Miranda gave Kieri another dose of healing potion before they left. The next day, Kieri was released from the hospital, with orders to be careful for another week or so. That afternoon, Kieri sat in the wagon with Buwaro as they left the town. As he sat with her, she taught him some basics of reading at his request. He was a fairly quick learner – but he still had a long ways to go.

The next morning, as they were about to get on the road again, Kieri asked him, "Buwaro? You truly wish to learn to defend me, right?"

"Yeah, why?" Buwaro replied.

"Then you'll want to start with conditioning your body," she said. "This morning, I want you to walk with Rhea; we'll read in the afternoons and evenings. See if you can run around the wagon a few times while you're walking."

Buwaro did so, but it was clear his endurance was fairly lacking. The young Fire Demon would tire fairly quickly from the exertion. Seeing this weakness, he was discouraged, but Rhea told him, "Don't worry. Everyone starts out at the bottom. Come on, keep walking – it's better for you to keep going slowly after you just ran."

Between reading, running, and Kieri getting him to do push-ups and sit-ups before breakfast, Buwaro went to sleep exhausted every night, and woke up somewhat sore every morning – but he was building his body up. In just a week, he began to see a huge difference in his endurance alone – rather than at most four laps around the wagon, he was already doing as many as ten before getting tired, and the wagon would move at a fairly decent clip. On top of that, he started running faster laps as he did – Rhea got a stopwatch from Heathcliff to measure his time after the third day, and he was shaving off a half-second a lap after six. By this time, Kieri was joining him on the walk and run, having recovered almost completely, as well as on the push-ups and sit-ups.

On the eighth day since they left Weyville, Rhea prodded him to ask Heathcliff to teach him the basics of magic. The man was somewhat reluctant at first, since the boy was a Fire Demon – for all he knew, they naturally had explosive firepower – but he reasoned to himself that Kieri could put out any unnecessary flames if it came to that. So, when they stopped for lunch, Heathcliff began to teach Buwaro how to use a basic fireball. He expected that a novice like Buwaro would take a week to get it to a reasonable level.

Instead, at the end of the lunch hour, Buwaro rushed over, showing the middle-aged man a palm-sized, crackling fireball that flickered about two inches above his palm. The man blinked several times. "That took me a full day to get down," Sammy grinned. "Nice job, Buwaro!"

"Yes," Heathcliff smiled, "that's very impressive."

"Well, I put in lots of energy," Buwaro admitted, "way more than I'm supposed to. But at least I can do it," he beamed.

"You just pump up the fireball, huh?" Sammy smirked. "Cheater." Buwaro shrugged, chuckling. "Well, once you get it to that point, I guess you can learn how to make it with less, so you'll do fine," she told him.

The next morning, during his conditioning training, Buwaro began conjuring the occasional fireball while he ran. He always put it out in short order, as his goal was to boost his endurance as much as possible by exerting himself more. It worked – two days later, he could run ten laps while creating his fireballs, or fifteen without, before getting tired. It also helped him generate the meditative focus he needed to create the spell, so even his spell improved from the training. Kieri admitted that his idea was something that her schools back in Heaven could benefit from.

That thought made Buwaro feel quite proud of himself. Even if he had a long way to go, he was finding ways to make that route go by a little faster.

In addition, he had already learned the characters of Lingo and was putting them together into words with relative ease. Seeing this, Heathcliff loaned him a small book with instructions for several fire spells scribed into it, including the basic fireball, and the boy took to studying it with all his energy. Kieri had to help him make sure that he'd read the words right, but he usually did.

By the time they had dropped off Eve and Willow at the Southern Forest, Buwaro had learned to use a more powerful fire spell called Flame Shot. Though it wasn't much stronger than a fireball, it had the advantage of distance: it could easily be used at four times the range without trouble. He'd also learned a spell to douse flames, pulling the fiery energy from them with his own magic, and from his basic Fireball and the Douse spell, he began learning to use Smokescreen that evening.

Heathcliff was a bit concerned by his rapid growth. "He's taking to magic very well," he said casually to Kieri as he watched Buwaro work on the spell.

"Most Demons are somewhat better with magic than Medians," Kieri explained, "but he does seem to be better at it than most Fire Demons. Even better than some Fire Angels," she admitted. "Perhaps it is part of being a Duke?"

"Maybe," he sighed as Buwaro conjured another smokescreen – this one a good two yards across. "That kid's gonna be a terror to fight soon, isn't he?"

"Yes," Kieri smiled. "But I think he knows a bit about when to fight, now, too." Heathcliff only nodded and smiled sadly.


The next day, Kieri gave Buwaro an assessment of him at his best. Both before and after breakfast, Kieri had him relax. As the last of the wagon was prepared, she got him inside, then put him on a one-minute timer with the stopwatch and had him do push-ups as they moved. He was able to do twenty in one minute, and forty-four sit-ups in the same time after a five-minute break. She then had him take another break of fifteen, then got him to run about five hundred yards, timing him as he went. He managed to complete it in just under 82 seconds.

Kieri, satisfied with his conditioning, began to teach him some basic fighting stances at lunch, and then what she knew of unarmed fighting and wrestling. Buwaro took to the art of wrestling fairly quickly, thanks to Kieri's instruction and his conditioning; he wasn't that far behind in terms of punches, kicks, and blocks. After a week of practicing combat at every meal and before bed, he was able to wrestle Kieri to a standstill.

To be fair, she'd never been great at any of the fighting arts, but it was nice to see her tutoring had brought him that far, and that quickly.

Then he learned how to suplex – Kieri made sure that her arms were loose when they practiced, so that she wouldn't get injured, but she taught him all the same. Between his wrestling skill and claws, he was a beast to fight before they reached the mountains of St. Curtis's valley.

By this time, he was also reading far better – Kieri said he was at about an Angel school's first-grade reading level when they stopped the physical conditioning, on account of the people they were now meeting on the road. So since they couldn't train his body, they got him to mastering reading better.

By the time they reached St. Curtis, he was about a second-grade reading level – though there were almost none of the other academics behind it.

As they arrived in the city in the morning, Buwaro found himself too excited to stay in the wagon, despite Heathcliff's quiet pleading. Surprisingly, most people gave him a look of surprise, then ignored him. Rhea was almost more concerned about that fact, than about the possibility of them lynching him.

Buwaro held Kieri's hand as they walked, but he was obviously bouncing with interest at almost everything. Kieri giggled at his pointing at certain things, watching the entire city closely. "It's such a pretty place," he said, gently running his hand along a huge root from the tree at the center of town.

"I know," she smiled, "it is beautiful."

As they rounded a corner, Buwaro heard a yelp. He turned to see the source – a Jakkai woman with a bag of groceries, backing away from him. He slowly backed up, motioning with his open hand to let her pass. She stared at him, as if confused. "What is this?" she asked suspiciously. "A Demon, being nice?"

Buwaro paused, thinking about her reaction. He knew that people were afraid of Demons, even hated them, but now he had a chance to do something about it. Finally, he sighed and sat down, looking the woman in the eye, letting go of Kieri's hand in the process. "I don't get it," he said frankly.

"Huh?" the woman asked, confused.

"Maybe I'm the weird one, at least as far as Demons go," he said, gaze lowering a bit. "Maybe I'm not supposed to be nice. But if that's the case, I'm perfectly happy how I am. The only time I've ever really wanted to hurt someone was because they hurt Snowy. Uh, Kieri," he said as he motioned to his friend. "I thought he'd killed her. And when I found out she was fine, I felt really bad about hurting him." He stared at her again, saddened and angered at his thoughts, and she shifted nervously under the intense gaze. "Am I really that weird, because I'm a nice Demon? If so, I have one question: what is wrong with all the others?"

Kieri stared at him, surprised, before she kneeled by his side. "Buwaro," she said sadly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think you're entirely alone, no. I don't know why there aren't more as nice as you, though. Maybe they don't think they can be."

Buwaro stared at her, confused, before it clicked. "Because of the Stupid War," he said quietly.

Kieri chuckled in spite of herself at his nickname for the Great War. "Probably," she nodded grimly.

"So you're friends," the Jakkai said, slowly walking closer to them. "I mean, seriously friends."

"Rhea said something about exploding her," Buwaro said sheepishly. "I'm guessing it's a slang or something, though."

Kieri blushed brilliantly. "That's...yes, 'bang' is a slang word," she managed, embarrassed, her hands covering her face. The Jakkai giggled in spite of herself.

"What does it mean, then?" he asked, tilting his head as he stared at his girlfriend.

"It..." She hesitated. "It means sex."

"What's that?"

The Jakkai's jaw dropped as she stared at the two. "Yeah I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that last bit," she said, quickly walking away from the scene.

Kieri was likewise stunned. "Ohhh my," she murmured. "I'll explain it this evening, alright?" she laughed nervously. Buwaro simply became more confused at her nerves, but shrugged and accepted that answer.


The Angels and Demons wandering openly in St. Curtis had shocked and confused everyone within the Sinclair wagon. Concern was fairly high among the visitors and residents of the city, but most were at least willing to live and let live, if they even believed it was real.

Most people didn't, and considering their encounter with the Jakkai woman with the groceries, that was somewhat of a relief for Buwaro and Kieri.

As the two wandered the streets, though, they came across a very young Angel, and soon found his mother. {Thank you for finding Tirol,} she said pleasantly. {I'm surprised he wandered off again – normally, he does not like other Demons.}

Buwaro hesitantly said, "Um, I didn't understand that."

"Me either," Rhea added.

"Oh, well," she said sheepishly, picking her son up, "Tirol is normally shy around other Demons. My name is Kinako, by the way."

"Other Demons?" Rhea asked.

"What the...?" a heavy voice asked, as if frightened. All turned to see a boar-like Earth Demon, who was staring at Buwaro. "Wh-what...who are you?" she asked quietly.

"I'm Buwaro," the Fire Demon replied friendlily, "What's your name?"

She blinked. "Um, I'm Sahne," she said, as if still nervous. "Just Buwaro?" she asked finally.

Buwaro hesitated, unsure why she'd ask. "Uh...Buwaro Elexion," he said finally. "I was adopted, it's a long story."

The Earth Demon's jaw dropped. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you," she deadpanned.

"What is wrong, Sahne?" Kinako asked.

"...it's nothing," Sahne said, in a quiet tone that made it clear that it was anything but nothing.

The slight fear in her eyes suddenly filled Buwaro with understanding, and he facepalmed a second later. "I think I get it now," he sighed. "No, I don't know how I got to be a Duke. Well, not exactly. I had a – what'd Rhea call it, conniption or something – over Snowy getting hurt by an Angel, because she was defending me."

Silence. Even Kinako seemed nervous now. "A Duke? S-seriously?" she asked Sahne.

"Why'd you think I was so scared?" she chuckled, though there was no humor to it. "Kid could fight a Guardian toe-to-toe. I'm surprised he's even friends with an Angel, much less talking to us."

Buwaro stared at them. "Buh?" was his dumbfounded response to those statements. "Really?"

Kieri hugged Buwaro with one arm. "Buwaro is gentler than that," she told them.

"Well, not when that Denevol guy nearly killed you," Buwaro muttered nervously.

"S-still, he's not well-trained as a warrior, since I only recently began teaching him," she admitted. "The main reason he fought off my...assailant – far better trained than I – was because he basically went berserk, without going, you know, Berserk berserk"

The pair before the two lovebirds fell silent at that. "Lemme get this straight," Sahne said quietly. "A Warrior-clan Angel and a Duke of Hell are friends, and willing to fight for each other. What next," she half-shouted sarcastically, "is Syndel gonna be at the stage tonight doing a violin show?" Kinako merely shrunk away from Kieri, looking to shield Tirol with her body.

Buwaro stared at Sahne, then Kinako, then began to massage his sinuses with a groan. "Look," he said, his voice now on edge as he glared at the two, "I don't know what your problem is with Snowy all of a sudden, and I don't care. She's the nicest person I've ever met. I don't know why, or what, but she seems to have family problems, and I'd really appreciate it if you stopped looking at her like she's going to explode and hurt someone any second now." He shook his head and stalked away. "Come on, Snowy," he said, "let's ask someone else about your brother."

Kieri shook her head in disbelief. That had been fairly eloquent and quite angry – she'd never seen him like this. "Buwaro, please," she called after him, and he stopped, looking back sadly. "Please calm down, they're not threatening me."

"Like we're that stupid," Sahne snorted.

"Okay, ya know what," Rhea growled, "Kieri here's been through more than enough shit lately, okay? Who gives a flying fuck what her family does?"

"We care," Kinako snapped, "because she's like those other two ruffians, the ones that got arrested for causing an avalanche! She's trained from birth to be a killer and miscreant, just like the Sanjulo and Suizahn boys!"

Kieri felt something snap inside of her. "Oh yes, trained from birth to kill," she muttered lowly, her expression darkening, her voice dripping with sarcasm and anger. "So what if I failed every combat test I ever took?!" she shouted as she whirled on her two accusers, startling them all and causing Tirol to jump in his mother's arms.

In her anger, she switched back to Angelic, barely aware of the change, barely even aware of her tears starting to flow. {So what if I learned Lingo despite my mother desperately trying to keep me a simple, stupid soldier, to ban me from the class?! So what if I simply didn't have the heart for fighting despite hours and hours and days and weeks and months of drilling that did nothing more than make my hands bleed?!

{So what if my mother told me how worthless I was every time I failed to be even an average warrior?! So what if she literally punched me for any perceived failure?! So what if I literally had no friends my whole time in school, because everyone was either disdainful or afraid of me?! So what if my brother was my only comfort my entire life?!

{None of that could ever matter! After all, I'm from a Warrior clan, so I must be an accomplished, willing, bloodthirsty killer!} She struggled for something foul enough to say, and finally switched to Lingo in order to do so, tears streaming down her face as she managed a weak, squealing snarl of, "Well fffff-FUCK YOU TOO!" With that last outburst, Kieri took to the air and flew away.

When she finally landed, well outside of town, her self-loathing and her impotent rage boiling over still, she curled up under a tree, sobbing uncontrollably.

She wasn't sure how long it was before Buwaro showed up. He was huffing, but he was approaching rapidly, before slowing down as he got within speaking range. A moment later, he plopped down at her side and hugged her with one arm. That broke the floodgates again – Kieri began to bawl into his chest as she squeezed him tightly. Buwaro's hand merely stroked her hair for a time, until she quieted her sobbing for a time. "Snowy?" he asked quietly. "What happened back there?"

Kieri looked up into his eyes, her own eyes soaked with tears, and found she couldn't hide anything from him anymore. She no longer wanted to. Perhaps if she told him, he would see that she wasn't worth the effort he kept putting into being her friend.

But by now, that was fine by her.

So she began to blurt out, quietly sobbing every couple sentences or so, all she could remember about her long, horribly painful, worthless life. Buwaro let her get it out, his expression turning stoic as he stroked her head, comforting her as she recounted the many times that she'd been hit, shouted at, told how sick she was, for not being a perfect warrior, and the time she realized that she didn't deserve to live. The time she tried to correct that error. How her father was at least more caring, but often very distant, and how she realized that she didn't deserve his help. How her brother was stupid to have tried to care for her at all, and how she wished he'd had a sister that was worth something, instead of a waste of space, of time, of flesh, of training, like her. How the Warrior-clan Angels thought little of her for her weak fighter's instinct, but the other Angels thought her to be too scary to even try to befriend, because she was a Suizahn.

When she was finally done, he wordlessly picked her up and carried her back to the Sinclair family's wagon. She glanced up at his face, and she immediately looked away. She said not a word as they walked, now concerned about what he'd do. Would he reject her now? Would he finally see how useless she was? Would he abandon her, like she deserved?

But if that was what he would do, why were his eyes full of tears, as much as barely-fettered anger?


It was almost sundown before they got back. Buwaro let her walk in, hoping she would be okay. Rhea had already returned by then, and she hugged Kieri's leg. "Kinako said she's sorry," she said quietly. "She told me you'd apparently put up with a lot of shit you no one should ever have to deal with."

"Sounds about right," Buwaro said quietly, his eyes darkened with rage.

Rhea actually flinched – his eyes weren't glowing, but he was clearly furious. She'd been less scared of the time he'd gone Berserk, and was suddenly glad that his anger was obviously not directed at her. "Buwaro?" she asked, managing to keep the quiver out of her voice. "What's wrong?"

"Snowy's mother, that's what," Buwaro said, then quieted as his eyes shut, as if fighting back his anger. Finally, he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. "Denevol tried to kill her. He thought she'd betrayed people. I get that. I hate it, but I get it.

"Then there's Snowy's mom. If I ever see that horrible hag, and if she doesn't beg Snowy for the forgiveness she doesn't deserve, I'm going to tear off both her arms and shove them in her mouth. And if I can't get them both down her throat, I'll beat her with the one that remains, and after she's dead, I'll string her up by her intesti-cles." Surprisingly, he was quiet the whole way through his threat, his voice almost monotone.

Heathcliff winced, certain he meant "intestines" but not really wanting to find out. "It's that bad?" he asked quietly.

"Do you recall your parents ever punching you?" he asked Heathcliff, his voice finally gaining an edge. "Hitting you, shouting that you're 'sick' or that you're worthless? Telling you that you can't do something they want you to do, so you're not obviously good enough for anyone?" He shivered. "Have you ever been so full of hatred for yourself...that you tried to die?" he murmured, the words sending his bile into his throat.

It was as quiet as the grave for a moment. "Holy shit," Sammy breathed.

"Language," Heathcliff murmured, though it carried little weight as a reprimand.

"That's not all she did to her, either," he growled, shivering as he forced his fury down again.

Kieri nodded quietly, only as a confirmation. He was sure she didn't agree with Buwaro's assessment that this woman was a complete monster, but then, he didn't agree with hers, that she was somehow a worthless person.

Buwaro finally spoke again. "I was angry at Denevol, but what that...that thing did to her? Kieri's – the thing that just happens to be her mom? I can never forgive her for hurting my friend like that. My girlfriend," Buwaro snarled. "My love," he finished with a mutter.

The group was mostly silent for the rest of the evening. Kieri's eyes were so puffy from crying so hard that a little indigo makeup could have made one think she'd been punched out in both eyes. Buwaro did little more than comfort her the rest of the evening, and to Rhea's shock, he didn't even eat dinner. He'd completely lost his immense appetite tonight.

He was definitely shaken up...but from the sounds of things, he had more than a right to be. His girlfriend had literally been abused by her own mother. It suddenly occurred to Rhea that the girl was about as broken as a person could be, and her retreat during the argument over Buwaro's Star Pendant began to make sense. And so, after dinner, Rhea sat with the two and slowly stroked Kieri's hair. It was a comforting action that soon soothed the exhausted girl to sleep.

Rhea was already something of an older sister for Buwaro, and it sounded like Kieri needed a proper mother in her life. Frankly, even though they were so close in age, the Jakkai was glad to step up to the plate.

'Man,' she thought as she closed her eyes, attempting to sleep herself, 'all three of us are total headcases here, aren't we?' The thought left her to chuckle darkly as she drifted off.