"Emilia, how was your trip to Earth?" The Reed asked me, stopping me as I was walking through the courtroom – I had been planning to head back to my room, I wanted some time to think.
"We didn't discover anything knew." Except the discovery that my supposed friends were lying to me. "We didn't spend as much time there as planned."
"Why not?" She was surprised.
I shrugged. "I'd rather not go back again with Jasmine or Noah." I left it at that. I was expecting her to question me further, but she let it go, her expression sympathetic. Well, she was an angel – it was in her nature to be kind, though I suppose that doesn't apply to all the angels.
"Who would you prefer to go with?" She asked. It hit me that I really didn't know any other angels. They were polite enough when I passed them, but they rarely stopped for an actual conversation – they were always busy doing something.
"I don't know anyone here – except Acacius." I told her, sighing. They'd never let Acacius accompany me.
She seemed thoughtful. "The court has agreed to reassess Acacius' case once we know the full extent of your abilities."
"Really?" I asked hopefully. Did that mean he might be free sometime soon?
She nodded. "I can't promise anything, he did break the rules. But it was an isolated incident. Once we are sure you have stopped changing, and can confirm you aren't a danger, he will be reassessed."
A vision flashed across my mind, me and my mother together... with my father. Like a real family. Only my mother now thinks he's dead... I'm not sure how she would react to seeing him alive.
"What would that mean... for my mother? If he was released?" I asked cautiously.
She seemed to hesitate. "Humans aren't to know of our existence. That includes you now. It would be in her best interest not to see him again." I was afraid of that – still, I could understand it. It saddened me that I couldn't tell my mother what I was, what had happened to me. But like the Reed said, it was in her best interest.
"Regardless, it certainly won't be for a while." She added, "And not until we know your abilities. I suggest you continue the trips to Earth with an angel. I shall accompany you myself, that might be the best way to ensure your safety and properly monitor your progress."
I was a little stunned, I had expected her to assign a random Searcher to go with me. "Um, okay. Thank you... um..."
"Claire. We'll go now." She told me, raising a hand up in the air and flicking her wrist. One of the Searchers that stood guard around the room quickly approached us. "Scott, would you mind accompanying us to Earth?"
Scott was pretty tall and burly looking, and coupled with the serious expression on his face, there was something about him that made me a little bit frightened.
He nodded and went to stand in front of the portal. I watched as he opened the portal as Jasmine had done previously by unfurling his wings and plucking a feather. It made me wince, the reminder of Jasmine seemed to send a stab of pain right through my heart.
I watched as Claire took off her white robes, revealing the same casual attire that everyone here seemed to wear. She hurried over to one of the benches on the wall and hung the robe on a hook behind it, before joining us by the portal.
Claire motioned for me to go through first, and I did – grateful that I had a short moment on the other side to steady myself, I still wasn't quite used to how the other side was horizontal. At least I didn't fall over this time.
They followed quickly and wasted no time in jumping right into the water. I followed them cautiously and was surprised to find that the pathway through the water had seemingly hardened – it was no longer a soft sludge. That made it a lot easier to walk fast and keep up with the angel's pace. It still wasn't completely hardened, it felt sort of like running across a few layers of blankets – my feet still sunk into it a little, but it was much more solid now.
"What way is your home?" Claire asked, once we got onto the boardwalk. I pushed my wet hair out of my face, wishing there was a dryer way to get out of the portal.
"This way." I told her, taking the lead. Scott was looking around warily, his arms tightly crossed across his chest. "It's not far."
We walked at a regular pace for a human, I figured that was for the best. It wouldn't be good if anyone spotted us running through Entilin faster than sound.
It still didn't take us very long to reach my house, it really wasn't a long walk at all. The ripped police tape still hung from my front door, but the angels didn't comment on it - either they didn't know what it was, or they were just being polite
I let them in, embarrassed about the state of the house – I hadn't tidied up after discovering the police had been here. In fact, I had yet to even tell them that I wasn't missing. I hoped that Charlie would tell our boss, and he would let the police know.
"So, where should we begin?" Claire asked, stepping cautiously across the cluttered floor.
"Um, I'm not sure. I've never tried to... observe my abilities before." I shrugged.
"What situations do they tend to show themselves in?" She asked, picking up a book that lay open on the floor and carefully closing it.
"Um, when I'm interacting with people? When I've been afraid... when I've felt threatened." I wasn't really sure how we were going to replicate that.
Claire took a couple of steps back, and nodded at Scott, who was stood somewhere behind me.
All of a sudden, he launched at me. I turned just in time to see him attack, arms outstretched. His hands grabbed me and pushed me to the ground, I gasped, momentarily paralysed by the pain that spread through my back. His hands pinned my wrists down, and I wiggled, attempting to break free.
For a brief moment I was able to push back and sit up. I attempted to force him off of me, but he was too quick, and he forced me back down with his hands on my shoulders, my head hitting the carpet with a loud thud.
No longer being pinned down, I was able to roll to the left and escape him, quickly standing to my feet and taking a few steps back, trying to ignore the pounding in my head.
He attacked again, I saw that he was about to throw a punch my way, so I raised my arms to block my face as I ducked. Unfortunately, he saw what I was doing, and changed tactic to grab my exposed wrists, and fling me across the room.
I crashed into the far wall, wincing as I heard a loud crack – I wasn't sure if it came from me or the wall. I got to my feet again, eyeing him up with caution. Claire was stood near me, quietly observing.
This time I rushed towards him, I aimed for the throat but changed last minute to take him off guard, slamming into his side and pushing him against the wall. I heard another crack as I did so, and he made a noise akin to growling. When he pulled away from the wall, there was a notable dent the size of his head.
I didn't have time to dwell on that, he was already back in motion. This time I went to kick his legs from beneath him, but he was a step ahead of me – his hand was already there waiting to grab my leg and pull, spinning me through the air and sending me flying into yet another wall.
I went crashing right through the wall this time, the rubble surrounded me as I landed on the grass outside. I gasped for a moment, the air having been knocked out of me.
And then I was up again, powered by anger, I managed to land a punch on his jaw that sent Scott flying backwards. He landed on my sofa, which rocked and fell backwards, sending Scott to the ground.
I launched myself at him, but he was fast – and he easily pushed me over. Yet again, I was lying on my back with my arms pinned at either side of my head. His face held an expression of concentration, and I could feel all of his strength pressing down against me.
Pushing back against him, I struggled, he was so incredibly strong. I could see the wall behind us, which was almost completely broken and shattered. How could I hope to complete with that?
Except... there was something. Something that felt familiar. Scott's hands were in direct contact with my skin, and his weight pressing down on my stomach. Every time I was in such close proximity to an angel, I could feel it. The energy, flowing into me, filling me with warmth.
Focusing on that, I began pushing back against his arms harder, as hard as I possibly could. I could feel myself getting stronger by the second, I could feel how Scott's hands slipped for a second, surprised by my sudden strength. I kept pushing harder.
He growled again, and I could feel it, I was so close to overpowering him! He sensed it too, and all of a suddenly his wings erupted from his back, crashing into the walls either side of us. They were so strong and powerful; the walls began to crumble.
His wings seemed to give him a new strength, but even with them out he was struggling. With every moment that passed, my arms were raising another inch off the ground and I was sitting up straighter.
Scott was straining himself now, but I felt as though I wasn't even at my capacity. I looked to the side, Claire stood there staring at us in shock, noticing me looking at her, she raised an eyebrow as though she were challenging me.
I looked back at Scott, I could feel his wings trying to beat, to force him further downwards, trying to keep me in place. But it wasn't enough.
With one more great push, I was able to sit up completely, and the force of my hands against Scott sent him flying back through the air, crashing through the hole that already been formed in the wall.
I breathed a sigh of relief, collapsing back on the ground, my arms feeling like jelly. Scott stood up slowly, his wings carefully folding back within him as he looked around himself – checking that there were no witnesses.
The room was almost completely destroyed, it was still standing, but three of the walls had huge holes in them, and one of them had a pretty deep dent in it from Scott's head.
Claire reached down a hand to help me up, and I took it gladly, allowing her to pull me to my feet. Scott joined us, frowning.
"I'm impressed." She commented. "I knew you were strong, but not stronger than an angel."
I hadn't really thought about it – was that true? Was I really stronger than an angel? "Is that possible?"
"It would appear so." She nodded. "I have to say, that's quite unexpected. The council will be keen to hear of this."
"Will it displease them?" I asked worriedly.
"The only concern that the council has is whether or not you have the control necessary to restrain yourself." She explained. "They don't care what abilities you have as long as they are informed of them."
I nodded. "Okay." I was relieved, although I wished that we hadn't come here to test my abilities. It was the home I'd grown up in, it made me sad to see it destroyed.
"We will stay to fix the house." She promised, as though reading my mind. "You should head back to Caelum, I will try to find someplace better for us to have these visits, somewhere less breakable."
"Thank you." I told her sincerely, glad that my house wouldn't be lost forever.
I had been hoping that while I was visiting the Earth, I wouldn't run into any of the three angels who had betrayed me. But my luck seemed to have ran out.
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