Will woke up, which meant he’d fallen asleep. They were still in the forest, and the chariot wasn’t moving. He sat up, scanning the area.

Glory was leaning against a tree, looking both groggy and slightly choppy, like Will was watching the angel on a low-definition screen.

“You’re awake,” he said, in a tone that suggested that he was annoyed but not with Will specifically. “We have company.”

A long, flat line of bronze and a series of interlocking silver rings appeared in the air beside Glory.

The bronze line whirled around itself into a vortex of metal which created a body identical to Glory’s and a single, spherical eye to match.

Glory and the bronze angel looked at the line of rings expectantly. “I’m not doing that,” the rings said in a flatly petulant tone. “Debase your forms if you wish but I’m not participating.”

Glory sighed. “Will, this is Code of Honor and Hope Is a Weapon. They’re here to talk.”

The bronze one, Hope, put his hands together and stretched his arms, pointing his palms forward. “Are you not even going to mention that we’re family?”

Glory looked slightly surprised by the question. “Yes. Of course, they’re my younger brothers.”

The silver rings, Code of Honor, scoffed but didn’t say anything.

“We’re here to check on Glory. Father is worried sick about him.” Hope said.

“I’m not going back,” Glory said. “We’ve had this conversation two-hundred and sixty-five times.”

“Two-hundred and sixty-six,” Code of Honor corrected.

“We’re not here to take anyone anywhere,” Hope said, trying to smooth the tension. “We just couldn’t help but notice Glory’s chariot was missing.”

“And you’ve found it,” Glory said with waning patience. “Does this mean you can go?”

Hope smiled weakly. “No,” he said, turning to Will. “Would you mind doing us a favor? We’ve been waiting for a bit for someone to wake up.”

Will nodded once. “What do you need?”

“We need a warm body to fight,” said Honor in a tone that suggested this was beneath him. “Dad demanded blood be spilled.”

Will wasn’t sure he understood, having just woken up. “Sorry, clarify? Why do we need to fight?”

“Dad likes knowing we can handle ourselves,” said Hope. “He worries Glory’s… career choices have left him soft.”

“It’s stupid, yes,” said Honor dully. “A waste of time and blood for no sake other than its own. But it must be done.”

“There are no real consequences,” said Hope hopefully. “It’s just a test. There’s two of us and one of Glory, so it’s good if he has backup.”

“And you’ve all been silently waiting for someone to wake up for this?” Will asked.

“Yes,” said Glory. “We’re not going to wake anyone up for something as trivial as a two-versus-two duel.”

Will pretended to think about it to give him slightly more time to wake up. “Okay, I’m in.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

The angels retreated some distance from the chariot, and Will followed, plodding through the snow unhappily.

Hope, noticing Will’s slowness, tossed him a small metal ring, which Will barely caught.

“Put it on,” Hope said pleasantly. “It’ll keep you warm.”

Will turned over the ring in his hands. It was a strange shape for a ring, with a circular ruby preventing the band from laying flush against a finger.

“It’s not a ring,” Glory said in his mind. “It’s a piercing.”

Will kept himself from dropping it in surprise. He also bit down the argument forming in his mind and substituted something more practical. “I can’t wear this, I’m not pierced anywhere.”

“It’s magic,” Hope said encouragingly, appearing in front of Will slightly closer than Will was comfortable with. “It can affix itself in place without needing any previous modification. May I?”

“Where are you planning on putting it?” Will asked suspiciously.

“Well, traditionally a captive ring piercing like this one is done through the nipple, a few different parts of the ear, through the lip or belly button, or as a Prince Albert.”

Will gave Glory an aside glance. “Do I want to know what a Prince Albert piercing is?” He asked.

“No,” said Glory apologetically.

“No piercings, please,” Will said, putting up a hand. “I’ll just live with the cold for now. But, uh, thank you. For offering.”

Hope smiled respectfully and backed away. “Of course. Why don’t you hold onto it in case you change your mind? You can protect against all sorts of things just by swapping the gemstone out.”

Will pocketed the ring before he could change his mind. Maybe he could figure out a way to wear it as a necklace or something, he rationalized.

“Are you done flirting?” Honor asked coolly.

Hope turned, taken aback. “I wasn’t flirting! It’s just not every day you meet someone from earth! I’m showing hospitality!”

Glory appeared next to Will, planting his feet on the snowy ground. Hope and Honor continued bickering, their psychic argument collapsing to unintelligible static to Will’s merely mortal mind.

“Was he flirting?” Will asked.

“Does it matter?” Glory asked in reply.

“I guess not,” Will admitted.

“They mean well,” Glory said as Honor attempted to constrict Hope like an anaconda. “But there’s a reason they don’t come down here very often.”

“I can see that,” Will said. “Are most angels like this?”

“When they’re young, yes,” said Glory, “though Hope should have grown out of it by now.”

“Hope is older than Honor?” Will asked.

“By about twenty years, yes.”

“Can we leave?” Will asked. Hope was on the floor, trying to wrench Honor from his twisting copper neck. “They seem pretty distracted.”

“Probably not, but try anyways. Maybe it will get their attention,” Glory suggested.

“Hey!” Will shouted, cupping his hands to his mouth like a megaphone. “Are we done here? I’m heading back to the chariot.”

“Wait!” said Honor, teleporting above Hope. “Dad needs some proof that you can handle yourself.”

“What does father think about that?” Glory asked.

“Father doesn’t… know, exactly.” Hope said surreptitiously, poking two fingers together like a child caught stealing. “We’re not going to concern him with this yet.”

“Mm-hm,” Glory said flatly. “So no, none of this actually matters?”

“It matters to dad.” Honor and Hope said in unison.

Glory sighed and turned to Will. “Sorry to drag you into this,” Glory said. He then turned to his brothers. “Can we do this upstairs, actually? You know how frostbite is. I’d hate to have to grow some new toes for Will.”

“He doesn’t have toes,” Honor said sardonically. “But fine.”

“You may want to hold onto something,” Glory told Will.

Before Will had a chance to do so, or to argue that he had nothing to hold onto, he felt a sudden, distinct lack of gravity, and he fell upward, out of space.