The Azra-El Series Ch. 12

"Of course, I will," she replied hoarsely as her eyes dampened with emotion. One of the best feelings a teacher could have was to see a wayward student make amends because of them.

The two of them spent the next forty-five minutes trying to make Badava get used to being around Blaze again. However, the fear he had managed to instill in the Pegasus was not easily undone. The Pegasus refused to let him come near her without rearing its legs in dread. The only way she remained calm when he was near her, was for Claudis to hold her reins and comfortingly caress her cheek.

"It won't be easy, Blaze. You just have to be patient and whittle away at her fears," Claudis said after taking Badava back to her stall. Noticing Blaze's disappointment, she gently patted on his shoulder. "Do you want to switch to a different Pegasus?" she asked after a moment.

"No!" he replied firmly, and her heart swelled slightly in happiness at his answer.

Blaze helped her finish up her work at the stable before returning to his dorm for breakfast. He felt both content and a little proud of himself, despite not making any more moves on Claudis.

oOo

Turdas and Fredas went by quickly as Blaze spent his mornings with Badava and Claudis, and once again visited Seshat on Turdas.

Fredas evening, Blaze sat at his usual spot and was vigorously working on his homework when one of his classmates approached him. He was expecting Elyssa to reach Tir that weekend and he didn't want to have some pesky homework come in his way of spending time with her.

"Big Bro, an older student is here to see you," the girl told him cheerfully. Blaze looked at the girl and then at the entrance, only to find no one there.

"She is waiting outside," the girl informed him.

Blaze immediately set his books aside and rushed out. As Siofra was already in the dorm, there was only one older student that would visit him.

He wasn't disappointed. Elyssa was standing outside, waiting for him, with a wide smile on her face. She was wearing a short pale blue strapless frock with wide cuts on the sides of her stomach. Her long golden blonde hair hung free and was held in place by the thin golden circlet with a ruby center that she always wore.

Her dress hugged her body and accentuated her figure, with its color matching her aquamarine eyes, and along with the hearty smile on her face, she looked exceptionally beautiful under the light from the lamp posts.

However, none of it mattered to Blaze. Though they had only spent a few months together and a lot had happened since the time they parted, Elyssa's face and presence sparked a strange sort of comfort in his existence.

Being in a foreign world, he felt safe around Jie Er, but Elyssa was the one he could truly be himself with. That's why he subconsciously rejected the idea of even looking at her in a sexual manner. He feared it may somehow ruin his pure relationship with her.

Never taking his eyes off her face, he simply rushed down the stairs and wrapped her in a warm and full embrace.

"Missed me, little Blaze?" her euphonious but playful voice rang in his ears.

"Nope. Not at all. I just think you're very comfortable to hug," he whispered in her ear.

She laughed and hugged him back.

"Why didn't you come inside?" he questioned her, pulling back after a few moments.

"Thought we could catch up before I met your class. But I guess that'll have to wait," Elyssa replied, looking at the four sets of eyes peeping out the door behind them. Realizing that they were noticed they stepped out one by one.

Disbelief immediately donned on Siofra's face, but the other three continued to cluelessly smile at Elyssa. Siofra had heard about Elyssa from Blaze, but she hadn't been sure if he was just playing her.

"Hey guys, meet Elyssa. She is my best friend. Ely, meet Siofra, Bi, Aahna and Rachel," he introduced them, hugging Elyssa with a sideways arm.

"Hello Big Sister Elyssa!" Aahna chimed in her usual enthusiastic voice, but Rachel's eyes suddenly widened in realization.

"Elyssa Marigold!?" she exclaimed with an open mouth. Though Elyssa's appearance wasn't well known, the same couldn't be said about her name. She was one of the strongest young angels and widely accepted to have the greatest potential in her generation and more.

"The one and only," Blaze added, as Elyssa took her reception gracefully and without surprise.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. I've heard quite a bit about you," she said with a casual smile, trying to make them comfortable. "And you must be the pixie," she said with a slight bow and a roll of her right hand. It was the standard formal greeting among the angels. "I apologize for the treatment you've received in Aranya, but I am glad it was Blaze who set things right. I hope we can become good friends."

"The pleasure is mine, Miss Elyssa. And I have no resentment towards my past treatment. Especially since Blaze promised that you and your mother could help open a diplomatic discourse regarding the treatment of pixies in Aranya and maybe even free up the trade routes between our two nations," Siofra replied with an even more formal repeat of Elyssa's gesture.

Elyssa face hardened, and she was struck speechless. Though her mother, the duchess, did have some influence in such matters, it was both inappropriate and above Elyssa's and Blaze's station to be involved in them.

"Er..." Elyssa replied dumbly as Siofra continued.

"Big Bro has also promised that you would visit the Mesa plains on a tour of conciliation and good will. After our school year, obviously, and if you place in the first three ranks of the Young Angel Martial Arts Tournament. Your appearance and-"

"Blaze!" Elyssa muttered at him angrily, making Siofra pause.

Blaze nodded vigorously, seemingly extremely satisfied about what he had done.

Suddenly, Elyssa realized what was going on. Though the two of them had straight faces and she couldn't make out a sliver of dishonesty in Siofra's expression, she had been fooled one too many times by Blaze.

She shook her head and silently pulled out long wooden stick from her space ring. Blaze could not even fathom why she would have such a thing in the first place.

"What's that for?" Siofra asked, doubtfully eyeing the stick. She suddenly felt very unsure about what she had done, expecting to feel the crack of wood against her taut backside.

"I didn't realize that I will be trying to straighten out two angels during my stay at Tir this year. The northern countries still believe in corporal punishment. I've always wondered about its effectiveness," she said, threateningly swinging her stick.

"It was a just a prank, Ely," Blaze waved his hands, as if trying to placate her. He knew that she didn't mean it, but Siofra didn't.

"It wasn't my idea, Big Sis. She made me say it," Siofra was quick to put the blame on Blaze, her hands instinctively beginning to pull at her dress as the blood drained out of her rosy face. Blaze had nothing to do with the prank. He had just gone along with her quick plotting.

"Oi! Quit lying!" he shouted back at Siofra.

Elyssa sighed and put the stick back in her ring. "You two are two peas in a pod. It's no wonder you became such quick friends," Elyssa shook her head exasperatedly, with a wry smile. Blaze and Siofra started laughing, leaving the other three angels somewhat lost about what was going on.

They chatted a bit more before Blaze and Elyssa took their leave, explaining that they wanted to catch up. Though the angels were amiable and sociable creatures, they also valued solitude. It was only appropriate for a species that did not require a two-person relationship to procreate. So, neither Siofra nor the others felt left out.

Blaze and Elyssa flew to a garden table and sat down after turning the lamppost on. Under the night sky, filled with stars and a moon that was just beginning to come over the horizon, the two of them conversed without a break between topics. Though they had talked over the VPs, they were excited to once again be in each other's company and the words just flowed.

Elyssa talked about the situation at the border, her training with her Mom, her chances in the tournament and so on. Blaze spoke about his classes, classmates and his experiences at Tir. He even told her about his incident with Badava, which he hadn't even mentioned to Jie Er. Elyssa chided him a little but was glad that he could easily see the error of his ways.

"Mum always says that what makes a true angel is not always being right, but the ability to accept one's mistakes and make amends. I agree with her and I am sure aunty Jie Er will too," she told him.

Blaze nodded broodingly and the two of them fell silent for a few moments, gazing into the night sky, comfortably leaning back on their chairs, with their legs spread out on the opposite ones.

"Ely?" he asked after a while. He suddenly remembered how his classmates had immediately recognized that Elyssa was older, while none of them had ever seriously considered the same with him. They called him 'Big Bro', but that seemed mostly for fun. "Why did the girl who told me about your arrival think that you were an older student? Even Aahna was quick to call you elder sister."

"Despite how you choose to treat me, I am three times the age you claim to be..." she replied drolly.

"I know that," he said defensively, "But, you're shorter and you don't look that much older."

"Of course, I do. And, we're the same height."

"Have you seen yourself in the mirror?"

She took a moment to understand his words. "Since when does physical appearance indicate age?" she tilted her head in confusion.

"How else would you guess someone's age?" Blaze asked sitting up straight. He must've missed something obvious about this world.

"You can sense other angels' energy, can't you?" Elyssa asked, also sitting up and with a tinge of worry. She knew his birth was unnatural.

"Yeah... If I focus my Anja on you," he replied unsurely. Anja was the energy channeling organ that was inside the center of one's forehead.

"What do you feel when you focus on me?" Elyssa probed.

"The world energy flowing into you and the energy that makes up your form. There are concentrated masses at your forehead and at your wing receptacles," Blaze spoke as he saw/felt through his Anja. He had once needed to consciously focus the organ on a person to achieve it, but now it was like any of his other five senses.

"Can't you estimate my age by how my energy feels?" she asked him, puzzled.

"No...?" he replied unsurely.

Elyssa looked at him strangely before something struck her. "You know what! I know what's going on... It's so easy to forget that you are not more than a few months old. I remember being confused with ages during my first few years of life.

"It seems so long ago, now. I think you just need to get used to judging ages by an angel's energy and not by their appearance. It's not always accurate but it's better than trying to guess whether an angel has one wrinkle or two wrinkles on their face. Otherwise, you'll never be able to tell the difference between a two-fifty-year-old and four-hundred-year-old," she explained.

It took a moment before he understood what she meant. It was the same as how human kids take time to relate age to how people look. He needed to get used to the nuances of an angel's energy appearance.

"So, what's the difference that you see? And, why hasn't anyone guessed that I am not really twenty years old?"

"It's hard to explain. The energy just seems more used and more mature. There is a stability to it, almost a lethargy if it is more than four hundred years old. The energy of younger angels is more sprightly, brighter if you can call it that.

"As for yours, it's always hard to tell the age of angels below twenty, since most of them are still at the beginning stages of learning how to use world energy. Yours is even harder for some reason, but no one would think twice if you said you were twenty," Elyssa replied.

Blaze realized that he had been treating Anja as a unique organ, but to the angels it was probably no different than using their eyes or ears. He decided to use it more while meeting new people, as he curiously examined Elyssa's energy form for a few minutes before he remembered something else.

"How come you didn't tell me about the costume party?" Blaze asked her accusingly.

"Huh? I thought it would've been obvious. It's the weekend of the Regnbage festival. What's the matter? I thought you'd like it," Elyssa asked confused.

"Never mind," he sighed back. "I just can't find something that I wouldn't mind wearing. Have you decided on a costume to wear?"

"Not yet. I thought we could go together as a themed pair. It's up to you, though. If you don't want to, I was planning on going as a Valkyrie," she replied musingly.

"Aren't the Valkyries demonic soldiers?" he asked puzzled.

"Yeah. But I admire their strength and valor on the battlefield. They are the only demons who show backbone."

"Still. Wouldn't that send the wrong message in such a sensitive setting as a multinational meet?" he continued. He had an idea in his mind but wasn't sure if it would be appropriate.

"Not really. It's the Regnbage festival and everyone knows that it is for fun. We don't have to worry about letting our hair down," she replied matter-of-factly.

"Then I have an idea for what we could go as," he replied mysteriously.

"Oh? What is it?" Elyssa asked, her interest piqued.

"Txiki and the soul reaper!" Blaze replied with gusto.

Txiki was a mythological pixie who constantly tricked the soul reaper from collecting her soul.

Elyssa slowly widened with excitement as she remembered the story, "Ooh. That could work. I assume you're the pixie?"

Though the soul reaper was a feared figure in children's stories, she wasn't really considered evil. The soul reaper simply did her job. So, Elyssa was quite comfortable in playing her role. It also seemed a lot of fun to chase Blaze around with a scythe.

"Obviously!"

The two of them spent a little more time together before they headed back to the dorm. Blaze felt that his classmates wouldn't let him live with it if he didn't introduce them to Elyssa. And as he expected, his entire class was eagerly waiting for them to return, the Malakim included.

Elyssa was immediately swarmed by the students and for once Blaze felt sidelined. Siofra joined him with a provocative grin on her face but didn't say anything. Blaze shook his head and decided to finish his homework. Despite how it may seem, he wasn't an attention seeker. He'd rather have someone else be the center of attention, while he did whatever he felt like doing.

Elyssa turned out to be quite adept at dealing with her new fans. By the time she decided to leave, most of his classmates seemed satisfied and happy to have met her.

oOo

Meanwhile at Varan.

As Rebecca was returning home that evening, her attention was drawn by a group of nine wild dogs chasing after something in the grass, half a yonder from their cottage. She wouldn't have usually paid a second glance to such a common scene in the grasslands, but she had seen the same thing recur at the same place a few times over the week.

There were a couple of curious aspects to the scene repeating itself. Wild dogs were intelligent and expert hunters and never chose prey they didn't have a high chance of catching. The pack's home was nearby and no creature, which was a part of the packs diet, would dare to approach their home grounds multiple times. The pack usually had to prowl the grasslands to find a meal.

Rebecca hovered midair as her eyes scanned the grass. She soon discovered the tall grass parting as a creature scurried through them. Though she had no vision of the animal, she could tell that it wasn't very big.

Wild dogs had immense stamina and were also quite speedy. There weren't many smaller land creatures that could out run them on open land.

The barking dogs had perfect coordination as they tried to circle the animal. However, it proved to be too agile, and it refused to be herded as it wove between them, slowly making headways to the north.

Suddenly, the animal burst into a small clearing of grazed grass. With a smooth tawny mane, a fuzzy white underbelly, a bushy tail and a narrow streamline body, it was the cutest little river otter Rebecca had ever seen. By its size, it seemed like a teenage otter and in its mouth was a small leg of some large rodent or a rabbit.

This little thief! It was obvious what the otter had been doing. The dogs wouldn't have been so adamant about chasing it if it had only been the first time. They usually didn't prefer the meat of other carnivores, unless they were starving.

The otter quickly glanced at Rebecca with round beady black eyes that seemed to draw her in like a black hole and scurried away without paying her much attention.

The dogs continued chasing and it slowly led them to a nearby stream that flowed into a larger river that cut into the nearby forest. It leapt in with a loud splash and holding the leg in its ting pudgy little hands, it floated on its back to look at the dogs who had come to a stop at the bank.

They weren't dumb enough to chase an otter in water. It bit into the leg with its furry little mouth and swallowed a good portion of meat.

It raised its neck and squeaked at the dogs in provocation, taking another bite. The frustrated dogs barked and howled at her for a couple of minutes before they gave up and headed back.

Rebecca hovered down over the otter, which gave her a glance but otherwise seemed unafraid.

"You're gonna get caught, if you keep this up," she told her, despite knowing she wouldn't understand. The otter seemed to listen for a moment before it noisily chirped at her and splashed away into the stream's depths.

Rebecca shook her head at its mischievous nature and headed back home. It reminded her of someone she knew.

oOo

Alice entered Fiora's office that evening with an orangish yellow envelope in her hand.

"Letter from the Ophanim?" Fiora asked, noticing its color.

"From the wise one, Manjusri Yidam, herself," Alice replied, carefully holding the envelope with both hands as she presented it to the headmistress.

Fiora didn't display the same piety, as she simply took the envelope and tore it open without much fuss. She quickly read the contents and gave out a loud sigh.

Alice expectantly waited for a minute before she asked what was on her mind, "What was it about?"

"She just wants to know about Blaze," Fiora sighed in reply.

"She does? But why? Isn't she too young to be considered for the Ophanim?" Alice asked in surprise.

"Desperate times, Alice. Deity Michelle is getting old and we may soon have a struggle for the control of the banner in the next few decades. The other societies have better candidates than the current Ophanim candidates and even they are interested in Blaze, despite his age.

"Miss Blaze seems to have grown under the guidance of duchess Marigold. As the duchess is also an Ophanim, Blaze does seem like a good candidate to pursue," she explained, but Alice could hear the doubt in her voice. There is also more to her heritage than it seems.

"You have doubts? I thought you liked Miss Blaze," Alice asked puzzledly.

"I do like her, Alice, but that has nothing to do with this. If you had asked me whether she would make a good Banner candidate, the weekend before last, my answer would've been a definitive no.

"Despite her exceptional qualities, I always thought Miss Blaze to be a wild one and I am sure even you can see that she is not faultless. I also do not think that she has the right aptitude to wield the banner. However, the righteous fury speaks a very different story," Fiora replied, feeling a little frustrated.