12 X

Asha watched Penelope with narrowed eyes, and the angel only gulped under her intense gaze. Shawn shrugged. "I asked her to dance." He turned to Penelope. "This is Asha. They are a friend."

The demon in question, Asha, nodded. "Right, and now we need to get back to your other friends. You know, the ones without halos," she added.

Penelope outstretched her hand to Asha. "Um, I'm Penelope. It's nice to meet you!"

Asha studied Penelope for a moment, before turning his gaze back to Shawn. "Let's go. Everyone's waiting; we wanna get out of here." While Aries' anger toward the angels was undeniably justified, Asha simply disliked them for everything they had that Hella didn't. And that poisonous resentment combined with Asha's naturally dry, aloof nature made for sharp cruelty toward the Celestians.

Shawn's expression remained neutral. "You don't give me orders, Asha," was the clipped response.

Asha must've seen the glint in Shawn's eyes because she lowered her gaze. "Of course."

Shawn nodded, turning back to Penelope. "My apologies. Asha can be... irritable at times."

Penelope nodded, but before they could say anything, another figure approached them. He had light brown hair and eyes, as well as large demon horns jutting from his head. "What's taking so long?" he asked.

Asha sighed. "Shawn's been dancing with a pompous bird-girl."

Penelope had had enough of Asha's coldness toward her. They closed their eyes for a few moments and when she opened them again, Asha was sobbing on the floor without explanation. Penelope smiled; manipulating emotions was one of her specialties. The brown-haired boy watched the scene unfold with wide eyes. "What the fuck?" he muttered. "Why the hell is he crying? I thought the girl didn't have emotions!"

Shawn's eyes narrowed and he looked over at Penelope. She said nothing and he seemed to put the pieces together. "Fix it," he whispered, and hearing the deadly tone of his voice, Penelope did as they were told.

Asha was dry-eyed and standing in no time. They frowned. "What the fuck was that?"

Everyone shrugged and she seemed to dismiss it, turning to Shawn. "Can we go now?" Before Shawn could answer, a faint found them! rung out from across the ballroom and Penelope turned around to see three more demons running toward them. "Oh, wonderful," Asha muttered.

There was a tall boy with deep brown hair and startling blue eyes, a purple-streaked blonde girl with blue-green eyes, and a short girl with black hair and hazel eyes. Shawn arched a brow. "Aries, Lizbeth, Gemma; what is it?"

"We were looking for all of you!" The raven-haired demon, Gemma, exclaimed. "First you disappeared, then Asha, and then Sam! We thought someone kidnapped you!"

Shawn chuckled. "I'm fine."

The blonde, Lizbeth, arched a brow at Penelope. "Who's this?"

Penelope smiled in a warm greeting. "I'm Penelope! It's nice to meet you."

Lizbeth just nodded in return. "I'm Liz-"

"Pip!" Penelope turned around and found Camilla and Terrance running up to her. Camilla looked flustered with her skirt in her hands, while Terrance's hands were filled with food. "What are you-" Camilla paused upon seeing the demons.

"What are you doing here?" Terrance finished with a mouthful of cake.

Penelope gestured to the demons. "I was talking with them."

Camilla frowned slightly. "Oh. Well we thought you went missing, but apparently not!" She smiled brightly, turning her gaze to the others. "Sorry, I'm Camilla. This is Terrance," she gestured to the figure beside her, stuffing his face with chocolate-covered berries.

Gemma tilted her head to the side. "I'm Gemma. This is Asha, Sam, Libby, Shawn, and Aries," she pointed out each individual.

Camilla nodded, still smiling. "It's great to meet you! Now, if you'll excuse us, we have places to be," she gestured for Penelope to follow her and Terrance away, but not before Penelope gave Shawn a quick thank-you and goodbye.

When the others were out of earshot, Terrance turned to Penelope. "What were you thinking?" he asked her.

"Shawn asked me if I wanted to dance," she replied simply.

Terrance's expression was full of concern. "He could have sliced you open!"

Penelope frowned. "Well, he didn't. He was actually quite the gentleman."

Terrance opened their mouth to object, but Camilla cut him off. "We were just worried, that's all. You had been gone a while."

Penelope shrugged sheepishly, tucking their wings tighter. "Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't mean to ditch you guys!"

Camilla smiled, pulling her into a hug. "No worries." The trio soon arrived back at the Queensguard's table, where Leo, Charles, and Valerie were waiting.

"What happened?" Charles asked, brows furrowed.

Penelope took a deep breath. They knew that Charles and Valerie might explode when she told them who she was with. "Well, I went dancing, and then-"

"Who did you dance with?" Valerie asked cooly. Neither Penelope, Camilla, nor Terrance knew how Valerie had sensed that that was an important detail, but Penelope obliged.

"His name is Shawn."

"And?"

"And... he's a demon."

Charles rocketed from his chair. "What?" he growled. "You were dancing with a demon?" Her nod was almost imperceptible. Almost. "I can't believe you, Penelope. We were given direct orders to stay away from them, and what do you do? Dance. You're a pathetic excuse of a warrior, you know that? Pathetic," Charles spat. "We're all going to be punished because of your reckless actions! I hope you burn in Hella; or, what would be even better, is if you never existed here in the first place," he shouted before storming out of the ballroom.

Penelope's coffee-brown eyes were glossy and her cheeks were streaked with tears. Terrance wrapped his arms around her and they buried their face in his neck, shoulders shaking. Valerie walked over to where they stood and Penelope looked up at her. Valerie hugged Penelope to her in a tight embrace, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I will speak to him," she whispered before turning around and exiting the ballroom.

Valerie was upset with Penelope too; she'd disobeyed the Queen's direct orders to stay away from the demons unless the situation was unavoidable. But what Charles had just said... Valerie shook her head. She'd certainly have to have a word with him.

Valerie found Charles leaning against a nearby pillar with his head in his hands. When he saw her, Charles's angry expression fell and turned into relief. "I'm so glad you're here," he approached her, "we need to discuss the proper punishment for-" a loud crack echoed through the hall as Valerie's palm connected with Charles's cheek.

"You will never speak to any of my Queensguardians like that again; are we clear?" Valerie breathed. Charles nodded vigorously. Valerie smiled, but it was without any trace of joy. "Good. You've been demoted."

Charles's mouth hung agape. "What? You-you can't just do that-you-"

"I just did," Valerie murmured. "Terrance will be taking your place." She gave him another smile and made to turn away. "Enjoy the Ball," she added before leaving Charles by the pillar and opening the ballroom doors.

Valerie made her way back to the table her friends were at, where Penelope had calmed down and the group seemed to be playing a game. "I took care of him," Valerie announced as she sat down. "And Terrance," he looked over at her, "you've been promoted."

Terrance's eyes widened, as did the rest of the group's. "Wow, thank Val," he grinned. Valerie inclined her head.

Leo stood up with a hand clutching his chest. "How dare you!" he cried dramatically. "I'm so much more handsome than Terr! How could you betray me like this?" he collapsed in his chair, earning laughs and applause from the table.

"Astounding!" Camilla remarked. "Truly inspiring!" Terrance and Penelope were applauding as well, though the latter still seemed shaken by Charles' outburst earlier.

Leo stood up and bowed dramatically before resuming his seat. "Thank you, thank you."

A large clock above the ballroom doors struck three, startling the group. Camilla stood up, brushing her skirts. "Well, I think I'm gonna head out. I'll see you all tomorrow!" she waved to her friends and began making her way toward the ballroom doors.