APH Fic Changes chapter 2
Title: Changes
Author/Artist: Me!
Character(s) or Pairing(s): England, France, China, America, Canada
Rating: T
Warnings: None, I think.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Arthur was a bored demon who stole two infant angels from heaven with the intent of turning them into demons. However he never counted on the fact that he had fallen in love with them and now he has taken the place of a parent in their lives.
The next few weeks were both ones of learning and ones filled with headache and confusion.
From that first night Arthur swore to himself that he would tear off the children’s wings and start their transition.
The children still had their pure white wings.
Each time he had so much as looked at the knife he felt his heart tighten in his chest and his airways start to close.
They didn’t sleep in the bed together again. Arthur allowed them to have the bed and curled against one another while he slept against the wall. And in truth it was more comfortable to him than sleeping on the bed.
He had learned that they were quite young. So young that they didn’t have their teeth yet and therefore couldn’t eat practically anything.
Anything.
He had gone hunting in the forest that surrounded his home and came back with an armful of rabbits and a deer strapped to his back.
He licked the blood off from under his nails. He had missed hunting animals more than he was willing to admit.
A cry from the house caused him to drop the animals and run inside towards the children. Halfway through he realized what he was doing and scowled to himself as he forced himself to slow down and enter the bedroom.
The boys were crying, again a corner of his mind added, and when they saw him they extended their arms towards him whimpering.
Arthur started to walk towards them however when the scent of the blood that was staining his clothes reached them they changed.
They didn’t scream. They screeched, their voices reaching a new height that he had never heard before. Their wings uncurled outwards and stood out on end, flapping crazily.
Then, Arthur hadn’t believed that it was possible however he was proved wrong, they somehow managed to get even louder. However this wasn’t the screech of a regular displeasure. It was one of the methods angels had as a defense.
The screech of a banshee.
Arthur roared and placed his hands over his ears tightly as he fell to the floor and curled into himself. His own voice was screaming as if it was trying to go against the children’s.
Keeping his hands firmly on his ears Arthur managed to crawl towards the door and get himself into the hallway. With his leg he pulled the door closed and thankfully, thank the merciful devil, the children stopped screaming.
Arthur lay on the floor breathing heavily. If the children had been any older and more of their power had been revealed to them then his ears would have started to bleed, he wouldn’t have been able to concentrate, and then eventually the screeches would actually start to destroy the joints that connected his bones.
What the hell had set off the children like that? He hadn’t don’t anything different from yesterday.
He paused for a moment before he glanced at his bloodstained clothes.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” Arthur hissed. “They don’t like blood?”
On the other hand, he mused as he took off his clothes and threw them in a corner to wash later. It made a bit of sense, angels hated anything violent in any sense and blood did with that.
He ran to the river that lay next to the house and cupped the water in his hands to wash himself clean of the scent of blood off of his skin. He ran his fingers through his hair to see if any of it had been caught.
Sniffing the air he nodded to himself in approval and was sure that the blood was all gone. Going back into the house he pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt before going back to the bedroom.
This time when he walked, slowly to make sure, towards the children their wings retracted back against their backs and they smiled at him and raised their arms towards him.
Arthur carried them outside and set them down near the side of the house so that he could make sure wherever they went as he prepared their dinner.
His hands were familiar in the way they moved for this. Breaking apart the bones and using his nails and knives, except that one he could no longer look at, to rip the skin off and place them in strips to the side.
He built a fire, noting that he would need to gather more firewood, and placed the strips of meat on sticks and flat logs.
He glanced to the side where the children were. The one with a strand standing up in his hair was climbing over his brother, who actually seemed to not mind if their smiles told him anything. They both noticed the butterfly in the sky and were now mesmerized with reaching towards it.
Arthur shook his head, out of disgust and not in an attempt to hide the smile threatening to appear on his face, he turned back to glance at the meat. He alternated between watching the meat cook and the children playing a game only they understood.
When he was confident that the meat was cooked, and by confident he meant that they weren’t as burnt as they usually were when he cooked, he took them and placed them on a separate piece of a flat log. He walked to the children and picked them up when he noticed something.
The children didn’t have teeth.
Arthur groaned to himself. “I just had to pick one of the youngest children there were, didn’t I?” he said to himself. They wouldn’t be able to eat the meat unless he cut them into little pieces that would be easily swallowed.
He placed the children onto the ground once more before he reached for one of the shorter knives. He pulled the children’s portion to him and started to cut it when he remembered a small fact that he had learned about the angels.
Angels don’t, or rather can’t, eat meat. Consuming the flash of a living being was taboo to them.
Arthur snarled which caused the children to quiet and look up at him. He threw the knife to the ground where it bounced harmlessly to the side. Whirling around he pointed at the children who looked at him innocently.
“You! Why in the name of hell do you two need to make things so bloody difficult for me!” he roared. “Ever since I first got the two of you there have been nothing but trouble for me in everything that I do! And if you don’t stop this spell that you placed on me to ensure that I won’t cut off your wings then take it off before I claw out your eyes and…oh for the love of the devil stop crying! Please stop crying! I didn’t mean any of it! Please stop crying!”
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Arthur drank straight from the bottle of alcohol that he thankfully remembered that he had in the house as he watched the children curl up against each other sleeping.
Sleeping and crying. That’s all they were good for.
He refused to acknowledge the little voice in his head that was speaking of his memories of the human plane and their lives.
In the first ten or so years of both angels and devils their growth cycle was similar to that of humans. It was only until they reached ten years that their growth slowed down and took more time to mature.
And if memory served him right then the children that he had taken, stupidly taken now that he thought about it, were about three months old.
Three. Months. Old.
Arthur held back a whimper. Three months was young, too young for him to deal with. Just that day he had to change the cloths around their abdomens and upper thighs from the mess they had made. Of course he had no readymade cloth so the pair of them had to be bare for a few hours until he properly learned how to correctly fold the cloth.
He took another swing from the bottle as he watched the children sleep.
Thankfully, for today at least, he had solved the food problem with some roots that he had found in the ground and herbs that he knew weren’t poisonous in the forest however that would only last so long. He had no knowledge on how to grow any of those things and if he wanted to know this he would need to go to the humans and either steal, learn from them, or buy.
Suddenly he remembered his previous mission. To turn the children into demons. He took another swing from the alcohol.
How was he to cut off their wings? As more time passed he found that he couldn’t listen to their cries much longer without trying practically everything in his power to stop them.
He snarled to himself. “I am not weak.” he snarled. “These children are not and will not bring the weakness from me.”
He knew what he had to do. Place a spell on them to make sure they slept and then cut the blasted wings off.
However.
What if he didn’t do that?
Arthur snorted. His head was starting to swim lightly thanks to the alcohol and his thoughts were starting to go into a thousand directions at once.
What if he didn’t cut off their wings? What would happen then?
Well he mused. If he didn’t cut off their wings they would remain angels. And then what would he do?
He could raise them.
His eyes widened at the thought and he glanced at the alcohol in his hands. Was he that drunk?
He could raise them a corner of his mind argued. Away from the other demons and angels here. Alone with just the three of them.
And then what, he argued with himself. When they get older and start to question more?
He would deal with that when it came.
Arthur snorted. To keep them as angels meant that he cared about them, demons didn’t care about anyone else besides themselves. Why else had he kidnapped the children if only to boost his own reputation?
But he did care, that persistent corner of his mind insisted. Otherwise they wouldn’t still be demons.
Whenever a demon would cry and ask for attention or comfort they were smacked and beaten to know never to do that again.
He could rush to them and try everything to make them stop crying within his power.
Whenever a demon would refuse to eat a certain food they would starve until they learned to eat either whatever was given to them or find their own means of food.
He went out of his way to find proper food that wasn’t meat for the children to eat instead.
Arthur snorted once more. They meant nothing.
He didn’t want to cause them pain from cutting their wings off and now because of that single night he couldn’t even look in the direction of where he had buried the knife.
He had, without even realizing it, had started to think of the future where the children were still angels and was trying to find a way to feed them the food that they would be able to eat. Even going as far as going to attempt to ask humans for their advice!
Arthur glared down at the alcohol in his hand.
“You are a lousy thing.” he said.
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Even though he knew the children would be asleep for a while thanks to the sleeping spell he had placed on them he couldn’t help but worry about them and kept his ears perked and hearing high in order to hear their first cry when they realized that they were alone.
He shook his head. He was growing too attached.
Sighing lightly he resumed his search. Finding herbs in the forest was more difficult than he thought it would be at first. The basket on his arm only held a few pieces, not even close to enough to fill the children’s stomach for a single meal let alone the entire day.
He fingered the point of his tail that was wrapped around his in thought as he scanned the area. He had seen animals eat the grass and leaves from the flowers, would the children be able to as well?
He felt the shields that he had placed years ago shiver lightly. He glanced upwards towards the sky as he took the basket off of his arm and placed it against a tree. Someone was close and they now knew about the shield, it only shivered when someone was trying to get rid of it.
Arthur’s pupils dilated to cat slits as he uncurled his wings and let his tail uncurl from its place around his waist. Angel or demon it didn’t matter, no one would know of the children.
He walked briskly to the edge of the shield were the blasts of magic were the strongest. His eyes widened as he saw who was on the other side.
“Yao?” he called as he stepped from the shield, no one would be able to cross over the boundaries unless they had Arthurs permission and Yao most certainly didn’t have it.
“You’ve been gone for a while.” Yao said as his eyes glanced over Arthur. “I had gotten curious as to how the mission had gone.”
“The mission was a failure.” Arthur heard himself say. “The angels stopped me before I even managed to find where they hid their children.”
Yao rolled his eyes. “I knew as much. No one had ever been able to get to the children after Romulus. Now why are you hiding here instead of returning to hell? No one would think any less of you because you failed.”
“I know that.” Arthur snapped. “I’m here because I want to be! I’m tired of hell and all those pesky demons, I want time to myself.”
Yao glanced Arthur once more before he sniffed the air.
“Why is it that you have the scent of angels all over you?” Yao finally asked.
“Because I had entered heaven?” Arthur suggested. “Because they attacked me?”
Yao stepped forward closer to Arthur and breathed in deeper. “It’s a bit more than that, and it has been about three days from when you left. That smell would have left you by now, or at least not be as strong as it is now.”
“Well then I don’t know.” Arthur said. “Now if you’ll leave.”
“Your pupils dilate and your tail starts to shake.” Yao said. “Something I noticed. It happens whenever you lie.”
“Why would I lie?” Arthur asked as his hands curled into fists.
“True.” Yao said. “However if you were telling the truth then you wouldn’t be so tense. What exactly are you hiding behind this shield Arthur?”
“I’m not hiding anything.” Arthur insisted.
Yao didn’t look convinced. “Or is it that you did successfully kidnap an angel child and now want to keep them for selfish reasons? Physical selfish reasons.”
Arthurs eyes widened. “I might have done a lot of sordid things in my life.” Arthur said lowly. “But I would never succumb to something like that.”
“So tell me then Arthur.” Yao said, almost purred. “Did you, or did you not, manage to take an angel from heaven?”
“No, I didn’t.” Arthur said. Technically it wasn’t a lie, he hadn’t taken one he had taken two.
Yao watched him carefully before his the corner of his lips curled upwards into a smirk.
“Whatever you say.” Yao said. He bowed slightly as he kept his eyes connected with Arthurs. “Now then, I am happy that you are well and that I didn’t to drink to a corpse after all. Good day to you and I look forward to when you return to hell.”
Arthur watched until Yao disappeared completely before he stepped back into the safety of the shield, as he walked to where he had placed the basket he felt his stomach start to fall.
“I have a bad feeling about this.” he said as he placed the basket back on his arm and continue his search for more herbs and edible plants. “A really bad feeling.”
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Arthur placed the blanket around the children tightly. Lately the nights have been getting colder with the earth turning towards winter. He glanced at the fireplace that he had in the room.
“I really need to get more firewood.” he said. “And soon.”
He also needed to do something about the food. There were plenty of animals in the forest for him to eat meat however he was running out of plants and roots that he knew the children could eat. Unless he wanted to try his luck and eat one of the unknown plants in the forest to see if it was edible or poisonous he was going to have to do something else.
He turned his attention back to the boys. The one with a curl in his hair going downwards was clutching his brother’s cloth tightly as their legs tangled with one another.
The brother. Arthur frowned as he made sure the blanket was secure before going to his place next to the wall. He couldn’t just keep calling them ‘boy’ for the rest of their lives.
They needed a name, the both of them. Names were what separated higher beings from animals after all.
Arthur rubbed his chin lightly. The both of them needed good names, something to grow into that would be perfect for them. Suddenly he remembered the fairy tales that he had read when he had been a child and gave a small smile. He stood once more and kneeled next to the bed to properly see the children.
He reached out and placed a hand on the child with the hair standing up.
“To you, I give you the name of Alfred.” Arthur murmured.
He reached farther to place a hand on the other child.
“And to you, I give you the name of Matthew.” he said. “The both of you earn those names for they had always been my favorites.”
The children made no noise however they moved closer to one another and deeper into the blanket and bed.
Arthur chuckled lightly before he went back to the wall. He was going to need sleep if he was going to do what he wanted to do tomorrow.
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Arthur was growling. He grinded his teeth together and fought against his stomachs need and desire to empty itself.
Humans. He was going to humans to ask them for help.
He barred his teeth at this. To ask these lower life forms for help sickened him to his stomach and made him want to set the entire town on fire.
He spotted a man, a farmer from the looks of him, and stomped over to him. He grabbed the startled man by the arm and forced him to turn around.
“People who don’t eat meat.” Arthur spat. “What do they eat?”
“What?” the man actually asked, trying to get his arm out of Arthurs grip.
“I will not repeat myself.” Arthur snarled. “Answer me.”
“Vegetables and fruits.” the man said. “Now let go.”
“No.” Arthur said tightening his grip. “You are going to spend the day with me and let me know just which ones.”
“I have a family to get back to.” the man said.
Arthur snorted and threw a small bag at the man. He caught the bag and opened it, his eyes widened at the pieces of gold that lay there.
“There. I bought you for the time being.” Arthur said. “Now, what I wanted to know?”
“Which fruits and vegetables you can get depend on a lot of things.” the man said quickly pocketing the gold. “Different seasons can bring good products while it might kill others.”
“Teach quickly.” Arthur said. “I don’t have much patience.”
The man spent the rest of the day explaining which fruits and vegetables grew best in their conditions. He had escorted Arthur to the town market and pointed out each food as Arthur bought them.
“You can also grow your own, which is something that I would recommend.” the man said as Arthur examined his purchases. “Prices go up every day and with winter coming soon there won’t be anything good.”
Arthur nodded. “And how do I grow my own?”
“Seeds.” the man said. “You can either save the seeds from the foods.” He nodded to them in Arthurs hands. “Or you can buy your own.”
At Arthurs raised eyebrow the man quickly took him to shop to help get him the seeds he needed.
“Is there anything else that I may help you with?” the man asked eagerly.
Arthur snorted. The avarice of humans knew no bounds.
“No.” Arthur said mentally going back to everything he learned. “I think I have everything I need now.”
The man bowed. “If you do need my help, just ask for David Burns.”
Arthur waved him away as he started his walk back to the forest and where the children were under control thanks to a spell once more.
However he had been so preoccupied with looking at the food, the seeds, and going over everything he didn’t notice someone following him until they grabbed him and pushed him into the dark alleyway.
Arthur stumbled to the ground, barely holding onto the food. He glared at his attacker.
“May I help you?” he spat as he felt his pupils dilate into cat slits once more. “I don’t think you know who you’re dealing with.”
The man’s arm came and grabbed Arthur to push him against a wall. His green eyes met blue eyes that he was sure was familiar however he couldn’t put his finger on it.
“My name is Francis Bonnefoy.” the man, Francis, hissed. “And I know exactly who you are demon.”
Now he was able to see the angels white wings that he had hidden as he curled them outwards and around them.
“And I also think that you have something of mine.” Francis hissed. “You kidnapped my two sons and I want them back.”
Author/Artist: Me!
Character(s) or Pairing(s): England, France, China, America, Canada
Rating: T
Warnings: None, I think.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Arthur was a bored demon who stole two infant angels from heaven with the intent of turning them into demons. However he never counted on the fact that he had fallen in love with them and now he has taken the place of a parent in their lives.
The next few weeks were both ones of learning and ones filled with headache and confusion.
From that first night Arthur swore to himself that he would tear off the children’s wings and start their transition.
The children still had their pure white wings.
Each time he had so much as looked at the knife he felt his heart tighten in his chest and his airways start to close.
They didn’t sleep in the bed together again. Arthur allowed them to have the bed and curled against one another while he slept against the wall. And in truth it was more comfortable to him than sleeping on the bed.
He had learned that they were quite young. So young that they didn’t have their teeth yet and therefore couldn’t eat practically anything.
Anything.
He had gone hunting in the forest that surrounded his home and came back with an armful of rabbits and a deer strapped to his back.
He licked the blood off from under his nails. He had missed hunting animals more than he was willing to admit.
A cry from the house caused him to drop the animals and run inside towards the children. Halfway through he realized what he was doing and scowled to himself as he forced himself to slow down and enter the bedroom.
The boys were crying, again a corner of his mind added, and when they saw him they extended their arms towards him whimpering.
Arthur started to walk towards them however when the scent of the blood that was staining his clothes reached them they changed.
They didn’t scream. They screeched, their voices reaching a new height that he had never heard before. Their wings uncurled outwards and stood out on end, flapping crazily.
Then, Arthur hadn’t believed that it was possible however he was proved wrong, they somehow managed to get even louder. However this wasn’t the screech of a regular displeasure. It was one of the methods angels had as a defense.
The screech of a banshee.
Arthur roared and placed his hands over his ears tightly as he fell to the floor and curled into himself. His own voice was screaming as if it was trying to go against the children’s.
Keeping his hands firmly on his ears Arthur managed to crawl towards the door and get himself into the hallway. With his leg he pulled the door closed and thankfully, thank the merciful devil, the children stopped screaming.
Arthur lay on the floor breathing heavily. If the children had been any older and more of their power had been revealed to them then his ears would have started to bleed, he wouldn’t have been able to concentrate, and then eventually the screeches would actually start to destroy the joints that connected his bones.
What the hell had set off the children like that? He hadn’t don’t anything different from yesterday.
He paused for a moment before he glanced at his bloodstained clothes.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” Arthur hissed. “They don’t like blood?”
On the other hand, he mused as he took off his clothes and threw them in a corner to wash later. It made a bit of sense, angels hated anything violent in any sense and blood did with that.
He ran to the river that lay next to the house and cupped the water in his hands to wash himself clean of the scent of blood off of his skin. He ran his fingers through his hair to see if any of it had been caught.
Sniffing the air he nodded to himself in approval and was sure that the blood was all gone. Going back into the house he pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt before going back to the bedroom.
This time when he walked, slowly to make sure, towards the children their wings retracted back against their backs and they smiled at him and raised their arms towards him.
Arthur carried them outside and set them down near the side of the house so that he could make sure wherever they went as he prepared their dinner.
His hands were familiar in the way they moved for this. Breaking apart the bones and using his nails and knives, except that one he could no longer look at, to rip the skin off and place them in strips to the side.
He built a fire, noting that he would need to gather more firewood, and placed the strips of meat on sticks and flat logs.
He glanced to the side where the children were. The one with a strand standing up in his hair was climbing over his brother, who actually seemed to not mind if their smiles told him anything. They both noticed the butterfly in the sky and were now mesmerized with reaching towards it.
Arthur shook his head, out of disgust and not in an attempt to hide the smile threatening to appear on his face, he turned back to glance at the meat. He alternated between watching the meat cook and the children playing a game only they understood.
When he was confident that the meat was cooked, and by confident he meant that they weren’t as burnt as they usually were when he cooked, he took them and placed them on a separate piece of a flat log. He walked to the children and picked them up when he noticed something.
The children didn’t have teeth.
Arthur groaned to himself. “I just had to pick one of the youngest children there were, didn’t I?” he said to himself. They wouldn’t be able to eat the meat unless he cut them into little pieces that would be easily swallowed.
He placed the children onto the ground once more before he reached for one of the shorter knives. He pulled the children’s portion to him and started to cut it when he remembered a small fact that he had learned about the angels.
Angels don’t, or rather can’t, eat meat. Consuming the flash of a living being was taboo to them.
Arthur snarled which caused the children to quiet and look up at him. He threw the knife to the ground where it bounced harmlessly to the side. Whirling around he pointed at the children who looked at him innocently.
“You! Why in the name of hell do you two need to make things so bloody difficult for me!” he roared. “Ever since I first got the two of you there have been nothing but trouble for me in everything that I do! And if you don’t stop this spell that you placed on me to ensure that I won’t cut off your wings then take it off before I claw out your eyes and…oh for the love of the devil stop crying! Please stop crying! I didn’t mean any of it! Please stop crying!”
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Arthur drank straight from the bottle of alcohol that he thankfully remembered that he had in the house as he watched the children curl up against each other sleeping.
Sleeping and crying. That’s all they were good for.
He refused to acknowledge the little voice in his head that was speaking of his memories of the human plane and their lives.
In the first ten or so years of both angels and devils their growth cycle was similar to that of humans. It was only until they reached ten years that their growth slowed down and took more time to mature.
And if memory served him right then the children that he had taken, stupidly taken now that he thought about it, were about three months old.
Three. Months. Old.
Arthur held back a whimper. Three months was young, too young for him to deal with. Just that day he had to change the cloths around their abdomens and upper thighs from the mess they had made. Of course he had no readymade cloth so the pair of them had to be bare for a few hours until he properly learned how to correctly fold the cloth.
He took another swing from the bottle as he watched the children sleep.
Thankfully, for today at least, he had solved the food problem with some roots that he had found in the ground and herbs that he knew weren’t poisonous in the forest however that would only last so long. He had no knowledge on how to grow any of those things and if he wanted to know this he would need to go to the humans and either steal, learn from them, or buy.
Suddenly he remembered his previous mission. To turn the children into demons. He took another swing from the alcohol.
How was he to cut off their wings? As more time passed he found that he couldn’t listen to their cries much longer without trying practically everything in his power to stop them.
He snarled to himself. “I am not weak.” he snarled. “These children are not and will not bring the weakness from me.”
He knew what he had to do. Place a spell on them to make sure they slept and then cut the blasted wings off.
However.
What if he didn’t do that?
Arthur snorted. His head was starting to swim lightly thanks to the alcohol and his thoughts were starting to go into a thousand directions at once.
What if he didn’t cut off their wings? What would happen then?
Well he mused. If he didn’t cut off their wings they would remain angels. And then what would he do?
He could raise them.
His eyes widened at the thought and he glanced at the alcohol in his hands. Was he that drunk?
He could raise them a corner of his mind argued. Away from the other demons and angels here. Alone with just the three of them.
And then what, he argued with himself. When they get older and start to question more?
He would deal with that when it came.
Arthur snorted. To keep them as angels meant that he cared about them, demons didn’t care about anyone else besides themselves. Why else had he kidnapped the children if only to boost his own reputation?
But he did care, that persistent corner of his mind insisted. Otherwise they wouldn’t still be demons.
Whenever a demon would cry and ask for attention or comfort they were smacked and beaten to know never to do that again.
He could rush to them and try everything to make them stop crying within his power.
Whenever a demon would refuse to eat a certain food they would starve until they learned to eat either whatever was given to them or find their own means of food.
He went out of his way to find proper food that wasn’t meat for the children to eat instead.
Arthur snorted once more. They meant nothing.
He didn’t want to cause them pain from cutting their wings off and now because of that single night he couldn’t even look in the direction of where he had buried the knife.
He had, without even realizing it, had started to think of the future where the children were still angels and was trying to find a way to feed them the food that they would be able to eat. Even going as far as going to attempt to ask humans for their advice!
Arthur glared down at the alcohol in his hand.
“You are a lousy thing.” he said.
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Even though he knew the children would be asleep for a while thanks to the sleeping spell he had placed on them he couldn’t help but worry about them and kept his ears perked and hearing high in order to hear their first cry when they realized that they were alone.
He shook his head. He was growing too attached.
Sighing lightly he resumed his search. Finding herbs in the forest was more difficult than he thought it would be at first. The basket on his arm only held a few pieces, not even close to enough to fill the children’s stomach for a single meal let alone the entire day.
He fingered the point of his tail that was wrapped around his in thought as he scanned the area. He had seen animals eat the grass and leaves from the flowers, would the children be able to as well?
He felt the shields that he had placed years ago shiver lightly. He glanced upwards towards the sky as he took the basket off of his arm and placed it against a tree. Someone was close and they now knew about the shield, it only shivered when someone was trying to get rid of it.
Arthur’s pupils dilated to cat slits as he uncurled his wings and let his tail uncurl from its place around his waist. Angel or demon it didn’t matter, no one would know of the children.
He walked briskly to the edge of the shield were the blasts of magic were the strongest. His eyes widened as he saw who was on the other side.
“Yao?” he called as he stepped from the shield, no one would be able to cross over the boundaries unless they had Arthurs permission and Yao most certainly didn’t have it.
“You’ve been gone for a while.” Yao said as his eyes glanced over Arthur. “I had gotten curious as to how the mission had gone.”
“The mission was a failure.” Arthur heard himself say. “The angels stopped me before I even managed to find where they hid their children.”
Yao rolled his eyes. “I knew as much. No one had ever been able to get to the children after Romulus. Now why are you hiding here instead of returning to hell? No one would think any less of you because you failed.”
“I know that.” Arthur snapped. “I’m here because I want to be! I’m tired of hell and all those pesky demons, I want time to myself.”
Yao glanced Arthur once more before he sniffed the air.
“Why is it that you have the scent of angels all over you?” Yao finally asked.
“Because I had entered heaven?” Arthur suggested. “Because they attacked me?”
Yao stepped forward closer to Arthur and breathed in deeper. “It’s a bit more than that, and it has been about three days from when you left. That smell would have left you by now, or at least not be as strong as it is now.”
“Well then I don’t know.” Arthur said. “Now if you’ll leave.”
“Your pupils dilate and your tail starts to shake.” Yao said. “Something I noticed. It happens whenever you lie.”
“Why would I lie?” Arthur asked as his hands curled into fists.
“True.” Yao said. “However if you were telling the truth then you wouldn’t be so tense. What exactly are you hiding behind this shield Arthur?”
“I’m not hiding anything.” Arthur insisted.
Yao didn’t look convinced. “Or is it that you did successfully kidnap an angel child and now want to keep them for selfish reasons? Physical selfish reasons.”
Arthurs eyes widened. “I might have done a lot of sordid things in my life.” Arthur said lowly. “But I would never succumb to something like that.”
“So tell me then Arthur.” Yao said, almost purred. “Did you, or did you not, manage to take an angel from heaven?”
“No, I didn’t.” Arthur said. Technically it wasn’t a lie, he hadn’t taken one he had taken two.
Yao watched him carefully before his the corner of his lips curled upwards into a smirk.
“Whatever you say.” Yao said. He bowed slightly as he kept his eyes connected with Arthurs. “Now then, I am happy that you are well and that I didn’t to drink to a corpse after all. Good day to you and I look forward to when you return to hell.”
Arthur watched until Yao disappeared completely before he stepped back into the safety of the shield, as he walked to where he had placed the basket he felt his stomach start to fall.
“I have a bad feeling about this.” he said as he placed the basket back on his arm and continue his search for more herbs and edible plants. “A really bad feeling.”
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Arthur placed the blanket around the children tightly. Lately the nights have been getting colder with the earth turning towards winter. He glanced at the fireplace that he had in the room.
“I really need to get more firewood.” he said. “And soon.”
He also needed to do something about the food. There were plenty of animals in the forest for him to eat meat however he was running out of plants and roots that he knew the children could eat. Unless he wanted to try his luck and eat one of the unknown plants in the forest to see if it was edible or poisonous he was going to have to do something else.
He turned his attention back to the boys. The one with a curl in his hair going downwards was clutching his brother’s cloth tightly as their legs tangled with one another.
The brother. Arthur frowned as he made sure the blanket was secure before going to his place next to the wall. He couldn’t just keep calling them ‘boy’ for the rest of their lives.
They needed a name, the both of them. Names were what separated higher beings from animals after all.
Arthur rubbed his chin lightly. The both of them needed good names, something to grow into that would be perfect for them. Suddenly he remembered the fairy tales that he had read when he had been a child and gave a small smile. He stood once more and kneeled next to the bed to properly see the children.
He reached out and placed a hand on the child with the hair standing up.
“To you, I give you the name of Alfred.” Arthur murmured.
He reached farther to place a hand on the other child.
“And to you, I give you the name of Matthew.” he said. “The both of you earn those names for they had always been my favorites.”
The children made no noise however they moved closer to one another and deeper into the blanket and bed.
Arthur chuckled lightly before he went back to the wall. He was going to need sleep if he was going to do what he wanted to do tomorrow.
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Arthur was growling. He grinded his teeth together and fought against his stomachs need and desire to empty itself.
Humans. He was going to humans to ask them for help.
He barred his teeth at this. To ask these lower life forms for help sickened him to his stomach and made him want to set the entire town on fire.
He spotted a man, a farmer from the looks of him, and stomped over to him. He grabbed the startled man by the arm and forced him to turn around.
“People who don’t eat meat.” Arthur spat. “What do they eat?”
“What?” the man actually asked, trying to get his arm out of Arthurs grip.
“I will not repeat myself.” Arthur snarled. “Answer me.”
“Vegetables and fruits.” the man said. “Now let go.”
“No.” Arthur said tightening his grip. “You are going to spend the day with me and let me know just which ones.”
“I have a family to get back to.” the man said.
Arthur snorted and threw a small bag at the man. He caught the bag and opened it, his eyes widened at the pieces of gold that lay there.
“There. I bought you for the time being.” Arthur said. “Now, what I wanted to know?”
“Which fruits and vegetables you can get depend on a lot of things.” the man said quickly pocketing the gold. “Different seasons can bring good products while it might kill others.”
“Teach quickly.” Arthur said. “I don’t have much patience.”
The man spent the rest of the day explaining which fruits and vegetables grew best in their conditions. He had escorted Arthur to the town market and pointed out each food as Arthur bought them.
“You can also grow your own, which is something that I would recommend.” the man said as Arthur examined his purchases. “Prices go up every day and with winter coming soon there won’t be anything good.”
Arthur nodded. “And how do I grow my own?”
“Seeds.” the man said. “You can either save the seeds from the foods.” He nodded to them in Arthurs hands. “Or you can buy your own.”
At Arthurs raised eyebrow the man quickly took him to shop to help get him the seeds he needed.
“Is there anything else that I may help you with?” the man asked eagerly.
Arthur snorted. The avarice of humans knew no bounds.
“No.” Arthur said mentally going back to everything he learned. “I think I have everything I need now.”
The man bowed. “If you do need my help, just ask for David Burns.”
Arthur waved him away as he started his walk back to the forest and where the children were under control thanks to a spell once more.
However he had been so preoccupied with looking at the food, the seeds, and going over everything he didn’t notice someone following him until they grabbed him and pushed him into the dark alleyway.
Arthur stumbled to the ground, barely holding onto the food. He glared at his attacker.
“May I help you?” he spat as he felt his pupils dilate into cat slits once more. “I don’t think you know who you’re dealing with.”
The man’s arm came and grabbed Arthur to push him against a wall. His green eyes met blue eyes that he was sure was familiar however he couldn’t put his finger on it.
“My name is Francis Bonnefoy.” the man, Francis, hissed. “And I know exactly who you are demon.”
Now he was able to see the angels white wings that he had hidden as he curled them outwards and around them.
“And I also think that you have something of mine.” Francis hissed. “You kidnapped my two sons and I want them back.”