Nepenthe

When each coin met Jia's supple lips, the glowed brightly a faint green to accommodate its golden sheen. The color resembled Jia's wings. Jia flew up to the mouth of the volcano and said in her beautiful, monotonous voice. I never heard her voice so quick and precise, it was completely unlike her normal hesitant and slow words, "I request an audience with those who reside in the heavens." Jia tossed the coins into the volcano, which fell into its deep maw that eventually led to a bountiful fount of magma.

Eventually, the coins hit their mark, and a fiery beam of bright light erupted from the volcano's mouth, instantly piercing the sky to God knows where. The ash that continuously fell down from the sky was blown away from the volcano. I stared in astonishment at the pillar of fiery light. This was reality, a reality where magic no longer belonged to fictional entertainment. If I lived through this, I knew it would be no longer possible for me to live in my old world, my new world would be immersed in the impossible existences known as magic and dragons.

As I swallowed my breath in order to accustom myself to my new reality, Jia flew back down to our location, though she stayed at least two meters above ground. It seemed like she was slowly nearing my position, though I kept this smartly to myself.

"So when will they appear, Fucanglong?" Asked Director Luther to Jia.

"Soon..." Jia looked upwards, I didn't see it, but her eyes narrowed down like a snake or a hawk, she then said, coldly, "Now..."

Like she said, another strange sight appeared before my eyes. I continued to stare in utter bewilderment and perplexity at the new players in the scene. All I could describe them as was like this- angelic.

I should have been thinking about the situation much more seriously, but all I could think of was, 'Wait, so all along religion was right? Fuck, I should've gone to church more. I mean, if angels exist, then so must a god... And demons too. Just what the hell is wrong with the damn world all of a sudden?'

This was too much of an overload for my brain, and I nearly fainted due to shock. Though my tenseness to the situation, for Jia and I, kept me awake and aware. It didn't matter if Jia was a dragon or not, I still cared about her. I brought her in with me, I'm the one who has to bear responsibility for my actions, and I will do what I can to protect her. Though if I think about it, dragons don't need protection, do they? Nepenthe must have been an extremely powerful drug in order to subjugate dragons.

"Finally, they're here. Don't attack Daniels... Yet." Ordered Luther to his subordinates.

Daniels nodded and motioned to his fellow agents as well as the dragon girls. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew this entire event would not end peacefully, my intuition told me that much. Just what sort of insane request did Luther want of these guys?

"Jia Fucanglong, it has been a long time since you last called to us. A century or two I believe? What is it you wish to speak to us about?" One of those angel guys spoke, though completely disregarding everyone but Jia.

The angels in question numbered four, two males and females. They wore a strange set of plate armor that one should only see back in medieval days. The armor was white gold, with a unique insignia on each angel. As for the angels themselves, each one had skin that was pale to a certain degree. They all, except for one of the females who had wheat blonde hair, had white hair like an albino. Each of the angels were undoubtedly beautiful, the two males would definitely be considered male models to females, and the two females could both be seen as beauties resembling fairies. Still, my previous description paled in compare to their other features. On the backs of each angels were a set of majestic white; feathery wings that all flapped in union to keep their flight going. They also had halos in the color of their hair hovering above their heads, each of which emitted a small glow. All in all, I knew it was right of me to be scared of them.

After she was spoken to, Jia looked forlorn and looked away.

"I cannot be expected to believe that you called us for a purely social visit, Miss Fucanglong. May I infer that the humans and fellow sisters of yours are involved with your calling us?" Asked the same male angel from before. This particular angel had more of a tall build to him compared to his compatriots. His voice seemed unusually tranquil, as well as fervent at the same time.

"Yes, I had Fucanglong call you here, on behalf of Theta Sector that belongs to the United States of America. We want to speak with those in Heaven." Yelled out Luther, I could see a faint crazed look in his eyes. Is it the classic stereotypical insane government official archetype we have going here?

The male angel stared at Jia for several more long seconds before switching his gaze to Luther with frosty eyes. His expression was reticent, and it took a small while before he spoke back, "And you are, human?"

"I'm the Director of Theta Sector, Mr. Luther to you." So much for being polite in your introduction damn retard, I thought. Luther continued on, "What can we call you?"

"Since you seem to be acquainted with Miss Fucanglong, I do not see the trouble in introducing myself. My name is Saraquel. What is your business with my kind?"

"I want to open negotiations with your kind in Heaven to our nation." Luther smiled when he said that.

That of course can't be everything he wants, I knew that much already.

"We do not associate with any political organizations in the human world, I apologize with this. Fucanglong here is one of the few ways we even keep in contact with the human world." Replied Saraquel simply.

That makes sense. Angels must be extremely powerful, even in this new existence of magic. The only other ways I can think of that they keep in contact with the "human world" is through the numerous Christian sects and churches. Heck, they're probably even texting buddies with the Pope in the Vatican.

"We humans are growing in power, you cannot ignore us any longer! Not even those demons in their realm." Luther shot back instantly.

"I normally do not stray this far with my words, but I say this: Do not be anymore arrogant. I am not the one who decides if we will be in contact with political organizations in the human world or not." Saraquel then turned to Jia, ignoring Luther again. "Miss Fucanglong, why are you allowing yourself to be controlled? Surely you are strong enough to resist, no human group can keep a dragon under control. Killing a dragon is one thing, enslaving a dragon is an entirely different matter."

Jia finally spoke to Saraquel, "I do not... Remember why... Only that... I and my... Sisters... Are all... Enslaved."

Another of the angels, the female with blonde hair whispered something into Saraquel's ears, though I couldn't hear it, this is what she said, "Five of her sisters are on the ground below us, as she said, they seem to be under control somehow."

Saraquel's eyes widened at her words, "Truly... Yes, you are not lying, I can tell that. " Without turning his head, Saraquel called out to the fuming Luther, "How have you subjugated Miss Fucanglong and her sisters? I regret to say that this is not a question that I can accept no answer to."

"How am I the one who's arrogant here? Especially with those words. Even we must keep secrets, and we will defend them." Retorted Luther.

"How about you five, Misses Y Ddraig Goch, Wildrose, Con Rit, Hydra, and Lamia? If I feel for it, I can sense a latent power that is holding your minds. I sense it in you as well, Miss Fucanglong."

None of the dragons girls spoke, and while they kept their gaze fixated on the angels, I could see hesitance in their faces, especially in Ddraig's face.

"Stop ignoring us, Mr. Saraquel. I will have you speak to us eye to eye and toe to toe." Warned Luther with his growing animosity. It seemed like my earlier prediction about this situation not ending in peace was going to be the case.

Saraquel continued to stare at the dragon girls, waiting for a reply, seemingly oblivious to Luther's words.

Luther spat on the ground and wiped the sweat off of his chubby face, "Daniels! Warn them!"

Daniels nodded and flicked his hand at one of his fellow agents. The agent in question muttered several words that I couldn't hear, but at the end of his words, he shot his hand out and an arc of dark; shadowy energy burst forth and sped off at Saraquel. Though considering the trajectory, as the arc was meant for a warning and would have missed, one of the angels, the white haired female moved in front of Saraquel and traced her arm in a circle. In her circle, tangible white light appeared and formed a shield of light. The dark arc slammed into the shield and dissipated at its center, the sides of the arc that didn't hit the shield broke off and flew in the air past all the angels into the sky.

The female angel asked, "May I?" To Saraquel without moving.

Saraquel stared down on all of us, though it seemed like I was an exception to his eyes. "The arrogance you speak of is nonexistent. Your conceited audacity is a result of humans believing that they are a match for our kind and the demons, which is not true. You have yet to turn into a race that accepts the unacceptable, science, as you all like to put it, is not yet a match for our power. Whether the human race in general focuses on science or magic is up to them. Though we will not accept them forcing their way into our politics until they can match us evenly, lest they might receive genocide from any of the sides in our conflicts. It is not arrogance, it is a sad truth; one that I wished was not true. Iries, you may."

The angel named Iries angled down and shot herself almost instantaneously at the agent who attacked with his magic. I could see the angel's feet emit a trail of misty light, as if she was being propelled forward. She formed a sort of solidified light, which eventually transformed into a long sword. She neared the agent before anyone could react and cleanly cut through his midsection with her sword. I stared dumbstruck at the sight of a human being completely cut through and killed. Was this what the world of magic entails? A cruel and gory death?

"So its come to his? Well, I was planning to do this sooner of later. Daniels! Capture at least one of the angels alive, we'll have to kill the others if capturing more than one is impossible!" Ordered Luther as he stepped back from the angels.

Daniels hesitated only a single second before receiving and went through with them, "Dragons! Engage the angels, full authorization of your abilities is given. Magic users, suppress the angels with your dark spells, the rest of us, take cover!"

"I see, so it has come to this..." Saraquel said sadly. "Iries, Nathan, and Soriel, eliminate our aggressors. Though please be sure to not kill the dragons. I've no wish to see their deaths because they have somehow been enslaved.

The angels next to Saraquel, along with Iries who was on the ground all nodded and sped off engaging multiple targets with their own weapons and magic. Soon the area turned into an action movie seen where people began flinging light and dark spells at each other while also engaging some with their melee weapons.

The agent behind me must have been a magic user, as I heard him begin to chant what I suspected was a spell. I knew I couldn't let these suits win, so I plowed my elbow in the agent's stomach, causing him to lose track of his spell. To be honest, I was running low on my sanity fumes, so I went moved purely on instinct. I ran towards the area where Jia was floating above. I had to do something to get her out of the fray.

I could see her just floating there mournfully staring at the ground. It was only when I entered her field of view that she budged. "Jia! Come on, get down here, let's get away from here before we're caught in it." I begged of her.

"Cahlan... I am... Sorry." Jia burst into tears and began to cry despite the situation.

"Don't be! You did what you could, let's just get out of here!" I kept urging her on so that we could escape safely.

While Jia float down, it didn't seem like she was willing to move from that vertical point. "Cahlan... I am... Sorry... For meeting you... That day. I am... Sorry for... Being... Selfish... And asking you... Take care of... Me. I am... Useless." She confessed morosely.

I pulled her over behind a small trench so we could take cover; just as we entered the trench, several bolts of light his the ground though I doubted those attacks were meant for us. "Jia! You are not useless! Well, sure... I guess I take care of you, feed you, teach you how to use appliances, show you how to act properly in society, and even now, I'm helping you escape. Though I never once regretted doing those things!" While that was technically a lie, I didn't regret anything now, that much I knew.

Jia stared solemnly at my eyes that continued to stream tears. I pulled her into my arms so that I could hug her. I wasn't sure how to comfort Jia, but I knew that my hugging her wasn't purely for her. My nerves have been greatly rattled by the things that just happening and are happening right now. "Jia, if anything, I'm the one who was useless. I couldn't bring back your memories, I couldn't protect you from the sector guys, and I caused you to be hurt when you fought for me before. Seriously, you do so much for me that you don't realize."

I wasn't sure what clicked in Jia, but her eyes immediately stopped tearing up and returned to their beautiful clear blue state. I sounded that convincing?

"Cahlan... Are you not... Scared of me?" She asked.

I replied with a confused voice, "Why would I?"

"I am a... Dragon... After all."

I couldn't help but release a relieved laugh that didn't fit the situation. "Whether you're a dragon or not has nothing to do with it. You can be a mouse for all I care and I would never be scared of you. Well, if you attacked me, I might be a little scared... Though I know you'd never do that. What I mean is, well, I will never be scared of you, not even if you're a twenty foot fire breathing lizard. You're still Jia, right? Jia Fucanglong, the Dragon of Treasure."

Her eyes were still slightly off, so I took a deep breath and said, "Tell you what, what if I said this: Jia, I love you."

I love you.

No matter how many times I said words like that before, it didn't compare to now. Previously, I always thought that people who said this to each other were complete jokes. I couldn't comprehend why it was so hard to say that phrase to a girl. I always viewed love in the sarcastic sense, and while I had a girlfriend before, I never figured love could come in the picture and be possible. I could now see why people said those three words, and those who said them in a play, movie, or TV show could not compare to the actual thing. I meant those words, and I would follow through with them.

"Uwah?" Jia sputtered out. Her lips were quivering and her cheeks went a full red. Her eyes seemed to glow an even more intense blue than before and her wings (which were still present) fluttered around like a butterfly. "I... Uh... You... Um... Wha?" After hearing her incredibly cute mumbling, I grew a little aggressive by kissing her.

Retracting from the hug a little, I looked into Jia's face and affirmed that she was someone I loved. I pulled her in, ceasing her stuttering with a kiss. A thought in the back of my mind couldn't help but say how cliché this was, but I didn't care. I felt Jia try to pull herself away, but her resistance was weak. Chuckling in my mind, I reinforced the kiss.

I kissed around her closed lips, licking around and sucking on her lips. With each action, her resistance grew weaker and weaker until she gradually accepted and immersed herself. She received my tongue with her own and pulled it into her mouth. She sucked on my tongue while also enclosing my mouth with her own set of soft lips.

While I wanted to continue this blissful moment for as long as possible, there was a much more pressing matter at hand.

Currently, there was an all out battle between government agents along with their enslaved dragon girls against extremely powerful angels. All because I gave a pretty girl some food that I bought. I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited, this situation was much more exciting than any experience I've encountered in my life. I shook my head, I knew that if I didn't calm down and think, I really could die. I peered out from the trench to see what was going on, and it wasn't that pretty.

I half expected the angels to be taken out, considering the number disadvantage. In actual fact, the favor was more in the angel side, even with only three of them engaged in battle. Still, it seemed like the angels weren't omnipotent, as I saw one of them receive a heavy blow from one of the dragon girls.

Actually, if I analyzed the battle even more closely, I would say that the angels were losing, though by a needle's width. Even so, despite the angel's hardships, Saraquel refused to move from his position. If anyone attacked him, either with a ranged or melee attack, it would be nullified by a diversion of pure white light.

I surveyed the area along with Jia. I couldn't see the location of Director Luther. He was probably hiding his fat ass behind some of his fellow suits while he waited for the calm. One of the angels, the blonde female named Soriel was engaged in a fight with one of the dragon girls, Wildrose I believe her name was. The other male, Nathan was engaging several agents, he nimbly dodged or blocked their bullets and spells. The other female, Iries was also fighting a dragon girl named Con Rit. I could barely believe myself, once again, when I saw Ddraig.

Ddraig was fighting against one of her sisters, Hydra. Just what possessed her to... Well, whatever her intentions were, she was on our side. Did I somehow manage to convince her with our conversations before? No matter, all I had to know in this intense arena was that Ddraig was taking some of the attention from the angels and on her, keeping one of her sisters busy. Wait, I see four of the five dragon girls, Jia excluded, where was the fifth? Oh shit, why do I have to say that? Judging by how fiction goes, the obvious answer as to where she is...

"Sister, so this is where you are hiding? I always wanted to know why you were given special treatment back at the facility, and so now I know why. I really... Hate you." Jia's sister, the one whose name was Lamia, appeared in the area behind us above the trench. "Come on, get up here, let's see those martial arts that your so proud of. I'll smash it with my ability. I WILL CUT YOU DOWN!" I could only describe Lamia's voice as psychotic.

Lamia flung out her arms to the sides. I expected a weapon in her arm, like with all of the other dragon girls, though all I saw were bare hands. Did she fight hand to hand like Jia did? No... What's that coming out of her hands? Claws?

Like I thought, wicked claws formed from Lamia's fingers. Each one had jagged edges and a keen tip. I didn't know where they came from in her body, but I assumed Lamia's transformation with her hands was the same as Jia when she formed her wings.

"Cahlan... You have... Done so much... Let me... Do more." Jia proclaimed with a confident voice I never heard from her before.

I should have said something, though all I could do was smile wryly as Jia leapt out of the trench several meters away from Lamia. She was not going to run from this battle and I could do nothing to stop her.

-

Saraquel

'This is as I expected. Though I did not realize humans have grown this much. To find a way to enslave dragons... No, this was not of their own power, merely from borrowing power of others. Those irritable pagan gods had to go and create something of that level, Nepenthe.' Saraquel found himself deep in his thoughts. If anyone else were in this unpredictable battlefield, they would find themselves at the center of attention and immediately attacked, which he was. Several humans fired dark spells at him. At least they knew that dark magic was the most potent magic against angels. Each of the dark spells and bullets from the human's guns were dispersed by Saraquel's habitual light barrier.