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.

13. Descent

· · · · · · ·

The only visible cost was one eye, it could have been worse. The pulsing veins from the bracelet had intensified but not spread to his hand yet, something easily hidden with sleeves. Charioce sat against the back of the platform, staring at the dark sky as the last of the gods were dealt with. Now detached from Dromos he had become small again, so small a sense of victory fell astray. The drumming inside his head merged with the cries of battle and death all around, enough for him to miss the approaching feet and hands climbing up.

Only when she hauled herself over the railing did he realize her presence. Against all odds Nina had survived, for as much as that could be called life. Bloodied, covered in dirt and bruised from the rocks, her skin clung to her bones. The only clean thing remaining about Nina was the shining green gem in the collar — ah, they'd gotten suspicious of her strength after all.

She didn't smile anymore and still he found her strangely appealing. Underneath the grime was that lively girl still, and seeing her turn to fire was almost welcome — she hadn't looked at him like this before. Even angrier than when he'd met her in prison, but the layer of betrayal still dominated.

Nina stood still the moment she was over the edge.

"So you escaped."

"That's all you'll say?" Her frown deepened, and he met it with a smile that got her burning. "What is your deal? Dressing up as a commoner, dancing with me like it's nothing, only to throw me in here like it's nothing, and then grow this ... this goddamned thing on top of my head like it's nothing! Why bother taking me to dance in the first place?"

"Do you want to dance again?"

"Answer my question! Were you just bored, just entertaining yourself?"

"What did I do to imply you were only a diversion? It was you who wanted to come closer."

She didn't immediately reply, so he didn't make a move. Despite everything, despite all his resolve, he was more curious for what she would do than he ought to be.

· · · · · · ·

She had to play this right. In some way he must like her, right? Enough that he hadn't attacked her yet. Perhaps she could draw that out long enough to fool her own heart or if not, take his sword and see how far she could drive it through her lungs.

As he stood up, she took a step closer but stayed at a distance. The moon and the stars and burning city reflected on his armor, some twisted fantasy compared him to a knight in shining armor, conflicting with the knowledge he had murdered countless people, and almost her. What she'd always thought as of serene, chiseled beauty now came across as cold; he smiled at her even as she stood in misery before him. How could he be like that?

"Please talk to me," she said, a tremor creeping into her voice. How she wanted to hold onto her anger, but it broke. "If it wasn't a farce, then why did you enslave me ... and leave me to die here?"

Now his smile faltered. "The sacrifice of personal existence is necessary to for the preservation of the human tribe. I cannot let you matter to me for one crack can lead to total collapse."

Oh. She had mattered, but that was a hindrance.

"If I have to die here, can you do one last thing for me?"

"There is no need. Stand down and you will live."

"Like a slave stuffed below ground again? I might as well be dead. Let me have one thing, please."

"And what would that be?"

"One embrace."

And just like that, the smile was back — that he could summon it like that seemed such a mockery. Spirits, why?

He held out his hand and her heart sped up. Even as dread sunk in her stomach with every dying scream behind her, with every passing moment where he didn't say a word about her pain, she still desired him.

Well, it would make this easier in one way. As she laid her arms around his neck, he embraced her in turn.

In all his cruelty, physically he was gentle. That was all her dragon self would remember, unable to connect the pain to him because he hadn't been there in the flesh. Her heart beat, her blood rose steadier than once. It had stopped being rush weeks ago, and her mind remained a little longer even as the pink light converged within her heart.

She remembered when usually she forgot, but it wasn't the here and now that stuck. All the way back to the first time she had encountered a handsome man at home, as a little child yet.

On the boardwalk of her village, the young man stood talking to her father, and then he turned.

She turned into her other self, slower than before.

He'd been her first crush, and as so many of the emotions overwhelming her young mind, that had sent her transforming.

Chris pulled her a little closer and leaned his face closer to her head, so close, so much of what she wanted.

The place was too small.

The light broke out along with the sheer panic and devastation.

And she killed them.

· · · · · · ·

Jeanne sensed the surge just before the pink explosion waved through the cold air. Reflexively she stood up, ignoring Cerberus's protests. She had to see, because she recognized the power. After the light remained a dragon atop the dark machine, roaring against the night sky. Prisoners and knights alike froze at the sight.

The dragon looked straight down, rumbled as fumes rose from her jaws, then thundered off the black mass. The closer it became, the more certain Jeanne was; the scales, the pink mane, the very roll of the power belonged to Nina.

The prisoners still able to move scattered, but Jeanne scrambled over the rocks to get closer. The Onyx Knights threw their green spheres at Nina only for Nina to fire them apart. She went to work on them as if Dromos might as well be ordinary magic. They burned below the armors when she didn't throw them or snap their necks. With ruthless efficiency, Nina killed every enemy within her range, yet she was every so careful not to even step onto any of the prisoners.

Jeanne crossed the outcrop onto the even ground as soon as there was a clear path between her and Nina, and enough knights were gone.

Nina stopped shortly before her, making eye contact with large golden eyes.

"You know me, right?"

Nina tilted her heavy head and made an odd, small noise.

Further behind her, the Onyx Knights lined up with a chain of green spheres, channeling into something in the river. After a metallic, underwater creaking, a mecha rose slowly from the water, one laborious step at a time — this being a still river rather and deep enough to submerge the thing, the ground was so muddy it struggled to walk.

Nina took one look at it and huffed. With no ceremony, she curled her tail around a nearby boulder, swung it around and bowled the thing over. As it resubmerged with a rock half cracked into the helmet, Nina propelled herself off the shore. Waves crashed as under her weight the hollow thing imploded. Nina got off, only to sink into the riverbed herself.

Cerberus teleported onto Nina's back and said something, too far for Jeanne to hear. Nina plunged her head underwater. The remainder of the Onyx Knights tried to raise a shield around Nina, but Cerberus teleported behind them one by one and drove a blade through the eye holds of the helmets from behind.

After a lot of muddy wrenching, Nina raised one of anti gravity rocks that allowed the mecha to stay upright despite their weight. Holding it at an outcrop, Nina returned to the shore. There she forced it down before Cerberus, who held the entire thing in place with one hand. Nina herself ran on to deal with the remainder of the Onyx Knights.

Jeanne had the weakest people go onto the floating rock. That white demon dog vanished and reappeared with the other chain, which they tied around the rock for Nina to hold onto. The dragon being on their side was taken in stride, more or less.

Cerberus grinned as killed, up until one figured out to grab the air right before she appeared. He slammed her to the ground, ready to drive a blade through her skull, but she twisted herself just enough for it to graze her neck. Nina threw a fireball at them, sending the knight up in flames while Cerberus herself jumped out unburned. One blink later and she stood next to Jeanne.

"Little mishaps aside, this is so much easier than I remember," Cerberus said. "Your kid's quite something, saintly."

The last Onyx Knights either collapsed or retreated. Time to go. "I am no saint anymore."

"Doesn't smell like it," Cerberus said, which Jeanne ignored.

What she could not ignore was the collapsed vessel of the gods that lay half into the river, just barely visible around the corner. El ... had El gotten away? Oh Michael, please let him have gotten away.

"Everyone, get on!" Jeanne grabbed Nina's manes and climbed onto her neck.

Nina fell into the water so hard it was difficult to hold on, and only her head stayed above water. Jeanne gasped for as much air as she could. Nina expanded her small wings level with the surface, so those adrift caught on. The rock itself remained above water, half pushed, half pulled along by her.

The water didn't freeze, but it felt like to her starved frame soon enough. Jeanne forced her knuckles further into Nina's thick mane.

Nina was a fast swimmer, despite her size. She nudged the floating rock ashore before the cold of the water knocked Jeanne out.

The rock floated against the column of the high road, where Nina pulled it down so everyone could get off. Jeanne stayed put because of the sight of her once beloved city. The demonic fog wasn't even the problem : the city had been walled into a rich and poor district, and immediately beyond the road was a deep gap with a slum inside. Further into the city stood the arena she'd only heard rumors of. The fog trickled unpleasant, she rubbed her nose, but it didn't help.

Most other prisoners had gotten off Nina's back, and Nina let go the now useless floating rock. Before Jeanne had a chance to get off, Nina climbed up the high road and ran ... towards the castle of all places.

"No, go for the hills!" Was that even for the best? No telling, but the castle was the last place they had to be.

A poof of smoke and Nina's head appeared one of those tiny white dogs, leaning over her right eye. "Where are you going, silly? Azazel's in the arena!"

It pointed at the arena. Nina turned, stared and then ran on. Almost Jeanne thought she'd ignore it, but at the first high ground aside of the road, Nina climbed off and plowed through the streets instead, right at the arena. Jeanne just barely had enough mind to consider she had no idea what to expect from meeting her old enemy.

· · · · · · ·

They got an entourage of demons, several of them carrying others along and covered with the blood of their murdered captors. Kaisar's best guess for the number of demon gladiators in the arena was close to a hundred. Setting them all loose on the vulnerable city didn't feel right, but he'd come this far and didn't have a way to reverse his choice. If it could be called that, what with Rocky having moved first.

Nishaol whispered directions, but Favaro sometimes ignored them and never faltered to take the right route somehow. The captain guy, Walfrid, at one point muttered about his weird clairvoyance, but chuckled it off. Favaro had to be hiding something, but there wasn't time to fret on that either. Some greater thing went on.

After a long enough stretch without the anti demon force being activated, Nishaol regained the ability to walk on her own. Kaisar suspected Belphegor might as well if she hadn't been dealing with the aftermath of her broken legs; Favaro just hauled her a little further with a joke on better to be a donkey than an ass.

Azazel staggered too much, less like he was in physical pain and more dizzy. There'd been some rumor of poisoning him to keep his power down, and something about his skin felt odd to Kaisar's — the gem through Rocky counteracted it.

When Favaro set Belphegor down at a corner, he turned to the group and said, "The good news, we got the walls open so we don't need to fight our way through the gates, which there's a trap. The bad news, the reason they're open draws the worst kind of attention. We gotta scram, there's wyverns all over the sky and I got no idea how long our allies keep them at bay."

Trismegistus snapped her fingers. "I'm literary sensing the matter around me and can't stretch it far enough to know that. What is your power?"

Favaro gave a grin and said, "It's having a very good friend."

As Favaro predicted, before they reached the gates was a spot where the walls had broken down. Not in a convenient way, something huge had collided with it so all the upper levels had come down, leaving a small hill to scale.

Nishaol climbed to the top, surveyed and gestured at them to go.

Crossing the rubble wasn't something Rocky could direct. Azazel got steadier though and they reached the top without mayor accidents, even as other demons scrambled their way past. Kaisar looked for a safe way down, only to find a very familiar face at the bottom.

The last person he expected to meet here : Jeanne d'Arc, albeit emaciated and in rags, and ignoring the demons around her.

Azazel froze when he saw her and muttered, "Jeanne d'Arc."

Standing still all of a sudden did not at all help Kaisar's attempts to balance on the unstable rocks. One slipped foot and they pummeled down the rubble, landing in a graceless heap before her feet.

"Well done," Azazel crumbled somewhere below him.

"Kaisar?" Jeanne asked.

"Saint Jeanne, how are you here?" he scrambled to sit up and take a knee. "My apologies for meeting you in such a foul circumstances. I am so glad to see you are alr-alive."

Azazel grew a wing and shoved Kaisar to the side, breaking his dignified stance. It occurred to Kaisar Jeanne might be rather confused at this situation; after all, last time they'd been before a hole in the walls, he was distracting Azazel so she could strike him down.

Jeanne eyes were on Azazel, and she said, "I am no more saint, Kaisar."

Ah, she thought she'd be in trouble if he was trouble. "I swear, he won't hurt you or any of our allies, he only kills ... uh ..."

Jeanne did in fact have a whole lot of dead demons on her caving stick, and while Azazel didn't go out of his way for it, he was willing to kill Orleans Knights. And Jeanne had been his downfall, the very first to knock him off his game.

Azazel had gotten to his feet now, giving Jeanne an unreadable look. Alright, great, no hostility. He actually called her by her name outright. Jeanne almost said something, but an explosion around the curve of the arena; Favaro was already there, watching.

A cacophony of monstrous roars echoed, then Favaro ran back.

Two dragons curled together in struggle crashed into the buildings just in line of sight; a smaller pink one against the taller, purple Lao.

Azazel tensed and his eyes widened. "Nina?"

Wings shooting out, he would taken off if not for Kaisar grabbing him by the arm. That he was so easy to hold back only proved the point he was about to make : "You're in no condition to fight!"

Azazel screamed and elbowed Kaisar in the face, but he wouldn't let go. They fell to the ground, green sparks flying between them. Wait, green light?

Kaisar had not even realized he'd grabbed Azazel through Rocky, all off that accursed power included. The blending had swiftly become natural to him.

Beyond Rocky was Azazel hanging half on the ground, fixing a hateful glare at him. He didn't try to move again.

The pink dragon pushed the purple one off and looked around, before running at a fight beyond Kaisar's line of sight. Lao rolled back on his feet and followed.

A few of the healthier gladiators joined the fight, taking aim at the knights. Kaisar had to quell his worries.

Favaro rejoined the group and pulled Azazel to his feet, careful to use only his tail. "Man, you're sick as hell — I'd bet they fed you that same stuff you fed Amira, right? Right. So you stick here, grow that carriage to normal."

"What carriage?"

On cue, Cerberus teleported into the middle of the group, holding the god's carriage ... shrunken for some reason. "Favaro Leone, I did my end of the deal, so bow before."

"Yeah yeah, can we do that after our lives aren't endangered?" He thumbed at the sky, where wyverns riders circled over Nina.

"Ugh, fine. I'll be right back."

Cerberus planted the tiny carriage on a boulder and vanished into thin air. Azazel flicked a fingers at it, with no response. "Why did this even happen?"

"We suspect the gods were taken away and left it as a sign," Belphegor said. "If you can grow it, we can send you and a few others out of the city.

"I am not leaving," Azazel snapped.

"Yes, you are!" Kaisar said. "If you hide the slums they'll raid again and this time it will be worse! We have protocols we haven't executed yet, you know that? At the peak is total annihilation and you being there is exactly what could trigger that. Do you even know how volatile the king is?"

"Understand? I've lived it! Every other demon here has lived it!"

"Exactly. And there are millions of cities that don't have Charioce in immediate charge," Kaisar said, and Rocky raised up with the gem on display. "I can't stop you from taking up the vigilante mantle again, but I can keep you from doing it here while you are sick painting a target on yourself."

That didn't look like it stuck until Belphegor sided up and said, "Lord Azazel, for once I agree with Kaisar. You will be no help to use here and we do not plan to go to a fight again. All we need now is for calm to return and survive till more fortunate days. Go elsewhere, find a better way to rebel."

Azazel closed his eyes for a moment, then grabbed the carriage and sit it on even ground. He and Belphegor sat down on either side.

While they muttered on about magic, Kaisar turned to Jeanne, finding her eyes on the rock within his undead palm.

"Kaisar, I need to know where your loyalty lies."

Who was Jeanne to him, indeed? How would he sound swearing fealty to her in such a state? How much earlier would she have been freed if Charioce had been overthrown earlier? How to even begin explaining his alliance with Azazel? Or worse, his continued servitude to this king?

"A lot has changed, saint Jeanne. I have no clear answer."

"Much changed for me too," she said. "Short years ago, I would not have imagined myself an ally to demons, or doubting you because our knights tried to murder an innocent friend of mine. Kaisar, you must make up your mine."

Oh no. Of course cruel fate would have it that that girl would come across his captain and saint.

Jeanne continued relentlessly, "Always flee treason, serve your liege in valor and faith, those cannot coexist anymore with the rules that say to always protect the weak and defenseless, always fight for the welfare of all."

She gestured one hand at other starved humans in dirty prison cloth, her other hand at a group of demonic that were loading their injured onto a cart; Kaisar recognized a few of their faces. "I once dared hope you would find my child, whom I had to condemn to slavery so that Charioce wouldn't kill him."

"I have failed you, sai ... captain Jeanne," he said. "I cannot take those years back, but perhaps I can do as you have done : vow to do better in the future."

"Can you two quit the blabbering?" Azazel snapped. "I'm trying to concentrate."

Most Azazel got on the magic front was a few more snakes emerging from his arms and digging back in. That actually got worse the longer he failed to get the carriage to grow.

Kaisar leaned closer and said, "Saint Jeanne, it would be best if you leave the city too. I must make a most peculiar request : might you perhaps be bothered to ensure Azazel doesn't get himself killed?"

"I'll ... keep that in mind."

"Is she the reason you went out of your mind?" Azazel stood up and gave them both a look.

Favaro smirked. "No way, Kaisar's always extreme about what he sticks up for. So how's that carriage going?"

"Nowhere."

"Have you tried kicking it?" Favaro asked.

"Tch."

Them aside, it had gotten quiet on the terrain. Most gladiators had drooped off and the humans prisoners had gone along. Nishaol and Walfrid had vanished too, while Trismegistus stood at a distance just keeping an eye on Azazel.

Belphegor climbed onto a horse and looked at the faraway struggle. "We should send her from the city too, but she'll be too far if she passed out before she wins. If she wins. I'll go offer back up."

"I'll come, she knows me," Jeanne said as she took Kaisar's unicorn. "Wait for us."

"I should come too," Kaisar said. "It is my duty to you."

Jeanne shook her head. "No, don't jeopardize yourself. You have our knights to lead still."

Belphegor gave him a nod, and galloped off with Jeanne.

Favaro clapped him on the shoulder. "So, update me on your future plans?"

"I will try to be a better knight, and ... " Kaisar looked around at the bodies. Most humans here had already been burned, and the guards of the arena had been killed by the gladiators. "Can you tell me whether anyone saw me aid the demons?"

"Uh, you gotta know my source isn't that accurate," he said. "Why do you need to know?"

"Rita's still in the castle," Kaisar said. "And so are my knights. Perhaps I should find a way to restore our true honor, so I need you to tell me whether I can return to my position safely."

· · · · · · ·

"What happened here?" the demoness asked — at least, Jeanne was pretty sure she had to be a demon. She just appeared a woman from a foreign country; the same way Cerberus had started looking like a human once they entered the fog zone.

Throughout the city were corpses of wyverns, humans and patches of melting ice, holy magic not concealed. They were out far from the castle, she could only assume because the air force had scattered the angels. This is what the gods could do when they were low on power, and they hadn't even specifically targeted the lower ring of the city. In the dark and the fog she could not see anything of the castle, she imagined it would be worse. A treacherous thought crept into her mind, the gods had been so much stronger than her alone, surely then they could have lent more aid. She couldn't allow those thoughts, do away with them.

Within some of the buildings were holy swords embedded, a few pinning human enemies to the walls — and twice a civilians. It had to be an accident. Steering her unicorn closer, Jeanne pulled one out of a wall and weighed it in her hand. Though she had no holy magic to charge it with, it had some inherent power by its nature; a magical construct meant to pierce more than just matter. Jeanne knew enough of commanding sacred power for it to recognize a master in her, so she took it.

The demoness knew the way mostly, to Jeanne all the new streets were unfamiliar. The fight had left a trail of destruction near the arena, but a long stretch followed with minimal damage. Jeanne had seen similar during her war days : Nina was either being herded somewhere, or lured away. The trail roughly went towards the hillside of the city, with a few confusing mishaps in road only corrected by following new sounds.

"They might have set a trap for Nina," Jeanne said. "This isn't an ongoing struggle."

"No trap, there's another dragon in the sky," the demoness said. "It's too large for these streets, I will bet they're trying to get her somewhere it can interfere without property damage."

Jeanne looked up, but to her eyes there was only a barest hint of a bird flock against the night sky. She wouldn't even have noticed that if not expecting something large.

The fight became noisy enough that they didn't need to guess much longer where to go.

The demoness jumped onto a building, holding onto a windowsil. "I will be no good on a ground fight with my legs and new injuries, I will go through the buildings."

Jeanne nodded, imagining she could either break the walls or planned to bail somehow. Either way she would not argue.

When she heard hooves she left the unicorn, so she could move quietly.

Nina was on the steep hillside fighting something that only looked like a human to her, forsaking her fire and direct charges. Despite the fog's curse, Jeanne was able to see Nina as an actual dragon. No time to wonder about that, because Nina was much slower than before. Why? Exhaustion? Something the enemy did that Jeanne could not see?

Or perhaps it was because tried to shield a group of (presumed) demons, who held their own in the fight. Some looked like human warriors to her, others like ordinary civilians — gladiators and slaves alike then. They were herded as much as Nina. The knights clustered around the demons, driving them back against the earth wall. A few of her fellow human prisoners were among them too, having dropped off Nina later.

Jeanne looked for an opening, anything where she might be of use, but found none. Could Nina even be persuaded to leave them?

The flock of birds descended onto the hill. Jeanne tried but could not see, or even sense anything clear with so much demons around.

Between the hillside and her was a long lane full of felled knights, bleeding or dead. Some stood by, not doing anything but talk to each other in murmurs. Further down the street, a stout yet pale farmer knelt at a fallen knight's side, but looked up when she tried to pass in the dark fog. The knight stood up on shaky legs, beheld her and said, "Saint Jeanne."

She froze in place, but the knight only beamed at her with undeterred adoration.

"You're Jeanne d'Arc?" the stout man asked. Jeanne sensed a low but intense dark magic flowing around him; he had to be a demon below the illusion.

"I am," she said. No use denying it.

"You must be ... can you lead them?"

"I don't know. Who would I be leading?"

"The Orleans Knights, of course!" another knight chimed in.

"We would be honored to follow your lead, saint Jeanne!" the first knight said, clenched fist to chest in the traditional salute. The others followed suit.

"Then follow me," she said, trying to shake the sense of unease that lay over the site. "Do not harm anyone who looks like a civilian. And the demons and the magenta dragon are not our enemies. Understood?"

"As you command, saint Jeanne!" they chimed in perfect unison.

· · · · · · ·

This was family, so why? He wasn't supposed to fight here, let alone be fighting again her — he didn't hurt her much, but it did hurt and he was attacking the people she had to protect ... He was bigger and sleeker, but he hadn't spent all her time as a dragon — she was older in this form. Smarter, had fought the giant armors and other dragons to live. And he was stupid to think he could win when he was already injured from a prior fight. She bit at his second knee, another weakness while she had none yet. Once she her claws around his neck she squeezed, expecting him to roll over and so he did, exposing the belly plates. She wrapped her sharp beak around the tought side of the places and jerked, causing a deep cry of pain. She let go, flipped back and swiped at a group of tin humans trying to get to close to her flock.

Her dragon opponent was back on his feet, but not for long. One of her tiny allies got a spear from somewhere and threw it with supernatural strength, right at the time she herself charged — a distraction enough that her opponent braced against her and missed the projectile.

It hit right as she rammed him back into a building. Blinded by the falling rubble, she set all her weight on the stomach wound, causing another roar of pain. It wouldn't kill him, he just had to get the message.

He kicked her in the stomach, making her roll away, only to fall through his legs. He turned back to human form. No more threat, she took a step back, watching him scamper back. He shouldn't have been spent yet and he hadn't made the gesture of submission.

Why?

The dragon reeking of death stood above the earth wall ready to strike, and that strange woman on the edge before it, but they didn't move yet.

Oh, because of him.

She knew him so well, there was no mistake even now he wore a helmet. The scent, even the way of walking and the golden eyes that stood out sharp to her vision.

He raised a hand, and what remained of the smaller enemies backed away — safe now.

Yet as she stepped closer that horrible green power built around him. She stopped, confused. Why would he be near ... he would, she recalled something on his hand, but ...

He stopped too. Ever so slightly the power lowered, the sense of safety returned. She approached again. The closer she got the more it ebbed away, and he walked towards her. She just wanted the warmth back and leave all those hazy sensations behind ...

· · · · · · ·

At the end of the lane stood a group of soldiers blocking the lane, but not against outsiders. They were meant to kill anyone near Nina who tried to get away. Jeanne's own followers plowed through those still loyal to Charioce, ignoring wounds and cheering her name — the surrealism wasn't worth considering, she had to get to Nina.

The sound of struggle had stopped, though she still saw the pink mane beyond a broken house. No movement ... was she dead?

Jeanne went ahead through a break her followers provided and came before a bizarre scene : Nina mere meters from Charioce, not doing anything.

Charioce reached for Nina, who did nothing. He hesitated, then took off his glove and laid his palm on her snout. At once light engulfed Nina. Withering out like a candle in the wind, the young woman floated where the dragon's head had been.

She dropped as the light faded and Charioce sprang to her side, catching her before she hit the ground.

The scene stilled. Charioce just sat there with Nina draped over a bent leg, one arm below her stomach and the other hand cupping her breast. Seconds ticked by as he stared down at her face, frozen in cold fascination.

Jeanne understood two things: one, there really wassomething going on between them. Two, he had no business touching her like that.

She picked up a fallen spear, leveled it in her hand and threw.

He noticed, tossed Nina down and backed away. The spear pierced the ground inches beyond Nina, and Jeanne caught herself on a stupid impulse — she could have hit Nina, she could have ...

Charioce stood straight, locking eyes with Jeanne. At his raised hand, wyvern riders descended from the sky.

"Take that one to the palace," he said, pointing at Nina.

The nearest wyvern rider picking up Nina and slung her across the saddle. Within a breath they were gone.

She'd come for nothing.

Knights, soldiers and guards clustered down the lanes and streets now, and started to slaughter the small group Nina had been protecting. Again Jeanne could only watch, knowing that below the illusion were demons did little to abate it. She was helpless. As usual.

"Isn't that Jeanne d'Arc?" a young man next to Dias asked. "Really?"

These knights responded so differently. None stepped ahead to follow her, they remained at the king's side. As the rush wore of, it started to click something wasn't right at all.

Dias asked, "Why is lady Jeanne in rags?"

She stepped away from the corner, so all might see her. "I refused to betray the gods and let Charioce kill my child. He sentenced me to slavery for that."

A shocked murmur went through the crowd.

"Heed her not," Charioce said. "My father was right, after all. She was only a witch set out to deceive the gods from noticing the true chosen one. I had mercy where he did not, perhaps I should not have had any. Merlin, handle this."

From the cliff jumped a woman in black dress, stark green hair pulled back in a loose bun and the scorch of holy attacks littering her skin. Still, she raised a wizard's staff, but Jeanne held up her hand in a pacifying gesture. "Wait!"

To her surprise, the woman did so.

"Are you truly Merlin?" Jeanne asked her. "Child of a demon who accursed a virgin with you to deliver an anti-god, only to create a champion for humankind. They say you see past and future. What is this king worth for the world that you fight to keep him on the throne?"

"I only sense, but he is worth it for what he will bring. I am never wrong," Merlin said.

"Never?" Jeanne looked around at the Orleans Knights around Charioce. "And yet all these men break the code you helped raise. Answer me, all of you, what do you follow still? To never do outrage nor murder : yet your new king does so with wanton joy. To by no means be cruel but to give mercy unto him who asks for mercy : your new king spites mercy. Protect the weak and defenseless : your king has today killed many who had no ill will to him. To give succor to widows and orphans : he has made many, and today my child would have been an orphan too had demons not freed me."

"Hear her standing with those below the demon who broke me. Codes only have values when applied right, and I am no mortal knight any more than my new king seeks his own gain," Merlin said. "You became a witch because you chose to pact with demons, unlike my birth, and so you slaughtered gods. What would you know of need?"

All along, Charioce stood there with a dim smile. As Merlin fell silent, he raised his hand. A purple glow behind him dimly flickered and there stood a man ... no, a winged bird? It was hard to discern somehow, but it caused a massive, magically charged wind.

Those standing with Charioce were taken aback, and mutter of treachery rose.

Jeanne looked aside. The knight to her left wasn't a living man anymore, but a bloodstained armor around a graying corpse with glowing white eyes, veins and rot shooting through the sallow skin. To her other side, whom had appeared a tall man was instead a demon with a slave collar, forced into an ill fit Orleans armor. Those living knights now looked up her with the disgust she had fled from so often. What pride she had left could not bear them to see her sin and yet here she stood with the forces of darkness again.

So be it then, because there was no light to choose.

"Everyone with me who is still alive, flee," Jeanne said. "Everyone else, close ranks to cover their retreat."

The zombies obeyed as if she were still a captain, she couldn't even begin to figure out what went down here.

"Truly embracing your fate, I see." Charioce raised his arm and gathered up a small green sphere to hurl at her. Jeanne pushed as much of her own power into the blade and cleaved it apart. It was merely a show of power, she didn't expect to win this.

The undead knights were a considerable force, acting the way as living ones without the hindrance of pain, but they had no sorcerer. Merlin had to be on her brink, yet she planted her staff in the ground, forcing earth's power through it in a tremor. The zombies closest started shaking and clattering their jaws before falling over. While powered still, all they could do was twitch on the ground. The effect spread slowly though, and those further down the lane still ran and protected.

Jeanne did not attempt to flee; she had everyone's attention, so let the demons get away — that she'd think such a thing! It hardly seemed strange anymore when Charioce stood before her, smiling still.

His sword glowed green and with one swing, vaporized hers into a rain of light. Two knights grabbed her, forcing her arms behind her back to bring her to her knees.

Her imminent death was accepted, she'd known the risk, she could die like this if not for seeing that none of her knights here stood for what was right. All of them under the code, many of them faces she'd known. If neither gods nor demons could overthrow Charioce, it had to be humans, and yet, only Kaisar had moved.

"You ran out of use the moment you refused to call your son down," her former king said as he raised his sword. "If only you'd left, I wouldn't need to make an example of you."

She refused him a final word, prepared only to not scream when his blade struck ...

And then he just dropped over. A tiny dart stuck from his throat on the blind side of his face.

The entire scene took a few seconds to process that before someone shouted, "Check the buildings!"

The strict order broke as people wondered what to do now. Those close to her disagreed on whether the king wanted Jeanne dead now, or wanted to do it personally. People further away scattered into the empty buildings, and others went to the hills to drive off some spectators. Jeanne herself considered making a run for it, but was too weak after all that had gone down, even if she got loose that might just incite them to kill her.

Merlin knelt at Charioce and pulled the dart out, frowning at it. When someone asked whether it was magic, she shook her head. Around the pin prick wound, dark veins started pulsing. That accursed power flowed through him, patching him together even as it warped him ... the flow of the stones in the Onyx Knights all bent towards him too.

Through it she just barely sensed the rush of dark power. The knights holding her yelped and crumbled to the ground into bloody heaps, while something wrapped around Jeanne's waist. She was pulled off the ground too fast for her to follow. Somewhere up or down or anywhere Merlin shouted, green power flew, black feathers fell.

The blur ended, the world stilled. She found herself back on a couch in a colorful room that brimmed with holy magic. Dizziness lingered and she had to steady herself before she could look around.

Opposite of her was another couch, and to its right the door out of which Azazel leaned.

"Are we followed?" she muttered, but he didn't hear her over the wind.

He shut the door, leaning against it as he said, "Where did Nina go?"

"Charioce had her brought away."

Azazel growled and kicked the nearest couch hard enough to dent the wood.

"Are we being followed?" Jeanne asked again.

"Yes, but they won't catch up to a hippogryph," he said without looking at her.

She was safe. Nina still wasn't. "Azazel, listen ..."

He turned to her, but the world also turned on its head. As the rush for survival wore off she was left with the cold, starvation, dehydration and exhaustion catching up, dragging her into unconsciousness.

· · · · · · ·

Cerberus lay on a roof, waiting for her puppies to return with reports, and Favaro Leone if possible.

There wasn't any orange hair to see yet, just the glitter of the damp webs in the dim morning sun. On every single house in the lower distract. None of the civilians flooding back into the city noticed them, curtsy of said fog. Likewise for the knights, soldiers and city guards, none had any of the antidote cloth before their noses. A few of them complained, but were under the impression it was only their own batch that had vanished or burned up and surely others were protected. Fools.

Other than her early interference against the firestarters, Olivia had kept out of the war and apparently spent her entire time making Arachne web all over the place; some kind of magic to speed it up had to be involved. Cerberus had confronted Olivia only to be brushed off.

Mimi returned first; Favaro was with Kaisar in the upper district. Walfrid was there too and they'd caught onto a member of the Red Troupe. Well, that might be useful, so she wasn't going to chase him down now.

Coco returned later with more bothersome news : conflict in the slums. There wasn't likely going to be a massive raid; Azazel had made very sure everyone saw him in the carriage getting out of the city. Honestly, the flair for drama hadn't gone away.

Well, she might go check out the drama at the tunnels just to get it over with before Olivia did whatever she planned.

At the tunnels was a most peculiar stand off : slum inhabitants, common demon slaves, gladiator demons, and the humans from the island. The latter had green shards encrusted on their arms and wielded half assed variants of the destructive power spheres. Add a side serving of zombie knights and defected members of the Orleans demon division, and voila, nobody knew what side to be on. Belphegor stood dead center to it, trying to be a good two shoes and mediate down the hostility. She wasn't very good at it.

Belphegor spotted Cerberus and yelled, "You, get the hell over here and confirm these humans are Charioce's enemies!"

With an exaggerated sigh, Cerberus poofed into the middle of the crowd. "What she said. That lot was slaves on the island, they hate Charioce, yadda yadda yadda. Divesepid, why are there zombies here?"

"I made them last night, it felt handy. I set them them into passive acting mode, you're not gonna believe whom they latched onto."

"Jeanne d'Arc? Met her last night," Cerberus said. "Anyway, get them cleaned up, they smell and attract attention. The humans won't stand for us using their corpses for anything."

A somewhat familiar human woman shoved past Belphegor. "Hey, wait. We want to join you."

"What?" eloquently said as she recalled the name.

"Your rebellion, of course."

"No, no, I'm not running a rebellion. I'm just trying to help my team survive. Besides, you're humans." Not that Cerberus had any qualms about using humans to settle, but only in covert ways. Nils was useful as figurehead for her operation, and she might've shoved Jeanne their way if Azazel hadn't taken her. But she wasn't gonna do it herself.

Favaro chose that exact time to come around the corner and waved. At Rachel. "You've got the Favaro Leone right over there. He says he works for you."

"He's just here for ugh, anyway, I'm a demon, ancient enemy of humans, sometimes I make exceptions for a pact."

Rachel shrugged. "We were busted out of that jail by a demonic dragon and we saw you help her there. We don't care for your species. We want Charioce and his entire damn regime to go down."

Favaro tapped Cerberus on the shoulder. "Yeah, so I got done escorting your team to your home and the fiery murder lass settled there because she likes the decorations. She was about to murder this guy here and... hey, you, get over here!"

Nils stumbled around the corner, bags in both hands and shaking like a reed. Dietlinde was after him with more bags and more anger.

He had no such orders, she hadn't even seen him since last night. He was playing at something.

Rachel folded her arms. "You could've just said you're out of a base. We're not gonna judge you for that."

"I am not running a rebellion!" Cerberus snapped. "Who even told you that?"

Rachel pointed at Adva, who shrunk behind Belphegor.

Cerberus would have made a point, a very sharp one, of people misrepresenting her, if not for the remendous bellow that shook the sky right then. Like took a horn from hell and pitched it off key.

Below the drone lay a whispers that permeated every ear, every breath of air, "The lady Olivia calls for all demons to unite under her banner, to make haste for her new order and your very own freedom."

Cerberus teleported onto a tower and found it almost cost no extra energy. The whispers were weaker here, so clearly magic kept them low to the ground, but Cerberus was magic too and still heard them.

A forcefield rose around the entire lower district, shimmering black before fading into invisibility. A group of wyvern scouts collided with it like birds on glass. Those still within the barriers were felled by something pulling them to the ground.

Far above, a mere speck against the blue sky, hovered Olivia. A ring of fire expanded around her and when she spoke it echoed all across the city.

"King of humans, hear me," she called. "We took your healers, we took your workers and any other scrap you might have used to build your empire without the demons. Move against us and I will burn them all down, no loss to us but the scenery. See how you explain that to your kingdom who believes you protect them so well."

A long, thick thread of Arachna's making fell down on the other side of the barrier. With a snap of her fingers, it set alight on both ends. It took only seconds for the entire thing to incinerate and set ablaze the houses it had touched. At the next bellow of the horn, the fog trembled and thinned; humans might just be able to see the very burnable webs across the houses here.

In the streets below, freed demons hollered and cheered in a shrill chorus to the horn, but the scent of fear wasn't just from the humans. Olivia was either a great fool about to invite a massive raid, or about to establish her order right below Charioce's nose in a power move to rival Belzebuth.

Cerberus, Mimi and Coco teleported home, suspecting to find little miss troublemaker there. She was right.

"That went well," Olivia said when she teleport in herself. "Would you not agree?"

"If you mean provoking the king? Yes, wonderful!" Cerberus snapped. "You are begging for annihilation! The king's already getting aid from other provinces and you just painted a big target on yourself at the worst time in the worst place!"

"Oh, I could be a greater problem for the king yet, but it is better for my goals to wait a little while. I have as good as already told you why, so pry that fuss out of your little mind, sit back and enjoy the show," Olivia said. "There are 270301 humans in the lower district. We have a long way to go before running out of hostages, food and playthings."

"Did you ever even think about what kind of a problems you're making for us if this fails?"

"Yes, and I did not care," she said. "I am a fallen angel, after all. What, should that not be well to hear for you? I will be worthier than the scapegoat to the name of hell."

"You will be nothing if you die."

Olivia glared right back. "Dog, be good now. Such insults are out of bounds."

Cerberus flattened her ears, all too aware of the threat in those words, and that fact that she had just sent the best warrior roughly on her side out of the city.

Arachna had holed up in a corner, Mimi went up to her. "Come on, let's go join the others."

Arachna took one long step out of the corner, only to shrink back as Olivia moved, accompanied by a waft of fear.

Well, well. Looked like Olivia played a different style of management.

"Arachna, I really don't want you in my home now you don't need to be here. Scram," Cerberus said, just as a test.

Arachna scittered ahead about three steps when Olivia snapped her fingers. Arachna fell back in place, turning her eyes down.

"Oh, so that's how you work." Cerberus spun around, kicked the attic door opened and hollered, "Girls, scatter!"

"What are you doing?" Olivia asked.

"I am not picking a fight, that is what I am doing." She grabbed her favorite wind chime and the dog bed as well. "And just as usual, I am not staying in line of the fire, and my girls don't need to either. Wouldn't want you to find a use for them as well."

"Your reputation is frighteningly accurate," Olivia said. "Run with your tail behind your legs then, dog."

Cerberus pressed her lips together. She just had to give her just a bland nickname, heh?

Delphyne slithered half up the stairs, a questioning look on her face. Cerberus ordered her to gather the other core workers, pack and meet her at the slum elevator. The others were to move to into other establishments. She herself went to fetch a few hidden stacks of cash and spell material.

She met them on the second floor passage. Her core group consisted of Delphyne, Syncarpia, Terásanui, Al Miraj and Borashne, all chosen for their prowess in case they had to make a stand — initially the idea had been a stand long enough for Cerberus to get away in case she got caught in an anti teleportation field. Now they were something of a pack. Not officially, really. Only inso far that she bothered to keep them around. Wanted to. That might be a problem.

"What do you think, girls? Where are we going to live?"

"Consider," Al Miraj said. "Olivia is making demands where you gave us a choice. We'll follow you, but only if you don't bow to her. Just as you have not truly bowed to humans. Can you join her without giving something up?"

Well, that'd cost her her pride, and Olivia had already taken over her home uninvited and she was profoundly annoying so that'd take Cerberus's peace of mind too. "No," she grumbled. "Let me think about how to do this."

"Just so you know, we're packing to move out," Syncarpia said from the emptying clutter of her room.

"Still thinking."

Most of her girls would be alright in a court of Olivia's kind. Syncarpia had once been a queen now reduced to slavery. Terásanui had also led a rich life. They knew what they missed. Delphyne and Borashne had been a loner and a merchant respectively, while Al Miraj was a fallen god and had all the dramatic backstory that came with that.

Siding with Olivia might be easier. Belphegor was a bleeding heart already dropping goo all over the place, but Malphas and Divesepid might swing if that was convenient. Cerberus didn't have a clear idea on just how powerful the gladiators were, but if they'd survived they'd have been either very strong, or not that close to Cocytus. Loyalty issues to consider, might not have inherent need to follow fallen angels. Hmm.

She wished she'd waited with getting rid of Azazel, because now it didn't look anymore like that would return stability.

"You know what? I'm still not running a rebellion, but I sure as hell am running a home. If Olivia thinks she can take over my lair and just drag me into open rebellion and dump all this shit on my head, and then expect me to bow before her, she's wrong. She will know how wrong she is."

She took them to the slums, passing many quiet streets. The houses were now full of humans again; evacuees who they'd returned to safety only to be hostages. In a few streets fights went on as demonic slaves broke out, but not much. Olivia wasn't going around breaking shackles. The quiet would change once enough without collars banded together.

At the tunnel entrance in the slums, the crowd persist, thicker and more chatty now. Belphegor had a centerpoint still, but Malphas, some gladiator guy that seemed to stick with Nishaol, and Divesepid also were vocal points.

"No, I will not stand for anyone being enslaved," Belphegor snapped at some demon Cerberus didn't recognize. "Rachel, listen, in hell we have a caste system, lords may not touch those under the reign of others. I once was a prince of hell, this may yet mean something. Work for me and my name will carry weight for your protection."

"Lady Belphegor's a good employer," Durahanem added. "Though we can't exactly pay under these circumstances ..."

"Once I get my plants going, there will be enough food though," Kolraun said. "If I can have extra hands that will help."

"We didn't get paid before either, getting enough food is an upgrade," Rachel said.

Malphas sighed and raised a hand. "Past princess here too, used to be right hand to Satan. We're reconstructing the place and I heard practed humans are good against the green shit, so I'm willing to work with people if they work with me. Anyone who doesn't wanna science or fight can go under me."

That kicked in a tangent on whether humans infected with Dromos could actually pact, which didn't interest Cerberus. She took a deep breath and howled loud enough to fill the slums — her own call for dominion. Demons were well trained to oblige when the echo came, and everyone stilled around her.

"Malphas, go fix these homes before nightfall. Syncarpia, you go map the tunnels and blast a few things to clear them, Malphas can join you later for better planning. Kolraun, get a farm going. Adva, Tipa, you work that weird magic water stuff to clear the water. Divesepid, go reanimate every corpse you can find, demons included. Nishaol, Durahanem, you're going to train these humans and see what these gladiators can do. We need a defense force. Borashne, take the cash, map out how our internal economy is gonna change. Belphegor, get more of those poison darts going and find some pacts to make."

Belphegor beamed, and Cerberus already regretted taking a stand. Now she was on her good side.

"You heard the marquis," Belphegor said, clapping her hands. "Let's go."

Having people more or less do as told was actually rather satisfying, now she got exactly that. Hmm, what next?

Favaro put a hand around her shoulders and leaned. "So, I think I owe you a pact?"

"Yes, and after that you're going to to tell me exactly what you've been up to."

· · · · · · ·

Dear fate. Dear, beloved fate. If I hadn't destroyed hell I'd find a way to incarnate you and send you there.

On top of the world now knowing of his war with the gods, he had lost Jeanne and Azazel from his grip. He should have killed them when he had the chance. He didn't even have a good reason to keep the latter alive; Kaisar would do to get Rita's compliance.

Those thoughts remained in the back of his head as he went about his duties, muled over until he found the crack in his reasoning. All along, he kept his posture right and regal.

His blood had turned black and though it meant his broken bones mended much faster, it would erode him in the long run. A minor setback. Willing it to obey and repair, he walked through the castle as Francesco gave him a mumbled report of the damage.

Much of the castle had been burned down. Though it had a overall defense circle powered by Dromos, it was usually shut down because of the experiments on demons needing their magic to be active. The smaller circles were limited to the dungeon, and the larger had to draw upon the off shore factory anyway. He briefly considered activating the circle below the castle now, but it would drain his already damaged workers and require new locations for the existing experiments.

Somehow, someone had killed all the magical quartermasters. Reports talked about a tiny teleporting angel in an impractically fancy brown dress going around, catching them at inconvenient times. At least one control bracelet had been stolen too; he'd have to figure out whether the gods had any of their human followers active during the siege. This entity was gone now, but did warrant a later activation of the circle.

Repairs could be left to the courtmasters. A more immediate concern was the restoration of his troops and the the funds he'd need soon. The obvious solution was to take apart the collapsed divine ship — there was no more point in hiding his attacks on heaven so he would appropriate the technology. One of his allies had a skilled mecha craftsman, he'd see whether he could be trusted to construct something new of this.

He was just going through the outer corridors when a sleep deprived Merlin passed him, surrounded by fayfolk to heal her injuries. She gave him a curt nod, and did not fear him. It was only respect.

Merlin's loyalties did not outright appear shaking, but they might be in a roundabout way if the Orleans Knights got any weird ideas the purity of their chivalry after last night's scene. Merlin might be a liability, with the callous way she spoke of the code. He really should have killed Jeanne right away. Maybe Azazel was too broken to try rebelling again, but Jeanne wasn't, and he'd gone out of his way to get her out. This spelled trouble, and he couldn't predict the shape of it. Rebelling knights on top of that would not help.

He stopped and called her back. "Why did you not interfere when the red dragon fought Lao?"

"Not only is my mount too large for those streets, it might have provoked her to use the fire she withheld from her tribesman. Would you want your city to go up in flames?"

He could rebuild, but then his advisers would go on about the money again. All things together, he did need the damn money.

"Now, your majesty, get that zombie master of yours to figure out how to patch up decapitated undead. Azazel tore its eyes out and it does need them," she said curtly. "I will employ the living dragon in the meantime."

"Lao has not yet recovered from his injuries well enough. Attempt to use a wyvern if you must fly or find some other beast."

"That might solved more easily. The dragon you captured is nimbler, it might serve me as an undead mount," she said. "That way the bigger dragon could go full out with into battle outside the city."

There it was, a good reason to kill Nina directly. Let's write an ode of exhaustion to fate while at it.

Or maybe this was the test, rather than sparing her.

· · · · · · ·

Jeanne woke up to a colorful ceiling she'd never seen before. Or rather, she had, but her mind still struggled to pull together through a pounding headache and stiff limbs. The carriage ... she sat up only to have the colors spin around her. A divine carriage, the bounty hunter gods ... why had it been small?

When her eyes resettled, she looked over the room. She was on one of two couches on the long end. Everything was bright colors : green cushion, patterned walls and ceilings and intricate tapestry. The scent of liquor pervaded almost as much as the aura of the demon on the third couch where it originated; empty bottles surrounded him.

Azazel glanced at her before returning to his current bottle.

Reality settled in. She was room mates with the demon who had once invaded her city, while escaping the city together. That was more than she could handle right now, so she ignored it.

Jeanne swung her legs off the couch. Every muscle screamed at movement, but things had to be done, starting with the thirst and hunger.

On either side of Azazel's couch were closets, but they only contained wine. She couldn't bear the thought of alcohol on her empty stomach, but she had to quench the thirst somehow. Two sips that dizzied her, then it was time to focus.

Nina was captured but not killed. Whatever unsavory thing went on between her and Charioce was, he didn't seem inclined to kill her outright. She would have to find out, and it happened to be so Azazel could summon; Kaisar and Favaro had told her about his behavior during the invasion and why he'd been distracted. He had sent summoned skeletal warriors after Amira.

How was she to approach this, though? As steady as Michael had been her guidance, she had to admit it was guidance through combat more than anything. There had been only enemies to face and glory to forego. Striking up a conversation with a fallen angel to ask a favor was simply not something one covered during meditation.

Now, Azazel wasn't hostile to her and had shown concern for Nina. Favaro didn't worry about him, Kaisar seemed concerned for him, and he'd just picked her out of 's claim he'd taken good care of her child might actually hold some ground, rather than be her forced optimism.

Azazel grabbed for another bottle, finding one yet untouched with some effort.

Maybe a more immediate concern was something else, and it might just be the dizziness that let Jeanne blurt out, "Are you sober?"

"Despite my best efforts, yes." He threw his bottle against the wall.

Jeanne took a deep breath and said, "There is a lot we must discuss, but before that, will you help me with something?"

His eyes flicked at her. "Don't make plans that rely on me."

"It's not a plan so much as a single spell," she said. "We can agree we have a common enemy, right? And for what it's worth, we might have a common friend. I know Nina's true name, but I cannot summon. I've been told you can."

Without so much as a hand movement, a purple circle appeared on the floor of the cabin. "Can you sense what it asks?"

Cold wall aside, summoning was an extension of channeling. Both first struck a bridge employing the energy of a realm to link to a creature of its domain. She could sense it ... but no questions. She had always just received, not controlled it.

"No, not what it wants," she said.

Rather than ask Nina's true name so he could do it, he sat up and said, "Then you're going to learn now, because it doesn't want, it is commanded. Sit at the circle's edge, this won't happen at once."

· · · · · · ·

Nina woke to a smooth ceiling and an unfamiliar, chemical scent. She lay in a small room on a bed, no windows. Her clothes had reappeared by now, the same worn prison garb, and with it the collar. Someone had put a block around her wrists too. It felt absurd that she couldn't control the way her magic stored what she wore, right now. If she could just stuff away the block and collar, she'd have a much better change at getting out. Though hungry, she had gotten enough sleep. Escape was really the only thing left, followed by finding her friends and then ... then what?

Some food had been left for her at the door. She gorged it down, it wasn't enough, but after weeks of half rotted prison food and uncooked rats it was heaven.

After a while, someone retrieved her. She was informed this attendant knew the spell to activate her collar so she better not try anything. That wouldn't have stopped her, if not for the information that followed : the king wanted to see her.

She was brought to a domed hall bathed in double moonlight. A crude angular statue of Bahamut loomed above the other and, and right on top its head, the little ghost girl who sometimes accompanied Favaro.

"Oh, hello there," she said, happy to see a friendly face.

The girl waved at her with a sad smile.

"Can you see it?" a familiar someone asked softly. "The phantom?"

In the shadows below the statue stood the king.

"Fate might just be determined to ensure your survival," he said. "And so it that thing, but I still cannot tell whether it sets me right or wrong on the way to my destiny."

He smiled again, that terrible, lovely twist to his face. How could he always look like that even when cruel?

"Chris ..."

"Charioce is all of Chris now, for I am the giant mind they sought among the king's bastards. Chris is on hold."

"No, there's just you. Whatever name you bear, it's got the blood of countless on it."

"That's true," he said so lightly, the tone reminded her of his casual remarks on the time of day, the inconvenience of crowded roads, of a song he was only lukewarm about dancing to.

"That's all you're going to say? All the pain and death in your wake doesn't move you? Even your own people! How many of the humans you enslaved on that island were innocent? How many had crimes so small they should have been freed already? They did not deserve to starve, slave away or die!" She left the gods that he hated away, and herself before she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Unfortunately. Fate is heartless, isn't it? It only cares for its ends no matter how much grief it causes. And so we must be too, if we wish to survive. Everything else is senseless idealism. An evil that masquerades as good," he said. "I have come so far because I understand this."

"What could possibly be worth all this suffering?"

"Swear to my cause and I could tell you, Nina."

"Why? Are you afraid I'll do something you don't like with the information?"

"No, you likely wouldn't. I just need to know whether you are worth it."

Oh, that did it. "How am I supposed to know whether you are worth fealty if you won't tell me what I'm deciding to help with? All I know now is that you're making people suffer!"

"It is either me, or others who will. Suffering shall exist either way." He gestured at her to follow him to a balcony, revealing the state of the city. The forest had partially burned down and the nearby buildings lay in ruins; further was difficult to see due to Rita's persisting fog. But further yet at the lower ring, the fog abruptly stopped.

"Look what Jeanne could have prevented," he said. "If only she had taken the bargain. As things were, I had no choice but to fight this war." That didn't feel quite right, but he went on, "Speaking of choices, here's what Jeanne's new friends just did."

He handed her a telescope; holding it with the block around her wrists wasn't easy but she managed. Part of the fog still reached here, but it was so weak here she saw mostly through it on her own.

From the walls between the upper district and the lower, a line of human bodies had been strung up. Chris zoomed in the lens so it became clear they'd been burned.

"Nobody dared yet to cut them down. The very barrier that was raised around it radiates something accursed. I will have my own soldiers bring them down in the morning."

Nina lowered the telescope. "Who did it?" she asked despite fearing the answer would be Azazel.

"We do not know," Chris said. "She has taken the entire lower ring hostage for reasons yet unspecified, but it should be clear her intentions are evil. She is no different than any demon across the eons : hell bent on the fear and destruction that powers them. There may be individuals better among them, but this is their nation, Nina, their nature. Unlike us humans, they are stagnant, unable to be reasoned with for the better. They cannot be subverted, as so much in the world."

"And you seek to subvert the way the world works?"

"I do. It is a burden I bear." He took her hand and led her back inside; Nina still got butterflies from his touch.

"You know, that sounds epic and all but there's millions carrying that burden for you," Nina through clenched teeth. Anger battled with shame and those damn butterflies for control.

"And a far greater number that shall live to see the future because of it."

He didn't continue, and they reached the hall of Bahamut's prophecy again. She followed his gaze up the statue, but the girl had vanished.

"You won't tell me more?" Nina asked.

"As I said, I must have proof you are worth it."

Fealty was only words for a human, but as a magical creature Nina had been taught to be careful of uttering such words. Did he know that? Did it matter? He didn't really use any kind of magic other than Dromos, did he?

"You want me to just believe that you've got a good reason at the same time as you say it's impossible to reason with any demon ever? I know as little about that new demon as I do about you, so I can only tell you're both bad guys."

"How then do you define a bad guy? Tell me."

He couldn't ask this for real, right? "You don't need me to tell you that! You do all kinds of evil and make laws so everyone can join in. You don't even feel anything bad about your crimes!"

"On the contrary. Because I feel nothing it is that I can do what must be done for the greater good. I was always destined for this, even if I did not realize until later. See, my mother has named me after a god in human form. Kṛiṣṇa." He turned to her and spread his arms. "The role of Charioce, my chariot. Dromos, the way I pass. Even the names itself are befit to the destiny laid out before me as Kris. There was a lesson this god taught to those he guided : Seeing Arjuna full of compassion, his mind depressed, his eyes full of tears, Madhusūdana, Kṛiṣṇa, spoke the following words. My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? They are not at all befitting a man who knows the value of life. They lead not to higher planets but to infamy. "

Nina had heard of those beings, their tale originated in a country to the south of hers, but the god wasn't quite at all like Charioce behaved. "Are you sure you're getting the whole story?"

"You haven't heard the whole yet," he said. "Let me continue : O son of Pṛthā, do not yield to this degrading impotence. It does not become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy. Therefore, giving up attachment, perform actions as a matter of duty, for by working without being attached to the fruits, one attains the Supreme. Nina, I did not lie or perform before you. It is merely that I least of all beings on this planet can let my heart matter to me. I must reject you and all that you stand for."

Impotence, that was what he considered his heart? No wonder he wouldn't answer her questions, they'd be trivial too, right? He might even consider it giving in.

"I am your villain too," she just said.

"That is one way to say it, but why focus on that? You and I share a similar struggle against the world."

"I have no struggle," Nina said, more than a little confused. "If you mean my doubt on my friends, before, that was actually just about one."

"I meant your own struggle."

She frowned.

"Truly, you have no heard of the scourge of the eastern mountains, ravaging the lands for flesh?"

That too was a story she'd heard in passing, but ... that wasn't ... it did make a lot of sense ...

"It was you as a dragon feeding on whatever you came across," Chris said. "The rumors reach far, all the way here."

If she had lost time before, and that was what she'd done with it, what did that make her?

"I don't ... that's not whom I want to be. I'm just Nina, the lethal dragon isn't... I don't want it to be all of me. It's not like I ..."

"It is no accusation, Nina, merely a fact. No need to defend yourself for what is only reasonable. As you had to shed blood for your survival, so do I. My scope is merely greater. You might share it, rather than rot away and achieved nothing." he said. "Unlike me, you have not left behind your small view of the world, limited to what is in front of you. You see yourself a killer, only. And still, fate spared you from my hand, the way it has spared me from yours. I cannot kill you and you will not kill me either. In the mirage of this fog I saw no dragon, I saw a reflection of your true self. You need not be my enemy, Nina."

He laid a hand on her cheek, wiping a treacherous tear. "As a dragon you lived the way I do : anything and anyone perished for your own survival and those you care for. All might pass easier if we stand together."

Over his shoulder, Nina spotted the girl ... much older and with horns now. Her slit eyes glared at Charioce before making a little head jerk, telling Nina to get over to her side.

Nina stepped back, ran around him and felt rather than saw : while Charioce had been distracted, the phantom had opened a summoning circle. She stood at the center of the power and faced him.

"No, I might not need to, but I will." Nina strained against the wood until it broke and dislocated the metal. "You can keep your Dromos, I'm going another way."

The circle flared up, but rather than just suck Nina in it filled the entire hall with dark power.

Nina and Chris alike fell, or maybe it was the world that fell away and became irrelevant.

She drifted within a sea cold as night and yet burning with millions of suns. Pressure on all sides : the relentless crashing of the waves from around save above, there lay the writhing pressure of a thousand nails ever shifting on her scales. Flecks of green and orange light rained down, extinguished within the dark ocean.

Far above the mass an ethereal voice sang, but it was hard to hear above the waves and the sound itself was broken and mournful.

Onward, always onward, it had to be that way until the end of time.

Chris was only so small, yet he made it worse because with him came the broken mass. It filtered down, defied the balance of all, and he had no mercy. The thorn, the monster, the scourge that could grow if only he understood anything. He watched her in terror, and she knew at once he didn't see anything.

Nina fell deeper than him, right into the echo of a familiar voice that led her back to the world.

Ninati Navratil.

· · · · · · ·

The circle flared alive so crudely, Azazel would have sworn it was another failure, but no. It had hold. Well, that only had taken then twenty nine attempts. Could be worse if Jeanne hadn't already had familiarity with channeling.

Nina was pushed up by the magic, facing Jeanne. A slave collar was around her neck and even from behind it was clear she'd gone without food too long.

"Jeanne, you did it!" Nina fell to her knees, locking her arms around Jeanne's neck. "Thank you!"

Jeanne squeaked under the force, but returned the hug after Nina loosened her grip, then took Nina by the shoulders to face her. "I'm so glad you're still alive. Is everything well?"

Nina nodded, wiping at her face. Probably tears. "As much it can be. Did Rachel and the others get away? What happened?"

"They got away," Jeanne said.

Azazel knelt down behind her, snakes manifesting from his palm before he took hold of the collar. "Stay still."

"Azazel? You got out?" Nina almost turned, but he kept her in place with a firm hand on her shoulder.

"You broke him and many others out," Jeanne said. "So many owe their lives to you, be proud of that."

The serpents wrapped around the collar, worming into the fragile points. He set his fingers between the metal and her skin, then the serpents squeezed until the collar shattered. Barely had Azazel tossed it away, or Nina had closer her arms around his neck too.

"I'm so sorry I left you there and that I didn't kill Charioce and we lost Mugaro and ... and ..."

Oh chaos. He almost lost himself, almost leaning into the embrace, letting his face sink against her neck. But only almost. Too aware of the eyes, and everything that had gone down before, this wasn't ... he didn't need this ...

Careful, he detached her arms and looked away. "I thought you were done with me."

"Don't be ridiculous! Why would I want you to die? I just ... I saw all those people and I didn't know what to do. You did hurt this city once, and ... "

"Yes. I did." He stood up and went for a door, couldn't bear to be in here longer. Not with Nina like that, all remorseful over some stupid thing.

"But if I'd—"

"Stop it. We lost. That's all that matters." No need to dwell on any of that.

"No!" Nina stood up. "Everything matters! Things went wrong and we didn't know enough and we need to because—"

"Why? What do you need to know? Do you think I'm going to slaughter the next town we come across?"

"No! That's not what it's about! Okay, I do still want to have a plan where I know what happens after, but this wasn't ... this wasn't ..."

"It wasn't what?"

She looked on the verge of crying. He couldn't handle this. Couldn't she just drop it? She had a literal saint to comfort her and talk to about heroic plans and what not.

Said saint tactfully decided not to comment, so Azazel used the silence for for tactful evasion by opening the door and dropping out.

· · · · · · ·

"Wait!" Nina darted after him till the door, but to no avail.

"I am so sick of guys who won't talk!" She stomped on the floor. She stood there for a while before speaking in a much more cheerful voice, "Hippogryph, please land."

Jeanne just sat on the floor as she finally had time to sort out today.

After two years of slavery and starvation's monotony : breaking out of jail with the help of demons, her child going to war, finding her gods slaughtered all over the place, finding Kaisar only now turning against Charioce, finding her new friend an object of possibly twisted affection of her own king who was still her enemy, owing her life to her apparently former enemy, dabbling with hell's magic, and then seeing Azazel practically break down from a hug only to flee in a fit of awkwardness. How was she going to bring any of this up next time she prayed to Michael? Asking for strength and guidance, surely given in form of spiritual fortitude, wouldn't cut it.

One matter was clear though : for all the madness, she was at last on the way to find El.

They landed in an open forest on the side of a hill. Nina scrambled up a tree to peer around; Jeanne half expected the demon to just leave them behind, Nina clearly did not.

Jeanne herself stood next to the tired holy beast that pulled the carriage, letting her hand brush across its feathers, but her eyes on the world around her. It was her first time in years to even see the sun and find nature around herself. The morning glory lay dim on the horizon and early mist of fall rolled over the slopes; sights she had never heeded before when she had basked in the radiance of the gods, and then mourned in their absence. Cold began to sting at Jeanne's bare feet, but she stayed outside to behold the world a little longer.

She sensed the demon's return before Nina saw him. "Nina, come down, he's here."

Nina just came down when Azazel emerged from the shadows, dragging something along.

"Don't just fly off like that!" Nina said.

Azazel held up the dead deer. "You didn't complain about that during our mountain trek."

"This is different, we didn't have a lot of things going on then and — oh, you really are dense," Nina smiled wryly. Jeanne worried whether it was good or bad, that Nina now had half smiles, but at least it wasn't the forced cheer.

"Do you need to eat or do you need to insult me?" Azazel said.

"I can be pretty dense too, it's good to acknowledge." Nina took one of the deer's legs and started tearing it off, but stopped to give Jeanne an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, but I have to eat. It'll be messy."

"Go ahead," Jeanne said. "But I think I can make a fire."

Jeanne turned over the carriage's inside and found no lighter. The lamps were powered by divine magic though. She held a paper close and flicked her finger against it. It didn't burn her, but the spark caught could be kindled. In disrespectful moments in the past, she'd sometimes flicked Maltet to start a fire for her troops when nature or demons did not allow.

In her absence someone had pilled up some wood. Someone who had no idea what was the right wood, but magic would work around it. She kindled the fire while Nina finished a deer leg, sating her worst hunger. Azazel sat by, almost absentminded as he pulled the deer into smaller pieces. Jeanne had to suppress queasiness, not because of the blood but the casual way they could just tear the flesh apart. They were so much stronger than humans and she had seen so much of that strength used to ruin humans in the past. Then she'd had powers to stop it, now she didn't have to.

During her years living in her outskirt cottage, hunting often had saved her from starvation, though she had stopped doing it after El arrived. Bacchus had a knife in the carriage, but it was too blunt for this work.

"Azazel, can you manifest a sharper knife?"

Wordless, he tossed her a black blade. It was a little too long, like he'd just tried modifying his sword, but it worked. While she worked, she idly wondered whether asking a demon for cutlery qualified her for the sin of bidding demons. Well, even if it didn't, her summoning Nina through a demonic circle certainly did.

The knife being too long turned out useful to stick it next to the fire and roast bits on it. From there on she sat with Nina while Azazel vanished into the woods again.

Digging into meat and eating herself full after years of starvation was almost too good to be true. She was full sooner than Nina. To kill the time, Jeanne recounted to Nina everything she had seen after she turned into a dragon up until what she'd seen with Charioce. That she was not ready to breach yet. Nina was very elusive about her waking up, even if accounting for her rabid gnawing. That was a clear enough cue to keep this till later. Nina had already told her all she knew of Mugaro, so perhaps it was time to hear something about the actual rebellion. Nina was able to pin point the names of two demons Jeanne had seen, and seemed worried when Jeanne couldn't confirm having seen others.

Azazel returned with two more deer, which Jeanne roasted and Nina devoured most of. Despite that, there was enough for Jeanne to keep for later. Another thing she had missed, not having to worry for food.

Nina glowed as she ate. Literary. It didn't quite become a transformation, and Nina seemed quietly pleased that the power waved like this. Azazel didn't sit with them, he leaned against a tree, but close enough for Jeanne to see his eyes widening at the light. When Nina noticed this, she gave an apologetic grin and continued eating.

They were strange together. Some unpleasant tension hung between them, yet they had a rhythm they fell into as if no time had passed. Nina gave frequent worried glances at the snakes without asking, while Azazel struck a middle ground between hovering around her and moving away at first excuse.

"So, what do we do now?" Nina asked after she was done eating.

"I still want to find El," Jeanne said. "But I do not know where heaven is. Azazel, you surely do?"

"You want to go there, and then what? The gods abducted Mugaro, do you think they're gonna let you take her out of there just because you're her mother?"

"The gods would not need to abduct El," Jeanne said, affronted on reflex.

"I saw it. They used the metanoia rosary spell for capturing wayward gods," Azazel said. "Mugaro would not have left on her own, not at that time."

"Do we speak of the same child? El is a boy," she said, not because she didn't believe Nina so much as she didn't want to think of gods dragging her child off.

"Rita and I thought so to but apparently not. It works differently in heaven than here," he said. "Nobody was there for you two when El was born, or was there?"

No, and that stung even more than the idea the of the gods seizing her child. "El fought for them regardless. The gods may be harsher but—"

Azazel's scoffing laugh cut her off. He suppressed it as quickly as she did the desire to rebuke him. Having a debate with a demon was not something she would hazard yet.

"We'll just ask them when we get there." Nina clapped her hands together, grinning. "I guess that means we might be jumping some clouds again when we get there."

At Jeanne's confused stare, Nina added "Azazel and I were there before to grab some of his old buddies from rock prison. He can open gates to heaven."

"No."

"What, why not?"

"I have no idea where the closest nexus is, I used up what little holy magic I generate on the last trek, and the gods will have made extra precautions after last time. With Mugaro there they'll have more energy to invoke."

Nina leaned closer to Jeanne and said, "Bet he's too proud to admit he's too sick. Those snakes are absolutely not normal."

"I can hear you and those have nothing to do with my ability to make gates," Azazel grumbled.

"It doesn't matter, I know another way," Nina said. "Let's go to my home! I want to see my mother anyway and we can get new clothes and good food and best of all, the old lady who runs the village knows the way to Vanaheimr."

"Really?" Jeanne asked.

"Yep, it's one of her favorite stories. After Bahamut was defeated she carried the exhausted gods back to heaven. She still knows the way and always complains she doesn't really have a good reason to go visit. Let's give her one!"

"It would mean the world to me," Jeanne said.

Azazel didn't respond, or at least tried to seem impassive. Jeanne didn't know what to make of the way his left eye twitched. Then he vanished yet again, to Nina's disappointment.

Jeanne was going to need a new way of reading demons, which now seemed trivial compared to what she might have to think of the gods. She least of all had any business doubting them, and Azazel as a demon might just feel inclined to lie for the hell of it, but still ... she had been left alone for years. The first angel to turn up at her door had been sheer chance as she had been hunted down. Her duty as a worshiper of the gods were clear, but she couldn't quite shake that sometimes the gods made it hard to catch on to them.

Having nothing else to do, she found a quiet place to pray.

· · · · · ·

Sofiel's duties in the aftermath of the siege had doubled. So many needed tending from new trauma and loss, a matter left only in her hands as Gabriel found it secondary to fortifying.

Gabriel did not take the loss well, nor the disobedience of either her troops nor El. Sofiel could feel it all over the palace, in the way her impatience drove the servants and how the passed more rules and demanded faster work.

Worst, Gabriel had noticed the shared look and El being upset afterward. At first she had assumed El had simply reacted out of misplaced compassion, but only until El showed an interest in the arena.

Sofiel had noticed something earlier, and hadn't spoken and Gabriel hadn't cared. Now after the war, she cared. One did not lie easily to the queen of heaven and she had soothsayers like Veritas at her disposal.

"I believe they may be familiar with each other," she said. "We found El aiding Azazel's rebellion, as I'm sure you deduced from my report." Sofiel wasn't ready to spill she had cooperated with Azazel during that first rebellion. There would never be a good time for this.

So now, council had been called. Those warriors that had survived and many of the elder gods altogether in a hall, gathering far more faces of authority than Gabriel could usually stand.

Sofiel escorted El into the center of them, staying there with nur in clear sight. Behind them the circle of gods closed.

"Ah, El," Gabriel said tightly. "We were just discussing some very relevant matters. El ... you should know, El is honestly such an unfit name. We ought to give you a better one."

"What?" El asked.

"El just means God. We used it as a respectful closure in our names, such as Gabriel : god is strength. Uriel, God is light. Michael, who is like God? Raphael, God heals. El Elyon, the very first god, the most high. Only El Elyon ought to have vun name begin with El. All others of us belong to El. Your mother of course did not know this, surely she did not act out of pride when she named you thus. However, you must understand it is unfit, especially knowing you are flawed."

"Oh. Can I be called Mugaro then?" El asked.

That prompted murmurs of what a crude name that was, who would even imagine such a thing, even worse fit for a deity.

"Where did you imagine such a name? Perhaps the one you had while mute?" Gabriel said. "Well?"

"Uh ... from the one who took me in."

"And who was that?"

El cast a quick look at Sofiel, but what could she say?

"I wonder why this person never learned of your nature, if they could be trusted to name you? If you had been brought to a church, perhaps even our ally in Anatae, we might have found you much sooner. So you understand, we are very curious?"

Sofiel's heart sank as she realized where Gabriel was going. She couldn't stand that she might have made a mistake, so it had to be El. A scapegoat, and the very demon involved was so convenient for this. Could she stop this? She didn't want to bring El into this mess, but there was no going back, was there? Gabriel wouldn't let it drop.

"It was a demon, so he didn't go to the church," El muttered.

"What was the demon's name?" Veritas asked.

"Uhm ... "

"You have a voice again, child. Use it," Gabriel said. "If there is any impurity we might yet purge from you we must know where to begin."

"Go on," Baldr said. "We won't punish you for it, we mere have to know."

"Azazel."

"Oh dear order," Gabriel said with what Sofiel knew was feigned shock — they'd been over this before, after all. "You were kept by Azazel? How terrible!"

"He didn't ... " but El's voice drowned under the murmurs that rose in the hall.

Sofiel laid her hand on El's shoulders, trying to offer quiet support. None of this felt right, more like strings strangling around the child than sage wisdom coming to aid.

Gabriel let the noise go on, and word of Azazel's past crimes filled to the ceiling until she deemed it enough. It raised her hand once, then higher again before the gods quieted.

El stood still, eyes turned down.

"Child, you must speak wisely and not raise your voice in favor of a sinner. Understood?"

"I don't know about any of this," El said, strained. Perhaps angry, but ne kept it down and only sounded insecure.

"Oh, it is not your fault what happened then, you were but a child," Gabriel said. "But you must understand you are responsible for your actions now. I shall show you a few things so you can form a better judgment. You can become lighter, so next time we face Charioce, your mind will be unclouded. Then surely you will defeat Dromos."

"Unclouded?"

"You understand heaven gains extra strength from faith, right?" Baldr asked.

Gabriel had actually avoided telling El too much about that because it made gods sound dependent more than saviors. So, El shook nur head and just looked very confused, while Sofiel pressed her lips together and kept her tongue.

"You see, there is a strong spiritual aspect to how our powers work and you may unwittingly have been tainted by demonic creed," Gabriel said.

El looked up at Sofiel again, pleading for help. Gabriel gave her a sterner gaze to match, and countless eyes were with her.

Sofiel quieted her mind and told herself this was necesary for the survival of their nation — any trivial concerns were for after the defeat of Charioce. If such a time came before he found a way to transport Dromos to heaven.

"Lady Gabriel is right, El," she said. "You must become wiser."

· · · · · · ·

Nina lay buried under piles of blankets on one of the side couches, only the tufts of her hair visible. Jeanne on the opposite couch had shed two blankets and twisted every few minutes. Particularly when he moved, which was plenty since he could not sleep and his magic just wouldn't behave.

Jeanne d'Arc was Mugaro's mother, something he still didn't how to handle. By chaos, when Mugaro had stood at the statue ... had she actually pointed at the carving of him, or just passed it over to indicate she was no demon, but holy? Or to indicate that conflict between demons her mother fought? Whatever, she hadn't asked about him, hadn't even realized it was him, she'd tried to tell him who her mother was and he, complete idiot, had misunderstood and made it worse.

What if it had gone differently, and Mugaro hadn't gotten so scared? Mugaro had wanted to help them. He could't help but wonder how different would it have gone if they'd know, even as the idea of using Mugaro for warfare sickened him.

He turned over on the couch and Jeanne flinched again. Oh for ...

"You realize if I wanted to try anything I'd have done that already, right?"

She sighed. "I am well aware. I do not think you will harm us, but my instincts are burned deep. My experiences with demons has prior to this day have been only negative."

"Tch."

Jeanne sat up at least. "You call my child Mugaro. Did you give that name?"

"Yes," Azazel said.

"And you had a house?"

What kind of a question was that? "I am capable of living in places that aren't ominous castles," he said. " And while we're at the stupid legends, don't bother with holy water."

"No, I just ... find it such a strange idea to think of you keeping a house and holding down a job in my city. You weren't a slave?"

"Not before Charioce caught me. I had enough money to tend to Mugaro. We got money by working in the arena, cleaning up after the death matches."

"As you once set for Favaro and Kaisar," she said sharply. "Is that why you took a job there?"

"I didn't teach Mugaro anything like that!" he snapped, raising himself on his elbows. "How can I when my own people ..."

It sounded absurd, he knew that. Hypocrite.

Nina stirred in her sleep, so he kept his voice down when he continued, "I took the job because it was there. I didn't keep El to have a successor or anything, El kept me."

"Oh," she said, not sounding very impressed. "Look, Azazel, I know something must have changed for Kaisar to take such a risk for you. You and him have quite the ... unpleasant history. Why did he aid you?"

"I don't know, he's out of his mind on his stupid chivalry. Millions of my people and it's me he fixates on saving. But ... " Azazel cover his eyes with his hand, trying to block the light. " ... he's not entirely wrong. There are things I've done that I won't revisit."

After a silence, she said, "Can you tell me everything I missed? I want to know whatever I can of El's years that I wasn't there for, and what Kaisar and the Orleans Knights have been up to."

"You're not going to like half of that story."

"I'm used to not liking many facts of my life. Let the truth come, I will bear it."

Azazel half smirked, "Mugaro ... I guess she's one of those gods with the sense to follow power. She showed up at my home, I sent her away ... and one day it rained like the night I found her, putting her out the door was ... you know, too much, and I let her stay. Mugaro kept staying, and then I had to figure out what a kid actually needs and ... she wasn't a problem. It wasn't difficult, there was just a lot of things ... why on earth doesn't she know the difference between a candle and soap?"

Jeanne smiled. "Wax. Soap is more expensive than candles. Even on the rare time I had money for soap, El's chores didn't include washing anyway. But you have to tell me the darker things too, please. Nina said El was mute. How did she communicate? And Nina didn't describe El in rags, so you must've been better off if only a little — is there any new food El got that she liked?

"You're really challenging my patience," he said, not at all serious. Of all the absurdities and humiliation since the fall of Cocytus, being interrogated by a saint was the least unpleasant yet.

"Hmm. I think you might owe me a little," she said. Right, he'd invaded her city unprovoked and sicced Pazuzu on her.

"I can live with that, if you let me live, saint."

"I will have to bear, for I am no more saint. Just called Jeanne."

"And I am not Lucifer's right hand at time, for what that's worth." Probably nothing. "Anyway, Mugaro has hand signs that I can recognize, but often the looks are clear enough ..."

· · · · · · ·