Discovering Fae

“Filth,” the Celestial hissed out and I rolled my eyes.

“Perhaps Naz might be a bit on the sullied side, but so far he hasn’t tried to kill me, so I’d watch what you say,” I said and looked down, tapped the tip of a dagger on the shining metal breastplate. “Sparkly.”

“Fae, if I can’t torment souls, neither can you,” Blaine sighed.

“He started it,” I grinned. “He shouldn’t dish it if he can’t take it. And you don’t torment. That’s Naz’s area.”

“True,” he nodded with a grin. “I just eat them later.”

“Technically, now you give them to her to eat,” Naz pointed out. “Thankfully, otherwise I think that might have gone slightly different.”

“You really think we’d let it get out of hand?” Mal asked.

“You didn’t feel it,” Ben rubbed his arm like he had a chill despite the fair weather.

“The magic of a Celestial,” Naz nodded. “Potent, but particularly to demons.”

“Didn’t your mother teach you not to hurt ladies if you want them to like you?” I tsked at the still pinned Celestial.

“You are not a lady,” Ben scoffed, and Blaine chuckled.

“No, but he didn’t know that until now,” I rolled my eyes.

“Pretty sure he’s convinced you’re a filthy abomination,” Mal crossed his arms and glared.

“Since it’s been a few days since I bathed, I’d have to agree on the filthy part,” I made a face.

“Not that kind of filthy,” he rolled his eyes at me.

“That’s the thing with all of his kind, I’m afraid. They’ve got a huge superiority complex and everyone else is somehow lesser,” Naz snorted.

“And demons aren’t like that at all,” I rolled my eyes, and he gave me a slight glare. “Pot, meet kettle.”

“We are nothing alike,” Naz hissed at the Celestial.

“So, what are we going to do with him?” Ben asked.

“Kill him,” Naz shrugged.

“What? No, we aren’t killing him,” I looked at him.

“You have a soft heart, Fae,” Naz said, swinging his tail slightly. “It’s a great quality, I suppose, but there is no place for it in the coming battles. Demons see it as a weakness and will hit you there every time until it destroys you.”

“Go ahead, wretch. End me. More will come in my place,” the Celestial spat.

“I just said we weren’t going to kill you,” I huffed. “Look, you clearly have bad information because I’m not reviving anyone. Who the heck is The Fallen One, anyhow?”

“Lucifer,” Naz said.

“The devil?” I asked.

“No. There isn’t one. At least, not anymore,” Naz shrugged. “He made a play for the underworld and got his fallen Celestial bottom spanked like a child and is now moldering away in one of the Purgatory pits.”

“Okay, we need to have a serious theology lesson soon,” I shook my head.

“The underworld is ruled by three Lords of Death. Anubis, Hades, and Hel,” Naz rolled his eyes. “Lucifer was in charge of the armies that brought about death to millions, and it went to his head. He felt that he deserved a place in the underworld, even if the three Lords were appointed by Fate.”

“That’s Egyptian, Greek, and Norse mythology,” I said.

“The humans got their stories from somewhere, right?” Naz shrugged.

“And reviving Lucifer is bad,” I nodded.

“He’s a little bitter,” Naz held his pointed nails close together. “And he really didn’t like your family.”

“Nephilius are a blight,” the Celestial spewed.

“Cool the hate speech or I’m putting you in time out,” I warned him and thumped his nose with the flat part of the blade. “Nephilius are what?”

“You,” Naz said simply. “I told you; his kind have a huge problem with thinking their better than everyone else. The children of Celestials with anything other than another Celestial are called Nephililus. I think, in their language it means...”

“Abomination,” the Celestial growled.

“Shocking,” I rolled my eyes. “I must be like, what, the big bounty or whatever, huh?”

“You are insignificant, worthless cur,” he twisted his face in hatred.

I sighed and punched him in the nose.

“I warned you,” I said and looked up and the others. “I did warn him.”

“You did,” Blaine cracked his knuckles. “I would have done worse, though.”

“If I’m not that important, why are you here? Is it because some hotshot up there said I was doing something I have no intention of ever doing? Call me crazy, but it seems like the last thing anyone needs is for Lucifer to be set free.”

“Someone stole the Trinity,” he spat and struggled a little before he remembered he was not in the best situation to be making people angrier than they already were.

“The heck is that?” I asked, looking at Naz and he shrugged.

“The key to the prison the Fallen One has been locked away in for millennia,” he gritted out.

“Again, why would I do that?”

“His filthy blood calls to you and runs in your veins,” he spat out again.

“The fudge it does,” I reeled back.

“The Betrayer’s half-brother,” he said.

“Oh, for shit’s sake,” I huffed and smacked my hand to his forehead.

Blinding pain lanced between my eyes before it gave way to a flood of images and raw knowledge. Memories of a place I’ve never seen before, people whose faces looked familiar, though I knew I’d never seen them before. Centuries of a life that wasn’t mine planted themselves into my head and I gasped as I pulled back with a jerk that sent me sprawling to the ground.

Blaine pounced on the dazed looking Celestial as Ben, Mal, and Naz rushed to check on me.

“I’m fine,” I grunted as I staggered into a more dignified sitting position. “Just weirded out again, but fine.”

“What was that?” Mal whispered as he took my face in his hands, concern in his eyes as he made sure I really was okay. “I saw... things. None of it made sense.”

“They were him,” I looked at the slowly recovering Celestial on the ground. “His memories. I think... I think I did the Vulcan mind meld thing.”

“Vulcani? They can’t do that,” Naz frowned.

“Not real Vulcani. It’s an Earth thing,” Mal said.

“He’s not lying. There are more coming, and they’re all told to look for me,” I said, pushing Mal’s hands away to stand up. “They have no idea what I look like, but they have this homing thing.”

I pulled a golden necklace thing from under the neck of the angel's armor. It was a disk like pendant, etched and engraved with these marks that looked almost identical to my markings, in the sense that they almost looked tribal. In the center was a small vial that was glowing red.

“How does it work?” Mal asked him.

“Blood. Apparently, I have kin still alive up there,” I made a face.

“If that tracks by shared blood, then-,” Ben began, and I gasped.

“Mom!”

“Stop!” Mal said, throwing himself against my side and pinning my wing down, locking his hands together so I couldn’t take off. “Fae, she is more than capable of looking out for herself. Don’t go rushing off by yourself right now, please. I swear, I’m not saying this just because I’m a greedy fool who wants you to himself, but there are millions of demons coming for you and not all of them are going to be friendly.”

“I can’t just let them get ambushed, Mal,” I snapped.

“Then we all go,” he said. “You can’t just take off. Having wings doesn’t make you safe. There are things in the air that want to hurt you, too.”

“I can take care of myself,” I struggled and finally pushed him away.

“I know, but will you listen for a second!” he shouted and grabbed my hands. “Those guys are after you and they literally live in the air. Demons are coming to you, some of which have had wings far longer than any of us have been alive.”

“Not me,” Naz held up a pair of fingers.

“You’re new to the Sidhe, new to flying, new to magic. Please, think about this for a second,” Mal squeezed my hands.

“Okay,” I took a deep breath and sighed. “You’re right. It was a dumb idea. What do we do, then? I have to warn them, Mal.”

“Again, your parents are capable of taking care of themselves, but yes; they do need to be warned,” he sighed in relief.

“I’d say split up, but with so much coming, that would be about as smart as running off alone,” Ben said.

“I’ll go,” Blaine said, looking at me. “I’m bound now, so I can travel the way we’re meant to when sent to collect a soul.”

“Don’t eat my parents,” I joked.

“Never,” he winked. “It’ll take maybe a few hours to get there, a day to rest than another few hours back. In theory. I’ve never done it before, and the way Dad described it was a little confusing at the time.”

“You know, I’ve had a few hounds bound to me before. You could just ask,” Naz threw up his hands. “Children these days think they have to do everything on their own.”

“When have you ever offered to help anyone but Fae without her telling you to?” Ben asked.

“Just now, thanks,” Naz crossed his arms.

“And you’ve been with us for how long?” Ben rolled his eyes.

“If I had a problem with the way you’ve been doing things, I would have said something,” Naz narrowed his eyes at Ben. “The only reason why I’m offering now is because Fae needs to make sure her parents are warned.”

“There are more of you?” the Celestial curled his lip in disgust and Blaine grabbed his neck and pressed down.

“What would you like me to do with him?” he asked, eyes glowing slightly.

“I vote for eating him,” Naz flashed his teeth.

“You still don’t get a vote,” I rolled my eyes. “He’s not malicious, just a zealot.”

“Same thing,” Ben shrugged.

“Valid point, but we’re not in the business of killing people because they have the wrong information,” I smirked. “Stupidity isn’t a death sentence.”

“Why do they think you’re the one wanting to revive Lucifer?” Ben asked.

“All they know is that there was a summons made to the demons by a female that shares the blood of one of their own and that she’s young,” I pointed to myself. “The key thingy went missing and now they just assume that’s why.”

“Armande sees all, filthy being,” the Celestial said. “He saw you plotting.”

“He saw wrong, then. I just want to get rid of these thrones and titles and then go live far away from everyone with my Bonded,” I crossed my arms. “I don’t much like you, Sparkle Britches. You’re so full of hate for people your kind haven’t been around in a very long time. You, yourself, have never left your precious Spire until now. All of your views of people and the world we live in is rotten and tainted by the prejudices of the ones that are to blame for it all. Generations of you people, misguided and lead into the sticky pits of hatred.”

“You can’t fix stupid, Fae,” Mal put his hand on my shoulder.

“Take his weapons and send him on his way,” I said and turned away. “Blaine needs to get to my parents, Naz. Tell him how.”

“How did you come across black feathers?” the Celestial asked as he slowly stood up and dusted himself off.

“They grew that way,” I answered.

“And the structure, too?” he asked, and I nodded. “Then you have an advantage none have ever had before you.”

“What?” I blinked at him.

“Demon bones are thick, and their wings are powerful when bashing and battering. Celestial feathers are both armor and close-range weapon,” he shook the dirt from his own feathers. “You have good natural instincts, using them in a fight. But your choice in weapon will get you killed. Use something long until you’ve honed the natural instinct into sharp skill.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked him.

“I saw some of your memories,” he said after a brief hesitation. “Not much, just a few and none that would give me any insight to your motives, but... maybe you have some merit in what you said. I will earn the right to judge the people here, then I’ll return, Abomination. It would be disappointing if you were dead before I came back.”

He lifted his wings and took to the air, barely a breeze created from his departure and only a whisper of sound, which irked me a little.

“He needs to stop with the “abomination” crap,” Mal muttered.

“I kind of like it, actually,” I shrugged. “Makes me feel exotic, like a yeti.”

“You’re not a yeti, Fae,” Mal rolled his eyes.

“Abominable snowman, abominable Fae,” I weighed in my hands. “Almost the same thing.”

“Not even close to the same thing,” he shook his head.