Ethereal Underground

by Briana Gaitan

  The girl’s eyes opened in shock as she pulled herself further away from the group, “I don’t trust her. And you shouldn’t either. Get her out of my home!” Her words were directed at Ash, and Annalise could sense the jealousy in them. This girl liked him, and that made Annalise dislike this female mortal even more.

  Finlay rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Ash, “Don’t mind her, she’s just freaking out.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do with my friend,” Ash insisted, pointing a finger at the seraph and taking a deep breath to steady himself, “Look, we need your help. That’s why we came here. When we decided to come and talk to you, we didn’t realize that you would be busy.”

  Rubbing his chin, Finlay appeared to take Ash’s words into consideration, “My help, huh, what with?”

  Annalise took this opportunity to step in and walked over to place her hand on Finlay’s arm, “The fallen have attacked our home.”

  “What!?” he exclaimed and grabbed her by the arms to make her look into his eyes, “Are you sure?”

  The fear that she saw in his eyes only made her feel more upset. If both Finlay and Leon were afraid, then there was no hope for their race. That meant two of the strongest seraphs she knew were unsure of what to do and terrified of what could happen. Only Ash appeared to be ready to fight them. “We were there. With Leon. They must have followed us through the rip in time and space. Endarial was leading them.”

  “We need to get you home. I don’t even care about these mortals right now,” he insisted with a nod of his head, sure of himself. This statement earned him an icy glare from Arie, who took a step back from him.

  “I-I cannot go back.”

  He pulled his eyebrows together, seriousness taking him over, “And why is that?”

  Annalise cast a nervous glance over at Ash and tried to find a way to answer him. She thought maybe he had been listening in on her conversation but she wasn’t completely sure. “The Elders believe that Ash and I are working with the fallen. Now they must think that we led them into our realm on purpose, that I raised him on purpose for some reason. They are unwilling to work with me. They want me to make it right in an unacceptable way and I am banished until I do so. I refuse, Finlay, I will not do such hideous things. We are a people of peace, and the Elders are acting as if they have lost their senses. Ash and I are going to find Endarial and her minions and make this right.”

  “No, no, no and no. You are not going to go anywhere on your own. I will go with you if you are insistent on going on this journey, but you are not going alone.”

  “Ash is going with me. I will not be alone.”

  Finlay’s eyes trailed over to Ash in consideration, “He’s quite the fighter but he’s no match against a fallen.”

  “It’s not like you would be that great,” Arie giggled from across the room, hinting that Ash would be a better hunter than Finlay.

  He chuckled slightly, but didn’t address the issue. Annalise knew that he liked his privacy, so it didn’t surprise her when he did not admit to being a seraph. She hated that Arie may have caught on with their relationship, but she could only hope that the girl was trustworthy.

  “You do not have the training it will require to take on a fallen, Annalise,” he said.

  “But you promised me that you would make sure I got out of this mess. You cannot go back on your promise if you are truly my friend,” Annalise insisted as she looked at him. He had to understand, this was the only way she knew to clear her name.

  Finlay cursed under his breath and ran his hand down his face. He shook his head in defeat , “Fine. I will help you on one condition. You must do as I say: do not, I repeat, do not engage in battle with Loki. Do what you need with Endarial and her minions, but leave him to me. Afterwards, I will speak with Leon and the Elders and we will come up with a plan.”

  “Okay,” she agreed with a nod and moved her hands to place them over his, “Thank you for taking a minute to be serious with me.”

  That’s all it took for a smile to broaden over his face. Something in the comment reminded him that he was not being his playful old self and it was enough for him to pretend things were fine again. He pulled her close into a tight hug and laughed, “Oh Annalise, ever the serious seraph. You need to loosen up, live a little. Ash here might be kinda good for you.” For a moment it was hard to breathe until he let her go and she stepped back.

  “Now,” he started, eyeing her up and down, “You are going to have to wear something a little more…appropriate than your little sundress if you’re going down to the lowest level of the planet, sweetheart.” He laughed again, taking hold of the fabric of the hem of her dress and moving it back and forth.

  Annalise slapped his hand away from her and took a step back towards Ash. She looked over at him worried, “See, he will help us. He is your friend. You should not take him so seriously.”

  “Just do as he wants and let’s get out of here,” Ash mumbled, it was obvious that he was still angry about everything that had transpired.

  “Bounty hunter,” Finlay ordered with a laugh, turning to Arie with a smile and waltzing over to her. He took her hand in his and raised it to his lips for a kiss, eyes boring into hers, “Would you be a dear and find something for Miss Anna to wear?”

  “Just a moment ago, you said you didn’t care about me.”

  “Of course I do, you know that.” He kissed her hand again.

  Arie rolled her eyes but smiled slightly, unable to resist the Finlay charm. Annalise couldn’t help but sigh in annoyance. This girl made her sick, thinking she could have Finlay and Ash both. These thoughts were alien to the seraph; worrying about the feelings of another. She just felt bombarded and confused at what she should be doing and thinking. Setting her mind on the mission, she pushed past Ash and tried not to look at him. She followed the redhead into the next room, eyes cast on the floor.

  “Welcome to the storage room. Clothes, weapons, it’s all here.” Arie shut the door behind them and leaned against it, arms crossed, “So you are the one who saved him, huh?”

  Annalise gave a small nod.

  The girl continued to study her as if she were trying to figure out something. “Are you a danger to him at all?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “You aren’t going to kill him?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “That’s what you were hinting at in there, that your people wanted you to.”

  Annalise met the eyes of the girl across from her, feeling the irritation rising in her, “I do not care what they want from me. I shall not kill him. I would rather sacrifice myself. There are…feelings of some sort. I do not know.” She waved her hand as if not to care and brush off the last few comments but she could see it in the other girl’s eyes that she was not happy with the things Annalise was saying.

  The girl pushed herself off of the door and walked over to her, arms still crossed and examining her for some reason. She stopped in front of her, tall enough to look down at her and sighed, “You are going to be a little short for my clothes and a little small in the chest but I think I can make it work.”

  She turned around and walked over to a door across the room and opened it to reveal a few sets of clothing hanging up in the small space. Annalise wasn’t sure what kind of insult the girl was trying to imply with those words, but she could tell by the sound of her voice that there was something there. She glanced over at herself in the mirror and took in her own form. She was surprised to see that she did look a little worn. Her eyes were somewhat droopy from all of the stress and worry, her long hair was tangled so that she couldn’t run her hand through it smoothly, her dress was wrinkled. If she were not certain it was impossible, she would have said that her wings were dimmer, but she knew that could never happen. Was there something about her that made mortals think that she was unattractive? And yet again, why did she care?

  Turning her attention back to the redhead, she noticed her pulling out a black slinky o
utfit for her to wear. She handed Annalise the material without a word and turned her back on her. She pulled out a second outfit for herself and began to dress. Annalise turned her eyes away from the girl, surprised at her confidence in her body to change in the same room and turned her attention to the clothing. The seraph examined the material, some sort of soft cloth, but rougher than her dress was. It was a manmade material, completely different from what she was used to, and it felt foreign against her skin.

  “Don’t just stand there, put it on so we can get this over with.”

  “Your cloth is incredibly odd,” Annalise stated as way of explanation and began to slip out of her dress. She pulled the jumpsuit on and tried to ignore the way it clung to her body, and the way the material seemed to suffocate her skin. Always wearing dresses, she had never been covered up from ankles upwards and it was incredibly uncomfortable to her. Thankfully, the back of the outfit was open, leaving plenty of room for her wings to spread out. She tied the top part of the cloth around her neck and took a look at herself in the mirror. She looked ready for a mission, ready to be out in the darkness creeping around as if a fallen.

  “Pretty good fit, considering,” the redhead said as she eyed the blonde and handed her a brush for her hair and a round pieces of stretchy cloth, “Here put your hair up in a ponytail, it will stay out of your way.”

  “I do not know what you speak of.”

  Arie let out a frustrated growl and pulled a similar piece of cloth off her wrist and did her hair up in the back.

  “It does look like a pony’s tail….of sorts…” Annalise said, running the brush through her hair several times before attempting to mimic the girl’s actions with the hair accessory. Hers did not look as high and neat as Arie’s did, but it was good enough for her. She was not concerned with her hair at the moment.

  “I wouldn’t know seraph girl, we don’t see ponies very often underground.”

  Annalise felt ashamed, she forgot how different things were down here. It made her thankful that she had grown up in her own realm, where there was animal and plant life. “That is such a shame. They are such majestic creatures.”

  Arie handed her a pair of boots as well and the seraph slipped them on, feeling completely out of sorts with her body covered. She watched Arie go over to the door and peek outside, shake her head and shut the door back, “Looks like they are having a real heart to heart. We should give them a minute before we go out there.”

  Annalise just nodded at the girl, having nothing more to say to her, and taking another glance at herself in the mirror. It was so weird to see herself in something other than a sundress, and the fact that it covered so much of her body. She raised her hand to fan herself, hoping it was cold on their journey for her outfit was uncomfortably warm. She also hoped the journey was fast because it was unnaturally itchy. But also, she couldn’t help but wonder what Ash would say about the clothing.

  Ash

  As Annalise and Arie left the bedroom, Ash turned towards his so-called friend. He thought he had known everything there was to know about Finlay. Last week, Finlay had collected Ash’s winnings and the two of them drank to their heart’s content. They had picked up females together and played cards together. The Finlay that stood in front of him now was nothing like the Finlay from last week. That boy was cocky and immature and just like Ash. This seraph that stood in front of him seemed foreign. Ash tried to calm his shaking hands, but the urge to hit something kept creeping up. He had been the one who introduced Arie to Finlay and now he was sneaking around with her behind his back.

  “Arie…is like my sister. I told you all about her. How I worried about her- how jerks tried to take advantage of her- how wonderful she is and you are- I find you-” Ash shook his head. He couldn’t even say the words. In fact, the thought of them both together made Ash sick.

  “Why do you feel the need to protect and take care of everyone?” Finlay commented as he hopped up on the dresser and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

  “I don’t feel any need for anyone,” Ash said between gritted teeth.

  Nonchalantly looking through a random book on the counter, Finlay shook his head.

  “You do. It’s in your keeper nature. They trained you to want order and peace and all that other stuff that I’ve never seen in thousands of years.”

  Ash just stared at him. He wasn’t sure what to say. The guy always had a way with words and here he was changing the subject away from Arie.

  “Don’t change the subject you cowl-eating dirt bag. I protect what is mine, and Arie…she is mine.”

  “Oh? But you don’t love her; you certainly played with her heart a bit, but you told me yourself many times- You wished she would find someone new so you didn’t feel so guilty all the time.”

  “This is different,” Ash said, willing himself to take a few steps back from Finlay. “You are going to break her heart and leave her helpless just like all the others. You couldn’t possibly have a future with her. She is a hunter and you…you…aren’t even human.”

  After he spit out the last words, Finlay didn’t say anything. It was so unlike him not to have something clever to say. Ash was a bit shocked by the silence. Yet, finally after a minute or so Finlay looked Ash’s way.

  “You know what, Ash, you’re right. We have no future, and neither do you and Annalise.”

  At the mention of Annalise’s name, Ash could no longer hold back; in a swift second his arm shot out and he sprinted across the space between him and Finlay. He couldn’t help himself. He didn’t like what Finlay was saying. He knew that Annalise and him were from different worlds, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be reminded of it.

  Completely caught off guard, Finlay took the hit straight to his jaw. His head turned slightly to the right as he hopped off the dresser. The playfulness was gone from his face. He took his hand and moved his jaw around.

  “You have had a long day, Ash, so I’m going to let that one slide. Plus you are a mortal, so I’m not allowed to hurt you.”

  Finlay took a step closer to Ash and they both locked eyes. A part of him regretted hitting his friend, but Ash was never one to keep his temper under control.

  They kept their eyes locked, each daring the other one to look away first. Finlay took a step to pass behind Ash and broke the glare.

  Ash shook his right hand as he felt blood running down his knuckles. If he had hit any normal person with that hard of an impact, Ash was sure that they would have a broken jaw. Of course, Finlay walked away with hardly a scratch.

  “Not as long a day as you will have when I tell Arie what you really are,” he mumbled under his breath. He felt Finlay freeze. Ash slowly turned around. He knew exactly what was coming. It was something he relished. Fighting was the only way he knew to relieve stress. He had been fighting since he could walk. He braced himself for the impact.

  “On second thought,” Finlay held one finger up in the air. “I really don’t follow the rules all that often.”

  Finlay put his hands up against Ash’s chest and slammed him against the wall. Ash flinched when he felt his breath leave his body. He heard the metal behind him start to give way. Ash smirked as Finlay pushed him harder against the wall.

  “Oh really?” he forced out with the remaining air in his lungs. “Because neither do I.” Ash took his left knee and swiftly jammed it right between Finlay’s legs. Ash was promptly released from the hold as his opponent fell to the floor holding his crotch in pain. Luckily, male seraphs had the same weakness as humans.

  “Try using it on Arie now, Fin.” He smirked at his victory as he stepped around him to go sit down in the main room.

  As he looked up, he noticed both girls watching from the bedroom doorway.

  “Ash- what are you doing?” Arie demanded walking up to him and punching him in the shoulder. Ash glared at her, he couldn’t believe how hard she had hit him.

  “Finlay doesn’t fight as much as you do. That was uncalled for and unfair.”

&n
bsp; Annalise peeked out from behind Arie’s tall form.

  “Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?” Annalise grabbed his arm and started to check his body for signs of injury. It was then that Ash noticed what Arie had dressed her in. Ash had to look away. If she wore that the entire trip, the fallen might as well kill him now.

  “Seriously Anna? I am not helpless. I can handle myself,” he bragged.

  Arie started in on her usual lecture. “Look where that boasting got you, Ash. You almost died once already.”

  Ash shook Annalise off of him; he certainly didn’t trust himself to be that close to her while she wore something that tight. And her hair was pulled up off her face; it kind of made her look a bit dangerous. This was something he could definitely get used to. Arie scoffed at Ash’s gawking and stomped off towards Finlay.

  “Anna you look so...” He couldn’t think of the words to use. She didn’t look so innocent and child-like anymore.

  “You look great.” He settled on the only thing that came to mind. It was a lame compliment, but he was sure she wouldn’t notice the difference. She tugged at the fabric a bit with her hands.

  “Thank you Ash. It is a bit uncomfortable, but I think it will do.” She started to frown as the sounds of yelling filled the air. She peered around him, and Ash turned around toward the sounds.

  Finlay, who looked uninjured now, stood with Arie whose face was almost as red as her hair. Ash and Annalise both stood uncomfortably as the other couple’s voices got louder.

  “I fight people all day long. Dangerous people. I am coming along. I know all about the fallen. I’ve been tracking Loki plus I have killed a few fallen along the way.” Arie demanded. Ash knew she was not being honest.

  “That’s a load of cowl and you know it.” Ash muttered. Arie shot him a look that told him to shut up, that he wasn’t helping her case against Finlay.

  Finlay shook his head firmly and put his hand on her shoulders. “I am sorry Arie, but you can’t. It’s too dangerous.”