Creatures roamed the land of what they called their Mother, who nurtured and pampered them from the beginning of their time to the current. They formed groups, cults to survive against others, their pact strong as they stood by those they were superior with. Some dominated the lands, other the sky, the sea, and the ground. But some empires became too big, the territory they shared in harmony with the others and Mother disrupted as they forced their way into other territory, other domains. Differences clashed against each other, their disagreement for the want for power strong as they stood by the fine line between peace and destruction. They were one step away from the downfall.

The chance of meeting a powerful opponent terrified two specific empires, their need for power still uncontrollable as they seeked a way for security. That's when they began their many campaigns, sending off their citizens to seek out the help and support of others, for what may come to the future. Most of the groups that were questioned about the treaty were weary, none of them too fond of others disrupting their stable system that they shared only with their species of citizens. But they were reassured, told that everything would stay the same, maybe become even better, stronger if they could see eye to eye. They were told that if anything happened to them, the empire will do everything to help those that wished for assistance while they hoped to expect the same with them. From the crushing boundaries and the pressure from those around as well as the very few bribes of power and money, many gave in, their citizens hoping for the best in this change.

The two dominating kingdoms that constantly clashed with each other were different in many ways. One reached for the sky as they preached for purity, and lived the sophisticated life of hierarchy as they obeyed those that were above them without questioning. The other lived in the pits of the ground, their wealth unmatchable as they enjoyed the idea of justice, for equality amongst those in the kingdom. One was bleached to the brightest white, the halos above their head shining with both superiority and warmth, along with their wings that loved to stretch it's beautifully white feathers while the other was drenched in black, their teeth sharpened at the point as they watched those around them with their piercing eyes, their tail flickering in unison with their emotions as their wings were leathery black with horns on their head that curled from old age.

The two were known enemies, their wishes to get what the other has strong as they built up their plan for success, power and land. Everyone knew to never oppose those that lived in the kingdom above, that were chosen by the almighty God and those in the ground, a kingdom reigned by Satan, for what lengths they may go, was unpredictable.

They came to the angel without any warning, almost out of thin air. He was farming, the harvest just as great as the year before. His fingers were sore, calluses on his palms that were slightly tan along with the red of a sun burn. The only part of his body that was spared by the warm rays of the sun was his face, that was covered by a straw hat that was wearing down from overuse.

"The council wishes for you to travel to the lower world to form a treaty with those we have yet to join forces with. We will send you a form about the village that you will be sent to along with all the other supplies you will be needing on your journey. Please be ready by dawn tomorrow for your departure and we will notify the gatekeepers to open the gate as well as notifying the agricultural council of your absence. Thank you for your time and I hope your journey is successful. May we thank the ones above us."

This was all too sudden for the angel, his first reaction being nothing less than a few stutters of confusion as he watched the informer fly away, through the invisible barrier that separated the society of those who lived in the empire of the sky. He soon recovered, still confused on what happened in the span of less than a minute as he finished picking all of the oranges before hurrying over to the farm apartment, home to many of the others that worked in the fields.

He was finally going to be able to help his empire, and that excited him. Immortality had its ups but that was unless you had an interesting job that you wouldn't mind working for the rest of time. He was finally going to do something more productive that would actually help the land he is proud to grow up in, proud to be of assistance for God.

His departure the next day was a success, the angel finally seeing the beauty of the tall golden gates that he had heard so much of, the gate covered in intricate designs that must have took a lifetime to finish as it seemed to sparkle wherever you were standing. To the side of the gate were walls, going on for eternity in both ways. After he introduced himself to the gate keepers covered in armor, the gate was opened, the weight of the gate causing a bit of noise as they opened it wide enough for the angel to squeeze through.

He walked for a bit, the white ground starting to feel softer and bumpier until he stopped. He was at the edge of the clouds, right above the vast land that extended everywhere. He took in a deep breath, admiring the sight he had never seen during the hundreds of years of his lifetime, this being the first time. The emerald eyes continue to gaze at the new territories before he tightly gripped onto the bag around his shoulders, his eyes closed as he jumped off into the unknown.

He had never felt so freer.

The demon's story was a bit different. He was hanging out with his friends, just like any other normal day after work. It was until he received a sudden call, a government official on the the side asking whether if he was willing to do something for the government, to help out the empire. The demon immediately agreed. He met up with him later at an office, their conversation quickly turning to business as they discussed the reason behind the sudden call.

"As you know, tensions is always high between us and." The man pointed a finger up at the sky before rolling his eyes slightly. The demon nodded. "But we have noticed a sudden increase in their landing on the surface recently, and we can start to assume that they are planning to start taking major actions soon."

The demon continued nodding his head, his black hair flying in his vision as he waited for the man in the suit to continue. "Because of that we are also sending out more of our men to try and get treaties settled with those people who have yet to form an alliance. So, we essentially have a shortage in people right now so we were wondering if you would be willing to step up to the surface." The man said as he fitted his hands together, watching the demon curiously for an answer as he leaned back in the swivel chair. "Of course this is completely your option and we won't take it to heart if you turn us down-"

"No!" the demon suddenly said, almost jumping out of his chair before he noticed what he was doing, seating himself back comfortably in the chair. The man in the swivel chair watched him, his emotion unreadable from years of working in a tough atmosphere. "I mean, yes! I'll definitely do it! You have my word sir!"

The man leaned forward, his arm extended out the two shook hands, a silent promise that the demon was never to back out of.

The files came soon after, one after another, signature after signature, all of them agreeing to the same thing. Some time had passed when they finally finished, the demon laying the probably expensive fountain pen onto the table gently.

"Well, since you've already done this before once, I going to guess you already know the drills." the demon nodded his head which felt like the umph-millionth time.

"Please tell me again Jones, which group did you successfully convince?"

"The Cyclops sir," the demon quickly replied, straightening his back a bit. The man looked back down at a piece a paper, skimming over the words that had been inked out perfectly, thanks to their advancement in technology compared to the others in the world.

"Ah yes, the Cyclops. The insanely strong yet, not the brightest beings on the planet. You would think the opposite with how big their heads are. I'm guessing you convinced them easily into the agreement, seeing that it only took you 4 days total, counting the days of travel for the way up and down." The man lowered the paper and leaned forward onto his arms that were half laying on the desk, looking at the demon.

"Well, I guess you could say that…" the demon mumbled a bit before he dryly chuckled. The man's blood red eyes peaked from the sunglasses, staring into the demon. "I heard they loved competition so I challenged their strongest one to a match in our strengths. If he won, I would leave their group alone; If I win, we gain a new alliance. And, I think you can guess what happened in the end."

The man nodded slightly before he reached his hand out to a pile of paper, pulling the one on the top onto the desk. He then turned and pushed it forward toward the demon who leaned forward.

"This is the village you will be traveling too. It's about a days trip north from the portal 52." The demon pulled the paper from the desk, holding it delicately in his hands as he leaned on his arms that were balanced on his legs.

"As you can see, we have no pictures of the village. All we know is that it's somewhere deep in the forest of Mansi. We can't seem to find anything no matter how many times we fly over it and the journey in the forest itself is dangerous, anyway to those that have failed to complete the task." The demon hummed in agreement.

"Alfred," the man suddenly said. The demon looked up, a bit petrified on the spot when their gaze connected. "This town is rather special. We don't know what it has in stores but all we know that it holds maybe one of the strongest beings out there. A few hundred years ago there was fire at the same time not really. A phoenix died there." The demon's eyes narrowed, his mind confused. "Ever since then we have been keeping tab about that forest, and what we discovered was some interesting stuff such as high magic use. We have sent many, many people on this mission to get their alliance, but all of them came back with no success." The man leaned back in the chair as he crossed his legs, not breaking the gaze for a single moment.

"This isn't going to be easy Jones. But know that this whole nation is counting on your success. This could mean a change in power if you know what I mean," he said, chuckling a bit as he looked down at his shoes.

"Yes, I understand sir," the demon said, still a bit confused. He wanted to ask many questioned, starting with the obvious. "But why are they sending me to do this?"

The demon watched as the man swiveled around, looking at the white walls that were becoming yellow in some areas before standing up, straightening his outfit. "I don't know Jones. I really don't know."

The demon nodded for the last time as he pushed himself up from his seat, pushing his glasses back into place while holding onto the information sheet as the man watched him. "All the items that you will be needing will be waiting for you outside. Remember, don't forget your uniform." The demon saluted to the man, smiling a tiny bit before he exited out the door, taking the bag that a man was holding out for him.

"Thank you," the demon mumbled as he watched the man turn around and walk away, before he too started to make his way back to his apartment, to pack up for this journey.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

It had all been fun in the beginning, but now it was terrifying to the angel. He had an immense amount of fun, finally being able to fly around so freely whenever he pleased. Everything was new to him. Plants he had never seen were scattered everywhere, trees reaching heights he never imagined they could grow up too. This ended up delaying his journey a few days. Throughout the final day he flew for a bit before he came upon a forest, his map that he received from the council telling him to land and walk, for a reason the angel didn't understand. Only a few minutes after stepping into the area of over grown organism, his surrounding became dark because of the lack of sunlight that reached the forest floor.

The angel had been walking for a while, using some of his magic to create a source of light for where he was going. At first he continued to walk forward, shoving the map into his cloth satchel for it had no more directions. It was until he heard some rustling movements, the angel jumping back a bit as his light disappeared. He stayed still for a while, trying to hear sounds of what may be spying on him, before he turned toward a random direction and ran.

He didn't stop running. Multiple times he almost fell to the ground because of either a tree root or rock or something the angel didn't take note of for how much he was panicking. He kept running until an unknown pain sprouted from his side, his breaths coming out short. He leaned against a tree for support as he breathed, trying to calm himself down at the same time trying to be quiet. A sudden hoot echoed through the forest a bit, before the rustling of the trees and the flaps of wings and the snapping of a twig and the sound of a small growl and the crunching of leaves and the howl of a great beast echoed throughout the forest. A shiver reverberated through the angel before ducking down, curling up into a slight ball as his wings were compacted tight, making him seem like a lifeless item as he wished to return back to home, fear pulsing inside of him. He kept his eyes shut as he waited for the worst.

Then something came. Twigs cracking under its weights as it continued moving, a slight whoosh sound being made from something as a whistle echoed through the silent forest. The angel's eyes shot open.

It doesn't take much for someone to know something was off. The only thing that would whistle was a bird or an intelligent being, and there should be no birds awake at such a time. The angel shoved his hands into the bush, pushing it silently as he peaked out at where the whistling was coming from, dimming his halo down as much as he could so it wouldn't give away his place. He gazed toward the source as he kept his breath held in, staring at it with slight disbelief and a tint of anger.

Walking was a man, a thick brown jacket over the uniform he wore along with a backpack. His hands were shoved into the pocket of his pants as he walked, walking in a nonchalant manner as he continued to whistle. But the angel didn't care about that. He was looking at the swinging tail that curled a bit every few seconds along with the black leathery wings that peaked out from under the backpack a bit, moving a tiny bit to feel comfortable.

The angel felt infuriated. How dare one of them go to the town he was assigned to form an alliance, how dare they! He was finally going to do something, and he was going to complete it no matter what. He reached down to his cloth satchel, rummaging his hand a bit before he found the item he was looking for, gripping onto the handle as he prepared for what going to happen next, for there was no way he was going to allow his chance of success to be ruined. His heart accelerated in a pace he had not felt in a while, the adrenaline pumping throughout his system.

The forest was dark; leaves, twigs, and dead plants as well as some weeds was scattered all over the forest floor. Some of the moon light had found its way to the bottom, thin silvery strands spotting the ground, creating a mysterious atmosphere. The few croaks of toads and frogs were heard from a nearby water source, along with some crickets that played for the others, small sound continuing to spread throughout the forest until a mans pace became a run, the blade of the knife he held illuminating for a second when it hit the moon's light.

The two of them crashed to the ground with a thump, the demon silent in surprise as the angel was silent in anger, the knife inches away from piercing the demon's uniform as the demon's hands forcefully held it back from actually happening. The angel tried pushing a bit more, only for the demon to push the angel off of him, the angel stumbling back and bit as he tried to regain his posture in a sitting position. The demon jumped up from the ground before he ran, hiding behind a tree as he tried to quietly take off his backpack, searching for something that he could use as defense as he threw his glasses in there. It didn't take long for him to find his knife, the blade just as dark as the night itself. He cursed under his breath a bit, swearing that it would have been nice if they told him about someone from the aboves were also here to get the town. The grip around the knife tightened a bit as his eyes narrowed, all of his senses sharpened as he awaited for his opponents next turn.

A sudden sound of crushing leaves warned the demon about the approach, swiftly turning around to face the inedible. With quick thinking the demon flicked his tail, wrapping it around the lower part of the knife to pull it out of the surprised angel's hand. Even as the angel watched the knife being pulled out of his hands, his momentum didn't stop, crashing in the demon again, his wings flapping madly in panic. From the sudden attack, the demon flailed his arms a bit in an unknown movement, until he felt something drip onto him, the angel breath hitching before releasing a pant with pain as he scurried off of the demon. The demon sat up, swiping his fingers over his wet clothes to bring it up to his nose for a sniff, before he wiped it on the ground, the smell of iron still remaining in his nose.

As the demon regained his stance the angel held onto his left wing, watching the white turn red even though the forest lacked light. He bit down on his lip from the pain, drawing some more unnecessary blood before he dashed to the side, searching for the knife blindly. His hand came upon something cold and sharp, gripping onto it tightly as he peeked up to find the demon.

Right when the demon regained his balance again something pierced into his side, a groan escaping the demon mouth as he spun his head to see the angel, pushing, shoving the blade even deeper into his side. The demon's tail whipped from panic, the sharp end cutting the angel's cheek as he stared down at the blood that was soaking through the demon's clothes before being forcefully pushed away, landing against a tree.

A sudden pain erupted from the angel's arm as he looked down, a black knife embedded deep in his skin, the blood trickling down in an immense speed as he looked up at the demon, his teeth clenched down hard as his eyes screamed anger. The demon was slouching forward a bit, panting as the hand that threw the knife was lowered onto the knife in his hip, pulling it out in one swift agonizing yank before he yelped and dropped the knife, his fingers sizzling a bit from the pain of touching such a holy item. He looked up, his eyebrows furrowed down as he was surging with anger, the unsettling feeling to crush something to the max.

The angel was the first one to move, running away as he glanced down at his arm, the knife still there. He leaned against a new tree as he tugged it out in several pulls, grinding his teeth together in pain as he finally got it out, throwing it to the ground so he could cover the wound that was spilling out the bright red liquid. He winced a bit when he pulled his hand away from the wound, his stomach churning as he had never seen so much blood in his lifetime.

A sudden movement caught the angel's eye, moving his face just in time to dodge a fist that pounded against the tree, the wood cracking as the sound spread throughout the forest, the tree breaking in half. The angel looked up with fear, swallowing the access spit and blood that had accumulated in his mouth. All he saw was the jet black color of the demon's hair along with the tan white horns that curled down at the end, and the man's red eyes that reflected the moonlight. His tightly shut mouth opened up to form a demonic smile, wide enough for the angel to see the sharp points of their canine as he felt an uncomfortable shiver run through his spine. His face is so close, the angel noted as the demon breathed, goosebumps forming wherever his warm moist breath touched. He closed his eyes tightly, only to hear the steady breathing of the demon and the erratic breathing of his heart as he held his breath in.

"Ready to leave God?"

The angel didn't know what he did after he heard those words. Hearing his superior's name being called aggravated him, the thought that someone so low could say such a sacred name, and before he knew it used up a fair amount of his magic in an offensive attack, his magic now running low. Before he could receive anything else from the demon he ran, tucking his wings as much as he could to not risk the chance of getting them hurt anymore.

The demon stared down at the ground, watching some more blood drip as he quickly glance at his side. He had thankfully dodged the powerful attack, but the same could not have been said for his wings that now had several holes that got singed off. He then kicked the remaining part of the tree that was still standing, it joining the rest of its parts as it fell to the ground. The demon yelled in vexation and rage, his deep voice rippling through the forest ground as it awakened many things.

The angel ran for a bit, his pace quickening when he heard the yelling of the demon. The only time he stopped was when he fortunately came across his bag and knife, passing for a moment to pick the two up before continuing. He soon made it to a clearing, the only thing there being tall grass as he ran through it, trying to flap his wings to escape, only to cause more pain from the deep cut. Suddenly, he was tackled, wrestling against a powerful force as they rolled around for a bit, flattening out the soft grass that was now covered in red.

They struggled against each other for a while. The angel got one last slice on the demon's collarbone before the knife was wacked out of his hand, the demon biting down onto the angel's wrist with his powerful jaw. The angel yelled with pain before he kicked his legs, a lucky one hitting the demon right in between his legs as the angel pushed himself away from the demon and quickly crawled toward the knife. Right when the angel picked it up he threw it, the demon quickly catching it with his hand, the knife cutting into his skin as he clenched down on it, an audible sizzling noise being created from the touch of two opposite forces. He then finally released it, the angel gaze locking on the knife as he stared at its new crushed shape until he was tackled down again.

The fight lasted for a while after that. The demon's tail creating shallow but painful cuts all over the angel's skin as he gave him some punches, only one actually hitting him. They were both tired, losing a lot of blood as they kept rolling around for dominance and power until the angel finally straddled the other down, the demon's hands reaching up to grasp tightly onto the angel's neck, his nails digging into the side. The angel winced from the pain of having his windpipe crushed, barely enough breath escaping his mouth to incarnate a spell, a small but sudden light forming on the angel's hand before the ray of light was stabbed forcefully in the demon's chest. He yelled in pain as his grip around the angel loosened, enough for the angel to struggle free, slowly crawling away backwards as he watched the demon sit up. The demon looked down at the light that blinded his eyes that were used to the black of night as he pulled it out, yelling once again. The angel bit his lip in irritation before he started summoning more spells.

"Dammit why won't you die!?" The angel yelled in a frustrated tone as he sent a round of more rays at the sitting the demon. He was able to dodge most, but two found it's way into his stomach and shoulder, more agonizing yells of pain echoing through the field from the impact before he stood up, forcing the other back to the ground, the angel not having any more stored magic to summon more spells.

"Same can be said to-, you!" the demon said, the words barely making it out of his mouth as he clenched down on his teeth from the immense amount of pain his body was going through. His hands found their way back to the angel throat, this time his thumbs pressing on the center of the angel's throat as the angel's hands gripped onto the demon's hand, trying with his fragile strength to move the demon's hands off of him.

"Cause I'm - bloody immortal you… fucking fool… !" The angel barely said, little to no air making it to his lungs until suddenly, the grip around his throat loosened. The angel then began coughing for air, his hand holding onto his neck as he felt all of the cuts and bruises that had formed, his eyes teary as he looked up at the starry sky before the demon.

"What-?" He coughed out as he continued to stare at the demon, that was pushing himself up. "You're going to bloody run away now? Serves you cowards rights," He said as before he spat at the ground, his spit mostly blood. The demon flapped his wings a bit to stretch them out, wincing a bit as he continued to walk away back to the forest. The angel continued to yell insults as he pushed himself up, only to fall back onto the ground when he felt a painful pang in his ankle, the torment rapidly flowing through him. He lied down on his stomach as his breathing finally regulated, everywhere aching in pain he punched the ground, the bloody from his cuts seeping everywhere.

When the demon finally made it back into the forest, he leaned against the closest tree, huffing to stabilize his body as his vision became a bit distorted. What was the point of a physical battle when both people were immortal? If only he had know, he wouldn't have spent so much time and energy doing something so useless. He cursed a bit, annoyed in his lack of knowledge and the lack of warning he received from his higher aboves. The demon coughed a bit, the flavor of blood spreading in his mouth as he too spit some of the blood down at the ground. He sighed as he began limping deeper into the forest in hopes of finding his bag, and maybe finding the village before the measly angel did, his uniform soaked with blood as some dripped to the ground. After a few minutes of limping and leaning on every tree he could get to he looked down at the ground, his legs giving in as he fell with a thump. His eyes slowly closed, betraying his will to continue going on as the last thing he saw was green.

OOOOOOOO

The light was rather blinding to the angel, his eyelids scrunching up before he cautiously opened one eye. He tried to move his left arm to cover his eyes, only to hiss when he felt pain erupting from his shoulder. He used his other hand to push himself up a bit, the light sheet that was over him pooling to his lap, the tunic that he usually wore wrapped only on his hips. As he moved he tried stretching his wings out, one hitting the wall while the other retracted back with more pain. He breathed steadily, trying to keep himself from yelping in pain as he felt his whole body ache, feeling thoroughly bruised. He was covered in bandages, some stitches and gauze wrapped all around his body while he stunk of ointment.

When he finally felt more comfortable, he looked around at his surroundings. He was in a wooden room, which anyone would have been able to guess. The room was mediocre sized, a large window on two of the walls, the sunlight shining strongly as it brightened the room. Right under one of the windows across from the bed the angel was another bed, a man sleeping peacefully his hair and wings stood out strongly from the difference in color.

At first he didn't believe his eyes, rubbing them a bit, hoping that he was just seeing illusions. But after a tough rub it was proven to be real. The man moved a bit, turning his body so his face was toward the angel, groaning as he scrunched up his eyebrows before relaxing, a light snore escaping his lips. There in front of the angel, still alive, was the person that he had tried killing so many times before. The suddenness of events caused a turmoil in the angel's mind, going through options through options on what to do. He ended up summoning another small light spear, creating only a tiny bit a light before he flicked his finger, the spear aiming right for the throat for what the angel hoped would be the last time.

But before it could even get halfway across the room it was stopped, the fine green strands of the vine twisting it tightly as it's momentum came to a stop. The angel turned his head to the side, the overgrown fridges of his bangs flying into his vision slightly as he stared at what was standing right at the door.

It was an old woman, the shawl on her shoulders tied tightly over a clean button up shirt that had light green stripes going vertically. She wore a forest green skirt that came down to her ankles, a stained apron wrapped around her waist as she held onto a white box. The brown, graying locks of her hair was pulled up into a tight bun that was held by what seemed like nothing, revealing a green earring that was at the top of her ear. Her face was stern, her eyes narrowed onto the angel, some wrinkles forming on her forehead. The angel stared at her, surprised that someone was there.

"Lay down, lad," she commanded as she watched the vines still holding onto the light spear slither down to the ground, disappearing from the angel's sight.

"Ma'am, I don't think you understand what is going on. I need to kill this man." The angel pointed at the demon, ignoring the pain. "No ones killing anybody in this house," she replied back, her voice not faltering a bit as she continued to look at the angel's eyes.

"I'm sorry but I'm going to whether you agree or-"

Suddenly, something wrapped around the angel, his body being tied together tightly as his mouth was covered by a thick vine. When everything stopped moving, the angel had almost been cocooned by vines, the only thing that was spared was the halo that floated precisely above his head.

"Cannot believe I couldn't fucking detect you imbeciles last night," the woman cursed under her mouth as she stomped toward the angel who stared up at her with a bit of horror, his words muffled as he waited for what would happen next. A few vines detached itself from the angel, enough for the woman to reached out and pull the bloody bandages around his wing but not enough for him to escape. The cool tingled the cuts that were opened to the fresh air, instinctively flapping the wing as pain spiked everywhere. A vine came out, wrapping around the tip of his wings, stopping the movement as the woman opened the white box up, her hand dipping into a bottle as she scooped up a clear substance, smearing it all over the cut. the angel moaned a bit, the ointment soothing the cut as the pain started to diminish a bit, the wing relaxing as the woman finished up by wrapping a clear bloodless gauze, finishing it with a small bow.

This process continued; the vines unwinding in some areas for the woman to smear some more of the amazing ointment before they were bandaged up again. When it came to the stab in the shoulder, the woman peeled off the bandages slowly, trying her best to cause minimal pain for the angel. The skin was red and yellow, a bit swollen as most of the skin was covered by dried up blood along with some fresh beads of blood that began to form. The woman grabbed a wet towel softly stroking it across the surface before she pressed a bit more harder, the dried up chunks coming off.

"I already disinfected the rest of your cuts but it seems like I'm going to have to do it again for this cut. Be prepared, it's not going to be great," she warned as she bent over to pull out a bottle, popping open the small cap, holding the towel right under the cut as she poured the clear liquid.

To the angel, he had never felt so much pain in his life. It felt like he was burning, from the outside in as he unconsciously bit down into the vine, thankful that his loud yells were muffled. It felt like it lasted a lifetime, his vision distorting a bit before he was able to take normal breathes again. By the time he looked back at the woman, she was already bandaging the gauze back up.

All of a sudden something stirred from the other side of the room, both of them looking up at the other bed. The demon was pushing himself up a bit as he groaned, showing his also nude upper body as he rubbed his eyes, yawning before groaning again, this time louder. The angel began moving, numerous muffled noises escaping from his mouth as he stared at the woman, his face telling her what he was thinking. The woman just stared back in disbelief with a tint of annoyance before sighing, looking down at the edge of the bed.

the demon opened his eyes, squinting a bit as everything was a bit blurry because of the lack of glasses. He turned his head to see where he was, making sure not to move anything else so he could avoid as much pain as possible. But even though he didn't have the best eyesight, he instantly recognized what was across the room from.

Just as quickly as before, vines sprouted from somewhere in the room, twisting itself around the demon as his words were also suppressed by a thick vine, the blue in his eyes quickly changing to deep red as he struggled against both the pain and the vines. The woman sighed again as she straightened her back, ignoring the demon's yells as she looked down at the angel.

"There's a house that's about a minutes worth of walking from here. I need you to go there and ask for these items," she said as she pulled a paper out of her pocket, throwing it at the angel. "And don't even think about trying to kill him. He's immortal, just like you." All of a sudden the angel stopped, no noise coming out of his mouth as he stared at her with widened eyes.

Nobody told him they were immortal.

The vines that were wrapped around him began to pull away, the angel finally relaxing his body as he slumped a bit forward. As he panted a bit something caught his eye, looking up to see a pair of crutches being handed to him. He looked up at her confused.

"You twisted your ankle pretty badly," she said before he shoved the crutches closer to him. The angel finally reached out and took the crutches, holding onto the metallic item as he slowly swung his feet over the edge of the bed. His feet peeked out from the sheets, his right ankle swollen and all red as he winced a bit. He tried twisting it, the pain shooting up from his leg before relaxing it. The angel looked up, the woman taking out more gauze and bandages for the demon as he continued to struggle, at times stopping for a bit because of the overwhelming pain before resuming. The woman turned around, her skirt swaying as she sneered at him. "Hurry up and get out of here."

the angel silently agreed to her demand, gently pushing himself up after he shoved the crutches under his arm. He then held in a breath, hoping for a smooth glide as he pushed himself forward, quickly dropping the left crutch as he leaned onto the other, panting in hopes of regulating the pain that spread throughout his shoulder. After the pain dissolved, this time he tried moving again, using the crutch as a substitute legs as he leaned against it, wobbling out the door. He twisted to the side so his wings could fit through the doorway, a sudden warm gust of wind coming down as he looked at the outside.

In front of him was a field, the tall green grass swaying underneath the cloudless sky as it stretched on for forever on one side as the other was cut off by the thick forest. He turned his head to the right, watching the field as he saw houses, the dirt pathway he was standing on leading down to the row of cottage houses. They were small, the red of the bricks covered in plants climbing up to the top. Most of the houses had smoke steaming out from the chimney, a hint of spices mixed in with the air that caused the angel's stomach to rumble, the smell nothing like he smelt before.

"Close the door will you? I don't want the whole town to hear him. Plus, an infection is something I really don't want to deal with," the woman sternly said, her face distorted in a annoyed frown, something the angel knew without even looking. He reached behind himself, slowly closing the door before it clicked, the last thing he heard being the muffled cries of the demon.

It took a while and a lot of effort. In the beginning it was uncomfortable, his movements stiff as he tried to move quickly and efficiently. He moved onto the grass, the sandy dirt path a bit too harsh on his feet, finding the soft tufts of the over grown grass soothing. During the time he hopped to the nearest house, he stretched his wings slowly, cautious about his left wing as the right flapped a bit in joy. His arm hurt by the time he made it to the door of the house.

Opening up his left palm he looked at the slightly crumpled paper, words that the angel could not comprehend written in a fancy neat writing that was rushed at the end, an ink splots in the corner that was smeared. He held onto the door handle, pushing the door as he slowly looked inside.

A bell chinned, startling the angel a bit as he looked up at it before quickly turning his head back down to look around. The house was a mess, stuff hanging from both the ceiling and the wall, the floor covered in stuff. It seemed like entering a new world, everything creative crammed into the space of one room.

All of a sudden the sound of a gun being clicked echoed through the room, the already quiet room seeming to have gotten quieter. The angel gulped as he slowly twisted his head to the side, sweating trickling down his face as he stared at the blackness of the barrel right next to his face.

"What are you doing here?" A voice questioned, deep in irritation and despise. The angel opened his mouth a bit, trying to say something that would save him. Despite knowing the fact that he won't die, he still feared of idea of allowing a man to use this weapon he had never seen in his life.

"I said what are you doing here!" He asked again, trying to suppress the anger that was already spilling out of his mouth.

"I've been sent by that lady in the house over there to get the items on his list!" the angel quickly said, the words just babbling out of his mouth as he ignored the pain and raised his arm holding the list to the man, his eyes shut tightly as he awaited his fate.

Nothing happened. A ticking was heard to the angel, time going on by the seconds as he waited for something to happen. Then, the man suddenly took the paper from the angel's hand, unwrinkling it as he read what was written, the gun being lowered. As the man was distracted the angel cracked his eye open, watching cautiously as he opened his eyes more for a better look, reeling his arm back.

If the angel was to use one word to describe this man it would be, peculiar. The man wore a normal tan colored shirt, the top part tied a bit by string as on his hips hung a huge belt over the black pants that went down to his feet. Over everything was a red coat, hanging on his shoulders as the sleeves laid limp, armless. And lastly his hat, a black hat that spread out in all directions, the tip curving a bit from its weight, covering most of the long golden locks the man had. Everything he was wearing was new to the angel. But what the angel couldn't stop staring at was the item the man held in his hand, the cylinder shining with metal as there was a lever at the back, the man's finger laying gently on the trigger, ready to fire whenever he was ready.

"That little bitch," the man tisked, stomping around all of the items on the floor as he went over to the counter, carelessly throwing the gun onto the table. He then went to the wall, shelves filled with billions of pots and jars as he took a small bag, throwing random pre-bagged stuff. Lastly he went to the other side of the room where there were tons of plants growing on the wall, throwing in some leaves from plants before folding the bag unevenly and throwing it to the angel, who almost dropped it.

"The woman got her things now leave!" The angel looked up, the man furiously standing by the wall as he awaited the angel to do what he commanded. Without debating the angel turned around, moving as quickly as he could out of the still open door before it sharply shut behind him. He turned around, confused and a bit annoyed on what just happened.

How dare he show such low disrespect for someone like me. Even though the angel wasn't highly rank in the empire of the sky, he still believed that the people on mother should be pleased to be able to meet an angel for once in their life. His confusion turned sour as he ranted in his mind, not noticing that he was already back at the woman's house until his feet felt the small pebbles of the pathway. Looking up he noticed another house on the left, bigger with it's second floor building, smoke also came out from the chimney as the sunlight hit it on the side. The color of the golden rays and the tan wood walls of the building gave off a warm feeling and the lights filtered through the windows covered in shards of different colors, coloring the grass. He has never seen anything so….so what? The angel puzzled in his mind, wondering what he thought about the building. The word he was looking was no where to be found in his brain. A bit disappointed and once again confused, the angel wobbled himself over to the one roomed house he came out of, and right when he leaned forward to reach for the handle, the door was opened by the woman.

"Good, you're finally here," she said as she went around the door. The angel shifted over a bit to look over the woman, to look over at the demon as he saw him laying on the bed.

When he turned his face back down at the woman, he fidgeted slightly, surprised that the woman was staring at him the whole time. Her brown eyes narrowed as she watched the emerald eyed boy look back at her, his eyes widened a bit. The wind blew, the angel's overgrown bangs swaying a bit in his eyesight, the boy biting back his lip in the slightest bit as he twiddled his thumbs, looking for something to distract himself as he felt uncomfortable. Then she turned away, some strands of her tight bun finding their way out as they gently fell.

"Come with me" The angel spun his head to the side, watching the woman walk around the small house until her figure disappeared from the angel's sight. The angel wobbled over, turning the corner to see a three wooden chairs, a small wooden table in the middle that had a wooden pole through the middles, the fabric at the top folded down. The woman sat down in one of the seats, putting the bag and her white box onto the table as she gently opened both of them up

"Hurry over and sit down," she said, her back toward the angel as he slowly advanced toward her. "Sit here," she commanded, her wrinkling fingers tapping the chair right next to her, her eyes not looking up from the items laying on her lap. The angel stretched his wings a bit before he prepared to lower himself, gently in the beginning before he fell harshly in the chair, the thump reverberating throughout his body.

"Put your foot on my lap." The angel looked up, the woman now grinding a few ingredients in a mortar. The angel raised his left foot up to her lap only for her to wasp it away. "The other one you fool."

A few moments after the angel was able to raise his foot up to the woman's lap as she scooped up a good handful of the green goo that she had created, smothering it on the swollen red ankle. The angel let out a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding back, watching the woman with interest. He didn't understand her. She had been rather crude with her remarks as well as forceful yet, she was doing so much for not only him but tragically for the demon as well. He was confused.

"Don't talk," the woman suddenly said while her head was still down. The angel shut his mouth. He looked up, scrunching his eyes up a bit from the sunlight as he looked at the field, the world goldening. It was, quite beautiful. For some reason he couldn't get over how the village looked, how the whole world looked. It may have also been the fact that he didn't get to see the sunset that often, his curfew being when he was done with the fields. His room consisted of no windows, just a springy bed with a blanket and a desk in the corner that had only a small row of books that wore down from being over read. But there was one time he remembered, half of the harvesting team sick with a new disease, everyone who was safe from the disease having to work over time. The angel didn't complain but was exhausted, only to be rewarded by the beauty of the sky turning from blue to orange, pink, yellow, purple, then to the pitch black sprinkled with tiny dots of light he soon learned were stars. After that he longed for another moment of being able to see the beauty that occurred everyday.

"What do you want." The angel looked down from the sky, his sight a bit distorted from looking at one thing for too long. The woman was leaning back in her chair, looking down at her arm that had a long cut, the bloody slowly oozing out as she grabbed a towel to dab it. "Where am I?"

"And what if I told you, what would you do?" The woman said as she took a roll of gauze, wrapping it around her arm. "Then I would ask if you have aligned with anyone."

The woman stopped in mid wrapping, lowering both of her hands as she looked up at the angel. The wrinkles on her forehead became prominent, her mouth a straight line as he eyes were filled with discontent. She stayed staring at the angel, not moving a single bit. The angel leaned back, not liking the attention he was receiving suddenly as he hoped that it would stop anytime soon.

Then she looked down at her arm again, wrapping the last of the cut where some blood was beading out. She tied it, mumbling some incoherent words as she looked back up.

"You must be hungry. I hope you like corn soup." The angel looked over to see the woman standing up from the seat, brushing off the imaginary dust from her apron. But before anything else happened, a crash echoed from the small one-roomed house, accompanied by a groan of discomfort and swears. The woman sighed as she pressed a hand onto her face, not happy with the way everything was playing out, expecting him to have been unconscious for a little longer. But being immortal had its perks.

"You go wait in the room. I'll bring some food over for the two of you." She turned around to see a disgusted the angel, his body immobile. "Oh, just grow up and get in there." The angel stayed put. "Then I guess you won't be getting any food." The angel's head shot up, his mouth half open for a protest until he ducked his head back down, mumbling something along the lines of a unhappy agreement. The woman sighed again before she grabbed onto her white box and mortar, walking steadily over to her two floored house, the wind causing some more hair to loosen up from the her bun.

The angel pushed himself up, taking as much time as he could as he kept dreading for the moment he was to enter that room. He would have stayed outside and avoided going into the house, but his stomach growled otherwise. He made it to the light wooden door, his hand inches away from the door handle. He held in his breath as her turned it, slowly pushing the door as he peaked from his spot. Sprawled all over the door was the demon, his attempts to push himself up close to nothing as he stayed put, the blanket wrapped around his waist and lower half. His hole speckled black wings flapped a bit when he heard the door opening before folding back, his tail swaying side to side before it stiffened. After a second it swayed again, this time its motion more cautious. The demon pushed his head up, squinting for his gaze to become clearer before they changed to red, the corner of his mouth forming into a snarl, showing off the pointed canines. The angel just stared down, his head tilted up in a supercilious manner, his thick brows furrowing as he pushed the door open even more.

The moment the woman walked through the door, she kept her head down, placing the white box and mortar onto the counter as she walked over to the stove, the yellow soup bubbling. She took out a spoon, mixing the already complete soup as her mouth formed a line.

"What are they doing here?" A voice said at the table, the man leaning back into his chair as he looked at his nails out of boredom, the other one playing with his long golden hair. The woman kept staring down at the soup. "I said, what are they doing here!"

"Francis, calm down," the woman said, her brown eyes glancing over to him while she kept facing the pot. "Don't you dare tell me to calm down!" He yelled, harshly bringing his hand down to the table as he stood up, his breath coming out short as he glared over at the woman, his eyes icy blue. The woman looked back down at the soup.

"I didn't sense them." Francis reeled his arm back, his brows still furrowed. "The only reason I was able to spot them was from how much noises they were making." They stayed silent for a few moments, Francis trying to understand what was going on.

"You're becoming old aren't you?" The woman raised her head up to looked at Francis, her eyes serious and annoyed at the stupid joke he just made. "But that can't be...you've spotted every single being that's tried to get to the village, even me no matter how much I try to conceal myself up with magic." The woman nodded her head in agreement. "Then does that mean…" the woman nodded her head some more.

"That can't be!" Francis suddenly screeched out. "How, how can you and the forest accept them! All they want is military support for when they destroy mother for their own selfish benefits and, and-!"

"Francis." The man stopped, the hands that were placed by the side of his face being lowered slowly to his sides. "I know you hate both of their civilizations but, I trust the forest and my brother honestly a lot more than my knowledge. And what if I told you they knew nothing." Francis looked over at the woman. "Nothing?"

The woman then looked over, the brown and blue eyes meeting each others gaze. "Absolutely nothing."

Francis then sunk back into the chair, the red jacket wrapped around his shoulders almost falling off before he reached over and pulled it higher. He let out a breath, more like a sigh as he reached up and pressed the black hat onto his head before taking an item from his pocket. "Here's your months worth of medicine. Don't forget to pay," he said as the threw it into the table and got up, walking over to the doorway, the sound of his boots making contact to the wooden floor echoing through the silent room. "And if they do anything Mansi, it's all your fault." The woman spun around to look at Francis, his usually smooth tight skin seeming to have loosed up, the smallest wrinkles forming. "Is business slow?" Francis looked up at the door, staring at nothing in general as he said, "no, quite the opposite really. The stress is just overbearing."

And he left, the woman at the stove stirring the corn soup as she stared out at the outside world that was mostly black. A few stars appeared in the night sky, most of them covered by the clouds that glided across, mostly covering the moon as the long grass swayed. She stayed there in silence, until she began to sense something that was masked under by the stress, anger, and fear that Francis emitted. She sighed, cursing at herself at the same time questioning why she was taking care of the idiots as vines came out to pull out some bowls before placing it down onto the counter. She then scooped up some soup and poured it into the bowl, filling them up as much as possible as she put them on a tray and grabbed the white box. The vines opened the door for her as she walked through it, walking steadily as she tried her best to keep the soup from spilling as she kicked open the door where the angel and the demon were stuck together.

There, on the ground were the two of them, caught up in the mess of sheets that were now becoming red. Blood was splattered on the wall, some of it dripping down as the side of the angel's face that was caked with blood, half of his blond hair darkening. The demon face was swelling a bit, the skin by his eye purpling as some blood trickled out of his mouth, his black hair sticking up everywhere. The two resumed to their fight, the angel on top while the demon struggled underneath. The woman sighed before pointing at the two with her chin, vines coming around to pull them to the opposite side of the room like the beginning of the day. They both struggled until the woman walked over to the center of the room.

"Why can't you fucking idiots can't just stop and not fight for some measly five minutes!" she snarled as she raised a hand up, smacking the demon head which tossed to the side a bit, his face tinted red. The angel laughed, his mocking voice resounding the room as he saw the demon being put into place. The woman then turned around and also gave the angel a good smack in the head, shushing him for the moment as the demon also started to laugh.

"Hey! What was that for!" He asked, offended and embarrassed before he was smacked in the head again. "Because you keep fighting and keep getting yourself hurt. Even if you fucking fools are immortal and heal quicker than a normal being, it doesn't mean you can just keep wounding yourself like that!" The demon kept on laughing as he also got another smack, finally quieting down.

"Ugh, what have the two of you done to each other," she said as she sighed into her hands, her muscles feeling two times heavier than usual as she straightened her back, opening up the white box again. She then began treating them.

The two of them were bleeding from almost everywhere; the angel had a long diagonal cut down his chest, a cut on his head as well as a minor concussion, the shoulder wound having been opened up. Thankfully his wings were spared along with his ankle that still looked sore but was almost back to normal. The demon had ended up opening all 3 major stabs in his chest, stomach, and hip as well as the long cut in his hand that was dark purple, red, and yellow, having to be disinfected again. His wings were fortunately, almost fully healed.

The two felt a bit guilty. Not for the pain and wounds they caused for the other, oh they didn't feel a tiny bit bad about that. But that this woman was using both her time and energy to help the two of them. They felt bad that they kept making her worry over a problem she wasn't a part of, whether she expressed it openly or not. But there were so many unanswered questions still.

After she finished with the two of them she handed the soup over, telling them to drink up before it got cold. The vines released them and disappeared, some pain erupting in both of them as they moved. They took the bowl and slowly ate.

It was a painfully quiet ten minutes. The demon and angel would keep staring at the other, when their gaze locked they would glare before they turned their head to the side. The woman had gone around with a wet towel as she cleaned the walls, and replaced all of the blood soaked sheets with crisp new ones while she continued to mumble curses. The demon was the first one to say something.

"Where am I granny?" The woman spun around, the wrinkles even more prominent as she gave him an irritated expression. "It's not granny it's Mansi." The demon shoved another spoonful of soup slowly into his mouth, wincing as the name striked familiar to him. "So where are we?"

The angel too looked up, curious to find out about the answer. The woman pulled out a stool, sitting down onto it as she sighed, relaxing her muscles for what seemed like the first time during the whole day.

"This village really has no name. It's just a village that is deep in the forest no one dares to go into." The two stared at the woman; the spoon bobbing from the demon's mouth while the angel lowered his into the soup for some more. "And," she stopped for a moment, closing her eyes as she inhaled calmly, her fists clenched.

"We have not aligned with anyone." The angel and the demon's gaze met for a second, the determination burning in both of them as they looked back at the woman. "And who's the leader then?" The angel questioned while he looked over at the side for his bag, which he soon found and grabbed. The woman looked down at her hands, twiddling with them before she looked up. "I am."

The angel and the demon didn't know if they were lucky or unlucky. They were lucky that the first person they had an encounter with was the leader, but both of them showed a rather pathetic side to her. They had no idea if they had an advantage or a disadvantage.

Without a second wasted the angel furiously looked in his satchel for a parchment that he had been handed to at the gate, something he had been told to read when he found the leader. "I've already read it angel so don't even bother." The angel stopped and looked up at the woman who took off the elastic that was holding her hair. The the silver streaked hair came down to her shoulders, curling at the ends a bit as she itched the side of her head.

"I can't believe you fools have been tricking people with all of those fancy flowery words. No wonder your civilization is so far behind compared to others. But then I guess those words do reassure people into thinking that they are safe." She nodded a bit before she looked up at the angel. "But there is no way I would be able to agree to something filled with so many lies and deceit."

The angel stared up at her dumbstruck. Flowery? Fancy? Filled with lies and deceit? He hadn't expected to hear any of those words when this was something someone powerful in his empire wrote. All of a sudden the demon laughed, the man stopping a bit to calm the pain he had created when moving as he held onto his chest. "I guess you angels are nothing better than just words that conceal all of your horrible mistakes! But that does fit an angel in the end! Stupid and obedient, not living up their life to do what they want. You guys are all just brainless drones serving the ones higher than you for their own benefit!" The angel's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, not sure what to say back, only to sneer back in response.

"Enough." The woman said, annoyed as she looked over at the demon. "Your civilization isn't any better! Convincing people for a life that they never get at the end. Honestly, I would be ashamed to be either of you guys right now!"

"What!" The angel and the demon said in unison, both of their anger fixated on the woman. She just sat on the stool, her arms crossed.

"And that's what I'm here to talk about." The angel and the demon blinked for a second, bemused on what was going on. "I'm here to make you a deal."

The room was silent for a while, two who were still a bit insulted debating on what to do while the woman stayed put. "Fine," the angel said, the demon nodding his head slightly in agreement, not enough for the angel to see.

"This village is different. I have no idea what your superiors have told you but this village is just plain different. And for us to agree upon which side to join, you must convince every single one of us." The two were confused. Why would they need to ask everyone when it would be much easier if they got the leader to agree with the allegiance.

"Here, were not just a cult of a species, not a tribe of species, hell, were not even all the same species." She began to ramble, her hand combing through her hair. "And technically I'm not even the leader of this village, I just protect it." The demon suddenly straightened his back, words mumbling out of his mouth as he finished gulping down the soup he was drinking. "Mansi! That's, that's the forest's name!"

The woman nodded solemnly as she looked down at her calloused wrinkly fingers. "I'm a part of the forest, in a way, the essence. My brother protects it from intruders. How you guys got past him and I are beyond me."

The two stared at her. Neither had heard of a group of people living together being, different. Everything the demon had heard about of the upper world was that everyone stayed within their normal group, never straying from it. Yet, this was new.

"A year." The two snapped back to reality as they listened to her. "I'll give you two a year to convince everyone which side to join. During that time you will work among us, bleed among us, and live among us. You will become one of us." The angel and demon made eye contact with the woman, her hardened gaze causing a shiver to run down the both of them. A year was a long time to spend to convince someone. The had heard of someone staying at a village for 6 months and still failed to get an alliance. He thought that the longer you stayed somewhere, the less chance you had. But then again, this village was worth so much more.

"Fine," the demon said, sighing a bit as he rubbed his jet black hair, looking down at his lap. "I'll do it."

"M-me to!" The angel said with a bit too much force, surprising the woman. He then glanced over at the demon, his eyes narrowed. He wasn't going to let the man win so quickly, there was no way he was going to go down without a fight.

"Wonderful." The woman clasped her hands together as she looked rather pleased with how everything was going. "But first things first, no physical fighting. If I find out that you guys fought, you are instantly sent out of the forest."

The angel and the demon looked at each other for a second before they turned back to look at the woman. "Fine," they both said, the words tinged with sarcasm.

The woman then pushed herself from the stool and walked to the center of the room, smiling a bit as she looked at the confused two. "Now shake hands" The two hesitated at first, eyeing each other with disgust as they stared at the woman. It wasn't until she smacked both of their heads again, telling them to grow up as she yanked their arms to the center, letting them do the rest. The two looked at their hands touch before they looked up at each other, both of them expecting to see determination, when really they saw uneasiness for the future. They quickly shook their hands, pulling away with disgust.

To the woman they were two peas in a pod, both of them blinded by what was really justice and equivalence, hoping that a year would be long enough for them to discover how truly, everything they believed in was the wrong.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

The first two days were painful for the woman. Later on that night, after she went to bed she woke up to the sound of two forces crashing onto the floor. Quickly pushing herself out of bed, she rushed out the door in her pajamas, opening up an umbrella to shield herself from the downfall. She opened the door to find the side of the demon's head covered in the small light spears and a whole bunch of the angel's feather scattered throughout the floor, having been plucked out.

"What happened!" She yelled, the two scrambling off of each other unlike the fight they had before. Both pointed at each other. "He started it!"

The woman was done with all of this nonsense. They had only said one sentence yet she was too annoyed and tired to continue on with something so useless.

"Apologize to each other." The two stared up at her with disbelief, quickly glancing at each other.

"No way!" The angel first said, the demon later saying something similar. She smacked the two and demanded for an apology once again. They both shook their heads in refusal. A sigh escaped the woman's lips, her breath dripping with annoyance.

"Then stay out in the rain until you are able to apologize to each other," She said, pushing the door open as the other was raised to lead the way. The two gulped before they looked at the woman, hoping for another solutions. "Come on," she said, glancing over at the rain before back at the two. "Unless you two are going to apologize."

The angel pushed himself up first, holding his head up high as he walked toward the doorway. He looked at the woman once again, before turning forward and walking, right under the rain. The demon followed after, giving the woman a sneer and a glare of detest as he forced himself out into the rain.

"You two can sit against the wall until you are ready to apologize to one another!" The demon slumped into the ground, his body flinching a bit as he felt the water soaking in his clothes. The angel was standing, leaning against the wet wooden walls of the one roomed house. And with that she stomped back into the house, hoping that this would be the last time.

It didn't take long for either to get soaked, their hair patted down as the angel inspected his wing.

They stayed there in silence. To pass the time the demon began plucking the light rays that were stuck in his head, quickly dropping them to the ground before they burned his fingers as the angel stared at the forest which he could barely see because of how dark it was, trying his best to entertain himself. The angel had never felt so frustrated so much in his life. He wasn't positive what the feeling was, but it came from deep within him, the want to flip something and cry, which he thought was rather ungentleman like. He bit down on his lips, quickly loosening the bite when his lip started to throb with pain.

"Why did you even start this?" The demon asked annoyed. "Now I'm stuck in the rain for something I never did."

The angel whipped his head around to look a the demon. "Something you never did? This is all your fault to begin with," He spat out.

"What do you mean by that?" Replied the demon, emphasizing the word 'that'.

"If your you wing didn't stop poking me then none of this would have been a problem!" He vexed out. "Plus, your snoring was loud." The demon just continued to stare up at him with disbelief, the thought 'are you fucking kidding me' written in bold letters across his face. The angel looked down, his brows furrowing when he saw the demon's expression.

"What? It's not my fault that you demons are inconsiderate and can't take into consideration that there are other people in the world other than you."

"Us? Not being able to take into consideration! Are you kidding me?" The demon questioned in an angry tone. "I'm sorry that your species is so blind to understand that there are people actually better than you guys."

"Someone more worthy than us? Than God? That man is amazing and there is no one, and there never will be anyone that is better than him!" The demon stood up, his face inching toward the angel.

"Can you guys get anymore selfish? That man has done absolutely nothing for you except keeping you caged up, literally like pigeons!"

"That man gave me everything and I owe that man everything. Because of him I was able to live and because of him I have a place to stay with food. And that is why I'm going to get an alliance with the village no matter what!"

"Well you go ahead and try. But no one would want to agree to a lifestyle that you rotten people have, and that God you say that is oh so amazing, well he's nothing more than a manipulative man that controls your whole empire as pawns. You guys are nothing more than-"

Before he could finish the angel tackled him, the two rolling onto the wet grass as they fought again. But before a lot of damage could be made, the two were separated by the extremely aggravated woman as she cocooned the two with vines and hung them from a tree upside down.

"Let us go hag!" The angel yelled, still upset at the demon and wanting to fight him. The woman smacked both of their heads before stomping off back inside. The two were silent again, both of them trying to struggle free so they could fight each other. But their reason for struggling changed after a while, the tight wrap the vines had around their bodies uncomfortable especially for their wings as water fell down their face in a weird way, some getting into their nose.

"This is all your fault." The angel said, his voice monotone.

"Nuh-ah" the demon replied, shaking his head as much as he could in the restraints.

"yes it is"

"nope" Something fell to the ground, the demon groaning a bit as he mumbled a bit sarcastically, "Noooo, my dog tags."

"Just admit it"

"Why should I?"

"Cause none of this would have happened if it weren't for you"

"But I'm completely innocent"

"Innocent my bloody arse" There was a silent pause.

"Wait, what did you say? A-rrr-se?" The demon asked, genuinely curious until it hit him. "Is that supposed to mean ass?!"

"What?" The angel questioned. "What's wrong with arse?" The demon began laughing, his loud voice echoing a bit.

"That's such a frickin' strange way of saying...ass!" The angel's face heated up for a moment, his cheeks dusted with red as he clenched down his teeth slightly.

"Th-there's nothing strange about that!" He yelled, trying to get the demon to stop, only for him to continue. "Everyone talks like that up above!"

"Arse!" The demon kept saying in between laughs, saying it in a mockingly horrible British voice as the embarrassment of the angel was changing to anger.

"Belt up! I least I don't have a horrible accent like you!" That didn't stop him. The angel ended up ignoring him, looking at the upside down world, the clouds done raining as the demon's laugh suddenly came to a stop.

"You finally done now?" The angel questioned annoyed, turning over to look at the demon, only to stop when he saw the man.

"I think I'm gonna throw up…" He mumbled, quickly closing his mouth. After hanging upside down for about an hour or two all his blood had rushed to his head along with the food he had. He felt sick, ready to barf at any moment as the angel began frantically moving around, hoping to get away from the demon whose face was turning purple.

"Ew, oh please don't! Just- Granny!?" He yelled, hoping to get the woman attention even if she was inside a building. "Granny get out here! The bloody demon is going to throw up!"

It took a few more shouts, words one should never say to someone being used as he lured her out, the woman stomping out of the house furious.

"What the fuck do you guys want you little turd - holy shit!" She said after she noticed the state the demon was in. "Why didn't you call me out earlier!"

"I did but it seems like you're becoming deaf," the angel spat out, the woman glaring at him before turning her attention back at the demon.

"But, I can't let you to down until you guys agree to not fight anymore. I've already given you too many chances and I can't let this continue on!" The two looked at her.

"Are you kidding me! Is this really the most appropriate time to do this?" The angel questioned. The woman didn't budge.

"Well? What do you say?" The two stared at her for a bit more until the demon looked over to the side, releasing a groaned muffled by his closed mouth, warning the two of what was going to be coming soon.

"Fine, fine! I agree! Now untie me!" The angel said, the demon nodding his head for he didn't want to risk the chance of opening his mouth.

Suddenly, the vines unraveled itself from the demon and angel, the two crashing onto the ground with an umph. The demon picked himself up and crawled to lean against the tree as he threw up. The woman and the angel stared, disgust written all over their faces.

"I told you it wasn't a good idea to eat so much so late at night!" The woman said, the demon making a shooing motion as he continued on with his business. Earlier that night the demon had gotten up, sneaking into the woman's house for some more food, only to be caught by the woman. She still did give him food, but warned him that it wasn't a smartest idea to eat something so late. And now look what happened. The woman sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Ew, uh, this is disgusting," said the angel, stretching his sore wings and sat up, pinching his nose to stop the smell.

"Shut up," the demon muttered as he finished his duty, leaning onto the tree for a second before collapsing onto his back. It felt good to finally stretch his body as he felt the soft ticklish touch of the grass, the blood returning back into his body as a thought came into his mind. His stomach rumbled a bit, the demon flinging his arm over his belly.

"Hey granny, do you have any more food?"

"Oh my word…" the woman mumbled as she gave herself a small face palm, the angel just staring down at the demon with amazement and disbelief.

"Get up." The demon looked over at the woman as she crouched down and pulled on his arms.

"What are you going?" He questioned, pushing himself in a sitting position.

"Before we can continue on with anything, you two need to apologize to each other." The two looked up at her, their face contorted with disgust, their eyes half-lidded to make the annoyed expression even more prominent.

"Come on! Just hurry up and get it over with," She said at the two, wanting to continue on with her life than having to deal with the two children. "How hard can it fucking be!?"

The two just sat on their knees facing each other, their clothes half soaked as they kept their head down. There was no way they were going to apologize, for neither of them felt bad about what they did to the other. They just continued to refuse and pout.

"Fine," the woman said as she sighed a bit, wondering why she was even doing all of this. "Get your stuff, you guys are kicked out of this forest." The two straightened their backs, looking at the woman, begging for another solution. She just stared down at them, her eyebrows raised for they knew what she wanted them to do.

"Sorry," the demon first said, looking to his side to avoid both the woman and angel's gaze. The angel just humphed, his whole body refusing until he looked up at the woman. He then gulped, both the accumulated spit and pride. "Sorry"

The woman then crouched and gave the two a pat on the back, startling them as she smiled. "See, you can do it!" They gave her an unsatisfied look.

"Well, to follow along with your question demon, yes, yes I do have some food. So why don't you two come over and I'll make you something." The demon quickly got up, excited as the angel did as well for he hadn't eaten anything for half a day, but still a bit disgusted in what happened only five minutes ago. They both trailed behind the woman until they tried to get through the door frame together, telling each other to move, leading to another fight.

For the rest of the day they were hung upside down. At least this time the demon's stomach was empty.

The next day she had to force them out of bed, their bodies source and their brain thumping with a headache as they groaned themselves up.

"Where we going granny?" The demon questioned, rubbing his eyes. The woman in the end gave up trying to get the two to call her real name, favoring the name over the other ones she received during their two day stay. "The forest." The two continued to groan and complain like children as they got up and followed her into the forest.

The angel was wearing his usual tunic, though people after looking at it would think that the length was by far too short for anyone to wear. But it made it easier when working in the fields, not having to deal with the long length and the weight. The demon was wearing just a black shirt and his uniform pants, the top part of the uniform being fixed after it had been punctured multiple times, his dog tags clinking everytime he took a step.

The day was breezy, the sun shining through the leaves of the trees as they walked further and further into the forest. "Get away from me," the angel said as he rubbed his shoulder that seemed to have been bumped by the demon.

"You think I want to walk next to you and your stinky body odor?" The demon replied back.

"Oh belt up! At least my stomach isn't bulging out with fat." The angel pointed at the demon's stomach before it was clasped over defensively.

"For your information this isn't fat, it's muscle. You're just jealous cause you don't have it."

"Oh, and why would I be so jealous about something so stupid like that?"

"Cause you're self conscious about your hideous eyebrows."

"Why you-!" The angel began to say, already in a lung position, ready to tackle the demon down until he was given a smack on the head. The demon laughed before he too was smacked. The two looked up at the woman, nursing the pain in the heads as they gave her a look of annoyance.

"We have made it to our destination boys," she said as she lowered the large bag she was holding onto. "What the hell you want us to do hag?" The angel questioned, his eyes glossing over the bag.

"You guys will repay all the damage you have done to the forest." The two states at her confused. "You will plant all the shit you imbeciles damaged, starting with you demon." The woman pulled a small tree sapling in a pot from the bag, handing it over to the demon. "And you angel will be planting flowers," she said as she pulled out a pot of flowers.

"Why do we even have to do this?" The demon whined, inspecting the sapling.

"Because I feel like it and if I want to I can just kick you out." The two gave a half assed response. The woman bent down and pulled out two gloves, throwing it at the two who barely caught it. "Now find a place that has a lot of space and get planting."

Luckily for the angel, he had spent years working with plants so he knew exactly what to do and how to plant. The demon on the other hand knew nothing, figuring that learning how to plant was just a waste of time. Which led to him digging a hole too shallow, pulling the sapling from the pot too roughly, and burying half of it. He got up, went over to the woman telling her he was done, only to receive the millionth smack on the head that day for doing it wrong.

"Keep digging!" The woman yelled, the demon crouching as he dug sloppily, his cheeks puffed out in a pout. "Now gently put the put the sapling down, and-hey! Don't just randomly toss the dirt into the hole! Make sure it's even!"

The demon groaned as he evened out the dirt, compressing it down with the worn out gloves as they were becoming dusted with brown. He didn't see the need of any of this, that it was just a plant and he was just a demon, on the mission to gain an important allie. The plant was bound to die during it's lifetime, from a natural cause or becoming a turd after the energy was sucked out of it and he was immortal, his life going to stretch on longer than the normal being and going to be filled with many memories and adventures. He didn't see the use in starting something that was going to perish. Why become connected with something when you know one day you'll have to let it go? Why would you do that to yourself, putting your emotions into a turmoil, not being able to find your medium again? Why?

"You can't press down that hard demon." The woman suddenly crouched down, shoveling up some of the dirt that had been compressed. The demon looked over at her, ready to make a snarky comment about doing it yourself until he saw her face. "You have to press down on it softly, so that the roots can still breath and the water can get to them, right?" She said as she smiled at the plant, the wrinkles on her face softening the look. The demon continued to stare before looking down at the base of the plant, understanding what it was now. She saw herself as the mother, and the forest something that she also had to protect and cherish, along with those in the village. He finally understood why she was making them go through a year and having them get the whole village agree to the alliance. She was letting them make the major decision, whether if it's good or bad she would, in the end, support them. Unlike most tribes, she cherished and protected the ideas of the others, wanting the best for them. She didn't care about the power or money, however much it was worth. All she cared about was that the whole village was safe, and forever safe. She was the nurturing mother that would do whatever it took for their young to grow.

"Go, get the rest of the saplings okay? We'll plant them together." The woman said as she looked over at the demon. The demon nodded, pushing himself up as he stretched his legs. He trotted over to the bag, taking two more saplings as he looked over at an area of the forest, at the streams of light shining on grass covered in mildew, a thought in his mind.

What if he had a mother like that?

It was a questioned he liked to avoid, but he found the need to question it to himself today. If only, if only, if only. But none of that was what really happened. He turned around and made his way back to where the woman was.

The woman had helped the demon with the remaining saplings, this time making sure he buried them with care. It was still sloppy and amateurs work but, it was filled with effort and meaning. While she sent the boy to get some water for the sapling by a nearby river she went over to the angel to see how he was doing.

In a nice bundle were the flowers, put in spots that colorfully assorted the forest floor. They were just random flowers placed next to each of yet they contrasted with each other perfectly.

"It's looking nice." The angel looked up, squinting as the sunlight hit his eyes for a bit. He looked back down, compressing the last of the dirt gently.

"Yeah, I'm done now." The woman nodded. The angel pushed himself up and dusted the dirt off of the gloves, peeling them off after. He gave the flowers one last look before he started walking back to the bag. The woman strolled behind the angel for a while until she noticed the man had came to a stop.

She looked up to see the angel's emerald gaze looking at something to the side. She also turned around, her eyes coming upon something familiar.

"Strange right?" she began saying, the slightly surprised angel turning around to look at the woman. "No matter what I try to do nothing ever grows there except for grass." The angel turned his head back to look at a small clearing, where nothing but grass grew. "I have absolutely no control what happens in that strange little spot. I've asked the other being if they know something about it but none of them know. I guess it's a secret only the forest knows." The angel kept staring, the clearing rather mesmerizing for an unknown reason until the woman tapped his back.

"Let's head back, I'll make you guys something to eat." The angel silently nodded his head, walking back to the bag that was now empty. Leaning against a tree was the demon, a backpack thrown around his shoulder as something hung on the bridge of his nose.

"What did you find?" The woman questioned curiously.

"I found my bag that I had dropped two nights ago." The angel stiffened, the memory of the fight flashing in his mind. He shook his head, forcing himself to forget about it.

"Oh, cool," she said picking up the bag as she began walking out of the forest. "What do you guys want to eat?" She questioned cheerfully.

"Hamburger!" The demon said without a moment of hesitation, excitement spilling out of his mouth. In the angel's mind he questioned what hamburger was, something he had never heard of in his lifetime diet of salad, typical fruits, and plain bread.

"Hamburger huh…" the woman mumbled, her hand rubbing her chin before she nodded her head. "Yeah, we can do that!" The demon replied with a cheerful glee, his tail whipping back and forth.

When they made it back to the house she had the two seated at the dining room table as she began preparing for their meal. She was rather surprised, the way the two were being completely silent; the angel's arms crossed as the demon had his hands stuffed in his pockets. They were looking the opposite way from each other, avoiding each other.

"How are your wounds doing?" She asked, hoping to break the silence. She wouldn't admit it out loud but she enjoyed a noisy crowd than a quiet one, this one being too quiet for some reason.

"Fine thanks to you," The demon said, looking down at his chest even though he had a shirt on. "Now I have 3 new scars too," he said in a happy tone. The angel looked over, his eyebrows narrowed.

"Why would you demon's want scars?" He questioned, his voice laced with irritation. The woman put a frying pan on the stove that was on, rounding up the hamburgers.

"Because scars are the sign of overcoming a challenge and strength." The angel huffed, turning his head back to the side.

"Your civilization is so barbaric." The demon raised an eyebrow at the angel before he too looked over to the side.

"And why do you hate scars so much angel?" The woman questioned as she put the patties into the pan, the meat sizzling.

"The only reason one would receive a scar is if they do something going against the will of God. And because of that a scar is a sign of impurity and betrayal." The demon leaned back in his chair so only two of the chair's legs were on the ground.

"So, do you have a scar?" The demon questioned. The angel reached up to the top of the tunic that was wrapped around his shoulder, pulling it to the side for the woman and the demon to see the smooth peachy skin that no one would have been able to guess had been punctured.

"Interesting," the woman said as she flipped the hamburgers. The angel looked over at the kitchen, curious about the noise that was being made.

"Hey granny?" The woman looked over from the pan, her eyes wide in a questioning glance. "What are we doing after this?"

The woman looked back down at the pan before she started talking. "From here on we have to wait a bit, but after a decision is made you guys will have to help out with everything around in the village."

"What about what you said, about convincing others?" He asked, the angel turning around to look at the woman.

"You can do that on your own time and in your own way," she said as she pressed down on one of the hamburgers. "I've talked to most people about this so they will hear you out but, they're probably looking for something a bit more than a scripted note or a competition."

The two stared at her for a moment before turning back to look at the table. They had both completely underestimated this whole mission. They hadn't expected it to be this difficult and tough and not only that but they had a year restriction. They were going to need some strong dedication if they wanted to succeed. But fortunately, the two were already willing to do whatever it took to complete this task.

"Here you go!" The two snapped out of their thoughts, looking up to see the woman putting a plate in front of them. The demon, without a second of hesitation began eating, while the angel stared down at it. It was strange; some meat was stuck in the middle of what looked like the butt of a loaf of bread, the green of lettuce and red of a tomato peeking out from underneath it. He was a bit scared to try it at first, not to fond of new stuff until a waft of the smell entered his nose, his stomach growling. He reached down at picked it up, taking a tiny bite.

"Mmm!" The angel suddenly said, his eyes widening as he tasted the meal they called hamburger. The demon who was finishing up the last bit of the hamburger and the woman who was just drinking tea looked up at him, surprised from the angel's reaction that seemed to have caused his halo to glow ten times brighter as he shoved the hamburger toward his mouth for another bite. The two stared, watching as the skinny man ate it slowly, his eyes scrunched up in delight as he finished the last bites of it. The angel was happy, his taste buds almost having their own party as he savored the last of the burger.

"Was it good?" The woman questioned, huffing a breath of amusement as she took another sip of her tea.

"It was amazing!" he said. The mouth that usually was a frown or a mocking smile was now a grin, his cheeks seeming to have gotten rosier. The demon just laughed a bit before the woman joined him, the angel looking at the two of them confused.

"What?" He asked, leaning forward a bit.

"Nothing nothing," the woman said as she calmed herself down. "It's just-"

She then suddenly stopped talking, the two looking over at her curiously as the woman just stayed looking surprised. She blinked twice, looking straight ahead as her distant looking eyes focused back to the real world. The chair made a sound when the woman pushed herself up, the skirt falling back to her legs as she pushed the chair in.

"It seems like they had already made a decision," she said, looking at the mug she placed onto the table before the angel and the demon. "Come on, they're waiting for you outside." The two pushed their chairs, curiously trailing behind her as they went to the door. The woman pushed it, leaning on the door as she allowed the stunned two to see what was going on.

On the grass surrounding the house were tons of flowers, that seemed to have sprouted from nowhere, the color scattered like how the angel had planted the flowers. "I'm guessing they liked how you planted the flowers," the woman whispered, the angel replying with nothing for he was too stunned, no thoughts processing through his mind. The wind blew, the petals of many flowers flying to wherever the wind was willing to take them. In the very center of all of these flowers was chair, the wood brown from overuse, looking ancient.

"Come on." The two looked over at the woman who began walking toward the chair. As she walked she constantly stopped, turning her head to the side as she said something to the air or touched nothing. It was strange but the smile of her face remained bright, strong, and cheerful. They soon made it to the chair which was surrounded by tall flowers that curved from it's own weight, adding on the delicate look as there were many shapes and colors to admire at.

"So, who shall go first?" The woman questioned, her back to the two as she placed both of her hands on her hips.

"T-to do what?" The angel questioned, stuttering a bit in the beginning for he had no idea what to expect anymore.

"As I promised you will become one of us." The woman spun around, her hair that was down twirling with her as she shoved her hand into the apron pocket, pulling out something small enough for her to cover with her palm. "And to do you, you will have to get your ears pierced." She opened her palm, revealing two small emerald colored earrings, the one identical to the one she had in her top left ear. The angel flinched back a bit.

"Demon, you'll go first," she said, moving to the side so the demon could get to the chair. He walked over and sat himself down comfortably, placing his hands on the hand rests as he continued to look at the scenery. The woman grabbed onto a bottle, pouring the substance on a cloth that she rubbed on the demon's top left ear gingerly and plentifully. Then she pulled out a very thin metal pole, puncturing a hole very quickly before the placing the earring in securely, clicking the knob in the back. The demon looked around, even more mesmerized as he carefully watched everything around them, his mouth tugging into a smile as the woman tapped his shoulders, telling him something.

When he got out of the chair the woman turned around the angel, her hand out for him. "It's okay, it won't hurt. It's just something small you'll have to do." The angel didn't know what to do. Pierced ears weren't something socially accepted in the empire above, and it worried him that they may consider it a scar in some way. But, he reassured himself, it was for his empire. That this will all be over looked when he would return with the alliance. He looked up at the woman, her smile warm as the wrinkles were prominent, softening her features yet, looking strong and independent.

The angel reached out and took the woman's hand, letting her guide him to the ancient chair. He gently sat down, his chest thumping with nervousness as his hands felt a bit sweaty. He looked at the woman's house and the one roomed house, along at the rim of the forest. Something cold gently rubbed his left ear, the angel flinching a bit as with surprise, but he continued to stare ahead; at the flowers he seemed to never get sick of, the sky that stayed one color constantly until the sun would set, everything in this world he was yet to discover, find out, and embrace. For a moment he took a deep breath, the fresh air filling his lungs as he closed his eyes and clenched his fists, ready to jump off into the unknown terrain.

He heard a soft click, telling the angel that the woman was done. He scrunched his eyes a bit before opening them, widening as he saw everything surrounding him, which was a group of people, of different species scattered, their smiles bright and comforting. They were each like individual flowers, each one different in size, shape, color yet, all harmonizing together. His eyes then landed on the woman - Mansi, her smile just as brilliant.

"Welcome Arthur. Welcome to our home."

And so the adventure began; the adventure that two never expected to take as their journey leads them through twists and turns with the exceptional break, no one having been ready for what the two had in store for each other, the opposites like new born children growing up to see the world in their own eyes for the first time.

But shh, only the forest knows this for now.