VII

"Not gonna lie, I'm pretty excited," Samuel stated after a few moments of silence, while the aerocraft flew smoothly. Aries shot his friend a cold glance and Samuel raised his hands in defense. "What? We get free food for a night!"

Lizbeth nodded, chuckling. "True, true."

Asha stayed silent for most of the trip. Whenever someone made to talk to him, they would either see the blue-haired demon staring out the window or taking a nap.

Gemma occupied herself by talking with Lizbeth the entire flight. The pair chatted for hours about countless things, including their top five favorite weapons and what color scheme they would use on the interior of their dream castle. "I'm thinking lots of purple," Gemma decided. "And silver."

Lizbeth nodded. "Yeah, purple totally suits you." She gave Gemma an up-and-down before bobbing her head again. "For me, I'd say lots of silver. It's classy."

Aries napped throughout most of the trip, and when he wasn't asleep he was being poked in the cheek by Samuel, who did his best to thoroughly annoy every other Hellguardian before they arrived in Celestia. "Does this help? Are you going to sleep faster? I bet this is super-"

"Sam," Aries spoke calmly and Samuel cocked their head to the side in answer, pausing with his finger still on Aries' cheek. "If you don't take your hand off of my face right now, you won't have it anymore."

Needless to say, Samuel stayed far away from the dark-haired demon for the rest of the trip.

Shawn, like Asha, stayed quiet for most of the flight. The only times he engaged with the rest of the passengers were when he was trying to get rid of Samuel or when he needed a drink or bite to eat. Other than that, no one necessarily talked to Shawn; and he preferred it that way.

Eventually, Asha got bored of dwelling in silence and decided to crawl into Gemma's lap, who only fiddled with her blue-grey hair in response. "What color scheme would you use in your castle, Ash?" Lizbeth asked and Asha thought for a moment.

"I don't know, to be honest. I've never thought about it. I know I'd want a giant buffet table-"

"Color schemes, Ash," Gemma interjected and Asha sighed.

"Well, probably blue, grey, silver-"

"Wait," Gemma interrupted again and Asha shot her a look. "Aren't grey and silver- like -the same thing?"

Lizbeth chuckled. "No! Silver is pretty and shiny, and grey is dull and boring," she stated as if it were obvious. Gemma only huffed and crossed her arms, leaning back against the wall.

"Well, as I was saying," Asha shot Gemma another glance, to which the demon only chuckled in response, "I'd have a giant fancy buffet table in my room, and probably a giant statue of myself."

Lizbeth arched a brow. "Why? That would be kinda weird, to have a giant 'you' watching you at all times."

Asha rolled their eyes. "Not in my room! I'd put them all around the castle."

Gemma frowned. "Why? That's creepy."

Asha shrugged. "So whenever one of you losers comes to visit me, you'll know that I'm always watching you."

Gemma shuddered. "Creepy," she repeated, drawing away from Asha slightly. The blue-haired demon only shrugged, adjusting her position in Gemma's lap before shutting her eyes and falling asleep within minutes.

It had been seven long hours when the speakers built into the ceiling and walls blared with a message from the pilot: "we've arrived!"

Asha was startled awake, considering her head had been lying near to one of the speakers. Lizbeth and Gemma immediately stopped talking and instead moved to look out the window, along with Samuel. Aries kept napping; the dark-haired demon could sleep through anything. Shawn had simply been staring off into space and, upon hearing the announcement from the pilot, blinked several times and returned to reality.

No one could deny that Celestia was a beautiful kingdom; with sprawling white and gold buildings, rich green fields, and deep blue lakes, the place looked like it had come straight out of a fairytale. In the midday sunlight, the golden flecks throughout Celestia sparkled brightly, as if covered with a thousand gemstones. "Holy shit," Lizbeth muttered.

"Holy shit is right," Gemma replied, just as quietly. "We come here every year and, every year, it ceases to amaze me."

"It won't be so amazing when you're surrounded by pompous bird-people," Aries grumbled from where he was sprawled across one of the bench seats.

Asha rolled his eyes. "Lighten up, Aries," she told him, staring out the window.

The kingdom got closer and closer until the aerocraft settled on a flat landing pad, where they were met by a team of angels, ready to escort the passengers to their temporary living quarters. They were dressed in matching white leather jackets, pants, boots, and gloves. Shawn studied them, sizing them up as opponents.

There was a willowy-looking brunette with sharp green eyes; she seemed to be the leader. She stood with a sort of authority that Shawn recognized when he looked in the mirror. Next to her was a tall boy with dirty blond hair and a stone-cold face. His blue-green eyes looked hard as he watched the exiting the aerocraft. Shawn noticed a pin on the breast of his jacket and assumed him to be the second-in-command, like Gemma.

Two figures behind them, both with golden-brown hair and tanned skin, looked like the gender-bent version of each other. There were a few differentiators between them, though. The girl's eyes were wide and a rich, coffee brown that looked reddish-orange in the bright sunlight. The boy's eyes, in contrast, looked hazel and had a certain mischievous, carefree gleam to them that made Shawn tighten his fists.

Behind them were two other figures, but it was obvious they were not siblings. The tall boy's hair was black and curly, falling over his eyes slightly as he watched the Guard warily. His green eyes reminded Shawn of the color of the trees they'd flown over on the way here. The boy looked stern and cold as he analyzed the demons. The girl seemed very different, however. Her eyes were a warm, light brown and her pale blonde hair was let down to fall near her lower back. She watched Shawn curiously, but not without a dangerous glint in her gaze.

The other eligible residents of Hella had already arrived and been situated in their homes, so the King and Guard were the final guests to show.

A tall woman clad in white robes and wearing a golden crown stepped forward. Shawn assumed her to be the Queen as she opened her arms to the guests. "Welcome to Celestia."