When they stepped out of the treeline, Lukas glanced over from where he stood next to Ynda and threw his hands in the air, rolling his eyes in exasperation. 

“Hey, there you are! What took you so long?” He complained as Toji walked up to him laughing, someone else, probably Ynda, groaning that here he was, late again.

“Sorry, he’s a lot stronger than he looks,” he said, thumbing back at Natsu who was just a few paces behind and getting enveloped by the twins and Chloe. “He actually managed to pin me down twice.”

“Uh huh,” Lukas said. “Sure you guys weren’t just off making out instead?”

“Why, are you jealous?” Toji grabbed Lukas’ head and stuck his tongue out, leaning forward. 

Lukas pulled back, cussing him out, while everyone laughed, Natsu included. Lukas got Toji in a headlock and the two grappled for a few minutes while the rest of them mingled around, talking. The four targets compared notes, seeing how they did, how far they got, and if they managed to win or not. Natsu was the only one who came out with a draw. Arla lost to Ava, Noah barely managed to escape Ynda, and Chloe was beat soundly by her brother. Havik hadn’t hit anyone, but he had added to the confusion which made the exercise all that more intense and exciting. All in all it was a good hunt.

None of them had to even discuss what they would do next. They all rounded the house to the cliffside where the gods and angels decided to do a mock air battle, utilizing their magic to put on a show for the rest of them. Toji, nervous to even touch his light demon magic after what happened in the woods, kept to his weaker core energy.

Peter and Natsu mingled with the Franks’, Peter sitting next to Chloe closer to the house as they talked.

“So, you guys are human?” he asked. 

Chloe laughed. “Yes and no,” she said. “We’re Immortals. Humans but with a very, very long lifespan who don’t age.”

“You’ll be young forever, then?” Peter grinned. “Can I ask how old you are? I mean, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to…I don’t want to be rude.”

“You’re fine,” Chloe reassured him. “I’m sixteen, same as Ynda. I won’t peak for another few years. Luke and Toji haven’t even reached their peak age.”

“What’s that mean?”

“The point in which we stop aging. There’s another Immortal family from China who also reside in the Veil part-time, the Changs. Really cool people, too. They’re daughter, Mei, peaked at twenty-one, same with her brother, Li.”

“I’m guessing that’s when it happens,” Peter nodded. They laughed when Ynda hit Toji with a blast of cold water to the face, throwing him off balance for a minute. He yelled something at her, making her laugh before he used some kind of white lance that he formed out of the air. Chole’s eyes widened. 

“Didn’t expect him to do that,” she said.

Peter glanced at her and she pointed at Toji’s lance.

“The type of magic he uses is demon energy, dangerous and strong if not properly controlled. He doesn’t use it often, and when he does, he pulls from his positive, or light energy. It’s usually energy blasts or some imitation of an element. He doesn’t usually call weapons into creation.”

“Why not?”

Chloe’s face twisted in thought. “He doesn’t have full control of his powers,” she said after a moment. “He trains all the time and works to maintain them, but if he does too much, like creating a simple weapon, he can easily lose what control he has.” Her expression flattened as her eyes went to Ava, her white and silver feathers catching the glow of the sun as she performed a complicated move with Havik who was floating on a red disk. His wings hadn’t come in yet so he used it to get around with the rest of his family. “It’s harder when he’s worked up,” she added softly.

Peter watched her for a minute, taking in the angular set of her jaw, her small nose and high cheekbones. Her brown hair had been redone following the exercise, now tied in a loose bun at her neck. She wasn’t beautiful in the traditional sense, but he did find her to be cute. Especially when she smiled. He noticed where her eyes were fixed and deduced that they were heading into a subject that was touchy at best. 

“So,” he said, bringing the conversation back around. “If you don’t use magic or anything, what else makes you different?”

Chloe smiled, her shoulders relaxing. “We’re incredibly fast, strong, heal faster, and our senses are heightened. Nothing really super awesome, but it still makes us pretty good fighters when it counts.”

“Yet, Lukas beat you.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “He doesn’t always. He just got lucky this time. I tripped over an exposed root trying to avoid one of Havik’s random blasts and he managed to pin me down. I conceded defeat. It helped that he was holding the tip of a dull knife over my eyeball.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “He what?”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine. These exercises are rough but there is no real danger involved. We have to make it as realistic as possible to hone our skills. If not, we risk losing focus and can make mistakes.” She turned sideways, pointing at a spot just below her right shoulder blade. “I made a mistake during a skirmish and got cut by an angel blade. Hurt like hell and I was in the infirmary for days.”

“I thought you said you healed faster.” 

Her blue eyes were steady on his. “A normal human would have taken months. Angel blades are imbued with holy magic, making them incredibly deadly.”

“Oh shit,” Peter said, awestruck.

“That’s a good assessment of it, yes,” Chloe said. She glanced over at her brother who was talking with Natsu and Kayla. “Lukas and my dad have had it worse, though,” she said.

“Kayla doesn’t fight?”

She shook her head. “She’s much too gentle for that. She’s incredibly smart, though. She wants to be an emissary when she peaks. She’s already studying with a few of the angels and a couple of the demons from the Sixth Realm.”

Peter shook his head and sighed. “There’s more than I thought to your world,” he said. “It’s overwhelming. Natsu has tried to tell me more about it, but it just seems so complicated and strange. But that’s just me thinking as a human, I guess.” He glanced back over at the other three. “How long has he been at Helman Hall, anyway?”

“He didn’t tell you himself?”

He shook his head. “Not specifically. He just said it’s been a few years.”

“Five, to be precise. The Divine took to him right away, especially Toji. They’ve been close friends forever it seems like. We tease them that they like each other but no one can actually confirm if they do or not.”

Peter shrugged. “Don’t ask me, I have no idea, either. We hang out all the time but he’s never talked about Toji like that. Although, I wouldn’t blame him if he did. Toji is one good lookin’ dude and I don’t even like guys!” he laughed and leaned back on his hands, his short brown hair waving slightly.

Chloe laughed, too. “That he is!”

He gave her a teasing look. “You like him?”

She made a face. “Ew, no. He’s my cousin. Maybe not by blood, but he is. My dad is his dad’s brother through the Veil.” She laughed at Peter’s look of confusion. “Like you said, it’s complicated. The simplest way to put it is we’re all family.”

Peter nodded. “I have family like that, too. Lifelong friends of my parents who have kids I grew up with. We’re not related but it doesn’t matter. Family isn’t always bound by blood. Sometimes it’s better that way.” His eyes darkened slightly, his fingers gripping the ground. A moment later, he tilted his head in her direction, catching her eyes as she smiled at him.

“Sounds like a story for another time,” she said with complete understanding.

He sat up slightly, a hopeful gleam passing over his dark brown eyes. “You want there to be another time?”

Chloe giggled. “Well, yeah, why wouldn’t we? You’re cool!”

“Ah, ‘we’, huh?” he said with an exaggerated sigh. “Not just you?”

“Well, of course I do, dork,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I like talking with you. It’s much more interesting than talking with my idiot brother.”

Lukas flipped her off without looking at her. She grinned.

Right about then, the Divine kids all landed, joining them. Ynda went directly to Chloe, lifting her to her feet. Peter got up on his own.

“What did you think?” Ynda asked.

Chloe was serious as she gave her assessment which Ynda accepted and filed away for the next time. She created a water ball over her palms, a figure within doing some complicated move. She explained she was trying to learn this one.

Peter frowned, his brows coming together in a thoughtful expression. He pointed at the figure. “Can you run that back?”

Ynda nodded and played it over again, bringing the one move he was looking at into focus. “What are you thinking?”

“I think I know this move. It’s a dance move, actually.”

Ynda’s face brightened and she nodded. “It is, yes,” she said. “I’ve tried to pin it down a few times but can’t seem to get it just right. I’ve hit myself a few times with ice shards messing it up.”

He shrugged. “I can show you if you want.”

“You can dance?” Chloe asked.

Peter nodded. “Since I was little, actually. I’ll show you a few moves, too, if you like.”

Both the girls nodded, Ynda letting her magic go as they bounced up and down. Peter had to laugh at the twin-like behavior.

“Hey, you better not be hitting on my sister!” both Lukas and Toji said in unison.

Peter turned in their direction as they walked up to them. “I value my life far too much to go that far,” he said, chuckling.

“Smart man,” Lukas said, patting him on the shoulder. 

The group came together, conversation bouncing all around seamlessly between everyone, including Havik who, as young as he was, managed to keep up. Peter was amazed how absolutely informal everyone was. Back at Helman Hall, everyone treated their masters with deference and respect, using titles and bowed whenever they passed by.

But here, it was like they were all friends. Family, even. He smiled to himself as he laughed along. Blood or not, family really was what they made it.

-*-