With a mighty flap of their wings, the girls flew out of the crater. Seeing it from above made Wendy feel smaller; everything seemed so much larger when you were on the ground.
Still, it felt good to fly again, to feel the wind on her face. Wendy let herself enjoy it for a moment, doing a series of aerial maneuvers taught to her by Grandeeney.
Chelia laughed at the sudden enthusiasm shown by the young angel. She understood where it was coming from; there was something freeing about flying like nothing could ever trap you again.
"Your pretty good for an angel," The demon grinned, "Wanna see how you match up to me?"
Wendy stopped her aerial tricks as she felt a surge of excited competitiveness course through her. "What like a race?"
Chelia's face lit up, "Exactly!" She turned around in the sky and Wendy followed her eyes to the electric turquoise and red glow in the distance.
"From here to the malt shop." Chelia pointed in the direction of the glow, then she took that finger and rested it on her lips, mischief suddenly taking form in her sapphire blue eyes and setting the angel on edge. "And the winner should have a prize."
"A p-prize?"
A fang bearing grin stretched across her face as she spoke, "Yes, a prize."
"Like what? I don't have anything to give you." Wendy sure wasn't giving up the necklace, if that's what Chelia wanted. No way in heaven, earth, or hell.
"What you will give me won't be material, but still something I want."
What could Chelia possible want? Her soul? Maybe she'd make Wendy her little angel slave or try to get information about heaven out of her!
"You'll have to do me a single favor if I win. Vice versa if you beat me, which won't happen by the way." Chelia declared arrogantly.
Wendy scowled. "Pride is a sin, you know."
The pink haired demon snickered, "Get ready to race, Wendy! We start on 3."
Wendy braced herself for the countdown, body in position and wings balanced up.
"3!" Chelia took off without warning.
Wendy gaped at the foul play before racing after her. She should've known a demon would've pulled something like that, but Chelia shouldn't underestimate heaven's angels.
Wendy concentrated her grace to put balls of concentrated wind on her heels. She let them explode, propelling her forwards, and she shot through the sky, whizzing past Chelia.
"HEY!" Chelia yelled in outrage, "Cheater!"
Wendy couldn't help but laugh. She craned her head to shout back at the demon, "You cheated first, so eat my feathers!"
"Oh believe me," The demon growled. "I will!"
Her grace sensed something approaching, and she swerved just in time to dodge the purple and black beam that speared past her. That was demon magic!
Using those precious seconds of Wendy's disorientation, Chelia caught up to the angel. Now they were neck in neck, the tips of their wings nearly grazing each other.
Chelia let out a whoop of pure elation that Wendy soon returned. This was the most fun she'd had in... in forever!
The shop's glow grew closer, the finish line fast approaching. Who would win? The angel or the demon? Which wing material was superior? Soft feathers or sleek leather?
They both dove down, like two military torpedoes. So swift and so fast that their ears popped. Just as the pavement neared, they both pulled up and landed at the same time. They stared at each other, unsure of who touched down first.
Chelia was the first to recover. She stuck out a hand to touch the gray bricks. "I win."
"What?" It came out in an exhausted breath. Both of them were panting from the exertion of the exercise. "You never said-"
"Well I touched the shop first," A demonic cackle. "So I win!"
"Aw come on!" Wendy's shoulder's fell and her wings drooped. That was so unfair!
"Don't be too upset, my lil' angel." A finger bopped her nose and the angel in question scowled. "Besides, I'm paying for the drinks."
Wendy perked to attention at that. She didn't have any of the human currency. In heaven money was considered a material thing that only inspired greed, so they didn't use it. Orders were given and followed. That was the Light's way. Money was everything to humans, and if she didn't have it while she was on Earth, it was bound to become a complication.
Chelia pushed open the glass doors, entering the shop. Wendy stared at her back before gathering herself and following her new companion.
A few humans glanced up to look as the door's bell rang. They quickly dismissed the two girls and went back to what they were doing before. Humans got bored so easily. It was a wonder they haven't all died from their non existent alertness.
Humans were created in the Light's image just as Angel's had been, but they were lacking a supernatural marker. For angel's it was feathered wings and golden grace (often mistaken for halos) and with demon's it was pointy horns, tails, claws, and other such animalistic features.
For a moment Wendy had feared the humans reaction towards their non-human features. Most humans didn't like anything they saw as different from themselves. That's how their silly wars started.
Then she remembered that humans couldn't see their wings. Their perception was limited. Their eyes couldn't see what they didn't believe. They didn't believe that two young girls were creatures of heaven and hell, so they weren't perceived as that.
The people here probably perceived them as two friends hanging out on a Tuesday night. Some muttered about how they should be in bed because they had school tomorrow.
Chelia ignored the people's muttering, or maybe the demon just saw the humans as unimportant. She skipped up to the counter, taking a seat on a sparkly red stool. Wendy slid onto the one next to her a moment later.
"Chelia-tan!" The man behind the counter exclaimed, genuinely happy to see her. "It's so nice to see you here again."
She giggled like a school girl. "Well I can't resist your milkshakes Mr Chapati. I just had to come back for more."
"And you brought a friend with you? What's your name miss?"
Wendy blinked realizing she was now expected to take part in conversation she'd rather avoid. "Oh, it's uh... Wendy." A moments pause to think of what was appropriate, "Sir."
"Ah! Hello Wendy-tan! Good to see Chelia with a girl her age."
Great, now he was adding -tan to her name. We're all the people around here this familiar with others? First Chelia, then this human man.
"Mr Chapati!" Chelia whined while Wendy just laughed nervously.
Stupid social anxiety. She was always awkward around people she didn't know. Once she got to know them Wendy was very friendly, but strangers were a different story.
"What can I get for you girls today?" He flipped open his notepad, pen poised above the paper.
"Two milkshakes. Caramel and..." She looked to Wendy, brow raised in question.
"Oh uh..." the angel stuttered trying to think of flavors they would have. Didn't these places have like a menu or something? "Strawberry."
She'd said the first thing that came to mind. Erza had once told a group of fledglings the story of her mission on earth. A human had given her a slice of strawberry cake. The archangel had raved for a long while about how it was the most fantastic confection she'd ever tasted.
However, angels didn't need food for fuel, their grace powered them, but Wendy was feeling more tired than usual. Maybe falling had stripped her of the ability to turn her grace into energy.
"Both are excellent choices!" Mr Chapati scribbled it down before going to prepare their drinks.
Chelia was practically bouncing in her seat as she watched him make the concoction. Wendy didn't know much about human's energy source, but she knew most of it contained extreme amounts of sugar. Sugar probably wasn't something the demon needed.
Soon they had two drinks in front of them in bell shaped glasses. Chelia's was a frothy mix of orange, yellow, and cream. Wendy's was a milky pink with chunks of red berries floating around in it.
"Two drinks on the house." He winked. "For my favorite girls." Then the man left to attend to his other customers.
The demon's eyes were sparkling as she gazed down at the treat. She took a long sip, moaning at the taste.
Wendy looked uncertainly at hers as she poked at the bendy straw with her index finger.
"Go on, try it." Chelia encouraged. "I know you'll love it!"
The angel decided to bite the bullet and took a quick, testing sip.
Chelia couldn't contain her excitement. "Do you like it? Do you like it!"
She took another sip, longer this time.
"Oh I knew it! You love it!" Chelia bounced up and down in her seat, "How's it taste? Awesome I bet."
Awesome wasn't a flavor, but Wendy replied anyways. "It's smooth, and sweet on my tongue. I understand why humans like this fancy cow juice concoction."
"Cow juice?" Her voice rose several octaves as she repeated it.
Wendy cocked her head to the side, clueless.
The demon's cheeks puffed out and she clutched at her sides, before bursting into laughter so loud it was like a balloon being popped by a needle.
"Why are you-" Wendy reached out a hand to steady her. "Chelia are you okay?"
"C-cow juice," Was all she managed before losing her composure and spiraling down into giggles once more.
"That's what it's made of!" Wendy protested, face flushing.
"It's called milk. These are milk shakes! What do you angel's live under a rock or something?"
"We live in the clouds, not under rocks."
The demon only laughed harder.
Wendy puffed out her cheeks, and crossed her arms. No one liked being laughed at.
Finally Chelia calmed down, wiping at her wet eyes. "Sorry, that was just really funny."
"Uh huh."
Chelia stopped at her tone. "Are you mad at me?"
"I just-" The angel sighed heavily. "Don't like being laughed at, okay."
She'd been one of heaven's most clumsiest angels or so she'd been told by Doranbolt. Always tripping and dropping things in group training classes. That's why she preferred her one on one time with Grandeeney. The angel was kinder and never made her feel small or useless like the others did.
"I'll have to make it up to you then." Her face lit up with an idea. "Here, you can have some of my milkshake. Caramel's really good, too." A spoon was held up to her face.
The angel looked skeptically down at the orange mush in the spoon. A gesture of apology? Or something else?
"C'mon." She bobbed the spoon up and down. A sudden feeling of déjà vu came over Wendy. Chelia had done the same thing trying to get the angel to shake her hand. "It won't kill you to have a taste."
Wendy doubted that, thinking of poison and demonic tricks. Tasting it had a slight chance of turning her into a toad, but Wendy hadn't seen Chelia put anything in it. Thinking of demonic things, her eyes strayed down to Chelia's sharp canines.
Seeing Wendy's attention go down to her lips the demon grinned, exposing her fangs even more. "Don't worry I don't bite." She said with a sly smile, "unless you'd like me too."
Wendy put the spoon in her mouth so she didn't have to answer that.
This flavor was a bit different, more rich and creamy as opposed to the strawberry shake's sweetness. "It taste's good as well." Wendy answered, then extended her hand to offer the spoon back to the demon.
Chelia avoided the spoon and instead leaned over to sip of Wendy's milk shake, not bothering to ask permission.
The angel simply sighed, resigned and looked around the shop instead. Seeing groups of friends, pairs of two, a mother with her child.
Wendy's heart clenched at that, her thoughts straying back to Grandeeney.
"Grandeeney! Grandeeney! Look what I found!" A fledgling Wendy held up a handful of yellow daisies. Each selected with care from the garden of eden.
Her mentor sighed. Like she always did when she was about to explain something that might be difficult for the young angel to hear. "Wendy you know your not allowed to pick plants from the garden."
Wendy did know that, but l tears pricked in her eyes at the rejection anyways. "I just wanted to bring back something pretty for you."
"But you already brought back something pretty." A finger poked at her chest gently, "You."
The little angel couldn't help but giggle, and Grandeeney smiled softly down at her ward.
Her giggles soon died down into a small frown. "Does that mean I have to put the flowers back?"
"Hmm." Grandeeney hummed. "I think I'll make an exception. Just this once." She winked at her ward and put a finger to her lips playfully.
Wendy's eyes lit up like stars.
The two angels left the garden that day with flowers tucked behind both their ears.
Even when Weisslogia made a fuss, Grandeeney and Wendy didn't mind. It had been worth it.
Wendy snapped out of her thoughts when a finger poked at her shoulder. Chelia's concerned face hovered over her, creased with frown lines. "You look gloomy again."
Well she wasn't wrong. Wendy shot her a bittersweet smile. "Just thinking."
"Must've been some nasty thoughts."
"No, not nasty exactly. Sad yes, but not nasty." Her wings drooped and her grace dimmed. "I was thinking about my mentor, Grandeeney."
"You didn't like her?"
"No!" Wendy was quick to protest. "I loved her, she was everything to me, and she left." Her voice choked up. "That's why I'm on earth: to find her."
It was Chelia's turn for a bittersweet smile. "Must be nice, having someone care about you that much."
The angel stopped at that. The sadness and longing mixed into her tone. Along with something more sinful, like envy.
In a flash it was gone and the demon from before was back to being a grinning rascal as she grabbed Wendy's hands in hers.
"W-what are you d-doing?" She stuttered.
"Can I go with you?"
Wendy blinked, completely stupefied. "What?"
"Can I go with you? Please!" Her sapphire blue eyes were shining and earnest, "Running missions for hell is super boring, and your the most interesting thing I've encountered in years! So can I tag along?"
A million thoughts were racing through Wendy's head, but the only thing she could do was stutter out a single word. "O-okay."
"YAY!" Chelia jumped into the air, pulling Wendy up with her. "Lets go then!" She ran out the door, dragging the angel along behind her.
"Where are we going?" Wendy shrieked as she tried to keep her footing.
Chelia didn't bother looking back at her, or slow down. She gripped their hands tighter together. "To find Grandeeney, of course. What else would we be doing?"
Wendy's lips wobbled and tears that threatened to fall swelled in her eyes. She turned her wobbling lips up into a smile, "Yeah. Let's go."
A/N: Yup two crazy kids going on a journey together to look for ones absent parent. Sounds kinda familiar? Like a certain ship with another pink haired mischief maker? Hmm I just can't put my finger on it.
Hand holding is gay as fuck. Especially with girls. Kaia and Claire started it and I'm continuing the supernatural trend. And I added in Mr Chapati (the grand magic games announcer) because he adores these girls like I do.
Also don't forget to check out my Tumblr summerbummin I just want more followers. Ignore my sobbing. I'm a love deprived disaster teen with a complex because both girls and guys are hot. Especially girls. I'm gay.
Dudes I have no idea what I'm gonna do for the next chapter. Probably some last minute bullshit I come up with.
