always chosen the people we want. Now, to get it right, the angel and the devil have to get it right together with the same person.
" "I see. So let's assume I'm a human. So both the angel and the devil would have to get it right together, meaning they would have to perform one deed on me?
" "Yes.
" "And what's the prize?
" "A wish.
" "Anything?
" "Yes... whatever.
" "One wish per couple?
" "Yes."
Mikael bit his lip and took her hand. He wanted to know more. A large crowd of angels and devils was already standing on the main patio. But they all seemed to be divided by a line, equally spaced. The Queen and the Devil Lord stood with the Queen of Angels, so that everyone could see them. The newcomers listened intently to what they had to say. The angel began first. She said the same thing as Mare, only she added about registering with the chief secretary of both Cities. Neither angel nor devil approached each other, despite the high stakes. A wish that allowed them to do whatever they wanted. Everyone looked at each other askance and with a wink. Mikael looked at Mare. She had an unusual twinkle in her eyes. He knew she would want to enter the competition, and with him, at that.
"Shall we go and register?" he asked her.
Mare glanced at him furtively; she didn't think he would be the first to suggest it.
"Aren't you afraid?
" "Don't make me laugh. Should I be afraid of a devil?
" "Shouldn't you?
" "No," he replied firmly.
They pushed through the crowd. They wanted to get started as quickly as possible, before their competitors changed their minds at the last minute. The angels and devils, surprised by one pair's decision, began passing each other and chatting.
"We encouraged them..." Mare said, turning back for a moment mid-flight. "How long do you think it will take them to reach an understanding?
" "I have no idea, but I hope it's as soon as possible."
A black and white building was already visible from a distance. This was where the secretary of both cities lived. He recorded the most important things and events there, while the employees (elves) did the rest.
"Can't you fly faster?" Mikaela asked the devil.
"Exactly, you won't have time to sign up yet. I can see a crowd of volunteers here," Mare's friend sneered, flying past them. Right next to him, a ten-year-old angel with golden hair was flying on tiny wings. She had a sweet expression. Charm radiated from her. The she-devil raised her eyebrows.
"Isn't she too young for you?"
"Don't mock me. She's my mate. We met yesterday morning when I kicked a little puppy.
" "Good to see," Mikael replied, displeased, both because of the company and his friend's deed. "I see we have competition.
" "Something wrong with the blue-skinned one?" he said, flying quickly up to Mikael and slapping his wings with his tail. The angel sank into the clouds.
"Ben, you idiot!" Mare screamed.
"We'll talk later," he called, taking the little angel on his back and flying straight to the building.
The she-devil was furious. She flew over to Mikael and helped him up. She felt a twinge of pain herself. This had never happened to her before. It was all because she wasn't allowed to help; sometimes she hated the thought.
"Come on, I'll manage. Let's go," he replied, gasping for air. His wing began to ache even more. He had a bad feeling this competition was about to begin.
Mare admired him. She had always considered angels weak and timid creatures, but that wasn't the case with her "friend." He handled every situation and didn't act like... a defender of the wronged. What she hated most about angels was their willingness to help, and even more, their compassion. He wasn't like that; at least, she'd never seen him in a situation where he would act that way, and they spent time together quite often.
When they reached the building, complications arose from the very beginning. Ben and the angel were arguing with the head secretary about something. Even though she disliked him and hated him even more for violating her partner, the devil asked,
"Any problems?"
"To sign up, you have to surrender the key to the city," Ben complained. "The rulers didn't mention that we wouldn't be able to enter the city for that time.
" "Sigh..." the Chief Secretary sighed. "Because I'm in charge. And that's not all. You immediately choose the country you want to land in, because you'll take human form for three months. Unless one pair manages to do the most good and bad deeds together, maintaining their position as the best, in first place, they'll remain in their true form for that time. As you can see, it all depends on the results."
The young devil despaired. Maintaining human form for three months was too much for him. Meanwhile, while he pondered, the angel waited for his answer.
Mikael and Mare exchanged glances. The devil dared to meet his eyes.
"Shall we go?" he asked.
She nodded.
"Names and gender.
" "Mare, the devil, and Mikael, the angel," he replied, adding after a moment. "Will we have immortality while on Earth..."
"No, you become mortals. That's the difficulty. Are you sure you're writing it down?" he asked
, just to be sure. "Yes," they replied simultaneously. They were ready for anything to win.
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