Fly Me Away

Those oddly colored eyes were fixed on me. Despite how uncomfortable I felt, I couldn’t look away. It seemed like I was too dangerous to look away. Like, the second I did, I would be gone.

Jackson tensed up behind me and he took a step closer, making sure to leave as little space between us as possible. The Man’s eyes jolted to him, a little bit startled, as if he’d just realized I wasn’t the only person in the immediate area.

“You must be Jackson,” the slick demon stated, louder now, and it echoed through the forest eerily. He spoke properly, I would even go as far as to call him posh sounding.

“Your name slips my mind…” Jackson responded, “Claude was it?”

The demon smiled and laughed lightly. How peculiar, he wasn’t half as demonic as I’d expected him to be. But his smiled turned into a frown quickly, and he looked slightly irritated. “I do not appreciate you taking out my people in such large masses.”

“There would have been fewer casualties if you hadn't sent them.”

“I sent no one,” The demon king retorted, not skipping a beat.

“You just offered a reward for her safe retrieval? That’s even worse. Most of your henchmen died fighting with each other.”

The now relaxed looking demon, Claude, laughed. He glanced past us to Pirro and narrowed his eyes, spotting the second human I assumed. My heart began to beat loudly, and this time Jackson made no move to calm it.

“What a fascinating situation,” Claude sounded delighted, then he turned back to me, “but I don’t want all this fuss. I will just take her and be on my way.”

“You think it will be that easy?” Jackson asked, insulted by the thought. I could almost hear the smirk on his lips now.

“This is destiny boy. She would not be here if it were not for me.”

I froze at his words which hit me like a ton of bricks. I must have moved or something, because the demons before me all whipped their heads around and I became the center of attention again.

But what did he mean by that…?

“Don’t listen Maggie,” Jackson said quickly.

“Maggie?” the demon king screwed up his nose, “Terra is your name, not Maggie. I had all my witches working around the clock to bring you back to me, and finally, 18 years ago, progress….”

I was made by… witches?

“I have been waiting until you reached this age…. Just a short time. Worth it to be with my love again.”

The demon looked delighted when I made eye contact with him.

I didn’t know what he meant, but I decided I wouldn’t believe him anyway. Jackson would have said something to me if it were true… it couldn’t be. I was born in a hospital, I had a brother, a mother, and a father at some point.

I felt an overpowering urge to break my silence.

“I don’t know you,” I announced, eyeing his form warily.

All hostility in his face vanished after I spoke, despite what I’d actually said to him. He beamed a smile and tilted his head.

“My Terra…hearing your voice again…” he smiled softly, “Of course you know me, you are my Queen. My Terra. Now come with me and we can rule again. You can lead my army. You liked that, remember?”

“I don’t know you,” I hissed this time, stepping back into Jackson clumsily. He steadied me, then locked an arm around my waist. I hoped he knew what he was doing because I had no idea.

“You’re mistaken, demon,” Jackson corrected him, “She is not your Terra. She was never your Terra.”

Claude scowled then at Jackson, a suddenly frightening rage consuming him. There it was, the real king of demons threatening to unleash his wrath. Those odd eyes were locked on Jackson’s arm around my waist. That was what set him off.

He hunched his back and curled his fingers like claws, eyes ablaze. The demons at his side stiffened and lowered their heads in unison.

“Don’t touch her!” The king growled viciously through his teeth. I jumped at the force of his voice, which sounded like it was 5 voices over top of each other. I was afraid, what a transformation. This king sure knew how to lose his temper.

Jackson didn’t budge.

“Immediately!” the demon commanded, stomping his foot.

The tall human like beasts crouched into a spring at his fierce words. Jackson’s arm vanished from my waist, and he appeared in front of me in a lightning fast movement. His arms were curled backwards, pushing me behind him protectively.

“You come near her and I will rip you to pieces,” Jackson threatened calmly.

Claude’s eyebrows raised ever so slightly at Jackson's words and he straightened back up, regaining some composure. Was it really just Jackson's arm on me that made him so crazy? If he was really that possessive, I didn’t see any of this ending without a fight…

His minions relaxed as he did, but still stood on their toes readily.

Claude chuckled darkly “Isn’t that breaking a rule angel? You cannot kill me. You wouldn’t dare.”

“This is your unlucky day demon. You’ve run into the only angel that doesn’t follow any rules.”

“Don’t be foolish. Think of what would happen to this meager world you work so tirelessly to protect? Without order from my side, it would be complete and utter chaos. Give her to me, and I will continue to keep a reasonable amount of peace.”

“Not a chance.”

“Fine. If I must, I will compromise. I will make a treaty with you.”

“No.”

“All my dark creatures will behave and stay far away from your human world, forever. All you have to do is let me have her. Just one human, in exchange for the rest of them.”

Pirro made a peculiar sound, and if I wasn’t so engrossed in what was happening, I would have checked out of curiosity.

Jackson shook his head deliberately slowly, “No. Way. In. Hell.”

One of the tall demons to Claude’s right tilted its head backwards and let out a terrifying screech, like it was in agony. I jumped, starting to panic again. This was not something a teenage human girl was ever supposed to see.

The King raised a long white hand, and the screeching stopped. Jackson swiftly moved back behind me and leaned in close. “You’re alright,” he whispered, leaving his head comfortingly close to my ear.

The demon king did not look amused by this in the slightest. He took a quick step forward and held out the same long hand towards me.

“Give her here,” He demanded, getting impatient, “Terra my love. Come to me now, quickly.”

His fingers curled up in an attempt to get me to move. They were sparkling with a fantastic red luminescence. It was….mesmerizing. Unnaturally so… All I wanted to do was… walk…towards…it…

“Maggie,” Jackson said softly.

He took my hand and whirled me around to his side, pulling me close. I snapped out of…whatever that was, and held back a yelp. What happened? My heart was still thudding violently in my ears. I didn’t like having my back to the demons, not being able to watch, but the look on Jackson's face made it okay somehow. He looked so confident, carefree even. His eyes were smoldering.

“I am afraid, Claude,” Jackson spoke seriously, closing the gap between our faces, his eyes never leaving mine, “that this beautiful rose of a woman is my love, not yours.”

Then Jackson, his lips mere inches away from mine, looked up snidely at the demons and smirked.

He was trying to piss them off??

I twisted my neck around as far as it would go to get a glimpse of the dangerous enemies. As was expected, they were all glaring daggers at him then... I think. It was hard to tell, but there was one face that wasn’t so confusing. Claude the demon king had no readable emotion there anymore. He let his hand drop limply to his side.

“This is not possible…. Spells were set in place. Terra was to think only of me until I found her.” he turned then to the minions, his panic clear now, “Where are the witches! Bring them to me!”

“There are no witches anymore,” Jackson announced.

Pirro let out an earth pounding roar and slammed his fists on the ground. Some of the demons flinched.

Claude was befuddled. He stared at Pirro for a split second, then he composed himself again and turned back to us.

“I was not expecting this.”

Jackson's iron grip on my waist wasn’t letting up, and my craned neck started to grow tired. The demon placed a finger on his chin, then lowered it to look at us through his eyelashes, that same emotionless face staring dully.

“I would like to at least speak with her,” he proposed, taking another step forward, much more warily this time.

He had moved out of the shadows now and into the midday sun. I could see him more clearly. His hair looked like thick black silk, streaked with white, and his face was very feline; deep almond eyes, thin lips and high cheek bones. There were faint patterns across his white skin, pale purple intricate designs that were the only things that made him other worldly, apart from those mismatched eyes.

Was he giving up? Had Jackson won this so easily?

“You may speak,” Jackson responded calmly, “It is up to her whether you get a response or not.”

My breath hitched. The king looked to me again, his eyes softened. I was going to talk to him. I would do whatever I had to do to get him away from us.

“Terra,” he cooed.

“My name is Maggie.”

“….Maggie,” he said hesitantly, “do you remember anything from you past life…?”

“No,” I spat, “I don’t know what you’re on about.”

“Nothing?”

“No.”

“Do you still like to rule armies?” he smiled to himself at the memory, “that was your favorite thing.”

“ No. How ridiculous.”

He frowned, his eyes lingering on me for a moment, then he curled his lip up at Jackson, trying and failing to suppress a huge amount of dislike.

“….do you…is it true? Have you fallen for this….angel?”

“Yes.” I made a point of making that clear. Not showing any signs of hesitation.

“I’ve had enough.”

His gentle eyes narrowed and he straightened back up; the peaceful front Claude had been putting on was dropped again. He was not pleased with my answers…

“I am not leaving without her!!”He yelled in that five man voice again. The demons screamed with excitement. This is what they were here for.

Neil burst in from the dense forest and halted skillfully beside us. The demons leapt backwards, their screams growing quieter at the suddenly arrival of another angel. There was a strong brush of wind across the clearing when an army of tall, translucent white women trailed in behind the bland angel. There had to be about 50 of them! Wow!

But what were they doing? Jackson said Nymphs were harmless…?

The demons were stunned into silence; they looked to their leader for reassurance. The king however, had not taken any notice of the new arrivals. He was glaring intently at Jackson, his teeth bared and his large hands clenched.

“Here are your orders demons. Retrieve my Queen, do not harm her,” the king spoke in a surprisingly composed voice, when compared with the outrageous look on his face, “but I will grant immortality to the one who destroys that angel!!”

They all erupted then, roaring and hollering, creating a deafening uproar.

This was it. Jackson was wrong, it had turned into a fight.

I was hauled backwards, at least 20 meters in half a second, blinded, but shielded by a mammoth white wing.

I faintly heard Jackson say something to me over the commotion, and I caught one last look at his stern, beautiful face before he was gone and I was alone in the space.

I was suddenly surrounded and not by demons, but by nymphs. They created a three women thick wall between me and the demon kings minions. They had their arms stretched forwards and they were….singing.

Was this what they did? Protected? It didn’t matter…

Pirro’s roar could be clearly heard over everything. I was desperate to see what had happened to Pip.

I needed to use this time. I was trying to think quickly, but found it hard. My head was swarming with worry for everyone else. I desperately wanted Pip to be behind that wall with me, and I needed to make sure Jackson was okay.

“Quickly,” Neil materialized behind me and opened his arms.

Did he really expect me to go with him?!?

“But what about them! Pip!! Jackson! They’re going to kill him!”

Neil ignored me. He picked me up and without another word, we were swirling and zigzagging through the trees so quickly it made me sick. We were moving faster than my brain could process. I couldn’t open my eyes, but I knew what was happening. It was done now, Neil had me and he was flying me to safety. They were fighting. Jackson and Pirro, protecting Pip….

I tried to struggle away from his grip – that’s how dazed and confused I was. Pip was weak out there, and Jackson had an irresistible reward on his head. But we were moving so quickly I couldn’t even scream. The wind hitting my face was painful; this was nothing like when Jackson flew me. Neil was going much too fast for a human.

When we came to an abrupt halt, Neil released me and I collapsed onto my hands and knees, breathing heavily. It took some time for my brain to catch up to my eyes, and for my breathing to even out. When it did, I fell backwards onto my backside.

Where were we?

It looked like some kind of valley surrounded by lots of flat land. There were very few trees near us, which meant we were far away, and there was a thick, fast running stream over to the left. At last I could clearly see the sky; dark rain clouds all the way over to the mountain tops. There was a storm coming.

I remembered something.

Quickly turning around, I spotted old bland Neil still standing in place, gawking at me like an idiot.

“What’s happening?” I urged, knowing he could hear the other angel’s thoughts.

“They are fighting.”

I knew that already, but thanks.

“Pip?”

He continued to stare blankly at me. Did he not understand that one?

“The other human? Is she okay?”

“Yes. The nymphs have taken her to safety, you should see her soon. Pirro the angel is keeping the demon minions away from here.”

“And Jackson?”

He was silent. He looked off into the forest.

I rose abruptly to my feet, losing my balance, but managing to stomp right up to him and point my finger at his face. He stepped backwards so quickly I didn’t see it.

“Tell me what he’s doing right now!”

“He is sparing with the demon king. Alone.”

I gasped. “Well go and bloody help him!”

“He is winning.”

“SO!? Go and help him and he will be winning even more!”

“We cannot destroy the demon king. I do not agree with what he is doing.”

“Wh…Why the heck not?!”

He looked at me like I was the idiot now. Like I was missing something blatantly obvious.

His eyes quickly narrowed and he averted his gaze, “Jackson has a message for you.”

I perked up.

“Stay put. He says everything will be fine and he will be arriving to collect you soon.”

I gathered my hair in my hands and pulled it, “I feel so useless.”

I played the waiting game. Well, we played, if you included Neil, who was seated near me on the ground with his chubby legs crossed. I wasn’t sure whether he was actually waiting or not. He may not have cared about the outcome at all.

I couldn’t handle it – the waiting was going to drive me nuts. I turned to Neil.

“If you don’t agree with what Jackson is doing, why are you helping him? Why did you bring me out here?”
“Because he asked me too. We angels will always help one another, even if our motives clash,” he deadpanned.

Oh…simple. I looked away again, quietly disappointed that the conversation was over and I had to go back to worrying. There was just so little you could talk to a stupid lifeless angel about…

“But he should have given you up,” Neil interrupted my thoughts.

My eyebrows flew to the sky. Did he really just say that? “Excuse me?!” I squealed.

“In return for the demon king’s co-operation. He should have given you up.”

“Are…are you retarded??”

“Putting the rest of the human population over just one is justifiable,” Neil explained, not at all effected by my disbelief, “There would have been no more attacks on humans or the world’s resources, no need for fighting. I would have done it without question.”

I....I…suppose….that made sense. Should I have been feeling guilty then? Or selfish? I didn’t want to go…

Neil continued, “Yet, that young angel did not even consider the possibility of giving you up. I cannot comprehend. He has become attached to you. We angels usually lack all these emotions, like love or worry, for good reason. So we can make decisions with clear minds, unaffected by anything apart from the future of the planet.”

He was good at explaining things.

“He cares about you more than he cares about the rest of the world…” Neil looked completely thrown out of sync, which was usually the only emotion he showed, “It is unfathomable.”

“Do you know….why is he different from you?” I asked hesitantly.

“This is a mystery. I am positive he is an angel. Maybe something more….”