The sharp crack of wooden blades sounded off throughout the crisp, morning air, echoing back and forth along the concrete platform; the two combatants circled each other once, then twice, before they slowly began to wind back.

"You're getting faster..." Lightning lifted her blade to the side, examining the various dents and notches scattered upon the wooden surface. "At this rate, we might have to find something a bit more more sturdy."

Hope paused in place to catch his breath, before he slumped down against a nearby pillar. "You really don't let up..." After a moment, he tipped his head back to stare into the rain, which had thankfully evened out into a light drizzle. "I'm not complaining, though; you're a good teacher."

Slowly, Lightning set her practice sword down against a fallen piece of concrete, before she moved to sit beside Hope. "I once had a good one, myself." She inhaled, slowly biting at her bottom lip. "Just wait 'til we get to mid-air combat, though..."

Hope had to force out a laugh. "You... You'd probably just knock me out of the air..."

Lightning kept silent for a while, seemingly lost in thought. "Years ago, I might've told you never to aim for an opponents wings... That it would be dishonorable." She held her breath, focusing on the energy within her back, before it began to swirl, churning in place. "But... We might be going up against an enemy soon, one who won't afford you the same kind of mercy."

Hope began to nod.

"Hey, you've seen a gunblade before, right?" Lightning sat upright. "It's a very versatile weapon, but without proper training, you're more likely to stab yourself than your opponent."

Hope shook his head. "No up close, no."

Lightning suddenly held up her right hand. "Odin."

Within mere seconds, a long, silvery weapon had materialized against her palm, fitted with a wide, double-barreled gun-chamber, which rested just beneath the sharp, flat blade.

"You can't fire it quite as efficiently, not without..." Lightning rose up to flick the blade back, transforming the weapon into a smaller, simpler firearm. "Shifting it... But when you want to enter melee again, you do it like this." She swung her arm back to the side, and the blade snapped out, whistling off through the air as she began to gut an imaginary enemy.

Hope tried his best to track the edge of the blade as Lightning moved around the area in a steady, yet flowing set of combat routines, but he noticed that she was keeping her eyes on both the space in front of her as well as the air above, occasionally allowing her to preform an upward strike, while her other arm seemed to unconsciously clutch at something, as if it could protect her from ground-level attacks.

"...I used to have a shield for these." Lightning suddenly spun in place, and her blade snapped back, theoretically allowing a pair of bullets to fly forth. "But I lost it, before we even went into stasis."

Hope started to stand. "Could you maybe... Get a new one somewhere?"

Lightning's routine began to slowly unwind, and she soon finished the set with a sharp, forward strike, before the gunblade shivered, disappearing from her outstretched hand. "We'll just have to see." She rose up into a standing position. "But I don't have any idea where to find a capable smith in this day and age."

Hope reached over for where he had set down his own sword, but as he knelt over to pick it up, the white feather fell out from his pocket, landing just beside the blade itself. "Hey, do you think they have smithies down on that planet you went to?"

Lightning turned to face him. "It's called Earth... And it's the only other habitable one within this cluster of atmosphere; Cocoon was actually hovering next to it, for a while." She glanced over at the edge of the concrete plaza, staring down at where the jagged platform crumbled away at the edge. "They seem to use advanced artillery as their main form of weaponry... So maybe, but I doubt they could make me a decent shield."

Hope reached down to pick up the white feather. "Do you think... Maybe we could all go down there sometime? Just to see what it's like."

Lightning grit her teeth. "This isn't like Cocoon; everyone's free to leave whenever they like."

Hope almost smiled to himself, twirling the feather between his fingertips. "I guess you're just doing a good job, then... It already feels like you're our leader."

Lightning paused. "I'm trying keep us as safe as I can, but don't get into the habit of looking up to me." She lifted her hand to cover her brow when the clouds began to part. "If this town is ever going to stand on its own two feet, we can't have just one party making all the decisions."

Hope walked over to stand beside her; he was carrying both his blade, and the feather, each in one of his hands. "Well, I think that you're the only one who knows the way down there... We'd need you to guide us."

Lightning nodded. "One of these days, I will... After I've scouted out more of the city, the one that Sazh is operating from."

"What's it called?" Hope smiled a bit. "Do they name their cities, like we do?"

"Vallis, it's on the continent of Gran Pulse." Lightning stared up at the wide, rolling sky. "It has... These buildings, taller than anything I've ever seen; they even go up into the clouds."

Hope's eyes went wide. "Are you serious?"

Lightning nodded. "I was almost tempted to fly up and have a look around, but down there, the Seraphim aren't... Well, we really aren't even thought to exist." She turned, facing the low, flowing hills that led up to the village canyon. "The fallen, they all live in secret, you know... Most of them have to fly invisibly, like I've been doing."

"Hey, will you teach me how to do that?" Hope stowed the feather back into his pocket. "It was pretty amazing what you did yesterday..."

Lightning held up her right hand. "It's a pretty simple trick; have you ever tried any magic before?"

Hope shook his head.

With a snap of her fingers, a soft, translucent material almost seemed to bloom out over her hand, shrouding her skin in a magical energy. "I've learned to cast it faster than we can really see, but you should start with the basics; focus on the energy in your hands."

Hope closed his eyes to concentrate, slowly holding up his arms. "Like this..?"

Lightning shook her head. "Think of it... Like an extension of the energy in your shoulders; you could even envision it like I do, where your 'wings' are sheltering you, keeping you out of sight."

After a moment, a foggy cloud of magic began to hover about Hope's hands and wrists, but he could scarcely keep a firm hold of it, and it quickly began to fade. "I think this one will take practice, too..."

"Definitely." Lightning turned to walk over the grassy edge of the concrete platform, stepping down into the field. "But that's pretty decent for a beginner, you know."

Hope followed after her. "I'll be sure to keep working on it, but, I was thinking..." He looked up at the distant canyon walls. "What if we used one of the empty buildings we have as a school? Get everyone on the same page about things, you know?"

Lightning turned back to look at him with an expression that he'd never seen her show before. "That's... Actually a very good idea." She glanced back at the grass. "I'll talk to Serah about it; she did mention an interest in learning advanced history back when we were kids... Maybe she would want to teach everyone some of what she knows."

Hope kept silent as they walked down within the field, but he occasionally turned to glance at the rustling grass, watching as the tiny dewdrops, and the water from the previous rainstorm came alight beneath the rising sun.

"I met someone new, yesterday." Lightning kept her gaze on the village ahead. "Said she was a scholar."

"Down on Earth?" Hope looked back at Lightning. "Was she... Like us?"

Lightning nodded. "Seraphim, yeah... She had a shop with these strange little birds; it didn't even seem like they could fly."

Hope frowned. "A bird that can't fly? What, were their wings..?"

Lightning shook her head. "Not clipped, just small and fluffy... There was also this huge one; I doubt it could even manage to get airborne."

"Bigger than Odin?" Hope held back a smile. "I remember when you guys flew over the village, that one time..."

Lightning nearly smiled as well, raising her arm. "Odin's pretty lightweight for his size, though..." The dove fluttered down from seemingly nowhere, to land upon her wrist. "Even when he's like that; this other bird was massive."

"It was friendly, though?" Hope tried to envision a creature larger than Odin's more powerful form. "I can imagine something like that would be very strong..."

"She did say it could be taken for walks, and yes, I was able to pet it just fine." Lightning moved her arm over to allow Odin to perch on her shoulder. "But it was certainly unusual."

Another voice called out. "Hey, Light!"

Lightning looked up to see a lone figure running up to them from the village. "Serah..." She glanced down at her sister's feet, or more specifically, the tiny robot that kept close to her heels.

Serah ran up to them with a grin. "Light, this is Bhakti!" She knelt down beside the machine, pointing at the solar panels on his side. "The one I talked about last night, remember?"

Bhakti chirped, swiveling to face her. "Hello."

Lightning slowly nodded. "Hello..."

"Would I be correct in assuming that you are one of the primary directors of this establishment?" Bhakti tilted himself backwards to examine her facial features. "If not, could you please direct me towards an individual of that description?"

Lightning knelt down as well. "My name is Lightning, and I'm one of the people who founded this village." She squinted to examine the little robot. "Could you tell me what sort of machine you are?"

Bhakti began to hum. "I am a high-performance mechanical recording device, designed to both collect and sort various types of advanced technical information, as well as to advise my keeper to the best of my abilities..." He paused for a moment, and his internal lights began to flicker. "Speaking of which, I simply must find out if she is still in need of my assistance... But I fear that it has been eons since I last awoke within the Vestige."

Lightning kept silent for a while, before she began to speak in a lower voice. "If it was before Cocoon fell, I'd say that your chances are slim." She paused to look over at Serah. "Did you see anything else in there, something that might have said his keeper went?"

Serah shook her head. "Well, it wasn't a very thorough search... But I didn't see much of anything in the immediate area."

Lightning turned back to Bhakti. "I can offer you a place to stay for now, but I'm not sure if you'd rather try to search for her..." She paused, blinking at the little machine. "What was her name?"

"Miss Hecate." Bhakti began to hum once more, swiveling around to face the pathway that led down towards the edge of the valley. "Her name was Professor Hecate, and she was really a most brilliant patron of the sciences, particularly knowledgeable in the study of how the nature of prophecies can interact, and even influence the theory of chaos."

Slowly, Lightning rose to her feet. "I've never met anyone with that name, but I'll ask around next time I fly to Earth... Maybe she ended up down there, somehow."

Bhakti paused to process the idea for a moment. "Perhaps... I have heard tales of scholars fleeing to Cocoon in order to bypass the magical boundaries enforced by the Sanctum."

Lightning grit her teeth. "It's more likely than not."

Hope spoke up from beside her. "I'm going to head back for now, but thank you for today's lesson."

Lightning nodded at him. "Bright and early tomorrow, no excuses."

Hope nodded as well, before he wandered off into the village.

"It's good that you've been teaching him..." Serah smiled up at her sister. "For a while, I wasn't sure if he could manage it, but I think this is really good for both of you."

Lightning turned to look at the village. "He's a decent kid." She glanced back at Serah. "He had an idea today, actually... We might want to consider setting up some sort of school, or study hall for general teaching, or maybe even magic, and the like."

Serah stood up with a wide, growing smile. "That would be great, wouldn't it?" She looked over at a nearby building, before she pointed at it with a nod. "That's just an old storage shack, right? With a little work, it could make a good meeting house..."

Lightning began to walk forward. "I suppose it could."

Bhakti started up his treading mechanism to roll beside her heels. "Miss Lightning? I might actually be able to offer my assistance in this matter... Especially if I were to have further access to the records kept back within the Vestige."

"It's just Lightning, or Light." Lightning walked over to tap at the side of the building with her shoe. "This is still pretty sturdy."

Serah grinned. "I'll ask Snow if he can help us paint the outside; we did see some flowers the other day, the kind that could make for some nice pigment, and if we fix up these windows..." She continued on as she pushed open the door, gesturing for Lightning to follow.

With a quick glance into the village center, Lightning moved to keep up with her sister, and with the little robot at her side, the trio entered the shed amidst a gentle, yet musty breeze.

Tapping at the side of the steering-wheel, Fang stared out at the crosswalk ahead, but when she attempted to tally up the number of teenagers that crossed it with ridiculous hairstyles, she quickly began to lose count. Soon, she was even further distracted by the sound of the passengers-side door swinging open, before it was shut once more with an accompanying sigh.

Fang cleared her throat. "Rough day?"

Vanille rubbed both of her wrists over her eyes. "Just tiring... Man, I can't wait for summer."

Fang chuckled a bit. "Hey, just wait 'til you're done with school... Then the real exhaustion starts."

With another sigh, Vanille reached over for her seat-belt. "I could barely sleep last night..." She soon leaned back into her seat, closing her eyes when the low, rumbling ignition roused the car to life. "Could we stop somewhere on the way back? I skipped most of lunch-period to get my homework done for the weekend."

Fang began to frown as she drove out from the parking space, maneuvering past the crosswalk. "I don't like the sound of that."

Vanille merely shrugged. "We'll have time to do fun stuff now, at least." She moved to reach into her shoulder-bag, rummaging around through a jumble of papers and notebooks. "Although, I did have another dream last night; I was watching someone use magic, up there!"

Fang narrowed her eyes at the road. "I think you might be starting to affect my dreams, actually..." As she pulled up to a stoplight, Fang turned to look at the drawings upon Vanille's lap. "It was like I was... Falling, through the clouds, but for some reason I wasn't even scared."

With a nod, Vanille traced over the sketch, which held a sparkling burst of magic.

"And then, for some reason..." Fang shook her head. "It was as if the world had turned upside-down, and there was ground above me, so I was actually headed up to it."

As they began to drive on, Vanille glanced off to the side, gazing out at the passing buildings and streets, until they had nearly become a blur of color and motion. "I wonder if something like that is even possible."

Fang shrugged. "Hey, where do you want to stop?"

Vanille turned around to face the front. "We could have an early dinner, if you want." She smiled at the road ahead. "But I think we should at least go somewhere outside; it's a beautiful day..."

With a tiny smile, Fang nodded. "We can check by the park; I did see some food trucks sitting over there today."

Vanille grinned at her. "Catch any bad-guys, Sergeant Fang?"

Fang rolled her eyes. "Very funny... I'm a ranger, not a cop." She shook her head after a moment. "But nobody's going to mess with the place, not on my watch... Plus the kind of trouble-makers you're thinking of don't hang around in a public nature preserve."

"Not good for the image, huh?" Vanille giggled. "Yeah, let's just hang around and look moody in this colorful flower garden..."

Fang's expression suddenly sobered. "I've been seeing a lot more people your age with... Unusual get-ups."

"Yeah, I see them at school." Vanille shrugged. "Probably just a trend."

Fang glanced over at the pictures upon Vanille's lap. "Probably." She looked back at the road. "Just don't let anyone pressure you into anything you don't want to do, okay?" Fang nearly grit her teeth. "Trust me, it isn't worth it."

Vanille almost began to assure her sister out loud, but when she caught the sheer, genuine look of concern in Fang's gaze, she simply nodded, adjusting the satchel at her side. "Hey, maybe we can do something cool over the weekend."

Fang nodded as she turned onto an adjacent road. "That'd be nice."

With an armful of assorted trinkets and mechanical components, Serah knelt down upon the straw roof with Bhakti by her feet, before she set down the pile in between them. "Take a look at these; maybe you can find something useful out of them."

Bhakti wheeled over to rummage through the pile of machinery. "Very interesting... It would seem that most technology has evolved considerably since the last time I was actively studying it." He reached to pick up an odd gizmo with one of his hand-like grabbers. "I wonder what this could be..."

From beside Serah, Lightning looked over to glance at the device, but her gaze caught instead on the afternoon sun, and with a slight twitch of her shoulders, she sat upright. "Would you mind if I left for a while again, today?"

Serah looked up from the roof. "You'd be back at the same time, right?"

"I could try to be back sooner." Lightning blinked up at the soft, floating clouds. "The rain really held me down, yesterday."

Serah giggled to herself. "I feel bad for your feathers... You must've been soaking when you got back home."

Lightning shrugged. "It's better when they phase out, the rain just falls off."

Serah nodded. "Alright... Just be careful, okay? I don't want anything to happen to you down there." She took a moment to close her eyes, listening to the wind. "Maybe one of these days I'll go with you."

"It's... Very-" Lightning narrowed her eyes to find the right words. "Chaotic, but not entirely in a bad way; there's vehicles everywhere, and everyone seems to be moving from one place to another all the time."

Serah opened her eyes. "Just... Uh, not today. I want to make sure that Bhakti gets whatever he needs to feel comfortable."

Bhakti chirped at her. "My comfort level is already quite satisfied with all of this sunlight..." He began to swivel the solar panels affixed to his outer plating. "But I do appreciate the sentiment; if I am to continue my existence as an assistant, I would naturally need someone to assist."

Serah patted along his outer plating. "You're a nice little robot."

Bhakti's lights flickered, before they brightened. "I am certainly glad that you think so."

Lightning turned aside, hiding a smirk as she rose to her feet. "I'll try to be back before midnight."

Serah leaned back to watch as a pair of large, white wings began to phase out from within Lightning's jacket, expanding out and over over her shoulders, only to snap aside in the wind. As Serah examined them further, it almost seemed as if Lightning's arms had been but an afterthought; long, powerful muscles almost seemed to crawl down from her shoulders, growing out along her upper chest, and her sternum slowly expanded, allowing the base of her wings to connect with each of the wide, tapered muscles.

"Keep out of trouble while I'm away..." Lightning smiled down at her sister, before a quick jump and a snap of her wings caught her entire body against the wind, sending her airborne.

Serah giggled, waving up at the sky. "No promises!"

As Lightning flew off, drifting beneath the glowing sun, Serah caught the vague echo of a chiding, yet good-natured shout, but she couldn't quite hear what her sister had said, so slowly, Serah sat back down, staring out at the horizon.

"I would be very interested in seeing this city she speaks of..." Bhakti reached out to poke at one of the jumbled pieces of metal. "I have heard some of the most intriguing things about Earth, but I have never left Cocoon since my time studying there."

Silently, Serah watched the distant, flying form until it had disappeared into the distance, before she let her eyes fall shut. "Maybe we can both go."

Bhakti hummed quietly to himself, examining a circular bit of metal, but after a moment, he paused to look back at Serah. "Would you please tell me in detail, what happened to Cocoon while I was inactive?"

Serah bit at her bottom lip. "Well, it's a long story..."

Between her hands, Fang crumpled up a bit of paper packaging, before she walked up beside a trash-bin, tossing it in. "I can't even tell you how many times these people miss..."

Vanille giggled from beside her. "At least it gives you something to clean up!" She glanced around at the surrounding park, and inhaled the scent of wind, grass, and flowers. "This place is beautiful."

Fang paused for a moment, before she turned, staring out at the park itself. While she had often walked along each path and side-street more times than she could count, there was still something about the vast stretch of wildlife, resting deep within the heart of the city that gave her pleasant chills.

Vanille smiled against the wind. "We could come back here over the weekend, maybe." She strolled out along the cobblestone path, gazing up at a flock of birds. "It's so warm already, we probably wouldn't even need to bring jackets."

Fang began to walk beside Vanille. "Well, let's see what we feel like tomorrow." She began to glance down the pathway, before a certain sound caught her attention; the call itself was quite alike the cry of a peacock, yet there was more of a warble to it, almost musical, which brought a smile to her lips. "Hey, it sounds like we might see a familiar face..."

Vanille shook her head with a grin. "Those silly birds! I wonder how she's even keeping them sane in that little apartment."

Fang shrugged. "Might as well go say hello..." She turned to glance at the slowly setting sun, before she made her way down the winding path, approaching a large row of hedges. "I'm just surprised that she hasn't gotten in trouble with the city-" Fang's voice almost caught, and she slowly narrowed her eyes.

Vanille froze in place when she spotted the nearby creature. "That's..."

With a quiet sigh, Fang glanced back at Vanille. "You didn't tell me she was real."

Vanille nearly shivered. "She's... Not?"

Fang frowned at her sister, before she looked back over at the lone woman, the one who was leading a ridiculously large bird around the park, tethered by a rope harness tied around both its neck and beak. "What do you mean, she's not? She's standing right over there."

Vanille's breath grew short, and she started to shake her head back and forth. "I've never seen her before in my life..! Fang, I wouldn't lie about this."

Fang rolled her eyes. "Then go and say hello."

Vanille looked away, until a gentle nudge from Fang's wrist sent her forward. "Fang!"

Fang grinned at her. "C'mon, you've gotta know her from somewhere... Maybe she's an old friend you forgot about." Fang looked up at the woman in question, staring at her unusual shade of hair. "Although if you drew her like an angel, I've gotta wonder just what kind of relationship you guys had..."

Vanille flushed, still shaking her head. "Fang, I swear I haven't-"

Fang merely winked, pushing Vanille along. "Go say hi." She stepped back with a nod. "If she doesn't recognize you, I'll believe it."

Vanille huffed, before she turned in place, slowly making her way down the path.

A loud squawk rang out over the area, and with a roll of her eyes, Lightning reached up to pat along the bird's neck. "You're being awfully loud."

As Chocolina had called him, 'Beaky' decided at that very moment to yank in a seemingly random direction, chortling off at something in the distance.

"Damn, bird..." Lightning tightened her grip of the rope tether, and the muscles in her arm flexed, keeping the bird firmly at her side. "I'm starting to regret-"

"Uh... Hello."

Lightning glanced over the side, taking sight of the young woman who had been quickly nuzzled by the giant bird, and yet she merely giggled, patting along his fluffy head.

"That's a good birdy..." Vanille whispered up at the giant creature, stroking along his feathers. "Do you work at the shop he's from?"

Lightning cleared her throat. "Well, you could say that... I'm going to be getting some language lessons from the owner in return for this."

Vanille nodded to herself. "That would be my aunt.. She has a good eye for people." She laughed when the bird began to preen her hair with his beak. "And animals, too!"

Lightning slowly began to smile, glancing at Vanille's aura. "You'd be a Seraph too, then."

Vanille looked back at her. "A what?"

Lightning stilled, before her eyes went slightly wide. "Wait... But, you're-" She caught herself in time, breathing only slightly faster than before. "That's uh, the language... It's a dead one."

Vanille turned to face Lightning, staring at her expression. "I'd be a dead language?"

Lightning quickly covered her eyes with her free hand. "Shit."

Slowly, a grin grew over Vanille's face, and she moved to stand on her tiptoes, leaning forward to further examine the woman before her. "I knew you were something special!"

Lightning peered out at Vanille from between her fingers. "It's not-"

"Shush!" Vanille reached into her shoulder-bag, before she tugged out a handful of papers, shoving them over in Lightning's direction. "Just look at these... Tell me I'm crazy."

With a soft sigh, Lightning moved her hand back down to take one of the pictures. "This is..." Her eyes went a bit wider. "But, you said-"

"I said what?" Vanille's voice rose in pitch as she tried to hand over more of the drawings. "Please, just tell me what these mean! I've been havingdreams, visions about them and everything, but I've never seen them before in my life, honest!"

"Vanille?"

Lightning turned to look at the taller woman that had since walked up to them, and her chest tightened at the sudden, overwhelming aura that rolled out, carrying off into her own presence, nearly choking her with intensity.

"Vanille, what's wrong?" Fang looked between them, noticing the sudden grimace on Lightning's features. "Hey, what's-"

Lightning cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, but this would sound insane to you if I tried to explain it."

Fang leaned aside with only a single, elegant eyebrow quirked. "Well, I've dealt with plenty of 'insane'..."

Lightning slowly allowed herself to relax, despite the constant waves of constant, incredible pressure that almost seemed to radiate off of Fang's presence. "These... They came to you in dreams?"

Vanille nodded at her, clutching at the drawings with whitened, shaking fingertips.

Lightning took a deep breath. "Well, your aunt... Has she ever mentioned... Exactly where she came from?"

Both Fang and Vanille shared a glance, before they looked back at the stranger, confusion twisting upon both of their faces.

The stars slowly began to appear upon the rich, evening sky, but they soon became hidden by the lights of the glittering city below; cars and buses still rumbled off into the early, restless night, while the sounds of pedestrian footfalls sent a gentle rhythm above the sidewalk itself.

"...And you're telling me that this is based in reality?" Fang stared at the head of pink hair, drifting before her, but her new-found companion refused to even look back at her. "That you came from some 'magic' city, which floats in the sky?" Fang exhaled, shaking her head with a quiet grumble, but she kept walking, throughout the narrow sidewalk. "I'm starting to think that everyone's taken the punch but me..."

Lightning narrowed her eyes at the street ahead. "I wouldn't expect you to believe me, but if you actually have human parentage-"

Fang let out a bitter laugh. "Human parentage? What the hell else would we-?"

"Fang!" Vanille tugged at Fang's sleeve. "C'mon... Be polite."

Fang rolled her eyes. "I don't really think I need to be polite to a madwoman."

Vanille glared up at her. "Well, how do you explain this, with all of my dreams? You can ask her, we've never even met before!"

Fang covered her own eyes with a sigh. "Yeah, just ask the crazy-" She inhaled, before she lowered her hand to look back at Vanille. "I'm sorry, Van... This is just hard to take in."

Vanille glanced down at her feet. "But you do believe us? I don't want to be crazy..."

Fang set her her arm down around Vanille's shoulders. "You're not crazy, and even if you were, it wouldn't matter to me..." She ruffled at Vanille's hair with her free hand. "Hey, I'm not about to let something silly like that get between us, you hear?"

Vanille slowly began to smile. "Thank you."

Lightning glanced back at them from over her shoulder. "You two are... Good sisters." Her voice was a near whisper, yet it was still audible above the din of the crowd. "Trust me, I know firsthand."

Fang let Vanille lean against her, still holding firm at the side of her arm. "So... If what you're saying is true... That there is some other 'world' out there, then what did you say it made us? Nephil-something?"

"Nephilim." Lightning looked back at the sidewalk. "You can ask your aunt... She's just like me, a Seraph, or one of the Seraphim."

Vanille moved to clutch at the handle of her shoulder-bag. "So Seraphim are like... Angels, right?"

Lightning looked back with a raised brow. "Angels..? I think I've heard that word once or twice."

"It's like a heavenly spirit." Fang waved her index finger at the sky. "A messenger of the gods, if you believe in all that."

Lightning shook her head. "I'm not a spirit." She glanced at her own shoulder. "The closest thing I can think of... To that description, it would have to be a familiar."

"A familiar..? So what are Seraphim?" Fang quickened her pace to keep up with Lightning, who was still leading with the giant bird beside her. "Vanille drew all of these pictures, and some of these people look like normal humans, but then..."

Lightning nearly smiled. "Some of them have wings?"

Fang nodded. "What about you?" She reached out to tap at Lightning's shoulder, despite the wince it caused. "What makes you not-human?"

Lightning gently tugged the tethered creature to stand beside her, stopping beside a lamppost. "Just let me get him back home... If you really want me to, I'll prove it to you, but we aren't exactly in the most secluded place." She nodded at the crowd, indicating at the sort of lingering stares a giant bird received within a busy sidewalk. "I might actually need to do something soon, the kind of thing that would be better with a few Nephilim around... So I'm willing to try and help you, if you'll trust me in return."

Fang tipped her head to the side. "Help us with what, exactly?" She nearly shivered when a set of cool, blue eyes locked into her own gaze, but she kept it stifled with a quick intake of breath. "Even if you are something supernatural-"

"You have a very unusual... Aura." Lightning took a slow step forward. "Humans don't usually even have one, but if you're really descended from-" She paused, blinking against the oncoming sensation. "I've never felt one like that, and you never know, it might turn out to be dangerous."

Fang kept her mouth to a thin line, before she turned to look away, gazing off into the bustling street. "...We live at the corner of Third Street and Abbey." She glanced back at Lightning. "Meet us on the roof without climbing anything, and I might just start to believe it."

Vanille waved back at Lightning as she was guided away. "It was very nice to meet you!"

Lightning simply nodded, before she reached up to gently pat at the animal beside her.

For a moment, Fang stared down at the sidewalk. "This is pretty... Strange."

Vanille looked up at her with a smile. "It's exciting!" She nudged against Fang's shoulder with her own. "Don't lie, this is super cool!"

Fang rolled her eyes, but she couldn't quite help the smile creeping over her lips. "She is pretty cute, I'll give her that."

Vanille let out a scoff. "Oh yeah, the city in the sky? Magic and wings, so boring... The woman we met from my dreams, yeah, she's just 'cute'."

Fang grinned. "Hey, I won't blame you for dreaming about her!"

With a sigh, Vanille grumbled, leaning against Fang's shoulder. "You're hopeless..."

Fang could only smile in return.