That experience was different; it had never happened before, yet it felt oddly familiar in the sudden pull on my consciousness. I found myself awake. I knew I was alone except for Casper, but I quickly scanned my surroundings, searching for something to reassure myself that I was truly present.
My hand rested over my heart, and the steady thudding and vibrations in my breathing allowed me to let out a calming sigh. I fell back down, feeling suddenly cold despite the beads of sweat that covered me.
Casper whined, nudging his nose into my hand until I patted him. He looked up at me, his wings opening up to rest along my own. "I'm okay," I mostly said that to myself so I didn't freak out.
My wrist buzzed, and I jolted up. Great.. perfect timing…
When I got up and stretched my body out, I quickly noticed that I was no longer in any pain. The soreness in my chest was gone, and I placed a hand on my lip to find it completely normal. My first thought went straight to Janus.
Did... Did that mean she also pulled me out of that memory?
The way it felt was just like when she helped me sleep. All the pain was gone, and I was left trying to understand if Janus had done it. She wasn't here, I don't remember feeling her gentle hands on me, I didn't feel any of her touches..
My head was aching from all the questions and confusion.
Casper was waiting by the door, letting out gentle yips until I finally gathered myself and stepped outside with him. I didn't mind that he was soaring in the cove; I took off with him, and we quickly flew over to the field. As the trees came into view, I felt my mind clear, allowing me to formulate more questions.
New ones.
That involved the punishment Axel and I would have to endure. I wondered what it would have to be. It couldn't be that bad, but what if it was?
They wouldn't. I knew that even if they did, Janus would not allow that.
I shook my head frantically, knowing that my first thought went to pain. I thought the punishment would cause discomfort. That was horrible thinking. Why would I feel like that about Arden?
I was too caught up in my feelings. The memories of what happened in that... "dream."
As we approached the line, I gently urged Casper to go off into the trees, where he had been spending his time during our visits. Wearing my armor, I took my usual position, standing shoulder to shoulder with Arthur.
Arden was out, walking around us and taking us in. That was known..
I looked around, trying to see if I could spot Apollonia. But she wasn't here; it was only Arden.
"Alright, today you will be following the same orders as yesterday. However, two angels will have a different plan." She and he looked at me in shock before she turned away. "But before I let you go, I have news for you," she said, making sure to stand face to face with us, the young warriors, I assume she was addressing. "You may have heard about the tradition upheld by the Warrior Goddess in her battle arena."
What? I raised a brow, feeling myself stand out as I was the only one confused.
Arden did not seem to mind explaining what the battlefield or the tradition was as she continued. "Well, you will now have the privilege of being part of it. You have completed your adolescent training, which means you now have the same rights and privileges as your fellow warriors. This allows you to participate in this tradition."
Gasps arose from the group. The young warriors whispered to each other, and a clear, happy expression brightened all their faces. Even Arthur looked excited, with his feet bouncing beneath him.
I had so many questions…
"Now with that out of the way. All of you get in your pairs and begin your training." She dismissed everyone, walking near the end as the warriors began to pair up.
I quickly stopped Arthur, walking in front of him. "What's this tradition she's talking about?"
"Oh," he jolted, tilting his head. "You didn't know?"
"If I did, why would I be asking you this?"
He blushed, feeling embarrassed as he scratched his head and quickly replied, "Well, its origins go back a long way, and I'm not exactly sure of its meaning. However, it's a form of entertainment that seeks pleasure and also serves as a way to train warriors at the same time."
"Can you tell me what it is?"
"Oh right, it's-"
"Vienna, what are you doing?" Axel's annoying voice cut us off. He stepped forward, glaring at us but mostly at Arthur. The small boy shrank away, bowing his respect. Axel turned his eyes to me, "We need to get this over with. If you cower away like this, you'll get even more punished."
I growled, turning to ignore him. Arthur was lifting his wings up, signaling that he was going to leave. I placed a hand on him before he did so: "Can you tell me after the session? When will we hang out with all my friends?"
He nodded, clearly awkward with Axel staring at him, but he still shook his head at me before flying over to his partner.
Now that left me with this dude…
"Come on, scaredy cat," Axel taunted as he walked over to Arden near the trees. I rolled my eyes at the sky and quickly followed him.
We stood side by side in front of her while she took us in. "You two will be spending the next few sessions together until you learn to work as a team." I had to suppress a groan. "Due to the events of the last session, both of you will be punished. This means you will be responsible for grooming all of the Heaven Pups in Pups Cove."
"Oh.." That didn't sound so bad.
Arden smirked at my relaxed expression, her lips curling. Axel held his head low, digging his feet into the ground without a word. I didn't see the problem with this; what was the punishment?
"Well, go on, you two. If you work together, you should be done by the end of this session."
Axel nodded and opened his wings as he jumped off. I followed closely, pressing my wristband to fly more easily without the clunky armor. Axel had done the same. I stayed behind him because I really didn't want to see his overconfident expression.
He led us to Pup's Cover quickly. I hoped there weren't many pups in the cove at the moment, or it would take us much longer to complete our task. As we looked down from above, I noticed that it wasn't crowded. There weren't many pups, but it would definitely take the entire session to groom all of them.
What did she mean by groom, anyway? Did she mean brush them? Clean them with water and soap?
I had hoped Axel would take the lead, or at least explain it to me.
He landed softly but didn't go straight to the pups as I had expected. I stayed near the edge, watching him walk toward the den at the far end. The pups greeted me excitedly, and I was glad I had made Casper stay behind. He would have taken up all the attention, and I also didn't want him to count as one of the pups we needed to groom.
A small black lab was jumping at me, begging for attention that I gladly gave her.
As I patted the pup, a sudden flash caught my attention, and I looked up. I stood there, my eyes wide, staring at Axel, who was no longer in the middle of a den. He was now beside a large pond surrounded by pretty shrubs. The water was crystal clear, with almost nothing in it. It reminded me of a hot spring, gently steaming as it flowed fresh and warm right where I was standing.
Excited barks rang out behind me, and when I turned around, I was nearly trampled by a rush of pups running toward the water. I ducked, covering my head with my hands, trying to avoid being dug into the dirt by their paws.
The splashing of water sounded. They had all made it over to the pond and were now inside, yipping and playing around. I shrugged myself up, dusting all the dirt that was on my tunic.
"Pft-" I mentally groaned, ignoring the snickers from Axel, who took me in. "You gonna stay on the dirty ground or help me with this?"
I crossed my arms, tucking my wings tightly together, and walked past the tall male. I was in awe of the beauty inside the large den. It featured a spacious pond surrounded by lush greenery. The pups were playing in the water, splashing each other, or tumbling on the dry ground near the pond. Axel walked past me and headed over to the water, where he picked up a brush of some sort.
I really didn't want to speak with him; I didn't like the angel one bit. But I just had to ask the obvious: "How are we going to do this?"
Axel stretched his wings while sitting on the ground, with his feet in the water. A small Pomeranian rested in his lap as he brushed its fur. "The water already contains everything needed to clean them," he explained. "We just need to help by brushing them out."
"Uh-huh," I came over beside me, rubbing the pups that walked past me or jumped into the water.
Axel nudged my side with his wing, causing me to growl in annoyance down at him. He rolled his eyes, "sit your butt down and help me."
"I don't have a brush," he said, throwing one at me that I nearly dropped into the water. Rather than respond, I followed his lead and sat with my legs in the water. As soon as the puppies noticed the brush in my hands, they all rushed over to me. "Hey! Wait your turn!"
They whined but quickly calmed down. A Rottweiler was the first to have its fur brushed. He stood patiently, allowing me to groom him, despite my tunic getting wet in the process. I had expected to get wet, as long as my hair stayed dry.
It went on like this for a while, with the Heaven Pups taking turns with us, and we were getting pretty far. I enjoyed the silence that stood between us, and I wanted Axel not to say anything.
I almost forgot the annoying angel was even there. Until he, of course, ruined the silence with his voice. "Take your time with it."
"What?" I brushed back some of the black fur that stuck onto my legs.
"Don't rush the brushing, let the pups enjoy it."
I scoffed, turning back to the black lab in my lap. "I don't see the point in this."
It was Axel's turn to scoff, though this was much harder for me to handle. "The point of this isn't for us; it's for the pups. They need attention, and surprise—this is the most attention they get." He stretched out a wing, grazing my back for a moment. "Not only that, but it shows them that we care. Plus, it helps with matted fur and their smell."
Once I was done in the lab, she jumped back off to play with her friends. A small Shiba Inu hopped up onto me. I winced slightly as its nails dug into my thighs, but brushed the dirt off when Axel turned his head toward me.
I was hoping he didn't notice, but of course he did, and he just had to say something. "So you can feel pain?"
"Is that question essential?" I bit back, ignoring the little snicker he gave me.
"Well, yes, I already know, but I would like you to confirm it just in case." His voice dripped with sarcasm. I chose to ignore him and continued brushing the small Shiba Inu's back, which gave a happy yip and licked my face. "No angel has ever felt pain before. It's strange, and you can't blame me for asking about it. Do you know why you feel pain, or—"
"Why was Arden there instead of Apollonia?" I was desperate to change the topic, casting a glance at the man who chuckled at my attempt to switch topics.
His shoulders relaxed, and to my surprise, he actually answered me. "Apollonia trains all of the adolescent groups. She has a new group to work with, so sometimes Arden will watch her train the younger groups if she's not supervising us." I nodded along, letting the shiba inu jump off me and onto the ground to play. "Arden will start training the adolescent groups once they advance with us, just like you did."
My face heated up slightly, and I rubbed my shoulder against my cheek to try to hide the blush his words brought on. I refused to let that angel make me feel this way; I knew he might use it against me later.
"Aww, are you blushing?"
There it is.
"Shut up." I flipped my wing at him, tossing feathers over to his side that he couldn't help but giggle over.
With the Shiba Inu settled, I next turned my attention to a cocker spaniel. I let him sit in my lap as I ran the brush through his long, fluffy ears. He purred lightly, occasionally clawing at my knees, which I tried to brush away. Eventually, I couldn't fend him off any longer, so I placed a hand on my leg, allowing him to claw at it while I finished brushing him.
Just then, he jumped off, and I suddenly heard a large splash followed by a loud scolding from Axel. "Stop it! No—stop it, Jackal!" His voice was abruptly cut off, and another loud splash echoed through the air.
I shielded the water from hitting my face with my wings, moving them down to hear the angel surface of the water. He was being pushed by a large Great Dane; the dog was tossing around in the water, sending water right into Axel's face.
My hand came out to cover my lips. Axel continued to scold the large dog, "What did I say about pulling me into the water?" The Dane licked his face, "Bad boy, Jackal! Bad boy!"
As he spoke, the other Heave Pups noticed that he was in their pond and quickly swam over to him. I could see the panic on his face as almost half of the dogs surrounded him in an instant. They jumped around while the angel struggled to swim out of the water. The pups and the water were pulling at his sleeves and wings, making it difficult for him to escape.
I couldn't help myself; I erupted into a fit of giggles. I knelt on the ground, arms wrapped around my stomach, unable to stop laughing.
"Vienna-!" I heard him call out, but I was too busy fighting off the tears in my eyes to care.
I finally looked back up and watched him push the pups off him and glaring at me. I was still laughing, pointing at the soaked angel with hair stuck on his face and clothes pressed into his skin.