2563
A section of floor popped up, flooding the dark space with light from below. A head followed, slowly looking around.
"Comon Onee-chan!" came a voice from below. "Move your big butt out of the way!"
"My butt is not big you brat!"
"Momma says you can't call me a brat anymore.....cuz you're a First Class now."
With a sigh, sixteen year old Kristine Aida, Goddess First Class Type 2 Unlimited, climbed up into the attic. Behind her came her 'bratty' brother, Sentaro, age eleven.
"Remind me why we came up here?" Sentaro asked.
"Mom is turning 562 in a few days." Kristine replied, "She's been kinda down for awhile so I thought we'd put together a big scrap book for her of all the happy times she's had."
"So why are we in the attic?"
Kristine rolled her eyes. "Because this is where Mom and Dad keep a lot of the stuff from before we were born."
"Oh....."
"You look over there." The young goddess pointed towards several boxes in the corner. "I'll look over here. Set aside anything interesting, but concentrate on pictures."
"Ok Onee-chan."
After several hours of searching, the two met again by the opening to the attic.
"Anything?" Kristine asked.
Sentaro shrugged his shoulders. "I found a few pics of Mom and Dad, some of Auntie Celes. Some pictures of Uncle Keima and Auntie Lime. What did you find?"
"Mostly pictures of us as kids." Kristine sighed, "I should have suspected this........."
"What?"
"Everything here has to do with Mom's life since she came down here from Heaven. There's nothing here from her time on Earth."
"So we're screwed."
"No." Kristine thought a moment. "This just means we're searching the wrong attic."
Sentaro looked at his sister curiously. "Huh?"
Kristine stood up and started down into the rest of the house. "Come on."
Sentaro peered down the opening at his sister. "Where are we going?"
Kristine looked back up the ladder.
"Grandma and Grandpa's."
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Thirty Minutes later.
Once again, Kristine found herself moving aside the door to an attic. This time, it was in the Heavenly home of her Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma Belldandy wasn't at home, she was busy at her office. Grandpa Keiichi also wasn't around. Apparently he and Great Uncle Sentaro had built a race track or something and spent a lot of time there. Little Sentaro followed her up.
"Won't I get in trouble?" Sentaro asked.
"Hmm?" Kristine looked at her brother curiously.
"I thought I couldn't be up here in Heaven?"
"Oh. No, just so long as you don't bother any of the other residents, you're fine." Kristine looked around the attic. As she did, her jaw dropped. The attic was huge, impossibly large for the house under it. Even Sentaro was surprised.
"It's so big!" he said, "You could fit our house in here."
"Great Auntie Skuld must have a room expander in here." Kristine finally said.
"So how are we going to find anything?"
Kristine let her eyes wonder around the room. After a moment she pointed in a direction.
"That way."
"Why that way?"
"Look at the dust on the floor." Kristine pointed out. "This way there's less dust, meaning someone went that way more recently. Probably Grandpa."
"But why......."
"Because Grandma would float over the dust." Kristine then paused for a moment. "No wait, Grandma would clean up the dust. Either way, we're going this way."
The two walked along the path through the dust. After several minutes, the path ended near a pile of boxes. Dust patterns on the floor showed that other boxes had once been stacked there. Written on several boxes was a name in Kanji.
Sayoko's.
"We found Mom's stuff." Kristine said. She blew across the top of one box, sending a cloud of dust into the air. Both mortal and goddess coughed as the dust tickled their noses.
"Don't do that!" Sentaro muttered.
"Sorry." Kristine set a box down at her brother's feet. "Grab a box or two and go through them, see what you can find."
"Ok."
"Remember, we're looking for pictures."
"Right Onee-chan."
The two spent the next hour or so going through hundreds of pictures. Many showed Their mother together with the Guardians in Tokyo-2 during their High School years, a few seemed to be of them in racing gear. One rather odd one had Auntie Asuka decking their father while the others looked on in surprise. Several had Great Auntie Skuld in the picture, as well as Auntie Misato and Auntie Celes. There were many pictures of the old Nekomi Auto club.
"Hey, Onee-chan?"
Kristine looked up from a picture of their Mom and Kei and Mizuho Kusanagi.
"What?"
"I can't get this box open." Sentaro said, holding up the box.
The box in question was wooden. There was no apparent opening, nor were their any seams. The only markings on it were carved into it in the God's language.
"What's it say?" Sentaro asked.
Kristine frowned slightly.
"It says Kirishima." Kristine grabbed the box and instantly gasped. A wave of intense emotion passed over her. Mostly sorrow, but with anger built up behind it........
....All from their mother.
"Something's wrong here." Kristine softly muttered.
"What?"
"All these over pictures and boxes are resonating with happy memories. This..." she held up the box. ".....is completely the opposite."
"So what's a Kirishima?"
Kristine shrugged as she looked over the box. "I don't know." Her fingers brushed over the carvings. Immediately it began to glow.
"Onee-chan......" Sentaro whispered, his eyes getting wider.
The young goddess set the box on the floor and waited. Soon the glow from the carving vanished.
"Hmm." Kristine reached out and traced the first carving. The carving lit up as she traced it. She continued, slowly tracing each of the other carvings in Kirishima.
"Are you sure you should be....." Sentaro began, but Kristine ignored him.
When she finished tracing the last carving, there was an audible click and a seam appeared, creating a lid. Kristine lifted the lid to the box and she and her brother peered inside. More pictures filled the box. The goddess picked up one and looked at it.
Her mother was in the picture, and beside her was a girl of the same age with short auburn hair and green eyes. Both were sticking their tongues out at the camera and apparently having a very good time. Looking through the other pictures, she noticed that many seemed to have been taking during their mother's high school years. Then there were a bunch of pictures that were much later, when their mother was at Lake Kizaki. There the mysterious auburn haired girl appeared, now as a young woman and apparently a school teacher as several showed the woman with Mizuho Kusanagi in an office.
"Who do you think she is?" Sentaro asked.
"I don't know." Kristine replied, still looking through the pictures.
"Why do you think Mom locked them up?"
"I don't know that either." Kristine then glanced over at the pile of stuff next to her brother. Several books were in the pile. "Hey are those yearbooks?"
Sentaro glanced down. "Yeah. They only had the school pictures of Mom, Dad, Auntie Rei, Asuka, Uncle Shinji......."
Kristine held up a picture that was obviously taken in a High School classroom. Not only were their parents and Aunts and Uncles present, but so was the mysterious girl.
"She went to school with them, so she must be in these yearbooks. We just have to go through them and find her." Kristine grabbed two of the books and put one in her brother's hands. "You look through this while I do the same with this one. Let me know when you find her."
The two spent nearly fifteen minutes looking through the first two books. Then they each grabbed another and began to page through them. Suddenly Sentaro jumped up with excitement.
"I found her Onee-chan!"
Kristine grabbed the book and looked at the picture her brother was excitedly pointing to. It was the same girl. The name underneath read Mana Kirishima. Kristine frowned slightly then page back through the books she had already gone through, then looked at the spine of the book that held Mana Kirishima's picture.
"She was only in their final year of high school." Kristine finally said.
"But why would Mom lock them up?" Sentaro repeated.
"I don't know. Let's go ask someone who can."
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Yui Ikari looked up from her book as a knock came from the front door.
"Someone get that!" she shouted out.
"I'm a little busy in here!" came her father's reply from the kitchen.
Grumbling slightly, Yui walked stood up and walked to the front door, opening it a bit forcefully.
"Can I help......" Yui's voice trailed off as she saw just who it was. "Kris! Sentaro! What brings you up here?"
"Hello Auntie Yui." Kristine said with a bow. "Is Uncle Shinji or Aunt Asuka here?"
"Yeah, he's here." Yui then gave the two a suspicious look. "Did you do something and need protection from your mother?"
"No!" the two siblings replied together.
"We were getting things together for Mom's birthday and needed to ask Uncle Shinji a few things."
"Well he's in the kitchen." Yui replied, "I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."
"Thank-you Auntie." Kristine and Sentaro walked across the living room and into the kitchen, leaving Yui to return to her book.
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Shinji was at the counter, mixing up the ingredients for dinner that night. He glanced up as the two entered.
"Oh hello." His smile then faded slightly. "Does your mother know you brought Sentaro up here?"
"Well...uh....no." Kristine replied, "We came up to get stuff for Mom's birthday present."
"Oh?" Shinji asked as he returned to his preparations. "What is it?"
"We're making a scrap book of some of her happier moments from the past. We came up to find pictures of her from when she was on Earth, instead we found a mystery."
"What's the mystery?"
"Who is Mana Kirishima?"
CRASH!
The bowl Shinji had been holding shattered against the floor, spreading it's contents all over. Yui was instantly in the doorway.
"Dad? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine!" Shinji replied sharply, "I can handle this. Go back to the living room."
"But...."
"Go!"
Yui gave Kristine and Sentaro a questioning glance, then left the kitchen. Shinji immediately began to clean up the mess.
"Uncle Shinji?" Sentaro asked softly.
Shinji looked up and raised one finger.
"Quiet." He said in his usual soft tone. He finished cleaning up the mess then motioned for the Kristine and Sentaro to follow him. He led them to a small study/office room and motioned for them to sit on the couch. He then moved a chair in front of them and sat down.
"How did you find out about Mana?" He asked.
"We found a box of pictures hidden away in a bunch of Mom's stuff." Kristine replied.
Shinji was silent a moment.
"I had thought she'd tossed everything." He muttered quietly to himself, "She must not have been as mad as we thought." He then looked up at the goddess and the mortal before him. "What I'm about to tell you is a secret. No one talks about this. In fact, your mother might get really mad about me telling you." He then began to speak of the past.
Kristine's and Sentaro's eyes grew wider as they learned how Mana had been a Demon, their mother's Doublet, and many of the events that occurred in High School. Shinji continued, telling them of Mana's later time as a teacher in Lake Kazaki.
"...They were very close friends." Shinji said, "They were always there for the other."
"But what happened to drive them apart?" Kristine asked.
Shinji stood up and walked towards the window, looking out over the Heavens.
"It was about 350 years ago or so." Shinji began, "The Rogue Demons were becoming more.........active. They had started organizing attacks under a central leadership. There were still separate cell like groups, but they reported to a more senior Demon. One night, a Rogue Demon cell went out and abducted a mortal family, specifically one related to the construction of Colony Ships. The Father was a chief designer of the engine systems. His death led to a delay of almost a year on the colony ships. A group of Demons loyal to Queen Hild went to the cell with the intention of freeing the mortals." Shinji looked back at Kristine and Sentaro.
"Only it didn't work out that well........"
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2210
Dawn Chase wrapped her arms around her legs and pulled them tightly to her chest. She could hear the bad people talking through the closed door in the other room. Every now and then she heard a cry as her father was 'questioned'. She turned her eyes from the door and glanced back to where her mother lay. Her mother's face was blank, her eyes had been staring at her without blinking.
When they had come to 'question' her father again, her mother had thrown herself at one of them, pounding her fists on his back. The bad man had just laughed before sticking her mother in the chest with a knife. Her mother had fallen to the floor and never moved since. Her father cried out as he was dragged away, pleading to go to his wife's side.
Dawn looked back at the door as a loud scream pierced through the air. Then all was silent. She heard one of the bad men say something followed but the sound of flesh hitting flesh and a loud thud. Another voice said something and footsteps could be heard walking towards the door. Dawn closed her eyes, knowing the bad men were coming for her.
Then the building shock under a tremendous blast. Dust floated down from the ceiling, covering Dawn, her mother's body, and the floor in a fine layer of dust. Loud shouts could be heard through the door, followed by more explosions. The clang of metal on metal could also be heard. This went on for what seemed to Dawn like hours, when it was only about ten minutes. Then all was quiet again. New voices were now heard coming from the room, still gruff like the previous ones. Footsteps started towards the door. Dawn scooted back into the corner of the room, pulling her legs even tighter against her body, trying to make herself as small and unnoticeable as possible.
The door slammed open, allowing light to blaze into the room. Dawn blinked her eyes several times, trying to get use to the brightness. As she did, two large shapes moved through the doorway. They first stopped at her mother. One turned to the other and muttered something, shaking his head. As he did, he noticed Dawn, now shaking in fear in the corner. With his face towards her, Dawn could see he was just like the bad men with red paint on their cheeks and forehead. One of the men went to the door and called out in a language Dawn had never heard. Within seconds a smaller figure passed through the door, a woman. Like the bad men she too had red paint on her forehead and cheeks. She also had short, auburn hair. She looked at Dawn and her face softened. The paint began to vanish. As it did, her eyes, which had been red became green. She said something to the two men who turned and left. The woman then turned and knelt before Dawn.
"Hello there." The woman said, "Are you alright?"
Dawn looked at the woman in fear.
"You don't have to be afraid." The woman said, "I won't hurt you."
"Promise?" Dawn asked.
"I promise." The woman held out a gloved hand. "I'm Mana Kirishima."
"Dawn Chase." She took the offered hand, but did it very unsurely.
"Come with me Dawn." Mana said, "We're going to see about getting you all fixed up."
"What about Momma?" Dawn asked.
Mana looked over at the child's mother and bit her lip.
"I'm sorry Dawn." Mana said, "She's......she's gone to heaven."
"And Poppa?"
"He's with your mother."
Dawn sniffed. "What gonna happen to me?"
Mana gently pulled the girl into a hug.
"I don't know. But we're going to find out."
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2563
Shinji was looking out the window again.
"Mana called up Sayoko right away, hoping that she could help out in the child's case." Shinji sighed, "But there are limits to what even a Goddess could do. This was the first major incident that placed a strain on their friendship."
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2210
"What do you mean Heaven can't help her?!" Mana shouted, "Her parents were killed by Rogue Demons! That should mean something!"
"I know that!" Sayoko replied, "And if I could do something I would! But I can't!"
"You could bring her parents back!" Mana shouted, "Right now she has no one!"
"And even if they are brought back, within a week she'd be alone again!"
Mana blinked. "What?"
Sayoko sighed, sitting down in a chair. "Fate determined that they were destined to die, leaving Dawn alone. Those Rogue Demons just sped it up."
"But you're the Goddess of the Present!" Mana shouted, "You can stop them from dying!"
"Everything dies eventually." Sayoko replied sadly, "That's the way the system is."
Mana looked over to where Dawn was resting on the floor, wrapped up in Mana's cape. "The system sucks. She's not even 7."
"Yes it does suck at times." Sayoko said, "But there is nothing we can do."
Mana remained silent. Sayoko sighed and stood up.
"I'll talk to Peorth." The goddess said, "We can make a story where her parents died in a car crash. We'll adjust Dawn's memories as such."
"She'll end up in a foster home." Mana said, still looking at Dawn.
"Yes, that is usually what they do with orphaned children." Sayoko turned and started out of the building.
"I'll take her."
Sayoko stopped walking, not entirely sure that she heard the demon correctly.
"What did you.....?"
"I said I'll take her." Mana repeated.
"I thought you said that. You know you can't."
Mana frowned. "Why not?"
"You don't know anything about raising Children!" Sayoko replied, "And where will you live? You can't take her to hell with you!"
"I had an Apartment on the surface before." Mana replied, "I can have one again."
"What about your current duties?" Sayoko asked, "You hunt Rogue Demons! If they find out that you are taking care of a child........"
"They will never know." Mana replied, "The fact that I am half mortal is not common knowledge in Hell. Only Hild, Mara, and Welsper know I exist."
"It's still not safe for her. What happens to her when you are out on a mission? Who will take care of her?"
"I'll figure it out."
"What about the local authorities?" Sayoko asked, trying to persuade her friend, "You think they'll just let you......"
"As you said, a story can be created to cover the situation."
Sayoko rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I think this is a very bad idea."
"Noted."
Sayoko lowered her hand and looked her friend in the eye. "Why are you so intent on doing this?"
Mana looked down at Dawn. "I lost my mother when I was around her age. You lost your mother at a younger one. The difference is you had someone related to you. I had no one." Mana looked back at Sayoko. "I can understand her pain and what she is going through right now. I want to help her."
"Helping her isn't going to fix your childhood."
"I'm not trying to."
Sayoko turned and headed towards the door. Before she walked through, she looked back at Mana.
"I'll inform heaven of the situation. But I still think this is a bad idea. It will only lead to sadness in the end."
"I disagree." Mana replied.
Sayoko did not reply. She simply turned and left.
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2563
"Is that what caused Mom to hide all of Mana's pictures?" Kristine asked.
"No." Shinji replied, "But it was a step in that direction. Mana became Dawn Chase's guardian. She even went and bought her old childhood home. That area was still just as she remembered it. While your mother disagreed with the whole thing, she still helped out Mana on occasion, even went to things with them."
"So Dawn knew what Mana and Mom were?"
Shinji nodded. "Dawn did know. But the fact Mana was a Demon didn't bother her. Apparently in her mind, Mana wasn't a demon."
"So how'd those pictures end up in that box."
"I'm not entirely sure when Sayoko did it, you'd have to ask her.." Shinji said, "See, Mana and Dawn lived in that house for almost nine years. During that time Mana continued to hunt the rogue Demons, while Dawn was at school or under the care of a sitter. But she'd always return at night for Dawn. As Dawn got older, she was able to be more, independent, and the sitter wasn't required."
"But did Dawn know what Mana did?"
Shinji nodded. "In some ways Dawn was like Mana at that age. She knew there were two types of Demons: the ones that did obey Hell, and the others that didn't. She knew Mana hunted the rogue Demons, but she didn't even consider Mana a Demon and got mad when anyone referred to Mana as a Demon."
"So what happened to make Momma hide Mana's pictures?" Sentaro asked.
"Mana made a lot of enemies. There were still hundreds of Rogue Demons out there, many had once been stationed high in the hierarchy of Hell. It was through these high connections that a demon cell hacked into the Hell mainframe and found out that Mana had been living on Earth with a child. They found Mana's house, but they were unable to get anywhere near it or Dawn."
"Why not?" Kristine asked.
"Your mother. She placed a powerful seal on Dawn and that house, preventing any Demons from getting near them." Shinji then looked out the window. "But then the Demons figured out a way around it, and lured Mana away........"
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2217
Mana entered the house with am armload of groceries.
"Dawn?" she called out.
There was no reply.
Mana walked into the kitchen and place the bags on the table. Then returned to the living room and walked down the hall towards the bedrooms. She opened the first door. On the bed, a fifteen year old blond was bobbing her head to the music blasting in her headphones.
"DAWN!" Mana shouted.
The girl quickly took off the headphones.
"Hi Mana. How was it?"
"Busy as always." Mana replied, "I got some groceries in the kitchen. Can you put them away?"
"Sure Mana."
Mana smiled and walked to her room while the teenager went down towards the kitchen. Once in her room, Mana started pulling out the clothes she relaxed in, typically jeans and a t-shirt. As she put her dirty clothes into the hamper, she noticed something out of place. The Demoness opened her door.
"DAWN!"
Dawn quickly came from the kitchen.
"Yes Mana what is......." The girl's voice trailed off as she saw the object in Mana's hands.
"You've been messing around with my back-up sword again." Mana stated.
Dawn looked down at the ground. "Yes."
"How many times have I told you? You're not to touch this. It's a Demonic Blade. You realize the damage you could do with this?"
"I'm sorry Mana." Dawn said, "I just........I......."
Mana put the sword away in it's place. "You what?"
"You leave a lot to go fight the Demons." Dawn replied, "I was.....hoping maybe you could train me to use that sword and I could come with."
Mana sighed. "Dawn......"
"Come on Mana! I'm fifteen years old!"
"Yes you are." Mana replied.
"Why can't I go with you?" Dawn cried out, "And don't say it's because I'm a mortal."
"As you said, you're just fifteen, and you still have a long life ahead of you. I don't want to see it shortened because of a demon."
"But......"
"No butts." Mana said. She then saw the look on Dawn's face. 'oh man.......she knows I can't resist that look.' "Tell you what. Over the weekend I'll teach you some defensive moves ok?"
Dawn's face lit up. "Really?"
Mana smiled. "Really."
"And the sword?"
Mana's face flickered slightly. "We'll see. Now about dinner...."
The phone then began ringing. Mana walked over to it and picked it up.
"Hello? Kirishima......" Mana face froze. "Yes Milady." Her tone immediately was one of no nonsense. "Of course Milady. I will be there." Mana hung up the phone and sighed.
"You have to go out don't you?"
Mana turned to see Dawn staring at her.
"Yeah," Mana replied, "Have to go make the world safe."
"Why does she always call you?"
"Because I'm the best." Mana replied, "And they can't detect me like they can the others."
Dawn walked up and hugged Mana.
"You're gonna be careful right?" Dawn asked.
Mana smiled and returned the hug. "I always am."
They held the hug for a moment, then Dawn released Mana and backed away.
"I'll have dinner waiting when you come back."
"You make dinner?" Mana raised an eyebrow. "Those Demons better not take long. You make great food."
"Better hurry then." Dawn replied.
Mana closed her eyes. In a flash her regular clothes had vanished replaced by her demon outfit. Then with a wave, Mana vanished.
"Hurry back Mana-Mama." Dawn said softly.
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Mana's blade crashed into the Rogue's, sending sparks flying into the air. Until this point, the attack on the Demon cell had been going all according to plan. It was just that these demons seemed to have been expecting it, thus were not caught by surprise. Around her other demons battled, some with the group that came with her, the rest the Rogues.
"You can't win." The Rogue said as their blades crashed together again. "Regardless what happens here this day, you cannot win."
Mana snarled and thrust her blade at the Rogue, slicing into his side.
"You Rogue Demons are outnumbered. Both Hell and Heaven have joined forces to eliminate you."
"I wasn't talking about Hell nor Heaven." The Rogue replied, knocking Mana's sword from his side. "I meant you. Tell me: Did you say good bye to that little girl before coming here this day?"
Mana froze. The Rogue Demon smiled.
"Oh yes. We know of her. And that Seal that is on her? There are ways around a seal."
Mana's hand trembled slightly. "You lie.
"It's incredible really." The Rogue Demon said, "Just a bit of gold in the right mortal hands......the Mob for instance.......I guess mortals are good after....."
He wasn't able to finish as Mana let out a scream. She swung her blade, putting all her strength into the swing. The Rogue tried to block it but Mana's sword shattered his, then continued right through his neck, sending his head flying through the air. Mana stared at the body a moment, then teleported back home.
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Mana appeared just in front of the house. Several lights were on inside. She quickly raised up to the front door and opened it.
"Dawn?" Mana called out.
The TV was playing in their living room. A movie was playing on it: City of Angels, Dawn's favorite. There was also a smell in the air, something good. Mana followed it into the kitchen. There she saw several pots simmering on the stove. The table was also set for two.
"Dawn?" Mana called out again.
The Demoness walked back out to the living room and headed down the hall. That was when she spotted a small red blot on the floor, a spot of blood. She had been around it long enough to recognize it on sight. Mana quickly hurried to Dawn's room and swung the door open.
Nothing.
The room remained untouched.
Mana next peered into the bathroom, and found it too remained untouched. She now turned and walked to her bedroom door. She grasped the handle and turned the knob. A smell instantly hit her, the stench of death. Mana entered the room and nearly tripped on a body. It was a man, late thirties. His face still held a look of surprise on it. Mana looked down to see that someone had sliced his chest open. The room was a mess, items broken, shattered, and tossed all over. Mana started to turn and leave when she noticed a shoe that did not belong to her. It lay just in view near the foot of the far side of her bed. Mana walked over towards it. As she did, she realized that it was one of Dawn's shoes, and that the shoe was still on a body.
Mana dropped to her knees as she reached Dawn. The girl's eyes were still open, staring blankly at the ceiling. She had been shot several times in the chest. In one hand, she still clutched a picture that had been taken of her and Mana. Near her other hand lay Mana's back up sword.
Mana rocked Dawn gently, her mind disagreeing with what experience was telling her.
"Wake up." Mana said softly, "Wake up Dawn."
There was no reply. Mana gently pulled Dawn up and into a hug, burying her face in the young girl's hair. For several minutes, only sobs could be heard within the room. The sobs soon stopped, replaced by a low rumbling sound. Mana turned her eyes skyward, her eyes now blazing red, the Demon markings showing up brightly on her face. From her throat came a scream of anger and anguish that caused the entire house to tremble. When she was done, she turned her still blazing eyes back towards Dawn.
"They will pay."