A/N: Yeah sorry I haven't uploaded in a while. It's been like, what, two months at least? Well now that I'm settled in college and have my laptop I can write again!! I got a sudden inspiration just now so I'm gonna put it to good use! So here's the next chapter of Worthy of Sin!

Chapter 5: When the Sun Sets - Part 2

"What are you doing here…" Michael asked this with all the seriousness an angel could have, but his face told differently, distress making it's way to the Arch's features.

"Heh." Aeroth was getting a strange kick out of this sudden meeting. "Maybe I should be posing that question on you as well? Aren't you supposed to be up there with all your upper crust buddies, answering the silly humans' prayers?"

Michael didn't react to this statement for he knew it was a form of taunting.

"Aeroth! Who is this guy?!" His lackeys asked.

"But seriously Michael-chan. What brings you all the way down here to earth? From what I've heard, Archs aren't the ones who make trips to the humans' world. Is that because you're all to worried about getting your precious hands dirty over sinners like them?"

"Aeroth." Michael said with sternness in his voice. The demon was doing this on purpose to get a rise out of the angel. "You should know better than to do evil upon the Lord's creatures." His gaze narrowed.

"Oh what, you care for this boy? He's only a Junior, am I right?" He smirked at the angel still inside the protective orb.

Shuichi stuck his tongue out at the demon.

This made him laugh.

"So what is he?"

Michael didn't understand what Aeroth was trying to say.

"Someone you've been playing around with? A new lover perhaps? That hurts me Michael-chan." He feigned a pained expression.

This suggestion hit the Arch pretty hard. His brow furrowed with an unknown emotion.

The other two demons and Shuichi weren't sure what was going on, but they wanted answers.

"Um… Michael? What… is he talking about?"

"Hey, Aeroth! What the hell is going on? I don't get what you guys are saying!"

"Me neither! You gonna tell us or what?"

Michael and Aeroth's gaze didn't falter. The first to speak was the demon.

"Not many know this, but…"

"Aeroth…" Michael began to warn him.

"… we used to be pretty good friends, this guy and me." He smirked. Michael glared at him. The demon smirked at the Arch's uneasiness.

"Friends?" Cassius repeated in a bewildered tone.

"Ah!" Shuichi gasped. "With… a demon?"

"He wasn't always a demon, Shuichi…" Michel reassured, his shoulders slumping a little.

"Wasn't… always? …! You mean… he used to be…"

"Yes. Aeroth was once an angel himself."

"Bingo!" The said demon said in English.

"WHAT?! Aeroth, you never told us that!" Hideki almost fell backwards.

"Damn. You always have to ruin the fun don't you Michael-chan." He shrugged playfully.

"Don't call me that." The Arch glared.

"Why not? That's how it used to be, right? Remember? Those days in Heaven?" His facial expression was calmer now, more nostalgic?

Michael looked down. "How could I forget…" He said quietly. Only Shuichi and Aeroth could hear him.

All this troubled Shuichi. First, he was being attacked by demons, then Michael came to save the day, and now they were talking about something totally irrelevant to the situation at hand. So they knew each other very well a long time ago. And that demon… did he really used to be an angel? The Junior couldn't imagine such a beast being one of the Lord's children. He had such a bad attitude, not to mention he was being so disrespectful to an Arch! They must have been really close for him to address Michael like that.

"I advise you to leave now if you do not want to face any trouble."

Shuichi was snapped out of his thoughts when Michael spoke.

"Trouble? Aren't you usually gentle beings? Hm. Maybe I've rubbed off on you."

"Begone. I won't tolerate you presence any longer." He gave a nasty glare to the demon.

Aeroth was frowning, but the corner of his mouth seemed to rise up a bit in amusement.

"Right. You were always a stick in the mud Michael. Guess nothing's changed since then, huh?"

Michael recoiled a bit.

"What should we do Aeroth? There's three of us and only one of him. We could take him." Hideki made a fist.

"You idiot! He's an Arch! You think of couple of low ranking demons like us could go up against something like that?!", said Cassius.

"He's right." Aeroth agreed. The other two looked at him for a plan. "Let's go."

"Huh?! We're just gonna leave? What about the little angel?"

"Forget it. He's not worth getting into a fight over." Aeroth turned and started making his way towards the edge of the forest.

"But… boss!"

The higher demon ignored the other's protests. Michael and Shuichi watched the trio turn away.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again… Arch angel Michael." Aeroth said coldly. In one foul swoop, he flapped his black wings and took off to the skies along with his lackeys.

Once the demons were out of sight, Michael still looked off to where they disappeared. Shuichi did the same then focused his gaze on the Arch. What was going on? Shuichi could tell there was something deeper hidden between those two. But what was it? He'd never seen Michael so depressed after such an encounter. And that guy, Aeroth was it? He didn't seem too happy about the meeting either. Something happened with them in the past, and Shuichi was restless to know what it was, but now probably wouldn't be the right time to ask. After all, Michael just saved him from a bunch of crazy demons and… wait!

The pink-haired angel swiftly looked toward where he saw the first demon, the one with golden colored hair.

He wasn't there anymore.

Shuichi didn't understand why he hadn't joined his buddies when they were attacking him. He just… stood there, watching. Is that how demons get their sick kicks?!

He blushed at the memory of their eyes connecting for the first time. Those swimming saffron eyes… and his perfectly calm expression. When he remembered that he had been naked at the time, his blush increased.

'Gah! A demon saw me naked!' Of course, those other three did too… but that didn't seem to matter at the moment.

As he was thinking all this, the orb around him started to dissipate. His body plopped into the water unceremoniously as the liquid shield rested back into the large pond.

"Pleh! Alright, that's enough water for one day…" He spit some out of his mouth. He noticed that Michael hadn't said anything for a while and glanced up at the Arch. Would he be mad? Would he tell their Lord? Would he get in serious trouble for coming down to earth without permission? He awaited the worst.

But nothing happened. Michael simply stood hovering over the water and stared off into space. His thoughts lost to the gentle breeze for a moment. He heard a sound to his left and remembered why he was here in the first place. He looked over and saw the dripping wet Shuichi sitting in the water, still naked as the day he was born.

"Ah, Shuichi!" Michael landed in the water and bent down to help him up. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"You finally notice me." He said jokingly.

"I-I'm sorry Shuichi. I was just… I…" He couldn't think up an explanation for his ignorance.

"It's okay Michael. I'm fine. They didn't get a chance to do anything to me." He stood and tried to brush himself of the mud he got on himself. "Thanks you… for saving me."

Michael smiled as well. "Of course." But his features were then replaced by worry. "But why were you down here all by yourself?! It's dangerous on earth for a Junior like you!"

"I'm sorry Michael. I… I know I shouldn't have, but I just wanted…"

"Hm?"

"… I wanted you… to see this beautiful place with me. You're working so much I… don't get to spend time with you anymore." He lowered his head in shame.

Michael's face turned soft. He didn't realize how much the boy had been missing him. Work was work, but if it was affecting Shuichi this much, maybe he should ask for more time off…

"Shuichi… I'm an Arch. It's hard for me to-"

"Yeah I know. You're busy a lot. You can't help it. I think I'm just being selfish…" He shook his head of excess water.

"Shuichi…" Michael couldn't respond.

"But hey, more importantly, it's getting a little cold out… and it's dark. I'm ready to go home." He grinned and started heading for the shore.

"Shuichi…" Michael brought a hand to his head and rubbed it. "If Hiro hadn't found me when he did…"

"Huh? Hiro? You ran into him?"

"Yes. He's the one who told me you were on earth. And at night of all times. You know how bad things get at night? Demons are out and about. Haven't you learned this in your studies yet?"

"You're right. I know. But like I said. It's boring being in Heaven by myself. So I wanted you, Hiro and me to hang out a little. I needed a change of setting." Shuichi went towards the rock where he laid his clothes and started dressing himself.

"Hm." Michael decided to drop the subject since it wasn't going anywhere and simply smiled.

At least the little angel was okay. That was the important thing. When he saw those demons grabbing his friend his heart nearly stopped.

"Well, we better get back soon. Hiro will be worried. I don't know what I'm going to tell the other Archs but…"

"Don't worry, Michael. I'll tell the truth and I'll say you had nothing to do with it. Besides, I'm sure the Lord knows about everything that just happened. He has eyes everywhere you know." Shuichi shrugged and put his hand on the rock to pick up his crucifix necklace.

Unfortunately for him, it wasn't there.

"Huh?" Shuichi grappled the stone for his necklace, searched around it, and under it but didn't find a glimpse of gold. "WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Shuichi!" Michael reprimanded him for saying such foul language.

"M-my necklace! It's gone! Where did it go?!" He went into the shallows of the pond and stuck his hands in, groping for anything metal.

"Oh, you lost your crucifix?"

"I didn't lose it! Someone stole it! I bet it was those demons…" His eyes burned a loathing fire. "Damn them! How could they get so low!" He clenched his fists dramatically.

"Uh, Sh-Shuichi…" Michael waved his hands lightly to calm the raging angel down, but without success.

"They'll be sorry the day they ever messed with Shuichi Shindou!"

"That was today."

"Damn them!" He purposely ignored the Arch's words.

"We'll just have to get you a new one is all. We have plenty."

"Yeah but!... That was the one you gave me…" Shuichi wilted, his eyes sad.

"Then I'll be sure to give one to you again." He smiled and put an arm around the boy. "Now let's go. I've already contacted the Archs and told them that everything is alright."

"You did?"

"Yes. Remember, us Archs can link telekinetically." He winked.

"Ah, right." Shuichi blinked up at his elder. 'Michael is so cool. No wonder Hiro wants to study under him.'

With that, and one last look at the stone where his crucifix had been, the two angels flew high up to the dimension rip towards home.

Aeroth's feet landed thoughtfully on the black, cracked ground of Hell along with two other pairs of feet. He made his way to a cliff overlooking a great expansion of Hell and focused his blood red eyes on the view before him. Cassius and Hideki were too afraid to say anything, just staring at their leader's back, clueless as ever.

But with stubbornness getting the better of him, Hideki puffed up his chest and said, "Aeroth. What was that all about? Demons don't run from a challenge and we just put our tail between our legs and left! That's not what the Aeroth I know would have done."

No response.

Cassius got up the courage to say something as well. "Yeah! I mean, you're the strongest demon in Hell next to Lord Satan himself! You could have taken that guy and the other angel at the same time if you wanted to! Why didn't you?"

There was a long eerie wind howling through the craggy rocks of the nearby canyon. The lackeys awaited an answer from their so-called fearless leader.

Aeroth opened his mouth slowly, was quiet for a second, and then spoke.

"Did you know that there exists a place worse than hell itself?"

"Huh?" The two demons were perplexed by the sudden change of subject.

"It's a place where no living thing can survive. Even demons fear it. The humans sent to Hell are put there if they decide they don't want to be turned. Too bad they don't know the fate awaiting them.

Cassius and Hideki got a sudden chill up their spine. "Aeroth… are you talking about… gulp… Calypso?"

The dark-haired demon smirked. "When I was sent to Hell by God himself, I was apart of that abyss. At the time, I didn't care. I wanted to be alone, to curse myself, to be away from the rest of the world. Everything I ever knew was dead to me." He had a far off look in his eyes, as if a painful memory had found it's way into his heart again.

They listened intently. It wasn't often that Aeroth share his life story with them.

"But someone saved me. Someone actually pulled me out of that black pit. Do you know who it was?"

"W-who?" The redheaded Cassius asked, mildly frightened.

"Why the devil himself, of course. Only he has the power to put people in or out of something so terrible and horrifying. After all, he's the one who created such a devastating place.

"He gave me a proposition. I become his right hand man, and I shall be spared from Calypso. How could I refuse? He would have put me right back in if I didn't accept his generous offer. It was the only act of… kindness, you could say, that I would ever see him perform."

The story was getting interesting.

"After that, he personally trained me into becoming one of the greatest warriors Hell has ever known. Later on I was called the Speed Demon for my quick reflexes and uncanny ability to fly faster than a Peregrine Falcon. I was unstoppable, and I always have been."

"True that!" Hideki yelled and Cassius agreed with a smirk.

"But…"

Uh oh, they thought. The "but"…

"… I didn't think I'd run into the very thing that put me into such a deep depression during my time in Calypso."

"Huh? "

"What's that boss?"

"…" Aeroth didn't speak anymore after that. Instead, he just smiled ominously, and flew off into the flaming horizon, leaving his two companions dazed and confused.

Elsewhere, the blonde demon, Eiri Yuki, was strolling through the forest still, enjoying the quiet evening by himself. He stopped in an area that had a moonbeam fluttering down through the trees and looked up at the silver globe above. His golden eyes mixed with he metallic colors and made them as bright as he sun. Both hands were tucked in his pockets.

Hanging out one of the pockets was a golden chain, a crucifix with a crimson stone attached at he end of it. It too, glittered like a small sun in the waning of the earth's moonlight.

A/N: HA HA! Yuki stole Shuichi's necklace XD But you know what that means, don't you? They shall meet again!! Hope this chapter was informative enough for you. Now you know that Aeroth and Michael had a past once. They're gonna be some major characters for this story, so you'll hear about them a lot. But for now, chou!