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Confound it all! Of all the missions to arrive late for, why did it have to be this one? 

He knew he shouldn't blame himself too harshly. His delay wasn't [i]entirely[/i] his fault. He would have been there much earlier if he hadn't had to get his uniform changed at the last moment; the first iteration of his disguise had about a quarter of the fabric he had on now. He knew that Eros was more licentious than the Chief God, but honestly, he had seen demons who wore more than some of those Houri. By the time he got his hands on a uniform he was actually comfortable wearing in public, he was utterly behind schedule. Although to say he was "comfortable" in his Eros uniform would be an exaggeration. Oh, it fit like a glove - those Houri were master tailors when they set their minds to it, which is why it boggled him so much that they wore so little - and the fabric was as heavenly as its creators, but there was just something about it that didn't feel right. It was like wearing a friend's jacket: it didn't matter how nice it was when he knew that it didn't belong to him.

Unfortunately, it was a necessary change. If these monsters found out that he was working for the Chief God... well, he didn't want to think about it. Bad things would happen. Besides, there were more important things at stake here than his fashion sense. He was an agent of Heaven, infiltrating the first group of monsters to come to Shizuyama in over a millenium - he had to think about the bigger picture.

Of all the assignments Cambiel had ever undertaken, this one had to be the strangest. On paper, the job was deceptively simple: infiltrate the group, find out what their goals are, then quietly leave. Even an amateur could do it. But experience had taught Cambiel that the jobs that seemed the simplest often turned out to be the most complicated of all. These missions could start out with a farmer asking where his chicken's eggs have disappeared to and end with him foiling a ploy by the regional Sabbath cult decades in the making. It didn't do to assume that just because a job seemed simple that automatically meant it was easy. Case in point: Lady Kyouko. That woman was a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. What was her goal here? Why would she care if two anti-monster factions were fighting one another? None of the potential answers seemed to fit. This wasn't an invasion, there were too few of them. It wasn't a colonisation mission, they hadn't been given those orders. It wasn't even something as petty as a raid. It almost seemed like she actually cared about the humans of Shizuyama.

Better not to think like that. The Mother Superior didn't like anyone to think of monsters as individuals. Sympathy for the devil inevitably lead to siding with the devil, as she often said.

There. Far below, he could make out the sails of the ship. That was his cue to dive. Some of the other angels had been challenging each other, seeing how quickly they could dive, and how low they could get to the ground before pulling up. The faster you went and the lower you got, the better flier you were. The Mother Superior had banned it after Aisha crippled a wing, but from what Cambiel had seen, that just made it more popular. No going for diving records today, though. Not when there was a mission to complete, and certainly not when the only help available was at the hands of a monster. Florence Nightingale Syndrome would be a humiliating way to end his career. Just take it slow, enjoy the sights and the warmth of the sun, and make sure his feet touched the ground safely.

By the time he could be seen from the ground with clarity, Cambiel had pulled out of his diving position and was gently floating down feet-first. No doubt the monsters could see him now, and they were probably suspicious of him. Normally at this time, the other angels would say something like "be not afraid!". But looking at all these monsters, Cambiel felt his heart seize up. He did not want to draw any more attention to himself than necessary.

[colour=gold]"Lady Kyouko! I'm so sorry I'm late!"[/colour] As soon as his feet touched the floor, the boy bowed towards the Inari. [colour=gold]"There was trouble in Heaven, but I'm here now, and I'm ready to serve!"[/colour] Not technically a lie...