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Fallen Angel

Chapter 12

Desh was still in the clearing with Remi. He wasn't sure if he should wake her up and go back in or wait for her to wake up on her own. He looked down at her. He was worried. 'Who would have thought that I would ever give a damn about this girl?' he asked himself. He felt his eyes drifting close. He fell asleep.

He watched his beloved Lilith murdered by Kal. He roared in anger and grief. He cradled her dying body in his arms, as her life's blood bled out around them. She reached up and touched his face. Suddenly, she disappeared and all Desh could hear was the maddening laughter of Kal.

"I'll find you, you murdering son of a bitch! Do you hear me, Kal! I'LL KILL YOU!" he screamed into the coming darkness. He was surrounded by it. He began to fight his way through it, trying to find Kal. The darkness changed and became softer, thicker. He felt himself calm. Desh let himself drift as he closed his eyes, embracing it like a love. He floated for what seemed like eternity. 'So peaceful,' he thought.

Something brushed his face, feather light. 'Feathers? What?' He opened his eyes in the dream...

And woke up in the real world, but at first he thought it was still a dream. Remi knelt in front of him, hand poised just above his forehead. On her back there were... 'Wings?' He stared at her. Her eyes contained flecks of silver that hadn't been there before she had slept. Her wings... 'Black. Black as midnight. She has black angel's wings.' With out really thinking about it, he reached behind her and ran his hand over the glossy feathers. He looked back at her face. She looked a little uncomfortable.

"Are you done yet?" she asked as she sat down in front of him. He pulled his hand away.

"What...are you?" he responded. He hadn't really meant to say it but...still...

He watched her expression change. Sorrow, guilt, anger, pain. All of these flashed through her silvery blue eyes. "I'm...a Draconian. Well, a half-breed actually." She smiled ruefully. "My mother was a pure-blood. My father was human." He watched her carefully as she took a deep breath. " Her name was Kotanosh. She was beautiful, my mother. She had long, light colored hair and pure silver eyes. I never really new if you could have called her blond. She always reminded me of a moonbeam. She was a kind woman, always making sure that everyone was happy. She used to take me to all sorts of places." Her expression became saddened, and then hardened slightly. "She didn't deserve what that bastard Xavier did to her."

"How did she come to be here? Why marry your father?" He was trying to steer the conversation away from that subject. He didn't want to see her cry again.

"It's a long story." He just looked at her and said, "We have plenty of time. You might as well start."

"Ok, but try not to interrupt me. It's always hard to start." She took another deep breath. "My mother ran away from her people. She was trying to protect them. She was powerful and that made her a big target. Mom was tired of watching those she cared about dying to protect her. So, she stripped herself completely of her powers, her wings. She came to live in the human world. Her hunters pursued her still. Eventually, over the years, she came to believe that she had finally lost them. Mom settled down with Daddy and had me. When she realized that I had inherited what had made her such a prize, she began to train me. She taught me how to hide, how to protect, how to run away. In the end it didn't make a difference. We were both caught, as I believe Asher has already told you." She fell silent and stared at the ground. Desh thought she would cry again. "Oh, please, no. I have no idea what to do with a sobbing girl.'

"Why did he, Xavier, want her so bad?" The moment he said it, he wished he hadn't. 'Smart Desh. Why don't you cut and rub salt on the wounds as well.' She tensed and gazed back up at her. She was angry. "Sorry," he muttered. His expression softened.

"It's ok," she whispered. "I guess you should know. I have a feeling that you are about to be dragged into this anyway." She closed her eyes. 'I wonder if she's about to have a break down or something.' Her eyes opened. "He wanted her, in every sense of the word. He lusted after her and she said 'no.' He wanted her power. He wanted control and when he realized he wasn't going to ever have any of it, he started killing everyone close to her. When he found out about me, well...I became his new object of desire. I replaced my mother in his eyes after he tore her throat out." Her voice was becoming softer, more detached.

He put a hand on her shoulder. Her expression thawed a little. He decided to ask another question. "Tell me about your mother's people." 'Ok, it was a command. So what?' She looked a bit startled by his question, but answered anyway.

"We are descendents of dragons, Deshwitat. We have power over the eight natural elements of the world. Earth, Air, Fire, and Water are the Primary Elements. Ice and Lightning are Secondary Elements. The last two, Light and Shadow are the Balancers or the Origins. We are guardians and warriors. We watch over ancient lands and the tombs of those that have gone before us. Draconians all have wings. There is no exception. The only way to loose them is through injury or by stripping your powers, like my mother. The color of their wings varies, though. From white to brown to gray to blue. There are those with green in their wings, or gold. The royal family is known by their gold tipped wings." He noticed that she never mentioned black. He looked at her wings and asked, "Is black a common color?"

Remi shook her head. "No. I am the only one in our known history to have black wings. I believe it is because I'm only half. Others think it means that I am cursed or blessed. Even more say I will be the destruction of our entire race. That I am a bringer of death and should have been killed as a baby."

"It never bothered you?" He recalled the night his parents had been killed and being captured at the circus.

"It did at first. Eventually, after they got tired of getting hurt, they stopped saying it. To my face at least." She paused and shook her head. "On another note, we, as most humans do, believe in one divine being. We believe in a goddess, however, and our society is matriarchal. For the most part, anyway. Our goddess is Motahi Nilcha in the old language or Mother Night now. We believe that she rules the afterlife, what we call the Darkness. We believe in neither heaven nor hell." She fell silent and stared at him for a long while. He stared back. 'What now? She isn't going to break down again or something is she?'

"I have never told anyone that much about what I am. The only exception is Serena, and I only told her after 4 years of saving each other's asses."

"Then why tell me?" he asked. She was doing it again. 'I'm getting confused. That had nothing to do with topic at hand. What brought that up?'

"I don't know Desh. I don't know." They sat silently for a few more minutes. He decided to say something.

"We should be heading back now. Surely they have finished with Serena." Her face brightened. He stood up and looked down at her as she pulled herself up as well. She began to walk out of the clearing.

"Didn't you forget something, Remi?" he asked. She looked puzzled then blushed in embarrassment. She folded the wings and they disappeared, leaving only stray black feathers behind. They went back to the house.

Rett sat tapping his foot impatiently. 'Where are they?' he wondered. 'What the hell could be taking Desh so long to find one kid?' He pounced on them as they walked into the room. Desh put a restraining hand on his chest and shook his head. 'What does he mean 'don't ask?' he thought angrily.

Remi asked, "How's Serry? Is she gonna be alright?"

"Yep. You wanna go in?"

"Of course I do! Why would you even ask such a stupid question, breast-master?" She used her old, offensive nickname for him with great amusement. That's what he thought anyway.

"You're going to have to wait a bit, brat. Eiji's with her." He watched her pale. He laughed out right at her expression. "There have been no noises of distress from her room, so we assumed that he hadn't done anything...yet." Remi shook her head and said, "I bet you twenty that we will hear screaming from that room in exactly 20 seconds."

"You're on, kid!" She began to count aloud as he counted in his head.

As their countdown hit one there was a screech from the neighboring room. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? WHAT AM I DOING HERE? REMI! WHERE ARE YOU? WHO TOOK ME FROM THAT BATTLEFEILD?" There was a short pause. "YOU WHAT! AND YOU LISTENED! YOU MORON! YOU AND THAT VAMP ARE DEAD MEAT!" There was a small explosion. Eiji ran into the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"That woman is crazy!" he exclaimed between pants. The door rattled and exploded. Eiji went flying and changed into wood using his escape magic. There were little purple lightning bolts flowing over everything in the room. Serena stalked in. 'We are in deep shit,' he thought as he followed Deshwitat's example and made a run for it. The hot-tempered psychic kept up the chase until daybreak.