"Surprise!" said Loki.

"Holy cow!"

"Where's the cow?" asked Loki, mock looking for said bovine. She punched him in the arm.

Melody was looking at the new truck Loki had 'bought' for her with a large cap on the back. Inside was an expanded space that was enchanted like the tent she had slept in during the World Cup.

Loki didn't want her in a flimsy tent that could collapse. A truck with a built in house attacked to the back was much safer, and it was mobile in the event of an attack. And since Loki was a known trickster, an attack was possible, especially if hunters were in the area.

But what Melody really loved about it was the surround sound.

Like her name suggested, Melody loved music. Loki joked that her mother had named her for the two things she loved the most. Music and beauty. Hence why her name was Melody Rose. It certainly didn't help that Melody had been the top singer in the choir before Petunia learned of the extra lessons and had made her quit.

"You do realize I don't know how to drive right? The last time I was in a car it crashed into a tree that nearly killed me," said Melody.

"That's because Ron is an idiot. Driving's not that difficult to learn, and I'll be teaching you while we travel around," said Loki.

Driving wasn't difficult. It was trying to do that and not crash when demons were attacking that was difficult. And after that one really wild party Melody had gone to her second day there, she had settled down.

Loki knew she just needed to get it out of her system now before calming down back to normal levels...however he was also aware that she was dangerously close to snapping after the hell she had gone through thanks to Voldemort and the idiot known as Dumbledore. If he didn't keep an eye on her, things would grow disastrous when she finally did crash.

"So...why are we here?" asked Loki.

They were in the magical shopping district, and Melody was in the more...youthful...half of it looking at a particular shop.

It was a magical tattoo parlor, and it boasted a unique skill set. Tattoos that could take shape outside the skin.

"I want to get one," she said simply.

"I get that much, but why?"

Melody leveled a look at him.

"Do I really need to spell out why I want a magical tattoo that can manifest outside the skin instead of simply moving across my body?" she asked.

"Actually, yes," said Loki.

"I want a pair of magical wings, you idiot," she said annoyed.

"I seriously doubt that they would allow you to actually fly," said Loki.

"I could care less if they didn't. However I want a pair," she said. If only to have a fallen angel look like she wanted. It would go great with most of her new wardrobe which Loki had enchanted to fit her once she went back to her true age...or as close as she was willing to get.

In this case she wanted to be a year older so no one asked why she was driving a truck.

"Meh, why not. Though mind if I make a small addition?"

"What?"

Loki brought out a weird sigil on a piece of paper.

"What is that?"

"Enochian symbol for 'Gabriel', as in the arch angel. It's a good way to insure that Dumbledore won't be able to hide you from me twice, especially if I provide the materials for it," said Loki.

"Gabriel, as in the Angel of Judgment? That might go really well with the fallen angel look I'm going for."

Loki looked at her amused.

"You do realize that fallen angels don't actually have black wings like you're thinking right?"

"So? Black wings would look better than plain white," countered Melody.

"Especially with that punk rock/goth look you made your wardrobe into."

"I like music, particularly metal and Celtic. And that Linkin Park shirt was a real deal," said Melody.

"I'm not complaining about your taste in music, I'm just saying that there are a lot of darker colors in your wardrobes now," said Loki, raising his hands in his defense.

"They suit my mood. And I'm not going to hex you, you sugar-crazed nut. You are, after all, my 'legal guardian' according to the papers," said Melody rolling her eyes.

Loki had gotten her a driver's license through the American Ministry, who was happy to piss off Fudge any way they could. When he explained that Melody had no intention of leaving but had yet to find an area to settle in, they gave her a green card and a magical driver's license that would certify her in any state she was in and a set of plates that gave her 'diplomatic immunity' to keep the cops from getting on her case if she accidentally ran a red light or two.

The amount of things she could get away with without having that license revoked were a bunch of minor things... three major incidents that were her fault would get her in hot water fast and she would have to take the test again after being on probation for a year with an actual driver.

Fortunately after getting her new contacts and a new pair of fashionable glasses, she turned out to be a reasonably good driver after Loki showed her how.

Now he had to find a place to stash her until her core settled properly. Traveling the country wasn't good for her mental stability, and if he took too much time away from punishing those who really deserved it the pagan gods would start to ask questions he didn't need answering.

Like why Loki had been able to obtain guardianship of a witch so quickly with the Ministry, when they didn't recognize pagan gods to begin with.

(They acknowledged angels and demons, but not pagan gods who were notoriously fickle with those they favored.)

Loki waited patiently for Melody to get her new tattoo, which would need two weeks before her magic settled down for it to manifest like the ad claimed. The second tattoo, which he provided the ink and special magic to, only needed one application and was put into effect immediately.

The shop clerk recognized a brand when he saw one, they were part of the special classes he had taken when he first chose to be a tattoo artist. This was the first time he had ever seen an 'angel' brand complete with blood ink outside of his textbook though. The needles alone would be destroyed once the tattoo was finished, as they weren't needles at all, but the quill end of an angel's wing.

Having that particular angel brand would allow the angel it named to find her no matter where she was or what wards were in the way. And it would give her limited protection from anything from the pit, depending on whether or not the angel was paying attention to her at the time.

He kept his silence about the man's true nature though. He wasn't pissing off someone who could readily supply the needed materials to make something like this.

Melody impatiently waited for the two weeks to be up, and when the day finally passed and she woke up with her magic feeling rather playful, she did exactly as the artist had told her to manifest the wings on her back.

Each tattoo had a different way of manifesting. Certain wings had a key word, others required that the wand be placed on the area in question.

For Melody she had it set to a specific series of notes from a show she had fallen in love with shortly after she had found out about it since coming to America.

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles was officially her new favorite series, outside of the 'Crow' franchise anyway.

She began to hum the notes to the tune played when they traveled between worlds and her new wings came out.

Unlike Princess Sakura, these were a crow's feather black with midnight blue lining the edges. Once the wings were out, they settled into a pair of what appeared to be crow wings.

The new wings suited her and her lolita-style outfit she had on that day.

"I gotta admit, those wings suit you scarily good. But I still doubt that you would be able to fly with them," said Loki.

"Oh hush you. There is one way to find out if they are merely cosmetic though," said Melody.

"How?"

Melody reached behind and grabbed a wing. She carefully tested it out by spreading it between her fingers. She felt tiny bones inside the wings. The feathers felt real enough to her and she carefully plucked one. She flexed the other, and it caused a minor dust storm.

"I think...that they're real enough. He did say that occasionally the tattoos became just as real as the actual thing, though the amount of power required is rather large," said Melody.

"I don't think that would be a problem for you, my little angel," said Loki, messing up her hair.

"Why do you keep calling me little angel?" asked Melody. It was something Loki had started calling her a few days after she made the first chocolate cake he had all but devoured.

"Because to me you're a little angel trying to learn how to fly," he said simply.

He couldn't tell her the truth. Not just yet. Learning her true nature generally made things infinitely worse, while ignorance protected her.

It had been over a thousand years since the last fledgling had been born in this world, and he would be damned if he was going to let this one be stunted by outside forces. Once her full potential woke up, she would have an entirely new world to explore.

Marking her was just his way of keeping her safe. An unclaimed fledgling was highly coveted both above and below. Their power was equal to an arch angel if channeled correctly, especially if a higher angel took one under their wings. The higher the angel, the more grace they absorbed and the stronger their own became. He wasn't about to let Lucifer or worse, Micheal get their hands on her.

"I've been called worse..." she said finally, flexing both her wings.

"One step at a time. First we're going to get you used to having wings to balance with. You can't fly if you have trouble standing up straight," said Loki.

"True."

Ellen Harvelle was a Hunter, though she was more or less retired. She ran her bar because it was safer for her and Jo not to be involved in the hunting game, despite her daughter's wishes to be one like her parents.

However, when a young girl barely the same age as her daughter shows up with a man who looked old enough to be her father appeared for some food before they went back on the road, her mothering instincts were set on high gear.

"What can I get you?" she asked, keeping a close eye on the man.

"I'll have a..." started the man, before the girl stomped on his foot hard enough to make even Ellen wince in sympathetic pain.

"You'll have a soda, the same as me. If I had to win back those lost years from Patrick to get you off my ass about technically being too young to drink in this country, then no way in hell are you getting anything alcoholic," she growled.

The man pouted.

Ellen blinked.

"Lost years?" she asked. She had heard rumors of a poker playing witch who dealt with years instead of cash, but she had never met the man.

"I 'lost' ten years off my actual age to get out of the country, and Lo here made me go find Patrick to get all but one of them back," she said annoyed.

She liked being twenty. She had more fun and people didn't question whether she was capable of taking care of herself. Being a teenager sucked.

"Why is a sixteen-year-old traveling with a man old enough to be her father?" demanded Ellen.

"Guardian. It was either this or go back to that cult of inbred morons in Europe who want to use her as a ritual sacrifice," said Loki irritably.

Ellen gave them both a look.

"You are aware of what this place is, right?"

"A known Hunter hangout. Your Roadhouse is rather well known among the supernatural set. We aren't here to cause trouble, Hunter," said Loki.

"Then you know that by all rights I should shoot you here and now and send the girl to her parents."

"Do that and you'll just send her to heaven. Her parents are dead...it's one of the reasons she had to flee Europe," said Loki.

"What are you?"

"His name is Loki, as in the pagan god of mischief and a known Trickster. And I'm Melody...his little sister," said Melody.

"A trickster in my bar?" said Ellen, reaching for her gun.

"Not here to fight, Hunter. I'm just trying to find a place to stash her until she comes of age so I can have a break from acting as her guardian. I can't exactly keep demons off our ass if we're moving all the time...wards have a bad habit of breaking when you move them," said Loki.

Ellen's hand touched her gun. But she didn't remove it from it's place under her bar.

"Mom, what's going on?" asked Jo, coming into the bar. She had been studying for a major test and heard the raised voice of her mother.

"Nothing. Go back to studying," said Ellen firmly. Jo took one look at the odd people, before she shrugged and went back to her room. Ellen looked at them both.

"What exactly do you mean stashing her someplace?" she asked.

She did not feel comfortable about a girl that age traveling with a trickster. The mother in her simply didn't like it one bit, especially since she could clearly see that the girl would grow into her looks rather quickly and with a bust that size she could be easy prey for the creeps out there. At least she dressed modestly, if a bit dark.

"I mean I want to get her someplace she can feel safe and actually grow up without having to look over her shoulder every night. I couldn't protect her until she left Europe, and I was barely able to keep her from making a colossal fool of herself after she went to a party no girl her actual age had any reason to be at."

"How old is she, really?"

"I may look sixteen, but I'm actually closer to fifteen and nine months," said Melody flatly.

Loki could see the cogs turning in Ellen's mind. She was a good mother, if a bit strict because of her former profession as a hunter. And unlike Molly Weasly, she wouldn't try to hide the truth from Melody out of misplaced maternal protectiveness. She would at least tell Melody why she couldn't go someplace without sugarcoating it or telling her she was too young. Age wasn't really a factor when you were a hunter.

"Look, we'll be in the area for at least a week. Melody likes to stay in the towns for a few days before we move on and until I find a secure location I can't leave her side."

"Are you saying you would allow your 'sister' to stay in a known hunter's hangout?" asked Ellen in open surprise.

"I'm saying I would rather she be in a den of hunters who could kill her at any given moment the second they find out she's a natural born witch than to even chance that cult of morons getting their hands on her. And they are looking for her," said Loki flatly.

"She's a witch?" said Ellen, reaching for her gun again.

"There are people in the world who naturally possess magic without making demon deals. Melody is one of those. And unlike the witches hunters go after, she doesn't actively ask for help from the pit or make sacrifices. She has a core that she draws her power from and it is definitely not conductive for demons to use."

Melody noticed a broken light fixture on the wall. She drew her new wand, courtesy of Loki when he learned she had destroyed her original one, and aimed at it.

"Reparo," she said flatly.

The fixture became whole again, and a few experiments proved that it was now working. Ellen looked at the girl critically, before she put the shotgun back below her bar.

Never in her life had she met a witch who used their magic to do something as simple as repair a broken light fixture. She doubted that a demon would care about something that minor enough to actually do something about it, deal or not. And all the girl had used was a long stick, thirteen inches in length that was decoratively carved and polished. None of the witches she had hunted had honest to god wands to do their work.

Knives and bizarre ingredients yes, but never a wand.

Ellen memorized the truck and had some heavy thinking to do. If what she had seen was true, then it was likely that Jo would have a younger sister to deal with for the next couple of years.