Azra-El Series Arc 2 Ch. 01

Author's Note: I apologize for making you guys wait so long. I do not have any major excuses besides facing a short writer's block and being busy. The chapter also took me a long time to write, as it needed a bit of research into topics that I have no knowledge in. Anyway, I hope this long ass chapter makes up for my tardiness in updating.

Editors: Chris Anow, Drastic Explorer.

Proof/Beta Readers: Pinku Lady; D5834 gave me valuable advice on forts and contributed to a few interesting ideas on angel warfare.

Sex Scene Enhancer: The first sex scene was mostly written by Drastic Explorer.

Shout out for Chris Anow: Chris, one of my editors, has been posting his own story "The Beginning" by fantasystorylover on Lit. Please give it a try, as I find his writing to be really good.

Patrons: Thank you to all my patrons who have stuck with me, despite my long absence. It really means a lot to me, and I hope you keep supporting my work. This chapter is dedicated to you guys. :)

Ted Miller, Tom Ail, Dylan, Eduardo Garcia, FallenOmega22, Fjordor, Lucas Spicer, Marcel Hearns, Daniel, Mike Siegmund, David Hunt, Pinku Lady, RogueXVII, uthr, Valkania, Clay LaVal, DNAJester, Peter Ferguson, SB, Scott S, Shan, Aporjo, Gregarious, Scolymus, Vibrant Dragon, Abhi, Alejandro Salas, ATK-49, Awilix38, B Liz, B. Vijayan, Bipen, BramBora, Brennan White, Curtis Young, D5834, Dantees, Dareliisko, David, David Whyte, Ebogie, Fips[0], Flypenguin, Frazzle_Dazzle, hexd0t, Hunter Stusynski, Jay, Joshua Rudd, Merov, Michael Wall, Niax, Oblivion, Random Task, Rui Salvaterra, Scott Knox, Stephen Lewis, Stuhero, Tllmxn, Torasque, W00tdiew00p, Wypuxx, Yamibomb112.

Lore

Colors on Azra-El: Most sentients on Azra El can see the spectrum in nine colors, one color beyond Violet, and one beyond Red. EROYGBIVT or TVIBGYORE.

"Tvinge" is a color beyond violet, with the same cool resplendency of violet. Angelic shades of tvinge are associated with ambition, drive, and devotion.

"Erus" is a color beyond red. The angels associate erus with enthusiasm, vigor, tirelessness, and being resolute. Blaze wishes he could be this color, but his shade falls between orange and red.

There are many more non-spectral colors and shades, but since both Blaze and I are male, we cannot be "bothered" with them...

Angel and demon brains: These long-lived sentients take in information as easily as humans, but they take a little bit more time to process and internalize it. However, they have better memories, so the information is retained longer.

Are they smarter or less smart than humans? That's relative. However, on a standardized IQ test, the average IQ of an adult angel would be 125. Yet, if you consider the time they'd take to learn something, they would take longer than humans.

Blaze's brain is the one part of his body that is more human than angel, but that may slowly change over the years.

Space-ring Laws

1. Space-rings are small pocket dimensions with a limited volume + limited weight. (Making space-rings with higher capacities becomes exponentially harder and expensive. Usually, only well-off angels carry around a space-ring. Most students at Tir are pretty wealthy.)

2. You cannot place one space-ring into another.

3. Placing or removing an object into a space-ring consumes energy, depending on the mass and momentum of the object.

4. The environment inside the space-rings cannot sustain complex life.

5. Destroying a space-ring will eject all its components. However, to destroy it, you need to use as much energy as is needed to remove the objects inside it + other energy losses.

Heavenly Union Army Ranks:

Ivkantry

Second Lieutenant.

Lieutenant - Platoon (Rebecca's platoon had 16 soldiers).

Captain - Centuries/Company (Rebecca is now a Captain).

Major - Battalion/Cohort.

Legate - Legion/Regiment - 4000-6000.

Major General - Division - 12,000 - 24,000.

Legate General - Corps - 36,000 - 90,000.

General - Field army - 100,000 - 300,000.

Field Marshal - Army.

Cavalry

Second Lieutenant - Flight - 4 Pegasi/Gryphon.

First Lieutenant - Squadron - 12 Pegasi/Gryphon.

Captain - Group - 48.

Major - Wing - 2 or 3 groups.

Commander - Cohort - 480.

Commodore - Brigade - 1000 - 1500.

Marshall - Division - 5000.

The common practice is to have archangels form the ranks of Captain to Legate, and deities as Generals. However, there are plenty of exceptions.

Obligatory Warnings:

1. This chapter can get a little bit cheesy and fluffy at times. I guess that makes this chapter Cheetos. :|
2. It may feel a little slow at the start, but the pace picks up after the sex scenes.
3. There are two sex scenes in this chapter.
4. There are 3 songs in the story. The first is my own silly composition. The second is "Moon River" by Audrey Hepburn. It is a beautiful song and I suggest listening to it while reading that part of the story. The third is my own version of "Beyond the Sea" by Bobby Darin.
5. I stole the following quote from Rear Admiral Grace Hopper. I believe she wouldn't mind.

The Azra-El Series

Arc 2: The Hela Empire

"Leadership is a two-way street. Respect for one's superiors; care for one's troops." -- General Wu Mei

oOoOo

LE 642, 25th Chroma (October, 7 years after the events of the previous arc.)

"To rule... is not fun, at least to those not driven solely by a thirst for power - Blaze, LE 642," Blaze thought, as he gazed down at Meihuacheng, the capital city of Xian, from the balcony of Castle Tiantang over the foothills of Mt. Wudang Xian.

The city appeared resplendent in brilliant hues of pink, red, and white. The pink was from the meihua or plum blossoms which bloomed throughout the year, despite the cold winters. The red was from the red paper-lanterns and the burgundy-tiled roofs. And the white was from the spotless whitewashed buildings and dove trees that stood grandly in almost every courtyard.

The city was surrounded by a thick forest of redwood trees whose canopies were a brilliant orange-red in the sunlight.

Blaze did not rule anything. Yet, being the face of an ever-expanding society and a company, he was constantly aware of his actions affecting the lives of many people around him. He had never been the one to hesitate over decisions but second-guessing himself had become quite a common occurrence in the recent past. It was stressful.

Every decision came with consequences--some good, some bad-- but the bad ones always tugged at his heart. As a result, even though he was not quite fond of the Empress of Xian, his "grandmother", he had come to respect her in the recent days, at least for her fortitude.

She was not an easy angel to be around or to follow; she was harsh, she was strict, she could be unempathetic, and she always put her country over her family. However, as far as he could tell, she genuinely cared and worked for the welfare of Xian and its people, though the distinction between the nation and its citizens often became blurred.

"A feather for your thoughts?" a boyish yet feminine voice broke him out of his musings.

"Yo, eoni," he greeted as Chengguan Shangdi walked over to stand by his side, and gaze at the view.

The Xian culture differentiated between older and younger sisters, and eoni was the Xian word for elder sister. CG took great delight in being called an eoni, and slowly, Blaze had come to view her as such.

"How do you do it?" he asked.

"Do what?"

"Handle the pressure of all this," he answered, waving his hand over the lands below.

CG threw him an appraising glance before responding. "I wish I could give you a poignant answer, but the fact is that I do not know how to live a different life. Grandmother always ensured that I knew my responsibilities from the moment I hatched. I often wondered how I would have been if I had not hatched as a princess, which is why I was very curious when I first heard of you. My little mei, leading a carefree and playful life...

"And when I met you, I immediately fell in love with your personality, and I wished you would remain the same forever, but it seems like shouldering responsibility runs in the family... I wish you would stop growing up so fast," she said, wrapping an arm over his shoulder and drawing him close.

CG was not aware that they were not related by energy. At first, it was just a matter of convenience for Blaze and Jie Er, but by the time he wanted to tell her the truth, he had grown afraid of how it may change their relationship.

Moreover, the memories he made on Azra-El had slowly begun to overwrite his memories of Earth. Now, Earth truly seemed like the experience of a previous life; and maybe it was. Even the faces of his family and friends had begun to blur, and the family he had adopted on Azra-El began to feel like his true family.

CG was unlike him in so many ways, but she accepted him for who he was, and Blaze was not sure if that would remain the same if she knew that they were not truly related.

"Hmph. You are just afraid that I'd become the first prince if I continue to show my awesomeness," he responded, mockingly.

"Oh, please do! In fact, why not ask grandmother to elevate your position to second princess, hmm? I would love some more free time for myself."

CG's mother was the first princess, and Jie Er was still in her self-imposed exile. That left CG and Blaze as the second and third princesses.

"Er, I am sorry, eoni," Blaze quickly apologized, "T'was just a joke. That's all. You know I respect you too much to take your place."

"Right," she said, unconvinced.

They watched the scenery in silent companionship before CG turned to face him. Suddenly, she held his face between her hands and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Eww," Blaze protested, like all younger brothers must protest towards affection from older sisters.

"Fenghuang," she spoke seriously, "I have been meaning to say this for a long time, and I never found the right moment, but I guess this is as good as any."

"Yeah?"

"No matter what the future has in store for us, I will always be there for you. I do not plan on making the same mistake my mother made with yours. So, please come to me with all that troubles you. I shall always try to be your eoni, first."

It seemed that CG had some insight into Jie Er and Ying Yue's relationship, but Blaze did not wish to learn about it from her.

He gazed deeply into her angular face and found her beautiful black eyes to be sincere.

"Okay," he nodded, and drew her into a mighty hug, lifting her off her feet. He was a little shorter than her, but he liked to show off that he was stronger.

CG laughed, and patted his back to make him set her down. "Good, now let us hurry. Grandmother wishes to speak to you about something."

***

The two princesses found Empress Nezha Shangdi in the throne room, sitting alone in deep contemplation. It was not an unusual sight.

Nezha Shangdi was three-hundred-and-ninety-nine years old, but she did not look her age. Her long black hair was held in a wide updo, crowned by a magnificent golden crown.

The crown consisted of two serpentine golden dragons rising from her hair in curving arcs to form a wide oval shape. A fist-sized emerald phoenix, with its wings spread wide, rested over the snouts of the two dragons. Six golden hairpins with emerald-studded tassels jutted out of her hair, behind the crown and equidistant from one another.

Long and heavy golden ear hangings with emerald studs dropped from her ears, almost reaching her collar bones.

Blaze often wondered how her poor neck could handle the weight of her head and everything on it.

She wore an exquisite black and gold cheongsam gown, made of silk and lined with threads of real gold. A thin purple sash held the gown tightly around the top of her waist and crisscrossed around to hang over her hips.

"Yo grams," Blaze said, searching for that almost imperceptible twitch of her right eyebrow.

Over the years, Blaze had figured out that the word "grams" annoyed Nezha more than any other form of addressal--most likely because the old coot could not figure out if he was being affectionate or plain disrespectful. She was a beautiful woman by any standard, but in Blaze's eyes, she was an old biddy.

"After your last visit to Xian, I have received complaints that you have harassed several young nobles," she stated.

"Ugh, 'harass' is such a strong word..."

The general Xianian moral compass was based on a sort of hierarchy: First, came the pride and glory of the nation. Second was the glory and welfare of the clan. And third was filial piety towards their mothers and relatives. To honor these, everything else could be pushed aside.

Thus, though most Xian angels were as empathetic as any other angel, they could ignore individual good for the "greater" good. This sort of mindset often gave rise to vainglorious young mistresses who were awfully proud of their status, and viewed everyone beneath them with scorn.

So, during his previous visit, Blaze had picked up a new hobby. He would disguise himself as a regular tramp, and go around in search of arrogant young mistresses, of whom there was no lack in the capital.

Once he found a target, he would figure out a way to pique their interest and ire. And, when they reacted flagrantly, like he wanted them to, he would show them who the real young mistress, erm, young master, was.

"I hear that your headmistress at Tir is quite talented at setting you straight. I am sure she can be persuaded to pay us a visit."

"No need to get hasty, now, grams. Lemme explain," he frantically waved his hands, making CG chuckle.

Blaze had received his second spanking when a group of carnikes, named Team Momo, that he had been secretly raising at Tir, with the help of Tonya and the latest batch of first-year minions, escaped and wreaked havoc on Tir's campus. He had not been present at Tir when it had happened, and Fiora had managed to keep the incident quiet until his visit to Tir. When he arrived, she invited him to her office and proceeded to give him another sultry ass-whooping.

He had cried out murder, protested that she couldn't spank a prince and so on, but the headmistress was unconvinced, especially as she had already received permission from both Jie Er and the Empress.

Blaze swore revenge, but for various reasons, he had become terrified of pissing off Fiora. Moreover, from that day onwards, Fiora had become famous as the only headmistress to have ever spanked a princess, and Blaze became famous as the only angel-princess to have ever warranted a spanking.

As for Team Momo, they had become the unofficial mascots of Tir Academy, and the nearby forest ended up becoming their home. Blaze's dream was to one day have an army of airborne carnikes, flying alongside him and Sky, biting the butts of any demon or angel that dared to challenge him.

"I am only teaching our nobles the virtue of humility, ya know, considering how humble I am, despite my general awesomeness," Blaze explained in a righteous manner, while keeping a straight face. "Besides, I am also helping out the common folk. You should see how some of those brats lord over them. Surely, you do not agree with such behavior!"

Nezha sighed, "When you hatch into nobility, you hatch into entitlement, and with entitlement come certain prejudices. It takes experience and guidance to get over them. They are only children. It will take time for them to be able to empathize with the common folk."

"Eoni is not like them. And, you could say that I am guiding them... in my own way," he muttered.

"Your eoni is unlike most. As for your guidance, are you not reinforcing their beliefs by treating them the same way they treat the commoners? Are you not using your own status to put fear into them?

"Regardless, in addressing such issues, you need to be tactful, which brings me to the next issue. Have you made any plans for after your visit to the Pixie Lands?" Nezha asked him.

Blaze was soon to set out to Fortress Mirian. He had only come to Meihuacheng for a short visit.

After Fortress Mirian, Blaze planned to visit Siofra's homeland, the Eastern Pixie Lands. His visit had long been coming, and it had only taken so long because Nezha had forbidden him from going without the protection of a deity. Deity Daizy Vinetree of the pixies had finally found some spare time to be Blaze's escort in the Pixie Lands.

"Er... yeah, sure," Blaze muttered, not wanting to give Nezha any reason to give him more of her education. "I've got plenty to do. I have some very important businesses to attend to. I need to attend meetings for my TBF company and uh... my society, and stuff. I think gra- Master Freja wants me to visit her for another training session. I also wish to visit Kamikoku. I hear they have a special type of ma-"

"Your official coronation will occur during my fourth centenary celebrations, next year." Nezha cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"From then until the start of your next school year, you will stay here, and attend court. You shall learn the etiquettes and intricacies of ruling a nation," she said, in a tone that left no room for argument.

"Why do I have to bother with all that? Eoni will be the future empress. I am fine with what I am doing now," he disagreed. Etiquettes are for plebs.

"Do you remember my words when you asked me what it takes to be a princess of Xian? You made me a promise, and this is a part of it."

Drat. "I guess I am destined to suffer for the good of the HU..."

"It is good that you understand. Now, come sit by my side, and tell your sister and I of your recent adventures," she said, a slight smile finally sprouting on her face.

Age had made Nezha a better grandmother than she had been a mother.

"Only if you let me sit on your lap."

But somehow, age had only made Blaze more childish.

oOo

LE 642, 1st Liber

Fortress Mirian had been a bastion for the city of Anyin, a Xian city at the northwestern border of Aranya and Xian, for over a thousand years. However, the ever-changing nature of warfare and the introduction of a special type of explosive, a few hundred years ago, had made traditional fortifications somewhat obsolete on Azra-El. Now, the fortress mainly served to garrison the 7th HU division--18,000 soldiers-- that served to protect the surrounding lands.

The city of Anyin, a strategically important port for the HU, was precariously situated at only fifty yonders from the border of the Hela Empire, and the mountain range that demarcated Xian and the Hela Empire was not high enough to keep out the demonic invaders by itself. If conquered, it could provide the demon invaders with access to the Purple Sea which bordered Xian, Aranya, and the Caledonian empire. As such, an entire division of the HU army, led by General Wu Mei, was stationed at Mirian.

Blaze's carriage hovered in the sky as he peered out his window, taking in the view of the massive star-shaped, octagonal fortress. The early morning sun began to peep over the Purple Sea, and a curtain of golden light swept across the land, illuminating the fortress.