For any who did not read the books; There are spoilers. If you do not want those, don't read further. If you don't mind, keep going.

Here's a quick briefing on Elyon and Issa:

*Elyon was Akiva's right-hand man in a way. He was a Misbegotten (bastard child of the emperor.)

*Issa was the assistant to Brimstone, a resurrectionist of the Chimaera, and later assistant and close friend/a almost mothering figure to Karou, who takes over Brimstone's duty.

*They first met when the Chimaera army came to join the Misbegotten, here Elyon stared at Issa for a long moment with a positive expression. The, AKiva produced a way to counteract marks the Chimaera had on their hands that weakened the angels and allowed them to fight together. Elyon asked Issa to test the symbol that Akiva created to counteract the Chimaera Hamsas (Their anti-angel marks) and she put her hands ON HIS CHEST. Thus, my proof and reason for this pairing. Their relationship ends on-screen there. This story takes place a year after the war was won. Chapters will alternate between the two. :)

Now on with the story!

Wow, it had been a year already. A year since the war had ended. A year since the Chimaera race had slowly started to be rebuilt. And to celebrate it, they were having a party. Elyon stood off to the side of the gathering, amib a few other Seraph still not entirely at ease with the Chimaera not being their enemies. On the opposite side of the room, there stood a similar grouping, though this one was made up of Chimaera rather than Seraph. A few Elyon recognized, remnants of the White wolf's army who had been some of the loudest voices against the Seraph Misbegotten joining them along with a few new additions among the Resurrected.

Elyon shrugged to himself at that, deciding to let them have their opinions, as long as they didn't bother him about it. His gaze started to travel around the room then, noticing for the first time how odd the gathering looked. Chimaera and Seraph intermingled freely closest to the two who had hosted this whole event, The resurrectionist and Akiva, but the farther you got away from the two, the more divided the groups became. A few brave members would be moving between groups, but the Seraph warrior noticed that many were met with dirty and unwelcome eyes.

Akiva wouldn't like that.

All thoughts of Akiva vanished when he spotted her slithering between groups, a polite smile on her face. Her flared hood framed her artfully crafted face, thick black hair falling down her shoulders. A living shawl of serpents twined about her chest, hiding her nakedness from prying eyes. Her serpentine half swayed to and fro with the grace of a dancer as she mingled so effectively with the Seraph and Chimaera too shy to start conversation on their own.

"Ugh, to think that we must mingle with filthy beasts such as these," One of the Seraph next to him muttered to a neighbor, by chance following Elyon's gaze to the serpent woman. "They are so indecent. That one dresses like some common whore," He continued. The only outward reply to the man's words was a twitch of the muscle above his eye.

"You should speak more politely of a friend of the Resurrectionist," Elyon said in a low voice. The man who had spoken turned around, his neighbor's mouth open mid-reply. Elyon lifted his eyes to meet there's, and pulled at the gloves covering his hands, showing a small portion of the marks that crossed up and down them. The men paled as they recognized him for a Misbegotten, and then as one of Akiva's most trusted soldiers.

"Our apologies, sir. We didn't realize," The one who had yet to speak said, trying to placate the Seraph, though he showed little sign of actually being angry.

"It is not me who you insulted," Elyon said before pushing himself away from the wall he leaned on and starting towards the Naja woman. The men behind him said something else, but their words were swallowed up by the sounds of the party soon enough.

A song started as he neared the woman, a slow traditional Chimaera dance meant for partners. The Chimaera who knew it around him started to find pair up, a few taking Seraphs to dance with, murmuring how to do the steps and leading them through the opening sequence.

The angel was forced to slow and weave his way around various dancing couples, and quickly lost sight of the elegant serpent. His head started to slowly turn, eyes trying to pick out the scaled hide with a hunter's patience. 'Why are you so eager to find her, Elyon?' He asked himself as he looked. 'Her beauty? She's a Chimaera. Her gentle bering? She has poisonous snakes as clothing? How soft her hands are?' He had no rebuke for that.

"Would you care to dance, good sir?" A voice from his elbow said suddenly, breaking up his thoughts. The man turned to behold his quarry, who had brought herself higher up on her serpentine form to come closer to his height. He put up a polite smile and offered out his hands, saying in a rough but polite tone, "It would be my pleasure, Milady."

"Do you know the steps? And please, Issa will do," Issa answered, her words sounding as if she didn't remember him. Her eyes spoke a different story.

"I do not, Issa. Would you teach me?' He replied, her hand sliding into his and guiding them to her waist where skin turned to scales. His skin shivered a bit at the odd feeling, a bit of unwilled revulsion mixed with it, a feeling that was quickly buried.

"Then, I will lead, Elyon?" Issa asked, forming his name as a question, continuing the game of being strangers.

'I am pleased you remember me, Issa," Elyon replied, smiling gently now as the woman began to lead him through the steps, her lack of legs not impeding her grace in the slightest. They started to spin around in a slow circle broken up by a few steps forward or backward.

"How could I forget, Brave Soldier?" The snake woman asked, smiling softly. "Can you believe that it's already been a year since this all ended? To think that Seraph and Chimaera can be at peace enough to dance together," She continued, looking around and picking out a few other Seraph-Chimaera couples with her eyes.

Elyon nodded and opened him mouth to reply, but a sudden loud rasp of steel stopped him. His head whipped around in time to see a deer-aspect Chimaera thrust a blade into the side of an angel embracing a Chimaera lover, worlds unintelligible from this distance snarling out of his throat.

"No, I can't," Elyon said before he launched himself to the Chimaera, gloves burning off his hands as fire started to grow in his hands.

That was when a body crashed in front of him and pain sliced deep into his side, taking his breath away.