The war was over. The gruesome, bloody fighting between the devils and angels was finally finished. It wasn't that one side bested another. No, both sides were too evenly matched for there ever to be a complete victor. It only took the begrudging unwillingness of two opposing monarchs to realize there was only great loss ahead of them if they continued on their paths. So a peace treaty was formed that stated no set winner and commanded all fighting to cease. The people of each kingdom were split. Half of them were relieved that it was over and no more lives had to be lost while the others were outraged at having their flimsy pride ripped into shreds even further. But as one, both sides followed the treaty, mixed with relieved sighs and frustrated grumbling. The treaty also stated that both kingdoms must be kept apart for fear of the war starting again. This ceased all interactions between the two people like trading and especially fighting. Except for the occasional meetings between the King of the Angels and the Queen of the Devils, this rule was upheld. Mostly...

"Queen Idunn." The king greeted stiffly.

"King Adgar." The queen replied with equal distain.

Little Anna peered up at the imposing king from behind her mother's legs, her whip-like tail flicking back and forth to try and dispel the kinetic energy trapped within her. She was trying her best to look and act regal, just like her mother, but she was having a hard time going about it. "A princess always needs to be in control of herself," her mother would often say. So she thought only about keeping herself still. She started to check off her mental list Wings? Not flapping. Check. Hair? Neatly braided. Check. Clothes? Not ripped. Yet. Check. Tail? Still moving. Hrm... We will have to work on that later. But the poor princess was so focused on keeping the rest of her body parts in check, she forgot perhaps the most important piece. Her tongue.

"If you're an angel, where is your halo, mister? Aren't all angels supposed to have halos?" The second the words left her mouth, she felt the entire room freeze: figuratively and physically.

"Anna!" Came the sharp reprimand from her mother.

"Ah. Its quite alright. I'm sure she meant no harm, your majesty." The king knelt down on one knee to reach Annas eye level to look at her fully. A small amount of kindness was nestled deep in his eyes, but Anna was the only one to see it. "Little one, angels don't have halos. That has always been just a myth. But wouldn't it be silly if you saw a bunch of circles on top of someones head like a hat? Quite preposterous if you ask me." Anna giggled at the thought, and nodded her head. "Thats a good girl. Now why don't you go and run along now. I'm sure you don't want to hear all the boring things that must be said in this meeting."

Anna turned her eyes from the deep blue ones of the kings to the familiar blazing red of her mothers, looking for instruction. The queen nodded her head toward a set of chairs in the corner of the room and Anna scurried off in their direction.

The king rose from his knees, dusting himself off. "Quite a curious one you have there, your majesty." He commented turning back to the queen.

"Yes, Anna is quite special. I fear her inquisitive nature will get her into trouble though. But alas, I would rather have her question things than blindly follow. She will make a good leader someday."

"I think I might agree with you for once on that, your majesty." He chuckled as Anna ran face first into a potted plant. "Now, back to business."

As Anna ran to the chairs her mother sent her to, she made

the one fatal mistake. Instead of paying attention to where she was going, she looked over her shoulder at the two monarchs. They were still watching her travel to the chair.

SMACK!

Pain erupted from from the middle of her face. "Ahhh!" She cried as she staggered away from the potted plant she had just rammed into, landing on her bottom, the impact jarring even her horns. Her hands flew to her face as she felt her dark blood start to seep out of her nose and pool in her hands. She tried to stop the flow, but her blood was just as rebelious as she was herself and immediately overflowed from her hands and directly on her brand new formal dress. Large, black stains spread all over her chest and skirts. "Oh no, mother will kill me. Out of all my dresses, why did i have to ruin this one?!" She lamented internally. Pinching her nose, she stood up slowly and turned to glance at the adults. Both their backs were turned toward the table with a mess of random papers. At least, random to Anna. She shrugged and gripped the edge of her already ruined skirt and lifted it to her face to attempt to mop up the blood.

She finished her journey to the chair and continued dabbing at her face. As she did so, she lifted her face enough to look around the room. It was big office area with a long wooden table, spinny chairs, and the unhappy painted faces of previous devils and angels that had been in this exact same room long before her time. The windows were barred and shuddered, and Anna wasn't quite sure what she would have seen if they were open. Mother said this was an "inbetween world". Anna wondered what and inbetween world would look like. She moved her eyes to the people milling around the room. There was of course the king and queen, but they were also surrounded by various other "important" angels and devils. There were mostly older, gray haired people that bored Anna to death, but there were also younger, fitter gaurds each protecting their own charges. All in all, there were about 20 of them in the room. Kai, her mothers good friend, and some other important position that Anna could never remember the name of, winked at her from across the room. She giggled at him and continued her sweep of the area.

Suddenly, two guards shifted to the side, and she got a glimpse of something very white. White was not a color Anna usually saw. As a devil, Anna was of course used to black and red, but white was an anomaly in her world. Her insatiable curiosity peaked, she looked closer trying to figure out what the thing was. It was white and blue in the shape of a small person. Anna rubbed her eyes, avoiding touching her nose and trying to keep from messing up her face anymore, and looked again. A young girl came into focus. A girl! And she was laughing with a hand daintily covering her mouth. "What is she laughing at," Anna wondered. She followed the gaze of the other girl, and discovered it was upon herself. Anna blushed deeply. "She must have seen me run into the plant a second ago," Anna turned away from the girl's gaze and furiously rubbed at her face to get rid of any remaining blood. She faced the girl again and saw that she had stopped laughing, but she was still smiling in her eyes. Anna could tell because she could always read someone from their eyes. She waved enthusiastically at the girl, hoping to make a new friend. The girl waved back, then pointed at her nose. Confused, Anna touched her own nose and winced. Apparently, that answered the girls question, so she turned to her guards to speak with them, then gracefully rose from her chair... and promptly left the room.

Disappointed that she had somehow managed to offend the girl, Anna slumped in her chair feeling like she wanted to cry. She was bored, had a sore nose, and somehow managed to scare off her only potential playmate. Tears rose unbidden in her eyes, and she sniffed, then whimpered because that hurt her nose even more. Just as the first tear was about to fall, Anna felt a tap on her shoulder. Whipping around, Anna found the girl looking at her with concern.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

Anna sat there stunned. This girl had to be the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. Her hair was a snow white color, and her skin was very pale. But her eyes! Her eyes were such a breathtaking blue. A blue that Anna had never seen before, but was now determined to find a name for it.

"I said, are you alright?" Anna snapped awake from her stupor and looked away from the girl. She felt that if she looked again into those eyes, she might never look away.

"Oh, um, yes, I'm okay. Uh... Why would you ask?" Anna took a chance and looked into the face of the girl again.

"Well, I saw you run into that pot and hit your face with it. It also seems like you've injured your nose." Anna blushed again, embarrassed that this stunning creature had seen her accident. "I came over here to see if you would like any help." Anna looked dumbly at her. How in the world could she help Anna's nose? "Well, would you?"

Anna snapped out of her staring again. "Im sorry, would I what?"

The girl sighed, but there was still a smile in her eyes. "Would you like me to help you with your nose?" Confused, Anna slowly nodded her head. "Ok then, close your eyes, alright?" Anna looked into the girls amazing eyes one last time, then closed her own. She held her breath while she waited, completely unsure of what the girl wanted to do to her. Something very cold covered her nose, and the first thing that happened was Anna stopped hurting. Her nose felt really cold, but underneath that coldness, her nose had never felt better! Anna opened her eyes and the first thing that she saw was a white, glowing hand attached to her nose. Anna followed the hand to a wrist, then a blue-sleeved arm, and a shoulder, and a neck, and a chin to finally those eyes again.

"Feel better?" The girl asked with a small smile on her lips.

Anna was about to respond when she heard her mother call to her sharply. "Anna!" The strange girl jerked back her hand and straightened her shoulders, taking a stiff and proper stance. Anna mourned the comforting contact, but jumped up from her chair as well to stand beside the girl as the king and queen approached them. "Anna, what happened to your new dress?" The queen asked in a warm, motherly tone, gesturing towards the random patches of black all over Annas red dress.

"Oh! Well, I ran into a pot with my nose! And then I started bleeding and I didn't know how to make it stop!" Anna sputtered out.

The queen leaned in to further inspect her face, grabbed her chin, and gently tilted it back and forth. "Well I think you will be alright, little one. Nothing seems terribly injured."

"Yeah! Isn't it great? This girl here helped me somehow! My nose was hurting before, but then she touched it, and its all better now!" Anna explained enthusiastically. The king looked sharply at the girl, and if it was at all possible, she stiffened even more under his gaze.

The queen laughed at her daughter's antics, not quite understanding her story. "Alright then, little duck, when we get home, we can clean you up." Suddenly remembering who was standing beside her, the queen straightened and all the motherliness she had spoken to Anna with left her as she addressed the king. "King Adgar, until next time. I hope your side can keep the peace we have worked so hard to attain."

The king bristled at her comment. "Of course, Queen Idunn. My people will have no issues with peace. We are angels, are we not? My only hope is to not be disappointed by your failed promises when your people disobey you."

Both the king and queen glared at each other, not wanting to be the first to turn away. "Its time to go Anna." The queen turned flamboyantly enough to smack the king in the chest with one of her massive, leather wings, and left the room, her entourage following closely behind. Anna looked at the girl one more time, and tried to speak with her again. "Um, thank you for your help with my nose. It feels a lot better now. Uh, my name is Anna. Can I ask what is yours?"

The girl took a breath to answer her, but a loud shout of "Anna!" Startled both of them. Anna sighed and waved at the girl before running towards the door her mother exited out of. As she reached the threshold, she turned back to look at the blindingly white girl one last time. The girl had a sad smile on her lips as she lifted her arm slightly in a small wave. Anna hated to leave the girl looking so sad, but her mother called for her again. On the verge of tears again, Anna raced after her mother, her heart breaking at having to leave the beautiful, mysterious girl behind.