Seven

"What did you do to my sister?"

Rosario sighed, "That wasn't your sister."

Valentine stood up on his jelly legs and glared at the angel in front of him, tears collected in his eyes blurring his vision, "then who or what was it?"

"A Skreacser," the angel answered, he slung his bow back over his shoulder, "they take the form of whoever we miss or want the most. They will get close to you then rip your throat out and BOOM! you're dead."

"How do you know if it's a screecher and not the real person?" Valentine asked, "and how did you even get here?"

Rosario offered a small smirk, "When will you thank my help out of pure courtesy without me having to remind you?"

The mortal shrugged. Rosario rolled his eyes and walked past him towards where Emalia was watching him with innocent awe and wonder. The angel took her hand in his and pressed a kiss to the back of it causing her to blush and swoon. Valentine glanced at the demon who had appeared next to him, Mal had a scowl on his face but that was not unusual.

Valentine turned to Mal with a raised eyebrow, "What are you scowling about?"

Mal glanced at him but said nothing, his eyes focused on the Angel having a conversation with a clearly fangirling fairy.

"How's her royal pain-in-the-ass?" Rosario asked.

Emalia blanked her mouth hanging slightly open in horror at the nickname given to the Queen. She blinked and schooled her expression, "S-she's well."

Rosario clapped his hands together once for no reason Valentine could comprehend other than effect. He turned and spread his arms, a soft smile replacing the grin he wore while talking to Emalia. He walked over to where the demon and mortal stood, Valentine moved out of the way as the angel embraced the other. He heard Mal's breath cut short in surprise as he was embraced.

"Il sole mio, you have finally returned," Rosario breathed, tightening his hold.

Valentine shuffled to stand next to Emalia who was watching the two carefully. Rosario pulled away and began to talk non stop, most likely fussing over Mal's health while the latter remained completely silent just watching.

The human pointed at the dark haired Italian, "that angel?"

The fairy nodded, a soft smile playing on her lips. Valentine hummed and turned back to the two. His jaw touched the floor upon seeing the slightest hint of a smile on Malice's face as Rosario rambled on. He raised a hand and put his finger in front of the angel's lips and shushed him, "you're still as talkative as all those years ago."

Rosario smiled, "some things don't change no matter how much time passes."

Valentine cleared his throat, "I'm sorry to break up whatever that is but we really should be getting started with the whole 'find the crown or the world will be doomed' thing."

Malice scowled but stepped away from the angel and continued walking to their destination. Valentine turned to Emalia who shrugged before following after the demon, the angel chuckled and also began walking leaving the mortal to catch up to them.

Valentine only spoke once he was an arms length away from the fairy, "So...where are we going after we get out of this tree maze?"

Rosario turned around and wiggled his fingers the way people did when they wanted to make something seem creepy, he spoke in a mock eerie voice, "The Fortune Teller."

"Sounds like someone important."

"He is not as important as he sounds," Mal stated, keeping his eyes on the road so he didn't trip over roots like Rosario did in that moment beside him, "he is a retired Angel. If lost wanderers pass by he tells them the correct way to leave the mountains. If we find him, then he can point us in the right direction to start."

Valentine paused and grimaced, "you said 'mountain'" but his words were ignored.

"I didn't know he was a retired Angel," Rosario raised his eyebrows, "how'd you know?"

Mal cast him a glance, "I have my ways. Ways I don't enjoy using."

Rosario's eyes narrowed into a glare that didn't seem natural on his face, "When did you even meet him?"

Mal sighed and whirled around putting their group to a halt, "Look, Jairus wanted me to get information and blackmail the famed Fortune Teller, I had to do my job even if I didn't want to."

The finality in Mal's tone alerted everyone that that was the end of the conversation. Valentine noticed the hint of worry in Rosario's eyes that had gone back to normal and were no longer narrowed.

The blue haired boy turned to Emalia, "What was that about?"

The fairy shrugged. She jogged after Mal who had managed to get rather far away in a short time but Valentine guessed it was some sort of demon magic. The mortal sighed before coming to a stand still beside Rosario who had crossed his arms and watched the two in front with a far away look in his gaze.

"You good?"

Rosario flinched out of whatever trance he was in and smiled down at him, "yeah, 'm fine."

"I have a question."

"When don't you?" Came the reply from in front of them. Rosario chuckled at the young fairy's words. He cast a glance down at Valentine as a way to say he may ask.

"How do you tell the difference between the Skreacser and the real person?" The blue haired boy furrowed his eyebrows.

"It's rather simple actually, you just need to know where the actual person is at the moment or know what they look like down to the smallest mole on their skin. Also if you're in a group and you all see different people."

Valentine looked up at the taller man, "who did you see?"

Rosario took a deep breath, "I saw Mal. But I knew he was stuck in your head, and they can never get the shade of his eyes right."

The mortal chuckled.

Silence was what consumed them for the rest of the trip out of the forest, each being left to their own thoughts and feelings until they reached the equally silent road. They walked past the remains of Valentine's car, the boy had stared in horror at the blood that painted it while the others remained motionless and impassive like statues. Once they reached the road, the only mortal in their group was startled to see no police officers investigating the scene, Emalia had put a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

A car would zoom past them every so often but no one bothered to stop and give the small group a ride.

"Can't you guys portal us any closer to the mountain?" Valentine asked after the 100th car drove past them without even so much as a glance.

"Portalling drains a lot of energy if we do it out of pure power, and if I understood correctly, then if Mal was to portal us, then you would be equally as drained and that would not be good if we came across a hoard of demons. And before you ask, I can't either, I portalled to get here," Rosario concluded as he sat down cross legged, he leaned against the rail that edged the road.

"Em?" Valentine looked at his best friend hopefully but she sadly shook her head. With a small sigh, he plopped down onto the hard concrete just as Mal suddenly sat up straight from where his head rested on Rosario's shoulder.

The demon pulled his coat off and began rummaging through the pockets while everyone watched him curiously. He pulled a globe out with a noise of triumph. It was the size of a snow globe except instead of snow, golden and black flakes swirled around an image of a mountain like a sand storm.

Mal held it up for everyone to see, when he spoke, he sounded proud of himself, "Our gateway to the Fiora Mountains."

Rosario raised an eyebrow at Mal who sighed before beginning an explanation, "around 1000 years ago, the first and last time I saw the Fortune Teller, he gave me this so I could find him when I needed to. I'm actually quite glad I kept this in my pocket all these years. Looks like it will be useful for something."

Then he threw it against the road with so much hatred it rivalled even the hatred between the strongest of rivals, it landed with a great clash that echoed above the cries of surprise that came from the fairy and mortal. Valentine's eyes were wide in surprise as a black portal swirled in front of them, the wind whistled in his ears as the image of a snow covered forest at the foot of a mountain came into view.

"So we just walk through?" Valentine asked, glancing back at Mal who had stepped back slightly.

"Yes, unlike most portals you don't need to know your destination if you use one of these snowballs, however you do need to have the intention of going to that place, and you need to be wide awake," Malice explained, "if you don't want to go to the place to where the portal is set, you can potentially get lost in the gate way for the rest of your life."

"That's jolly," Valentine murmured, he took a deep breath, and walked forward "let's go."