As the demons were told to line up over the loud speaker, there were always some in every group that would either disregard it momentarily before joining in the line, or those who completely say fuck it and not even acknowledge that it was ever said.
Sidon took quick notice of the ones who were defiant.
There were the few here and there that he hadn't paid much attention to, a female that seemed to give little to no care about the ordeal entirely, the large guardsman of the prince, someone who seemed extremely friendly with the prince, the prince himself, and the heftier man.
They seemed to be quite the bunch, to say the very least. As though the laws did not apply to them, as though they ran the place. By all purposes, the prince's actions could be explained, as he was a part of the royal class down where he was from, but here, it would be in his best interest, as well as his companions, to do as told, otherwise, the trip back to hell? Extremely painful process, as he's heard.
Once again, a bit more commanding, the voice came across the speaker, telling each demon to form a line immediately. The angels above observed as everyone turned to join the line, but the prince didn't follow the order. He just turned to make it seem as though he would, but then he turned himself right back around and dropped himself into a criss-cross sitting position, chin raised high, and arms crossed tight over his chest.
His little tantrum hadn't lasted long, though, as the second his guard noticed he wasn't at his side, he was walking his way back to the young prince. The angels couldn't help but snicker at the startled expression on his face when the guard snatched him up by the underarms. Snickers stopped though, the second those lips pulled up into a snarl, and instead the laugh was replaced with intrigued gasps, wondering just what the prince was going to do.
Sidon leaned towards the glass the most, his sister becoming a close second.
The prince started swinging his fists, slamming his elbows back into the guard's ribs, his heels slammed repeatedly into his thighs, and while the guard did falter and stumble everytime the prince threw a blow, Sidon couldn't help but ask his sister the question.
"With how hard he is hitting, because I can see in the guard's face that it's taking a toll on him, how has he not dropped the prince yet?" His sister was extremely observant, he knew. Mipha would find an explanation.
"The Highness isn't giving his full strength into his blows. Watch very closely, his movements slow down a bit before they connect with the guard. He hesitates too. Keep an eye on his elbow, it's the best angle to see it from. His arm retracts just slightly before coming into contact. While yes, he isn't using full force, the guard is strong. It may hurt a bit, but who wouldn't it hurt? I'm curious as to who's stronger, as of right now."
The angel did just as Mipha said, keeping an eye on the slightly tanned elbow, and sure enough, his movement did slow, and his elbow did jerk back only slightly before it made any connection with the guard. That was quite interesting. Did he not want to hurt him, or was the prince too scared to hurt him? The guard was a big man, he would have to admit that.
As the two were finally in place, the guard set the prince on his feet, several hand gestures were made in the man's direction, none recognizable to the angels above, but with the expression on the guard's face as he snapped back at the prince in a hushed tone, it must not have been any good.
A large hand rested on blond locks to hold him in place, and everything was calm, the royal demon's eyes shutting themselves as a puff of breath left his lips.
"He seems to be a calming man for the prince." Mipha hummed thoughtfully.
"Or they're trying to avoid any conflict by calming themselves down." Teba spoke up, "While I'm not familiar with all of what was said, the prince did say the word 'fired', so I'm assuming being fired was threatened, and the guard's lips formed the words , 'Your father', somewhere in the sentence he spoke, so that must have been a logical answer to whatever the prince said."
"You know sign language?"
"Correction: I know bits of sign language."
The loudspeaker stopped any questioning in how he knew such a thing.
Settle down, and take your places, angels. The assigment process begins now.
The angels all took their respective seats, Sidon next to Mipha, Urbosa next to Sidon, followed by Bazz, and Teba. The other angels, however, sat wherever they pleased. The five had called dibs on the seats years ago, there was no way anyone would argue either.
At first, names of demons were called, and as each name rung out, one stepped forward, information being called out about them, followed by which angel would be assigned to those demons. This happened many times, and while Sidon normally sat in the background and was never really called to such things, he had been informed that he would be gaining himself a demon for trial this time, and he was both nervous and excited.
After several times of demons he didn't recognize, nor bother to look at being called, finally, finally, one was called that the group had taken a notice of.
Riju, step forward.
The dark skinned demon with the pretty red hair took a step forward, raising her eyes to look through the glass above, eyes darting between each and every angel.
Name: Riju
Class: High Class
Danger Levels: Moderate,
Approachability: 68 Percent
Sin Count: Seven-Hundred
Guardian Assigned: Urbosa, please make your way to the floor.
Urbosa gave a loud whoop, getting high fives from those in the group of friends, excited she'd gotten the one she found absolutelt stunning. To other angels though, they took her excitement and high fives as a congratulations on another demon trial.
The angel ran to the side of the enclosure, down the stairs, and was quick to make her way over to the demon, Riju, giving her a handshake and taking a step back in line with her.
Kass, please step forward.
A large man, almost tall enough to rival the prince's guard took a step forward, and Sidon recognized him as the one the prince had been talking to, the one that ignored the announcement along with everyone else the first call out.
Name: Kass
Class: High Class
Danger Levels: Low
Approachability: 100 Percent
Sin Count: two hundred-ninety one
Guardian Assigned: Teba, please make your way to the floor.
As Teba left, Mipha nudged her brother, effectively getting his attention. "Look at the demon Teba has, and then look at the guard of the prince. They look as if they know Teba."
Sure enough, when he looked, Teba's features had softened a bit, looking back and forth between Kass and the guard. The second he shook hands with Kass, the two smiled at one another, before Teba took a little detour to the guard, who was quick to hold his hand out, a huge grin plastered across his face. Words werre exchanged between the two before Teba pat him on the shoulder and went back to the demon he was assigned, stepping back in line.
"Wow. I wonder how Teba knows demons."
"Perhaps in his life before here." Bazz wondered aloud, shaking his head. "Quite possible."
Revali, please step forward
The loud speaker startled the conversing angels, turning their eyes back down below, as the prince's guard said a few thing in the prince's ear before pushing him down to sit, possibly to keep him from doing something he shouldn't, or becoming defiant again.
Name: Revali
Class: Royal Guard, High
Danger Level: Extremely high caution advised.
"What did I tell you, he's the extremely dangerous one we're getting." Bazz said proudly.
"Hush and listen."
Approachability: less than 40 percent
Sin Count: Nine hundred-seventy nine
Guardian Assigned: Bazz, please make your way to the floor.
Bazz visibly paled, his eyes widening to the two friends of his still left.
Mipha and Sidon gave him sympathetic smiles before shooing him off. Bazz left quite reluctantly to the floor, his hesitation visible once he finally appraoched the demon he would become responsible for as he reached a slightly shaking hand out. They fell back in line, and Revali helped the prince back to his feet, though his hand stayed firmly gripped around the blond's bicep.
Daruk, please step forward.
The hefty man from before took a step out, eyes shining bright.
Name: Daruk
Class: High
Danger Level: Moderate, when provoked
Approachability: 99 percent
Sin Count: Three hundren-ten
Guardian Assigned: Mipha, please make your way to the floor.
Sidon didn't see anything bad coming from this man that his sister would be going through the trial with. He seemed quite a good fit for her actually. Just the excited look in his eyes when his name was called seemed to be the clue.
As Mipha made her way down, Sidon rubbed her arm as she passed, before taking a look at the three demons left. The prince, a larger man that didn't seem all too rough to handle, and a female, just as tall as the man, also seeming a bit easy to handle, but looks could be quite decieving.
Link, please step forward.
There was a moment where nobody moved, a long moment. So long that the speaker had to repeat itself, slightly more aggressive.
After the second calling, Revali lightly pushed the prince out of line, earning a visible growl that couldn't be heard, but his expression said it all.
Name: Link
Class: Royal , High
Danger Level: Extremely High, proceeding with extreme caution recommended, do not provoke
Every angel looked at one another, murmuring, but the look on Bazz's face of not being correct in the dangerous angel that would be accompanying them, and the look of shock on Mipha's and Urbosa's faces, but the knowing look on Teba's... they through Sidon through a bit of a loop.
Approachability: Less than 30 percent
Sin Count: Count Level Limit Exceeded
There was a pause, as if the person running the assignments were trying to find someone that they knew would actually do it. The tense silence among all angels was deafening.
Guardian Assigned: Sidon, please make your way to the floor.
There was a huge sigh of relief from every angel but Sidon. There was a panicked look on his sister's face, Bazz had wide eyes. They were worried.
Sidon gave a huge, shaky sigh and made his way down to the floor, nerves a bit shot as he began approaching the prince, who seemed to recognize him immediately, eyes narrowing to slits.
The angel pushed it aside and held his hand out, not expecting the demon prince to take it, mostly expecting him to rip it off. Instead, he glared at it, his hands making gestures quite quick, as if he were angry.
"Prince, shake his hand." Revali tried, getting no response.
"Prince Link. Shake. His. Hand." Again, no response.
"Master Link, take his fucking hand."
The prince seemed to snap out of it, blowing a huff of breath from his nose and taking Sidon's hand roughly, giving one rough snatch of a handshake before falling back in line next to Revali, leaning his upper body against the guard's arm.
Sidon gave a confused look to Bazz, who shrugged and gave a huge sigh to his friend.
The guard pat Sidon on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it, goody-two-shoes, he hates everyone, me included sometimes. Give him food, you'll be golden."
At the mention of food, Link raised his head, only slightly, and motioned a few times with his hands before clasping his hands in front of his waist.
"No, you cannot." Revali was laughing behind his words.
"Wait, he cannot what?"
"Not sure if you'd like me to repe-"
Link waved a hand, motioning for him to go on.
"Fine, fine. He asked if he could have somethinf with a certain set of pretty white wings for dinner. He's being an ass." Revali emphasized this by popping the prince on the back of the head.
Sidon was going to have fun on his first trial, wasn't he?
oOo
By the end of the assignment process, Link had become tired, hungry, and far more irritatable than normal. He'd snapped his teeth into Revali's hand once or twice for trying to help him adjust a piece of glitter that was digging into his skin, he'd popped off snide remarks in Sidon's direction for existing, some that Revali did not want to repeat.
But even in this state, when everyone disbanded from the line to converse with one another, he'd been more than happy to drag Revali along to Teba and Kass to catch up with their old friend.
'Teba!' his hands made the motion, and for once, the irritability, the danger, it went away for a bit. Teba seemed to have that effect on everyone.
"Teba, old friend." Revali greeted, earning a smile from the angel.
"We've missed you greatly, Kass, the Prince, and I. How's that son of yours?"
Teba gave a small nod. "And I to you three. Tulin is doing amazing, thank you for asking. Alive and well. I check in on him every now and again. He might rival you someday, Revali.",
"And you know I'd love to see it."
'Hey, Teba, how's your music going? Do you still play? Maybe you could show me sometime?' Link signed quickly, knowing Teba would catch on. Around his friends, he might have told a lie. He definitely new sign language. How else would he have been friends with Link?
"It's going well, you know I'd love to show you. Next time we have free time." With that, Teba lifted the prince up and dropped him on top of his shoulder for old time's sake. While the four conversed, Sidon and Mipha sat by, watching the scene unfold.
"He seems quite friendly with Teba." Mipha hummed, "Are you sure he's a brat? I don't quite see what you mean." She observed as the prince threw his head back in a silent laugh at something Kass had said, flustering Revali to absolutely no end.
"I swear! He snatched my arm when he shook my hand, Mipha. I don't think that's very friendly!"
"Perhaps he just doesn't like you, Sidon." Though, Mipha had to stop and think about that. Everyone loved Sidon, he was the sweetest thing, and had no problem encouraging and bringing out the best in everyone.
"Then maybe Teba should have been his angel, not me. Kass looks a lot kinder, anyhow. And less dangerous! I mean come on, look at him!" Sidon gestured towards the group, specifically at Kass, who was laughing behind his hand, eyes bright with sheer joy. "And what am I going to do when Revali isn't around? I'm going to be a goner, that's what!"
At the sound of his name, Revali tilted his head to the side and looked around, catching eyes with Sidon before realizing what might have been the topic of conversation. He sent the angel a sympathetic look before returning to his conversation, but his fingers pointed towards the prince on the other angel's shoulder.
The words, 'Don't overthink with him. If he starts up, just ask about his sister or Teba. Soft points in the prince's heart.' rang through his mind. Well, that was Revali's special power, it seemed. He'd keep that in mind for later.
Soon enough, everyone filed out for dinner call, and Sidon prayed the prince wouldn't cause too much trouble.
oOo
Another chapter down. They met , even if it wasn't as good as it could have gone.
Thanks for reading
-F.