No before chap. info again. Just read. (Inspired by We are Young AMV) The wings look just like the ones Crona has, you know, all raggedy and black. I thought they were really cool.

Kage's POV:

"So, you want to talk to me about something?" Lord Death was really, really, intimidating when he wasn't being all stupid and ADHD. I swallowed, hard. Stein and Death Scythe flanked him, Stein looking crazy, like he wanted to dissect me (big surprise) and Death Scythe looking suspicious. Kid was there too, and he radiated hostile curiosity. On the guilty side, we have me and Akuma. There, the lines in the sand were drawn. Down to business. "Umm, yes sir." I said politely. "We, well, we haven't been entirely honest with you." I said sheepishly, standing on one leg. He nodded, and Death Scythe and Stein looked bored.

"Okay, so, it's like this…" I trailed off. "Umm, can it just be me and you sir?" I said. "This isn't a story Akuma wants to hear again, and everyone else is giving me freaky vibes." He rubbed the chin-space under his mask, since he didn't have a chin. "Well, yeah, I guess so. Everyone but me and her, out. Go on, shoo!" He waved his over-large hands at them, and they all left, Stein looking disappointed, Death Scythe looking very wary, and Kid looking suspicious. So we're not telling them the whole whole truth? Akuma asked through my mental link. Yeah, but we're telling them everything else. I said back. "Oaky, it's like this sir. You read the book we left you?" I asked, waiting for his reaction. He made and exaggerated gesture of surprise. "That was you two?" he said, sounding stunned.

I winced. "Coming to that sir. So, when we were younger, we lived in the Nightstalker clan. We aren't Nightstalker anymore!" I said quickly, as he started up, looking angry. He scratched his head. "Isn't it a permanent thing?" I gulped. "Well, it is. Normally. But… when the clan leader banishes you, he breaks all links you have to the clan, including the ones that make you family." Queenie's voice hissed in my mind. You're getting to be a pretty good liar nowadays. I'll have to watch my step. I mentally squashed her down, focusing on Lord Death. "You see, we didn't agree with some of the ideals, and Jack kicked us out. We've been on the run from him ever since." I shuffled my feet. "He sends witches and Kishin after us, although he has attacked us himself on occasion."

Lord Death patted me on the head, and I choked in surprise. "Don't worry!" he said brightly. "We're on your side in all this! You never said anything because you're still part witch, aren't you?" I nodded. "Well don't worry about it! I give you both my official permission to be here!" I swallowed. "Thank you sir. That means a lot to us." He turned me around and shoved me back out the door. "I'll tell the others about it, but you'll need to tell your friends sometime." He said, closing the door behind me. I looked up to see Akuma standing in front of me. "So?" he asked, sounding suspicious. I made a circle with my forefinger and thumb. "We're good. Witch stuff, available."

He grinned. "Does that mean we can finally exercise our you-know-whats?" I frowned, thinking it over. "Well…I guess a little bit wouldn't hurt…" I said. "But we'll have to stay low." He gave me a high five and we raced for the doors to the outside world. I was just as eager as he was to be free again, but I was also more cautious than him by a long shot. As the doors opened, I saw a wonderful blue morning, with the sun shining on our upturned faces. It was pumped, laughing harder than I've ever seen it do before. Akuma broke my reverie. "C'mon Kage, we don't have all day!" I swallowed. "Sorry." I let my witch's soul blossom, swallowing my meister and weapon souls and using them for fuel.

"Witch style, activate. Meister-weapon, release." I muttered, becoming almost pure witch now. I took another deep breath, cracking an eye open to see if we had activated any alarms. Nobody was running towards us, screaming. Akuma was tapping a foot meaningfully, obviously impatient. "Sorry." I said, before chanting my incantation. "Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real." Akuma's shadow peeled off the ground, wrapping around his body and sliding around to his back. Mine copied his, although it was much more fluid. "Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real. Shade wings!" I said firmly, a bit worried I had forgotten how to control them.

I opened my eyes, and sighed when I saw Akuma hovered off the ground with ragged wings, grinning at me. I flexed my shoulder muscles, and was lifted off the ground, giggling a little as I did. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw my wings, gauzy and black, like black paper cutouts, clumsily mimicking a wing-like shape. That was a common misconception, but they were a great deal more aerodynamic than they looked. For example, I could outfly a passing jet if I wanted to. And they could block bullets. Shadows are amazingly volatile. Technically, the only reason they stayed in a (semi) winged shape is because a spell held them there. Otherwise they'd literally be all over. Thus the reason for messy edges and flimsy looking structure.

Akuma interrupted my thoughts yet again with a whoop as he surged into the air, utterly disregarding any need for secrecy. "THIS IS AWESOME! I CAN'T BELIVE WE STOPED DOING THIS!" I yelled after him "Wait! What about the meisters!?" He was too far up to hear me, and I flapped my wings, twice, hard. I plowed into the air next to him, and repeated myself. "SCEW THE MEISTERS!" he screamed, flying up even higher. I winced. Language. I thought after him. His voice returned to me, sounding annoyed. Who cares? This is the one thing we can do without fear of pain. Stop interrupting my vibes. Just…try and enjoy it, please? I hung in the air, letting my wings flap in slow, lazy beats. The wind from the desert ruffled my hair and slid under my wings, and I looked down, assessing the danger.

Then it hit me. I remembered why I used to love this. No matter where we crawled on the ground, there was always the chance of someone coming across us and chaining us down. Up here in the air, I was truly free. Free… I surged into the air with a whoop, sliding into a controlled spin upwards that helped with the wind resistance, pounding my wings into the air and letting the full and undiluted joy of being a creature of the air flow through me. Akuma popped up next to me, grinning breathlessly, and without a word we engaged in mock battle, swooping in and out of the clouds and slamming each other with punishing wingbeats. I swiped my wing down his side, and he yelped as it became momentarily sharp. "Why you-"

He slammed into me with a crack, pounding me with his wings instead of slicing like I did. I flipped him over, using my wings to halt the decent that he had caused. I dropped him, letting him swerve back upright and blast back towards me. I laughed, avoiding him easily and darting behind a cloud. "Missed me, missed me, now you gotta kiss me!" I sang, using a powerful backbeat of my wings to blast the cloud at him. He growled, avoiding it and hurling towards me. I tagged him again as he shot past, and he whirled, intent on punishing me.

I let him whack me away several feet, before giggling and blasting past him, shouting "CATCH ME IF YOU CAN SLOWPOKE!" He hissed and followed, but I had the edge on speed, and managed to keep away. Suddenly he shot through a cloud next to me, whapping me over the head with a wing and shouting "YOU'RE IT!" before launching himself into a cloudbank several miles long and deep. I snorted and shot after him, letting the misty cloud obscure me completely. Hiding is useless dear brother.

Death the Kid's POV:

I swerved around a cloud, staring moodily at the ground. Father had told me about Kage and Akuma's connections with the Nightstalker, and I felt sorry for them both. To be hunted by your own family… No wonder they were unused to other people, and a bit hostile to strangers. That also explained the fact they knew witches, especially such odd ones as Lock, Shock, and Barrel. Liz and Patty were somewhere else, probably shopping, so I was alone. That was alright, liberating in fact. Being around such conflicting personalities was exhausting, especially when they were sisters. I winced as I remembered their latest argument. "Why does Kid get to hear about Kage and her brother!?" Patty wailed. Liz hushed her. "He's got more influence with his dad, and he'll tell us later." Patty drummed her heels on the ground. "BUT I WANNA KNOW NOW!" she screamed. Liz sighed. "I know, we'll go to the mall. See ya Kid." They trooped out the door, Patty completely forgetting about learning about Kage and Akuma.

My thoughts were interrupted by a sound. I frowned. Laughter? Who comes up here besides me? A dark blur shot past me, almost knocking me off Beelzebub. It shouted "CAN'T CATCH ME!" I righted myself, panting. What the- Another blur shot past me, bellowing "GIVE ME MY JACKET BACK YOU LITTLE SNITCH OR I WILL RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!" The first person shot up, and with a shock I recognized Kage. She was holding a jacket, one that looked almost identical to hers. But what really got me was the look of pure joy on her face, her eyes lighting up and sparkling. She was laughing hysterically. "Oopsie." She said, dropping the jacket and watching what must have been her brother dive for it. He caught it and circled up, glaring at her.

Then I got past the fact they were having fun and saw wings, ragged, black, loosely formed wings, sprouting from their backs. Wings that were horribly "ASYMETRICAL!" I shouted, blacking out and falling from my skateboard. I fell through the air, expecting to hit the ground hard, but was caught by something warm and soft. I opened my eyes and saw Kage, eyes dancing in amusement, holding me up and beating her- "Gak!" My head dropped again, dazed by the asymmetrical wings. I heard her voice filter through my muddled brain. "Hey, he's bleeding out of his nose and his eye's twitching. Do you think he's okay?" I heard another set of wingbeats and Akuma said "Didn't Liz say something about symmetry fits? I distinctly heard him scream something to that effect."

I felt someone turn my head, examining me. "What do you think we should do to help him wake up?" Akuma's voice said darkly "You can drop him, and if he regains consciousness before he hits the ground, he's fine." I heard a muffled contact, and then Kage said "Hey, Kid, can you hear me? Do something if you can." I twitched my hand, and tried to say something. Her voice said in amusement "Well, he twitched and he moaned. Now Kid, look at our wings. They may be umm, asymmetrical, but they're symmetrically asymmetrical, see? Mine match Akuma's." I opened my aching eyes, seeing that their wings were in fact symmetrical to each other, despite the fact they lacked any other symmetry.

Then something else rose to the top of my mind. "How are you two doing that?" I asked, slurring a little because of the wings. Kage blushed and Akuma said "Sissy here's a shadow-witch. Very rare, very hard to conceal and control. She made these beauties out of our own shadows. Right now, we aren't casting any, although we're too high up for anyone to notice." She blushed brighter and looked around. "Where'd your skateboard go?" she said, looking back down at me. I blinked, and then remembered "Probably vanished when I was knocked out. Let me sit up and I'll summon it." I blushed slightly when I realized she was holding me bridal style, one arm under my knees and the other around my shoulders.

Neither of them seemed to notice, and she maneuvered me so I was sitting up so fast I inadvertently gripped her tighter, realizing with another blush both my arms were around her as well. I let go, muttering "Sorry." Under my breath. I summoned Beelzebub, stepping onto it with a measure of relief. "That's pretty dang cool." Akuma said, inspecting it. Kage nodded, hovering just below it, checking out the bottom. "I see you are a fan of Lord Death." She teased, noting the two skulls on the bottom. I smiled at her slightly. "Ha-ha. What are you two doing up here anyway?" I said, maneuvering away. Kage shrugged, effortlessly coming up next to me.

"Flying. Being. Laughing. Playing. Take your pick." She said, shrugging. Akuma said casually "You don't know what we're talking about? Listen dude, you haven't lived until you've flown. Of course, you know a bit of what we're saying, because you can kinda fly." He gestured towards my skateboard. Kage whacked him with her wing. "Stop being so mean about it. Kid, wanna fly with us for a bit?" I blinked. "You can cast that spell on me?" She nodded. I bit my lip. "…I guess a few minutes wouldn't hurt…" I said hesitantly, not really sure of this at all. She grinned, and I felt a strange warmth in my chest. Why does that make me feel so good?

She started instructing me. "Okay, when you get your wings, to flap them, just kinda shrug your shoulders. It takes a while to remember to do it and talk, so wait until you're sure you're used to it before trying, okay?" I nodded, already reconsidering this. She clapped her hands together, staring at me hard. She started chanting, and the hairs on the back of my neck rose. She was…creepy. "Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real." She droned, and my back felt like I had drenched it in warm water, and I half-turned, seeing a black formless thing slid up my shoulders. "Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real. Shade wings!" I shrugged like she told me to, and felt shock as I lifted up in the air, before coming back down.

She saw my expression and grinned again. "Odd, isn't it? Just do that a whole lot more and you've got it. Don't worry; if you fall we'll catch you." I pumped my wings, feeling an unexpected surge of joy and I wobbled in the air, before dipping slightly. I did this again and again, gaining height until I was up to Kage and Akuma's level. They both cast wicked grins in my direction. Akuma mimed taking pictures. "Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the world's only Reaper with shadow wings, who flies like a drunken chicken." Kage cuffed him again with her wing. "Knock it off. You weren't so smooth your first time either."

I shrugged, but this time it was meant as an actual shrug. "Actually, it is rather hard." I panted, trying to stay in position. Akuma stroked his chin. "You know, this might be a good time for Kamikaze." I blinked. "What's that?" Kage grinned. "This." She said, before folding her wings and dropping to the ground. I stared in mute horror, missing a few wingbeats myself. I gasped as her form grew smaller and smaller. Suddenly something shot past us, and I heard her giggle as we both had to maneuver carefully not to get knocked out of the sky. Akuma explained. "Kamikaze is when you drop as close to the ground as you dare, before shooting up and ramming into the person above you. We aren't going to do that now, because you're a beginner. Once I broke Kage's arm."

Kage dropped back down to our level. "No he didn't, he just bruised me a little. You wanna try Kid?" she said, watching me carefully. I swallowed. "Umm, okay." I copied her movement, folding the shadow-wings close to my body and dropping through the air. It was both terrifying and exhilarating. I couldn't help but whoop in joy as I fell, and then remembered I was supposed to come back up. I shrugged, unfurling the wings. My back muscles immediately shrieked in pain, but I hung in the air, painfully. I flapped again, pulling myself up. When I got back to Akuma and Kage, it felt like my back was on fire. She was talking with him animatedly, and didn't see or hear me. "Excellent controlled drop, but he's probably not going to be able to handle the upswing." He nodded. "Yeah, but he's got style. I heard him shriek, so he must enjoy just as much as we do. Maybe there is something to this whole friend's theory of yours."

I coughed, and they both looked at me. "Oh hey Kid." Akuma said, waving at me. Kage frowned. "Kid, are you okay? You're shadow's hurt." I blinked. My shadow? What is she talking about? Then I missed the flap of the shadow wings, and I dropped again. I twisted, but saw the wings were gone, completely melted away. Then an impact drove all of the breath out of me, and Kage grunted beneath me. "Kid, you need to stop dropping in on me like this." She said teasingly, hair whipping around her face as she pumped her wings in the air. I stared at her, confused. "What happened?" I asked, pointing behind me. "The wings are gone." She bit her lip. "I have no clue. Do you mind?" I blinked, not sure what she was asking me about. "Not…really?" I said, wincing because it sounded more like a question.

I was instantly pulled closer to her and felt a cool hand run along my back. Her face was inches from mine, but she was staring off next to me, completely ignoring my shocked face. Her fingers ran gently along my shoulder blades, and she frowned. "Wings seemed to have vanished completely, ignoring the spell set upon subject, and not merely retracted." She said vacantly, as if thinking out loud. "Casting of perimeter shows no hostile magics, and subject's shadow is still absent from ground." I blinked, realizing she sounded like Stein when he was dissecting something for class. She withdrew her hand from under my shirt and pulled my collar away from my neck, looking at my back. "No visible signs of shadow at all. Did not plaster itself to subject's back, as previously thought."

Akuma coughed. "Sorry about that Kid, she's a bit…Stein-ish when she's trying to find something out. Completely impartial scientist's mind too." Kage blinked like she was waking up. "Hmm? Oh yeah, sorry about that Kid." She said, letting go of my collar. She closed her eyes and frowned, obviously concentrating on something hard. One of her hands reached out into empty air, and she moved her lips slightly like she was saying words. "Got it!" She said in satisfaction, opening her eyes. I looked at her hand, and raised my eyebrows when I saw a dangling shadow. "So what happened? Is that my shadow?" I asked, reaching for it.

She pulled it out of reach, before balling it up and pressing it against my foot. "It shattered." She said, watching it seemingly dissolve into thin air. "Apparently your shadow doesn't take well to being manipulated for great lengths of time. That and you strained something in your back. So it sort of shattered, and peeled away from you. Sorry, I thought I could hold a spell better than that." I shrugged. "That's okay. Is it back now?" She nodded. "Back on the ground, like it always is when you're at this height." I summoned Beelzebub and stepped on. "Well, see you sometime." Said Akuma, dropping back to earth. Kage nodded, and waved. "Yeah, see you Kid." She said before dropping as well. I hovered there in the air, watching how surprisingly agile they were in the air.

I shivered belatedly, remembering how Kage had run her hands over my back. God, why did that feel so good? I shook my head, trying to clear out such strange thoughts. She said I pulled some muscle in my back. That's probably why, her hands were colder than my body, and so it felt good on the pulled muscle or something. That's all. I quickly flew back down to ground level; avoiding the route Kage and Akuma took. I need to do some research or something. It'll take my mind off things. Maybe that Holy Sword I've been hearing about… yes, didn't someone say it was symmetrical?

Kage's POV:

As soon as we got to the ground, Akuma said he wanted some coffee from DeathBucks and wandered off. We both knew that wasn't why he wanted to be gone. Being my brother, as well as my weapon partner, he knew I needed some cooling down space, and that I should just be left alone for a few hours. I walked back inside, shivering. God, I just felt up Lord Death's son. Someone up there hates me right now. I rubbed my upper arms, trying to get the feel of his back out of my mind. Stupid analyzing mind. I wonder if he works out or something, he was very well muscled… oh god, THINK OF SOMETHING ELSE ALREADY. Umm, whats the most likely thing to get HIM off my mind? "Excalibur." A voice said from the room next to me, and I stifled a giggle.

Lame. Oh, that's Blackstar? I so want to see this. I stuck my head in the library, seeing Blackstar and…Kid mooning over the Holy Sword. FOOLS. I thought in my best Excalibur voice. Stein was talking to them now. "Really? You tried to pull the sword?" Blackstar was saying, staring at Stein. Kid was looking at him too. "Even you couldn't draw the sword professor?" He said, and then looked at a book he was holding. "The Holy Sword Excalibur." Blackstar looked at it too. "Now I'm really interested!" I stepped in. "Yeah, Excalibur's a real tough one." I said casually, hands in my pockets. They all stared at me. "You've tried for it too?" said Blackstar, looking jealous. Kid was just staring at me, and I had to put in all my poker-face training not to blush. Stein raised an eyebrow.

"Why don't you have it?" he said, both of us knowing exactly why I didn't. I grinned at him. "Aww, Akuma's all the partner I need. Excalibur's just too much, you know?" He nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, he is." Blackstar grabbed my sleeve. "Alright! You can lead us there!" he said, pulling me towards the entrance. "Wait!" I said, pulling back. "I can't just go running off after the Holy Sword!" Blackstar ignored me. "Kid, a little help here!" I said, yanking as hard as I could. He rubbed the back of his head. "Umm…" I screamed my frustration to the sky. "YOU GOTTA BE FREAKING KIDDING ME! NOT AGAIN!"

Poor Kage. She must suffer the Holy Sword again. *Makes tiny violin sounds* Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!