The four of the eight angels took a seat while the other four stood beside them. Upon closer inspection, Yuki noted the weapons that were at the side of the four angels that stood. They were most likely guards for the archangels.

‘Why would archangels need guards? Aren’t they the most powerful?’

“Welcome again,” the baritone angel greeted once more. “I apologize that only half of us can attend today. Many were busy as I’m sure you can understand. It has been quite some time since we have hosted guests.”

“I understand,” Yuki smiled. 

“Wonderful. Let me introduce myself and my colleagues here,” the angel said. “My name is Vin. This is Carol. Next to her is Gabriel and on my left is Laurel.”

Vin gestured towards each person he named. Carol was a rather buff female angel with jet black hair. Gabriel was tanned with dark brown hair. Laurel was almost as pale as the buildings outside.

“If I’m correct, you requested an audience from us?” Vin asked. “We’ve had word that your group would be arriving here from your friend there, though we did not have a time frame for your arrival so I do apologize for the lack of hospitality.”

“I found your hospitality quite plentiful,” Yuki replied. “There is no need to apologize. We are the ones that came here without any warning.”

“Thank you for your understanding. Now, how can we help you? What is it that you want to discuss?”

“Well, I’m going to be completely honest with you,” Yuki said. She stood up, meaning to go to the table to take a seat, but hesitated. “Um, can I?”

She gestured towards the table and Vin smiled. 

“If you like. We normally let guests sit at the couch over there because it’s more comfortable and we usually have everyone here, but they won’t mind if their seats are taken for a little bit.”

“Thank you.” Yuki took a seat directly in front of the man. “I’m here because I was advised to come here.”

“By who?”

Yuki’s mind raced as she weighed the consequences of her options. She needed to be as upfront with these angels as she possibly could. The problem that she found was that the person who told her was someone that was kicked out from angel society. That wouldn’t be the best person to reference to in Yuki’s first meeting with angel elites.

On the other hand, there wasn’t much else she could do. They wanted a name for who sent her and Yuki wanted to refrain from lying and limit the amount of truths she bent. All she could do was lessen the impact of her words.

“A man who you might be quite acquainted with. Most likely not in a good way,” Yuki replied. 

“For people of our position, the list of people like that is rather quite large,” Vin said. “Enlighten us.”

“The Fiddler.”

Vin’s expression tightened at the name. He leaned back into his chair and gave Yuki a long look.

“Why were you speaking with him?” he asked.

“It wasn’t quite by will,” Yuki said. “I was taken and brought into his Coliseum. It doesn’t exist anymore because I destroyed it along with him. But before I killed him, he told me to talk to you, the angels, about something.”

“I see.” Vin sighed. “Not in a good way is an understatement of the Fiddler and his relationship with us. Or rather, lack of relationship now. Do you know what happened to him?”

“I don’t. He never told me about that.”

“Then it’s my turn to enlighten you about some history,” Vin said. “Or rather, I’ll let Carol do that. This is more her area. Would you mind?”

“Gladly,” Carol smiled. “The Fiddler used to live here with the other angels. His name, we cannot speak of. It has been stricken from the books on his banishment. But before we can go into why he was banished, we need to dive a bit further back.”

As she talked, her hands waved and made gestures. She was quite animated as she told her story.

“Our city has always had its ups and downs. However, a little less than two hundred years ago, we were diving into one of our lowest points in history. It was caused by one man in particular. His name we can’t speak of either. If the Fiddler’s name was stricken, this man’s name was scorched.”

“What did he do?” Yuki asked.

“Archangels, much like myself and my colleagues here, were growing discontent with their positions,” Carol said. “This council used to hold quite different people. They ran most things in the city with the blessings of the people that lived within it. They had the most power of anyone here. Yet, they still wanted more. One man in particular was especially hungry.

“This man was a man who valued power and loved to be entertained. His love for entertainment was fueled by his twisted values. He believed that the strong should rule and that the weak only existed to serve the strong. It was only strengthened by his own power. The things he did with that power are things that should never be done.”

“What things?” Yuki said. 

“He ran an underground business at night. With his abilities, he would kidnap people and bring them with him where he uses them for what he called entertainment.”

The last word was said with such vehemence that Yuki moved her head back a bit.

“This entertainment wasn’t any theater or songs. No, this man enjoyed suffering and pain. He enjoyed watching others fight desperately against one another to survive another day. He enjoyed cries for mercy from people as they were tortured. And he defended all this with his twisted logic,” Carol growled. Vin placed a hand on her shoulder and gave Yuki an apologetic smile.

“Carol’s family was directly affected by this man,” he explained.

“Ah. I understand,” Yuki nodded.

“My apologies. I let my emotions get the best of me,” Carol said. “When his actions were discovered, some members of the Elites immediately wanted to punish him. However, his influence had dug deep and taken root in many members. When people began to bring up his actions, they began to be silenced. Slowly, the number of people that opposed him began to dwindle because of fear or support.”

“Not to be rude, but where does the Fiddler play into any of this?” Yuki asked.

“Fair question. The Fiddler was one of this man’s sources of entertainment. He was one of the first to be taken. While the city was dealing with the situation with the man, the Fiddler managed to escape and return. However, by the time he came back, the Elites were almost all under the man. The fact that no one would help him when the person who played with him for years was standing right before him thriving destroyed any remnants of who he was.”

“Then what did he do?”

“He rampaged. When he was finally subdued, a quarter of the Elites had been either killed or maimed. That was when he was stricken from the books and banished by the rest of the Elites,” Carol replied. “But his actions set off a chain reaction. He was just a normal angel, but was able to kill the powerful. It opened the eyes of many people who just lived in the city. They were aware of what was happening, but felt powerless to help fight it. With the Fiddler’s actions, they became emboldened. When the few archangels that remained independent from the man reached out to the citizens of the city, they answered back.”

“And here we are,” Yuki said.

“And here we are,” Carol repeated. “We lost many, but we regained control. Every archangel that went to the man’s side were removed from their positions. If they refused, they were killed or banished. Then we restructured our leadership to try and rebuild trust between us and the regular angels.”

“How about the Fiddler? As the spark for the revolt, wouldn’t it be right to rescind the banishment?” Yuki asked. 

“It would. But it’s impossible,” Vin replied. Yuki glanced over at him. “When someone is stricken from the books, all records of them are removed including their name. It’s not something that is done with a stroke of a pen. It’s done by magic.”

“Ah. And you can’t reverse that magic.”

“Precisely. So while we would do it, it’s simply impossible.”

“I see.”

“As much as he hates us now, it’s almost funny how he became a hero to the eyes of the angels,” Vin smiled. “His hatred of archangels had spilled over sadly though. It’s hard for us to lead when our every move is criticised. I guess it isn’t unfounded though.”

“What changes did you make?” Yuki asked. “Carol mentioned your restructured how you lead?”

“Yes. This group here changed from one of just archangels to a hybrid. The four that aren’t here today are normal angels. They’re the most busy of all of us since they are the ones that interact with the city the most.”

“I see. Thank you for explaining the situation with the Fiddler,” Yuki said. “It changes my view on him a bit.”

'Though. He became what he escaped from. People react in different ways though. I can see why he changed how he did.'

“It was our pleasure. Now, back to the subject of this audience. You were directed here by the Fiddler for a reason. What is that reason?”

Yuki looked back and locked eyes with Yuna. She pressed her lips together as she thought about her next move.

“This will be kept a secret, right?” Yuki asked, turning back to the four in front of her.

“If you want it to be.”

“I do want it to be.”

“Then nothing from this meeting shall be said outside,” Vin said. “I swear on it.”

“Thank you,” Yuki said. She gestured towards Yuna, motioning to her to stand up. Yuna followed with a small moment of hesitation and gave the four archangels a shy smile. “It’s about my friend here. The Fiddler said that she needed to see you.”