It had been months since he had returned to Arri. “Three months at least…” He thought to himself as he walked up to the gates of the city. His eyes looked at the archway. He paid no mind to the people walking around him to enter the gate. Something was going on, he didn’t know what. People were walking with beautiful ball dresses over their arms. Laughs and happiness filled the air. It was revolting to the demon. He had grown since the last time he was there. He wasn’t the childish little boy. He didn’t flirt with any women with legs. He was quiet now, like his brother. Instead of growing up like that, Daulton’s heart was broken. The pain from before emerged again in his heart, but he pushed it away. “I was foolish.” He said softly to himself. “Now I am not.” He now had a guard on his heart, no woman could penetrate. He had met many women on his travels but didn’t flirt, just friendly conversation. He did sleep with a few, but never let himself feel. He always left before they awoke.

Pushing the thoughts away, he entered the gates. His mother sent a message saying she missed him and wanted to see him. She had sent many messages, but this one he was going to answer. He missed her and his family every day since he had been gone, but he needed to leave. He needed to grow and stop being a child. He saw himself in new light ever since Lotus. If he saw her, he would probably say thank you. He smirked at the thought as he walked to his mothers house. “That would piss her off.” He said with a laugh.

Finally reaching his Mother’s, Daulton knocked a few times. He stood there for a moment and his mother finally answered the door. He smiled at her shocked face. Then his eyes fell to her belly. She was finally showing but only barely. He had forgotten she was pregnant. “Hey mom.” He said as his eyes went back to her eyes. They were filled with tears before her arms flew around him. “I missed you.” She mumbled into his shoulder. His arms circled her and held her close for a moment.

Anastsia soon pulled her son into the house. They ate lunch. He had told her about the good things he had done. The people he saved from demons or monsters. He was happy hunting. “I am happy for you.” She said with a smile as she put her hand on his. “I have to go soon, Mom. There is a hunt near-” He was cut off by a frown that formed on her lips. “Please, stay. You have been gone a long time. Just one night?” She asked. He had never seen this side of her. She had always been good at hiding her feelings. “Okay.” He said with a small smile. “Why not be my date for tonight's ball?” She asked him as she gathered the plates. “I really would like to go and I don’t want to be alone. You’re brother is going with Nymph and I am sure they would be too preoccupied.” She set the plates by the wash bin and turned towards her son. “That was all the fuss about was outside?” He said standing from the table to lean on the wooden counter. “Okay, Mom.” He agreed.

His Mother moved over to her and laid a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve changed.” She said with a smile and laid a kiss on his cheek. “I am going to go get ready then.” She started to head out the kitchen then called to him, “you’re suit and mask is on your bed!” Her words made him laugh. “You knew I was going to say yes!” He laughed. “I wasn’t going to let you say no.” She called from the stairs. He smiled while shaking his head then pushed off the counter, and headed to his room.

“Mom and your scheming.” He said with a laugh as he stared down at his mask. It was grey with silver flowers and swirls. It was a full face mask. It didn’t look like a girl's mask but was beautiful. His suit jacket was black with a high collar and grey threading. The pants were the same black, but his shirt was white with a ruffled collar with a silver diamond button. His mother sure had great taste.

Daulton was soon washed and dressed, he waited for his Mother at the bottom of the stairs. He smiled at her when she emerged. She wore a simple red dress that draped over her shoulders. She didn’t even look pregnant in the dress. Her mask was red and already tied to her face. Feathers stuck up from the middle and a red diamond held them onto the masks. “You look beautiful, Mom.” He said while he opened the door for her. “Your mask.” She pointed to it in his hand. “Okay…”  He said with a small laugh and put it on.

With his Mother on his arm, they walked to the ball. It wasn’t long till they were there. When they entered the ballroom, many people were there already. The sun was about to go down and the party had started. They moved over to the tables of food around the dance floor. “Ohhh… Chocolate.” His mother said with a smile and grabbed a chocolate dipped strawberry. “MMm.. These are so good.” She said as she closed her eyes and chewed. “Mom…” He said with a laugh. “Try..onnee..” She motioned towards the tray of strawberries. “No thanks. We just ate an a bit ago.” He said with a smile. “The baby wants the sweets. Not me.” She said with a smile and ate another. This night was going to be fun with his mother.

Really the only thing that had held Astrid up at the moment Daulton kissed her was him. The moment he let got she slouched to the ground and just sat there in a daze. It wasn’t that she liked it or even wanted it. It was that it had been so long since someone had loved her. It was a sad realization that made tears come to her eyes. The days of just living in the Earth Shrine with her love. And now? He was gone.

She had held it in as much as she could but she couldn’t force herself to get up. Finally, arms pulled her up. Blonde hair went over her and Astrid looked up. “You need to stop letting men man handle you like that. I would have punched his face in.” Astrid blinked the tears away to see the green eyes of her older sister. 

“Fighting doesn’t solve anything Rem,” Astrid was so soft spoken as Remedy took her away back to the White Court Manor.

–

Three months come and went and she didn’t even think about that moment anymore. It was just that a moment. She wasn’t silently strong like her older sister. She wasn’t a fighter. She was more a lover and she had lost hers. It had happened during the fall she was sure. He had been swept away by the tides of worlds colliding. She shook her head. 

“Go to the Ball… Have fun. Get out and be a kid. You’ve been sulking.” Toya, her grandmother, came in and put the golden dress and mask down on the bed. “You need to get out. You grew up way too fast and that was my fault. If your dad and mom could see you now they would yell at me.” Toya gently rubbed Astrid’s hair and the half angel just smiled up.

“If that’s what you think I should do Grandma.” Astrid was left alone in her room. Her bi-colored eyes of green and blue stared back at her from a mirror not far. Her pale features were in a far contrast to those of her Rosenite kin. She gently took one of her wings and groomed it before eying the clothes that Toya had brought her. It wouldn’t hurt she thought.

The dress was gorgeous, almost all gold with white accents. The sleeves were long and bellowed out at the end. The back was open for her wings. The mask was white with gold trim. A golden lily was on the side of it. She fingered the mask for a moment before she pushed herself up and got dressed for the ball.

Her hair was left halfway down. The rest was pulled back with a bunch of signature white roses bunched up in the back. They were from her grandmother’s garden.

When she finally got to the ball she quietly moved up to the top tier. Her bi-colored eyes stared up as her wings caught the night breeze. They fluttered gently before settling against her back. Her eyes were glued onto the lanterns in the dark night sky. The lights from them made her skin have a warm glow. She was completely captivated by the lights of love that people had. It made her heart ache.

Standing beside his mother, Daulton watched her snack. He joked about her hunger. He was slowly warming up to the idea of a new baby in the family. “Don’t you need to eat more healthy?” He asked as she took a bite of cake she held before her. “Nope.” She said between bites with a smile. “Sure. Should head to the vegetable table.” He joke as he tugged her arm. “Heyyy!” She said in a childlike voice. They laughed and walked over to the table with the covered with all sorts of vegetables and salads. The demon grabbed a small carrot and threw it into his mouth. “MMm. This is good.” He said motioning towards the carrots and celery. “Nope. Baby don’t want that.” Her comment made him laugh once more.

The half demon turned around as he laughed. His eyes looking over the dancers and people gathered around. Then across the other side of the room, he saw her. The girl he just continued to make fall, the girl he kissed to try to make Lotus jealous. “Stupid..” He thought to himself. That was the moment he saw how beautiful she was. The way the lantern shined on her made her skin almost glow.

He didn’t know how long he had been staring until his mom bumped his arm. “Go. Talk to her.” Ana said to her child. “I can’t leave you.” Daulton turned towards his mother as he spoke. She didn’t want to be left alone. “I have food. I’ll be okay.” She said with a smile and pushed him forward a bit. With a sigh, he nodded. “I’ll find you later.” He said kissing his mother’s cheek. “I’ll be here.”She said with smiled. She waved a bit with fork in hand.

Daulton walked around the dance floor. It wasn’t long till he reached the angel. Stepping before her, he smiled under his mask. He grabbed her hand softly and brought it to the lips of the mask. He pretend to kiss her hand. Standing up straight, he put his arm behind his back.”Dance with me.” He was bold and didn’t ask. In a few steps they were on the dance floor. His hand went to her waist and his other held her hand in his. The dance was slow as they moved along with the music. Their bodies touched as they danced.

Bright blue eyes was the only thing she could see through the mask. His white hair flowed freely around the mask.  After a few moments, he finally spoke. “I just want to say I am sorry for how I reacted a few months ago.” He felt bad for acting the way he did. “I shouldn’t have stole that kiss.” He stared down at her and held back a sigh.

At first, the man caught her off guard. No one had paid her any mind for most of the time that she had been there. The shock was in her eyes but they slowly went back to normal size as she realized who it was. If it wasn’t for his white hair or his blue eyes showing she wouldn’t have known. “Al-Alright.” She stuttered a bit as she held onto his hand. It had been a while since someone held her like this. Her face was flush as they danced.

“It wasn’t too much trouble really,” she blushed again and looked away from his eyes. She was lying and she was bad at it but she took a look back at him again and offered a nice smile. “Rem was more upset about it than I was… Rem is my older sister.” She laughed a bit realizing they knew nothing more about each other than what they looked like.

As they danced on the floor she noticed a lantern coming up almost in between them and instead of letting go she clung to him. It brushed against her wings but floated up by. Her eyes remained on the lantern the whole time. As it passed she relaxed and blushed once more. “We need to stop meeting in weird ways. It’s not right you know.” She was mainly trying to joke. “My name is Astrid… I am Lily’s great niece.” 

It felt right to introduce herself to this man. She couldn’t see anything other than his eyes and hair but she knew what he looked like from her memory. The wind blew a little bit and her wings went up in a bit of a defense to try and catch it. She blocked it for the most part and she frowned. “I figured something bad had happened so I wasn’t entirely upset with you. People do things when they are upset. They hurt, steal, murder, or worse. You didn’t do anything like that. Knowing my cousin she probably was doing whatever it is that she does. Not that I would know anything about it.” Her face flushed again as she realized she didn’t know a damn thing about that either.

“Mom always said to forgive people even when they wrong us greatly. It’s the only way to completely live free of regret. It’s the only thing I remember her saying just before she died.” Astrid didn’t want to say how her mother had died but it was a broken heart. Her father had died when she was just a toddler. She had never known him.

While they danced, Daulton blue eyes looked down at her. Hearing her speak of her sister, he smirked under the mask. “I’ll take note not to run into her.” He joked while twirling her then bringing her back to him. When she started to cling to him, he he let go of her waist and tapped the lantern. It flew high into the air, barely missing the woman in his arms. When she moved away she blushed which brought a smile to his lips. He didn’t know why, but he liked when she blushed.

With another twirl with the music, she introduced herself. “Lily’s niece, huh? My uncle is going to marry her soon.” He paused with a smile then turned them around with the music. “I am Daulton. Nephew to Clyde. It is a pleasure to meet you.” After he introduced himself, she started to speak of what happened. Her words brought Lotus to his mind. He didn’t want to think of her so he grew irritated. “Forgiveness huh? My mother taught me the same, but it is hard to forgive someone that made you fall for them then tore your heart out.” The song ended with his words. He stepped back then bowed.

Remembering the lantern from before, he straightened. “Would you like to light a lantern with me?” He asked. When she agreed, he looped her arm in his and walked to the lantern area. Grabbing one, he handed a match to her and they both lit it together. They both lifted it up into the air and watched it float upwards. He stood beside her, his eyes watching the lanterns join the others. His hands hung at his sides, when he felt her hand brush his, he moved his hands into his pants pockets. “So what other cool things is there to do around here?” He asked while turning to her.

Astrid blushed a bit more and chuckled. “Great niece. I’m Toya’s granddaughter.” Though from the looks of it Astrid was older than Daulton but you couldn’t tell thanks to her Angelic blood. “Daulton is a nice name.” 

She heard the agitation in his voice and frowned. “It is much better to love and have a loss than to have never loved at all.” She blushed a bit as she looked away. “There was a time when I lived with a man who took care of me and loved me. We had nothing, we lived in the wilds, and we were happy.” Her heart was breaking. “I wouldn’t trade that time for anything. The world ate him. I lost him but even if he broke my heart I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything.” Her eyes looked back up into his and she smiled. “You learned something from Lotus that you wouldn’t have learned anywhere else. Take it and make yourself stronger.” She moved her hand so she could touch his for but a moment.

For a moment Astrid was caught off guard. “But those are for couples aren’t they.” Her blush had grown brighter and Daulton just turned at her and said, “So.. it looks fun.” And it did look fun so she smiled and ran with him down to the bottom of the tiers. They stood together and released one with so many others. Her fingers had grazed his and she was sad when he instead tucked his away. She wondered if he would ever recover from the damage that Lotus had done.

“There are gardens to walk in… and a flower release ceremony for couples on the top… other than that I’m not sure. Let’s go walk in the fairy lights.” She got excited and pulled him along. However, in the confusion of the crowd, she got separated from him. She noticed but she couldn’t move against the flow of the people. Finally, she found herself on the second tier. She was mildly distracted by the pretty lights. She went to go look at them went someone bumped into her and made her fall. “Ouch.”

The stench of alcohol was what first hit her nose. She frowned as she pulled herself up and dusted her dress off. Her wing was a little damaged and she began to immediately mend it. “Oy, bitch you need to watch where you’re going.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She bowed her head and tried to get away but she couldn’t. She ended up cornered against a tall wall where the staircases were. She couldn’t take off from that point so she was stuck. Where was Rem when you needed her?

Daulton stood before Astrid, his mind going thinking of what she said about love. She was right. “Sometimes first loves are just a lesson some of us need to learn.” His mother’s words echoed into his mind. They were both right, but that didn’t mean he had to forgive Lotus. The moment Astrid started to speak again, she pulled him away from his thoughts. The half demon nodded with a smile. “Sure, Lets go.” He said and then they were off into the crowd.

It wasn’t long till the demon lost her, with the way the ballroom started to be crowded it wasn’t a surprise. “Damnit.” He said with a sigh; he was having fun hanging out with her. He didn’t want to disappoint her, he didn’t know why, so he continued to look. His eyes finally spotted her leaving the ballroom. “There she is.” He said under his breath and tried to hurry to catch up with her.

After a few moments of maneuvering through the crowd, he soon found his way to the second tier. His eyes scanned the area looking for her, it wasn’t long till he found her. The yelling off to the side pulled his attention. His eyes narrowed at the few men that surrounded her. “You need to be taught a lesson….” The slur on his speech told Daulton the man was drunk. “Hold her.” The men started to move at her while one started to undo his pants.

That was when Daulton acted. He went to reach for his sword, but noticing it wasn’t there he cursed under his breath. Not using this as a defeat, he ran at the men. The one closest to him, his hand griped his face when he turned in shock. The demon pushed the man back with such force he hit his face on the wall beside Astrid. When he slid to the ground, there was blood following him. Daulton didn’t stop there, his hand circled the man in the middles throat, His skin started to smell of something burning. He couldn’t scream just fought against Daulton’s hand to no avail. The last man came at the demon, but all he got was a kick in the stomach and a punch in the face with his free hand.

Daulton’s eyes glowed a slight red through the mask as he stared at the man in his grasp. His throat was started to decay with the demon’s touch. It was Astrid’s gasp that pulled Daulton from his murderous trance. Blinking a few times, he removed his hand from the attacker. His power going back into his hand and leaving no trace on the man’s skin. “Get the hell out of here. All of you and pray I don’t ever see your faces again.” Daulton’s words were thick with anger as he spoke. The men around them didn’t wait a second before helping one another to their feet and running off.

The demon’s shoulders were tense for a moment, taking a deep breath he turned around. “Sorry about that. Are you alright?” He asked his eyes blue once more. “Why don’t you show me what you were going to before?” He said while he ran a hand through his hair; a small smiling lining his lips.

Astrid was about to poof herself through a stream of light to get away but when she saw Daulton coming to saw her she let out a sigh of relief. She wasn’t a fighter. She could get away but she didn’t want to use her powers unless she absolutely had to.  When she gasped she put her hands over mouth and watched him. “Daulton, please!” She had flashbacks of begging Remedy to do the same.

Only this time… Daulton listened to her. She let out a sigh of relief once more as she ran over to Daulton and hugged him tightly around his waist. “I’m alright now. Thank you for listening to me.” She had seen Rem kill people in front of her. Remedy was scarred most by what happened to their father. Astrid had been too young to remember but Remedy remembered perfectly. She wasn’t blind to the harshness of the world like her little sister. 

Astrid blushed as soon as she saw his blue eyes. She tilted her head and nodded as she held his arm close to her. She didn’t want to get separated again. They were alone now as they walked in the dark garden full of pretty blue lights. They were small like fireflies. Magic, it had to be. She stopped so she could smell a camellia blossom that hung from the tree. “Daulton… this smells really good.” She beckoned him to come over and pulled it down for him. “Did you know that camellia blossoms don’t have a smell during the cold months? It is slightly warmer here in the gardens so that’s why we can smell them.” She held it out to his nose.

“They are pretty aren’t they? They are one of my favorite flowers besides a tiger lily.” She didn’t know if Daulton wanted to know that so she blushed. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear about my silly favorite things, though.” She released the branch as soon as he had smelled it. 

A sigh left his lips seeing she was alright. He could have killed that man for trying to touch her. His eyes looked away from her. It could've been any woman; he would of protected them. “You’re welcome.” He said with a smile as he turned his eyes back at her. There was something about her, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t want her to be harmed, if could of been any woman, but it was her.

As he looked at her, he finally saw her eyes. He hadn’t really looked at them until now. One was blue while the other was green. They were beautiful. Holding out his arm, he let her loop her’s with his. As they walked through the garden, his mind was elsewhere. He wasn’t sure why he felt strongly about saving her or why he wanted to kill the man. He couldn’t get his mind around it.

Astrid’s voice broke through his thoughts and he watched her smell a flower. He smiled at her as she motioned for him to come smell. He did so. His eyes closing as he leaned towards the flower to smell. “It does.” He said pulling back. He shook his head at her words. He smiled at the last of her words. “I like lily's too, but the pink ones smell awful.” He said with a laugh remembering the smell of the ones their father brought home before.

“I don’t know much about flowers besides roses. Our family crest is a rose.” He said as he held out his hand. One ring covered his index finger.  A silver ring that was rose slightly, a large rose engraved on the center then along the sides. “Mom got these made for Alden and I. Uncle Clyde has the original. I don’t think he ever wears it though.” Putting his hand back down he leaned against the tree. He stood there silent for a moment, thinking of what she said before. “You shouldn’t be shy to speak your mind.” He turned to her as he crossed his arms. “At least not around me.” He flashed a smile at her before pushing off the tree.

Astrid had a bit of a frown on her face before laughing. “The pink ones are my favorite but not because of the smell. The pink tiger lilies are the only thing I can ever remember about my dad. He brought them home for my mom but warned her they didn’t smell good. He got them because it reminded him of Mom’s soul. So light hearted and good. The color pink is soft and delicate like Mom was. I can’t remember what he looks like but I can remember those flowers and what he said.” It was a good memory.

She chuckled at the coincidence. “The five courts of Arri are represented by five roses. White, Black, Purple, Yellow, and Red. White is run by my grandmother. Black by Lotus’s younger sister Kirika. Yellow by Lily, of course. Purple by Cathrine, my grandmother’s oldest sister. Finally red is run by Angela.” She looked over his ring before she pulled at her necklace and showed him the delicate white opal rose that was carved. “This is the symbol of our family. Precious stones carved whole. Representing the courts we are in.”

Astrid got quiet again when he said she didn’t need to be shy. “It’s not that I want to. I’m just used to Rem doing all the talking for me. She is so headstrong like Grandmother that I forget that I have a voice.” She found herself laughing. “I find myself so uninteresting that I wouldn’t know what to tell you anyways. I have nothing to give but my time really.” She pulled her wing up out of habit and pet the soft feathers. “I think I’m uninteresting anyways and boring. That’s why I was a little shocked you asked me to dance. I’m not the most graceful person in the world.”