Enzeru Zenki
Angel Above
A girl sat on a balcony, staring up at the stars, her eyes blank and distant. Her hair whipped her face, and the moonlight made her skin look even paler than it really was. A tear trickled down her face, rolling across her cheek and landing on her white satin dress. She whispered a prayer, and ran back inside the castle doors.
"Reina, please, you must practice!
Reina grumbled and reluctantly took the harp out of her advisor's hands.
"That's it. You want to impress your parents don't you?"
Reina started to play, grimacing under her gaze. Reina, age 15, was the lordships daughter, arranged to be married with another lordship's son. Unfortunately for her, he was quite the drag.
"I may want my mother and father's praise, but I'd rather eat dirt than impress that windbag of a prince."
Nanako, her advisor, sighed and shook her head. Reina moved her fingers gracefully over the harp, playing her notes perfectly.
"I can play the harp fine, let me go."
She stood up, testing Nanako to deny her. She hesitated, and finally released her. Reina smirked and headed to her dinner hall to meet her mother. Her mother spotted her, and the smile on her face faded.
"You're not wearing the gown I told you to put on…"
Reina scoffed, "It's not that big of a tragedy if I'm not wearing that disgusting piece of fabric."
Majesty Chinatsu rolled her eyes.
"If you want to dress like that, go onto the balcony. I don't want my lovely daughter wearing…those rags, at the table."
Reina clenched her teeth and stomped off to her room. She scowled at the world below her. The clouds encircled her home, making the ground beyond misty and white.
If only I could live as they do…
Reina glanced around, and, hoisting herself on to the balcony ledge, popped her wings out and flew down past the clouds. She caught a glimpse of the world below, and sunk her wings back in. Landing on the ground, she headed to the woods, in search of something constructive to do. She found fruit at the top of a tall tree, and climbed up its trunk. She ate gleefully; glad to be out of the castle's grasp. Tossing the remains of her snack away, decided it was high time she head back. Unfortunately, she was a little too late. Her advisor glided down, a scowl of anger on her face.
"What do you think your doing? You better be happy your mother doesn't know your whereabouts!"
She clasped Reina's hand and directed her back to the safety of her room. With a heavy heart, Reina slumped onto her bed.
"Your mentor wants you. He thinks you're ready for a "search of power"…"
Reina cocked her head. She nodded and headed down to the sparring dome, where Daiki was waiting.
"You have almost completed your training. It's time you went for the search for greatness. You'll have to go down to the human world and look for the object that will give you a…"reward", for lack of better terms. I've hidden it somewhere down there."
Reina smiled widely. Another chance with the mortals!
"But remember the rules of going down there…"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. No fighting, no ears and tail, and no falling in love with mortals."
Daiki nodded and shooed her off on her way. Reina skipped again to her balcony and drifted to the ground.
"Time to find that reward..."
She headed through the forest again. Her pendant glowed bright, and she held it up.
It must be a guide...
She swung it in all directions, and noticed it faded and brightened with the direction she turned it to. She walked for a long time, her feet becoming tired and sore. Just as she was about to give up, her pendant quivered and the light shone brighter. It pulled her the base of a tree, and stopped glowing. She cautiously unsheathed her claws and dug. After a while of digging, she found a sapphire jewel within the tree roots. She grinned.
I know exactly where to put it
She took the collar of her dress and revealed a dent in her chest. She placed the sapphire inside the dent, and stood up. Suddenly, she started to glow gold, her hair swishing in the air. She hovered over the ground slightly, and then everything stopped. Her staff flew out of her hands and spun, fast and hard, creating a force field around it. Soon it stopped, and Reina gasped in amazement. It now was gold, with a round, blue crystal on top, surrounded with smaller, lighter jewels. Reina smiled happily, spread her wings, and took off. What she didn't know was she had been watched.
Arriving at home, her mother gave her a warm hug. She rolled the staff in her hands and admired it with joyous eyes.
"You look more mature now."
Reina raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I thought I was already mature…"
Chinatsu laughed, "Of course, what I meant was you look different. Your hair…and I think you've grown…"
Reina cocked her head in puzzlement and ran to her room. She looked in her vanity mirror and was surprised to see that she was different. Her hair was now black with red streaks, and her eyes of a more distinct color of amber. She was taller, about a foot more, and her skin had a tan to it. She ran down to Daiki, and bombarded him with questions.
"Yes, all this is supposed to happen. It's the new you. Did you try your new skills yet?"
Reina slowly shook her head. "Skills?"
Daiki laughed, "Guess not. You can use magic through your hands. And you're probably a better fighter now. Try putting two fingers to your mouth and blowing."
Reina raised her fingers in doubt. She started to blow furiously.
"No, no, blow more slowly….not too slow, moderate, I should say."
Reina blew again. She closed her eyes, and soon she saw flames shoot out from behind her fingers. Daiki smirked in impressment.
"Wonderful. Now, try to shoot with elements from the palms of your hands. "
Reina looked at your hands, and took a deep breath. Suddenly, a whole bunch of different elements glowed in her hands.
"How do I control which element I want?"
"You'll get the hang of it. It comes naturally. You gotta practice." Daiki smiled, nodded to her and left her in the dome. She stared at her hands for a while, wondering how she was going to figure out how to control her powers. She started to fling her hands around, watching different elements appear from her hands. She noticed that with every direction she waved, the elements changed, and became either stronger or weaker. She soon learned how to overcome her magic, and ran to tell Daiki. But she couldn't find him, and decided to go back to the mortals.
Back in her favorite place among the trees, she began to use her powers in the shelter of the woods. She burned trees, and brought life to other plants. Suddenly, she heard a twig break and froze. A bush rustled and she followed the sound of footsteps. She caught a glimpse of a boy running into the trees. She flew up and went ahead.
"Please, stop. I come in complete peace."
The boy looked taken aback, and signaled to Reina that he was headed the other way.
"Please, tell me your name. I am Reina, daughter of…"
Reina stopped in her tracks. I forgot, I can't tell him I'm from the clouds…
"Daughter of…uh, Mina, yeah, I'm a foreign-exchange student. I'm just uh, getting to know this place…"
The boy raised an eyebrow, and relaxed.
"I'm Kyoko…do you know what school you're attending?"
Reina shook her head.
"I have an idea, but I'm not quite sure."
Kyoko nodded, "I can take you to my school, see if it's the one…"
Reina smiled and followed Kyoko to his school; Kyouka Suku-Ringu.
"Here we are. Classes start in 5 minutes, so we'd better hurry. I'll show you our classroom."
Reina again followed Kyoko to a small room, with not many students sitting in the seats. There were a few seats empty, and Kyoko sat himself down in one of them. He told her to wait for the teacher outside the classroom. Soon, the teacher appeared and stared down on Reina.
"I had no recollection that we were getting another student…well, I'll sit you down and you can make yourself comfortable here."
She walked Reina into the class, and made her stand beside her desk.
"This is Reina. She is a…foreign-exchange student. She'll be attending here for a while. She speaks good English, so I assume we won't have any trouble understanding her. You may sit by Kyoko, the boy over there on the far side."
Reina nodded, and walked slowly over to the desk. She smiled at Kyoko, and took out her books. As the teacher rambled on, Kyoko turned to her.
"So, how many schools have you been through?"
Reina shrugged, "I don't know, like 2? I don't really remember. But I have good English, so I think this is my last stop."
Kyoko nodded and turned back his attention to the front of the class. The teacher was writing on the board, and Kyoko started copying it down in a notebook he had in his lap. Reina did the same, but she didn't write it. She memorized it, and converted it onto her page with her mind. She decided she wasn't going to do all that writing, when she wasn't really going to need it. Soon the bell rang for the ending of the period. Kyoko explained that they had two separate splits, and then 3 periods in each. Since she had come later in the day, they had only one last period to finish. Reina was quite glad that she had missed some, and went with Kyoko back to the woods for their break. They sat on a log, and chatted for a bit.
"How much did you see?"
Kyoto put his hands on the log. "Of what?"
"Of me. You know, when you were watcing me."
Kyoto shrugged, "Most of it I guess. When you were digging. That's when I first saw you. And then you came back, and then you were burning stuff…how'd you do it anyway? I mean, I can't even do that…"
Reina cocked her head and narrowed her eyes.
"What do you mean by that? Aren't you mortal too?"
Kyoto froze. "Yeah I'm mortal, but I can do things others can't…and you are the same…why, you're not mortal?"
Reina sighed. "As long as you don't tell anyone, no, I'm not mortal. I'm an angel warrior. I'm actually from the clouds, I'm not a foreign-exchange student. What can you do?"
Kyoto took a deep breath, "I'm a bit of a demon…but almost no one knows of it…it's weird, I'm telling a complete stranger, when I won't even tell my best friend about it…"
Reina cocked her head. "Well, don't worry about it. I'm a demon too, but no one's SUPPOSED to know about it. But since you're the same, then I won't be abided by the rules."
She gave him a smile and they headed back to the school grounds. The bell rang, and they ran inside.
"Ok class, grab a partner! We're gonna do some group work. Once partnered up, grab the sheets on my desk and get started."
Kyoto nodded at Reina and they went up and got the papers. The other class mates stared as they worked together. Another girl glared at her. Reina turned and whispered in Kyoto's ear.
"Why is that girl glaring at me? And why is everyone else staring?"
Kyoto shook his head, "The girl in the pony-tail asked me out a while ago, and I rejected her. And people are staring cause' I'm working with you…they probably think we're together."
Reina cocked her head, shrugged and returned to the sheet. They soon finished and were dismissed. They walked through the woods, following the dirt trail through the trees.
"This is the way to your house? I have to go back in the clouds soon."
Kyoto glanced at her, "You can come hang at my house for a while…if you want, I mean."
Reina raised her eyebrows, and took the offer. They walked some more, and soon Reina spotted a small cottage at the end of the woods. It smelled of cinnamon and maple. Kyoto introduced her to his mother, and went into a room in the cellar. It had a couch, stacks of books, candles and shelves of trinkets.
"You can go ahead and look around, I'm gonna go get us a snack…"
Reina nodded and started ruffling through the shelves. She found CDs, statues, jewelry only a guy would wear, and pictures of" interesting" people, for the lack of better terms. Kyoto came back with a tray of fruit, with juice on the side.
"So, what do you think? Interesting, hey?"
Reina nodded her head slowly, and Kyoto laughed.
"Yeah I know, it is a little weird, but that's how I am…"emo" as others call me…I have a small group of friends…"
Reina smiled, "Then it must be an honor that I'm one of them."
Kyoto smirked. Reina heard her advisor trying to contact her.
"Uh, I'll be right back…I uh, gotta go to the bathroom…"
Kyoto waved a hand, and she ran to it.
"What do you want? I'm having fun!"
A hologram of Nanako showed up in front of her.
"We never said you could stay down there, you get back here this instant!"
Reina crossed her arms.
"I don't think so. I like it down here…unless you want me to give uo my wings, you better not push me."
Nanako scrunched her nose.
"You are the little sneak. Fine, but reamember the rules.."
"Yeah, I got it, now go before they think I'm a sycho!"
Nanako scoffed and the hologram disappeared. She headed back to the cellar room. On the way there, she thought of a very sneaky plan to get away with staying with the mortals.
Back in the cellar, Kyoto and Reina sat down on the couch, and she devised her plan with Kyoto.
"And then we don't have to go to school…just tell your mother we're…going to find something for me…like, a relative, or something. Come on, what do ya' say?"
Kyoto stared at the floor for a long time before answering.
"It would be pretty fun, you know, doing nothing. I guess we could…"
Reina jumped for joy. "Thank you! Now I can have all the fun I want."