It quickly became clear to anyone with eyes that Elena relied heavily on Persephone to navigate the ways of the immortal world she had just been dumped in. To be fair, they were very similar. Both were unique in the realm of the immortals, both thrust into it with very little choice in the end, and both were warriors who valued loyalty above all else.
Raphael had privately pegged Persephone as one of Elena's Guard...at least in the event she never rose to archangel anyway. At the very least Persephone would never dance to the tune of polite politics around Elena. She kept the hunter grounded...and provided an excellent sparring partner that Elena could actually keep up with, as well as someone who could teach his beloved how to fly before her wings were ready.
Magical brooms were useful as training tools, and taught the young to read the air currents without risking their wings.
Though he still wondered if introducing them to Quidditch (with the child-safe versions of the bludgers that only left bruises rather than broken bones) was really necessary. Especially since it got so bad that the little ones were now avid fans of the sport and would debate on teams for days.
Lilium laughed herself sick watching Sirius argue over the Bulgarians versus the Ukrainians with some of the fledgling angels.
While she hadn't been an avid fan of the sport like James, she at least kept up with the Harpies, if only for female solidarity. It was hard to fall in love with flying on a broom when you were so used to your own wings. She hated the things because she was always terrified they would break from the strength of her grip and accidentally reveal her true nature to the wizards.
Raphael agreed with her sentiment completely, even if he didn't bother to follow a team like she did.
"You are a godsend, Seph," said Elena honestly. As fun as it was to sit with the little angels, Persephone had a way of helping Elena exercise her independence without feeling absolutely useless because of her weakness.
Because angels had an inherit magic inside them, Persephone decided to teach Elena how to use it and gradually work up to flying on a broom.
In the week since her awakening, Elena could now confidently recite all the 'first year' spells meant to adjust children to using magic for the first time with few errors. Once she was up to it and her core stabilized, they would outsource for some wandwood and use one of Elena's feather's as the core.
Persephone found her 'angel' wand worked infinitely better than the one that held one of Fawkes' tail feathers. Likely because she was using her own instead of some magical creature to amplify it.
Lilium had long since remade her old wand upon this discovery.
Persephone giggled.
"I could say the same to you. Most treat me like a child that has a brain, but a child nonetheless. And it doesn't help that I can change my apparent age whenever I want."
She had spent an entire week about the same age as Sam, to the baby angel's delight.
Persephone hadn't felt this relaxed since she first became friends with Luna.
"I know you were the reason he brought Sara here. Thank you for that," she said quietly.
"If I had been in the same position I would have demanded to see Luna the second I woke up and got over the shock. She's planning to apply for the change once she's older and has a few human children to carry on her bloodline, since vampires don't have children that easily," said Persephone.
It was a known fact that the toxin that carried immortality also had the side effect of lowering the birth rate and causing almost sterility in vampires after the second century.
Considering the only way to kill an immortal usually turned out to be violent affairs, it was probably a good thing. At least it instilled a deep-seated protective and nurturing instinct in the angels when it came to children. So much so that violent enemies could put aside their differences for a small period of time if one of them was bearing a child.
The fact Lilium had been able to bear a daughter so soon after marrying the mortal was a miracle or an abnormality. Either way the birth rate was so low that a century could pass before another angel infant was brought into the world.
Hence why Persephone was babied to a degree, but not dismissed as a child with no idea of how the world actually was.
And why no one questioned the fact she had taken Elena under her 'wing' in navigating the mercurial world of the immortals.
They put up with a lot of minor mishaps from Persephone that she knew they would never put up from Elena. At least, not until her immortality was set in stone. She was simply too human for them to tolerate, too new.
At least Persephone was merely a curiosity. While half-angels were extremely rare, it wasn't unheard of. Even if the wingless ones were easier to find than the immortal ones.
Persephone had a sneaking suspicion that the myths about demi-gods were started by people learning of the existence of half-angels. It would definitely explain so much.
Persephone suddenly grinned.
"Besides, you're just happy that you weren't left alone with only Galen to kick your ass into shape."
Elena let out a startled bark of laughter.
"Raphael treats me like I'm glass. You treat me like you fully expect me to cave your head in on principle."
"I've been there, written the memoir and hated every minute of it. Be glad you don't have to deal with some senile gay man thinking it's in your best interest to go into the fray with the bare MINIMUM of information, a strict no-killing policy, and having to deal with the sheeple judging your every move twenty-four seven."
Elena winced.
Albus Dumbledore had gotten an inquiry from the magical society, found to have his hands in far too many pies even for Merlin himself, and summarily booted from all his posts and told to have a nice quiet retirement.
All because Sirius had deliberately let it slip that "Lily Potter ne Evans" was an archangel currently in charge of Eastern Europe, and that her daughter was in fact angel-born with all the benefits of a full angel.
The fact Dumbledore hadn't noticed an archangel hiding in his school long enough for her to marry a pureblood and carry a child they once called their savior had been the last straw...even if Raphael and Michaela did deal with the Dark Lord issue for them.
Lilium had sent the word out to the werewolves of the magical society with an offer. They could remain 'cursed' and forced to live in small communities, or they could be Made (provided they fit the criteria) into vampires and allowed to live freely in her lands. Most petty crimes would be excused, though any major ones like murder or worse would be heavily scrutinized before they were allowed to even be considered.
Fenrir Greyback got a nasty surprise when Sirius and Remus cheerfully decapitated him the moment he stepped one paw into Lilium's territory. Any feral werewolf that refused either the potion or the offer to live without prejudice...provided they did not turn anyone else, would be hunted down and killed on sight. She wouldn't tolerate unprovoked attacks on civilians.
The magicals gladly avoided the territory...unless they already lived and went to school there. Uram hadn't been interested in the magicals, but Lilium went to their schools and insured that they had a quality education.
Having an archangel take honest interest in their children, most Ministries in her territory came to a written agreement with Lilium within a month of her taking Uram's place.
They would answer her call...within reason...provided that she help keep the peace. Namely ending any Dark Lords that dared to try and set up shop in their peaceful communities.
Basically she was given carte blanche to deal with any idiots who tried to commit mass murder like Voldemort or Grindlewald did. And to execute any idiots from England who tried to stir up trouble again, so long as they were in her territory.
It was more than most archangels bothered with, but Lilium had gotten an ominous foretelling from Luna during her brief visit to see her daughter in New York...with Raphael's permission and Illium watching.
There was war on the horizon. War so dark and horrifying that ancient powers would return, and Raphael and his consort would be in the center of everything. So it was up to his allies, those that would believe the oddball witch, to start shoring up their territory and forging unusual alliances.
To that extent Lilium had found an old village that had been wiped out shortly in the beginning of Uram's madness and had it completely refurbished, free of charge, for the sudden influx of werewolves and their packs.
Remus was considered their voice in the new court, and he listened to every pack member whenever he visited the now thriving village. Sirius personally delivered the Wolfsbane Potion to the village once a month a week before the full moon if any were interested in using it. The silver fences were raised only during the first three days of the full moon and lowered to provide a town boundary. Vampires patrolled the outside at regular intervals to keep anyone from accidentally wandering in or to cause trouble for the werewolves.
England still had an entire squadron of wizards and witches dedicated to killing werewolves. Lilium would prefer not to give them such a tempting target without back-up.
"I have to ask though...why do you use battle fans?" asked Elena. Elena had a preference for guns, crossbows or throwing knives. Persephone danced (for there was no other words for her ability to move so gracefully) with her fans...and as she had demonstrated to Elena once morning with some conjured dummies...was absolutely deadly with them. She wielded fans that had a beautifully painted phoenix on one side, and the most terrifyingly beautifully representation of a dragon version of Raphael (gold-white feathers and all) on the other. The phoenix had the exact same wing pattern Persephone did.
Elena didn't know who gifted her the weapons (she suspected either Galen or someone from Neha's court, as Persephone was beyond popular there) but the fact remained they were Persephone's primary weapons.
Her secondary was a pair of wing-guns capable of damaging even an archangel. Courtesy of her mother.
With a new war on the horizon and so close (for Lilium accepted Luna's warning with absolute trust, following her daughter's lead) Lilium was shoring up her defenses, preparing to send help to Raphael when it finally did break out.
"Primarily because most people who don't fight won't think to confiscate a fan. Even if I have a pass that lets me ignore the usual airport security. So long as I clear it with whoever is in charge of the territory I'm going to, I can fly right to the terminal and into a plane fully armed. Besides, they keep me cool during summers when I'm not cutting heads off with them," added Persephone with a cheeky grin.
Elena let out another amused laugh.
"So you can play the pampered pet and suddenly lob off heads before they realized you've killed them," said Elena.
"Exactly. I did this to a particularly grabby vampire the other night outside a club and you should have seen the shocked face of his friends who thought me a helpless lamb...and that was before I threw off my jacket and told them if they wanted to tangle they better prepare for a tiger with claws," cackled Persephone. The evil glint of amusement in her eyes only doubled when she added the rest of the story "You should have seen their expressions, especially when I informed them they'd get absolutely no sympathy from Jason or Dmitri for it."
Elena was definitely laughing with her now. She could imagine their "Oh shit!" expressions.
"Of course that's not the most amusing piece of information I have..." said Persephone helping Elena fly back to the shared room where they usually spent hours in girl talk. Generally keeping the more...raunchy...bits for when someone they normally considered unflappable was nearby. Like Dmitri. Or Illium. Or Raphael himself once. Just because she had yet to 'hit' what amounted to angel puberty didn't mean she was ignorant. In the words of Illium, it meant she had something to look forward to.
"Oh?"
"Dmitri is about to court someone. A Guild Hunter from your branch."
"Spill!"
"Okay, so you remember Luna right? Well the first time she met Dmitri she asked him if he had 'found his Honor' yet. And she said the last bit with a capital letter. Naturally this baffled him until she told him about soul bonds. Keep in mind this was before Uram and you meeting Raphael and bonding with him. Now every time she saw him she would open up with the question of whether he had 'found his Honor' yet. It got so bad that he eventually looked up any Hunters with the name 'Honor' and found her. Honor St. Nicholas."
"I think I know her. She specializes in ancient languages and the like."
"Well about two or three months after you fell with Raphael, she went missing. Luna immediately alerted Dmitri within the first two days of the kidnapping. Less than a month later he found her, and it turned out some sick vampire was using her for some new 'play'. Needless to say Dmitri was beyond pissed that the vampire thought he could pull this off under his watch, so he killed anyone he caught harming the woman or feeding from her and hunted down anyone even remotely associated with the incident. Sara was horrified and Honor was immediately taken to the infirmary...it turned out Dmitri managed to get to her before it got even worse."
Elena was horrified, and properly so. Which was why she didn't expect how this story would end at all.
"As it turns out, Honor has a long-standing soul bond with Dmitri, and it's so powerful that it literally caused her original soul to reincarnate into a new body just to find him again. Needless to say Dmitri is still being ribbed by Illium and the others because Luna had foreseen he would find his original wife again and had even had enough Sight to tell him exactly where to find her."
It had been that revelation and the fact Luna had all but told him where to find his reincarnated wife from when he was mortal that had convinced Raphael Luna truly could See the future, or enough of it to be taken seriously.
"So now Dmitri plans to court her, once her injuries are healed and her mind is able to handle being in love with a vampire after what happened. He's willing to wait however long it takes until Honor's soul merges with his wife...and apparently she had always had a secret thing for him anyway," said Persephone.
"That is...so romantically cheesy and beautiful. And somewhat hilarious."
She had wondered why Dmitri wasn't throwing that scent lure her way the last few times she saw him.
"I know, right?"
