"Do you have any threes?"

"Go fish."

Torafusa picked up a playing card from the center of the table.

"Tempesta, do you have any kings?"

"Who's Tempesta?"

Keith sighed and pointed to the furry demon sitting across from him. "You. And I asked if you had any kings."

Tempesta looked at his cards and shook his head. Keith picked up a card.

"Why are you guys so boring all the time?" Jackal popped his head up between Torafusa and Keith and looked between the two demon gates. "Want to go blow something up?"

"Not particularly…" Torafusa told Jackal plainly, carefully stacking his remaining cards before shoving the novice down to the ground. "We were in the middle of a friendly game of Go Fish."

"Games shmames…those are boring," Jackal said, standing back up and rubbing his shoulder, which would have a bruise later thanks to the Darkness's action.

"Going on explosive rampages are boring as well. You have not been one of the Nine Demon Gates long enough to understand this, I'm afraid…" Keith shook his head and handed Tempesta the four he had been keeping.

Tempesta set down his pair, then turned to Jackal. "Who's that?"

"Oi! It's me, Tempesta!" Jackal yelled. The other three demons plugged their ears.

"Tempesta loses his memories every time he is reborn. Have you forgotten that already?" Keith asked Jackal, who stared back blankly. "Never mind. You can run off and cause destruction if you want. It would be wise to determine a purpose before doing so."

Keith's advice flew right over Jackal's head. The explosive demon stuck out his tongue childishly and dashed off eagerly. "That kid gets on my nerves…" Torafusa mumbled, no longer in the mood to play a card game with the other demons.

"Each demon we have added to our ranks has been progressively harder to get along with," Keith observed. "Ezel is loud. Silver is strong, but far too focused on that Gray character, or rather the ridding of him. Sayla cares only for Kyouka, and now this fellow…"

"I can't stand him," Torafusa declared with a scowl. "He's got drive, but he won't come through when we need him to. He's obsessed with himself, and he doesn't seem to care about Zeref."

"You have seen the other extreme though. Lady Kyouka is past the point of no return on her devotion to Zeref." Keith took the cards from Torafusa and slid them back into the box. Tempesta had stayed in his seat, blankly staring down at the table. He didn't remember any of the demons they were talking about, after all.

"Sometimes, I think everything would be better with just us three," Torafusa mumbled, standing up and pushing his chair back into its spot. Tempesta followed him, although he had no particular reason to.

Keith remained seated, watching them go. "Our cooperation will be more than enough to serve Zeref on its own," he decided to himself. "When the time comes, we will prove ourselves that way."