The Return of Happiness ~ Part 4

Extremely sorry for the slowness!
For KIMBER - whose patience has surpassed all that I could imagine and has been willing to sit and wait for this moment.
I tried to make it long to make up for the wait.
Also for RACHEL - who, although she hasn't expressed much excitement, will enjoy the slight references to alchemy and more backstory on Blinx in this chapter.
SORRY. UPON FINAL INSPECTION OF THE CHAPTER, IT WAS FOUND THAT MOST OF MY QUOTATION MARKS AND OTHER PUNCTUATION WERE EATEN BY QUIZILLA'S UNCOOPERATIVE PROGRAMMING AND THE LACK OF AWESOMENESS ON WORDPAD. PLEASE FORGIVE ANY GRAMMATICAL ERROR CAUSED BY SAID MISUNDERSTANDING. Thank you. <3
---> continue onwards?
When Red and May made it through the other side of the portal, they were swept away by a sudden, relentless gust of wind. Red had his eyes squeezed shut, so he couldnt see the vast, bottomless expansion of sky and cloud below him. May had an iron grip on his arm, and they were battered about helplessly by the wind.
May went into her full angelic form, vanishing from Reds mortal vision. She unfurled her wings as quickly as she could. There was a jolt that ran through both of them as the wind forced them backwards, ramming into the solid mass of Mays wingspan. Red opened one eye, curious as to what had stopped their descent.
Dear god, he muttered, shutting his eyes again.
Hang on Red! May shouted, her voice significantly dimmed by the wind. Im going to try and fly us up! We came through a few feet too low! She struggled, but managed a strong downbeat of her wings, and they rose a foot or so higher, only to be caught by the wind when her wings were at an angle. They were tossed backwards, connected only by Mays death-grip on Reds arm.
Red felt Mays hand start to slip and he panicked, fearing the fall through the sky. Something grabbed his other arm though and he felt himself rise, only to be dropped on something solid. He opened one eye and found that he was on a cloud, which, contrary to his education, was very much solid and not water vapor.
MAY! Red shouted, leaning over the edge of the cloud. MAY! WHERE ARE YOU? MAY!
Be quiet, someone behind him said. A blue hedgehog with long, trailing spikes that reached past her knees, wearing a white dress and a light-colored sash, stared at Red with bright silver eyes. Shes fine, The pink hedgehog in question was back into her Mobian form, exhausted from fighting the wind, even for that brief moment.
Who are you? Red asked. Why do you look like Kimber? He was in awe for an instant.
You know Kimber? the angels eyes lit up.
Yeah, Red muttered. Shes my aunt,
So she has a family of her own now? the angel continued, excited. Oh, how wonderful!
Who are you? Red repeated his original question sternly, his voice taking on an iron edge of authority.
My name is Skylark, the hedgehog replied. Welcome to the Angelic Realm. Although you really shouldnt be here, since youre a mortal and all, oh dear, this isnt good... Ahh.... what are we going to do about that.... umm....
May looked around, at first surprised, and then relieved. Skylark saves the day again, she chuckled, smiling at the blue hedgehog. Skylark nodded with a quiet smile on her face.
Skylark, meet Red, May said.
Red... Skylark chuckled, and then burst out laughing.
What? Red asked, offended.
Where did your name come from, the crayon box? Red! Skylark couldnt stop laughing, despite the glares she was getting from both May and Red.
My dad named me, Red snarled. And my dad just so happens to be the most famous person on the face of Mobius,
Oh, dont flatter yourself. Sonic? Skylark burst into another round of laughter.
Its true! May insisted. His father really is Sonic! Ive met him myself!
Dont tell me, Skylark said, snickering, wiping off one eye with the back of her hand. You have a sister named Blue,
Yeah, Red replied. Got a problem with it?
RED! AND BLUE! Skylark was laughing so hard she was about ready to fall over. This is hysterical! What kind of drugs was Sonic doing when you were born? Goodness, thats funny!
Oh, shut up, Skylark, May snarled. You just ask KAYA, shell know,
Kaya, Kaya, Kaya, Skylark rolled her eyes, the smile disappearing and her look souring. Goodness, if I hear THAT name again, Im going to vomit.
Somebody call? a white hedgehog, unseen by Red until she reverted to Mobian form, fluttered down and joined the group. Her short spikes were covered by cascading blonde hair, and her bright green eyes locked on Red.
Oooh, Sonics little boy, right? she said. Red half-nodded, and then she smirked. Lemme guess, Amy Rose, right?
My mom? Uh, yeah, Red said, a little bit nervous. Kayas look matched Skylarks, a mixture of discontent and anger.
"Hmph." Kaya glared at Red for a minute, and then smiled. "You look like your dad," she said.
"Back off Kaya," May hissed.
"Oooh, May's got herself a boyfriend!" Kaya squealed, excited. "He's a keeper, trust me, give him a couple of years and he'll be just like his dad. Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. Besides, you and Red make a cute couple already. I can just hear wedding bells already!" She let out a satisfied sigh and closed her eyes, folding her hands together.
Red nervously backed away and hid behind May. "I thought we were here looking for Mercia, not for a gathering of angels!"
"That's right!" May gasped. "Sorry, gotta go find Mercia,"
"Mercia's in the Court," Skylark said, stone-serious. "She's facing loads of charges for what she did to those two Mobians,"
"Kimber and Shaye," May said. "I hope they're alright, Rachel was having a fit earlier, turns out neither of them are looking much better after that cleansing,"
"A cleansing is poison to those with demonic, vampiric, or otherwise evil blood," Kaya chimed in a rehearsed manner. "A mortal possessing a fraction of at least half of any sort of evil blood is affected negatively by a cleansing, as the sole purpose of such action is to be rid of the evil factor."
"In English, please," Red requested, lost.
"Anybody with genetics associated with 'evil' will be hurt by a cleansing," Skylark muttered. "This is because the cleansing in and of itself will try and get rid of the 'evil'. It's trying to rip apart your genes and then put you back together 'clean'."
"Have you ever seen a full demon being cleansed?" Kaya asked. May and Skylark shook their heads and Red stood off to the side, dumbfounded. "It's a bloody mess, they get absolutely torn apart, limbs and guts everywhere, and then by the time the demonic factor's been erased, there's nothing left to bring back as a Mobian!"
May's face got pale and she looked ill. "Never again mention that, Kaya," she said. Skylark glared at the white hedgehog, revolted.
"Learn to keep your mouth SHUT," Skylark said sternly. Kaya smiled innocently and then sighed.
"Poor Mercia..." she muttered. "An attack on mortals, unnecessary cleansing, threatening a mortal... and this isn't her first time being in trouble either. They're going to send to straight to Oblivion if they can!"
"I'm not letting them send her to Oblivion," May said. "They can take her license, they can take her wings, but they're not taking her existance."
"What can you do?" Skylark hissed. "Make the Higher Authorities change their minds? Even the Seraphim are shocked, and they've been around for ages, they've heard of nearly every kind of crime in the book!"
"Mercia only attacked them because she felt threatened," May muttered. "She's really good at masking it- she's quite the actress, when you get to know her- so she sounded like she was out for their lives-"
"Which she was," Kaya and Skylark said at once.
"She was only threatened by the existance of negative influence!" May shouted. "You know what happened to the first mortal she guarded, you think she's just going to get over it?"
"It didn't help," Red added, "that the demon the hedgehog was killed by, was Carreau," he used the official demonic name in case the angels didn't recognize 'Blinx'. "And he's well-known at the Edge, where the attack took place,"
"Carreau..." Skylark said, frowning. "That demon that made it out of the Demonic Realm and actually made a body for himself without possessing a mortal?"
"Right," May said.
"He didn't transmutate it?" Kaya asked. "I hear he's got all sorts of contacts, including alchemists,"
"If he transmutated it, he'd have to know alchemy himself beforehand," May interjected. "Alchemy is forbidden under the laws of the Second Order,"
"The Present Order, you mean," Skylark corrected.
"The Present Order and the Second Order are the same," May replied.
Red's head was spinning, he was completely lost.
"And you know Azanajin," May continued, "she wouldn't have let him live if she found out he was breaking the laws of her Order. She's got complete control over the entire Demonic Realm, any alchemic practice whatsoever would have been discovered in a short period of time,"
"STOP," Red ordered. "I'm so lost. Can't we just get Mercia out of trouble and LEAVE?"
"So then how did he make it?" Kaya asked, ignoring Red. "If it wasn't alchemy or a mortal, what was it?"
"He's able to make solid matter out of dark energy," May said. "Or so I've heard. Nobody's ever figured it out, besides him, of course,"
"Wouldn't that classify as transmutation, then?" Kaya continued.
"He didn't need the transmutation circle, or the array, or whatever it is," Skylark said. "And it completely defies the law of equivalent exchange. He doesn't have a Philosopher's Stone, and demon or not, he'd still be bound by alchemic law,"
"STOP!" Red repeated. "Can we please just get this over with? I'm so lost, you three are rambling about a demon I know hardly anything about, and we came here to make sure Mercia's punishment was merely to have her license removed, not her existance banished to Oblivion or whatever!"
"Right!" May agreed. "We need to go make sure the Court doesn't send her to Oblivion. Criminal or not, she's my sister!"
"We can't do anything," Skylark said.
"Besides," Kaya added, "if Red tried to help, he'd surely be seen by another angel, and then YOU'D get sent to Oblivion, May,"
"Please tell me you'll take care of it, then?" May begged Skylark and Kaya.
"Of course," they said at once, joined by two other voices. Red and May spun around to see the two angels behind them.
One was a hedgehog, and the other was hiding behind her, so it was impossible to see them.
"Theiya, don't be so shy," said the hedgehog. A face peeked out, it was a fox, red with bangs in wild colors.
"I should leave," Theiya said. "I might not have time to help Mercia, I have to go watch over Firefly, she's getting herself into a lot of trouble lately."
"Firefly..." Red muttered. The name sounded familiar.
"Fine, go," the hedgehog muttered, rolling her eyes as the fox ran off again. "Goodness, shy around strangers much. Really need to teach her some social skills,"
"Rowan?" Red asked, the name popping into his mind. The hedgehog looked at him, bright eyes blazing. Her yellow bangs, streaked with bright green, bobbed in front of her face. Besides the green coloring, she could have been Rachel. "Rachel's mom, right?"
"Red Hedgehog," Rowan said. "Son of Sonic Hedgehog, correct?"
"Yep," Red said, happy that he didn't have the angel laughing at his name or trying to find out how to contact his dad.
"Red," Rowan said. "And May. I hear you two have had some trouble down in the Mortal world?"
They nodded simultaneously.
"Mercia's attacked two mortals with a powerful cleansing, correct? Kimber Hedgehog and Shaye Fox, right?"
They nodded again.
"Kimber's possessed by Ari-Kila, the demon, but was also the child of Saburou and Skylark, correct?"
May nodded, Red stared blankly.
"And Shaye's merely the child of Carreau?"
May nodded again, Red stared, still confused.
"Oh dear, this is worse than I thought. No doubt Rachel threatened Mercia, giving Mercia cause to threaten back. No wonder she's in so much trouble. Red, May, I offer my assistance. Mercia's in a lot of trouble, but so are your friends,"

Thanks for reading!