A/N: So I've decided to continue the story because I can't ever focus on one story at a time, I always get ideas for new stories while I'm working on something else. I don't want this story to be too long, I do want to return to Maneater, I just want to get this story out of my brain. Depending on where my brain decides to take it, it may turn into a full novel but I don't want to make any promises.
Anyways, enjoy. :)
Sebastian was back, hiding behind that boulder again. It had been just over a week and he hadn't heard from Ibara yet so he figured he would check in. Beatrice and Violet were seated by the lake, Violet making a crown out of daisies. Ibara didn't appear to be anywhere near, maybe she was just busy?
"How long did you say she would be gone?" The blond one, Beatrice, asked.
"Two centuries at minimum." The brunette, Violet, answered, not even looking up. "I knew she wasn't ready to patrol the gardens with us, 500 years is too young to be on patrol duty."
"She was doing so well." Beatrice mused. "To be sent to the human world after being in Eden all your life must be hard."
"She'll be fine." Violet assured her. "That's what you get for messing around with a demon."
"If I find that worm, I'll kill him." Beatrice said, cracking her knuckles. Sebastian believed it too. Where Ibara was all soft curves and beautiful features, Beatrice was all hard lines and borderline brute strength. Violet sat somewhere in the middle, pretty but a little too muscled for Sebastian's tastes. He shrank behind the boulder, tucking his wings in tight to make sure he wouldn't be seen. Oh no. She must have been punished for his actions.
"Calm down, I don't think he'll be back." Violet said. "We'll see her soon enough. Maybe the senate will grant us pardon to go see her?"
That must have been why he hadn't heard from her. She'd been banished to the human world as punishment. Sebastian began to walk away, deeper into the garden so he could take light without them noticing. He had two options now. He could either give up and forget about her and find a new source of entertainment or he could go to the human realm and look for her there.
Over the course of the next month, he tried everything to forget about her. He'd spent almost the entire time in hell tormenting spirits, bedding different succubi, and drinking at various feasts every night. Nothing was working and he couldn't get the image of her falling apart out of his head.
Then, the dreams started.
She was on top of him, those magnificent wings spread wide and her head was tossed back in bliss. Her nails were digging into his shoulders as he thrusted up into her, his hands in a bruising hold on her hips. He was entranced by the sight of her breasts bouncing with every movement and he pinched her nipple making her squeal.
Her back arched and she gripped him harder, hard enough that her nails were almost drawing blood and he went harder, making her tremble. Her release washed over her and the pulsing of her walls around him made his eyes roll back, making him reach his own end.
Her smile when she looked at him was warm and inviting and he couldn't help but smile back at her.
He woke with a start. This was the third time this week he'd had a dream like this about her. It was final. He needed to find her.
It had been 15 years and he still hadn't been able to find her. He felt like he had checked everywhere and while the human world was a little different than he remembered it, it couldn't be all that different, could it?
He settled down in a large clearing, his wings vanished with a simple spell so if anybody stumbled upon him, he wouldn't seem suspicious. He was just resting his head on his pack, the full moon providing him with a little bit of light, when a roar rattled the leaves of the trees around him. He bolted up, on his feet before he was even fully awake, slinging his pack over his shoulder and drawing a large curved knife the length of his forearm. What the hell was that?
He squinted at the far edge of the clearing where he could hear something crashing through the brush. His eyes then widened as a figure darted out from between the trees and to his shock, green amber eyes met his and shared a look of absolute shock. That shock didn't last and anger filled her gaze.
"What are you doing here?" Ibara snapped. Before he had the chance to answer, the same roar broke out from behind her, drawing her attention away from him. Her anger was turned towards the large troll that came crashing through the trees after her. She wielded a sword that he hadn't seen before and rolled out of the way when the beast brought his club smashing down where she had just been standing. Her wings were either just hidden from view or gone completely, allowing her to move a bit more freely.
Ibara disappeared out of nowhere, popping up on the beast's shoulder and stabbed the troll through the eye with her sword, burying it to the hilt. The troll gave one final roar and dropped like a stone, Ibara rolling as she hit the ground, popping back up onto her feet. She pulled her sword from the beast, now dead, and whirled on Sebastian.
Sebastian held his hands up nervously, hoping she wasn't going to just run him through with her blade.
"Why the fuck are you here?" She hissed. He felt a shot of heat rip through him at that. So she'd learned how to swear, maybe she'd be banished to earth forever.
"I came looking for you." He explained. "I went back to the garden to see you again…and I heard from Beatrice and Violet that you'd been banished here." He then crossed his arms. "You are not an easy angel to find."
"Good. I prefer it that way." Ibara scowled at him, then turned back to the troll. "It's bad enough that I have all kinds of hellspawn like this chasing after me all over this bloody planet, I don't need a demon on my tail too."
"Is this a common occurrence?" Sebastian asked. She sighed heavily.
"Unfortunately." She frowned. "Every few days I have to save the city I live in from some sort of nasty beastie. I draw them out here to finish them off so I don't have to do much damage control in the city."
"Smart." Sebastian gave her a small smile. "I knew you had a brain in the pretty head."
"Well, clearly I'm not that smart. I let you trick me and now I'm banished to earth for another 195 years at minimum. The senate my extend it if I disappoint." She then pointed at him with her sword. "I ought to kill you for that."
"Will you?" He cocked an eyebrow. For sure he could take her, but that little disappearing trick may be a bit of a problem. She lowered her weapon, shaking her head.
"No. I'm tired." She sighed, then started walking away, shaking the blood off of her sword. With a wave of her hand, the troll's body dissolved into gold dust which seeped into the ground and erupted into a soft patch of grass. She continued to walk away from him, so he jogged over and caught up to her.
"Where are you going?" He asked, catching her by the wrist. Ibara glanced at him, too exhausted to put any venom behind it.
"Home." She replied, shaking him off. " I need a nice hot bath and a glass of wine."
"Oh…" He said, disheartened. She glanced at him again, then rolled her eyes.
"I suppose if you don't have anywhere else to go for the night, you can stay on my couch. If you want." She invited him, making him perk up.
"Really?" He caught up to her again, beaming at her as he walked beside her. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it." Ibara said, cutting him off when he opened his mouth. "Seriously, don't." He quietly followed he back towards the main road nearby. There, he found a motorbike and was incredibly surprised when she straddled it. She tossed him a helmet, giving him a small smile. "Hop on, loverboy."
"Loverboy?" He quirked an eyebrow at her but put the helmet on without any further comment. She budged up so he could fit on the back and he wrapped his arms snuggly around her as she kicked the motorbike to life. He felt more than heard the bike roar to life and took a moment to savour how warm she was and how she fit in his arms. He may be a demon…but he was a soft one, maybe a little too human for his own good.
She drove them into town, going a little too fast to truly be safe and he wondered what had happened to make this little angel develop an edge.
20 minutes later, Sebastian found himself in a rather nice apartment. It wasn't extremely lavish, but it was cozy and comfortable. Ibara gestured towards the couch.
"It's all yours." When she waved her hand, two thick blankets and a fluffy pillow floated over from where they were tucked in a closet. She caught them mid-air and handed them to him. "If you need anything, let me know."
"You're too kind." He smiled and took them. She rolled her eyes.
"I'm an angel, it's kind of my job to be kind even to those who wrong me." Ibara said, turning away from him, unbraiding her hair and tossing off her black leather jacket. earth had definitely changed her. She then called over her shoulder. "If you need anything, let me know."
She was still stunning and charming as they day he'd met her but like a fine wine, she had aged well. Being on earth had removed her from her heavenly peers where she had constantly been fed a narrative of always doing what was right. Letting a demon stay in her apartment after he'd ruined her life? Blasphemous. If the senate found out, they'd definitely extend her sentence. Maybe they'd let her stay on earth forever? That would be nice, then he could see her without having to sneak into Eden.
He heard the tap start in the bathroom and decided to make himself comfortable, kicking off his shoes and stripping off his jacket as well. He wandered into her kitchen, spotting the bottle of red which he then plucked from the top of the fridge. A bit more searching led to him finding her wine glasses and he proceeded to pour both himself and her a healthy glass. He put the wine back, then picked up the glasses and took them to where he'd seen her disappear, knocking on the door to get her attention.
She hummed from inside and he took that as an acknowledgement to come in. Ibara was in the rather large bathtub, her head cradled against the lip. Her hair was up in a messy bun and her eyes were closed; she didn't look when he came in.
"I brought you wine." Sebastian said, sitting on the closed toilet, holding her glass out to her which she took between wet fingers. He could barely see her form beneath all the suds and made an effort to focus on her face. "I wanted to apologize…for getting you banished."
"I've taken it as a blessing if I'm being honest with you." She glanced at him, her jewel eyes fixing him with a sad stare. "But I miss my home, I miss Beatrice and Violet, I miss the lake where we met, and I just miss Eden."
"I'm sorry." He bowed his head. "Really. If I had known you'd be wrenched from everything you know, I wouldn't have bothered you."
"A demon apologizing?" She cocked an eyebrow at him, then took a long sip of her wine. "Maybe I underestimated you. Besides, I'm not being punished for your actions, I'm being punished for mine. I'm the one that enjoyed it."
"How could they punish you for enjoying something?" Sebastian asked, shocked. "You can't control your feelings."
"Apparently you're supposed to." She shrugged. "But, being here on earth…maybe I was made a little different."
"I feel that." He sipped his wine, relaxing a bit. "I've always been made fun of for being different. For being softer than the others. I was always told I'm as bad as a human when it comes to my emotions."
"Maybe we're both made…wrong." She frowned. "If that's the case…. then maybe you and I aren't made to fit in?"
"It certainly feels like it." Sebastian agreed. "I've been made fun of for years for not being as violent as my companions."
"I'll let you in on a secret." She said, turning her head towards him. Sebastian quirked an eyebrow. "I was top of my class graduating from the academy, one of the best warriors. But I got in trouble a lot for asking too many questions. My teachers tried to stamp it out of me for years with various forms of punishment. Eventually, I stopped asking questions." She took another sip of her wine, licking the crimson from her lips. "Being banished to earth…is somehow one of the best things that ever happened to me. Here, creativity and curiosity are encouraged and praised and it's amazing."
"They don't let you be creative in heaven?" Sebastian gave her a surprised look. She nodded.
"Art is the only creativity that's encouraged." She explained. "When it comes to solving problems, you're supposed to do what they tell you."
"And, let me guess, you don't like following the rules?" He chuckled when she nodded.
"Unfortunately, yes." She finished her wine off, then handed him her glass. "The senate was worried I would be a problem; I've always been told I'm too powerful for my own good. That's why I wear this." She held up her right wrist where a gold cuff was fastened. Inlaid was a large ruby that caught the candlelight surrounding them, making look like it was full of blood. Sebastian whistled.
"That's beautiful." He commented, looking closer. "What does it do?"
"It nullifies my power. Diminishes it so it isn't as easy to trace." She then lowered her wrist back into the tub. "I wear it almost at all times unless I absolutely need the full strength of my power."
"Impressive." Sebastian smiled and held his own wrist out where a tattoo was placed, the midnight ink making his skin seem even whiter than it actually was. "I could almost say the same thing, but I don't think we're on the same level though, I've never been hunted for my power."
"You're lucky then." She stretched, the bubbles swishing around her form as she did. "I hate it so much. Speaking of which, I have to go to the fae village tomorrow, I'm almost out of mana."
"Mana?" Sebastian asked.
"Food straight from heaven." She leaned forwards and popped the plug from the drain. "Pass me a towel?"
Sebastian nodded and got to his feet, pulling a towel from the cupboard that she had pointed to. He turned and his eyes went wide as she emerged from the water. Yes, he had seen the more intimate parts of her before but seeing her in her entirety made him lick his lips unknowingly. She raised an eyebrow and held out her hand for the white fluffy towel which he reluctantly relinquished. The white gown she had worn in the garden did not do her justice and he had the same hungry urge that had made him attack her in the garden.
"Don't even think about it." She scowled, wrapping the towel around herself. "Out, I need to get dressed for bed." He followed her out and leaned against the doorframe, watching with hungry eyes as she wiped herself dry with the towel and pulled out a pair of tiny shorts and a baggy t-shirt. When she was dressed, she gave him an unimpressed look and he simply gave her an impish smile, making her roll her eyes.
He almost jumped back when her wings appeared from nowhere, the startling white almost too pure to be out on earth. She shook them out, taking a soft brush from her nightstand and started brushing them. The brush was too soft to be used on hair, clearly made to take care of the soft downy feathers covering her wings.
"I'll take these back to the kitchen." He said, holding the empty wine glasses up. She nodded and let him go. He quickly rinsed the wine glasses out, then headed back to the bedroom. Her brush was now floating in air and she was lying on her stomach, the round peach of her ass barely covered by the tiny shorts she had donned peaking through between the enormity of her wings. The brush was working on the back of her wings and she let out a heavy sigh as the brush made its way to the top of her wings. He tilted his head, unable to relate to the pleasure of his wings being brushed as he didn't have any feathers but instead had the leathery wings of a bat.
"Do you…want help with brushing your wings?" he offered. She shook her head.
"No, I'm okay." She answered. "I'm almost done anyways, I'm about ready to go to sleep." She then yawned and glanced at him over her wing. "Do you need anything else?"
"No…I'll see you in the morning?" Sebastian said.
"Yeah." She then went quiet for a second before she spoke again. "If you're up early, you can join me in going to the fay village."
"Really?" His eyes lit up. Ibara nodded.
"If you can promise to behave yourself, yes." Ibara answered.
"Thank you, I'll see you in the morning." Sebastian gave a small bow, then proceeded to head back to the living room where he settled into the couch. He couldn't help but feel a little excited for tomorrow. He'd heard of fae villages but had never had the chance to visit one. The entire night was spent dreaming of what he could expect.