Chrysalis Heart

by Yincira

AU. What if the story was about the plight of the demons? Nina's more heroic, Azazel doesn't disappear, Belphegor doesn't die, Kaisar's more self aware.

6. Homily

· · · · · · ·

The orange glow behind the blanket over her head startled her — had she lost time again, was she home, where — until she remembered where she was. Nina sank back into the pile of blankets and cloth, sinking into the warmth. It was much softer than on Bacchus's sofa, and there was more blankets to hide in than at home.

Home, her mother ... Such a strange place to find herself in. She'd come to hunt bounties, only to join the bounty target. How would she even tell her mother about this? Should she at all?

Discontent now, she sat up.

The cave was dark and most demons still slept, but some huddled close around bright fires. The air was thick and smoky, with the scent of bacon and herbs in it; some of the good bags she'd brought along lay discarded to the side.

One small woman flitted through the room, gathering up discarded blankets away from the fires and cleaning up things. She had wide wings, which she used to carry those blankets. This had to be Adva, whom Eligos had pointed out as one of the few fliers.

Well, might as well get introduced now. Nina got dressed under the blankets and folded some to make the pile more neat, after which she approached Adva.

"Hey, Adva, can I help?"

"No it's fine," Adva whispered.

"Really, let me help. I've done this at home." She started folding blankets, which got no further protest, just a small smile.

"Eligos said that if Azazel isn't around, I should ask you for a flight. Thought you should know that I pass out, trying to wake me up with water or slapping won't work."

Adva paused. "Pardon, what?"

"I'm going to fetch my other clothes later today, can I give you a spare set in case something goes? I know we're all going to be wearing those black cloaks, but you never know."

"Huh?"

"It's really embarassing and all, but I'd rather have it be a girl. Also, I think Azazel's a little embarassed around me, so it'll be easier on him too."

Adva held up a finger. "Should I even be part of this?"

"So I was thinking we should be get to know each other a bit?" Nina held out her hand.

Adva pressed her lips together and quickly shuffled away without another word.

"Did I say something wrong?" Nina asked a redhaired man who stood nearby scraping moss off the walls for some reason. He was a rather pretty one too, so she didn't look too long.

"I'll admit I couldn't follow most of that conversation, but she lost people during the recent slaughter," he said. "Some of us deal with this life by not getting close to others. Is that the right way to say it, Adva?"

"I'm sorry," Nina said. She hadn't been fast enough.

"We didn't find one," Adva muttered. "I looked at all the corpses when they dumped them in the quarry. She's not dead."

"I'm glad, I hope you find her soon."

"I won't. They probably sold her."

Like that was it. She just continued folding blankets, and the guy continued scraping moss. Do something before it got weird.

"We haven't met, what's your name?" Nina asked the guy.

"I'm Kolraun," he said. "It's my job to take care of the plants here, since the lady Belphegor isn't familiar with them."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Nina, it's my job to kill the king."

"I know, and we're glad for it."

"Uhm ..." Adva started, while holding up some of Nina's blankets. There were holes in it.

"Oh, sometimes when I have bad dream, I transform just little bit while I sleep," Nina said. "I chew on stuff or put claws in them."

"Pardon, you said you transform?" Kolraun asked.

"I'm the dragon, you know that, right?"

"You are the dragon? You're not a beastmaster?"

Nina quirked a brow. "What is Azazel's deal? I told him not to tell people how I transformed, not that I transformed. Anyway, yes, I'm prone to growing scales, fangs and killing evil knights."

They blinked at her. "Oh ... I think you need to talk to Dante or Eligos. Soon."

"Will do, but breakfast first."

She sat with the demons, learned a lot of names and little details of their life. None of them had had good recent years, and for almost all of them this was their first full stomach in years. Eventually she got even Adva to give a description of her friend, Tipa.

Nina didn't get enough for her monster appetite, but she could handle it. Breakfast done, Nina found Eligos first and had to spend the next quarter hour dealing with a frustrated strategist trying to pry as much information out of her as possible. She steadfastly refused to tell him how she transformed, just hinted she needed special conditions due to her heritage. Eligos wasn't satisfied, but had to take it in stride and told her a date he'd like to see her in action, somewhere outside the city to safely test her range. They'd try about two days from now, when the weather was predicted to be rainy.

Talking about strategy was really boring, and she was still hungry. Restocking would have to happen today, and she also would pay Rita a visit; she had connections.

On the way out of the underground, she passed by Azazel talking to Dante.

"I'm going to visit Bacchus and Hamsa. I'll tell M..." Azazel's glare reminded her she was to keep Mugaro out of it. "My friends I'll be moving out and bring along more food. Bye!"

Azazel grabbed her wrist before she could dart past them, and she stumbled back.

"See whether you can get the gods on board for back up," Azazel said.

"They're not already? Uh, if they didn't join before, I don't think I an change that."

"Try it anyway," Azazel said, a tad prickly. By all spirits, sure he pretty, but he could do without being like this.

"Their carriage would be a lot of use to us," Dante said. "We would be able to drop off key fighters from above rather than having everyone sneak around. Not that I expect much. If the gods wanted to help, they'd have done so before."

"You know, Azazel did forget to tell me there was a rebellion, maybe he forgot to tell them too," she said while removing Azazel's grip. He let go easily enough.

Dante sighed. "You're missing the bigger picture, Nina. Gods and demons have a messy history together."

"Azazel, you allied with Bacchus and Hamsa against Bahamut, right? If you got to know each other well enough during Bahamut's revival that they're willing to—"

"We just struck a deal : they bring me to Eibos so I could take revenge on Belzebuth in exchange for everything I knew about the plot with the god key, and some transformation magic."

"Transformation magic?"

"Nothing you could use," he said. "The zombie girl wanted to figure out an antidote for some unique transformation she'd seen Jeanne d'Arc forced through. She can mind control corpses, I added in my experience with pact transformations. That was temporary and pure business, we didn't fight side by side."

"Well, I'm glad you're willing to do that now. By the way, Belzebuth's the demon who helped release Bahamut, right?"

"Yes. I killed him for trying to undermine lord Lucifer. The fool thought he could control Bahamut and so win the throne of the three realms."

"Oooh, so Charioce isn't the first time you're going after jerkass kings?" She put up a thumb. "Talk about next level hobbies."

That got a smirk out of him and Nina turned to run. This tunnel was so small, a bad, bad place to turn into a dragon. Never do that, ever. Couldn't do that, and the pulse worsened. She ran for the river, but by the time she stood at the edge she had forced it back down and stood there with tears on her face without knowing why.

· · · · · · ·

Charioce was in the middle of a stack of obnoxious forms in need of scribbles when his oldest adviser, Francisco, entered the office.

Had that hairline receded again, all the hairs migrating to that thick beard? Or maybe they just had gone back into that thick skull, returning home to escape this boring life.

"Your majesty, I have a quick matter to discuss." Which was code for a potential lecture just waiting to be unleashed and yet, Charioce had to deal with. It might be important.

Francisco presented him a silver platter, on which his black ring lay. The purple gem had been pried off.

"Your majesty, the black market crack down found this recently when tracking a huge overturn. We once again wish to express our desire you would not vanish from the castle so often. Worse than theft may have happened."

Looked like George hadn't said a thing. Good boy.

"It was not stolen, I exchanged it for services. If this bothers you, perhaps you should arrange some mundane rupees for me."

"Ah? ... I see. Still, it would be much preferred if you simply did not vanish so often."

He would have brushed it off any other day, but now he said, "Tell me, have I failed the kingdom in the past seven years?"

"No, your majesty. I merely meant to suggest that—"

"That it is best you hold your tongue. It is the king's wish to see his kingdom prosper first hand. Now tell me, who sold the ring?"

"We traced it to certain Nina Drango. Is this the one you exchanged it to?"

"Yes. Drop the pursuit, but do tell me what you have found out."

"As you wish. She's a commoner from a foreign land. She's been on our radar after she became known for her unusual strength. She recently did an illegal street performance that showed this off. Before that she worked at a construction site. Her initial behavior was exemplary : friendly, sympathetic to humans only, never complained about pay, until one day she started questioning the protective laws concerning demons. She was quickly fired, of course. The word spread in the rumor mill, so when she walked into the city with demons at her side spending a lot of money, she was soon recognized. People kept an eye on her and when a well meaning citizen expressed concern about where she got all that money, she assaulted him before fleeing."

"I see."

Francisco was about to continue, but Charioce waved him off. No pursuit. He would know by now the decision was final.

It just didn't feel as final as it should be for himself, for once. He knew temptation when he saw it. Ladies of the court, princess of lesser princes, they all threw themselves at his feet. She wasn't any different in her infatuation, just untouched by strict protocol. Not unlike the way he'd seen farmer's daughters and weaver's sisters act, before he'd moved here. He'd thought them frivolous back then, now after ten years of stiff court he missed the unrestrained life. And that girl was all that and more. Her strength was supernatural, yet not demonic or divine, or she wouldn't have stood up to his own.

He had always resisted temptation, until there was nothing to resist. Perhaps fate had grown tired of only staring at him, or maybe, just maybe, it had realized it should indulge him.

· · · · · · ·

"Are we ready?" Belphegor asked. Contrary to her energetic words, her servants sputtered, muttered or grumbled a yes.

Her team consisted of three nobodies: a flier and two farmers, only one of whom was strong enough to carry much. Belphegor had mentioned something about not being picky now, fair enough, but to Azazel it still felt odd to be on the same team as cleaner and farmer classes. He pushed that down and opened a gate.

To get to hell, one had to pass multiple laid out gates. An ordinary one of the spot would tune into the nearest dimensional soft spot, which led to a more solid gate elsewhere, and from there they got into the nexus of hell. Said nexus itself had connection points to various other places in hell, including Cocytus. Going straight there might cause problems, so they intended to cross past the city Styx, only for him to find that gate inaccessible. Belphegor and Durahanem tried the other connection points, to no avail. Even Amenta, a realm not strictly under the reign of Cocytus, was closed off. Either they had holed up out of fear, or had been wiped out and deemed useless.

That left them no choice but to use the straight way. Azazel expected to have to fight the moment they arrived here, but the dock was unguarded. Strange, either Charioce needed forces elsewhere or he was just so arrogant that he thought he didn't need an alert if any of the other areas converged to liberate their capital.

Several tunnels later to reach the edge of the cavern made it clear why : there was nothing to guard. Once Cocytus had been a magnificent city built on a stolen island from heaven, floating free aside of the bridges to the walls of the cavern. Its peak a city, its center the palace of the lords of hell, its walls and gates carved into intricate patterns of magic, and accursed metals holding it together with a dark radiance.

All of its riches had been stripped off now, the rocks torn loose to create airships for the humans. Enough debris has fallen down to quell most of the lake of fire below. This was no city to conquer or guard anymore, but a factory to produce humans their war ships. Even if they wanted to reconquer it, there was not enough ground to rebuild their city upon.

"Stay here, I'll scout."

Once a duty for mutts, right now he was the strongest of this group and most likely to survive an encounter with Onyx Knights.

The metal had been scraped off the doors, what little left being removed by skeletal servants. No demons were employed her and few humans were around. Azazel snatched the magic code to summon those skeletons before moving on; they were his in absence of Lucifer.

There was little else to scavange, so he spied from above for a route across the lake and returned to lead the others.

Cross the lake was easy enough in the dark, with the flows low, by jumping over the debris.

The skeleton of Antaeus lay in the gate of the cave. Once the guardian of the gates, now the bones served as headquarter for the stationed Onyx Knights. They had to trek around, which took more time.

He could easily have killed the guards and passed by them, but that would draw attention they couldn't use. So he and Adva flew the others across the short distance of a collapsed bridge and went into the tunnels from there.

The earth lay too silent to his ears. Once hell was alive with fire and roars, now the only sounds were the distant mining of the humans.

Where they emerged was a wilderness of overgrown plants, wild and in disarray between collapsed pillars and ruined homes.

"They couldn't leave an inch untouched," Azazel sneered. "Damn these humans."

"With all due respect, lord Azazel ... this isn't that different from before," Korlaun muttered.

"What?"

"Only real difference is that there's more plants since we're not over draining the nutrition in the lands, and a few collapsed roofs," Durahanem said. "I was a herder before I was conscripted, fighting a way through this chaos was daily matter."

"It could be better, to be honest," Korlaun said. "Now, lady Belphegor, do you see that plant there? It's a ..."

Plants were not his thing, so he stood guard. He kept his eyes out for a human to pass by, itching for a fight, some kind of excuse, but nothing happened.

He caught some of their chatter, which remained soft but constant. First plants, then toxins, then agriculture, and eventually lost homes and family. Korlaun and Durahanem actually wanted this 'd be content with this little, as long as they weren't slaves. He couldn't imagine how, if they had little more than with the humans.

"Could we visit Styx anyway?" Kolraun asked. "The miasma there could be useful too."

The Onyx Knights weren't densely spread out and they had the time. Azazel agreed.

Another chain of tunnels followed.

A lot of cities in hell had been built from fire lakes, which held rich energy. Still, while resistance to fire was a thing, a lot of material wasn't. Especially not food. Lakes and rivers had grown from rafts to incredible structure, Cocytus the greatest among them. Styx was not. Below it lay a poisonous river, once. Now the city lay abandoned and the river had turned into a marsh. No humans were here, a good sign for Belphegor's miasma bomb.

Belphegor conjured up some kind of measuring tool, part physical, part magic reading. According to this, miasma was really just a bunch of different chemicals and she would need various samples. Durahanem started unpacking filters and metal canisters. Azazel decided to definitely not ever tell anyone he'd spent nearly a century with a vast of miasma aboard, boasting to prey it was a mystery magic substance of chaos, that none could predict the outcome of any instance of use.

"Say, didn't lord Azazel once order miasma from Styx?" Adva asked.

"Oh, you're experienced with this, lord Azazel?"

"Nothing you can't cover," he said before flying up for immediate scouting.

The city of Styx was difficult to see from below, as it lay shrouded in mists from the swamp. It was utterly silent and not stripped bare, but it had gone silent shortly before the invasion of Cocytus. Once the domain of Hades and Persephone, it was subject to the dominion of Cocytus but self governed. Most beings here were descendants of monsters or fallen gods, rather than typical demons.

He stumbled over something damp. It was a mummified corpse, almost all the flesh replaced by slime and fungus except where the flesh had melted off. More corpses like this lay across the city, each with the melting effect. A few arrows and lances from human making remained. Styx had been slaughtered for experiments, preparation for the invasion of Cocytus. Few slaves had been taken from here, likely as they looked too human to easily sell.

There wasn't enough fire and poison to make Charioce pay for this. Better judgment told him he should let Nina just kill him, but part of him so badly craved to do it himself.

Another kind of judgment told him that if the demons moved back into hell, they were likely to try and take over the mostly intact Styx or some other city just to have somewhere to live. He found himself less than eager having to go back to fighting demons once this was all over.

When he returned to the marsh, Belphegor was just finishing loading the last canisters into her own backpack. He caught the last words of something Durahanem said to Belphegor, "... I might stay up there too."

That stayed with him until they returned to Anatae.

Once her servants dispelled, he asked Belphegor, "Where will you go after we defeat Charioce?"

"I don't know. I might have back my old titles, if lord Lucifer permits, but I imagine we would rule the human kingdom too. There is much I want to do there ... I'd stay there, to be honest."

"Do you actually like their realm better than ours, despite those damn humans?"

"To be honest, it's exactly because of the humans, lord Azazel. They live so short, their minds are adjusted for curiosity and progress in ways the longer lived ones do not need. Their weakness means their curiosity is much stronger than ours because they survive that way. One day they will raise cities likes ours, like those in heaven, with a mere fraction of our magic. I want to see that happen, when they're better than what they are now."

As she was now with those words on her tongue, not even a god would seem less demonic to him, less alien. What had been going wrong, since Bahamut's revival? Strangeness like Belphegor and Nina and Kaisar had always been there, but rarely stood at his side.

· · · · · · ·

Prior to her little incident in the city, Nina had rented a storage shed near the slums. It was still full with grains, potatoes, herbs and salted meat, but at this rate would run out soon. She'd have to ask Bacchus and Hamsa to do extra shopping if she wanted to avoid going into the city, or maybe she'd try to buy directly from the few farms beyond the end of the city. Either way, Bacchus's carriage was going to see a lot of use. Once this was all over, she'd try to get him a nice gift from her village, she was pretty sure some guys were secretly brewing liquor there.

Bacchus and Hamsa continued on as they did, taking their carriage around the city for odd jobs and supervision, to avoid that angel lady from becoming suspicious. Right now it was supposed to be near the river, but Nina didn't find it anywhere close to the slums. She started down the road in the direction of the castle with her eyes on the sparkling river, and sometimes on the city. The closer she got to the upper ring, the better the buildings became. One wouldn't guess here how poor the slums were. How many of these people simply didn't understand what was wrong with the kingdom?

Nina couldn't help but take a long tour into the city, dropping by the market. Passing through alleys, she ended up being two familiar stands.

"Hey," she said, not too loud.

Three people looked back.

"Nina, is that you?" Emeline asked.

"Hello, all of you," Nina said. "Can I be here?"

"Uhm ..." Emeline looked around a bit before saying, "Sure, but let me get off, I'll come into the alley for a bit, okay?"

Burkhart ignored her entirely, while Marcio shuffled closer to the corner.

Nina lowered her hood when Emeline was closer. "I just wanted to apologize for any trouble I might have caused."

"Oh, don't mind it. Girl, is it true you defended demons? Now they say you're one of them!"

"Well, it is true I defended those children," she muttered. "And I'm not really human, but I'm not a demon either."

"More like elves, right? Honestly, you ought to clear that up, you won't believe what they're saying about you now!"

"Yes, sort of. I'm half blood, and we ... we actually know some not so mean demons." A flat out lie. Her home barely knew any humans, let alone creatures from hell. But strictly speaking, Nina did know better demons now.

"Ah, I see. I did hear the occasional tale of demons living on earth. Nephilim, I believe? They had human heritage, maybe those are who you know. Regardless, our city's are demons straight from hell, so it's different."

Nina couldn't keep the smile on her face. "They're really not. Anyway, I'm off now. I won't bother you anymore."

They'd just thought up all sorts of stories to excuse her from being sympathetic to demons. She wished for the right words for that, but part of her was stilled by fear. If her old friends ended up looking at her like that mob had done at the children, she wouldn't know how to handle that.

She passed by an old farmer who didn't care for the rumors much and sold her three backs of corn, for a bit of a price to be honest, and she bought a cart to drag it along so she didn't stand out too much. The last stretch of the road she walked without looking at the city, only at the river, so she didn't notice the visitor until she was mere meters away from his gorgeous face. Golden eyes met hers from behind thin glasses, and her breath caught in her throat.

The man in the turban smiled at her. "I came for a rematch, but I'm told the business is wrapping. Am I too late?"

Heat crept up her face and the words were out before she could stop them, "No, no! I'd love to!"

After stuffing the corn inside the carriage, ignoring Bacchus's complaints, she got a rock from below the high road, climbing up and down with it roped to her back. Next was the most vital, an extra thick cloth as blind fold. Once she'd tied her eyes, she got in position.

"I get the impression I am what distracts you," he said with a hint of amusement. Oh no, did he think she was weird?

His elbow touched the rock, and she set her arm down. The same strange sensation filled her when their hands touched, but now she sensed something behind it. She hadn't been able to figure out what Azazel did with the power direction thing, but after he'd pointed she had tried to focus as if the force were shapes. Resident power was something like waves, not rays like she'd always imagine it.

What radiated from this was so different than either of them, something to which she couldn't ascribe any form. He might be neither dragon nor fallen angel, but there had to be something more than human about him.

So lost in focus, he got the upper hand. Her knuckles slammed against the rock and she pulled her hand back on reflex.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No, it's okay," she said. "Do I uh, pay you now? About the ring—."

"It's alright, I have more of those. I only came for you."

Being a furnace wasn't so bad if only she didn't turn into a dragon. She clammed down on the wild energy — her own was like fire — with distractions like removing the blindfold and yet, his words rewinded in her head.

There was something assuring in the idea he too liked her. That was new. It gave her a morsel of confidence, enough to stutter out, "Would you mind, uhm, maybe sitting with me for a bit? It's a lovely day."

"Alright."

They sat on the boulder, facing the river. With him next to her, it was easier to avoid looking at him.

"I still think I owe you something for the match, a deal is a deal after all. Would you ... " Think, think think of something innocuous come on. "... the owners of this carriage always have a stand at the festival. If you come by, you'll get a free specialty, how about that?"

"I will be there."

Say something else.

"So, I might not actually be at the festival, but maybe I can drop by quickly if I know when you're coming."

"I won't be able to predict when I'll have free time."

"Oh, too bad." Did that sound too disappointed? "Well, I hope you like the specialty anyway. Rita's really a great cook, especially considering she's been stuck in a decaying village full of rotting zombies for centuries. I think. I asked her about her family, I'm not sure whether she was being sarcastic or something."

He didn't say anything. Was she boring him? She sneaked a glance at him, but he just looked at softly ... almost enraptured. At her. Oh spirits. He had the most amazing golden eyes.

"Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?" he asked.

She'd been staring. Oh no. Her heart had already been speeding, now the heat crept deeper. "S-sure."

She told him as much as she could without revealing her nature, and every little tidbit prompted more curiosity from him. He had interest in even the smallest thing, the food, the traditions, all that seemed so mundane to her. Even as it was a rather one sided conversation, full of hmm's and nice's from him, it gave her a warm glow. He was interested in her!

She blabbered up to the point she told him about coming here to be a bounty hunter on Favaro's advice, hoping to get a better life for her mother. Up until here, all she'd left out was her father and the dragon bit, and she wasn't sure how to go on.

In the pause he said, "A mission for your mother, how noble. I see why you sold my ring now."

Oh no. "How did you guess?"

"You're not wearing it yet you're not averse to me, and you're too strong to be robbed," he said. "Also I noticed the food sacks you loaded on that carriage. Don't tell me you're planning to have a feast all by yourself, rather than visit the festival?"

"I do eat a lot more than typical people," she said. "But I'm going to a few friends instead."

"You don't sound keen on this. Are you sure you would not rather visit the festivities and eat there?"

"I can't. I ... I've been in trouble. Not with the law or anything, but I don't think the people want me there now."

"Because you brought the demon children there?"

Nina's breath caught. "How do you know?"

"You made quite the splash already when you issued that challenge already. The tiny foreign girl whom no one could defeat in arm wrestling? You were seen plenty of times at the construction site too. This city has a potent rumor mill."

She bit her lower lip. Of course. It'd been too perfect to last, he probably was just being nice by seeking her out.

"I'm curious, what spurred this sudden sympathy for demons?"

"I just ... " She didn't want to be dishonest with him. "One of them saved my life. Everyone says they're evil, but I've seen them do good things. I don't think it's right, what's happening to them here. My village may not be rich, but we manage okay without enslaving anyway. The king is just a big bully."

"After Bahamut's rise, Mistarcia was left in ruins more than any other place. Not even the powerful gods lent it help. Something had to be done to rise mankind from the ashes. Charioce XVII took upon him this mission."

"Couldn't that have been done without hurting the demons though?"

"Try to understand the greater picture and see the other side of the story. Once we bowed to the gods and feared the demons. We lived in their shadow and it is upon our lands that Bahamut rains most destruction. It is only within this day and age within this kingdom that mankind can truly rise. This happened because mankind no longer is content with survival alone, it changed to become more fit through dedication to a goal above all."

"If that goal is reached, then what?"

"There will be a new goal. We must always strive to improve. I might not live to see the results, but I will play my part. Perhaps you will as well. Don't concern yourself with the demons, your strength can mean so much for the kingdom. Imagine what you could do, if you took upon yourself a duty for this wonderful kingdom."

"I already have a goal. My mother needs a better life." And the king had to die so the demons would be freed. "And ... I think the demons should have too. There has to be a way things are okay for both peoples."

"If only they were willing to. Demons are hedonists," he said. "They are alike with the gods in one thing : they live only for themselves, not a greater goal for their nations. Day by day, only banding together if their general survival is needed, but forever stagnant. Of course depravity and neglect thrives under such circumstances. They oppress mankind because they are powerful, because they can. They could also change, and chose not to. They are the antithesis of all we must be : a past we leave behind us. Did you know that gods and demons were not always part of this world?"

"They're not?"

"No. In a way, mankind is only reclaiming its heritage. We would be willing to share if they behaved, but there is no reasoning with demons. Why would we owe them kindness, after they oppressed us for centuries? Blood turns the wheel of history. This time, it just isn't ours."

It sounded right in a way and felt wrong in another, but she didn't really understand either.

· · · · · · ·

Kaisar went through the motions of a ceremony that not too long ago, he would have deemed the peak of his life. By the king himself, he was bestowed a medal for excellent service. It was the first true honor the Knights of Orleans had been bestowed in years. His pride shone and felt hollow at the same time.

Afterward, Allesand and a few others, even Dias, insisted that he ought to have a reward. For once. So they dragged him off to Allesand's favorite restaurant, which was awfully familiar to Kaisar for some reason.

That it was in the red light distract and Allesand knew of it should've been a tip off what kind of place it was. It looked like a restaurant on the surface, but the lights were red even inside and more than a few of the demon ladies serving here tries to persuade the customers to stay for the night. Kaisar was saving his virginity for marriage so this was definitely not happening.

They were given a wide table and a quiet acknowledge of importance, and soon a flock of attractive demon girls surrounded them. Some of them rather familiar ... oh.

He leaned over to Dias, who sat next to him looking mostly stoic. "Dias, this is the place where you acquired the bait for the rag demon, is it not?"

"We're familiar here, I thought it would give the least hassle and we'd bring the women home after."

"I see."

Kaisar separated onto an empty couch nearby, but wasn't left alone for long. Two arms slipped around his neck and two beige dog puppets dropped aside of him on the couch.

"Well well, you certainly have an unusual scent about you," a familiar voice whispered in his ear. "Kaisar Lidfard."

A few red hairs fell aside of his face.

Ten years ago, two ranked demons had accompanied Azazel in Gregor. She was Cerberus. He knew little more of her than that her dogs liked creative torture, and that she was a tracker who probably worked for Lucifer. If she was allowed to stand aside of the likes of Azazel and Pazuzu, she was probably a very powerful demon too.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I'm just curious how things are with my old acquaintance." With a giggle she tapped on the medal, which was pinned closer to his shoulder. "You've been doing quite well, haven't you? I suppose it fits you and your noble knight act, though I'm really surprised you've been taking inspiration from us."

"I have done no such thing."

"Yes, exactly like how Azazel and me and my dears didn't torture your precious lady Amira," Cerberus said. "You know, I bet you never really accepted that demon blood ran in her veins. Must be easy, to now have all these pretty shapes that don't really exist, cause they bleed demonic."

"If you are suggesting that I would ever defile a woman just because of her blood, you are mistaken. I uphold the honor of the knights, as do my men."

"Do they now? Most of my girls returned by now, save one. What'd they do with pretty Bel, captain?"

"We did nothing to her beyond trying to lure in the rag demon. The honor of my men is impeccable. She simply did not return because she moved elsewhere on her own."

"Are you sure?" She pointed to the left. Her puppets had hopped off, now sitting below the chairs of two knights, who were stuffing a demon girl's clothing with coins while drooling over her. "How much attention do you pay to your knights at all times, hmm? Where'd those guys get that extra money?'

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you, captain. They smell a little like the slums and antiseptics and satisfaction. I'm just guessing some of them took your example on trading demons lately. It's really a lot of fun, isn't it? Azazel never got you to kill Favaro, you won, you get to be a true knight and kill just us demons. I get it."

"This is not what I wanted for demonkind," he said. "I let go of needless revenge a long time ago."

"Who said anything about revenge? It's just power, right? We all use it to take care of our own and sit on a throne. So here we are, in invisible cages for you lovely knights to play with. We even get paid a little as long as we do as we are expected to, so we shouldn't complain, right?" The sugary sweet tone never faltered. "We like it best if all the men want is someone to flatter them. Guiltless attention. It's a kind of beautiful inversion to how it used to be, isn't it, Kaisar Lidfard? You're the master of the castle now, and just like you once upon a time, we never asked to be here but we'll play the game the lord sets us up to."

He lowered his eyes, but she turned his chin back up. "No, no, be proud. You're the conqueror." She leaned closer to whisper in his ear. "Did you meet Azazel yet? I'm pretty sure he's around, we smelled him. Maybe one day you'll get him in a cage. Won't that be fun?"

Unable to bear it any longer, Kaisar shot to his feet and paced away.

Almost at once, a man appeared at his side.

"Is anything the matter, sir?" the man asked, throwing a glare at Cerberus.

"No, I just came here to eat with my men."

"I bet the captain got shy!" Allesand hollered as he dropped next to Cerberus. "Nobody gets bored of Cerby!"

For the entire duration of the meal, he felt her gaze shift to him, and he could not tell whether her smile was the same malicious one as ten years ago, or just as empty as his own.

· · · · · · ·

Nina persuaded the gods to help her shop at the farms for some flour, while gently breaking the news that maybe they ought to join the rebellion. By not telling them where the food had to be delivered, while she daydreamed a little over that man ... what was his name again? He still hadn't mentioned it, had he?

Next up was a stop at Rita's place, where the gods expected to be leaving the food, only for Nina to shut the door in her face.

"You're an awful artist." Rita gave her deadest gaze yet at the sketch Nina had made of Adva's friend. "Even if Kaisar would figure out who sold any demons off the registers, this wouldn't help. I suppose I could ask around though. Off register slave trade is usually for unethical experiments, which has a very small market."

That was a tad confusing, but Nina had more things on her to do list, so she moved on.

The gods were more than confused when she wouldn't help unload here, and also displeased with the fact that Mugaro's friends her recognized the carriage and had all climbed aboard, to the point there was no more room for Bacchus inside without tripping over bags or little demons.

"Nina, what is this all about?" Bacchus grumbled.

"Well, I was thinking you could do a lot of good by joining the rebellion, where we're heading now to deliver all this food. Also Rita doesn't have room.

"I think we're already doing enough," Bacchus said.

"Oh come on, please? We could really use the help!" Nina pleaded in her most honey voice.

"Hmmph. Y'know how much trouble I'm going to be in with Gabriel if she finds out I'm conspiring with demons?" Bacchus grumbled.

Nina hopped on the hippogryph's back so she could look him in the eyes, shifting gears with a smirk.

"Yes, it would be a problem if the pink haired lady you were complaining about found out you've friendly with them." She pulled out one of the feathers Azazel had lost in Rita's place. "Imagine me running into her and telling her all about the dark angel I've seen."

She took some delight in the shock on their faces. True, this was a little bit mean, but it was a better than rebels dying by sneaking around in conspicious cloaks. Everyone in the city knew and trusted the carriage, after all.

"We shouldn't talk about this outside," Bacchus muttered.

Oh, right. nina smirked and vanished inside; Bacchus would have to come next time he wanted booze.

It was awfully cluttered inside, especially since the kids had pushed aside bags to unfold a mirror. The kids were weary around Nina and Kiprio said right away he wasn't going anywhere with her, but their mood easily perked up when Nina handed out some candy she'd delivered from Rita's candy pot.

The lot had come here cause the new clothes Siem and Kiprio had bought drew attention, so they wanted to store it somewhere others wouldn't steal it. Mugaro had turned it into an imprompty clothing try out party. Mugaro wore one of the other dresses she'd bought her and now experimented with draping a curtain before a mirror to simulate a gown. Under the dress Nina spotted her old pants. Not Nina's style, but she wasn't gonna ruin anyone's fun with experimenting.

Nina unpacked some of her own dresses from home, many of which were handmade by her mother. Not as fancy as the one she'd bought — she hoped a night's soak in Rita's herb stuff would fix the stains — but each of them quite lovely. Some might fit Mugaro, who was just a little smaller than her. Maybe she could adjust some of them?

She probably should do so for herself too, if she was going to meet that nice man again. There were a few weeks at least between the rebellion striking, and she didn't want to think about what might happen after that. For now she just wanted to have fun.

Hamsa fluttered in the door. "So what do they want us to do anyway?"

"Just borrow the carriage, I think," Nina said. "Tell you what, you just come with me to carry some of the food and you can talk to them there. You can leave if you don't want to join. Okay? You'll be rid of me sooner that way."

"Fine," Hamsa said. "But it better not be a trap!"

Nina sputtered. "Hamsa! That's not nice."

"Yeah, if the big demons wanted to hurt you they'd have done that a long time ago," Arai said.

"Speaking of the big demons, what should I wear?" Nina asked the kids, holding up some of her home dresses. "We're going on an outing in a few days where I show everyone my dragon form, so no fighting."

El hold up Azazel's feather, pointing at it with that specific yay Azazel smile.

"What? No way, he doesn't care. I'm doing it for me cause it fits if you're taking a trip into the sun, you might as well look nice. Though, maybe the others like it. Dante sure does wear some ornate stuff, maybe he's into clothing style."

"I like the yellow one with the blocks and the flames," Otyan said. "It reminds me of where I used to live."

"Hell, right? I bet it's nothing like in our stories," Nina said. "What's it like?"

"Lots of rocks, some of them glitter and shine, and the fire can be all kinds of colors. It's always warm and there's these wonderful invisible fire flows that feel really nice," Otyan said. "Do you live with fire too?"

"Nah, we live under cover of a forest and try not to be seen. So going flying in the sunlight is a treat, since the sun is our favorite fire. Though, that's just what I hear from others. Even if I could fly as a dragon, I can't remember."

She held up the dress Otyan had chosen. Most of the teal, orange and pink decorations were painted on the fabric by herself. Pink steps jutting from a teal line, flames dancing up.

"It's from The Stairway Of Fire, one of my favorite fairytales. In our legends one day we will ascend to the great dragon in the sun when the world ends, but there once was a hero who went early to ask for a great favor, because they loved the earth so much."

Mugaro folded her legs and sat in a most expectant pose, and the rest of the kids gathered in a circle.

"Sorry, I can't now, but I promise I'll tell you later. I have rebellion stuff to do today, right, Hamsa?"

"Make that tomorrow, we just ran around buying shit all day."

· · · · · · ·

Azazel cleared a wall in the assembly hall and started a map of the city in preparation for the planning. He's memorized the city over the years and could make it pretty detailed. He hadn't ever imagined his drawing skills would actually be useful for something.

He also hadn't imagined the mood it would happen in. The members of the rebellion were solemn and serious enough, with the exception of one.

Nina came skipping down the rubble in a breezy yellow dress, ribbons in her hair, right out of heaven when a water to wine incident got rid of the stiff serenity. In other words, completely unfit to convincing the revolution she was to be taken seriously. Sure she looked gorgeous, but they weren't here for gorgeous. They were here for pride and victory. Seriously, what was she thinking, showing up like this? It was the height of irresponsibility. How dare she.

"Hey, everyone!" She dumped a leather trunk in a corner of the hall, still balancing a bundle of sacks in her other arm. "Who wants food? I have a whole lot, so eat your fill."

While Nina unpacked right there, Bacchus and Hamsa wandered in. The two gods gave a probably skeptical look around; it was hard to tell through their half drunk haze and the fact one of them was a duck.

"Who are they?" someone asked.

"Bacchus and Hamsa, the bounty hunter lords," Nina said. "Azazel asked me to bring them on board with the rebellion. Oh, Bacchus, Hamsa, you should talk to the grey guy with the wannabe pirate look. He's the leader of the rebellion, Dante."

"It's a count's coat," Dante grumbled, which prompted a few chuckles from those around him. Why were they even willing to follow him, when he acted so casual with everyone?

Bacchus and Hamsa didn't miss a beat to approach him, and Bacchus held out his hand. "Gods and demons once joined against the common threat of Bahamut. It seems we have another common threat now. The do not speak for the other gods, but I'm willing to throw in my lot on this table if you can present a solid plan."

Dante shook his hand, brief and tensely. "So. You're the god of the bounty hunters, eh? Did I ever show up on your warrants?"

"Not that I recall. She did, though." Bacchus nodded at Belphegor.

With a huff, Belphegor said, "That deal with Magdalene was not started by me, but by one of my pact mates. I can't keep twenty four hour tabs on everyone I contract with."

"I'm not here to arrest anyone, and I don't care to do it after this is over," Bacchus said. "Besides, we're already in trouble if it leaks we helped Azazel."

"What he said," Hamsa quacked. "Really, all we want is to get the stolen matter back to the gods, maybe get rid of our exile sentence and that's it."

That didn't meet much enthusiasm, except from Belphegor. "Back? The magic the humans use is matter stolen from the gods?"

"The power of Dromos. We're not entirely sure what it is, but it predates gods and demons and is very dangerous. We were unable to either wield it or destroy it, so it was locked up," Bacchus said. "Lady Gabriel would want it back to reseal it and has no interest in using it against the demons."

"Never mind that, tell me what you know about it. To what degree is it technology? How does it power not just those shields but their physical strength? What kind of experiments did you run?"

Azazel and pretty much everyone else didn't follow as Bacchus blurted out something he himself didn't seem to understand, while Dante tried to get some more assurance they wouldn't be having a divine squad on their roof next day.

Eligos sided up to Azazel.

"I can't believe you passed on the recruitment to her," he whispered. "And you wanted to lead us?"

"Are you looking for a fight?" He asked, still calm but willing to deliver.

"I do not, oh right hand of Lucifer. I am ever on the quest for common sense," he said. "I'm merely saying your priorities are a little odd, you might lack certain skills and you miss details like forgetting to tell us the dragon is this young lady who can't transform unless under unspecified special conditions. I would dare say that is a detail crucial to a successful operation you did not share. Just another friendly example of why I doubt your input, lord Azazel."

"Your quest is lacking if you think challenging me is common sense."

"Quick, tell me what Bacchus just said that convinced Dante to trust him."

"What?"

Eligos slipped away with the whisper, "Too easily distracted," right as Dante told Bacchus, "Alright, we will accept your help."

Nina jumped between the god and the demon. "Great! Welcome to the rebellion! Let me show you around. Everyone except me and Azazel have jobs to do, and uh, let's see ... Belphegor is our scientist, she's makes stuff and I bet she'd love to know how the weird space dimension thing of your carriage works."

Belphegor hesitantly offered a hand to Bacchus and then one to Hamsa, who could only offer a wing.

Nina pointed at Belphegor's servants. "And those people over there are Adva and Kolraun and Durahanem. They work for Belphegor, you can go to them for food. Maybe they can brew you something spiffy and pay Adva in some nice clothes cause she won't take any for free."

Next she pointed at Eligos's choice of trainer, who huddled in the shadows of a column and didn't look like she wanted the attention. "And those are Nishaol with her new students, I didn't catch their names yet. They fight things but they don't have much high magic people to practice with, they're all busy. You can fight, right Bacchus?"

"Yeah, a bit."

Nina opened a rock door to reveal the weaver in one of her hidden roads. "And this here's Arachna. She helps this place be safe. I don't think you could help her with anything specific but if you're lost, tap one of her threads and ask for help."

Arachna waved with a tight smile and slammed the door shut.

"Don't mind her, everyone's really nervous cause there's so much at stake," Nina said. "Some of them are so busy I haven't even met them, so that's as much as I got."

Bacchus looked around the lot and said, "So do any of you have an idea what you're doing?"

"Not much. Rebellion was never an option in hell, too much differences in power levels," Nishaol said. "We're just hoping Dante or Eligos know."

"Hmmph. Y'know, I was alive when Lucifer rebelled. This isn't gonna be as simple as just killing the king, you're gonna have to deal with everyone else in the kingdom too."

"We can deal with that later." Azazel turned to the wall and continued the map. "Let's first lay out our plan of attack on Charioce, now we got that carriage. What we can—"

"We're not actually going to know when and where the next raid will come from," Dante said. "So let's wait that out."

"Great idea," Eligos said loudly. "Anyway, Bacchus, Hamsa, we'd appreciate it if we could get an idea of your magic, and what we can expect from heaven."

"Sure," Bacchus said. "I'm not really much of a strategist though."

"That's my job," Eligos said.

As easy as that, Azazel standing at the wall on the platform was in fact nothing but him standing at the wall, while everyone circled down around Dante and Bacchus at the center of the hall. And it wasn't even about the plan.

Belphegor crossed her legs on a rock and leaned. "Tell us about heaven. What's the technology like? Are there schools? How do they work?"

"And their history and government maybe, and we can ask questions, right?" Eligos said.

"I want to know what they did after Zeus died!"

"Are the battle spells any different? What about ground strategy?"

"Do your healing spells work on demons? Do you know any?"

"Okay, suit yourself," Bacchus said. "I'll try to cover all that. History, uhm ... Zeus ... You all know of Zeus, right? After he became the key to seal Bahamut, dominion fell to the angels, who derive most power from faith, so they had the most ability to restore things, which earned them the thrones. Gabriel, Michael, Uriel, Raphael and Hêlêliel, y'know. They developed a lot of what we got in heaven now, and you got Lucifer, so ..."

Azazel knew this part and tuned it out. He didn't want to hear it again. Lucifer had told him, that was enough. He just kept drawing the map, intent to call them to action once it was done.

A second crayon tapped on the wall.

"You can make this clearer for the folks who never got to walk down the streets, you know," Nina said, standing on her toes to reach. "There's a bakery with a big wooden board with a cake on it, which is different from the bakery further up the street, which has a bunch of bread on their board."

He shoved a rock her way and she stepped on to reach her. "And if you make the river blue the people in the back can see easier that it's not a street. And that's a park, not a building, people can hide there better. There's a warehouse here, we can break into that for hiding. I did that once when the weird blond knight guy who never wears a helmet chased me."

So here he was having a horny dragon girl desecrate his strategy planning while a drunk told stories of heaven. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. Nobody was serious about this, it wasn't the time for games, fun and wine when there were people dying every day. This could be over as soon as Charioce made himself a target at the parade. What was wrong with them?

"Need a new crayon?" Nina handed him another white one. "They'll wear down less if you don't press so hard."

Chaos dammit she was right, but he didn't have the patience. Unlike everyone else, who had too much of it.

"How do you get the lines to be straight in one go, is that just practice or is there a trick to it?"

"Just look where you're going and practice."

"Ah, that actually works. I kept looking at where I came from. You know, you're good at this. Can you draw people too?"

"Yes."

"Please draw someone for us." She handed him a paper. "Adva, come over here for a moment? It's to describe Tipa."

Adva shook her head and turned her back on them, apparently only ears for something Hamsa said about cloud control.

"One of the other four women she was with?" Azazel guessed.

Nina nodded. "Tipa, the one with the long ears."

It had been a long time since Azazel had even bothered drawing, and more yet since he'd drawn people. The skill was still there though, to his surprise.

When he finished, Nina had surrounded his map with a smiley sun, weird trees and barely recognizable sticks that probably were rebellion members. She's crudely scribbled name places all over it too.

Maybe Eligos had a point about his concentration because how in hell had he let it come to the point where he stood before an army — however small — with this as his map? He had his wings out so they wouldn't see most of it, but he would have to move at some point.

"Oh, that's really nice," Nina said as she took the drawing. "Thanks. Adva, look at this!"

And off she was, leaving him with this embarrassment of a map.

He barely had time to consider whether he'd just erase all her additions when she addressed him again. "Hey Azazel, what about the laws?"

"What?"

"Eligos asked how many people write the laws," Nina said.

"Who cares? I didn't do any law things in heaven."

"We meant for hell," Bacchus said.

"I don't know."

"Shouldn't you be knowing this? A whole lot of people said you're the right hand of the king of hell. Being a good king needs more than just not being as bad as Charioce, right? I know all my tribe's laws and who is on the council," Nina said.

"He's from the fallen angel tribe, they don't know what it's like to be born in hell," Dante said. "Most fallen angels were strong. They had to be, if they were to survive the darkening. So the whole lot of them got into hell on power alone."

"A lot of hell is just making with what's available and surviving. There's not much law. We just survive and hope no leader or human summons us," someone Azazel couldn't place muttered.

"I know about that," Nina said. "We live as small humans cause there isn't enough food to live as dragons anymore, but that makes is vulnerable to being killed when summoned. We don't have to fear our own leaders, though. Why is it like that with you all?"

The hall was pretty silent, nobody took on the bait for a story. Confused, she looked around.

"Most of us never could leave hell," Dante said at last. "I could, but only cause I have the magic and knowledge for portals. All the typical demon ever does on earth is get summoned and commanded by humans."

"That's nasty," she said. "Say, once we get rid of the king, how about we just take some of the laws that made sure the humans had it good, and have those be a thing in hell too?"

More silence.

"Hey, Azazel, why doesn't anyone want to talk about hell's kingdom when you're around?"

One could hear the snakes scuttle around the edges.

"I don't know and I don't care what they do or don't say. Leave me to work." Never mind the map was pretty much done.

Nina put her hands on her hips. "No. They were all chatty this morning and just now when talking about heaven, but hell comes up and the get quiet. Y'know, I don't think many of them liked how things were run."

"Tch."

"Well, if I can't hear it, there's other ways. Bacchus, can we get some of that paper you use to print bounties?" Without waiting for an answer, she raced for the carriage and soon reappeared with a stack, which she started handing out. "Everyone, let's make a wish list. We can also write down anything else you want, see whether anyone comes from the same place or has stories to share. This paper responds to visions so maybe you can even figure out how to make pictures appear on it."

"Are you going to show him?"

"You got my word I won't if you don't want to. I'm just gonna tell him with needs to be better, okay?"

With as little as that, Nina had a hook in the entire hall. If Dante was a pillar against Azazel's authority, Nina was a net. They just went along with what she suggested.

They only paid him heed to see whether he'd come over to scrutinize them. Some vanished into other rooms, others still had questions for Bacchus, and no progress had been made with planning the attack. Azazel didn't know how to end this whole thing. Slinking away was fine if he did it in the night while killing slavers, but this ...

Staying here was nothing but embarrassing though. While wandering off into a tunnel, nowhere in particular, someone came after him.

"Azazel, wait!"

He stopped without turning, but he did look. "What do you want?"

"I didn't mean to make you look bad," she said. "But think a little bit more about what's going on with others. I have to do that too, so I know that takes a bit of work."

"You can't possibly make me look bad," he said. "And don't tell me what to do."

Nina signed an oval in the air before her face. "Have a mirror."

"Tch."

"That's not an answer." She turned away, miffed.

"Wait," he said.

"Yes?"

She looked expectant and he had no idea what he wanted to say or why he called her back.

"I really don't know why they don't talk," he said at last. "But there was a strict hierarchy in hell. I was never concerned with it. I just ... things didn't go this way. I didn't govern, and I answered only to Lucifer."

"Oh, I see. That sure explains why you're cranky you're not the boss. Or know how to run things. Not that I know more."

"I am not cranky."

Nina just beamed at him and made the mirror sign again, before returned to the hall, shouting something about how everyone got along with their wish lists.

· · · · · · ·

Sofiel once again checked on Bacchus with the intent to make him work harder; her own search still turned up nothing. When Bacchus had said she couldn't come in because it was a mess, she expected wine bottles. Rather than that, it was children. From hell.

Some of them had peach pink and brown skin colors like gods and humans did, others were gray. All of them had trace horns cut off. Sofiel had only ever seen the adults that were strong enough to leave hell on their own, the children were ... not what she expected. She'd always imagined them as wild, malicious little brats. These kids played with clothing and empty wine bottles — sooner calling to mind worry about Bacchus's carelessness than concerns they'd bite her.

"Did you fall so deep you now collide with demons?" Sofiel asked.

"No!"

"Because it sure looks like you opened a demon daycare."

"I took this one child in for help during the festival, the others don't stay here, okay? They're visiting. What am I supposed to do, kick them out?"

"Lady Sofiel, they're just kids," Hamsa slimed. "And they're pretty useful once they learn to cook, we swear. We've got a stand on the incoming festival, you see."

The amount of expensive wine sure didn't give the impression he was in want for money.

"What if they curse anything you sell?"

The second biggest of the children stood up, a gray, browless kid with red hair. He crossed his arms and glared at her. "You know if we wanted to curse anyone, we'd have done it already!"

"They'll be behind the scenes," Bacchus said. "And I'm keeping an eye on things."

"This does not improve your chances of your exile being revoked, you understand," Sofiel said.

"What else am I supposed to do? My pay has been slashed since the bounty hunter business went down."

"You could opt to stop your alchohol addiction, I'm sure," Sofiel said.

Someone knocked and Hamsa opened. And it was another demon.

"Uhhhh am I disturbing?" the demon said.

"Yes, scram!" Bacchus snapped. With sudden speed, he stormed outside and slammed the door behind him.

Sofiel was left alone with the swarm of children. She wanted to follow Bacchus because this was very fishy, but found the door locked.

"What?"

She pried the nearest window open, but all she saw outside was Bacchus thirty meters away muttering with the demon. She couldn't hear a thing.

Someone pulled at her sleeve.

The tallest of the demon children, a dusiu with black hair, had crouching onto the couch next to her. Ne held out the machine that produced the bounty pamphlets and pointed at the castle.

Sofiel just frowned.

"I think she's trying to ask why there is no bounty on the king's head," a beige demon girl said.

Sofiel stood straight up. "We try not to provoke the human king any further. Besides, crimes against demons are not adjusted to the system."

The demon dusiu shoved the machine into Sofiel's arms, tapping it again with a stern look.

The machine tuned into those human criminals who used the forces of hell by detecting the flows of magic between the realms based on names and pacts. The magic of Dromos didn't work like that, and besides, crimes against demons? How did that even fit into the law system?

Demons were even lower than humans, but right now it was a human who was their greatest enemy, and she hadn't outright been ordered to not explore options. Hmmm ...

Bacchus returned to the carriage alone, finding Sofiel waiting with her arms crossed.

"Bacchus, I'll not report on your suspicious activities right away, but only on the condition you help me test something and take responsibility if something goes wrong."

"What kind of deal is that?" he slurred.

"The kind of deal that does not jeopardize my chances at becoming one of the four great angels, which will happen if it turns out this is a bust and lady Gabriel finds out I covered for you." She held up the machine. "Help me adjust the system to register the power of Dromos. I want to see what will happen."

"Are you serious?" He sounded instantly sober.

"If we can get Charioce to show up within this system, getting near him when he is weakened will be enough to capture him," she said. "Seel Soh Cetom."

Bacchus looked at her in surprise, followed by a grin. "That's the best idea I've heard from up there in a long time."

Something missed here. Normally Hamsa would've started sucking up to make up for the near insult, but right now Sofiel didn't care enough to wonder where he'd gone. Charioce XVII had to go down.

· · · · · · ·

Belphegor waited with a sleepy Nina, a hungover Dante, a barely contained Eligos and a nervous Adva at the edge of the forest, expecting a carriage to appear in the evening sky. Instead they got Kolraun running up with a rather shiny Hamsa. She had to fight the urge to take over the glowing holy duck, eager to inspect the magic on hold. That and she enjoyed the fluffiness.

"Where is the carriage?" Azazel asked as Kolraun held out the duck.

"Bacchus has to keep the lady Sofiel busy. They got it into their head to adjust the bounty machine," Hamsa said. "Bacchus cast a delayed growth spell on me so I can carry you lot around."

"I do hope you won't grow too large, or you'll be easy to spot. We wouldn't want any curious knights to show up," Belphegor said. "There are stations all through the area to capture escaped slaves, after all."

"Oh, we took that into account," Hamsa said.

The moment he was free of Kolraun's hands, the spell went full out. He grew ... quite symmetrically, with no proportional adjustments. Just a literal giant duck. If this was Hamsa's true form, it didn't make sense that he wouldn't be able to control it himself. Belphegor suspected Azazel had been in jest when he said so.

Eligos climbed up first, but when Dante joined him Hamsa huffed under the weight.

"You're too small, grow bigger," Eligos said.

"I can't! This isn't my magic."

"Miss Bel, I can carry you, probably," Adva muttered, already unfolding her wings.

"Uh, I can't grow wings," Nina said. "I'd like to though."

"It's no problem, right?" Belphegor said. "Lord Azazel can carry you. Kolraun, I'm sorry. You can see Nina as a dragon after we won, alright?"

Kolraun shrugged. "Honestly, you can call me if there's a giant cat. I'd rather fill the orangehouse."

Adva unfolded her wings to full length, Belphegor's first time seeing them in daylight. Spanning meters, they shone in dark purple and teal, with specks of shimmery blue. Spikes ran along the upper finger, but overall they were beautiful. That might be the sole reason she'd been allowed to keep them at all.

Belphegor was more than a head taller than Adva, but to her surprise Adva was able to lift her without any trouble.

She cast a look at the others and lost a chuckle.

Dante and Eligos were awkwardly cramped atop the just as awkward duck who struggled for balance on two spindly legs.

Azazel was more than a head talled than Nina so he could still stand as she dangled in his arms; Nina had turned beet red and just barely got herself to put an arm over Azazel's arm and Azazel looked elsewhere very much.

"I'd almost say heaven blessed our dignity alone," Adva whispered as she lifted off. Belphegor just gave a wide smile.

Hamsa took off with some effort and struggled to stay in the air and close to the forest. They had to circle around a few outposts and smaller villages until they reached an empty valley in the shadow of a curved mount. It came with lots of jutting rocks, passing over wider ones for some reason. Once they landed, Nina ran behind one of those rocks.

"You stay here," Azazel said to the others, following Nina.

"Why can't we see her transformation spell?" Eligos asked.

"It's a secret, okay," Nina called. "Azazel already knows so he can ... uh, stand guard."

They vanished behind the rock, and for a while nothing happened.

"I researched the shapeshifter demons once," Eligos said. "Their bipedal forms normally don't look human, so I would hazard the guess she is a hybrid. She must be using an assisting spell. I can imagine people abusing that if they knew of it."

"Really? So this can take a while and a lot of concentration?" Dante said with a grin, before raising his voice at the rock. "Don't have too much fun before business, you two! We don't have all day."

It was answered by Azazel cursing him out.

"You just had to be tasteless, didn't you?" Eligos said.

"Oh, come on, since—" A bright pink light interupted him.

From behind the rock unfolded a glowing sphere that turned sharper until it left behind a heavy, spiked dragon. Magenta scales glistened in the golden dawn, with darker scales covered the stomach and lower neck, and similar in a thinner line over the back. Her wings were unusually small and her legs oddly thick, but otherwise Nina was a graceful dragon. Almost. She had a tuft of pink hair behind her horned crest, which gave her a quirky look.

Belphegor approached, glad to find Nina bow her head to meet her. "Oh, you are magnificent!"

Unable to resist, she ruffled her thick pink mane. Eligos joined her at a distance, enthralled but not touching.

After a curious rumble, Nina nudged Eligos and he dropped over, only to laugh. "I'll take that as a compliment. May I see your firepower?"

No response. Nina just looked back, at where Azazel stood atop the rock.

"Don't bother, she loses her mind when she transforms," Azazel said.

"Are you kidding me?" Eligos said. "Please, please tell me this is a joke."

"Maybe she can take simple commands?" Belphegor said.

"She's not a dog," Azazel said.

Nina flopped on her back, exposing her armored belly. Belphegor tried scratching her with a shrug, but Nina felt nothing through the thick scales.

"Nina, nod if you can understand us," Dante said.

Nothing.

"Cat!" Belphegor said.

Nina started purring as well as she could with a dragon's voice.

"Dog?" Eligos said.

She whipped her tail.

"I dare say she can understand some words, but with little more capacity than an animal. I doubt anyone explained her what dog and cat means while in this form, so she must've inherited this from her human life," Eligos said.

Nina lowered her head to Azazel and nudged him. He nearly toppled over.

"Stop that!"

"She's just saying she likes you," Belphegor said.

Nina nudged him again just to have him fly away, landing near the group. "We'll teach her commands when she's human again."

"Regardless, we're going to need back up," Eligos said. "I've heard enough of the survivors to know she will attack our enemy, but complex strategy will be difficult."

"We'll just fly over with the carriage, you guys drop down and the dragon—"

"ANYWAY," Dante said, "Like Eligos said we're going to make a meticulous plan where everyone isn't at risk of painful green death. Right, Nina?"

Nina wagged her tail, dipped her head sideways and picked up Azazel in her mouth. Before he got a word of objection in, she cantered off across the hill. A few wings flaps didn't help her lift off, so she just went on all fours.

The demons just stared, while Hamsa might be quacking in indignation or laughing his feathers off. Frankly, Belphegor had to fight very hard not to join him.

"Oh dear," Eligos said at last. "No flight, and terrible hormones."

"What's hormones?" Adva asked.

"The emotional chemicals that make lovebirds go gaga," Eligos said. "As appears to be the fate of our strongest two fighters. Belphegor, did she tell you anything about how she turns back?"

Belphegor pressed her lips together and shook her head.

"Adva, can you fly ahead to track them and return once she stops?" Dante said.

Belphegor crammed herself on Hamsa, just barely. He managed to fly across the valley, but collided with the ground as he tried to pass the ridge. From there on he just tried running, which Eligos called as profound waddling, at which point Belphegor couldn't hold it in anymore.

"You better be talking about Nina's advances and not me!" Hamsa sputtered.

A pointed silence fell before Belphegor said, "That. Is definitely a thing I'm laughing about."

"And the ducking around," Eligos said. "Let's he honest."

Hamsa spent the rest of the trip with his feathers puffed out in irritation.

They'd passed three hills when Adva returned from the east.

"They're about four hills that'a'way. She appears to be making a den," Adva said. "Azazel was stuck under her tail. I'd have waited till she moved and led him back, but, uh ... he wasn't very good company." That last part got out so softly, it was hard to hear over the waddling.

Nina had crawled into a cavity and hollowed it out by tearing rock loose before curling up. Somewhere from between her front legs came a spray of irritated black snakes trying to pry up her front claw. Nina herself looked down, making confused growly noises.

Belphegor climbed over Nina's massive front paws for a closer look. Azazel's legs were under her front claws, while he lay on his back and seethed. Nina was very careful, almost like shielding. The only injury Azazel sustained was a spectacular blow to his dignity.

"I've seen you burst rocks," Belphegor said through gritted teeth, resolving not to laugh any further. "Pardon me, lord Azazel, but why are you stuck?"

"I can't get out without breaking her hand," he said with a poor effort at a blank stare. "Distract her."

How, though?

Eligos and Dante joined her in leaning over Nina's paw.

"This dragon is horny in more than one way," Eligos said without a flinch of a smile, somehow. "It seems there is some crucial information you haven't told us. What if she wants to settle in the middle of the rebellion?"

"She will fight if there's a threat, I've seen it!"

Dante cracked his knuckles and tried to lift her paw, but Nina just gave him a soft nudge and he toppled. Belphegor got the same when she tried.

They got absolutely nowhere, up until on her own Nina started glowing pink again.

When the glow faded Azazel lay on his back, with a naked Nina sprawled half over him. He was tinted very purple and looked anywhere but down.

"Eligos, cloak. Now." Azazel forced a wing out from under his back and covered up Nina.

"No. Not when you talk to me like that."

"It's not even for me."

Belphegor sighed and pulled the cloak off of Eligos. She turned Nina over, wrapping her up while Azazel scrambled away.

"Does the passing out happen every time she transforms?" Eligos asked.

"Yes."

"She was a dragon less than fifteen minutes. And you didn't tell us about this? What is wrong with you?" Dante snapped.

Eligos sighed. "And afterwards someone is going to have to scoop her up. Tight requirements for killing the most guarded person on the surface of the planet."

"That will be all we need if we do this right. He'll be a perfect target during the celebration of the fall of Cocytus, right under the open sky. We just have to have Bacchus fly over, drop us down and—

"That again? No! We're doing this after they return from a raid, when they're exhausted. They'll be under the open sky long enough during that," Dante said, sounding calmer but more assured.

Azazel though didn't look ready to drop it, so Belphegor quickly said, "Lord Azazel, she has friends in the city. She told us about them. We need something other than a parade, where her rampage won't hurt any bystanders."

"When did she say that?"

"She talks with us every time we eat together," Belphegor said. "Why do you want it to be during the festival so badly, lord Azazel?"

"Don't you get it? They need to understand what and why their king will die."

"We could make an announcement afterward," she said. "Assuming we don't have to flee, which we well may have to do right then, even if just to secure our injured."

That didn't seem to satisfy him. She'd admired him a lot, but that began to slip a little. He was so careless sometimes.

· · · · · · ·

For once Kaisar arrived at the doctor's guild not to meet Rita, but for investigation. Told to wait, he still ended up on the bench in the inner garden.

Out of an open window behind him rolled the murmurs of doctors, the crinkle of paper and the clinking of cups. Old, dry sounds in sharp contrast to the finely crafted medal in his hands. He'd wrapped it in his handkerchief without much thought after the ceremony was over, now her words mingled with the doctors discussing the plague risks of dumping bodies in the slums.

Sorry? No you're not.

At last one of the lead doctors stepped out and was introduced by a servant as doctor Oagburg, a slender man with neat suit and sharp eyes behind his glasses.

"Ah, we are honored to welcome the captain of the Orleans Knights. The story of your heroic rescue of the king makes quite the round in the city. For what have we earned your visit?" he said with a little smile.

Kaisar stood up. "It has come to my attention that several of my knights have illegally sold captured demons, including to an institution connected to the doctor's guild. I would like your assistance in bringing them to justice."

The doctor spread his hands, the smile widening. "Of course we are nothing but respectful to the king's laws, but is this truly the time to trouble doctors over such a trivial matter like illegal trade? Surely no dangerous substances were exchanged, after all, and experiments serve purely educative purposes."

"I must uphold the law." The doctor's smile faltered.

What you do is let us rot.

"With all due respect, is something going on? I could not help but notice your acquaintance has shown an unusual amount of interest when a certain colleague suggested — and only suggested, mind you — that he was of interested in certain experiments on demons. Concerning plague resistance, of course."

Was Rita involved in something? She had always kept low over the years, what was happening now?

"Yes, that would have been at my behest," Kaisar lied. "It appears I do not need to speak with you, considering your attitude. I will talk to Rita concerned any illegal trade, and perhaps also your disinclination to share information relevant to the upholding of the law."

He gave a curt bow and turned away without giving the man time to recover.

Dias alone was outside with their horses trying to look casual; his trusted friend, as always.

"Did you learn anything, captain?" Dias asked.

"Nothing yet," Kaisar said.

"Is this really what you want to do, now that the Orleans Knights finally have found some honor after all these years?" Dias asked.

Don't you dare apologize when you've done nothing to make me believe it means anything.

What was he supposed to do anyway? He had often voiced hints of concern for an uprising for years, but Charioce always dismissed it. Let them, he said. We are strong enough.

Once the demons had been strong enough to trample over humankind. It wasn't that he didn't understand. Had that demon lady even done anything for humans that fell victim to demons? Still, he was supposed to be better, wasn't he?

"Sometimes I'm not sure what I really want, or what chivalry says I should want." Kaisar sighed. "Let's go back, Dias. We wouldn't want to leave Allesand in charge for too long."

· · · · · · ·

Belphegor dripped one more of the sulphur into the brew, which began steaming purple and gray.

Kolraun shook like a reed the entire time, sporting a most forced grin while reciting what he knew of the plants. By now it was mostly speculation.

"Calm your nerves, it won't explode. I know this response. It would take several more drops for that to even be a possibility," she said while preparing to put those drops in.

Adva starting humming, drawing nearby water out of a bucket as a shield around herself.

"Thank you for the trust," Belphegor said.

Durahanem pulled Kolraun back and dropped a table over, hiding herself and the other two behind it.

"Oh come on. Are any of you even fire sensitive?"

"No, but our clothes are and this stuff reeks like it won't get off," Durahanem said. "Also blow back."

The brew deemed that the right time to explode, sending glass shards, clouds and foam all over the room.

Well, ouch.

Belphegor started picking glass out of her already healing skin, but paused when the tinge of acid fume sipped at the wounds. This would not do for a larger bomb, should they want to avoid the wind blowing it across the city.

"Our point exactly," Durahanem said while peeking over the table.

"Hmmhmm." Belphegor started a new brew, but slower this time. She had killed humans before, but never to the degree the legends about her said. It had always been self defense. Would she start acting like the legends said now, just by rushing ahead?

Behind her, Adva and Korlaun started cleaning, while Durahanem opened another barrel.

"What do you all think about how we will be killing humans?" She turned around to look at them. They stopped working, except Adva.

"You're asking us for that, ..." Korlaun said. "Look, lady Belphegor, I was an incubus with no desire to live like one. Just as I finally got out of my family and onto the farmlands, the humans abducted me. I'm not attached to them, but I know a lot of them didn't choose to be born in my enemy's kingdom."

"They kept me and my family as animals, and I saw them slaughtered and eaten one by one," Durahanem said. "I don't care enough to pick a fight with you whatever way you choose."

"Adva?"

"It doesn't matter, what I think. Just go on. I'm tired."

"Are you really asking us cause you want to know, or do you want us to shut you down?" Durahanem asked.

Oh chaos, she was right. Belphegor put her hands down before the new brew spilled further.

They'd do a test run, but that would still require human test subjects.

Nina burst in before Belphegor could fret further. "Adva, I asked Rita whether she could ask Kaisar about what happened to missing demons and your friend's name is Tipa, right?"

Adva shot to her feet. "Where is she?"

"Uh, that's the hard part. Apparently some rich doctor bought her. But I bet Azazel can bust her out again."

All misery considered, there were some humans Belphegor wouldn't mind experimenting on.

· · · · · · ·

The day of the victory celebration arrived like any other. Azazel aside, the demons were content to hole up with another batch of food and rest.

Bacchus and Hamsa needed money even less now, but to avoid suspicion they went ahead with their annual tradition. Nina would have loved to head the festival stand with them, but it was better if she didn't. That didn't mean she wasn't going to hang around the back to meet ... she really ought to get his name at some point. The question kept slipping her.

When she arrived, he already was at the stand. Sitting near the board with two plates on the ground, in fact. All specialties.

"I'm so sorry for being late, I was really busy!" she said. "And you've been too, I see."

"They're quite delicious, compliments to the chef. Or chefs." He gave a frowny look at Rocky as ve hopped across the stove to deliver some spice to Rita.

"Rocky's independent, so it's chefs," Nina said.

"You look quite lovely," he said.

She wore one of the other dresses she'd brought, a flowing pink one with a skirt that floated like a bell at every step. Now her face took a shade to match, she had to turned away again. "Anyway, it looks like you didn't forget money this time, or did you hand Bacchus a fancy ring too?"

"The young man got the last of this batch on a condition," Bacchus said. "That he take you around the festival."

Oh no. She pulled Bacchus behind the carriage. "You did what?"

"Look, Nina, you've been doing nothing but run around for the, you know. You can't let this whole thing take over your life. Go have some fun."

He pushed her ahead and the man stood up. Nina was about to object that she shouldn't be walking around, but that melted away in the face of this man.

"Shall we?" With a smile, he held out a hand to the streets and her heart skipped a beat, ready to fill that lack with dragon.

She stepped out in the open, at his side and he led her into the golden bustle.

Nobody bothered her when in his presence, no one looked other than to admire for a moment. There weren't even any whispers. People had to be too busy to notice her, or maybe she just looked that different when dressed up. Or maybe they all looked at him, as Nina could imagine. She herself had trouble not doing so every other blink.

So she tried to instead look at what he showed her, which was a thankful plenty of new things.

The festival was one tradition after another she didn't know, and timed his directions perfectly. When the candle procession passed, they were right at a front spot, when the fireworks lit they were in a corner with clear sight of the sky, and he could tell easily which treats were of good quality.

All games on this festival were made for humans, so either of them aced the strength tests and aiming challenges with ease, even as they kept the strength down. He won as much prizes as she did, and they handed them out to children passing by to keep their hands free, and to see them smile. His smile was the best, though.

They reached a marksman game and he stood in line to pay for a chance. She eagerly sided up, but paused when she realized the figures to be shot were all demons. The stand owner handed them crossbows, which Nina knew she would fail at. Favaro had never succeeded at teaching her this one. In a small way that was a relief, because a few of those figures looked a little too much like her new friends. One of them she was sure was based on the rag demon.

Nina missed every shot, he put them all in the center. This wasn't just a matter of raw strength, he had to have practiced.

She clapped for him, smiled, and wondered. What if he was a soldier? No, too rich. Maybe he was one of those rich people with training since childhood. Princess in fairytales could all hunt, that had to be based on something. He probably wouldn't be on the frontlines when the rebellion happened, right?

At the end of the street was the plaza below the tower, the place where she had almost died not too long ago. It seemed so surreal now, as there was nothing but joy. Everyone had gathered around the center, musicians played and couples whirled on a the wooden platform painted yellow and orange by lanterns.

"Would you like to try?"

"I couldn't. I don't know this dance."

She stared at the ground, unsure how to continue. Saying no kind of ruined the mood, but she'd turn into an embarrassment up there, or worse, a dragon.

When he stepped closer, she startled. Without a word he took her hand and softly pulled her closer to the stage.

One step, another, and she kept her eyes on the ground save for a single glance.

She should say no, and yet ... yet it felt so safe. There was no reason to believe it was, but she wanted to, and the pulse was not so strong yet.

He lead her up the steps and pulled her into the rhythm of the music, leaning to match her height. Without effort he spun her round and guided her through. The rush caught on until she no longer cared she didn't know the steps. She knew other dances and did as she wanted, easily flowing into his guidance.

The fight against the dragon drowned in other feelings, his hand against her back, the pull of his hand, the synchronizing of their motion. He swirled her below his arm, they spun together around until they were all that mattered.

When he stepped back he showed her some of the moves, and she responded in kind without worrying too much whether it matched. Dancing was not merely swinging around, he did so much with feet it. That she could match easily until it was more symmetry than him leading, but when he offered his arm she fell back into his guidance.

The music swelled to its final beats and without him indicating it, they hooked hands and bowed on the last notes.

Breathless in the aftermath, her eyes fell on him, and her heart pounded, but the dragon did not stir. She could behold how gorgeous he was without looking away.

Almost like trance, only he existed. None of the crowd mattered, even the fireworks hazed into the background. Within that, she almost didn't register the explosion. It was the statement on his face and turning away that shook her out of the dream.

Hadn't Belphegor been on some explosive project?

· · · · · · ·

It was near to midnight when Kaisar arrived at Rita's place. The lights were still on, and noise came from within. He almost went by the front door, but changed his mind and went through the alley door.

He had a key for emergencies, which he had never used before. Using these now felt dishonorable, but he had to know. The explosion at the doctor's mansion had forced him to mobilize on a festival's night, to find a carnage of fire and blood within a laboratory barely discernible. Half the mansion had exploded and toxic gases hung around.

It was blamed on demons the doctor had bought casting some kind of miasma curse, but he suspected otherwise, and he knew exactly where to look.

Rita's small reception room was packed with demons, and one human lay on the bench couching. A housekeeper, judging by the clothing.

All froze up when they saw him. He quickly scanned the place, but didn't see Azazel himself. There were black feathers on the ground though.

"So, Kaisar, What are you doing here?" Rita asked.

"What did you get involved with, Rita?"

"Nothing," she said. "I'm just treating some patients."

She played dumb. That was a first for her.

Well then, he had a job to do. "I need to take that woman with me. Rita, when will she be ready?"

Rita held up two fingers. "One, I'm not done treating her."

Someone else spoke the rest. "And two, she knows too much."

He knew that voice. Before he could turn, a hand closed around his shoulder and jerked him all the way back into the alley.

"And now you know too much as well."

Her face was covered, but the horns was unmistakable. He shook himself loose.

"Whatever you're planning, it won't do any good," he said. "Azazel told me it's a choice between killing innocents and killing those who will kill more. Was tonight the same, or are you taking liberties now, the way you accuse humankind of going too far?"

"What would you even know?" the demon lady snapped. "You have it so easy, the honored knight who never lived a day in slavery. Too far? You have no idea."

"If humans are to believe demons are not worthy of this treatment, this will not make it easier. Why do you want to make it worse? Surely there was a way to liberate the victims without killing the doctors."

"Do you think I want this? I'd have things go back to the way they were if I could make it so," she snapped.

"We could make it better, if only we found some common ground. All this violence isn't necessary, it only makes it worse."

"Find common ground? I was humankind's friend!" She took a step closer, and Kaisar's honed insticts flared up. He dealt with a demon, an angry one, and if not for her contrary words he would have pulled his sword already.

"What do you mean?"

"I am a sage," she hissed. "I spent centuries sharing my knowledge with humankind, only to see a number of my inventions used on my own people. So yes, I tested something on your people. I didn't intend to kill anyone innocent, but you know what? I knew there was a risk. And maybe you don't intend for your knights to sell people to torturers, but it still happened."

In the silence that fell, he turned away. He wanted nothing more than to be left alone from this hateful eyes. She came after him in the way he felt he shouldn't run.

"If I disappear now, it will raise a lot of questions," he said. "I'm sure you can guess where they will search first."

With him an honored hero, he could be considered a wanted target for the demons, and she knew the same. She lowered her pace, rather than catch up.

The next words he spoke were true, even as they felt like the biggest lie he had ever told. "I did not betray Azazel, I did not betray you or the demons I guided away. Let me go and I will not bring trouble here. Can you assure me that woman will be alright?"

"She did not breathe much, she will live." Those were the first words of her tonight not laced with venom.

She let him go, but not without new words to haunt him, and a more living concern. They had a captive now. Maybe they had others.

He returned to the palace, plagued by doubts. That woman might live as a captive, and the other doctors were dead. They'd never save anyone again. Azazel and his new band were still wrong too. He could understand them, but he shouldn't, and he wouldn't let this dissuade him from what was right.

· · · · · · ·

Before she came here, often she couldn't even look at handsome for a second before turning into a dragon. After a while of being tutored by Favaro that had gotten a little better for some reason, but nothing to this effect. As they walked back to the carriage, she kept stealing glances at him, and her heart beat fast as ever, but it wasn't so ... dangerous, somehow. The pulse was strong but beat on a cushion. She had room to think about more than the pretty and the threat of transformation. That thought being all, just who was he, that he had an interest in her?

"I haven't danced free style since I was a child," he said at last, once they were out at the edge of the festival grounds, barely still in the light of the torches.

Yep, definitely some kind of weird noble family here.

"I wouldn't have guessed," she said.

"You're quite good too. Was this really your first time?"

Aaaaaaaah! She stumbled and froze up.

"Well, it's the first time I've danced with a man, and the first time I've been out ... " On a date. "In the city. Any city really. I haven't seen cities before I came here."

"The same for me."

"No way, you were a natural!"

"I meant going around the city with a woman. I had quite a good time."

Never around the city with ... despite living here ... and he had fun, with her.

That wouldn't last, if she threw the city in chaos. "Say ... what would you do, if the demons, uh, got fed up?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if they tried to make it so they could be treated as well as the humans are by force?"

"Are you worried that explosion was caused by demons?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry about it, this kingdom is the safest place on earth. How would the demons even break it down?"

"Well, if the king was deposed and they put a nicer one on the throne?" Eligos had said some stuff about government voids, but that was hardly her forte so she hadn't bothered trying to figure that out.

"Why depose the king when he was elected most suitable out of the candidates? The next one may be less competent."

"I don't think he's competent if there are people in his kingdom who would be much better off if he was dead." Nina held up her arm, fake bracelet on display. "You know, that demon who saved me didn't have any reason to believe he'd get anything out of it. In fact, I was hunting him."

He still had that same warm smile. "You are too caught up with individuals. I do not disbelieve what you say, the demons you know may well be kind to you and I have no doubt exceptions exist. The question of the demons is how to surpress their evil. Ordinary people with poor understanding of the world would say, oh, the kingdom hates the demons. No, ask yourself why the king would allow them to serve among the Orleans Knights or hold other paid jobs. The king's battle wasn't against the demons as individuals, but against the way of living they endorse. Do you understand that?"

"You mean like their culture being bad?"

"Exactly."

"What if we just raised them differently?" Nina said. "The kids have no idea, right?"

"Hmm. That is a direction, but the efforts to achieve such a thing should not be our burden to bear, when the kingdom is barely just out of the turmoil of both Bahamut and the forces of hell."

"How can we know there's no other way if it's never been tried?"

"We might yet," he said, and his voice was the way she loved it again. "In time. It does not need to be this time, nor our time."

Our time ... the butteflies spun in her stomach again, her heart sped up but not to intolerable degrees, and she said, "Our time ... "

Might soon be over.

If she could get him involved in the rebellion, then maybe she could keep him safe and show him better. If all went well, nothing bad would happen to him. She was the dragon everyone in the rebellion relied on, they had to listen to her.

And she still didn't know his name.

"Say, can I know your name?"

"My name? Chris."

"May we see some time for another dance, when all is well?"

"I don't know."

"Why not?"

"I hope that we may see each other again." JHis entrancing smile was worse than ever and the pulse of transformation assaulted her. She turned away and fixed her eyes on the little island in the river, peering at the shining window of the house atop.

"Next time, perhaps we can agree on a time so I won't have to haunt the carriage all the time," he said.

She made up her mind then and there. She wouldn't get him involved with anything dangerous, but she'd try to steer him in the right direction. He probably had a lot of misinformation and he had some good points too. Maybe they could find common ground after all.

"Let's meet in a few days at ... " Somewhere inconspicuous, not the carriage, a little hidden, and not here where the rebellion might see him. "Do you know that small church? It's one of the few places in the city that has a statue."

"Before a church ... ah, you mean the statue of Jeanne d'Arc felling Pazuzu and Azazel?"

... the what now?

· · · · · · ·