Disclaimer: ...yawn bored... you should all know this by now...

Fallen Angel

Chapter 16

Desh came to slowly. He remembered falling into the mirror after Remi but after that...he didn't have a damn clue. The first thing he realized when he opened his eyes was that the sun was up. The second thing was that he wasn't being burned by it. 'What?' Desh looked down, examining himself. He noticed a dark sheen over his skin and clothing. Desh frowned as he sat up and looked around. There was an unfamiliar weight at his neck. He reached up and found a necklace. Still frowning he searched for Remi, but couldn't see her. He got to his feet and began walking around, trying to find where she went.

'Where in world am I?' he wondered as he walked through the wooded area. As he came out of the forest, he spotted a large city with what looked to be a large temple or castle in the middle. 'I guess she went there...'

When he reached the town, all he saw were young children, women and the elderly. He wondered the men and "teenage" boys went. As he walked through the city, Desh could hear whispers following him. He blocked out most of it but then heard one woman state, "Did you hear? The princess has returned. She flew in early this morning. Can you believe it?" He turned his head slightly looking for the speaker. He found her and her friend just as the other responded, "Oh? You mean the half-breed? The one with those cursed black wings of hers?"

"Yes, that's the one," the first woman whispered back. "I also hear she's taken to working with vampires, and with the long standing vendetta we Draconians have against them! I mean, really, her mother was a bad seed, too, you know," the woman sighed. "Well, you know what they say, 'the chick doesn't fly far from the nest."

'That's it! I can't take these idiots gossip anymore!' Desh began walking toward the two women.

"Yeah and I hear t—"

Desh cut her off as he walked between them. "Excuse yourself!" demanded the second woman. Desh glared at her. Both women paled. "Y-your a-a v-va..." the first stuttered. The second pulled her away and they left in a hurried walk, then taking flight, still whispering amongst them. 'Stupid women...people like that should be thrown off a cliff onto some incredibly sharp rocks, but at least, thanks to them, I know that Remi is hear...somewhere...' Desh continued on his way.

'So this is her hometown,' he thought as he inspected the buildings. All the doors were well above ground level. There were shops and houses in a variety of decorations. Desh continued to think about where the hell Remi might be when...

SMACK!

Desh stumbled slightly as he was hit by something large with wings. "WHAT THE HELL!" he yelled.

"Oh! Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry! A thousand apologies, sir!"

Desh looked at a girl that looked no older than thirteen who was hovering in front of him, hands over her mouth. "Darkness take it! I hate the winds this time of year! I'll never get the hang of them!" Desh could only stare at her. She finally looked at him. She gasped. "Hey! You must be the vampire everyone is talking about! Hmm...Dark...check... tall...check...scary...check, check... Yep, you must be him!" Desh was silent. 'What is she talking about?'

The girl frowned. "Are you mute as well?" Desh just stared at her, hoping she would go away. She was annoying him. She sighed and said, "Oh well..." She then looked him strait in the eye, smiling evilly. "I guess you don't want to know about the princess then!" She made as if to fly away.

"Wait!" Desh finally said.

"About time," she said.

"Where's Remi?"

"Remi? Oh! You mean Princess Reminsha. So that's her human name...I guess it's a good name, for a human that is." The girl began to ramble about absolutely nothing. 'This child is beginning to really irritate me,' he thought to himself. "...I wonder what the weather will be like tomorrow, maybe—"

"Where is she!" Desh yelled at her. He couldn't take anymore of her idiotic chatter. It was almost as bad as the gossipers before. Everyone had stopped to stare at him, as well. It was not helping his mood.

"Mother Night! Impatient aren't you? Well, I know where she is, but I won't tell you for free." She thought for a few seconds. Desh was a little uncomfortable, as he had nothing to give the girl. She startled him when she said, "Your ring."

He looked down at the gold ring. "No."

"Fine. Good bye."

"No damn it! I need you to tell me!"

"Your ring then."

"I can't..." The girl looked at him, interested. He explained about Lilith, leaving out Kal. He told her about the purpose and power of the rings. There was a short silent after he finished.

"Alright."

"What do you mean 'alright'?"

"Your story is payment enough. I'll tell you where your princess is." Desh was about to tell her that Remi wasn't his princess, when he heard from behind him, "There his is! Seize him!" He turns and sees no one, then, hitting himself mentally, he looked to the sky. He saw a group of well organized men, all wearing armor, flying towards him with their weapons drawn. He spun back to the girl, saying, "Quick! Where is she?"

"In the basilica three streets over!" He nodded his thanks and ran.

"STOP! In the name of the High Priest!" He heard a small explosion, followed by cursing. "Damn you, wench!" one of the soldiers said. Desh heard the girl yell, "May the Mother guide and protect you and the princess, vampire!" Desh kept running.

Three streets later he looked up to see a huge silver disc with a black moon pictured on it. 'This must be it,' he thought. 'But first...' He turned to the soldiers that had followed him, their swords drawn as they advanced. They had put themselves between him and the entrance. 'Bad choice...'

"Born in darkness, living in darkness, until death in darkness! The six brothers in shadow, I command you, by your unholy oaths, open the gates to this world and destroy my enemy!" They were about five feet away. He unleashed the summon. "Demon's Baptism!"

Meanwhile...

Remi was worried about Desh. She hadn't wanted to just leave him but she hadn't thought he would come after her. The best she had been able to do was spell her necklace to keep him from burning in sunlight and leave him in the forest. She sighed out loud. She checked the sundial. 'Damn!' She was sick of waiting. She began to wander the dark hallways of the basilica. "HIGH PREIST!" she screamed. She spun towards him as he began clapping.

"I was wondering when you would come, niece. I'm glad we didn't have to wait very long."

'We!' she thought. 'Damn, that means...' Remi's suspicions were confirmed as soldiers poured into the hall. She braced herself for an attack, her hatred for her second uncle growing by the minute. She glared at him.

"Don't look at me like I am the enemy. I am not the one who killed her. Plus, it's her fault for your hatred. We could have been such good friends," he said. Remi's blood was boiling with rage. "What is your definition of 'killed'? Was that before or after your ordered her death!" she spat back.

"So you know then? Oh well..." Even though he said it calmly, Remi could tell she had angered him. It made her feel better. He raised his right hand and the men assembled moved forward, attacking. She fought back, but was already so tired. She was not at her best.

"Don't fight it, princess! It's no use. No one knows your here except us and your little friend!" the Priest yelled. "Desh!" she said. She fought harder against her attackers.

"Is that his name? Well, no matter. I do not really care about the name of one who has already returned to the Darkness."

Remi gasped, but quickly recovered as she took out another soldier. "You lie! He is not dead!" she shouted over to her uncle. "Really princess?" he responded. "Why would I need to lie to you? I sent my personal guards after him as soon as knew he had entered the city." She knew he was toying with her as she struggled to throw off another attacker.

"NO! I WON'T ALLOW THIS!" she screamed. She gathered her power and sent it outward in a short pulse. The men closest to her fell dead, but the others just circled her warily.

"As much as I would enjoy watching you die, I have an appointment at the palace. My brother has demanded my presence." Remi watched him begin to walk away. He stopped at the doorway, turning his head slightly. "Your mother tried to steal the throne and you saw what I had done to her. Now you dare stand here and make the same mistake. I bid farewell, princess." The parting look he gave her was of pure hatred. She was betting that hers made his look like love. The men began to close in around her again. "Enjoy your last minutes of life!" Her uncle walked out.

She readied herself but paused as she heard, faintly, "...world and destroy my enemy!" She grinned at her assailants and threw herself to the ground, covering herself with her arms and wings. 'I hope this doesn't bring the basilica down on my head.'

"Demons Baptism!"

BOOM!

The next couple of seconds after his attack were a blur to Desh. He had begun looking around to survey the damage, but didn't get that long of a look because someone grabbed his hand and pulled him towards an alley, away from the rubble. Desh couldn't tell who it was, due to all the dust and smoke in the air from the explosion. He pulled his fist back and let loose a punch, but another hand caught his. He realized both hands were small. He alsorealized the person leading him was Remi.

When they were far enough away and he could see her clearly, he saw she was covered in blood. "Remi, you ok?"

She looked down at herself. "Oh, don't worry," she said and smiled at him. "It's mostly not my blood." She continued to lead him, at a run, until they were well out of the city, and back into the forest he had woken up in. They slowed down to a walk. She was still leading him by the hand.

"Um...Remi..." Desh said.

"Hmm? What? Don't worry. I used to come here when I was young. We aren't lost or anything."

'Not what I was thinking...' he thought. She let go of his hand and began looking around. They had stopped at the base of a mossy cliff side. He watched her drop to her knees. "I know its here somewhere," she muttered. 'She's going insane. She finally cracked under the strain,' Desh thought as he leaned against the cliff. She looked up at him saying absently, "I am not crazy. Now...Mother Night! It's been so damn long... Oh! I remember now." She sprang into the air. "Here it is!"

'Yep. Totally off her rocker...' he was thinking before he was bombarded with a random bunch of pillows and blankets. He was about to yell at her when the wall behind him disappeared. 'What the—' He lost his balance and fell backwards. He hit his head and closed his eyes, slowly counting to ten.

"Oh sorry, Desh!" Remi said. 'She sounds really close,' he thought. He opened his eyes and found out why. She was hovering inches above him. She started and jumped when he opened his eyes. He shook his head and stood up, only to hit his head again. "Damn it!" he said with feeling. He rubbed his head. He looked around. 'A cave?'

Remi, after retracting her wings, crawled in, saying, "It's a lot smaller than I remember...Oh well, it'll work." She looked at him as he followed her. "I used to hide here when I felt lonely or got angry when I was staying here."

Desh nodded, not sure what to say. Remi handed him two pillows and some blankets. "Thanks," he said. She nodded and said, "This is safest place I know. No one knows about it but me. I once thought about telling Serry, but I changed my mind. Plus, the sun doesn't reach here and I don't know how long that necklace will hold the spell." She put a blanket under her, making a make-shift bed.

"You made this?" he asked.

She laughed a little. "Who else? I wasn't just going to let you burn. I'm not that much of a bitch." She sat back and closed her eyes. Desh saw her lips move and the entrance to the cave close up.

'I thought she wanted me dead though...' his thoughts were interrupted as she called to him. "Desh? I can't really see and I think the candles and matched are close to you. Can you light them?" He could still see. (A.N. Vampires have excellent night vision...) Without responding, he located them and lit the candles.

"Thanks," she said. "We'll stay here for a while. Then, we'll go talk to the king." Desh just nodded.

"Sheesh, your quiet." She shrugged and then said, "Well, anyway, while we're here, we might as well rest up. Good night." She lay down and pulled a blanket over herself. Desh listened to her breathing as it evened out and deepened, signaling that she was sleeping.

'She must have had a hard time inside that basilica or whatever it was called. I wonder what happened exactly.' He leaned back on his own pillows, still watching her. 'It was probably hard for her to come back here...' Desh spoke softly to the sleeping girl, "Sweet dreams."

Back in the Human World...

"I'm sooo bored!" Rett complained.

The red head sitting in the chair opposite of him yawned. "I know. I can hear your thoughts remember?"

Rett sighed. "We can't do anything until Desh and the kid gets back, although I can think of a few things me and you can do to pass the time." Serry did not like the look in eyes; it had a maniacal quality to it. She also blocked out the man's thoughts. To her great surprise however, before she could respond, another voice shouted, "Don't even think about it!" She turned at looked at the ninja sitting in the corner.

"Oh lighten up, Eiji! I didn't really mean it," Rett said as he leaned back in his chair. 'Yeah right,' Serry thought darkly.

The door to the office opened the monk, Beryun, walked in. She was followed by Millenear. "We just talked to Master Tae. She advised us to stay put," the blond priestess said.

"Ohh..." Rett moaned. "But there's nothing to do!"

"You could always do some paperwork for me," Asher said, walking in. Serry smiled at the idea of the enormous swordsman doing paperwork. She choked down a giggle.

"As much as I would highly enjoy that, I think I'll have to pass," Rett said sarcastically. Asher grinned. "Well then, you could always help us train beginners."

"Oh no you don't!" Serry said, afraid. "Do I need to remind you of the one that bites?" She saw Eiji and Rett exchange worried looks.

"Oh, no need to worry, he's not here right now—full moon, remember?" Asher responded.

"Ok then, how about that ice girl? Remember her?"

"Well she's matured since that incident."

"And how about the elves? They're still pissed at me!"

"That's why we can assign Rett to the class," Asher said reasonably.

Serry heard Rett say, "Oh wait a minute. I really don't—" before Asher cut him off saying, "Oh, nonsense. You'll love them." Serry got an evil idea.

"We could always give him Remi's class, if you're so eager to have him teach."

Asher paled. "I wouldn't wish those demons on even my worst enemy. How we ever managed before Remi came back, I'll never know. Please tell me your joking, Serena." She laughed evilly. "Please, Serena. I think you're scaring them and I know you're scaring me."

Serry turned to Rett. "Well, go down to level five, training room five-zero-nine. The class will be waiting for you there. Don't worry; I'm sure you'll be fine."

"But..."

"No buts! It's not like it's extremely dangerous."

"What do you mea-"

She held up a hand. "No more," she said smiling. "I'll see you down stairs." She got up and began to walk out. She heard the others following her, Rett still saying, "But, but, but..."

"Oh well," she laughed. "I wonder what Remi's up to."