AZA

Aza lost patience as Matthew Kendall stood dumbfounded for over twenty seconds.  "He needs help and I know you know about the Anahalians."  Aza snapped her fingers in front of his face.

            Matt's eyes turned to her, still in the shape of perfect circles.  "But Aza, I can't--"

            "Nope," Aza grabbed Lucis's arm, pulling him onto her again, and pushing past the man in the doorway and into the apartment.  "I don't want to hear that.  You spent years researching the supernatural world and built an exact replica of their freaking wings.  You. Fix. Him."  She glared at him.

            Matt shook his head.  "I'm not a docto--"

            "Shut up!"  Aza shouted, then gasped and nearly crumpled.  Matt rushed forward and grabbed Lucis's hurt arm, making the angel grit his teeth.  "Don't grab him there."  Aza adjusted as her uncle took her place.  She watched the older man's eyes rove over Lucis's frame.  He was obviously having a hard time keeping his focus on anything but the wings.

            Aza took a deep breath.  "Maybe you didn't go to medical school, but you've read enough books to know a thing or two.  You know about Anahalians.  You know what their wings are supposed to look like.  You know, so do something about it."

            Matt's gaze swiveled back to her.  He bit his lip.

            "I wouldn't have come here if I thought you weren't able to do something," Aza muttered darkly.

            Matt's eyes fell shut as he bowed his head.  Then he nodded.  "Okay, I'll see what I can do."

            Aza turned and started heading toward her old bedroom.  "We can lay him down in here," She pushed the door open revealing the untidy room with the disheveled bed that appeared completely untouched from the way she had left it.

            Matt slowly followed, and the two Kendall's eased the Anahalian onto the bed, stomach down.  The bed, just a simple twin, now appeared dwarfed with Lucis's body practically swallowing it.  Matt took a step back and just stared for a moment, his eyes tracing over the broken wing then falling to the less injured one that Lucis had gently released from the niche in his spine.  "Incredible," he murmured.

            Aza's mouth twitched.  "He's hurt.  Marvel later."

            Matt dazedly nodded and dashed out of the room.

            Aza pinched the bridge of her nose.  "I sure hope he doesn't get distracted along the way."

            "Aza," Lucis's soft rasp made the girl snap up.  "Aza?"

            Aza squatted down and looked into Lucis's slit eyes.  "I'm here,"

            "You're going to need to tie me down."  He whispered.

            "What?"

            "I'm going to guess you don't have much in the means of anesthetic.  If your uncle can help me, I don't imagine it's going to feel real good."  He took a shaky breath.  "I'll do my best to hold still, but I'm not..."  He trailed off as Aza's mind flashed back to Lucis's twisted form as he arced up when Aza had barely touched the wing. 

            "Okay," Aza nodded.  She pushed herself back to her feet, her head pounding.  Then she ran out and made her way into her uncle's bedroom.  They didn't have rope or chains or what one would normally tie someone down with, but Aza knew her skinny uncle had a fair amount of belts.  Rummaging through his closet, she found enough to wrap completely around her bed twice.  That should be enough, but as she started attaching them, she hoped that they would hold.  Anahalians were super strong.

            On her way back to her room, she slipped into the kitchen and started going through the cupboard that held any kind of painkillers.  Ibprophen and aspirin were not strong enough, but it was all they had.  She grabbed a bottle and a cup of water, then ran back to her room.

            Matt was there again and had brought out their emergency kit that held lots of gauze and supplies to make a splint or a sling.  Aza also noticed the notebook with her uncle's messy handwriting, resting beside the equipment.  He was leaning over Lucis, examining at the tattered wing that was almost entirely scarlet.  The dark hole at the top was still pulsing out blood, saturating the once white feathers.  Her uncle shook his head.  "A normal human being would be dead after this much blood loss or at the very least unconscious."

            Aza's head throbbed.  "Well, it's a good thing he's not a normal human then."

            Matt spun around to her.  "Aza, this is a lot of damage."

            "Really?  Are you sure?"  She opened her mouth in fake shock.  "Is that why he couldn't stand on his own?  Is that why I had to freaking carry him here?  Then we should probably do something about it."

            Matt cleared his throat.  "Right, right."

            Aza went over to Lucis and handed him the pills.  "It's not much, but you should take something."

            Lucis did so, and she helped him lift his head for the water.  Then Aza held up her overlong belt rope and went to secure Lucis.            "Are those my belts?"  Matt asked as Aza touched the angel's back below his wings, feeling the lift of his body as he breathed in and the fall as he breathed out.

            She didn't look up.  "Oh, you noticed.  Well, we need to tie him down."  She glanced over and saw the long needle and dark thread on her side dresser.  Aza whirled.  "You're going to give him stitches?"

            Matt touched Lucis's shoulder where the four long gash marks, deeper than she thought, stretched down to just above his elbow.  "These cuts need sewing up.  I have actually done that before."  He dropped his hand.  "I just don't know what I'm supposed to do with the wing.  They have special power feathers called munera that they use on each other when another is hurt.  They used to be able to use them on humans as well, but they--"

            "Okay," Aza cut in before he could go off on a tangent.  "I know they've got magic feathers, but they can't use them on themselves.  So what do we do first?"

            Matt rubbed his chin.  "Well, if you're going to tie him down, we need to remove his shirt."  He turned to the box with the first aid and pulled out a pair of scissors.  He went from the collar down and cut carefully between the wings and then he severed the holes where the wings poked through, so they could easily peel away the fabric.  Then Aza found a place with no injuries and wrapped the belt rope around Lucis's middle. 

            Aza tossed it over the side of the bed then reached underneath to grab it and link the two ends.  She tightened it until Lucis gave a soft hiss.  "Too tight?"  Aza glanced up.

            "No," Lucis replied.  "It's fine,"

            Aza loosened it a notch.

            Matt, who had been cleaning the wound on his arm and side, now looked up.  "I'm going to have to set the wing.  You may want to hold onto the bars of the head board and bite down on this."  He slid off the belt he was wearing and held it up to Lucis's mouth.

            "What about the blood?  We need to stop it, put pressure on it, don't we?"  Aza's hands had started shaking, and she wasn't exactly sure why.      

            Matt shook his head.  "The break is bad if we put pressure on the hole now, it could make the break worse.  If we can set the wing and bind it to him, then we can clean and wrap the injury."

            "What about the stitches?  Are you going to stitch the hole too?"

            Matt shook his head.  "I told you he needs another Anahalian."

            "Aza," Lucis's cracked voice called out.  She looked up and saw him twitch his head for her to come over.

            "What is it?"  Aza crouched next to him.

            "We need to tell Calandra," Lucis murmured.

            Aza huffed.  "You're telling me.  I'm planning on asking for cell phones for Christmas."

            Lucis smiled weakly.  "Not a bad idea, but you can still talk to her through the mirrors."

            Aza shook her head.  "Not these ones.  They don't have the magic silver or gold frames or whatever."

            Lucis tried to adjust, but winced.  "Don't," Aza warned.

            "In my pocket there should be a little pouch.  Get it,"  Lucis rasped.

            Aza slid her hand into his pocket and carefully pulled out a small brown drawstring bag.

            "There's gold dust in there,"  Lucis explained.  "It's not a lot, but it should be enough.  Just make a small circle around yourself with it, look into the mirror and call for Calandra."

            Aza rocked back on her heels. 

            "I'll be fine, Aza.  Just go, now.  The sooner the better," He sort of ran out of breath at the end of the sentence.  But Aza gave a nod and turned to leave, only to see Matt scribbling away in his notebook.    She cleared her throat, and her uncle looked up.  "I'm going to go get some help.  I'll be right back."  Then she snatched the journal away.  "Take care of him."  Then she left, quickly turning the corner into the bathroom, next-door.

            The small blonde placed the book on the counter and tugged open the little pouch, then dumped the contents into the palm of her hand.  There wasn't a ton of, what looked like, gold glitter, but she made due and shaped a tiny circle around her feet.  The dust was spread pretty thin.  Hopefully that wouldn't be an issue.

            Aza then looked up into the mirror, and for the first time that night, saw her own face streaked with dirt and flecks of dried blood.  The lump on her forehead was painfully, noticeable and the color of big fat plum.  In disgust, she pulled a stray noodle, from the dumpster, out her rat nest hair.  She could only imagine what Calandra would say when she saw her.  Well, she was about to find out.

            The girl took a deep breath and called out for the mage.

EVABELLE

Evabelle prayed that she didn't still smell of sweat as she slid into the dining room.  She had showered and changed her clothes after an entire day of running around the island in the morning, returning to the training room, and going over and over the moves that she had learned from Del.  For the past day and a half that had been her routine.  Her nostrils could still detect the phantom scents of her own body's sweat and dirt from her corner of Calandra's garden that she will still determined to keep alive without the use of magic.    

            Evabelle's entire body ached.  She knew she was not as consistent about training as she should have been as her muscles currently reminded her.  Hurting someone for the sake of another, potentially killing them to protect the people that she loved was still such a difficult reality to her.  She had yacked up at Raoul that she was now willing to do it all, to go to the ends of the earth for them.  But turning on a dime was not as easy to do as it was to say.  She had changed, but she wasn't a totally different person.  It was still hard.  But now she embraced that sometimes you couldn't just stand in the middle and not make a decision.  You had to choose.  You had to fight for what you believe in, for the people you love.  Because they're what matter.  Your own personal fears and self interests paled in their light.

            Calandra had tried to help Evabelle by showing her some of her own moves, but the mage was easily distracted by all the sounds coming from Shaundee's circle, touring the Sanctuary, that she had left quickly to which Evabelle had heard her shouting and swearing and knew that Calandra wouldn't be coming back anytime soon.

            But now her smarting muscles told her that she wasn't going to be ready to fight the superhuman werewolf for quite some time, which made her almost pound her head against the table in frustration.  Evabelle wanted to move forward.  She didn't know if she could do the whole 'take it slow' thing anymore.  When she was moving in the right direction it felt right, but it also felt like something that could slip away from her grasp at any moment.  She was a little girl, holding to a balloon that she had to continually chase as the string slowly unraveled from around her fingers.

            Shaundee plopped down into the chair next to her, as her friends sat down at other places around the table, except Patrick, who had left to go back to Kalas Hem, to work on the guns a bit and check on things back at the other sanctuary.  Evabelle was fairly certain there was another one missing, but she couldn't remember who...  "I haven't seen you at all today, Evie!"  Shaundee grinned, cheerily.  "Whatcha' been up to?"

            "I've just been training," Evabelle replied, honestly.

            "In what way?"  Shaundee asked.  "Physically, mentally, emotionally, thoughtfully, metaphysically, truthfully, independently, romantically, cardiovascularly..."  Her eyebrows bounced up and down.  "I'm going to keep going until you stop me."

            Evabelle smiled.  "Alright, mostly physically, but I probably should also work on mental and emotional strength as well."

            Warm breath tickled Evabelle's ear as a voice murmured into it.  "And of course you can't forget romantical strength.  That's always a must."

            Evabelle whipped her head around and stared up at a grinning Faux.  "Faux!"

            "Hello, lovely," His green eyes danced.  "Tis' been too long since I've seen the face of beauty."

            Evabelle's smile widened.  "How are you?  I haven't seen you all day?"

            Faux pulled back.  "Back to my extraordinarily fabulous self, thank you very much.  The past few days have been a blur of such odiousness, I suggest you disregard anything that was uttered from me during that time."

            "You mean you want us to do the exact same thing we always do?"  Calandra's dead-panned face passed quickly by as she marched toward the head of the table before Faux could even turn.

            Shaundee reached out and snatched the Anahalian's arm, pulling him close to her.  "Small suggestion," She whispered.  "Avoid flirting with her tonight.  Also the pale one that looks like she's swallowed a toad is another you probably shouldn't even try a side glance.  Callie's on edge and Thea there isn't worth it."

            Faux winked at Calandra's mother.  "Thanks for the warning."  Then he made his way down to a free seat.     

            The big dark-toned man slid in on Evabelle's other side.  Duke was his name, she remembered.  He was Amelia's brother.  Amelia was Shaundee's best friend who was working on the elves' portal at the Spiral.  It was going to be a little tricking remembering everyone, but she did her best to draw connections and take into account each of their contrasting personalities.

            Duke gave Evabelle a warm smile before turning to face Calandra's floating dishes of delicious smelling stew and garlic bread as they lowered onto the table in front of them all.

            "Enjoy," Calandra grumbled as she fell into her chair, her hand massaging the side of her head.

            "Where's Velrose?"  Thea, the pale tart, asked crisply.

            "Not here," Calandra snapped, her black eyes daggering the woman.

            Evabelle blinked, expecting that out of all of Shaundee's friends that Thea might be the one that got along with Calandra, both being rather stiff and somewhat, uppity.  However, Calandra's air expressed otherwise.

            Thea crossed her bone arms, shaking her head.  "Velrose is a true composed gentleman who would never treat his guests to such unmannered behavior."

            "My father is a member of the High Mage Council who has far more important things to deal with than sour old sots like you."  Calandra spat acid.

            Evabelle's eyes widened as the white mage started to rise. 

            Both Shaundee and Duke leapt up before things went any further.  "Alright, now.  Velrose is a busy man, but I'm sure he'll come visit soon."  Duke reached a hand over and tugged on Thea's shoulder.  "And the only old sot here is Gordon, so Velrose will only avoid him,"

            Gordon, the big hairy guy with the magic refilling beer mug, nodded.  "Sot: yes, but old: absolutely not."

            "Yes, excellent!"  Shaundee smiled.  "Now let's enjoy the marvelous food that Calandra has so kindly prepared for us.  My daughter is one of the best cooks that I know!"

            Thea slowly sat, but her icy glare never left Calandra's face, that had turned away from the table to stare blandly at the wall.

            "Well she did learn from the best, Shaun!" Gordon bellowed, with a huge grin.  He raised his barrel in Shaundee's direction.

            Shaundee shook her head, her eyes flashing quickly over to Calandra.  "Well, her abilities have far surpassed mine, now."

            "It is very delicious," Gia, the smaller twin of Gordon murmured in agreement as she sipped from her spoon.

            "Isn't it?"  Faux waggled his eyebrows at Gia.  "It's not the only thing."

            Evabelle rolled her eyes.  Having two women eliminated from his pool of potential victims did not even slow the man.  What had she expected?

            Calandra gave a huff.  "Yes it's all very good.  I know what I'm capable of."  She finally started eating her dinner, herself.

            Evabelle's soup was as amazing as everyone else's, but it felt so strange to have all these completely new people filling the space that normally had faces that she had grown used to.  Faux and Calandra of course were there, gratefully there was no Raoul, as he liked to have him meals alone, outside, but there was no Kai and Gem, Del, Aza, even Tru and poor CJ or...Lucis.

            Everything was still so confusing with Lucis.  There was a stint in her chest making it difficult to breathe whenever Evabelle thought of him.  He said he loved her then ran away when she said it back.

            "You alright there, sweets?"  Shaundee waved a hand in front of her face.

            Evabelle's spoon slipped from her hand and splashed into the stew.  "What?  Yeah, I'm fine."  She dabbed at the splatters of food on the table with her napkin.  "I'm just thinking."

            "What about?" 

            Evabelle glanced up at Shaundee.  She had pretty dark green eyes that looked amazing with her long wavy red hair.  She looked young for her age.  She could be Calandra's sister if one didn't know.  But no.  She was not her sister, she was the mother of Calandra's sister, Etheldreda.  Etheldreda definitely looked a lot like their mother.  Shaundee's and Etheldreda's hair was a little more copper than ruby like Calandra's.  They were both skinnier and less curvy  than the mage that Evabelle knew.  The longer faces and sharper cheekbones were also a match.  Although, even though Evabelle couldn't remember Etheldreda's eye color, the look in them was vastly different than her mother's.

            Shaundee was warm and friendly.  They were like arms spread wide, inviting a hug, while Etheldreda's were harsh, angry, pained, and a little...lost.  That was something that Calandra and her sister did share.

            Evabelle took a deep breath.  She hadn't told anyone what had happened back at the elf palace, not even Aza.  "I was thinking about Lucis."  She replied honestly.  Perhaps she wouldn't go into the whole story, but venting a little would be okay, right?

            "Oooh," Shaundee nodded, her eyes flickering as another grin popped onto her face.  "Sexy blonde angel sweetheart man, how could you think of anything else?"

            Evabelle let out a half-hearted laugh.  "That is the question isn't it..."  She swallowed.  "I'm just...I...I don't know..."

            Shaundee grimaced.  "Ah, man trouble, I take it,"

            Evabelle bit her lip.  "Yes,"

            "First thing you should know, men always have problems.  No, sorry,"  Shaundee shook her head.  "I take that back.  Every humanoid creature has problems.  They always like to make is more complicated than it really is...Well, mostly, sometimes it really is that complicated, but that always gives you the chance to grow even closer after you overcome those problems."

            Evabelle rubbed her eyes.  "Problems.  I'm not that much into those things.  Puzzles, riddles, conundrums, dilemmas all have a habit of giving me a headache."

            Shaundee took a sip from her juice.  "You know just because he's the good brother doesn't mean had any less problems."

            Evabelle looked back up at her.  "Did you know about my little thing for...Del?"  She whispered.

            Shaundee nodded.  Evabelle groaned, but Shaundee spoke.  "But I knew it wasn't going to last."  The woman sat forward in her chair.  "You looked at him like every girl does.  The dark beautiful broken guy, who just needed a gentle girl to take care of him and heal him.  But that's not what he needed and that's not what you needed."

            Evabelle blinked.  "What are you talking about?"

            "The bad boy is almost always the one the shy introverted girls goes for because the balance between the good and the bad.  Because the gentle-hearted girl longs to heal the wretched and scarred.  Because he's exciting and dangerous and pushes the girl out of her comfort zone and let's her live a bit more wild, while the girl pulls back on the untamed man, showing him a softer, gentler world."  Shaundee sighed.  "It's not a bad combination, but how many times has it been done before?"

            Evabelle tilted her head to the side.  "So you knew it wouldn't last because it would have been too cliché?"    

            Shaundee chuckled.  "No, Del doesn't need someone gentle.  He's got his brother for that.  Del needs someone who's going to show him that being wild isn't only in the dark and all alone.  The world is a bright and beautiful place that he's very much loved in.  He needs someone who doesn't look at his outward appearance, but loves what's on the inside, completely and utterly.  Someone, who sees the goodness behind all the harshness.  Someone, who can yank it out of him.  The thing is, he's stubborn, so they're going to have to be more stubborn.

            "You might have been able to eventually reach him, but when you first came to Kalas Hem, I knew it wouldn't be you."  Shaundee smiled a little sadly at Evabelle, which confused the brunette.  "You need someone who gently encourages, but doesn't force you.  Because if they forced you, you wouldn't grow.  You wouldn't come to the conclusion to choose for yourself.  You needed an example, who would make you wish that you could do what they did for you.  Someone so openly broken could not push you in the right direction like one who was, secretly."

            Evabelle's chest constricted.  "Lucis,"

            Shaundee stirred her soup.  "That's the thing, girls always go for the bad boy because we know there's something hurting them, and we think we can fix it.  But then we end up forgetting about the good guy, who hurts just as much, maybe even more sometimes, not realizing that they're the one that needs us more, and that in the end, can truly make us happy."

            "I know Lucis is hurting.  I know there's something that he's afraid of telling me."  Evabelle spoke.  "I've known it for ages.  I've known it long before I started to like him in that way.  I just sort of let it slide."

            "Just because he acts like he's okay doesn't mean you should ignore it when you know he isn't."  Shaundee murmured.

            Evabelle nodded.  "I know, but Lucis is also pretty stubborn."

            Shaundee smiled.  "Maybe, but he's still the one who needs the gentle heart."

            The door was suddenly pushed open before Evabelle could say anything else and Max waddled into the room.  "Sorry, I'm so late!"  The curly, orange haired, freckled boy cried.  "I got lost in your library, Calandra, it's absolutely magnificent!"

            Calandra looked like she was about to reprimand him, but his compliment of her books softened her expression.

            Max sat next to Shaundee on her other side.  "Oh, the food smells amazing too!"  He immediately began slurping it down.

            Evabelle's eyebrows went up.  "I'm amazed she didn't yell at you."  She said quietly, so the cold mage would not hear.

            Max looked up at her.  "Callie?  Oh, yes she's very kind."

            "Callie?"  Evabelle asked.  It was a name that always annoyed Calandra, she figured because it was what Shaundee always called her.  "You seem pretty familiar with her."

            Max nodded, swallowing down his bite of garlic bread.  "Yeah, I know she doesn't like that name.  I always forget.  But yes, we knew each other in school."

            Evabelle nearly choked.  "School?"

            "It's not called Hogwarts if that's what you're wondering."  Duke's rich voice broke in as he finished his conversation with the skinny, green-streaked haired man, Lori.  "But mages do have schools to study magic in their own way."

            Max nodded.  "Yeah, I was a little behind since I came in later than most.  Since most of the other mages don't like warlocks, they weren't all in for helping me out, but Callie--I mean, Calandra tolerated me enough to tutor me while I was transitioning."

            Evabelle nodded as she remembered him mentioning that he was a convert to being a mage.  "Yeah, I've noticed while Calandra can seem pretty hard, she's not that much  when you really get to know her."

            The murmur of voices at the other end of the table started to build.  Thea was once again staring down Calandra.  Lori was rolling his eyes.  "Honestly, you two.  If you can't go five minutes without trying to stab the other then I'll have to go eat my meal with the wolf, which is very harrowing as you should know."

            "Then go!"  Calandra slammed her hand on the table.  "Go be with the wolf since my company is so terrible!"  She rounded back to Thea.  "Go find my father since I can't run a damn thing by myself!  But no, that's not what you really want, is it, Thea?  No, you want something a little more with my conveniently divorced father."  She shot a look at her mother, who was determinedly staring at her soup.

            "Don't you want your father to be happy?"  Thea shrieked leaping to her feet again.  Her stark cheeks flushed ruddy red.  "And who said I wanted anything more that a generally familiar relationship?  I just want to--"

            "Hah!"  Calandra threw back her head.  "And you think you can make him happy?!"

            "Calandra!"  Gordon yelled a few notches louder than his normal speaking voice to reign over the crazed mage.  "You don't by chance have any of Dr. Agon's Scalding Whiskey?  It's a rare one, that I've heard will set a fire like no other--"

            "NO!"  Calandra clenched her fists.  "I don't have any kind of scalding anything because I'm not an old drunkard who's content with burning out my liver!"

            Gia straightened up.  "I know my brother's a drunkard, but you shut up!  You're not allowed to--"

            Calandra stood.  "I'm not allowed to speak my mind at my own table?  I'm not allowed to--"  A hand fell over Calandra's mouth and Faux grinned around at the livid table occupants.

            "Excuse us ladies and gents, we'll be back after a few short messages."  Then the Anahalian eased Calandra around the table and out the dining room doors.

            Evabelle glanced at Shaundee who had a hand over her mouth, and was still staring at her food.  Duke reached across the table and took her hand, rubbing his thumb along the back of it.  Max slowly continued eating, but he too stared unwaveringly down at it.  The rest of the table looked enraged and instantly broke out into their own shouts.

            "That woman shouldn't be left alone to run Velrose's sanctuary!"  Thea cried.  "She'll burn it down with that temper!"

            "She honestly thought I would consider eating with a dog!"  Lori's fists shook.

            Gordon stared grimly into space, while his sister rubbed his arm.

            Evabelle rose from her place, unable to stand being in the room any longer and followed Faux and Calandra out.

            She found the two of them just out in the entry, Faux braced against a wall, Calandra's white infuriated face so close to his, for an insane moment Evabelle thought she was kissing him.  "I should slap you," she snarled.  "No, I should set you on fire for what you did to me in there."

            Faux's calm expression was off-putting, and it also might have been making Calandra more angry.  "Go ahead, if it will make you feel better."  There was not a note of sarcasm in his voice.

            Calandra blinked in shock and took a step back.  "What?"

            "Do whatever you want.  Let it out."  Faux nodded.  "Don't hold yourself back,"

            Calandra let out several breaths and took a few more steps away from him.  "What do you remember of yesterday?"

            Faux tilted his head.  "I told you, I don't remember much of anything."

            "But you remember something," She cringed at the last word, saying is softer but more intensely than the rest.  "Don't you?"

            Evabelle took a few steps closer and the soft beats against the marble floor, made Faux look up and Calandra to whirl around.  "What are you doing out here?"  The mage shook her head, her already blanched face, taking on a slightly green tinge.

            Evabelle froze.  "I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were alright..."

            Calandra stumble a little, and she leaned against the side of the stairs' banister.  "I'm not..."  Suddenly, she straightened up, her black eyes flickering like a flame on a candlewick.  When it passed.  She let out a long sigh.  "Finally,"  

            The mage strode past Faux, who pushed himself away from the wall, and Evabelle, who turned to watch her reach the front door.

            The young brunette's heart skipped a beat, knowing who had to be at the door as Calandra yanked it open.  A dark-winged shadow silently slid inside.  The mage ducked her head around behind him and her expression fell.  "Where's Lucis?"

            Del rolled his eyes.  "Greetings here are first class,"

            Calandra ground her teeth.  "You're brother just happens to have this thing with people, where he's good with them."  She pushed the door shut and crossed her arms, forcibly not looking at Evabelle or Faux.

            "You're not wrong." Del replied.  "I flew ahead.  He'll be back soon."

            Evabelle could guess why he flew ahead of Lucis and his passenger that he seemed to be deliberately refusing the acknowledgment of her existence.

            "I'm going to the library for a while.  I don't want any disturbances."  Calandra announced and spun on her heel and climbed the stairs, vanishing quickly behind the secret door to the room.

            Del stared up as the panel slid shut behind her.  "I've missed something,"

            "Sadly, that's always the case," Faux shook his head, walking over and putting a hand on Del's shoulder.  "You should really try to pay more attention."

            Del rolled his eyes.  "Yes, I'll do that next time I'm hundreds of miles away."

            Faux gave him a hearty pat.  "Now, that's what I want to hear!" 

            Del shrugged him off and started towards the stairs as well. 

            "Wait!"  Evabelle called out, and she began to chase him up the steps.  "Could I talk to you?"

            Del blinked at her.  She took that as a yes.  Evabelle glanced down at Faux, who had stuck his hands in his pockets and was slipping out the front door.  She shook her head and looked back at Del.  Hesitantly, she started up the other side of the stairs that, instead of leading up the bedrooms, lead up to where the training room, ballroom, and mirror room were.  "I need your help, could you come with me?"

* * *

It had to be nearly an hour later when Evabelle finished explaining why Calandra was in a mood, what the basic plan was for the Annihilators, the guns, and Raoul with his stupid challenge.  She felt a little winded after that, but Del had been gracious and hadn't interrupted.

            "Hmm," He murmured.

            "Do you by chance know anything about guns?"  Evabelle asked.  "You know pretty much any weapon.  I mean, if you know guns then we don't even have to worry about Raoul."

            Del shook his head.  "Anahalians don't train with guns, not because their a bad thing, it's just the Anahalians never had them as a potential Duren-dal.  We left long before they were invented, therefore we didn't adapt to them.  I always thought I try to train myself with them, but it just didn't happen.  We didn't have that kind of material in Jovis."

            Evabelle sighed and nodded.  "Right, so back to plan A."  She swallowed.  "I wanted to ask you if you knew any tricks where I could end the fight fast.  I want it done as quickly and painlessly as possible, so we can get to work."

            Del arched an eyebrow.  "You plan on cheating?"

            "I know that's not what angel borns are about, but he's not in any way an angel."  Evabelle shook her head.  "If you'd met him, you'd know what I mean."

            The corner of Del's mouth twitched upward.  "Now you're getting me interested."  He interlaced his finger and stretched them out with a faint pop.  "Alright," He spread his arms out, the light seeping into the training room casting strange shadows on the floor.  "How big is this guy?"

            "Taller and broader than Lucis, probably Averno too."

            Del's other eyebrow went up.  "Alright, then, we're talking big."

            Evabelle nodded. 

            "That means you're going to have to depend on speed and agility."  Del started to slide into a fighting stance. 

            Evabelle tried to copy him.  "He's fast too.  He's quicker than he seems."

            Del paced over to her.  "You're going to have to be faster.  This guy is bigger than you.  He's physically stronger.  That's not something that's going to change."  His hands brushed against her shoulders, bringing one in an the other more forward, and his foot nudged one of hers, widening her bearing.  "You have to have a firm stance, but one that you can easily move from.  You have to be light on your feet, but not let him get you off balance.  You have to be in control.  That's the most important thing."

            Evabelle nodded and made the right adjustments.

            "Werewolves are fast and strong, but so are Anahalians, remember that."  Del faced her, eyes tracing over her frame.

            Evabelle nodded.  "But I'm not a full Anahal--"  Del ducked and swung his leg out, Evabelle gasped and tried to jump back, but was only half successful.  He managed to still catch one of her legs, sending her tumbling down.  She brought up her arms and shifted her weight in the fall, so she was able to use the momentum to roll back to her feet.  She brought up her fists, sliding into the stance again, this time her eyes narrowed.

            Del's side smile flashed at her as he strode forward.  "Not bad," As he neared, Evabelle started to lightly bounce back and forth on the balls of her feet.  "See?  The training is paying off."  He swung his arm around, near her head, and she ducked and struck two quick jabs forward at his side, but he easily slid out of reach.

            "I know you're going easy on me," Evabelle's eyes shifted over him warily.  "And I'm still sore from the sudden boost in my regime."

            "But you still plan on fighting him, don't you?"  Del lunged forward, and Evabelle leapt backward, kicking her leg up, only for Del to smack it down, making Evabelle teeter finally allowing him the final push to knock her down.  "Don't ever let you not being at full strength stop you.  You can't do that.  Even if you feel weak, don't be."

            Evabelle huffed.  "It's not like that doesn't make sense."  She shoved herself to her feet and struck out fast, her fist just grazing against Del's ear.

            The dark Anahalian smirked.  "Doesn't it?" 

            Suddenly, a sharp pain in Evabelle's side and leg skyrocketed through her system.  Brief stars flashed in her eyes.  She blinked several times, staring up at the ceiling, having no memory of falling again.  Del tilted his head, looking down at her.  "Speed is your friend if you want to cheat.  Are you ready to learn, Maus?"

            The pain though harsh and hot, quickly ebbed away as quickly as it had begun.  "What the heck was that?"  Evabelle sat up and stared at him.

            "Fighting dirty."  Del put his hands on his hips as Evabelle pushed herself the rest of the way up.

            Evabelle nodded.  "Okay, I'm--"

            The door banged open and Calandra, looking more frazzled and irate than before, crashed in.  "There you are!"  She shouted at Del.  "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

            Del crossed his arms.  "Seriously, Calandra.  I don't like people that much either, but I can at least keep myself from an emotional breakdown."

            Calandra shook her head, gritting her teeth.  "It's your brother and Aza, idiot,"

            Del stiffened.  "What?"

            Calandra's whole body trembled.  The mage shook her head and Evabelle felt a wave of cold nausea roll over her as the mage's voice got eerily quiet.  "Annihilators," The blood froze in Evabelle's veins.  "They were attacked by Annihilators."