A/N: Things are starting to heat up in this chapter. Not hot enough to melt snow tho.
Also, for future reference, Angelic will be written like this, but only if the point of view is on someone who can understand it.
With that said, let's go.
My POV
Early next morning, as in literally right after sunrise, we got up and set off on our way to Farun. Unluckily for me, while I didn't have another unpleasant nightmare, it also took me twice as long as before to go to sleep. Seems Rhea shares my sentiment, if her rather venomous looks towards Buwaro were any indication. I leaned over to her.
"So, did you sleep well?" I asked her.
"Buwaro's wings kept getting in my face, so no." I thought so.
We also had to cut open the stitches on Buwaro's coat for his wings; never mind we seriously considered just throwing out his ruined shirt, we only ended up keeping it because being underdressed in the snow was a bad idea. God knows the rest of us are cold with proper clothing.
"At least it didn't take you that long to fall asleep. I could hear you snoring from the living room." I said flatly.
"Why did it take you longer than me? Did Snowy do something?" she asked.
"No, it just takes me that long to go to sleep." I deadpanned.
And without any electronics to distract myself with, it culminated into one of the most boring experiences ever, trying and failing to go to sleep for over an hour. A literal hour. I had a watch to keep track of time with, so I should know.
Speaking of my watch, it was currently hidden under my sleeve, out of sight. It wasn't digital, but I didn't want to take the risk of wristwatches, or even clocks, not being a thing here, and drawing unnecessary attention.
"Maybe you'd be less cold if you turned into a bunny, y'know." Rhea said to Kieri. "No? Suit yourself."
"You're just mad that she gets proper winter fur." I tried to joke.
"Shut up." Okay, jokes are out. Like they've always been.
And naturally, Buwaro stepped in to help Kieri.
"Don't worry, Snowy! If you're cold, you can always stay near me! I'm naturally warm and fuzzy!"
"Okay, I think you're just creeping her out."
That blush says...actually I don't know what it says. It's too early.
"Oh, and give me the map and compass I gave you back at the house."
Wait.
"Uh, I gave those to Thadius."
I forgot about this part.
Good job, me.
"You did WHAT?!" Rhea shouted.
"Oh, geez, don't tell me you dropped them Thadius!" Buwaro scolded his pet rock.
"It's a rock!" I snapped. "It can't pick things up much less drop them! It doesn't have hands!"
I like the guy, but if I knew he'd wear down my patience this quickly, I'd have slapped him.
Maybe I should slap him.
"We haven't been walking for long." Rhea said. "I'll go back for them. Buwaro, don't move, 'cause when I get back, I'm gonna kill you." And with that she went back the way we came.
Thank God for her initiative.
Kieri looked rather worriedly in her direction.
"Oh, don't worry too much about her, Snowy!" Buwaro said cheerfully. "If she didn't kick me right in the face, she shouldn't be too mad!"
"And that's your relationship in a nutshell." I deadpanned. "How long have you two known each other exactly?"
"...A few months. Why?"
Well then. No words are needed.
"Anyway..." I said. "Let's just wait for her to get back."
I don't think it'll take her that long, there's not much that can happen.
Some time later...
"Is she here yet?"
"No..."
"Is she here yet?"
"No..."
"Is she here yet?"
"No..."
"Is she here yet?"
"No."
"Is she here yet?"
"No! Shut up!"
...
"Is she here yet?"
"Okay, is that an actual question or are you just messing around?" I said in a rather annoyed tone.
"I'm just bored." he complained. "It's boring. What's taking her so long?"
"It's only been about five minutes." Wristwatch, everybody. "For all we know, she's probably on her way back already. What do you think, Snowy?"
Kieri just shrugged in response.
I sighed and sat down.
Damn it, being around Buwaro was much harder than I thought it was going to be. I just hope Lazuli isn't as bad.
Wait, what kind of idea is that?! Of course she'll be bad!
We'd have Kieri to help us, because Lazuli's dumb enough to screw up with the cuffs.
That was a close fight.
I'd be helping her.
Hopefully I don't get killed five seconds into the fight.
Actually...we're all here now, out of sight from Lazuli...maybe I should stop Buwaro from leaving and avoid Lazuli altogether.
Then Kieri would end up with the cuffs stuck on her person forever.
She could get the message across with some paper and a pencil, and then explain the rest herself.
You know what, that could work.
I turned to my collea-
They were gone.
...
...
Did I seriously not notice them leave? Much less notice Buwaro almost certainly telling me to tell Rhea that they left?
"Oh, I am become error." I groaned.
Note to self: remember to pay attention to my surroundings once in a while.
Kieri's POV
We made our way through the trees towards whatever it was that Buwaro saw.
I just hope Jamal heard us. He made no indication that he did, so I was a little worried about what he'd do if he thinks we ditched hm.
"Ooh, look, Snowy! It's such a pretty view!" Buwaro said.
I turned to look at what he was pointing at.
It really was a pretty view. We stood on a cliff, which gave way to a series of rolling hills covered in trees, shadowed by a clear blue sky. Most angels would state that Heaven was the epitome of beauty, but standing here, I knew that this was far more beautiful. Buwaro seemed to share my sentiment.
"There are so many trees!" he said in awe. "And the sky is so... so... BLUE! This is nothing like my home..."
I wondered what Hell was like in comparison to what I knew. From his tone, it couldn't compare to this sight, and yet, he sounded homesick...
"I just wish Sakido could have seen this..."
Who was that? A friend? Family?
"Now, what do we have here?" a familiar voice said behind us. I gasped. No. Not now. Not her.
Both Buwaro and I turned to face her.
"Whoa, hello! I didn't even see you there. Who are you?" he said in his usual cheerful tone.
"My name's Lazuli, now hand over the angel." Lazuli said in Angelic.
"Um... what?"
Wait what?
"What's wrong? Don't you even understand basic Angelic?" Lazuli asked in similar confusion.
"Uh...No?" Buwaro admitted.
"How can you not-" Lazuli cut herself off. "Never mind. I said my name was Lazuli, and that I'm here for the angel."
"What angel?"
Huh?
"The one standing right next to you...?" Lazuli said skeptically, like at this point she wasn't even sure anymore.
"You mean Snowy?" Buwaro said. "Ha! Don't be silly! She's not an angel, she's a bunny!"
He still didn't know I was an angel? He should've figured it out by now.
The situation looked bad either way; either he figures it out and hands me over, or he ends up angering her and dooms us both.
I would've continued my train of thought if it wasn't for Lazuli's dumbstruck expression distracting me.
"You've got to be kidding me." Lazuli said, the irritation in her voice becoming apparent. "I mean, she might be missing the dazzling white wings, but... The blue hair! Her pale skin! Those clothes! It all practically screams, 'I'm an angel!'"
"You don't say..." Buwaro turned to me with a suspicious expression on his face. "By the way..."
Oh no...
"What's an angel?"
Wait what.
Wait WHAT?!
"You mean to tell me that you don't know anything at all about angels?!" Lazuli managed to ask in shock.
"Hold on, I think I remember something..."
...
"Nope! False alarm!"
He can't be serious, can he?! How can't he be?!
A large figure suddenly came out from behind the trees, with that same scowl on his face.
And then there's this guy!
"There you are, Talus! It's so nice to see you catch up!" Lazuli said sarcastically. "I managed to find our little runaway; unfortunately, I also found this stupid purple headache as well."
"So," Talus said to Buwaro, who was currently admiring his size. "Can you fly with those gimpy wings?"
What...?
"I don't think so..." Buwaro answered. "My friend said that they're too small and-"
"Good." Talus interrupted him.
And proceeded to punch Buwaro hard, sending him flying off the cliff edge.
No!
I lost control; I dived for him, to try to grab him, to try to save him.
Lazuli simply grabbed me by my robe and held me back, stopped me from rescuing him.
For the first time since I was kidnapped by these demons, I let emotion take me over completely.
I openly broke down crying, silently letting out everything I had kept pent up until now; from getting sent here, to the fight with Kazai, to getting separated and finally this.
"Was that really necessary?" Lazuli asked.
"You said he was a headache." Talus pointed out. "And besides..."
No...
"We don't want any witnesses."
"Then I say, do your job properly!"
The three of us turned to the source of that voice.
It was Jamal, leaning against a tree with a completely flat expression.
I don't know whether or not to be relieved that he came to my rescue, or sad that he might just get himself killed as well. And part of me was angry that he didn't get here sooner.
"Sorry I took so long, I didn't think the matter was this urgent, and I had to take care of something on the way here."
Take care of what exactly?
Rhea's POV
Meanwhile...
"'Sorry. Buwaro ran off with Snowy and I had to go get them. They didn't go far, so it shouldn't take too long. If you want to meet up right now, you could always follow the footprints. Or the arrow I left for your convenience.'"
...
I can't believe this. Both the fact that Jamal lost track of those two, and the fact that he took the time to write this in an elegant cursive script.
Fucking wonderful. I'll just go meet up with them now.
I grabbed Thadius from her spot on the ground and started following the footprints.
My POV
I should've timed myself on the way here, because I might've broken a speed record on the way here.
I was also starting to think this might be a bad idea. For someone who's not even as tall as Kieri, Lazuli can be pretty intimidating. And then there's Talus.
I thought about this on the way here. I let Buwaro run off with her and now I have to face the consequences. Giving them an opening to escape was one of them.
I also didn't want to have Rhea yell at me for the amount of time that it'd take us to meet up with them again.
But, back to the matter at hand:
"That girl belongs to me." I said lowly.
"Well, aren't you the naughty one!" Lazuli joked. Guess she didn't take the random bystander seriously.
"Don't make me gouge out your fucking eye." I retorted, holding up a rather sharp rock I came across. Hooray for comebacks! Even if it scared Kieri a little...
It certainly did the trick against Lazuli.
"Oh, yeah?" she challenged.
Okay, maybe not.
"...I suppose I should get back to the point." I backtracked.
"Seems like it's a bit late for that." Talus said.
Well, shit.
"I'll still do it." I said, doing my best not to lose my composure. "I'm not going to let her come to harm."
"How exactly? We're the ones who have a proper fighting ability." Lazuli said.
"You're also the ones with your backs against the cliff, and I've got proper cover behind these trees."
"Well, seems like you're not a complete idiot like your friend."
"Oh yeah, speaking of which, where is he?" I asked nonchalantly.
"Dead. Talus knocked him off the cliff."
I pointed at the cliff edge, where Buwaro was climbing his way back up. "Looks like he missed a spot."
"How the fuck did you survive that?" Talus asked in surprise.
Buwaro stood. "I'm a good climber. And I'm also used to falling off cliffs." He proclaimed proudly.
"I'm not even going to ask." Why even should I when I know the answer?
"Oh hi, Jamal! When did you get here?"
"Wasn't too far behind you. Now, explain this fuck-up of a situation."
"Well-"
"No." Talus cut him off. "I'm going to kill you, properly this time."
"No, wait." Lazuli interjected. "I'll try getting through to him again." She turned to him. "Look kid, THIS is an angel." She pointed at Kieri. "Not a snow bunny or whatever. As demons, that automatically makes her the enemy. We hate each other."
"She's... my enemy?" he asked, as if the concept was completely alien to him. It probably was.
"Yes!" she had pretty much lost all her patience by now. "We fought in a giant war against them, that's how much we hate angels!"
"Wait, so the Great War actually happened?" I muttered. Had to keep up my façade.
"Yes." She answered. She turned back to Buwaro. "See my broken claw? And his scar?" she pointed at the large scar over Talus' left eye. "She did this to us." She gestured at Kieri. "If we hadn't put those braces on her, she'd have killed someone like you, no questions asked."
I wouldn't go that far, but she was right. Kieri would've, at the very least, attacked and probably wounded Buwaro before he got any words across.
"Well, she did attack me with a knife, when we first met..." he noted. "But that doesn't matter because we're friends now!"
Talus and I both facepalmed. Lazuli had just about had it.
"No! It does matter!"
"But Snowy's such a nice bunny!"
"SHE'S NOT A FUCKING BUNNY, SHE'S AN ANGEL! AND HER NAME ISN'T SNOWY IT'S K-"
"Lazuli, watch it!" Talus warned her.
One wonders how someone can screw something like that up. I mean really.
I could see Kieri taking note of their reluctance to say her name. But she'd be unable to figure it out just like that...
We glanced at each other.
"I just don't get it! How can he not know about, much less HATE angels?!"
"Maybe he's not a demon?" Talus suggested. "Sure, he looks like a fire demon, but last I checked, they don't have wings."
"I AM a fire demon! Here let me explain." Buwaro said. He pulled out his sun pendant from under his coat. "I don't normally have wings, but thanks to this pendant, I do. I wear it inside m coat because that's how my sister used to wear it."
"Wait, does that mean that star pendant is also...?" Talus said in surprise. "Damn! How can you even wear that shit without it hurting?"
"Gimme those!" Lazuli said. "You've got no idea how valuable those are!"
"No! Back off!"
"Now your chance!" I mouthed to Kieri. She took action...
By biting Lazuli.
Lazuli reflexively let her go, and she dashed over to Buwaro, grabbing him by the wrist and taking off with him.
I quickly jumped out from behind the trees and punched Lazuli in the face for good measure, before leaving in the direction my two companions went. It wasn't long before we heard them giving chase.
We are so fucking dead.
"Here you guys are!"
It was Rhea, straight ahead of us.
"Run!" Buwaro yelled.
"Can't wait to hear the story behind this one..."
"Then shut up and run!" I shouted. "Unless you want to die!"
"What did you do?!" Rhea shouted, quickly getting the picture.
"Long story short, turns out Snowy is an angel, and a pair of demons are trying to kill her!"
"WHAT?!"
"Just run!"
So we ran as fast as we could. But both Lazuli and Talus were keeping up; in fact they were gaining on us. We just kept running. We finally ran onto a frozen lake in the middle of the forest. Without any obstacles in front of us, we broke out in a full-on sprint. But so did our pursuers.
Rhea quickly stopped running and turned to face the demons. "I'll slow them down with my Terra Spike!"
She punched the ground in front of her.
Nothing happened.
She immediately started running away again.
"Let's end this stupid chase." Lazuli said, before she slammed her hands down as well.
Suddenly, a massive row of spikes rose up from the spot where Lazuli put her hands, dashing past us and curving around, effectively cutting off our escape route. I let myself hit the spikes at full speed. They didn't give. They were rock-solid.
Oh no.
Oh jeez. Oh God.
"Wait! Before you brutally murder us, satisfy my curiosity..." Rhea said. I couldn't really tell if she was genuinely curious or just stalling. "Is she really an angel?"
"I thought we already clarified that?" I thought sarcastically.
"I already wasted my time trying to tell your retarded friend that Snowflake is a fucking angel-"
"I think he said 'Snowy'" Talus pointed out. Thanks for that. Both sarcastically and genuinely. Because you managed to make Lazuli lose her shit.
"FUCK IT! Her name is fucking Kieri Suizahn and she's an angel! But that doesn't matter anymore because the four of you are DEAD!"
The sound of metal landing on snow snapped her out of her rage.
Kieri was free.
Lazuli just groaned. This was not her day.
A/N: And that's the end of the chapter. Brace yourselves for the next one, because that's when things get real.
Guest: I can assure you, that this story with be here for the long haul, and I don't plan on removing it from the site anytime soon. As for future story ideas, I'll keep your idea in mind, but I'm waiting to familiarize myself with the characters first. As for magic, dark magic is demon-specific, so no; it's not going to be that. As for the dream, you're pretty much right. Just how quickly it happens and how messy it ends up being is still a mystery. But he's at least somewhat aware that he won't be able to stay on top forever.
I will see you all next chapter.