A week later, Jane and Colin were invited to a secret reunion on humans with their own angels. It had been a pain in the ass to clear Jane's schedule so she could attend, but humans were known to have a hard time adapting to having an angel, and meeting other peoples going through the same thing helped. (And her brother only having vague memories of not having one, at best, he isn't a great help.)
Alas, because of the need for secrecy, none would remember the names or even faces of the others present, so there is no risk of accidentally outing someone to the general public. (Only humans were affected, naturally.) But they'll all remember having a nice time with peoples living something similar, it's enough to help.
It wasn't only Jane that came to this kind of meeting, but Colin to. Because he was so young when Aqua became part of him, he would have been bored out of his mind back then with only adult around him, and didn't need those kind of reunion by the time he was old enough to enjoy them. Faith had made him come this time so he could act as support for his sister.
That said, Colin had also been instructed to pretend he only had one angel, and to try not revealing it wasn't a recent development. Not only did the Gods fear how the other humans would react, but one was originally instructed in the care of their angel and use of their powers by Kamelia's original host. They hadn't taken well the news of said goddess death.
Having a affinity for Light elements is a rather rare thing, at least among humans. So Jane had been swarmed by curious peoples, their questions inciting to experiment under the watchful eyes of the gods present. She even got some pointers from said gods.
Colin too had been swarmed, but for different reasons. Some because they were curious about his angel, who clearly used to be a devil. But most because they believed him to be transgender. Apparently, an angel is usually the same gender as their host, regardless of their physical sex. He couldn't how hard it must be, being born in the wrong body… (Faith for her part knew that if those peoples ascended, they would finally have the body they should. …Not that being male or female changed much for her kind.)
But Colin wasn't the only one around with a former devil for angel. There was some gods, naturally, but also a young woman. As he approached her, she saluted him by screaming "For the last time, no! I an not a TRANS-MAN! Stop assuming thing just because my angel is male!"
"You're the one assuming right now," said Colin, while indicating Aqua standing beside him "May I present you my angel, Aqua."
"Oh, I'm sorry! I…" But Colin interrupted her. "Don't worry, I understand were you come from. I too was swarmed by peoples assuming I'm trans. Say, from my experience when a human is given a former devil, there is a bit much than the usual ‘you're worthy, so goble-up that egg and let it turn into your angel’. So, what's his story?" he asked, pointing to her massive angel.
"Not much. Demon capture a hiding god thinking he was human, stuff a devil in his soul hoping to turn him into a colopatirone. Result: The devil got purified, turning into an unwanted angel, his god estimating he already has more than enough. So Goliath here got proposed to several peoples worthy of having their own angel, until it was my turn. Why? What's Aqua's story?"
"I was witness to a group of demons trying to turn a goddess into a succubus. I wanted to comfort the extracted angel until someone more apt to help came, not knowing that touching her would make her latch onto my soul to survive. Faith being too suborn a goddess to let herself become a demon, her devil became an angel instead. When I tried to give back her previous angel, not knowing the consequence, she decided to give me Aqua to compensate, without any warning. I think it's also was a way to say ‘thank you’."
"Wow! That's quite the story." Then looking a bit more at Aqua she added "I wish Goliath too had the power to turn his tail into legs. The power he still have from his past as a devil is the ability to undo any lock without even touching it. And no, he can't use his powers to lock my door, only to unlock it."
"At least you can enter your home even if you can't find your keys."
— – - – —
Faith looked at Colin having a nice discussion from afar. At first she had been scared when seeing him approach Amelia, since she was the one so adversely affected by the death of Rose's previous host. But seeing how well she hit it off with Colin, maybe they should let her know, maybe she would be happy to see that a little part of Flora had survived, unaware of Kamelia's own reaction to the current situation.
- – — – -
Inside Colin's soul, Kamelia was contemplating using the Journal of Facts, hidden there by Aqua so nobody would access it.
She wasn't too fond of Colin, even after the gods had made her fully bond with him. Even though he had already met Flora back when she was acting as Faith's mother, he still hadn't recognized Rose and her!
But maybe she could use the Journal to change things, make it so her former host was still around. She was sure Amelia would approve if she knew!