The crowd that had gathered around the two boys kept murmuring, some making bets about who they thought would win. Needless to say that most were against Arius. After all, Jerrod had knocked out quite a few teeth in his life and had probably broken a few noses. The students he had something against often feared for their good health. Perhaps today, though, someone would be able to teach the brute a lesson."Come on," coaxed Jerrod as he readied himself for the fight. "Let's get started." To his surprise, Arius laughed."Why should I waste my time on you?" he asked Jerrod.Pathetic humans..."What are you implying?" asked Jerrod, his face turning red. He was getting angry, and talking to Arius was like putting fuel to the fire. The Deslyan would just keep pushing Jerrod until the boy exploded.
Jaida sighed a bit when she realized that he'd hate her for even thinking something like that. He despised the human race, or so he said. He didn't seem to mind them as much anymore, but some people did tend to get on his nerves. Her friend Seth happened to be one of them. She had noticed the glares they'd exchange, though the feeling was more or less one sided. Seth seemed to have something against Arius, and Jaida was wondering if perhaps her friend really was jealous. She couldn't blame him. Half the girls in the school had already decided that Arius was by far the cutest boy they had ever seen, and she couldn't help but admit that she was one of them. Unfortunately for her, she knew what he was like. His looks were one thing, but his personality was another."Jaida!" called out a familiar voice, stopping both her and Arius. They watched as Mr. Owens ran over to them, his briefcase in one hand and a bag in the other. By the time h
Arius finally decided to move, so he spread his wings and took to the skies in hopes of escaping the choking smoke. The sky wasn't much better though. The higher he got, the worse he felt. It wasn't because of the smoke, though. He was feeling somewhat nostalgic, as if he had been here before, seen this place. The licking tendrils of fire that nipped at his limbs were so familiar that when they touched him, he felt his whole body ignite."What's going on?" he asked, wiping some sweat from his brow. He began to look around, realizing that there was no one left in the area. The strange, dome shaped houses that lined the streets were all ablaze. Whoever had been living in the town had either evacuated or been consumed by the flames. The second option was much more probable. Arius clenched his fists, suddenly finding himself angry. The more he looked around, the faster he was realizing that he
Jaida glanced across the kitchen table at her current companion. Her mother had left for work early, deciding to put in more hours. This left her alone with Arius, who was sitting at the other end of the table, playing with his food. He was just poking at it with his fork. The expression on his face gave the impression that he wasn't there, like his mind was wandering and wasn't about to return anytime soon. Jaida noticed that he looked exhausted, as if he hadn't slept at all last night."Aren't you hungry?" she asked. He only shook his head and pushed his plate away. She couldn't help but notice that he didn't eat a lot. Maybe Deslyans weren't used to human food. Maybe they ate something else. She couldn't imagine what, and to be honest, she didn't really want to ask him.After breakfast, Jaida decided that it would be good for them to get out of the house for a while. Arius was being abnormally quiet, so she was hoping that by going out into the city, he'd talk a bit. He always seeme
Lucius smirked widely as he set his eyes on Arius, seeming very smug about something. He always seemed to be smiling, but it was such a cruel smile. It was as if he was constantly enjoying some private joke, as if all of this was nothing more than a game to him."Do you like what I've done here?" he asked both of them, his smile spreading into a smirk. "Bring back any memories?" Arius clenched his fists so hard that his palms almost began to bleed. He was having a hard enough time dealing with the reminder last night. He didn't need this."Just shut up Lucius," he snapped angrily, cracking his claws a bit. "You won't get away this time." Lucius just laughed and extended his arm. He pointed his finger at Arius, and his arm began to glow. Soon enough, a small tendril of what looked like fire began swirling around his extended arm, forming a spiral. All of it soon gathered before Lucius's pointed finger. He smirked before the large ball of swirling fire tendrils was released. It went righ
Jaida finally gave a relieved sigh, thinking that they were safe. However, a white blur streaked by, slamming into them. Jaida noticed that Arius' grip tightened around her as they rocketed towards a nearby building. He held her close, turning a bit just as his back came in contact with a huge window that resided on top. The sound of shattering glass echoed in the abandoned warehouse, filling Jaida's senses. She was only distracted when she felt their descent stop abruptly. She noticed that Arius was no longer holding her in a vice grip. His arms were lax as they began slipping off of her when she moved."Arius?" she questioned, finally looking down at him. His eyes were closed, and he wasn't moving. She then realized that they were at the bottom of the warehouse. He had slammed into the cement floor, now lying atop a bed of broken glass. She quickly got off of him and began to see if he was injured. Other than being unconscious, he looked alright.Jaida took in a deep breath to try an
Jaida quickly noticed the emotions running across his face and flashing through his eyes. She bit her lower lip, unable to help it anymore."Arius, I'm so sorry," she told him, earning her his full attention. "I'm not very helpful, am I?" Arius watched as her eyes began to shimmer. "You got hurt because of me. I'm sure you would have been fine on your own. I do nothing but cause trouble." He noticed that she was sniffling a bit. Being a Deslyan, this would have been the perfect opportunity for him to lay it on thick, to tell her it was her fault, that she was nothing but a burden. The emotion she was giving off would have satiated his hunger, but as he watched a tear drop roll down her cheek, he changed his mind. Just this once, he would refrain from feeding off of human emotions. He wouldn't use her like that."It's…it's alright," he told her, unable to think of anything else to say.
Jaida began sprinting right away, pulling away from the other students. No one was surprised. She was their track star, after all. She could outrun anyone, even the boys. There was only one person who she couldn't escape from though. Arius was soon right next to her, and they were both pulling away from the other students."Carlson!" shouted the teacher. "Just remember, this isn't a race! You too Arius!" Arius just shot her a distant glare before returning his attention to Jaida. She still looked flushed, and her breathing was already labored. They had barely gotten three fourths around the first quarter and she looked exhausted."You heard her Jai," began Arius. "This isn't a race. Fall back a bit.""No," she told him stubbornly. "This is the only unit I like. I'm going to break the record this time. I can't stop now." To Arius’ surpr
"Arius!" she shouted, watching as he straightened a bit. As he began turning slowly towards her, she began running, sprinting as fast as she could towards him. She couldn't wait to hold him, to feel his arms around her. She wanted to hear his voice again, to hear him say how much he loved her. When she finally reached him, when she was no more than a foot away, she reached out, leaned forward, closed her eyes, and…knocked him right off his feet, both of them going over the edge of the building.The first thing she felt was his arms encircling her, holding her tightly so that she wouldn't fall. The two of them were just floating in midair, and he was the only thing keeping her from falling to the Earth below. Neither one said anything at first. Jaida was crying, her arms around his waist, placed tightly and firmly against his back. She had her face buried in his chest, her small body shaking with each joy filled sob.Arius could do not
Jaida sighed for what felt like the one hundredth time that day. Each day that passed was getting harder and harder for her. She found herself exhausted most of the time. Other times she was just bored and unable to concentrate. She knew she was staring out the window, oblivious to the topic her teacher was preaching. Usually she tried to stay focused in Mr. Owens' class simply because she owed it to him. However, on a Friday such as today, concentrating always seemed harder. She just wanted the weekend to come so that she could spend some time out walking. Even if she was alone, she wanted to just be out and away from her house. There were too many things there that reminded her of how much she missed Arius. She needed to try and focus less on how sad his departure was and more on how happy she'd be to finally see him again.However, she had to admit that the thought of him being alive, the thought of him coming back was slowly slipping from her mind. It had be
"Fine," he eventually said. "I'll do it." He couldn't fight the smile that spread across his lips when he saw Jaida's face light up."Thank you!" she shouted enthusiastically. She ran and grabbed her book bag, shoving everything in quickly. She ran back and stopped before leaving his classroom. "I can't wait to tell Arius when he comes back." And with that said, she ran from his room. He just couldn't repress the smile on his face. For the first time in the past month, she had looked truly happy. She hadn't been forging the light in her eyes or the smile on her lips. She had finally meant it. Plus, in reference to Arius, she had used the proper word. She had said "when."Never. Never in all its infinite years had the universe every witnessed such a battle. The struggle had gone on for what felt like ages, each day passing as if it had been a year, full of loss and casualty. At some points it had been hard to see an end. Many had thought it w
It was another Wednesday, another day just like every other day. Jaida was finding it a lot harder to concentrate in her classes, and if she didn't do something soon, her grades would start slipping. She knew her mother couldn't afford for them to fall too far. She would have to work harder at her job, and then Jaida wouldn't get to see her as much. Now that it was just the two of them again, she enjoyed having her mother home more. It made for good company and conversation.As he went around the room and passed out papers, Mr. Owens couldn't help but spare Jaida a sad glance. She was once again staring out the window, watching the sky. She was always so zoned out by the time she got to his class, so he did his best not to draw attention to her. However, it was hard. He was worried about her to some extent. After all, she rarely spoke up in class, and she no longer stayed after to work on her homework. He wasn't sure if she did it at home or even at all, but he
One month. One full month had passed since the Earth had nearly met a very abrupt end. However, no one even knew of this. No one knew of the battle that had taken place between the angel, Lucius, and the Deslyan, Arius. The human race was incredibly oblivious, but there were two people who knew just how lucky they were to even be alive. It was all in thanks to Arius…and partially in thanks to Jaida.School had gone on normally for her to say the least. The first few days had been nothing but extreme torture, full of her fighting off tears and telling people about what had happened to Arius. Amy and Seth had tried to cheer her up, but it just hadn't been possible. When she had relayed the real story to Mr. Owens, she had broken down in tears. No one could blame her really. She had just lost someone that she loved. It was a hard pain to cope with.As the days had gone on, she had gotten a bit better. She would talk more, even laugh on s
Arius snapped his blood red eyes open and shot Lucius his most threatening glare. This was going to be it. He had to put everything he had into one massive release of pure black magic. That was the only way he'd be able to truly get rid of Lucius. He had to destroy the angel once and for all. After all, the deal had been "no retreating." Lucius couldn't run away this time. He had said it himself. One of them was going to die today."How?" Lucius asked, watching as the tendrils of black light no longer thrashed about wildly. If anything, it looked like they were under Arius' control. The Deslyan's blood red eyes were full of fire, and all of it was being directed towards him."It's over," Arius stated. "One of us will die…that's what you told me. It's time we end this once and for all." Every bit of magic radiating from him suddenly stopped moving, the winds fr
"Jaida?" he questioned, shaking her a bit. "Don't do this. You've gotta wake up." She didn't respond at all to him. She was barely breathing anymore. He bent down a bit, placing his lips to her ear. "You've gotta stay alive. If you do, I promise I'll see you again. Thank you…Jaida.""Well," began Lucius, a very edgy tone to his usually laid back voice. "I see you told her." He slowly began walking forwards, a scowl on his face. "You know the rules. Since she interfered, I'm afraid I'll have to kill her." Arius snapped his attention to the angel, a deep, hateful glare on his face. His blood red eyes were like ice as he stared down Lucius. The angel didn't seem to notice the sudden change in his adversary, because he tried approaching. He apparently thought that Arius was too drained to fight back anymore, so he reached out towards Jaida, as if he was going to take her. Needless to say, this didn't go over well with Ari
As he hit the ground, he felt his broken wing twist a bit more, and he cried out in pain. It blocked out the rest of the sensations in his body, including the way his raw and bloody chest was burning from its recent thrashing. The pain of his broken ribs stabbing into his side was long forgotten, and the taste of blood in his mouth could no longer be sensed. As he lied there, bleeding from every limb he possessed, he found that he just didn't care anymore. The pain had become so great that he felt numb. He couldn't move a single muscle. He could barely even catch his breath. This was really it. He was dying.Arius wanted to get back up, to face down Lucius once more. He wanted to glare at the angel, threaten him, to do something other than just lie here. However, he couldn't find the strength he needed. His mind was blank, every thought being drained from it as he lied there. He found that all he wanted was for this pain to
Jaida had been running for what felt like an eternity, and she still hadn't found hide or hair of Arius. She wasn't sure where to even look. There weren't that many places in the city that a battle could be held at. They obviously didn't want anyone seeing them fight, so it wouldn't be towards the populated areas. They wouldn't have gone to the park. However, they wouldn't have left the city limits either.When she reached the residential area, the place she had started from, she had to stop and catch her breath. It was time to try a new direction. She couldn't take a break for too long. She needed to find her friend. She had to find Arius before something horrible happened to him. He couldn't die; she wouldn't allow it. He had to stay alive for a little longer, at least until she could see him again. All she wanted was to see him one more time.After taking a deep b