I woke up, slowly, to the feeling of warmth surrounding me.

"Zero?" I asked.

"Try again," the voice answered. Confused, I opened my eyes to find myself on top of Peter, buried in his chest.

"Shit!" I screeched, flying off of him and onto the floor. "What the hell were you doing?"

"Me? When I woke up, you were on top of me!"

"What's going on?" Jessica asked.

"Peter took advantage of me!"

"What?" Peter yelled. "I didn't not!"

"Tsk, tsk, Peter," Luke said, waking up slowly. "Never take advantage of a sleeping woman."

"You're the last person who can say that," Jessica and Peter bit back.

"Was goin on?" James asked, rubbing his eyes. Sometimes, he looked like he was eight or nine, not eighteen or nineteen.

"Akira's accusing me," Peter said, before I could say anything.

Taking a step forward, I stepped on something. Looking down, I saw a mess of food on the floor and remembered what happened.

Peter looked up at me, remembrance in his eyes.

"Is someone gonna tell us what happened?" Jessica asked.

"Akira's a food hog," Peter said, a slight smile on his face.

"Peter's a thief," was my reply. Even if I tried to be mad, I could feel a smile pulling at the edges of my lips.

"So, let me get this straight," Jessica said, smiling at both of us. "The two of you stayed up all night, fighting over food."

"I won," I said. As I was preparing for a smart as comeback from Peter, a knock sounded at the door.

"Morning," Ash said, coming through the door. "I see you got the food I sent, though I'm not sure how much of it you actually ate. Well, I suppose you should be on your way, correct?"

Peter step forward, but I pushed him back.

"Actually," I said, "we were wondering if we could stay another day. We're wonderers, you see, and a chance for rest comes so rarely, that-"

"Of course," Ash cut in, a genuine smile forming. "It gets lonely here, I wouldn't mind at all. Why don't you join me for breakfast."

The others gave me confusing glances while I continued the conversation. "We'd be honored."

"Great," he said, light filling his, already bright, eyes. He took my hand and dragged me along with him, the others following closely behind.

He sat me down, besides him, and let the others find their own seats. Except for Zero, who didn't have a chair. When he sat, he slightly spread his wings, to avoid crushing them, and laid one of his hands of my thigh.

I looked over to him and said, though gritted teeth, "Are you prepared to loose that hand?"

He let out a deep laugh and, to my relief, moved his hand away.

"You'll have to forgive me. It's been such a long time since I've seen a lady as...interesting as yourself." Oh God, kill me now. I could taste the bike in the back of my throat.

"What are you serving?" Peter asked, a slightly irritated tone to his voice. I wouldn't blame him, this is disgusting.

"Well, seeing as I'm not big on formal breakfast, I figured pancakes would do."

Maybe he wasn't so bad. I mean, only good people like pancakes, right?

With a clap of his hands, a swarm of Angels came out, serving each of us, even Zero. Peter and I weren't as hungry as the others, who devoured their food in a matter of minutes. When we finished, Ash claimed that he had other business to attend to, and that we were free to roam the mansion.

"What's with you?" Jessica asked as we returned to the room.

"Isn't your job to save the humans from the Angel's? The longer we have, the better off we are. I've seen how they treat their servants, it's not good. They killed the former leader of this town and forced them into slavery."

"We know," Jessica said.

"And not only that-wait, what?"

"It's obvious to tell how they're treated hear just by walking through the town."

"And what were you planning on doing?" I asked.

"Fighting."

I nearly chocked. "Seriously? No talking, no agreements? Just...attack?"

"Angels aren't the type of species you can just...agree with," Peter said, a grim look on his face. I'd have to ask about that later. Or just snoop around until I got answers. Either way, I usually got answers.

"Let me talk to him," I suggested. "I have experience with this kind of thing. Talking, I mean. And, if I think that it'll be impossible to negotiate with him, I'll take him out. You can't just go rushing in like that, people die."

Without warning, Peter lifted me by the collar of my shirt and lifted me off my feet. Jessica gasped as James and Luke tried to pry me from his grip.

"And what would you possibly know about that," he said, anger flaring in his eyes.

I rested one of my hands on top of his arm and gave him a sympathetic look. I could see Zero preparing to attack from behind, but I waved him off.

"More than you could ever possibly imagine," I answered.

Peter's eyes grew wide as he set me down. I coughed as James laid a hand on my back, trying to support me.

"You have the rest of the day," Peter said, his back facing me. "If you can convince him and his army of Angels to leave before tomorrow, we won't attack."

"Thank you," I said. And he left. I followed soon after, looking for Ash. I found him out back, sitting on a bench and watching the forest.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" He asked.

I looked in the direction he was looking, but didn't see anything significant.

"I'm afraid I don't know what in the hell you're looking at."

With a laugh, he turned to me. "I suppose you wouldn't. Now, tell me, what can I do for you?"

"What's the point in invading the town?"

"Straight to the point, that's why I like you. I wanted you humans to understand the pain we felt when you invaded. The sorrow of having our lives changed forever."

"And you think doing the same will end any of that?" I asked. "War only leads to more war."

"Darling, let me tell you something. I have an army of Angels ready to jump into action, especially against you putrid humans." I could hear the hatred in his voice, and it hurt me. I understood where he was coming from, I really did. He kept his composure and said, "The next time we attack you humans, we'll show no mercy."

"Maybe, but this time, they'll be ready for you."

"They'll? You talk like you aren't a human."

"I never said I was."

He looked at me for a second.

"Then what are you?"

Should I use riddles or be straight forward? Let's just say it.

"My names Akira."

He flinched. "No."

"I am your princess." Princess, I hated that word, it reminded me of prissy little bitches who expected the world to bow before them.

"You can't be."

"I am."

"But...your wings, your beautiful wings. What did the humans do to you?"

His eyes were filled with panic and worry. His hands twitched as he debated about wether to inspect me or honor my title.

With a small grin, I tugged the edge of my collar down, revealing the tip of one of the curls of my tattoo. "A witch."

He let out a sigh of relief. "What happened to you?"

"I escaped, and that's all you need to know."

"What about your sister? What about the other one?"

Shaking my head, I looked at the ground. "I don't know. When I escaped, she was somewhere else in the palace; I haven't heard anything about her."

He looked down grimly and then back up to me.

"Why are you traveling with humans?" His eyes looked at me, filled with seriousness. I looked away, laughing nervously.

"Not all humans are bad," I said, quietly, as though I was afraid to admit it. With a former voice, I said, "You need to take your Angels and leave. The humans here aren't doing anything wrong."

"But they have!" He exploded. "You should know that better than anyone! They took everything from you! They took everything from us all! We can't even go home without fear of being attacked! All humans are evil!"

Rage flared in me. I took him by the collar and lifted him a good foot off the air.

"You're telling me that the little girl you keep as a servant is evil? Tell me what she's done to deserve what you've done to her?"

He flinched. Good, I wanted to keep yelling at this jackass.

"Nothing! She wasn't there when they invaded! Only a handful of the actual population was! You can't blame every human for the sins a few of them committed!" Here comes the big insult. "Stop thinking like a human! Haven't you learned, Ash? After all your years living an immortal life? Violence only breeds violence."

"You highness," he said, a little too calmly. "It seems you don't understand the situation. As a loyal soldier of the Species War, I'm going to have to dispatch you."

Oh. Shit.

Before I could react, a sword was pointed at me. Matching his speed, I drew my sword. Taking a step forward, he lunged. I twisted to the side, avoiding the blow, just barely. By the time I was ready to attack, he had already swung, aiming for my feet. I jumped and lunged at the same time. With knowing movements, he took a step back.

My chance.

With a larger step, I charged him; bringing the sword over my shoulder and onto his right wing as he tried to dodge.

You may think that's better, it's not. Once an Angel, or Demon, looses their wing, many of them don't see a point in life anymore, and attack until they die. Especially after the war, they feel, without their wings, that they're closer to being human. You know the saying, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger'? That applies to Angels and Demons too.

He let out a feral cry as he attacked. With wild movements, he swung continuously, trying to hit me. As he took a step forward, I moved my foot in front of his and tripped him. At least, that's what I intended. He stumbled, gaining momentum on me and slicing an inch long laceration on my shoulder.

With a gasp, I brought my left foot up and planted it on his chest, sending him back a few feet. The next few seconds flew by. I dropped my foot to the ground and lunged, impaling him in the stomach. When I thought I'd won, he gripped my hand to my sword and swung.

With my eyes closed, I waited for death, though it never came. Slowly, I opened one eye to see that another sword had interfered. I looked up to see that it was Peter who had reached around me and blocked the attack.

With a splash of blood, Ash fell to the ground, dead.

"Thanks for the hel-"

I was slapped. The bitch bitch slapped me. I stared at him in complete shock. I was about to say something as he grabbed onto my shoulders and spoke.

"You idiot! Don't get yourself into danger like that! You're not alone anymore! Yell for help, scream, run, do anything and we'll be there!"

His arms reached around, hugging me. I stiffened, a bit shocked as my ears caught the sound of his heartbeat the second time today.

The others were around us too, smiling giddily, even Zero.

"I'm...sorry?" I, honestly, wasn't sure what to say. I'd never been treated like this before. I mean, I didn't like being slapped, but they we're...worried about me.

"Don't make it a question," Luke sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Are you happy now?" Jessica asked, smiling at me.

I nodded, still a little shocked by what just happened. I killed an Angel and got slapped for it. Strange humans.

"Come on," Peter said, letting go of me. "We have other Angels to deal with."

Holding my hand to my warming cheek, I followed him, them, all back to the mansion.