Chapter 33 - The thing about angels

Nova gulped at that information but wasn't too surprised, so she continued, "A- Alright. Well, apparently, our great-grandmother was an angel and passed along her bloodline, along with some basic information about angels and other supernatural creatures.

Unfortunately, our mother was only one-fourth angel and barely received any benefits from it. Meanwhile, you and I are only one-eighth angels, as our father was just a regular human.

We were only ever supposed to receive minor physical benefits, but…" At this point, she trailed off and looked at her hand with a mysterious smile as she remembered the power she felt earlier, " Whatever you did seems to have activated our grandmother's latent genes."

Then she looked back at Alita with a bit of confusion, "I don't know what those animal parts are about, though. Mom and Dad never talked about such things; I guess those result from whatever you did?"

Alita smirked and shrugged, "More like what Ivar did, but yes. Why did you never tell me any of this?"

Nova scratched her head, "What would be the point? I barely believed all they were saying in the first place since they didn't show me any proof, and they died soon after they told me. I figured it would have little effect on us even if it were true and even if you believed me."

She sighed, "Guess I was wrong about that, huh?"

Alita smirked, "Sure was, but no worries, I get it. Even if I believed you, I probably wouldn't have cared much."

She refocused, "Anyway, what did our parents tell you about angels? And what does the colour of our wings matter? From your reaction, I guess your wings are a different colour?"

Nova looked at her sister with a complicated gaze, "Our parents didn't really know that much since our great-grandmother had already been missing for a while at that point, presumably dead, and all their information was mouth to mouth.

What little they knew included something about the colour of an angel's wings being determined at birth, where black wings would indicate a natural inclination towards evil, while white wings would do the same, but towards good."

Alita was momentarily stunned into silence while Ivar and Selene looked on with interest. Ivar asked Selene, "Nothing about that in the information about angels you found?"

Since it still seemed to Ivar like he was floating above the two sisters having a conversation, he couldn't see Selene sitting on his lap. Still, he received a mental head shake, "Nothing at all, but it does somewhat explain Alita's behaviour."

As Ivar nodded in response to Selene, Alita responded to her sister with a doubtful look on her face, "What about nature vs nurture? I don't particularly care about being associated with evil, but I like to view myself as more of a pragmatic survivor." She snickered a little at the end.

Nova smiled, "Well, I have white wings, but I also wouldn't exactly call myself a saint. Obviously, our past has affected both of us just as much as the colour of our wings."

Alita thought for a moment and then shrugged, "Right, I guess it doesn't matter that much then."

Then she looked excited, "So, anything else you know about angels? Any special powers?"

Nova rolled her eyes, "Calm down; remember that regular old humans still seem to be doing better than the people with 'special powers'."

Alita waved her hand dismissively, "Yeah, yeah. Just tell me!"

Nove sighed, "Well, supposedly, an angel can manipulate light, which seems far-fetched to me, but I guess we'll be able to find out now. Other than that, increased physical capabilities and obviously flight. That's all they knew about.

And as a quarter angel, our mother only had increased physical capabilities and small wings, although she apparently lost those at some point, so she couldn't show me."

Alita's eyes were almost literally sparkling as she said with no small amount of excitement, "Manipulate light, eh?"

She immediately changed to her Valkyrie transformation and extended her hands as she got a concentrated expression on her face. 

However, the minutes passed, and Alita's face got redder and redder as if she was trying to force some unknown substance out of her body, but nothing came out.

In Ivar's head, Selene shook hers and said, "I don't know what that girl is trying to do, but I sense no movement of energy in her body. Either she is doing it wrong, or light manipulation was not carried over to her transformation."

She started snickering, "I hope she stops before she releases something else from her body."

Ivar rolled his eyes at her joke but couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.

Eventually, Alita sighed and dropped her hands, "I guess I have no idea how to do this, assuming it's even possible."

Nova shook her head, much like Selene had done, "I doubt you can force something like that, Alita. Assuming it is possible, we either need a teacher, a book explaining the method, or pure luck. I doubt blindly stumbling around will get us anywhere."

Alita pouted, "Yeah, well. It was worth a try. I guess I'll just ask Master later; he might know something."

Hearing this, Ivar snorted; he could barely control the northern winds from his wendigo transformation, as it would only form into a shield, and now he was supposed to help her control light?

He decided to ask Selene, "Hey, Selene, is there any chance you can help me do more with my northern winds and help those girls discover their ability to control light?"

He knew there were wendigos, back on Máni, that could do more than just form a shield, but that was all he knew about it. After all, he was just an eighteen-year-old from a clan that controlled no element and only relied on their extreme speed for dominance.

He received a mental shrug, "Usually, if there is an ability to control some element in a therian transformation, they can instinctually use it for a specific purpose, like the wendigos forming it into a shield. 

Then, some of the more talented among them can expand on that to allow them more control over their element, which you can do, too, with enough practice.

Using the shield ability was easy for you because you knew it was supposed to be a shield, but assuming the Valkyrie transformation actually has an ability that uses light, those girls will have to figure out for themselves what form it takes and how to activate it.

Only after that will they be able to expand on their ability to gain more precise control over light."

Ivar smirked, "I suppose this is one of those things that only hard work can solve? No increase elemental control function in your handly little system?"

Selene giggled, "Afraid so, but isn't hard work much more rewarding?"

Ivar snorted, "Doubtful," causing Selene to laugh harder.

Ivar and Selene's conversation was held at the speed of thought, so only a few seconds had passed in Nova's apartment. But these seconds were spent in silence as Nova looked dumbfoundedly at her sister, who had just called someone Master.

Alita, meanwhile, was just lazily grinning at the frozen Nova, perfectly aware of what she said; after all, she did it on purpose. It was time to introduce Nova to the relationship she had with Ivar, one that Nova would share in due time.

That said, calling him Daddy would probably upset Nova, considering their father, so she would keep that title private for now.

Finally, Nova found her voice again, "Who did you say you would ask?"

Alita smiled innocently, "Ivar, of course; who else would I ask?"

Nova quickly shook her head, "Don't play dumb with me, you brat! You just called him Master!"

Alita scratched her head, "Did I? Well, how about that? I guess I did."

Nova had enough of her sister's nonsense as she stood up in an attempt to be threatening, something that would have been more impactful if Alita hadn't already proven to be stronger. 

"You better start making sense, Alita! If he is forcing you to call him that, then we can figure something out! Even if we lose this power, it's not worth debasing yourself like that!"

Alita giggled and rolled her eyes, "Calm down, Nova. I'm not being forced. I decided to serve him of my own free will. Well, more or less, anyway, I will admit he is cheating a little."

Nove frowned, not feeling relieved at those words, "What do you mean cheating? And why would you go so far for a man you only met a few days ago?!"

Alita smiled mysteriously, "You'll find out about the cheating when you meet him; I wonder if you can resist him better than I could. Anyway, the cheating only made things a little smoother; I jumped into the abyss of servitude, fully aware of what I was doing.

As for why…" She shrugged, "Why not? I don't mind serving someone when it comes with so many benefits. Don't take this the wrong way, big sis, but he does a much better job protecting me than you ever did or could."