“Mmmm.” Raea arched her back and stretched her arms towards the sky. She exhaled and dropped her arms while opening her eyes. Her mouth stretched into a yawn as she stood up and cracked her neck. “That was really refreshing,” she said and wet her lips with her tongue. The two suns shone overhead, causing her wings to glitter with a red light. She glanced at Palan who was lying down and staring blankly up at the sky. “What’s wrong?”

Palan cleared his throat as his eyes focused on Raea. “Nothing,” he said and inhaled. His nose wrinkled as he sat up. A series of cracking noises rang from his body as he stood up and stretched his legs. Palan’s and Raea’s heads turned at the same time, focusing on light snoring noises coming from behind a boulder. They walked over and found Pyre with his head drooping, chin pressed against his chest with a line of drool leaking from the corner of his mouth.

Palan’s red tail snaked along the boulder before wrapping itself around the sleeping angel. “Let’s go?” Palan asked and looked at Raea.

“To the rebel army?” she asked back. Her demon nodded. “Okay,” Raea said and pressed herself into his chest. “Carry me.”

“But you have wings?” Palan asked and raised an eyebrow.

“Carry. Me.”

Palan snorted and did as she asked, scooping her up into a princess hold. Some things weren’t worth fighting over. He bent down and leapt into the air. Pyre’s eyes shot open as he screamed. His body thrashed about a few times, but after the initial shock, he regained his composure. He glanced at the tail wrapped around his waist before shifting his gaze towards Raea who was in Palan’s arms.

“So you two are finally done?” he asked. He rubbed the crust out of his eyes and yawned while shielding his eyes from the suns. “You’re not even going to put on any clothes? Not that I mind.”

Palan and Raea glanced at each other with a helpless look in their eyes. Unfortunately for their garments, they were unable to withstand the activities of the previous night and morning and were torn to shreds. Pyre cleared his throat and took out a notebook and a pen. Raea squinted at the writing utensil. “What is that?” she asked.

“I call it an ink stick,” Pyre said as he began writing in his notebook. “Instead of dipping quills into an inkwell, why not design the inkwell to act like a quill as well?” A series of words flowed over the pages, causing Raea’s face to darken.

“Notes on arch beings?” Raea asked, reading Pyre’s handwriting aloud. “To subdue pride, exhaust energy. To placate wrath, engage in coitus?”

Pyre raised his head and blinked at Raea. “You can read it from there?” he asked. His handwriting was small and messy. There were times where he forgot what he himself had written because it was illegible.

“What the hell is coitus?” Raea asked.

“It means sexual intercourse,” Palan said without turning his head.

Raea sent him a glance that asked, “How do you know that and I don’t?” before saying to Pyre, “I’ll show you how to placate a wrath angel.” The temperature around the trio sharply rose as black flames materialized at the edges of Raea’s wings.

Pyre cleared his throat while shaking his pen. He added the words ‘temporary measures only’ to his notebook and used the heat from Raea’s flames to dry the ink quicker. Both Pyre and Raea let out a yelp as Palan deactivated his powers and plummeted towards the ground. He landed next to a small body of water, causing cracks to form in the earth. Pyre winced due to the impact and let out a sigh as he stored his notebook. Palan released him and tossed Raea into the lake. “You stink,” he said as she let out a scream.

“Bastard!” Raea yelled as she made a grasping motion towards Palan. A black glow enveloped his body, and his eyes widened as his body was pulled forward into the center of the lake with a splash. He sank like a rock. Raea snorted as she used her wings as floatation devices and washed her body off, but she yelped and struggled when Danger Noodle wrapped around her leg and pulled her under.

Pyre stared at the surface of the lake. Waves were forming, and the occasional fish was thrown onto the shore. Bubbles rose and broke through the surface before the lake started to steam. He shook his head and sighed as he grabbed a dead fish that landed next to him and began cooking it with a wrath orb, but not before descaling and removing its guts. When the fish was starting to give off a nice smell, five heads broke through the surface of the water: two humanoid and three snakes.

Rhythmic splashing noises rang through the air, punctuated by the occasional moan. Moments later, the entangled couple disappeared back underneath the surface of the water. Pyre moved the orb and fish to his feet and continued cooking it while pulling out his notebook. He added the word “underwater” next to his previous sentence.

When he finished eating a seventh fish, Raea and Palan climbed out of the lake, water dripping from their bodies. Raea laughed as she dried their bodies off with a flame that could melt steel. “That was really exciting,” she said and kissed Palan’s neck. “We should do that more often.”

Palan gazed into her eyes. “How did you pull me into the water?” he asked, causing her to pout.

“That’s what’s on your mind?” she asked and rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure. I was just annoyed by your actions and wanted you to suffer with me. Then you were dragged towards me.”

“I see,” Palan said and rubbed his chin. “That was my power, right?” It seems like he found a new way to harness his abilities. At least, he witnessed it was possible.

Raea nodded. A smile crept onto Palan’s lips as his tail wrapped around Pyre. Raea hopped into Palan’s arms and draped her arm around his shoulders, hugging his neck. A soft sigh was expelled from her mouth as she closed her eyes and rested her head next to his neck. “I almost forgot what it was like to not be mad,” she said. “The experience at Hailing was … infuriating. I really tried waiting for you to save me, but I just couldn’t be patient anymore. Sorry about that. I was a bit hasty, wasn’t I? I think I killed quite a few people too….”

Palan grunted. For some reason, he found it hard to be mad at her despite the wild goose chase he was sent on.

“So this new method really does work,” Pyre murmured. “I should tell the headmaster that. There should be enough space for a pool in the basement.” He raised his head and recognized a landmark leading towards the rebel army’s camp. They’d arrive soon. A laugh escaped from his mouth, causing Raea and Palan to shudder. How would Solra deal with Palan and Raea? There was no way that old archangel would let someone he couldn’t suppress survive for too long. Pyre began writing in his notebook, but turned away so Raea couldn’t read anything he wrote.