Half and half

chapter 12

Chapter 12

The good thing: I didn’t try to hug a tree. The bad thing: I kind of miscalculated where we landed. We ended up three miles east of the place. I sighed; I was too tired to teletransport again. “I’m not walking three miles.” Ethan complained when I explained the dilemma. I rolled my eyes, even if he couldn’t see me. “I’ll fly you there.” Ethan’s eyes widened and he hesitated for only a moment, “you mean you’re going to angel-up on me? Cool! I wish I could see it though.” I sighed and said, “talk about flight, flying, wings, etc.” he thought for a minute, then began lecturing me in a bird’s flight properties. Almost immediately, much faster than the other times, my wings sprouted. I staggered slightly. Ethan stopped talking and stared at me. Like, right at me. “You can see me?” I asked, exited. Ethan didn’t answer, but I could tell by his awed expression he could. He stepped forward and brushed the tip of my wing with his finger. He blinked in surprise, “they’re soft! Like satin.” He told me. I shrugged and my wings extended completely, and lifted, throwing a shadow over him. “Come on.” I told him. I’d never flown with anybody before, and it was hard. Ethan weighted a ton and he dragged me down. “I can’t take off with you. You’re too heavy. We need momentum.” I panted. “Climb that tree.” I told him, pointing to a really tall one. Ethan didn’t look convinced, but he walked over to it. I rose into the air easily, and soared until I was level with the top of the pine tree. I perched on a thin branch, like an odd bird, swaying with the rhythm of the wind. Ethan was a good climber in the gym, and this was no exception. He hung from a branch a few feet from where I perched. My wings quivered, eager for flight. “When I tell you jump, you throw yourself forward, ok? And don’t hesitate. Or you fall.” I warned him, taking in the surrounding forest and calculating trees and spaces. “Ok, jump.” I said calmly. Ethan took a deep breath and leapt from the branch, into the open space. He screamed as he flew up, then began falling… falling. I threw myself from the branch, without beating my wings, so I hurtled downward. Right before Ethan could hit the ground, I grabbed his shirt and extended my wings. The altitude and the fall had let us gain speed, so the moment I spread my wings, I shot forward faster than a bullet. Ethan kept screaming his head off, but I ignored him. I dodged trees at a thousand miles per hour, my black hair blown back from my face. I beat my wings slightly and rose above the treetops. I had never felt this powerful before, and to my surprise, something… weird happened. Well, weirder, considering the circumstances. The air began to vibrate, to shake and there was a sonic boom and I shot forward. By shot forward, I mean that in three seconds, I had passed the Principia; I spun in the air, my movements careful and controlled. Ethan had stopped screaming and I wondered if he was okay. I shook him out of my thoughts almost immediately when I dropped a few feet. So I let my instincts take over. I flew at impossible speeds. An eagle in full flight appeared to hover in mid-air, although I knew he was flying fast. My breathing was calmed, controlled. I wasn’t afraid, not at all. I saw the Principia rushing toward us. I kept the speed, taking stock, of everything. It seemed every single boy at the school had gathered at the training grounds. Two figures, one in pastel green and the other in black, stood in front of the others and I realized they were dividing. I realized I could hear them, which was weird, since I was flying thousands of feet in the air, “…he can’t, no. But he’s with a human boy. He’s tall, blond and a jerk.” That was Thaila, of course. “Yeah and...” whatever he was going to say, I was getting bored, so I interrupted. I let myself fall freely forward, tucking my wings close to my back and gripping Ethan’s shirt tighter. I swooped in with an incredible effort not to tackle anyone. I shot through the students, making them yell and panic. The gusts created by my wings knocked nearly everyone over.  I flared my wings and majestically landed on top of Dimitri. “Sorry.” I said, flicking my wings, making me stand up. I left a stunned Ethan on top of Dimitri. Soon Ethan flew over my shoulder, as Dimitri got annoyed. “We can see you!” Thaila exclaimed. I shook my head. She frowned and opened her mouth, but I tucked my wings in. I looked down at my body. It wasn’t there. The crowd, just getting up, gasped. Dhaile parted the crowd as easily as if she had pushed them aside. She looked me up and down, like right at me. “You can see me.” I didn’t sound surprised. She nodded, “you can’t hide from an angel.” She looked like a 20 year old now. I didn’t bother asking. Then her words hit me. I straightened. “An angel? You mean-oh.” And suddenly got it. I recalled when she told me the first time here. ‘Unless someone told you about my curse.’ Her golden eyes. Her frustration with my lack of flight. It now made sense. She had betrayed the angels by forming the Principia, and she had been cursed. She looked like a little girl at dawn, she grew older as the day progressed, and she died in the evening. In the morning, she appeared again. She regarded me with intelligent eyes, “you’re smarter than you look.” She informed me. “Uh, thanks. I guess.” I said startling Thaila, who had been trying to reach me. She was a few feet away from here I actually stood. I grabbed her arm impatiently and yanked her toward me. She gasped. I let her go. She frowned, batting the air in front of her. I rolled my eyes while Dhaile looked amused by her tries. Finally, she ran into me. Her head barely came up to my shoulder. Then Dhaile resumed talking. “Yes, you know about me now. Congratulations nobody had figured it out until now. We’ll come into my office.” She invited.

  Once seated in her office, or in Dimitri’s case, sprawled on the sofa, she got out a whiteboard. It was such a regular object in such a weird place, it was a bizarre sight. I stared at it. Ethan frowned, seemingly as appalled as I was. There she drew a perfect impression of a man. She even drew a big heart. It wasn’t the girly two curves heart. It was a real-life drawing, of an ugly and red organ. Then she cut the body and the heart in two halves with her blue marker. I blinked. “This is your part angel.” She told me, drawing golden stripes in the left side of the body and the right side of the heart. “And this, is the part of you that’s still human.” She drew the right side of the body in black and the left side of the heart. “You can turn to either because of the heart. It balances everything. But sometimes, you become more angel than human. Angels are invisible to humans, of course, and because almost everyone delves more deeply in their human part, they can’t see you.” I frowned, and before I could stop myself, “Thaila can see me.” I said. Thaila turned to Dhaile, frowning. Dhaile looked at Thaila up and down, then at me. Her eyes flicked between us. “That’s different.” She said reluctantly. “How so?” I asked, puzzled. “To turn human,” Dhaile said, abruptly ending the other conversation. “To turn, you have to think human. Think of the ugliest, most disgusting human, and believe me, you’ll turn.” She said, an odd expression on her face. I closed my eyes and thought of my uncle. I remembered his two quivering chins, piggy eyes, massive bulk, and greasy black hair. I scrunched up my nose. Everyone in the room gasped when I materialized next to Dhaile. Ethan scrambled back. I grinned, “I did it! Why did I turn anyway?” Dhaile frowned and asked another thing, “What were you doing?” So we took turns telling Dhaile of the golden eyes, Dimitri and Thaila tearing me nearly in halves, telling Ethan, the tree, the snowball fight, the avalanche, the miscalculation, and finally, carrying Ethan back. Then, Thaila and Dimitri told her of splitting up, then how Thaila, then Dimitri had felt a powerful half-angel on the small snow bank. Dhaile said nothing for a long time then, “that’s why.” I frowned, “that’s why, what?” I asked, confused. Dhaile rolled her yellow eyes and said, “that’s why you disappeared. In the snow, Ethan, Dimitri, and Thaila could blend. So when you couldn’t fit in with the landscape, you didn’t want to be seen, of course. So you turned invisible in a defense system you didn’t know you had.” I blinked. Suddenly, I thought, I don’t want anyone to see me, no one, and help!  Immediately, the hand I was staring at disappeared. Ethan didn’t notice at first but when a disembodied voice said, “cool!” he gaped. Thaila was trying to spot me. Dhaile looked pleased. Dimitri had his eyes narrowed. Then he disappeared. Thaila squealed and Ethan fell on his butt, looking stunned. And I could see Dimitri, even if it was obvious no one could. He glanced around and when he spotted me, he looked surprised, “hey newbie.” He said. “Wait, let me try something.” I said, considering the circumstances. Then I walked toward him and punched his arm. My fist connected solidly and he flinched, more in surprise than pain. “I can touch you. Dhaile, can you touch him?” I asked. Maybe we didn’t disappear, maybe they’d be able to touch us. Dhaile walked toward Dimitri and poked his abdomen. “Ow.” He said, indignant. She grinned, “That answers your question?” she asked me. I grinned and nodded. Thaila looked as if she was having trouble pooping. “You okay?” I asked, strangling a laugh. She looked distressed, “I can’t turn invisible. Dimitri can, you can, Dhaile probably can, and I can’t!” she wailed. I smiled, and then remembered she couldn’t see me and thought of my uncle. Human immediately. Thaila barely flinched. “You’ll get it. I'm sure.” I told her. She turned her big green eyes toward me, totally trusting.