Agnes could scarcely remember what happened. All she knew was that she was momentarily airbourne before suddenly her vision was filled by blackness and her nostrils were filled with the scent of grass. It was a deep scent, one that told her that she was definitely not hallucinating it. But where could it possibly be coming from? She took a deep breath and shuddered as she felt several prickling sensations tickling not only her nose but her cheeks, her eyelids, her lips, practically her entire face was being accosted by these tiny blades. But…what could it be?

It was then that a familiar voice cut through the darkness that slowly melted into a throbbing pain all over her body.

>> “Oh my gosh! Agnes!”

Groaning, the young runaway sighed as she as she moved her arms, her legs, and immediately knew that they were achy. She sighed a she carefully moved her arms until her hands were opened and pressed against the grass beneath her. Slowly pushed herself up until finally she was in a seating position but her eyes were closed tight. She suddenly had a very large headache.

>> “Agnes, are you okay? Is your nose okay? And the rest of your face?”

Agnes reached up and gently touched her face. She winced as she felt a large patch of skin that was sensitive to the touch but other than that she did not feel any cuts. Softly she then touched her nose, running her fingertips along the bridge. It felt normal, just a little itchy from the grass blades that had been teasing her. Also, thankfully, she smelled no blood. Therefore it was not bleeding on top of not being broken.

She had gotten SO lucky…

She sighed as she cautioned to open her eyes and looked up to find the worried face of her sister hovering by. The look of concern on Gina’s face was priceless and one which Agnes would only smile at in response.

“Totally. Meant. To do that…” she giggled as she slowly started to move onto her two feet. Pain radiated throughout her body but they were mainly aches. So far nothing seemed broken so that was always a plus. She smirked as she took her sister’s offered hand and slowly moved onto her two feet. “Y-you see…why I wanted to wear the suit?” she smirked before she broke down into a fit of giggles. Despite the landing…it was fun…

>> “Totally. Meant. To do that Y-you see…why I wanted to wear the suit?”

Agnes was giggling—either giggling was really good or really bad. It either meant that Agnes was just fine, or she was suffering from a concussion and slipping into mild delirium. Gina laughed too, though. She’d just keep an eye on her sister.

“Uh-huh, sure,” Gina said confidently, a wry grin touching her face before she too was consumed by giggling, “You would have found a way to injure yourself.”

The suit. Dear God, that suit—if Agnes had worn that they wouldn’t have had to worry about her getting injured. She wouldn’t have been able to leave the ground. The mental image of Agnes attempting to take to the skies in the Michelin man’s red attire just perpetuated the giggles all the more.

Gina breathed a few sighs, attempting to quell the laughs, and she extended a hand to her sister, to help her up.

>> “Uh-huh, sure…You would have found a way to injure yourself.”

“You’re lack of faith disturbs me, dear sister,” she said with a little smirk.

Amidst giggling, Agnes slowly sat up and sighed. Thankfully nothing felt broken so she was in the clear with that. So long as nothing was damaged then she could go ahead and find the humor in it, despite how embarrassing the whole situation was. Agnes really knew that she was better than this. When she lived in the streets there were many times when she had to run to actually save her own skin. She dashed through alleys, over trash bins, and slid under crevices with such speed and grace that Agnes had always wondered if she were part gazelle.

Today, though, was definitely not a shining example of her athletic prowess. Maybe she was just getting soft or maybe she just did not have her head in the game. Whatever the case she was just glad that she didn’t harm herself worse than a couple of scratches.

Seeing that her sister offered her a helping hand, Agnes smirked as she took a firm grasp of it and hefted herself up onto her feet with a little groan. God, she was getting old and she was only eighteen!!

She sighed as she stood up straight and began to smack the broken grass blades that covered her clothes from head to tail. All this was going to be positively fun to get out of her clothes in the wash. But Agnes was glad she was alive.

Her wings fluttered briefly as a cool breeze wafted over her form. She really wanted to get into the flying mood now. The fall was always the scariest part of trying something new. But she hadn’t hurt herself so there was nothing to fear now. Her wings fluttered again and she smiled as she turned her attention to Gina.

“Well, now that THAT[/b] embarrassment is over, let’s get back to it!”[/color] she said with a small twinge of confidence range in her voice. Maybe she loosening up after all…

>> “You’re lack of faith disturbs me, dear sister.”

Gina shrugged, grinning wryly back. If anything, she was an honest gargoyle girl. At least Agnes would never have to worry herself over having Gina lie to her.

Gina helped right Agnes on her feet, and let her sister dust herself off.

>> “Well, now that THAT embarrassment is over, let’s get back to it!”

“Totally,” Gina agreed, stepping back onto the bench with a grin, “Hey Aggs—if you’re confident enough in your jumps, try adding some wing-beats in. Like… hovering? It’ll give you more hang time.”

Gina wouldn’t be able to do that, given how her wings were structured, but Agnes should be able to.

“Don’t forget, keep your feet under you,” Gina reminded her sister sagely, “Because bruised tailbones suck.”

Or so Gina had heard. Gina had never bruised her tailbone, because of the actual tail that stood in-place of a tailbone.

>> “Totally…Hey Aggs—if you’re confident enough in your jumps, try adding some wing-beats in. Like… hovering? It’ll give you more hang time.”

Agnes nodded. That was not half bad an idea. After all, she needed to learn how to fly so it was only necessary that she get some more wing practice in. And Agnes had gone through the scariest part of learning how to fly…the fall. She fell, and she fell hard, but she managed to walk away from it without much problem. Though she was not foolish enough to expect every fall to be a cake walk afterwards like this one was, at least she less fearful of it.

It was time to get back and down to business though. She could already feel her wings flexing and unflexing in an attempt to ready themselves. Together the sisters had marched themselves back to the bench in an attempt to continue their practice.

>> “Don’t forget, keep your feet under you…Because bruised tailbones suck.”[/color]

A smirk crossed her lips as she reached back and rubbed her own tailbone. She definitely knew that it can hurt. She had never actually harmed herself to the point of needing x-rays or anything, but she had fallen enough times to know what type of pain that could be like. It was not pleasant or anything she wished on anyone.

But she nodded. Keep her feet under her. She would have to keep that note in the back of her head when she jumped off the bench again.

“Okay,” she whispered. “Keep my feet under me, keep my feet under me…”

She repeated the chant as she climbed onto the bench once again. But this time, without pause, Agnes hopped off the bench and beat her wings as quickly as she could. The buzzing struck her ears only momentarily before she felt the grass thump underneath her shoes. Undeterred, though, Agnes climbed back onto the bench, time and time again before leaping off and beating her iridescent wings. Several tries and she failed several times to even slow herself down.

Until finally….

Agnes climbed onto the bench, her feet a little sore, but skewed up her courage. Without word from Gina, Agnes suddenly bolted again for the arm of the bench, stepped up, and pushed herself straight into the air. Eyes clenched, Agnes ground her teeth as she beat her little wings as hard and fast as she could. Feet underneath her, she waited for that painful thump of shoe meeting grass.

Instead all she felt was air. A glance and Agnes saw that she was hovering about a foot from the ground, her wings beating hard and fast…

As the two of them returned to the bench, Gina did not stretch her wings—it was too close-quarters for her, and she needed more momentum. Gina precaution was answered by a smirk—of course Agnes knew what Gina was talking about. She’d fallen, and had obviously fallen hard enough to come out in that red, padded monstrosity to prevent other such falls. Gina reiterated for repetition’s sake—if she said it enough times, it would become Agnes’s mantra, and then her second nature. Hopefully. Stuff that seemed reflexive to Gina might become reflexive to her sister.

>> “Okay. Keep my feet under me, keep my feet under me…”

“Yup,” Gina agreed, jumping down off of the bench. Agnes followed her down, beating her wings this time, but she didn’t get any air. It was progress, so Gina said nothing. Time after time of Agnes climbing up, and jumping down, beating her wings, going through the motions, and getting sparse results. It came to the point where Gina didn’t see fit to jump with her sister, but watch. Agnes had the jumping part down, and she was sticking to it. She was doing well, and Gina made sure to let her know that.

She showered her sister with compliments and reassurances, circling the bench and watching for any grave mistakes in posture, or for something that Agnes was doing well. Gina kept the errors to herself, though—they could nitpick later.

“Aggs, if you’re getting tired, we could always come back tomorrow,” Gina suggested. She didn’t want to overexert her sister on their first day of instruction. This suggestion was uttered just before Agnes’s final sprint. She darted down the length of the bench, pushed off of the arm, and took the air. She beat her wings with tremendous effort, and…

Hovered.

It was like watching a kid learn how to ride a bike for the first time, on their own. There was some wobbling, and they might be just coasting down the a flat, level street, but they were still riding a bike. And that was cause for celebration. Agnes was hovering, and Gina met this development with an excitement proportionate to when a kid first started riding a bicycle.

“Agnes, you’re flying!” Gina gasped, jumping up and down, “Look at you, you’re flying!”

Agnes had barely opened her eyes, half expecting to find the grass hurtling towards her feet again. But instead all she saw was the open air that actually separated her from the ground. Had she actually done it? Was she suddenly successful in her endeavor to actually keep herself airbourne? So far it seemed like it but she still did not want to open her eyes all the way. Instead she was content with just letting herself hover and hoping against hope that this was not some dream that she was going to wake up from.

But even as Agnes struggled with denying that she had actually succeeded, it took the voice of her vibrant little sister to actually break through the denial that she had felt hazing over her mind…

>> “Agnes, you’re flying! Look at you, you’re flying!”[/color]

Cautiously she opened her eyes and they instantly widened. Flying? She WAS flying! And not just for a couple seconds or slowing her fall! She had actually found a wing beat pattern that she could sustain to keep herself in the air! Though her back burned with weariness, Agnes knew that she was the pattern and speed that she needed to achieve from now on if she wanted to keep flying. That was the only reason she did not stop. No, she had to keep doing this until she had it memorized that this was what flying felt like.

“Oh my god! This is fantastic!!” she grinned as she made herself sustain her hovering for as long as she could. “I am! I really am!!”

She giggled as the euphoric sense of accomplishment filled her heart. She grinned and laughed along as she watched Gina bouncing up and down with glee. This really had to feel like her greatest achievement and she had her sister to thank for her teaching.

It was going to be a long road of training but at least she knew that she actually could do it.

Very slowly she lessened the speed of her wing beats bit by bit until finally she felt herself dropping towards the ground. A few seconds passed of her calming her wings just enough to lower her but not too much that she went hurtling out of the sky. Instead she lowered herself slowly, shakily, but gently until finally she touched ground.

“Oof!” she gasped when she finally touched the grass with her own two feet. Her back burned and as so sore but she never felt better. She grinned as she turned to look at Gina. “That….was awesome…”

At Gina’s exclamation, Agnes opened her eyes, and her face fell into a look of surprise. Yes, Gina was not kidding her, Agnes was really flying.

>> “Oh my god! This is fantastic!! I am! I really am!!”

Agnes giggled and Gina joined with her. While Agnes was excited at her own accomplishment, her cohort was excited for her. She wanted to just take-off and go flying with her sister that very moment, though both of them knew that it might take a little more practice before they could go flying like that.

“You are!” Gina confirmed, still laughing.

After a few moments of hovering, Agnes gradually began to lose altitude, until she lowered herself from the air and back down the ground-plane.

>> “Oof! That….was awesome…”

“This is only just the beginning,” Gina assured her sister, taking Agnes’s hands in her own, “Sustained flight is liberating like you won’t believe.”

Agnes literally wanted to be floating up on cloud nine. She was still having a hard time understanding that she had actually pulled this off. She managed to hover before, but it was always only briefly and usually ended with her falling back to earth onto her butt. But this time she managed to take off, sustain her flight, and even land rather softly! It was a success that she was simply not sure that she could ever stop smiling about.

The young runaway sighed happily as she stretched and flexed her wings. The burning soreness was slowly elevating from her back. It was probably going to take far more focus and training than she had originally thought it would. But she was at least leaps and bounds further along than she was days ago.

She grinned as she watched Gina bounce around with happiness. Quickly her sister had seized her hands and Agnes could only marvel at the infectious excitement she exuded.

>> “This is only just the beginning…Sustained flight is liberating like you won’t believe.”[/color]

Agnes grinned as she too began to bounce a little with Gina’s joy. The notion immediately put fanciful ideas in her head of soaring through the clouds with her sister, eyeing the expansive ground beneath as they flew and were warmed by the rays of the sun. The idea of doing something so freeing, so liberating was intoxicating to Agnes. It only made her want to train all the harder to achieve it.

“I can’t wait,” Agnes beamed. “Flying, like you do, through the sky with everything else so far away. You make it sound like a dream, Gina. A dream I cannot wait to share with you.”

She sighed as she looked back over the bench. Part of her REALLY wanted to get back into training. But god...her back still burned a bit…

Gina could tell that Agnes was already smitten with the skies. She’d only just hovered, only a few feet off of the ground, but judging by Agnes’s expression, the gargoyle could already tell that her sister wanted more. Gina would make a flying-addict out of her, yet. Gina was just so proud of her sister—her winged, future-flight-buddy sister. In a humorous way, she couldn’t wait until the day that the two of them could fearlessly take-off of the roof together.

>> “I can’t wait. Flying, like you do, through the sky with everything else so far away. You make it sound like a dream, Gina. A dream I cannot wait to share with you.”

“It’s so awesome,” Gina confirmed, in speech that was a little less artful than what she’d said previously, “You’ve done well today.”

Because even if Agnes was infected with her younger sister’s delight, Gina didn’t want the older girl to get too overzealous—they had to take baby steps. Gina sank casually onto the bench, draping her arm over its back, and letting her tail loll off of the side. She needed a break from all of this teaching.

>> “It’s so awesome…You’ve done well today.”[/color]

Agnes beamed proudly as she strolled back over to the bench with her sister in tow. She was still living on cloud nine at the thought of what she was able to accomplish today. The feeling of floating in the air like that, of removing herself from the shackles of gravity and doing what few mutants and humans could ever accomplish , it made her heart swell with pride and a sense of freedom.

On top of the mirthful feeling was the simple fact that she would get to share this time, one day, with someone that she truly cared about, Gina. She always envied her little sister’s ability to take to the skies whenever she wanted. She always felt just the smallest pang of jealousy every time she watched Gina take to the skies. Always Agnes had wondered how Gina felt having that type of freedom. Now, Agnes knew that she would eventually be able to gain that as well. Just the idea of sharing the sky with the young gargoyle made her heart soar.

It would be a whole new frontier that they could explore together. The thought of it made her smile wide and happily.

Watching as Gina flopped back onto the bench, Agnes sighed as she too joined her. As much as she wanted to get back into the training session, her back was still a little achy. At least it was not as bad as it was and was beginning to ease up.

She sighed heavenly as she rested against the bench and closed her eyes, letting the breeze brush across her features. She sighed contentedly as she glanced at Gina out of the corner of her eye. There had been something that she had been neglecting to tell her for while now and she figured that now would be the best time.

“Um…Gina?” she asked quietly. “C-Can I show you something? And you promise not to freak out?”

Gina basked in the calm that settled following the flying lesson. While Agnes was dreaming of the skies, Gina’s mind lingered somewhere between a senseless stream of thoughts and a comfortable emptiness.

>> “Um…Gina? C-Can I show you something? And you promise not to freak out?”

At first, Gina opened one eye, casually glancing at her sister. Sure, she could show her something. Gina wasn’t going anywhere. But at the caution of not freaking out made Gina move from her relaxed position, to one that was more upright.

She’d met Agnes’s crazy parents, seen the scars, suffered through a night of near-death, and Agnes was asking her to look at something and not freak out. It would have to be really scary to make Gina freak-out. Gina fixed Agnes with an inquiring gaze, arching her eyebrows.

“Su-u-u-u-ure,” Gina trailed, pushing her hand through her hair and trying to look like a vision of calmness. If Agnes had really wanted Gina to not be concerned, she really shouldn’t have told her to not freak out. Because now, she was a little freaked out, “What’s up?”

>> “Su-u-u-u-ure…What’s up?”[/color]

Just my listening to the tone in her sister’s voice, Agnes knew that her comment had off-settled her more than she would have liked. But, unfortunately, it was too late to take her comment back. It was already out there. If she had tried to tell Gina to forget it, it was probably just make the young gargoyle worry even more that something might be wrong. And Agnes did not want to cause her sister to worry unnecessarily over something like this.

Nope, it was far too late. The young runaway was going to have to open her mouth.

“Well…I…I don’t know if you remember,” Agnes explained. “Months ago, I went to Central Park. Just…you know…for a stroll…”

She sighed as she remembered those events: those three men who appeared out of nowhere, who attacked her, who beat her mercilessly, and the rescue by the horned man with the white hair. She remembered it all so vividly that there were times that she felt like she was making the whole thing up. But that idea quickly vanished whenever she actually looked at herself in a mirror. The scars…they were still gone. That was reality.

Eyes lifted once again to Gina as she continued.

“Well…I…was attacked. B-By followers of my parent’s church,” she said quietly. But quickly she continued before Gina panicked. “B-But I’m okay! I wasn’t hurt, well…I was…but…well…someone saved me. He healed me and…ummmm….”

She knew it would just be better to show Gina and get it over with. Turning around so that she was full facing her sister, Agnes sighed as she grabbed the edge of her shirt and very slowly lifted it just enough so that it exposed only her stomach. In place of jagged, rough scars that some of the most horrendous of experiences etched onto skin, all that was there was the pristine, pale, flat stomach of a teenage girl. Even the worst of the scars, the branded crucifix, was completely gone with absolutely no traces of her exorcism showing on her body.

Slowly she lowered her shirt and waited for Gina’s reaction, unsure if she would get gasps of horror, squees of joy, or some odd combination thereof…

>> “Well…I…I don’t know if you remember. Months ago, I went to Central Park. Just…you know…for a stroll…”

Gina wore an inquiring expression, her head tilted to the side as Agnes spoke. She spoke as if this trip to the Park was somehow significant, as if it were something that Gina should have recalled. Gina arched her eyebrows, small frown playing at her lips. Of course she didn’t remember a little walk around Central.

>> “Well…I…was attacked. B-By followers of my parent’s church.”

THAT got Gina’s attention. She sat up quickly, her eyes widening in disbelief as she shrilly countered, “You were wh-?!”

>> “B-But I’m okay! I wasn’t hurt, well…I was…but…well…someone saved me. He healed me and…ummmm….”

Gina didn’t lean back in her seat. In fact, she was practically on her feet and ready to run to Miss Taylor over something that had happened a few months prior. Someone saved her? Someone healed her? Agnes lifted her shirt up hesitantly, exposing an unblemished stomach—a stomach that Gina had known to have had scars galore months prior. Gina’s jaw literally dropped, and she sank back against the bench in disbelief.

“No way,” she breathed, “No freaking way.”

She looked towards her sister’s face, her look of utter skepticism fading into a grin, “No way! That’s totally… weird! Wonderful, but… weird. Let me see again.”

Gina leaned back in, as if to scrutinize her sister’s stomach, “They’re all gone? They’re really… all of them… totally gone? For real?”

Agnes had expected the shocked reaction from Gina about her being attacked in the park. After the incident, Agnes had simply returned and never mentioned a word of it to Gina. There were several reasons for that: 1) she didn’t want to scare Gina that she was attacked, 2) she didn’t want to put the fear that more alcolytes of her parents were running around, and 3) since she was healed she figured that there really was no reason to bring it up.

But on hindsight, she did know that maybe she should have at least told her. After all, Gina was her sister and she helped her fend off her parents when they had tried to steal her away from the mansion. Agnes should have owed Gina that much to let her know. But it was too late for that. She was telling her now, at least.

But the level at which Gina was shocked by Agnes miraculous healing was something that she had not entirely anticipated. Gina was floored and looked at her with the widest and most interested eyes.

>> “No way…No freaking way.”[/color]

Agnes nodded as a small smile began to appear over her face. She had nearly the exact same reaction after Sebastian had healed her. The thought that she would never have to live with those scars the rest of her life, to never have to look at her parent’s handiwork again, it just made her all giddy all over again. Gina’s excitement once again became infectious and she had to smile a bit wider at the young gargoyle’s reaction.

>> “No way! That’s totally… weird! Wonderful, but… weird. Let me see again.”[/color]

Agnes had begun to lower her shirt but chuckled a little when Gina asked to be shown again. She complied and lifted her shirt to expose her stomach and once again it revealed only perfect skin underneath. A giggle fell from her lips as Gina leaned down to get a closer looks, her breathing tickling her exposed skin.

>> “They’re all gone? They’re really… all of them… totally gone? For real?”[/color]

“It’s been a month,” she replied with a nod. “They have not come back at all. I keep checking, every day, just to make sure but there are simply no signs of them. Whatever my rescuer did…it seems permanent.”

She sighed happily as she looked up to the sky. Everything seemed to be going so good now: she was learning to fly, her scars were gone, it was just all good. She beamed at Gina and her shocked expression again and just sighed.

“Whatever Sebastian did…I have to take him for it. I…I don’t know if I would be here if it were not for him.” she mused before she glanced back to her sister. “Sorry, the man who saved me, his name is Sebastian. And…I owe him so much…”