*Morpheus Face* What if I told you that I really did watch Queen's Blade for the plot?

I'm re-watching the series right now to help me out with the story, and as much as I love gratuitous fanservice, I sorely wish Hobby Japan had capitalized on the unique characters and setting. Queen's Blade had the potential to be something really amazing, but it fell short when the ratio of fanservice to plot became 3 to 1.

By the way, I'm giving you fair warning right now that this chapter is a bit more sexually suggestive than usual. Then again, considering the anime in question, are any of us really surprised?

"Has it ever occurred to you that we're like, the only servants the Witch has?"

Airi and Melona had made it back to the Swamp Witch and her corrupted lands about a day ago. Needless to say, they had both received quite the vicious verbal lashing upon their arrival, but thankfully the Witch had been pleased about a particular turn of events, and had decided not to employ any actual punishment for the recent failures of her minions.

Unfortunately, the duo had not been allowed any rest at all from their recent journey: the moment the Witch was done scolding them for both their inability to return Menace to the swamp and for taking too long in returning themselves, the two supernatural women were burdened with more orders. Being forced to leave the swamp so soon after arrival had Melona in a sour mood as she and Airi moved leisurely down the very road they had traveled to get there in the first place.

"I mean seriously, if she's so damn powerful, why doesn't she have more than two servants, huh? Can't she resurrect more people to do stuff like this?"

Airi was a little miffed about the situation as well, but hid it far better than her pinkette companion. Needless to say she was not so easily placated in regards to the Witch at this point in time, but even so she wasn't one to be so straightforward with her displeasure.

"Master does have other servants. Even other maids like me, it's just that... well, she uses them for more private purposes."

"You mean fucking, right?"

Airi glared at the slime beside her who had no inkling of social tact. "Yes Melona, that's what I meant. We both knew that's what I meant. Why did you even have to say it?"

"Well you weren't going to."

"For a reason."

The two of them walked on in silence for a short while, but unfortunately the thought of sex had gotten Melona thinking about some things she probably shouldn't have been. "Hey Airi, the Swamp Bitch has never used you for these 'private' purposes, has she?"

Airi scowled at the mere idea of it. The thought of someone using her body as a plaything was revolting. She had suffered far too much in the past to be alright with anyone or anything treating her as an object for their own pleasure. She was long past the point of being satisfied without personification. Life, hell, afterlife; she wanted to be acknowledged for the person she was, not treated like something that wasn't even human.

"No. Thankfully the Swamp Witch has never made use of me in such a way.

Melona stared at her, outright flabbergasted. "Airi... you didn't call her 'Master' just then."

Naturally this observation didn't startle Airi in any way. "So?"

"You've never referred to the Witch as anything else."

At this point Airi realized she hadn't really revealed her newfound misgivings about her servitude to Melona yet. After all, Airi figured it may have been a bad idea to let someone already disillusioned with work know her partner was feeling the same to some extent. Still, there was no reason to outright lie to her.

"I've just been thinking Melona, that's all."

Unfortunately this vague response didn't fool Melona at all. "Holy shit you're unhappy with serving the Witch. Holy. Shit. I didn't even think that was possible."

"Calm down Melona, it's not that amazing."

Naturally Melona did no such thing. "It most certainly is! I'm serious, I didn't think you were even capable of being dissatisfied when it came to serving the Swamp Witch. What the hell happened? How long have you been feeling this way?"

Deciding that there was no point in denying it, Airi simply caved in. "Long enough. A few weeks I guess. Look, it's really nothing special. I am capable of thinking for myself you know."

Melona still didn't seem convinced. "Oh I know, but I was pretty sure that every time you thought for yourself the conclusion still included serving the Witch with unfaltering loyalty."

"Things can change Melona. Look, I'm just not content with the idea of living my entire life without any freedom anymore. Doesn't mean I'm going to do something crazy right now and rebel against the Witch. I'm disgruntled, not crazy."

Finding it strange that this was coming from Airi of all people, Melona decided to ask the obvious question. "What about that obedience curse you've got weighing you down?"

"I'm working on it."

Airi left it at that, leaving Melona in confusion and more than a little curiosity. Needless to say she wanted to know what Airi meant by that, what she meant by all of this, but there was no easy way to ask such a question right now. That being the case, Melona decided it was in her best interests to simply turn their conversation to lighter things for now.

"So... you sounded kind of antagonistic about sex a moment ago Airi. You against it entirely?"

For obvious reasons Airi had not been expecting this sudden shift in the conversation. "W-what? No, of course I'm not... y-you know, entirely against it, but..."

"But not just for fun, right?"

"R-right... it would... be something special for me and... m-m-my partner."

Melona saw a golden opportunity and took it. "Just one partner in particular, I wonder?"

"W-what are you implying?"

"Oh come on Airi, it's not a big secret who your first go-to guy for fantasizing is."

It was rather obvious all things considered, but that didn't change the crimson blush that crept into Airi's cheeks. "H-hold on Melona, I'll be the first to admit I like him, b-but that's..."

"So you haven't thought about it even once?"

Unable to lie to herself more than Melona, Airi fell silent as some of the not so innocent daydreams she had entertained recently played through her head. Melona was wise enough to see what this meant.

"Holy crap Airi, a blush that deep can only mean you went off the naughty deep end. And here I thought your nasty side was so naive it would stop at holding hands or something."

Trying to muster some defense, Airi wondered if she were actually blushing as deeply as Melona claimed. "I-I didn't think about anything beyond the norm! Just... regular, relatively innocent sex things. T-the kinds of things two morally upright lovers would do, and nothing else!"

Melona kept a straight face as she stared directly into Airi's eyes. She wanted to make the most out of this amusement so she needed to see exactly what Airi reacted to. She decided to start off in the freaky realm just so Airi would lower her guard.

"So... no foot stuff?"

Naturally Airi looked completely confused. "Uh, no?"

"Food foreplay?"

"What? No, what the hell?"

Deciding to prey on Airi's more submissive side (which Melona was sure would be her primary night life personality), the Slime focused on naughty acts more along those lines.

"You get on your knees for him?"

The burgundy of Airi's face intensified. "W-wha, n-no-"

"Did you get bent over his knee? That sounds like something you'd be into."

The red somehow grew even deeper. "No! I didn't think about anything like that! At all!"

Melona was having far too much fun to stop now. "Anal? I bet you're so submissive you would spread in a heartbeat if he asked, ri-?"

Airi's hand finally clamped over Melona's mouth, her face the exact same shade of red as her hair. Needless to say she wasn't enjoying the accuracy with which Melona was 'guessing' her naughtier daydreams and fantasies. Truth be told she had been willing to entertain a fair amount of fun things now that she was determined to live a little.

But she would deny it of course, especially to Melona. Just because she liked a certain man enough to have some kinky dreams about him did not mean it had to be broadcast to the whole world, and she could certainly pretend that she never thought of anything of that sort at all.

Even so, Melona couldn't help but laugh raucously to herself as Airi pulled ahead of the Slime, as she was too utterly entertained by this new discovery of Airi's repressed physicality.

Church sneezed into the sleeve of his jacket, wondering if someone was speaking about him behind his back somewhere. Then again, maybe he just needed to clear out the dust in his nostrils.

While the handful of bombs that had been dropped on him and Nanael had been powerful, both victims had managed to escape injury, though it was mostly thanks to Nanael's nigh invincible body. She had once again saved Church from most of the danger by absorbing it herself, though she hardly looked any worse off for it. The full extent of the young angel's afflictions was a few blackened feathers, covered in gunpowder from the bombs.

With the bottom of the pit basically turned to rubble, the duo was crouched behind a large boulder, hoping that a second barrage from above would not follow if their attackers thought them dead. Still, Church couldn't help but quietly marvel at Nanael's apparent invulnerability.

"Nanael, is there anything that can actually hurt you beyond a bruise? You're like a tank."

Nanael didn't know what a tank was, but figured Church was giving her a compliment. "Almost nothing here on earth could actually kill an angel, but there are a few drastic things that could injure me pretty seriously."

Church gently reached out for Nanael's wings, attempting to brush off the dust and soot from the explosions. Her wings were sensitive, but Nanael found that she didn't mind the feel of his touch, so long as he was careful. Still, her defective wing was sore and hurting far more than usual, and she folded it in to let him know that it was not to be touched: she was positive Church was smart enough to take the hint. "A weapon with a really powerful enchantment could probably hurt me, but there hasn't been a wizard strong enough in mystic arts to make a weapon that powerful for centuries."

"An enchanted weapon huh? Like that thunder sword that one woman had?"

Nanael nodded, consciously keeping her wing from recoiling anytime Church accidentally pulled a little too hard. "Yeah, something like that. It's an enchanted weapon, but nowhere near strong enough to really harm an angel. You've seen how ineffective it is against me already. Besides that, there are some demonic weapons and attacks that could hurt an angel, but they would have to be crazy powerful."

Church cringed as he accidentally plucked a small feather on the edge of Nanael's left wing. Fortunately, she either didn't notice, or chose to ignore the mistake. "Do you know anyone who has a demonic weapon?"

"The Queen has a pretty powerful demon sword called Ragnarok, not to mention a lot of hellish powers, but I don't know how strong they are. No one in the past two Queen's Blade tournaments was strong enough to warrant using those powers against them, so the Queen's strength is still pretty unclear. People know she's strong, but no one is sure just how strong."

Though there were still black stains on Nanael's wings, Church decided there was nothing more he could do about it and sat back on his haunches. He was interested in this Queen's Blade business: from what he had heard, it was an event of great importance, and he was interested in the notion of a Queen chosen solely through battle. "Demonic weapons and powers huh...? So is the current Queen really evil or something? She's not like, a tyrant or anything, right?"

Nanael massaged the base of her defective wing as she glanced up at the darkness above. So far no one had decided to attack them again, and technically she could have simply carried Church back up there. But even though Nanael was nearly invincible, it was not as though she was without weakness. Her defective wing was a very vulnerable part of her body, and she had landed right on it when she and Church crashed into the ground. The small tuft of feathers hurt too much to even spread fully, never mind fly on, which it had difficulty with under the best circumstances. She found it funny that Church had not suggested flying back up already, but maybe he had realized that Nanael would have suggested it already if she could.

With their one route of escape currently unavailable, Nanael could do nothing but answer Church's question.

"Nah. Aldra's actually pretty popular with the public. I mean, she's raised taxes pretty high before, but it was only during the reconstruction period following Queen Veronica's reign and during the war with the North Realm. After that she returned them to normal, so it's not like she's an unreasonable ruler. The people only really like her because she's a good leader though. She's not charismatic enough to be popular for personality, or if she is, she never shows it."

"You sure do know a lot about this. I didn't think an angel like you would really care about human affairs."

"Well I was originally supposed to orchestrate fights for the tournament, but I was reassigned to something else before it even started. I had to learn a lot about the current regime, and the fighters who planned on joining."

Church peeked up at the darkness above as well, wondering if they would be showered by more bombs when they least expected it. "So you know a lot about the fighters in the tournament, huh?"

"Of course, I know about all of the toughest fighters around, even if they aren't participating. I had to, in case any of them ended up joining at the last minute."

"Who can you tell me about?"

"You'll have to be a little more specific than that Church, there's a lot of fighters around."

Church thought of asking about someone he knew, but decided that there was no need, since there was no guarantee that any of them were participating in the Queen's Blade tournament besides Tomoe. "Well, is there anyone interesting in particular?"

Nanael wracked her mind for the identities of anyone truly interesting. She didn't have the little red book that detailed the world's fighters with her: there had been no reason to bring it for the current investigation. "Well...most of the fighters are human, and pretty boring. Hmm... oh, I guess there's this one pyromancer chick. She's one of the strongest wizards to be around in a long time."

The mention of a voluptuous fire-wielding woman rang several bells in Church's mind. "You mean Nyx? She's the only woman I know who can control flames..."

"Yeah, that's her. How'd you know?"

"I met her once a few weeks ago. I'm not sure what happened to her though..."

Church felt a little guilty about it, but he had honestly forgotten about Nyx until this point. Granted, he had spent less than a day in her company, but she had helped him out of a tight spot in Alabaster Town. Recalling the sexy and undoubtedly adorable visage of the brunette, Church had no idea how he had forgotten about her at all. She was certainly a unique individual, and very beautiful besides, especially with that alluring crimson dress she wore. How on earth had he managed to keep her out of his head?

Church's thoughts were cut short as a loud thudding noise began to reverberate throughout the pit. "For Christ's sake, what now?"

Nyx felt absurdly happy for some reason. If asked, she would not be able to say why: she just felt like something good had happened, even as her nervousness with the current situation continued to grow. Alabaster Town had recovered from the crisis Nyx had partaken in already, and by now things had returned to normal. That meant that the town had reopened preliminary registration for the upcoming Queen's Blade, and that meant Nyx was signing up, albeit dressed in a far less noticeable outfit than her usual crimson attire.

It kind of irritated her really. Apparently without her dress no one could even recognize her. Sure, she had her long brunette hair stuffed down into her collar to help avoid recognition, but even so no one could tell she was the same woman that had ravaged the town just a few days ago. How could her looks be so negligible?

Since the thought of it hurt her esteem, Nyx decided to focus on what she was going now. She didn't have full confidence in her own abilities, but Nyx was determined to try to take the throne regardless for her own ends. Funikura had made it clear that it simply craved the power, but Nyx wanted to be Queen so she could change the state of poverty in the Vance lands. Of course, she would have to go to war with Vance to gain authority over them... but she despised the Vance family anyway, so she would have no issue making that decree.

That was why she was in line at Alabaster's Town's only dueling ring, if one could even call the small establishment that, waiting to sign up for her chance to change the world for the better. Funikura was not with her of course: its presence would easily give away her identity as one of the criminals that was causing trouble earlier.

Of course, anything Queen's Blade related was outlawed in Vance territory. The Count despised the tournament and everything to do with it. This registration was not exactly legal, but no one, not even the soldiers, truly cared to report it. Even in a land where it was outlawed, Queen's Blade was a very popular event, and the more fighters there were, the longer and more interesting it would be. Only cities closer to the Vance seat of power actually enforced anti-registration laws: towns closer to the outskirts, such as Alabaster, easily performed the registration. Once it was over, someone from the town would volunteer to take the list of fighters across the border and to the nearest city in the Queen's lands, at which point they would be officially added to the roster of combatants for the tournament.

Naturally there were a ton of women signing up, many of them looking for a shot at fame or glory, but only a select few would make it to the main event. Once registration was officially over, there would be many preliminary battles between the participants. These fights could take place anywhere on the Continent, and an angel from Heaven would broadcast the fight across the country. Preliminary rounds would continue until the number of participants had been reduced to a more manageable number, at which point official, set battles would be fought closer to Gainos. Needless to say, it was quite a complex system.

While Nyx herself was certainly not a bundle of infallible confidence, she was not too worried about getting through these random preliminary encounters. Many of the women in line with her did not appear to be ferocious warriors. Then again, she must not have looked like much of a fighter either, without her usual attire. Even her body looked nothing like the toned and athletic form of a fighter: after all, Nyx's fighting style did not require her to be fit to that degree. Besides, she preferred the more feminine and womanly form she had. She liked her lithe and slender body, and had no desire to shape it into something tough and muscular, especially now that she was aiming to please someone other than Funikura...

"Hey lady! Are you signin' up or what?"

Nyx flinched at the sound of a loud, obnoxious male voice calling out to her. At this point in her life, she simply expected men to harass her, so it was natural reflex to get a little nervous when one called out to her. Still, the dark-haired attendant sitting at the desk that had been placed in front of the dueling ring was simply trying to get her attention, since Nyx had zoned out and subconsciously moved forward in line.

"Ah, y-yes... I am. Where exactly do I sign?"

The man pointed to a certain spot on the page lying on his desk, cocking an eyebrow at the seemingly dull woman before him. "You don't look like much of a fighter."

Trying to sound tougher than she felt, Nyx uttered a half-hearted retort. "W-well, neither do most of the women here... looks can be deceiving..."

"Yeah, well you look like you belong in a kitchen, not an arena."

Under normal circumstances, Nyx was a kind individual. But like anyone else, she had a dark side, and possessed quite a few triggers that made that side rear its ugly head. Anything that reminded her of her days of servitude for Vance, and anyone who suggested that she belonged in such a state, rarely remained unscathed.

But this man was lucky. Nyx was well aware that she could not roast him alive. If she used her powers here, every soldier in town would come running to subdue her. After all, there were not many women who could control flames, and the incident she had basically caused a little over a week ago was not so far in the past that she would be forgotten, much to this man's fortune. Besides, without Funikura, she could not muster even a single spark, never mind an inferno.

Unable to punish him physically for his transgression, Nyx settled for a murderous glare. One would not think such an adorable face could sport such a look of hatred, but the level of killing intent Nyx could muster was truly terrifying. Needless to say, the man before her had no other smart-ass comments to make: not as Nyx finished her registration, not as she turned and left the table, and not even after she was out of sight. There was no way in hell he was going to risk her being even angrier at him.

Having miraculously survived the fall from earlier, Church hefted the crossbow Ymir had lent him in his arms. The repetitive thudding in the pit had been going on for several minutes, and growing progressively louder. Church had no idea if a crossbow would be any use against what was making the noise, but he figured it was best to have something to defend himself with regardless.

He and Nanael scanned the walls of their prison for anything suspicious. Everything seemed normal, with the exception of a large crack in the wall to their left that seemed to be growing slightly with every wave of sound that echoed throughout the pit.

"Nanael, was that crack there before all of this banging started?"

The questioned angel flexed her fingers as she strode up to the damaged part of the wall. "I don't think so. You think our attackers are on the other side?"

Church readied his crossbow. "I don't know who else would be. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

The powerhouse angel cocked her first back. "You bet I am. Whoever's on the other side of this thing is gonna get it! Take this!"

Nanael's armored fist crashed into the center of the spiderweb cracks in the wall, blasting the entire surface backwards as the force of her blow caused it to collapse. The shattered stone tumbled into an open cavern on the opposite side of the pit, its crushing force causing loud shrieks and wails from whatever creatures were unfortunate enough to be in the way.

As the dust cleared, Church and his angelic companion laid eyes on the crushed bodies of creatures that were certainly not human. Buried under the heavy boulders created from Nanael's attack were the crumpled forms of small, green, pointy-eared and pointy-nosed things with yellow eyes. They looked like wild animals to Church, but many of the dead creatures sported makeshift wooden and metal shields and weapons, so clearly they were intelligent to some extent.

Church prodded one of the bodies with his toe. "What on earth are these things...?"

Nanael could only shrug. "I've got no idea. They look kinda like goblins, but those things are usually too stupid to make even crappy makeshift weapons like these. Besides, I think goblins are a bit more scrawny..."

Church was about to question the angel further when more high-pitched squeals echoed throughout the recently exposed cavern. The cry was quickly echoed by more calls, and Church figured that he and Nanael were about to have a lot of trouble on their hands.

Another pack of the green-skinned monsters appeared out of the shadows at the end of the tunnel, irate over the deaths of their comrades. Drawing makeshift slingshots, each of the creatures began to sling rocks at their humanoid opponents. They were decent sized chunks of rock, and a direct hit could have probably broken a bone, but there was no need for Church to dodge. Most of the projectiles fell short of his person, and the few that did make it to him were blocked by Nanael's impervious body. The pieces of stone shattered as they hit her, none of them leaving even a single scratch on their target. Her metal-clad arm served as a shield of sorts, but it was likely that Nanael did not even need to block at all. It wouldn't have surprised Church if one of the stones hit her in the face, only to break apart against her without so much as a flinch.

Since Church was clear to do so, he took aim at one of the unknown cretins with his nocked crossbow. The enemy wasn't too keen on dodging, and did nothing to hide even as Church unleashed a metal bolt from his weapon. The lead member of the band of foes was pierced through the skull, the end of the launched projectile jutting out from the other side. A splash of dark crimson and fragments of bone showered the other creatures behind their dead leader, and they quickly retreated down the tunnel in fear.

Church and Nanael moved forward to examine the fallen monster, and while she wasn't one to indulge in violence, Nanael was pretty impressed with the skill Church had displayed while killing it. "You're a really good shot, huh? Hit him right in the nose..."

On the other hand, Church felt a little differently about the situation. This was the first time he had slain another living thing in a long while. It wasn't as if he had killed a human, but either way, Church was reminded of the bitter taste of killing. It was a flavor he had not missed.

Either way, Church had a limited supply of ammunition, and it would be best to recover what he could from the fallen. With that in mind, he bent over to claim the bolt he had fired, but it was firmly lodged in this goblin-like creature's skull. No matter how hard he pulled, it was stuck, and did nothing but make sickening squelching noises as he tried to withdraw it from the brain.

Seeing his lack of success, Nanael gently pushed Church aside. "Here, let me get it."

Church moved behind Nanael as she planted a booted foot on the torso of the dead monster to keep it down as she pulled. She grabbed hold of the bolt's tail, careful to gauge her strength appropriately. If she pushed or pulled too hard, Nanael would likely end up covered in guts, and that wasn't high on her to-do list.

"Alright, here we go!"

There was a loud crunch and a snap as Nanael tumbled backwards, her endeavor having failed utterly. The force of her boot had crushed the rib cage of her pedestal, and instead of dislodging the bolt, she had accidentally snapped off the end. The sudden and unexpected lack of resistance had her stumbling back into the man behind her, who was quick to drop Ymir's crossbow to catch the angel. He had promised not to scratch the thing, but catching Nanael was more of a reflex than a conscious decision.

Church caught the unstable angle by the waist, his grip a little awkward since he had to maneuver his arms to avoid Nanael's wings. The result of this difficulty was only one arm around the waist, and the other quite a bit higher. Fortunately Church had managed to avoid unwittingly groping the girl, but the weight of her breasts was pressing down on his arm regardless as he held her body just under them. Not for the first time, Church noted that Nanael was quite blessed in the bodily department, as she wasn't too small nor too large, and her hips had a nice curvaceous width to them as well...

Realizing that the situation would quickly become awkward if he didn't say anything, Church tried to peek around the tufts of soft blue hair that was obscuring his vision so he could see Nanael's face. "Nanael, are you alright?"

Being an angel, it was foolish to ask if Nanael had been injured, but she was remarkably quiet to have merely suffered a tiny fall. Perhaps she was just stunned? "Um... Nanael?"

The angel wasn't answering him outright because she was still deciding how to feel about the situation. Initially, she felt as though she should be indignant. Angels were almost always raised to consider mortals beneath them, so being held in this position by one should have struck her as blasphemous.

But then again, the whole point of this relationship she was supposed to be considering was to be friends with someone imperfect as an imperfect person herself. To really be no more than human. So what was the harm? Besides, she found that it wasn't an entirely unpleasant position to be held in.

All of this considered, Nanael couldn't help but ask a question of her companion regarding human appeal. After all, she was hardly an expert on that. "So, seeing as how you're basically trying to convince me to be human and be alright with it, am I... attractive, by human standards? If I didn't have these wings would you think I'm pretty?"

Finding it strange that Nanael was interpreting the situation in such a light, Church was unsure of how he should answer. Yes, on one hand he was trying to make Nanael more comfortable with the idea of being imperfect, which was essentially the opposite of what she had been told to believe as an angel since the day she was created. So in a sense he was telling her to forget about being an angel and just be human. But that was something he advocated on an emotional level. The fact that Nanael was physically an angel would never change, nor did Church want it to. Even now he couldn't imagine Nanael without her wings.

He also wondered how direct he could be here. Nanael technically still didn't consider them friends. She could be offended if he said too much. But he also imagined she could use an earnest compliment or two.

"You would be pretty without your wings, yes... but you wouldn't be nearly as beautiful as you are with them. I think they're stunning."

While Nanael did appreciate the words of appreciation for her appearance, they nevertheless confused her. "I thought the whole point of this was you convincing me to give you a chance on the fact that we could be imperfect together?"

"It is. So?"

Extracting herself from his grasp with little effort, Nanael still didn't turn to face him. "So only angels have wings. And angels are supposed to be perfect. How can you tell me to supposedly embrace imperfection while praising an aspect of perfection?"

Church was silent for a moment, but then he laughed. Just a small laugh of outright amusement. "You are making this way too complicated."

He stepped up next to Nanael so he could look her in the eye, that glint of amusement still in his own. "You are you, aren't you?"

Not sure what he was trying to say, Nanael nevertheless answered. "Of course I am."

"And you have wings don't you?"

"I...I do..."

"Well there you go. You're Nanael, and you have wings. I don't see how perfection or lack thereof fits into that equation anywhere."

With that the man gave her a smile and continued on down the tunnel, leaving Nanael in his wake to question what he had just said, so simple yet so hard for her to grasp. It wasn't that easy. She couldn't just write off everything else about her existence and narrow it down to just that. She was an angel, there was no changing that. Simply failing to introduce herself as one specifically didn't change anything.

And yet, that smile almost made her feel like it really was that easy. And why not? It was as simple as 'Hi, I'm Nanael and I have wings.'

No mention of being an angel. No care for perfection or lack thereof. No excess identity beyond being a person who happened to have wings. If she could just do that, no one would care about her shortcomings. No one would give thought only to her flaws. She would just be another person. Albeit with a very unique feature, but still just a person.

Nanael was almost positive this was some self-image nonsense Church was spewing at her. She didn't believe she could just think away her problems. Wish away her pain by separating herself from its root. But he just looked so earnest about it. As if life were really just as simple as telling yourself you could be what you wanted, and be content with it.

Needless to say she wasn't ready to accept that idea just yet. But neither was she willing to reject it. It was something she was willing to think on, just like the friendship she was growing more and more accepting of as their adventure in this mine continued.

Hoisting his crossbow once again, Church nodded, careful to step over the fallen body of the creature he had slain a few minutes ago. "Anyway, the sooner we get out of here the better. I'm just worried we'll run into more of those little creatures."

Nanael followed Church's lead, allowing her more tumultuous thoughts to fade into the background for more practical ones. "It's likely I guess. But they have to have a way of moving around down here, so maybe there's a way back out?"

"Depends on if they have a reason to ever go back to the surface."

Unfortunately Church had a very good point there, though it allowed Nanael to admit that Church just tended to have very good points in general. She liked that about him. Hachiel made good points too, but they were usually irritating points. The thought of it almost made Nanael smile, as it would at least prove that she was capable of making fairly decent friends.

"I knew it! This place is swarming with Kobolds! I should have known better than to send Church here alone..."

Hachiel peeked out from behind Ymir's massive axe, having hidden her eyes from the violence that had just ensued. The dwarf was surrounded by the crumpled forms of little green humanoid things, many of them cleaved in two by Ymir's huge weapon. Seeing such a diminutive girl kill so many creatures, human or not, was a little unsettling.

"What exactly are... Kobolds?"

Ymir flexed her arms, a little sore from swinging around her axe so much. Even with her gauntlet, it was a heavy weapon for a girl of her body type to be wielding. "Kobolds are distantly related to goblins, but live solely in caves or underground areas. They seem like simple-minded creatures, but they're pretty crafty, and experts when it comes to ambushes or traps. Physically, they're frail and weak, but that's why they travel in packs. They're no match for me of course, but this is probably too much for Church..."

"Nanael is with him, so there's no way the two of them will fall to such weak creatures."

"Are you sure? How strong are angels anyway?"

"Much stronger than you, rest assured."

Apparently that was supposed to be assurance of some sort, but all it did was irritate the dwarf. All this clueless angel had to do was tell her that Church would be fine, without degrading Ymir's own strength. "I'll have you know that Steam Tyranny is the most powerful weapon I have ever created! Don't take it so lightly!"

Her angelic companion cocked a confused eyebrow at her. "Steam... Tyranny?"

Trying to make her point even more obvious, Ymir waved her gauntlet around. "This! It's a steam-powered engine that increases my strength and attack speed! It's my greatest creation! It can even compare to the strength of an angel, I'm sure of it!"

Hachiel refrained from saying that no man-made weapon could never hold a candle to the strength of an angel, especially one of Nanael's level. She would let Ymir believe what she wanted, to avoid being rude if nothing else. Besides, right now, finding Nanael and Church was much more important than determining who was stronger between an angel and a dwarf.

Unfortunately, although Hachiel could determine the rough direction of Nanael and her partner, her senses were not precise enough to know their exact location. This meant that it was going to take some time to find them, and right now time wasn't something they had in spades.

"Ymir, with how many Kobolds you've defeated here, do you really think there are enough left in the cave to threaten the others?"

"Definitely. Kobolds live in huge tribes that set up in deep caves and mines. The few dozen I took care of here are probably nothing more than a scouting party. If we don't hurry, your friends could be in real trouble."

With this information in mind, Hachiel quickly grabbed Ymir by the arm and led her in the direction she could sense Nanael. "Then what are we waiting for!? We have to go right now!"

There had been no attacks from the little green men since Church and Nanael had begun their search for an exit to the mine. Considering that only one had been killed, neither of them was sure where the others had run off to, but for the most part, they were not concerned. Nanael obviously had no reason to be, since there was nothing these creatures could possibly throw at her that would hurt her even a little. Church on the other hand was still slightly worried since he could be far more easily killed. But honestly, he couldn't help but feel safe with Nanael beside him.

Still, if he ran into a trap or something, it was possible that Church could be injured or killed before Nanael could react and protect him. Even so, he wasn't going to make her walk in front: the last thing he was going to do was use her as an over-glorified shield.

That being said, Church was leading the way down the dark tunnels of the abandoned mine, Nanael following closely behind so she could light the way for him. There was no natural or artificial light available down here, so Nanael's ambient light was the only option. This led Church to believe that the monsters that lived down here had night vision, but an advantage like that shouldn't have made much of a difference in their situation. After all, he had Nanael with him, and that was the biggest advantage of all.

"I should have known this would be far more troublesome than it sounded. When will I learn?"

Nanael shrugged. She honestly wasn't all that displeased with the situation. She had found the experience to be truly enlightening in some regards, even if she hadn't fully accepted everything that had been put forward to her just yet. Either way she was glad to have a new perspective to consider, courtesy of her companion for this misadventure. "It isn't all that bad. We're still in one piece, right?"

Church nodded his somewhat reluctant agreement. "Well optimistically speaking, yes... but we also lost the ore we came here to get. I couldn't find any of it under all the rubble from earlier. I know it can't be helped, but it's still unfortunate."

The angel behind Church smiled, finding that she was actually enjoying all of this quite a bit. "Just think of it as an adventure! This is kinda exciting."

While Church couldn't wholeheartedly agree, he was happy that Nanael was enjoying herself. He never would have expected her to, but he wasn't going to question something good. "You're right. It's all about perspective..."

The duo came to a stop at a slight incline in the tunnel. The shape of the walkway itself was strangely rounded and smooth, though Church couldn't imagine why...

Suddenly a loud rumbling erupted from the top of the incline, and a large, round boulder entered Church and Nanael's view from above the lip. It quickly began to descend from the top, rolling towards its victims below.

"You've got to be kidding me, what is this Indiana Jones bullshit?!"

Naturally, Nanael was no more worried than before. She took a step in front of Church and spread out her regular wing to protect him from any ensuing destruction from what she was about to do. "Alright Church, just stay behind me. I'll handle this no problem."

The once upon a time soldier did as he was told as Nanael stretched her arms over her head, completely unfazed by the danger before her. He was a little irritated to have to hide and count on someone else again, but he understood the necessity.

Nanael cocked her arm back as the rolling boulder approached her, charging power far beyond what any mortal could hope to achieve. It was no surprise that by the time the boulder reached the two companions, it was in pieces. Nanael had simply straight punched it in the center as it approached, shattering the solid stone without so much as a grunt of discomfort on her part.

Church was careful to stay behind Nanael until the fragments of stone had stopped ricocheting off of the walls of the cave. He couldn't help but comment as he stepped out from behind her. "I knew you were strong, but that was... admirably scary."

The blue-haired girl flexed an arm. Whatever her flaws, at least she was strong. "Why thank you. I aim to please."

With the immediate threat taken care of, the unlikely duo climbed the very incline that had just threatened their safety. Coming over its edge, Church and Nanael were met with the sight of a large, open chamber, apparently the source of the boulder that had come to crush them. It also sported quite a large number of inhabitants, all in the form of the lanky little green things that had been harassing the duo thus far. They all looked quite amazed to see their prey alive, though it was likely because they had never encountered an angel before.

Unfortunately, this amazement did not evolve into fear, but anger. The monsters seemed very displeased that someone had managed to survive what they thought was a surefire way to kill anything.

Nanael sighed at the sight of it. To be honest she kind of enjoyed fighting, but to the extent that this would require would be more troublesome than exciting. Church on the other hand was slightly worried about being so heavily outnumbered. Whether or not Nanael was here, he could only fire his crossbow every few seconds, and if all of these things rushed them at once...

With a collective screech of rage and desperation, the massive group of creatures raised their makeshift weapons and charged en masse at the foes before them. Nanael was calm as ever before the onslaught, but that didn't stop Church from shooting a crossbow bolt into one of the lead attackers, causing it to fall to the ground and trip its comrades behind it.

He was quick to reload, but even so Church only had enough time for one more shot before he would have to fight up close. Nanael must have realized this, because she moved close to her companion before the wave reached them. "I'll cover you while you fight Church. I won't let any of them reach you."

Suddenly Church found all of his worries regarding this situation disappear. He was outnumbered, and more importantly he was a long-range fighter surrounded in close combat, but with Nanael as his vanguard, he had nothing to worry about. "Thanks. I have no idea what I would do without you."

Quickly concealing a smile, Nanael put on a serious face for the fight ahead. After all, as she pulverized the first monster that got too close to her, the angel realized that she would have looked terrifying with a smile on her face.

With Nanael guarding him, Church began to drop enemies from a distance as quickly as he could. He briefly thought that it was troubling that Nanael could kill so easily, but reminded himself that he was doing the same, and that they were killing to protect each other and themselves. That thought significantly lowered Church's dismay about the whole situation.

Still, the crunch of bones from Nanael's blows was disconcerting. Church had no doubt that every attack was fatal. If she could shatter that boulder earlier with a single punch, their current diminutive foes certainly stood no chance against her.

Church ducked under the haphazard swing of a stone club as one of the green monsters got a little too close for comfort. He was about to ask for Nanael's help, but the angel noticed before he could say anything at all, and she planted her booted heel in the creature's face without hesitation. Church made a conscious effort to block out the crunch of its skull as it flew backwards, but ultimately failed. He couldn't help but feel a little sick about it.

But misgivings aside, he was still ready to fight, and a crossbow bolt soon found its way into the torso of another enemy. That was the ninth foe Church had killed so far, much less than Nanael, but a decent number nevertheless. His ammo was limited, and he didn't have enough time to recover any bolts from the fallen. Meanwhile, the number of opponents did not seem to decrease at all. Even with Nanael's strength, it wasn't looking good. She was an angel, but did she have a limit? Would she tire before this was over? There was no way Church could handle it on his own...

Just as Church was starting to grow slightly concerned over the situation, a loud banging began emitting from the ceiling. It sounded awfully similar to the noise that had heralded the arrival of these things earlier, so this caused Church's fears to amplify.

As if on cue, the ceiling collapsed as a bullet of pink, white, and blue smashed through it, followed by a cloud of steam. This form crashed into the swarm of green monsters below, crushing a few and blowing away many more.

Church had a feeling he knew who was in the cloud of steam, but as loud, obnoxious laughter erupted from it, there was no mistaking the person's identity.

"I told you didn't I?! Steam Tyranny is the most powerful tool ever invented!"

Church raised his gaze to the hole Ymir had created as a tuft of pink hair emerged from it, the rest of Hachiel following soon after. "I know, you've said as much many times already..."

With the arrival of two new foes, the green cretins that had been harassing Nanael and Church quickly scattered in fear, determined to escape deeper into the caverns, much to Ymir's dismay.

"Hey, get back here you Kobold bastards! I still have to prove that my weapons are the best!"

Church couldn't help but smile: why not, now that this crisis was finally over?

"I'm really, really sorry."

Ymir's apology was by no means unexpected, especially since it was the fourth time she had made one since the group of four had begun backtracking their way out of the mine. Church understood why she would be regretful and all, but he really was not displeased over what had happened in the caverns. It had given him the perfect chance to speak to Nanael alone, and he was fairly certain he had made pretty decent headway with her because of it.

"I said it was fine Ymir. There was no loss of life or limb, so it's no big deal. I just can't believe those miners were working together with those Kobold things, luring us into a trap like that..."

Ymir gave him a look of confusion. "The miners? Those guys from Fenril village? They weren't working with the Kobolds, no way. Kobolds are smarter than most dumb beasts, but not nearly smart enough to communicate with other races."

Church almost had half a mind to tell Nanael she had been mistaken in judging Ross so quickly, but he decided against it as the light at the end of the tunnel came in view.

"Well, that's good. Too bad I lost the ore though... I really need a weapon..."

This time Ymir's expression was more akin to disbelief. "Hey, do you really think I'm that cheap? You could have died down there, I'm not going to let you walk away with nothing."

Church felt like he was essentially robbing the dwarf under these circumstances, but knew that it was futile to argue with her. Ymir was irresistibly cute, but impossibly stubborn.

Having walked for some time, the company soon found itself in the light of day again. It was much later than when Church and Nanael had entered the mine, but the sun was still hanging low in the sky.

Ymir jabbed a finger into the air, her voice as rambunctious as always. "Alright, let's get back to Bosk! I'm hungry, and Cattleya cooks a mean baked potato!"

With that, Ymir stomped off in the direction of Bosk, and surprisingly, Hachiel was right behind her. Apparently the two had formed a friendship of sorts, strange as it was. Church was about to follow them, but was stopped when Nanael grabbed his hand from behind. She had been quiet for awhile now, but Church had assumed she was just tired.

Looking back on her, she did seem tired, though not physically. She just seemed tired of the facade. The charade. Her expression was somber, completely devoid of anything that looked even remotely like joy, satisfaction, or contentedness. It was her real face, free of the walls she put up at most every other time.

"I'll give it a try."

Unfortunately Church didn't catch on to he meaning immediately. "Give what a try?"

"Us being friends. I... don't really understand everything you've said about accepting imperfection and just carving away a part of your identity you don't want. But it... sounds nice. It... sounds like something I need. I haven't trusted anyone in a long time, but I feel like I can probably trust you, at least a little bit."

Her unsure words nevertheless brought a smile to Church's face. "Well, like I said, I can't promise that I'll never mess up. I'm only human, after all. But if there's one thing you can be sure of, it's that as my friend, you'll always be my equal."

Nanael's upbringing demanded that she deny a human ever being equal to an angel. But her own personality drowned the minor impulse entirely, far too pleased with the idea of finally being on equal terms with somebody. "I think I'd like that."

Well, the Bosk arc is finally nearing its end. It used to be called Renzas, but re-watching QB proved that the name of Cattleya's town was actually Bosk.

Anyway, if you guys get bored waiting for the next update, you'll be happy to know that I've updated this entire story. I revised every chapter up to this point, and while some changes are minor, such as settings descriptors, others are major, like the addition of entire new scenes or a redux of important dialogue. It might be fun for you to go back and see if you can spot the differences.

Also, remember to check out other stories if I've written something for another fandom you like. I started a new fic for Naruto, and it's one of the best things I've done in a long while, so check it out if you're interested.

Finally, remember that I love hearing from you guys. I'm biased against my own work (aren't we all?), so it's always nice to get other opinions.