“Why would Elly be here?” Raea asked as Palan stood up and walked next to her. Elrith was staring at the window—his expression darkened when he saw Palan’s face. “Isn’t he supposed to be leading the army?”
“Who knows,” Palan said and shrugged as he put some pants on. “We’ll find out soon enough.” He glanced at Raea’s expression and raised an eyebrow. She didn’t seem nervous at all. Last time she panicked over her appearance. This time, she seemed angry. Palan smirked as he left the room and went downstairs. He wasn’t sure why Raea became angry when she saw her brother, but it was better for Raea to be angry at Elrith than him.
Palan stepped outside of the house and onto the porch where Cleo was cleaning herself off with a towel and a bucket of water along with Sally’s assistance. Raea was already waiting near the burning pit she had created earlier that day with her powers, evidently having flown out of the window instead of walking behind Palan. Her hair and feathers fluttered in the wind as she stood with her legs slightly spread apart and arms crossed over her chest. Wisps of black fire occasionally flickered in and out of existence around her. Her eyes narrowed at the approaching earthen spider which came to a halt in front of her.
“Why’s the fuddy-duddy here?” Cleo asked Palan as she trailed after him, dripping water onto the ground as some of her dead skin sloughed off. Her scales seemed to be tinted with a blue hue that only showed in the sunlight.
“Why does everyone think I’m omniscient?” Palan asked. “He’s here because he wants to be here. It’s as simple as that. Also, you stink.”
“Still?” Cleo asked as she and Palan reached Raea’s side. She brought her arm to her nose and sniffed herself. Her nose wrinkled, and she pulled out another bucket of water. Elrith had climbed off of his spider while Sally chose to stay behind, standing on the railing of the porch.
“Raea?” Elrith asked with a furrowed brow. “Is that you?”
“You had to ask? You can’t even recognize your own sister?” Raea asked and smiled at her brother. Cleo shivered when she saw the expression on Raea’s face. “I get it,” Raea said as she raised her hand to interrupt Elrith. She lowered her voice and imitated Elrith’s posture. “You changed so much since the last time I saw you. I almost didn’t recognize you.” She blinked at him and returned her voice to normal. “Didn’t you always say that to me every time you came home?”
“Ray…,” Elrith said and scratched his head. He stared at Raea’s wings and the scaled parts of her that weren’t covered by her robe.
“Why are you here?” Raea asked. “Don’t you have an army to lead?”
“I quit,” Elrith said.
“Tha—huh?” Raea bit back the biting remark she was about to make and furrowed her brow. “What do you mean quit? Aren’t you contracted every three and a half years?”
“Not anymore,” Elrith said and shrugged. He laughed while looking down, shaking his head. “Some diligence angel I am, eh? I deserted.” He poked Raea’s forehead when she didn’t respond. “What? Don’t believe me?”
Raea shook her head. “Why?”
“Because of you, dumdum,” Elrith said. “How can I let my baby sister wander around the third sector by herself? I’ll admit I haven’t been a very good brother to you.” He paused. “I think Selena made me realize that. It doesn’t matter how much honor I bring to the Caelum name if I never see my family.”
Raea fell silent—her wings seemed to deflate. “I see,” she said after a long while. “Aren’t you afraid of being punished? Deserters are executed, no exceptions.”
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“I don’t think they can afford to punish me right now,” Elrith said and shrugged. “And I’m not the only one who deserted.” He smiled at Raea. “You’re still technically a lieutenant until Michael declares you to be a deserter.” Raea shrugged. “Well,” Elrith said and glanced at the burning pit of black flames beside them, “there are lots of things I want to ask, but I guess I’ll start with are you okay?”
“I feel great,” Raea said. “Just fine. Sely wouldn’t have wanted me to mope around, so I won’t. I’m going to keep moving forward.”
Elrith blinked. “Really,” he said. “Looks like I didn’t have to worry about you, huh?” He scratched his cheek and sighed. “So, uh,”—he pointed at the fiery pit—“what’s this?”
“Stuff happened,” Raea said and shrugged again, shooting a glare at Palan and Cleo. “I’m an archangel now.”
“I see,” Elrith said slowly and nodded. “Can I stop the flames? Or did you need it for something?”
“Go ahead,” Raea said.
Elrith held his hand out towards the burning pit and squinted. A few seconds passed, and he furrowed his brow. A vein bulged on his forehead as his hand trembled. “Odd,” Elrith said. He lowered his hand and gazed at Raea. “Those were your flames? I can’t put them out.”
“Does that mean Raea’s stronger than you?” Palan asked and raised an eyebrow.
“No,” Elrith said and crossed his arms over his chest. “There are a lot more factors than just pure mana capacity that determines someone’s strength.”
“Like what?” Cleo asked. “I bet she’s faster than you too. And she can fly.”
“Well,” Elrith said and cleared his throat. “For one, I’m older. I’ve accumulated a lot more experience than her which enables me to make better decisions.” He nodded.
“So you’re saying I make bad decisions?” Raea asked.
Elrith glanced at Palan. “Terrible ones,” he said. Raea pinched her brother’s arm, causing him to yelp. “It was a joke. Just a joke. Your claws are really sharp.” He wiped away the drop of blood that formed on his arm. His expression turned serious. “So what happens next?”
“I was going to fulfill my contract with Palan,” Raea said. “I haven’t thought of what comes next.”
“Okay,” Elrith said. “What does that mean?”
“Palan’s sister is in Eljiam, and I agreed to help him reunite with her,” Raea said.
Elrith’s eyes widened. He grabbed Raea’s shoulders. “You’re going to Eljiam?” he asked. “Impossible. Absolutely not. How are you going to get back after you arrive?”
Raea brushed Elrith’s arms off of her shoulders with ease. “I never said I was going to Eljiam,” she said. “We wanted to go to the capital to send him back.”
“Can’t you use the portal in Hailing Academy?” Elrith asked. “It’s going to be very difficult for either of us to enter the capital, you know, being deserters and all. Not to mention the fact that you’re a fallen angel now.”
Raea bit her lower lip. Palan wrapped his arm around Raea’s shoulder and said, “It has to be the capital. There’s other things that need to be accomplished first.”
Raea seemed shocked by her demon’s actions and met his gaze, but didn’t do anything to escape from his hold. Elrith’s eye twitched. “Like what?” he asked. The way Raea leaned into Palan made him feel uncomfortable.
“Like stuff,” Palan said and smiled. “You don’t need to know. Were you planning on coming with us?”
“Of course,” Elrith said and narrowed his eyes.
“And what if Raea doesn’t want you to?” Palan asked. Raea opened her mouth to speak, but Palan turned her body towards him, pulling her closer. His hand rested on her wing, and his fingers began to stroke her feathers. Palan smiled at Elrith. “Well?”
Cleo blinked and spoke up before Elrith could say anything. “We could use a new cook,” she said and nodded. “And someone to do the laundry and dishes.” She glanced at Palan. “I wonder where we could find one though.”
“Absolutely shameless,” Elrith said and sighed. “I’ll do it. If I have to do dishes and cook to become a part of this group, then I will.”
“Really?” Cleo asked and blinked. “I honestly didn’t think that would work.”
“I have nothing left,” Elrith said and shrugged.
“Call me boss,” Cleo said and nodded as she placed her hands on her hips. Her tail swished back and forth. “Welcome to the party, land mount. Come with me.” Elrith glanced at Raea who had her eyes closed and face buried in Palan’s side. He sighed and followed the diminutive lizardman.
“What was this all about?” Raea asked as she slid her arm around Palan’s waist.
“Establishing dominance,” Palan said as he released Raea when Elrith and Cleo had entered the house. “You can let go now.”
“And if I don’t want to?” Raea asked.
“Did you already forget it was my fault your sister died?”
“Just because you hate someone doesn’t mean you can’t want them at the same time.”