Hello again :) Um, well...This story definitely wins the prize for longest amount of time between updates! It's been over a year, and for that I apologize. But it's back and I am determined to finish it this time :) Thank you for anyone who happened to stick out the time and thank you for any new readers, as well! I hope you enjoy the read!

"The storm has passed," Erick added. "You must keep moving. Despite Mathias's earlier dismissal, you seem to be being followed by two very determined shapeshifters. If you plan to outrun them, you'll have to continue soon."

A small growl escaped my demonic counterpart's lips, his irises blazing. "Are you serious? I thought for sure Berwald would never let Tino up this far into the mountains!"

Sighing, I felt around for my clothes in the snow, coming up with everything but my underwear. I narrowed my eyes at Mathias, in no mood for his ridiculous games. "Why have they followed us?" I asked my brother, while prying the other man out of the way with a well-placed knee to the side. "Are they hoping to bring me back? Convince me to stay here? I have already heard those pleas from every other person in this weird world, and I'm not about to start listening now."

Mathias grunted, reluctantly pulling my boxers out from underneath his bottom and handing them over.

Erick crossed his arms, gazing out into the sunny horizon. "I don't know what they want. Unfortunately, the ability to read minds doesn't come with the fosse package. But it's pretty obvious that they will slow you down if you meet them."

"Would a little extra time with me be so bad, though?" Mathias asked, grinning. "We could get to know each other even better, although after last night…" He trailed off.

"After last night, you still know nothing about me," I grumbled, yanking myself out of the cavern and using some snow to smooth down my wild hair.

I looked around at the mountains, stunned by how beautiful they could be when the weather was calm. For miles, the snow-capped rocks climbed higher and higher, seeming to stretch to forever in the distance. Topped off with a marble blue sky, the universe almost appeared normal for the first time since I'd arrived here. It could have been home….if not for the pointy-toothed freak and my golden-eyed brother standing behind me.

"Man! Where'd my axe go?" I heard Mathias complain, shifting around in the snow. "It wouldn't fit in the cave, so I thought it'd be safe out here…"

Turning back, I saw his shoving himself into drifts, using his mysterious fire to melt it away. "What made you think anything would be safe out in a huge blizzard?" I muttered, mostly to myself, but Mathias looked up anyway.

He gave me an easy grin, though there was annoyance in his eyes. "Usually I just have to call it back to me, but for some reason it isn't working this time. Damn demon weapons can be so moody." Pouting, he continued his search.

"What is his name?" Erick wondered, twirling his scarf around a finger absently. "Perhaps he has some sort of resentment for being left to freeze to death while you two cuddled naked?"

"Mogens." Mathias stood up straight, a breeze rolling through the air. He stiffened as it brushed through his hair, sending his nostrils flaring and his eyes flashing angrily in my brother's direction. "They're closer than you said! You actually want Lukas to get caught, don't you?"

Erick regarded the fiery demon with boredom. "Of course I don't. Sabotage wasn't on my agenda for today. You're just taking too long looking for Mogens."

The moment the name left his lips, golden fire swirled up from underneath a drift of snow, blazing as the weapon flew through the air and into Erick's conveniently opened palm. He blinked at it, fingers closing around the hilt automatically, before an amused smirk made its way onto his lips. "It would seem I am correct about his resentment."

Mathias gaped at his axe. "M-Mogens! Why didn't you come out earlier?! Why are you letting another man touch you?" He snatched it from Erick, hugging it close and cooing to it.

Rolling my eyes at the ridiculous scene, I wrapped my arms around my cold body and began trudging through the thick snow. It wasn't like we had time to waste with pointless banter. Somewhere, my mother was waiting with the answer to my desires, and they were wasting our chance. With Tino and Berwald on our tails, there was only more incentive to hurry to the village where she lived.

"Hey! Hey, wait! Lukas!" Mathias called after me, hurrying to stand by my side. "You shouldn't just wander away like that…something bad could happen to you." His voice brimmed with nothing but worry for me.

"We're taking too long. Tino and Berwald are catching up every second you waste on my brother."

He frowned, but said, "You're right. I'm sorry, my king. But leaving without my axe would be a very bad idea."

I raised an eyebrow and tried to seem disinterested. "And the reason for that is?"

His expression darkened, though his eyes remained a clear blue color. "Well, even though we avoided the forest, there are still menacing creatures in the mountains. Without the power of my axe, it would be very difficult to take them down."

"What sorts of creatures?" I wondered, imagining giant snow beasts and feral polar bears.

"There are these gargantuan snow beasts and crazy polar bears!" Mathias said exuberantly, motioning with his hands.

Well then.

"They like to attack out of nowhere, what with their incredible camouflage, so please be careful," he continued. "Plus there are all kinds of crevasses that you could fall in! Maybe you should ride on my back again."

I gave him a side-glare, expecting him to have that ridiculous, flirtatious expression on again…but his face was completely honest. "Stop," I said anyway, trying not to feel guilty as I snapped at him. "I'm not a child anymore, nor am I a helpless little girl, so I would appreciate it if you would treat me as a man."

"I just want to protect you," Mathias protested. "That's my job as your bodyguard. Not only that, but keeping you safe makes me feel at ease. If I know I'm giving it everything I have, then you can't get hurt."

I kicked an ice clump by my feet, checking over my shoulder to see if Erick had disappeared into thin air again. He had; there was nothing behind us but more snowdrifts. I turned back around, shoving my icy hands into the pockets of my coat. The more I thought about the way he acted, the animalistic eyes, the lazy, knowledgeable attitude, the more I saw a sneaky cat, sticking his curious nose into everyone else's business. Forget a fossegrimen. He was an unsmiling Cheshire Cat.

"Fine then. But you aren't picking me up again," I ordered, taking a step away from him. "As long as you do your duty without any more unnecessary physical contact, I will not complain."

He chuckled, his voice low and attractive. "But you actually like being touched, don't you, King? You didn't seem to have any objections last night."

My eyes searched the ground for something to throw at his dumb blockhead, but, coming up with nothing but more snow, I settled on simply glowering some more. "I had plenty of objections. However, I didn't really have much say when you started ripping my clothes off, did I?"

Mathias grunted and swung the axe over his shoulder. "I didn't want you to catch hypothermia! I heard somewhere that it's best to get naked in the cold when you have two people! That way you can share body heat!"

"You made that up." I would never admit that I had heard something similar to that once.

"I did no-" he began, but midsentence he stiffened again, a deep growl starting in his throat. "Do you smell that?"

Humoring him, I gave the crisp air a sniff. "Yes…it smells like air."

"No." His eyes were crimson again, his whole body stiff like an angry dog. "I smell something…it's not an animal. Another person?"

I couldn't help but think how efficient this enhanced sense of smell was for guarding. This Mathias was able to pick up on danger before it appeared, maybe even help to avoid it. The other Mathias would be forced to fight surprise attacks and use his dull human instincts to protect me. I had to admit, if I was going to be stuck in a dangerous, psychotic dimension where I could be killed at any moment, it was this one that I wanted to have by my side.

He pulled me closer, protectively wrapping his free arm around me. "I can smell magic on him, but the scent is still human…We should leave. How opposed are you to flying?"

I looked down at his strong arm clasped around my waist, then back to his face. "It's fine," I said, though how he was going to carry me and his oversized weapon, I wasn't entirely sure.

"Alright!" he said with inexplicable enthusiasm, flapping his powerful bat-like wings and soaring into the air.

From my spot in his arms, I watched as the ground grew further and further away, the white of the land expanding the higher we got. "If you could fly this whole time," I yelled over the sound of the wind whistling across my face, "why didn't you, idiot?"

Mathias's body was hot, pressed up against my back. His chuckle rumbled through my entire frame. "The weather yesterday sucked. You expect me to fly through a snowstorm?"

"Well, it would have been helpful if you had. We might have already been to the village by now," I answered, mostly to myself.

He didn't reply, but somehow I had the feeling he had heard me.

We continued over the landscape easily, the air sharp and cold. Not only was our pace quickened by this method of travel, but it brought with it a sense of openness that I had never felt before. This was what freedom felt like. No longer trapped within the bindings of the castle, no longer pressured by other people…Mathias was showing me all I'd wanted since the beginning. He was teaching me how to fly.

I was an angel. I had wings of my own.

"I want to try," I said suddenly, looking at him.

He blinked. "You want to try? Try what?"

"Let go of me," I demanded, struggling to get out of his grip.

"Hey, are you crazy?! If you fall from here, you're going to die!" Mathias tightened his arm around me. "I don't mind holding you."

I continued to squirm, despite the fact that his muscles were twice the size of mine. "I want to fly. I'm an angel, right? Then I have wings. So I want you to let me go."

"King Luka-"

"That is an order," I added, using the only power I had over him.

His eyebrows furrowed. "I…I…can't do that, Majesty. It's my job as your bodyguard to protect you, and I'm pretty sure dropping you from the sky doesn't fall under my guard roll."

I pretended to go limp, to give in. "Fine," I sighed, positioning myself just right.

Mathias sighed in relief. "You know, you're pretty damn weird. Most Kings don't beg to be given the chance to commit suic-"

With all the strength I had, I brought the heel of my foot into his crotch. Even if he was a demon, a shot there would still hurt…right?

I was rewarded with his sharp intake of breath and the loosening of his vice grip, giving me just a large enough opening to slide out of his arm. I fell fast, the ground coming up faster than I had expected it to as I careened down, trying to find how to make my wings work. I had seen them in my reflection; white and feathery, I was sure they would be able to support my weight. Visualizing myself like that, I struggled to flap them…but they remained unresponsive, useless.

"LUKAS!" Mathias screamed from the sky, forgetting my title again.

My heart started pounding as I realized that I was probably going to die. I was falling much too fast for Mathias to reach me in time and, without my wings, there was nothing stopping me from crashing down. I closed my eyes, hoping that it wouldn't hurt too much….knowing that it would. If this were Earth, I would have died already. The shock from such a high jump would have taken me before I could even reach the ground. But this was not my home. This was some insane universe that my mind controlled.

Did I really want to die so badly?

The answer was no. I just wanted to leave this place as soon as I possibly could. But now I would spend the rest of my short life here. Even after death, I would be stuck here. Be buried here. Decay here. I would get no chance to say goodbye to my real life if I let it end now.

"I want to fly…" I whispered.

I felt my wings twitch to life, stretching out like a parachute to slow my descent. Still, I couldn't feel that I had control over them…it was as if they were acting on their own to save me.

"Then flap," I hissed. "Take me into the sky."

Obediently, they followed my order and I shot up into the air.

Mathias was on me before I could react, clutching me close to him. "You're insane! Lukas…Oh, shit…Don't ever do that again, you psycho! I thought you were gonna die!"

I looked at him, intending to tease him for being ridiculous…but again, I found myself silenced by his eyes. The panic was still there, overwhelming fear. He really cared about me. So even demons could love. I allowed him to keep his arms around me…just this once. His warmth felt undeniably comforting and calmed my still-racing heart.

"We should keep moving," I informed him, trying not to get caught up in his strange allure.

"You're right," he said, giving me a stupid smile and taking my hand. "Let's go!"

I yanked my hand away with a scowl. "You're too brazen for your own good. Do not forget your place. Now, how far out are we?"

Mathias tilted his head to the side with a mischievous grin. "Oh, I'd say another couple of hours until we reach the closest village. Not the one where your mother is, but we'll probably need to stop there for the night to rest…and such." He waggled his eyebrows, but I studiously ignored him.

"I don't want to stop," I protested. "You have fire…you can light up our way, correct?"

"Well, yeah, but I'm already tired. My powers need replenishing," he said, with an extremely fake yawn.

I looked away. "I thought demons got their power from the moon."

Mathias nodded, explaining. "We do. But now that it's waning, the surge of power that comes from it is going away. Really, the moon sort of puts us into a weird trance."

I recalled him trying to force me into sex. "Right. Like when you tried to rape me."

"Yeah, like that!" he said without remorse. "My only regret is that I didn't actually get to do you before you knocked me out!"

I glared at him. "Bastard. Stay away from me."

Laughing, he flew ahead of me and went in a loop, his face full of energy. "Hey, let's race! We'll see if angels are actually better than demons, or if they're really just glorified, spoiled rich kids!"

How could I deny a challenge so easily set before me? I knew I would win; all I had to do was order my wings to go faster than Mathias's. "Of course angels are better. After all, demons give in too easily to pressure. That's why they were sent to Hell."

"Oh, you're on. I'll show you the power of Beelzebub is nothing to stick up your nose at," he retaliated with a fanged smile.

I gave him a fierce grimace, motioning for him to fly next to me. "First one to the village, then. It's a straight shot, right?"

He nodded, looking at me with cocky superiority. "That's right. Prepare to eat my dust. Oh, hey, before we go…let's set some conditions! How about a little gambling? If I win, I get to do whatever I want to you all night long!"

"Absolutely not. If I agree to that, I will be dead by tomorrow," I muttered, trying not to feel embarrassed.

"Aw, I was just going to rough you up a teeny bit!" he whispered into my ear.

My arm swung around, but Mathias had learned; snickering, he dove out of the way. "Fine," I relented with annoyance. "But nothing that will interfere with me meeting my mother. And this whole conversation is irrelevant, since I am going to win anyway."

"Sure! So, what's your condition, King Lukas?"

"If I win, you will take me to my mother with no more flirting. You will be strictly business and you will help me leave here without any more detours. I will return home and never come back here." It was harsh, but he needed to hear it. "Agreed?"

The fiery excitement seemed to die down at my words. "Lukas…"

"Shall we begin?" I continued, pretending to be oblivious to the pain I had caused him.

He was no longer grinning; his face had hardened with determination, his eyes glowing crimson again in his anger. "I will win. And I will have you," he hissed, his voice unfriendly and harsh now. "Forever."

"That wasn't your condition. You said one night," I protested, but when he stared at me with those hungry eyes…I felt it was better not to speak to him at all.

"Hello. I will be your referee," a voice called from the ground. Without looking, I knew it was obviously my brother again, appearing out of thin air whenever he deemed it appropriate. "I've brought this raven to make sure you both play fair. There are no real rules, other than the first to the village wins. I'll be waiting there. Good luck. Ready…set…go!" He dissipated into the snow, sending a sleek black raven into the air beside me.