Preparations

Rin wrung her hands as she talked to the demon. She was at an event that could really only be described as a demonic boxing event.

Though "Boxing" might not be the right word, it was far more brutal than boxing. She winced as a limb went flying out of the ring and turned her attention back to the many limbed demon that was running the event. It was a first circle demon she didn't know the name for but it was apparently created to do paperwork for the priests of the endless desert.

Finally the demon relented and shrugged it's many shoulders "Child of the moon, you have shown your goal clearly. And yet what you ask is something I cannot in good faith provide."

Rin raised a finger "What about it is without faith? I see nothing in the agreement that could offend?"

The demon sighed and placed his hands on his desk "I am sure many of the fighters would love to be in such a battle but they are my servants and my master has instructed me to not get involved in wars. I would very much like to provide the service you ask for but it is one I cannot provide."

Rin cursed and spun to leave but the demon called out "A moment please, For the offered price there is something I can provide."

Slowly, Rin turned back to the demon who was giving a strange smile. She shook her head "That price is high, I doubt whatever you could give that isn't already off the table."

"Ah but there is," the demon spoke with a malicious tone "what do you know of behemoths?"

Rin closed her eyes for a moment before answering "They are the tools the yozi used during creation's earliest days. They are all unique and have strange abilities."

"Correct." The demon clapped with three pairs of arms "There are some left in creation proper but most are sealed away or locked down here."

Rin waved her hand in a way that clearly said "Go on." and the demon laughed "Well, there may be a behemoth that could help with your little problem, if you could find a way to control him."

Rin looked curious now "Go on, what?"

The demon crossed a few sets of arms "Nothing more until I get an agreement of payment."

Rin cursed before sighing "Fine, half."

The demon grin grew "Only half the information then? Very well. The behemoth in question is called 'The eater of stone' in ancient days he lived on mount Meru. In those days the mountain grew like bamboo so the eater was created to constantly be eating it at the same rate it was growing. It now lives in Malfeas, eating layers over the course of a few years. I know where it is right now and how to control it."

Rin's eyebrow went up "You, a demon of the first circle, claim to have that sort of knowledge."

"Indeed I do, in my time I signed a lot of things including the papers to do with how he was being kept on the lower levels. I think if you want to create a large scale battle, a behemoth is what you need."

Rin scowled but it was a good deal, she didn't even care if the behemoth would destroy the layer, it was simply a good investment.

"Fine, You will get your payment. How do I get it to serve me?"

The demon's grin seemed to be growing off of it's face.

Sakura travelled in style. She rode in a Palanquin that had been decorated to show her and her patrons at their best and worst.

She was carried by a team of Angyalkae, which while they produced lovely music were hurting Sakura. The harpists wove music from the air which told of the present. Each listen recalled the things they have lost. Sakura was lucky the palanquin had curtains between her and the street, for only her maid would see her tears.

She was heading to the edge of the sea. Her patron needed to speak with her so she had come. She didn't know what would be requested of her but she had little doubt it had to do with Rin and the forthcoming battle.

She had been looking down since she started crying so she only now looked up to see her maid offering her a block of something that was slightly shiny. Gingerly she took it and the maid explained "I apologise in my failure for not giving this to you earlier, you can use this to stop up your ears if their song hurts too much.

Sakura pulled off a bit of wax and as she brought it to her ear it shifted and pulled itself in. Her Coadjutor then spoke for the first time since the trip began "Don't worry, it isn't sentient, when you want it out just begin pulling it."

Sakura breathed out and got a second piece for her other ear. Once it was in place there was peaceful silence. Sakura wiped away the last of her tears and spoke mentally "You could have warned me in advance that I would be affected in such a way by their song."

Her Coadjutor spoke a quiet apology before speaking in earnest "You do seem to have felt the song strongly, the Angyalkae song is a tale of all that the listener lost. I think you could learn a lot if you thought for a moment why your maid already had the wax ready."

Sakura looked at the ear of the maid and saw a little wax poking out, her Coadjutor gave a mental nod when she had seen it "Their soul is no longer their own and it was likely many years since what they got for giving it up was worth it. They wouldn't cry if they heard the song but it would likely still cause them sadness of a sort."

Sakura was silent as her Coadjutor continued "Always remember, you can still reclaim what you lost. Unlike your maid's soul, it is not gone forever."

Sakura didn't know how to respond to that so she simply asked her Coadjutor to stay silent for the rest of the trip.

End of chapter.

I'll be honest, I barely knew what I wanted to do with this chapter.

A filler chapter of a sort. I wanted to but a bit of space before the battle begins as it gives more reasons to give out XP (I do have character sheets for the main cast remember)