She gasped for air, scrambling to her feet in a panic. All around her were trees, mist, and the feeling that man already knew she had arrived and were watching her.

It was not as gray as she would have imagined the place, wherever she was; it seemed to flow, pure and bright, but also held some sort of patient sorrow; regret, almost.

But, where was she?

It took a few moments to calm herself, trying to breathe slowly while she looked about. After a few moments more, she found herself to be completely naked, only bare skin and fire-red hair tickling her shoulders with its curls.

Her eyes were violet, a light ring of orange around her irises and a dark ring of green on the outside edge, flecks of red and gold streaming this way and that.

Between her shoulderblades arched two silver and blue-tipped wings.

Quickly she covered herself as best she could with her wings and decided that no matter what, she should keep moving; she had a feeling that if she stopped, even for a moment, she would meet with something terrible indeed.

"Is this Purgatory?" she whispered to herself, images of her own death flashing through her mind: blood, so much blood, being torn apart, the hate in those Hunters' faces…her wings separated from her body...and the pain, oh the tortuous pain...then she woke up here.

Whispered voices began to raise up all around her.

"Monster," a voice said.

"Filthy!" another one hissed.

"What is it doing here? It does not belong!" they continued.

Panic began to rise in her chest and she walked faster.

"If this is Purgatory, then I shouldn't be the only monster here!" she said aloud in her confusion.

"Kill it." one of the voices said in a resolute tone.

She suddenly bolted, running for any sort of cover.

Then three figures appeared before her, each with their own wings magnificently arching behind them.

'Creatures like me?' she thought to herself, a sliver of hope glowing within.

"No, you filthy beast," a voice answered her thought from behind. She whipped around to see another winged being, a man in a suit.

"We are not phoenixes," he hissed the last word as if it disgusted him.

"And you are not in your rightful place of punishment for your sin of existence!" a woman's voice joined the man, the speaker suddenly appearing before the girl.

"What?" the girl wondered aloud. "Is this not Purgatory?"

"Not your Purgatory." the man answered curtly, drawing a metal blade seemingly out of the air.

"Then where am I?"

"The world of rebirth: the Angel Purgatory."

The girl was shocked; she hadn't even known that such a place existed, neither had she thought that Angels could do anything to be put in a place like this.

"What do you want with me?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"We want you to die!"

The Angels flew full speed at her, all wielding the strange-looking blades.

In her panic, her wings flared behind her, now ablaze with blue and white fire, and she allowed the fire to engulf her body until even her eyes were glowing.

The Angels that were near enough screeched when burned by her searing heat.

The Phoenix girl flared her heat out at the Angels once more before she fluttered away, trying to get away as fast as she could.

Just as she thought she'd escaped, something or someone grappled onto her before letting go, having become covered in fire. The surprise of the attack caused her to fall to the ground with a sickening thud, her wings hugging her body to lessen the pain.

"I need to get out...need to leave…" she babbled to herself in fear. "...Need to leave...to get out…"

She was unable to maintain the fire on her body and wings and it soon died down. She laid there, covering herself, listening to the Angels search for her and whisper to each other.

"Found her!" a voice whispered and she closed her eyes, preparing for the worst; she was too scared to try and run, and her limbs had frozen with her fright.

She heard the fluttering of wings, and then a cry of pain. Gingerly opening her eyes, she looked up to see a blond-haired blue-eyed man, with white speckled brown wings, looking down at her with a smile.

"Hello, darling," he said with a charming british accent.

All the girl could do was stare, afraid for her life.

"Don't worry," he kneeled next to her. "I'll protect you. Can I pick you up?"

She nodded slowly, feeling that for some reason she could trust him.

"There you go, love." he said, picking her up after taking off his jacket and giving it to her to cover herself with.

'Who is this man?' she wondered to herself. The man looked at her and smiled.

"My name's Balthazar, and I've been here for quite a while."