Can I See Your Wings?

The Many Ghosts of Belleville

A/N: This was a school assignment, that I decided to make into an edition to Can I See Your Wings? . Just a fun bonus short story for it.

Zeus. A powerful young angel, who could rarely leave Ohio from his job. But finally, he can leave the state with his dear lover Hera.

"Where do you want to go?" Zeus asked him.

"Belleville."

How boring, why not Japan or something? The angel thinks to himself.

So he flies him all the way from Ohio to Belleville, Michigan. Of course, someone else had to tag along. A greedy old angel, Carlos was his name. He works between Michigan and Ohio, and he always bothered Zeus, always wanting to prove he was the most powerful. Yes, he had huge wings. Zeus loved to watch Carlos' wings flap. But, that doesn't make him powerful. In fact, he's rather weak for his age. Wielding a gun instead of a sword. Zeus may wield a scythe, but that's a very hard weapon for angels to master. The gun is an escape weapon, he can shoot from far. If he can't do close combat, that means he's weak. And Zeus had never seen him wield anything other than that puny weapon.

"So this is fun," Hera says with a blush, clearly annoyed by the white haired angel beside him. Zeus sits on Hera's back, he may be a powerful angel but his wings are puny and damaged from his. . . Accident.

"You're right, it will be," Carlos gives Zeus a side glance, his slight wrinkles curve up into a smirk. Before Hera and the two left, Carlos turned to him, telling him to watch his back. Carlos is traditional, never being open minded. And he wants power. Carlos would always tell the golden haired boy's coworkers that one who does that and one with wings like that could never be more powerful than he. Carlos tried turning others against him, Hermes and the others knew better than to believe the crazy old man but it still got on Zeus' nerves.

"What's he planning?" Zeus mumbles. Zeus was trying to win equality between demons like Hera and the angels. But Carlos is trying his dang hardest to prevent it.

When they arrive to Belleville, first stopping in a bakery for a tea and some donuts, they soon begin to realize how similar it is to Ohio. Many souls walk by. A lot more here in Michigan than there is in Ohio. Zeus and Hera are surprised by how many there are, since this is Carlos' district. They let it slide though, figuring it must be a busy day. Angels or demons will collect them soon but the three were on vacation which means no working.

"Can we look at the lake?"

"How about we wait till tonight?" Carlos says, before Zeus could say anything. "Let's check out that first," He points to a church, a sanctuary.

"Carlos," Zeus hisses, "You know he can't go in there!"

"Exactly. I don't know what you see in those demons Zeus, you used to hate them." Carlos wanders inside, leaving a blushing Zeus on the cement. St. Anthony's church.

"I'm sorry," Hera tells him, grabbing his arm, "Let's ditch him, head to the lake instead."

And so the boys do, their feet just inside the lake as they talk.

Rustle, rustle.

They turn towards the moving bush, but by the time they check it out it's already gone.

"Perhaps just the wind?" Hera says, wide eyes and shaking hands.

"Yes, probably."

Before long it's dark, Zeus asleep in the sand as Hera watches the stars from his lying position.

"You think you can interact with angels, demon?" An older voice sounds from the darkness.

Hera turns towards the bush, sitting up, but nothings there. Something jumps out from the other side, grabbing Hera's neck and holding him below the water. An older man with an evil sneer. . . Carlos.

The young demon kicked and fought, his arms around the man's wrist as he attempted to get above water. But it was no use, Hera was never a fighter. He was nervous and weak. Especially now.

"Demons don't belong with the angels, once I kill you and prove to the others that we need a war to kill you all then they'll turn against Zeus and I'll be the most powerful!" He screams, though through the waves it was hard to hear.

"You? Powerful? I'd try that again." Zeus was awake. His scythe out, as he flings Carlos into the water despite being so far away. Zeus is one of the most powerful angels. His wings are out too, torn and small, and he glows a bright orange in contrast to the dark sky. "Leave Hera alone," He growls. His scythe is usually a normal size, not too big nor too small. But today it's huge, ready to fight a long battle.

It doesn't take long for the young demon, with eyes black as night, to cling to Zeus' side. "Let's just go, it isn't worth it!" Hera yells, causing Zeus to look down.

"But-" He looks into Hera's pleading eyes before nodding, "Ok, you're right." He spins his scythe until it disappears, following behind Hera and his huge wings.

And with that the two are gone, leaving the old man behind.

"They'll pay for that," Carlos hisses, his clothes soaked as he waddles out of Belleville Lake. "An angel and a demon, pure chaos. I'll find a way to stop those two." His wings are out, his gun out too.

"Hey, who is that?" Something whispers from the bushes, "He looks familiar."

"I recognize him, we made eye contact but he still wouldn't bring me to Heaven! Just looked right through me!" Another voice sounds.

"Yeah! Yeah! He couldn't do the job right, he would look right through souls and continue on!"

"He should pay!"

"Yes! Yes! Get him!"

"W- What?" He yells, looking all around.

"Let's lock him in a shed, let him see what it feels like to be ignored!" The figures begin to huddle around him as Carlos begins to shoot, but it's no use. Bullets don't work on souls. Ghosts.

"Don't touch me! Back away!" There's gotta be ten, fifteen of them clinging on as they force him away. His enormous wings flap but the ghosts hang on. "Aaaaaa!"

"I wonder what happened to Carlos," Hermes said as he walks beside Hera, Zeus, and a few other angels. "He just up and disappeared."

"No matter, he was a horrible worker," One of the other angels says with a nonchalant look. "He made fun of my sweater too!"

Zeus and Hera exchange looks. Whatever happened to him, it couldn't have been good. But I guess you should never be greedy for power, or so close minded. And you should especially do your job. I guess he had it coming.