Angel Monarch

It was early morning when the hippogryphs arrived. The three majestic beasts landed in the mansion's courtyard with grace.

They cleared the area of people beforehand. Only four people stood in waiting. Each carried a pack with some supplies, not like they would need them. Their journey to New Athens would only take a few hours at most.

The hippogryphs walked towards the four people, their eyes scanning and judging them.

Two were a beautiful black like the night sky, and one was a very light brown, close to white. He was one of Kastral's own, and by far the fastest out of the three. His name was Castor, and he led this small group.

Without care, he walked towards one specific person, the robed woman. He nuzzled his gigantic head to her chest, and with a small giggle, Lilith scratched the beast.

They weren't bonded in the same way as Sera to Kastral, but they sure as hell behaved like they were.

Next to them, the other three women watched in both excitement and a bit of fear as the other two walked towards them.

All three were colossal beasts, close to four meters, while over six meters in wingspan. Castor's ––Lilith's mount––head was the size of Lilith, and it was obvious that their true leader's blood flowed through his veins.

The two hippogryphs sniffed at the three other women with suspicion, but after a screech from Castor, they became compliant.

Lilith mounted him, while the three other women mounted the other two. The three of them made seating arrangements beforehand, or more like Agnes made them, since she just ordered Cass to go on alone, while she would take the girl named Kim.

Even now, Lilith's blood boiled just by looking at her. This little girl killed two of her Sisters and one of her Brothers. The only reason she was still alive was because Sera had asked them to take care of her.

Lilith was a vengeful woman, but she was also obedient and kept her priorities straight. She would follow Sera's orders no matter what, even if it went against her personal goals and interests.

Also, deep down, she felt bad for the girl... She wasn't even a girl. She was older than Lilith, but every time she looked at Kim, she only saw a timid and terrified child.

They still didn't know what happened to her, and why did Sera want to help her, but it was clear that her life was harsh. She learnt the wrong lessons and went down on a dark path, one that only held lots of death.

Somehow Sera helped her on a different path, but there were still so many questions about her.

Lilith watched as Agnes helped her climb the enormous beast, then the older woman climbed her as well, and sat down behind Kim.

The other reason Lilith felt a bit of forgiveness towards the girl was because of Agnes. She was able to put her near death behind them. If Agnes could do it, why couldn't Lilith as well?

With these thoughts, she watched as Cass climbed the male hippogryph next to Lilith. Terror consumed her face as the beast moved beneath her.

"Don't be scared; it's going to be fun!" Shouted Lilith with a chuckle, below her Castor screeched his agreement.

Cass turned towards Lilith with an annoyed expression, but as the hippogryphs sped up, she bent down and, while hugging the mount, she shrieked in fear.

In her sixteen years, Lilith has never heard a Transcended scream as loudly as Cass. The sound echoed through her head throughout the few hour flight. She laughed each time she remembered and she couldn't wait to bring it up in future conversations.

Kim and Agnes stayed kind of calm, but clearly, the girl wasn't having fun at all. Her small hands clenched the poor hippogryph's feathers so much that they turned white.

Lilith just spread her arms and enjoyed the warm, late autumn, early winter air. In the south, the air remained somewhat hot, but a temperature drop was still perceptible.

The air hit and spread through her robe, below her Castor screeched with happiness.

He increased his speed a bit and began flying around the other two. He did barrel-rolls, or loops, and sometimes he would fly straight towards the Aegean Sea and just before he plunged into the waves, he would change direction.

With every move, Lilith giggle and screamed from happiness.

The journey went on like this. They made significant progress, covering the 550 kilometer journey in just over four hours.

...

Kim felt strange and confused. She did not know what she was doing. In the past few days, she got the urge to run away a lot of times, but she felt like it would've been a grave mistake.

Most of her free time consisted of two activities. One was talking to Cassandra's boyfriend, David.

Talking to him gave her a bit of insight about how everything worked around here. The only thing David never answered was where Sera was. Every time he dodged or straight up ignored the question.

The only answer he had given was 'Ask Bran when you get to New Athens.'

She knew that something bad happened to her, since every person she met seemed depressed, especially Agnes, the woman sitting behind her.

This was another strange feeling she had. Terror gripped her heart, and she hoped Sera would be okay.

It was very confusing. A few days ago, she wanted nothing more than to kill her, but now her entire world seemed to have turned upside down.

It also didn't help that this woman sitting behind Kim seemed to want to help her, even though Kim had tried and was close to killing her.

The only conclusion she came up with in this past few days was that either everyone ––including herself––has lost their minds, or that the world was much more complicated than she first thought.

She spent most of her time pondering on this. It was in perfect combination with her other chosen activity... Training.

After recalling the fight with those dead soldiers, she felt herself lacking in many aspects.

With her abilities and weapons, she was one of the strongest Ascended in this world, but without them, she was very mediocre. She spent these few days trying to figure out an exercise, which used her strength and speed, with no weapons or powers helping.

The task was near impossible, but she tried her best. Kim wanted to be a great fighter in all circumstances, but that dream was way out of her grasp for now.

While occupied with her thoughts, the hippogryph screeched below her, which caused her to remember where they were.

Her eyes went to the side and watched the ground pass about a thousand meters below them.

Fear overwhelmed her at first. She had never flown before, and the first hour high in the air was excruciating. The only respite was Agnes's calming hand, which was still wrapped around her hips.

It gave Kim a strange motherly feeling, which caused her confusion to reappear. Her actual mother was dead, killed by an angelic being, and for some reason, Kim wasn't angry at that being anymore.

She sighed in annoyance and just continued to watch the ground.

All three hippogryphs screeched to each other a few more times... They were near their destination.

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The three of them entered a small cloud, then began their descent towards New Athens.

With curiosity, Kim looked around, trying to get a glimpse of the renowned City of the Phoenix, as some people called it. But the cloud blocked out her vision.

She saw Cassandra flying next to them on her hippogryph. Her face had been pale since the start of their flight. She seemed even more terrified than Kim, which made the girl feel better.

Lilith and her mount were a few meters in the front. They led the descent until all three of them stopped in the air.

The cloud was still blocking most of their vision, but Kim saw Lilith turn around with a grin and, while spreading her arms, she shouted over the wind...

"Welcome! To New Athens!"

As her words echoed, the cloud cleared, revealing a magnificent sight.

On the ground, a wide city stretched out. Its gigantic walls were a beautiful creamy white color, with carved intricate designs on them. Tall towers broke the wall, with soldiers manning each.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

They faced one of the four gates the city had. The gate was eastward-facing, displaying two carved dawning suns on each, with the Angelic Order's seven-pointed star at its center.

Kim watched all this in awe, but as her eyes moved towards the cityscape, she gasped at its beauty.

The houses displayed vibrant colors and intricate details, or they featured whitish-gold colors with roofs painted like the Phoenix's flames.

Most houses had small fires burning on their roofs, or candles in their windows. Their silent support for the city's true leader.

The well-kept streets had people and cars moving over them. Each person's clothing differed in style and color. They were all intricate and elegant, but also modest and just amazing.

There weren't two people with the same outfit. Some wore dresses, others preferred warmer clothes, like suits, and most just put on something simple, like shirt and pants.

Many people ––mostly woman––wore leather jackets, with pants and military boots. These were in all sorts of colors too, but the style was part of the fashion Sera had created.

Seeing all these different colors and outfits, Cass became speechless. All her life she thought about the Federal Alliance Capital as the true home of elegance and fashion, but looking down at this city of wonders... She never felt stupider than at that moment.

The only person who didn't show too much surprise was Agnes, but even her emotionless face crumbled at the sight of true beauty.

In the front Castor screeched again, and the three hippogryphs made their way to a specific walled off area within the city limits.

There they landed in the middle of a road, in front of the city's military headquarters.

Two people already stood there, waiting.