“Raea,” Palan said as his body continued floating forward. Unlike his angel contractor, he didn’t have wings to halt his motion in the air. His body fell towards the ground when he deactivated his powers. He released Pyre and shooed him away. Pyre rolled his eyes but found a nearby rock to sit on and began to light his pipe.
Raea alighted next to Palan and smiled at him. “I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said. Palan’s mind blanked for a second before his brow furrowed. “You’ve become an archdemon?” Her gaze roamed up and down Palan’s body, and her lips curled into a smirk. “I think you need to find a tailor to specially design you pants.”
Palan frowned. “Do you know how long I’ve been searching for you?” he asked. “I went to the academy, but you weren’t there. They told me you were heading towards the rebel army, but when I arrived, you still weren’t there.”
Raea shrugged. “Some things happened,” she said and turned her head to the side. No way was she going to admit she got lost. “But does it matter?” She bit her lower lip and tilted her head up at Palan. “I’m here now, right?” She walked forward and traced a finger down the black line on Palan’s torso, not knowing what it was.
Palan’s torso-mouth opened, causing Raea to flinch and take a step back while withdrawing her finger. The mouth made a few chewing motions before closing again. “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore,” Palan said and exhaled. He didn’t have to worry about Raea suddenly dying any longer. “Have you been well? Any illnesses or weird sorcery that may cost you your life?”
Raea laughed as she smoothed out her hair. “I’m perfectly healthy,” she said. “I’ve never felt better about myself before.” She licked her lips. “And what about you? How did you manage to evolve?”
“I killed and ate an archangel from the council,” Palan said. Raea raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t seem displeased or shocked. “Then I scavenged a few corpses and ate them. I think one of them was also from the council. I had Pyre’s help.” He gestured towards the half-asleep old man. Pyre blinked and waved his hand at Raea before expelling an orange cloud of smoke from his nostrils.
“Killing a council member,” Raea said and pursed her lips. “Were you in any danger? Wait, no. You’d never admit it if you were.” She shook her head. If the council members were as strong as, or stronger than, she was now, she could imagine the difficulty Palan had to face when fighting one of them as a greater demon. Of course his life had been in danger. A smile crept onto her face. “Were you that worried about me?”
Palan snorted. “I was worried about myse—“
“Say yes,” Pyre said in a mock whisper, cutting Palan off. “For a demon of wisdom, you’re not very emotionally intelligent, are you?”
Palan and Raea both glared at Pyre who coughed and cleared his throat. He started to whistle and stare at the sky, suddenly gaining interest in a passing cloud.
“It’s a good thing you’re safe,” Palan said to Raea after thinking about it for a moment.
“I guess that’s a start,” Pyre muttered and pulled out a strange-looking plant that had legs. He put it into his pipe and set it on fire, causing it to let out miniature screams that died away as the flames consumed it.
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Raea snorted and playfully smacked Palan’s shoulder before embracing him. She made sure to maintain a little bit of distance from his torso-mouth as she tilted her head up and whispered into his ear, “Can I ask you a favor?”
Palan shuddered as his hands crept around her waist. “Hmm?”
“Will you”—her hand lowered down from his shoulder to the base of his tails—“please help me”—her fingers made circles along Danger Noodle’s body, causing Palan to shiver—“destroy the rebel army?” Raea asked and laughed as she pulled away from Palan’s body. She giggled at a certain reaction of his before sticking her tongue out and placing her hands behind her back. She tilted her head to the side. “Well?”
Palan gazed into Raea’s eyes and took a step towards her. “Of course—“
“Woah, woah, woah,” Pyre said and stood up. “You’re thinking with the wrong head there, Palan. Not to mention the fact that I’m still here.” The old half-angel cleared his throat when Raea glared at him with black flames leaking out of her fingertips. “Raea, why do you want to destroy the rebel army? Don’t you want to help Palan enter the capital? The rebels have a similar goal, you know?”
The black flames expanded to encompass Raea’s hands. She turned her head towards Palan. “What exactly is he doing here?” she asked.
“I made a deal with him,” Palan said. “He’d help me unconditionally, and I’d kill Sariel.”
Raea’s brow furrowed. “Kill Sariel? The Watcher?” she asked. “Why would Pyre want you to kill Sariel?”
“I imagine it’s for a similar reason to you wanting to destroy the rebel army,” Pyre said. “We both lost someone dear to us because of them. Am I wrong?”
Raea’s hands clenched into fists. “You’re not,” she said.
Pyre cleared his throat and took a step back as the temperature rose by several degrees. Palan didn’t seem to mind it; in fact, his tails were crawling closer to the flames, basking in their glow. “Well,” Pyre said. “Do you mind explaining the circumstances to me?”
Raea tilted her head. “Are you trying to dissuade me from destroying the rebels?” she asked. “Why does this concern you?”
“If you kill the rebels, killing Sariel will be that much more difficult for us,” Pyre said and wet his lips with his tongue. His mouth was parched, and the skin on his face was beginning to dry. “C’mon, tell me. Isn’t it worth a second opinion?”
“Selena died because of the rebel army,” Raea said. “She was killed by Madison.”
“Huh?” Pyre asked and raised an eyebrow. “Selena should’ve been at Hailing. When did this happen?”
“In the borderlands,” Raea said and narrowed her eyes. “Selena was sent to the border to find the rebel army’s tunnels.”
Pyre wet his lips. “I see,” he said. “Well, shouldn’t you blame the people who sent Selena there in the first place? If I’m not wrong, only the council could order civilians to do something like that.”
Raea’s brows furrowed.
Pyre continued, pressing forward with his attack while Raea was confused. “Look, you can work with the rebels to destroy the capital and Sariel, the person who ordered your sister to her death, and after gaining the trust of the rebels, it will be that much easier to slaughter them if you’re still not satisfied. It’s a much more satisfying revenge if you can kill them while they aren’t suspecting it. When they think their goals have been accomplished, won’t you find it much more pleasurable to rip their ambitions apart? Imagine the despair they’ll feel then compared to if you just went ahead and killed them now. It wouldn’t do Selena justice,” he said. “Isn’t that a win win situation? Palan gets to the capital, I get to see Sariel die, and you get to kill everyone who was implicit in Selena’s death.”
“I guess…,” Raea said as she gazed at the ground. The flames around her hands dimmed. After a moment, she raised her head and glared at Pyre. “But I want Madison’s owner’s head. There can be no compromise.”
Pyre smiled. “Sure, sure,” he said. As long as the whole army wasn’t destroyed, he didn’t care. Solra died? So what, then he’d lead the army. Pyre was confident he’d do a better job anyways.
“Does my opinion not matter in this?” Palan asked as his gaze shifted between the two angels.
“No,” Raea said. She leaned forward and stroked Palan’s cheek with her hand before pressing her lips against his. Pyre sighed as the two tumbled to the ground and sat behind his boulder with his back facing the couple. He pulled out another plant with legs and set it on fire, letting its screams drown out the sounds coming from behind him.