It was several hours before Lilith and Mozu managed to regain consciousness once more. It was several more hours until they were both lucid enough to hold a conversation. By the time Pixie deemed everyone ready to talk, it was well into the night.

"Alright, let's get started." Pixie said with a grin, "First things first- AHCHOOO!" The fairy let out an extremely fake and exaggerated sneeze. When it was greeted by an awkward silence, Pixie's face tightened in irritation. "Damn it Vouivre! That was the signal! Can't you do anything right?"

"I know." Vouivre smirked. "This is more fun."

"Koga, you have permission to go dragon-slayer on-"

"Ugh, fine! Here are your stupid Dormina rocks." The blonde haired half-dragon threw two small stones at Felicia and Mozu. Upon striking the two humans, there was a small flash of light and a thump as the two hit the floor, fast asleep. "There! They're asleep! Happy?"

"Always. Now, let's get those two back to the Northern Fortress, shall we?"

"What are you doing?!" Kaze demanded.

Pixie thought about the question for a moment. "Uhh, knocking out your friends, sending them home so they'll be safe, and getting ready to bring you and Lily up to speed. Did I miss anything? Nope, don't think so. That's it."

She said it like it was the most natural thing in the world. Lilith could see by the look on his face that Kaze was trying very hard not to get upset. Eventually he managed to control himself, restricting himself to merely saying, "But why?"

"Because Kaze, best case scenario they get in your way. At least this way they have a chance of living. Besides, the less people who know Corrin's a reincarnated demon the better."

"WHAT?!" Lilith screamed as Kaze turned into a statue.

Koga chuckled from his corner before rising and walking into the wreckage that had been the kitchen. "Good going Pixie. Way to ease them into it. You're as subtle as a siege engine."

"Uhh… I was admittedly sloppier than intended." Pixie replied sheepishly. Bobbing around in the air, she looked all the part of an overexcited bumblebee searching for its next flower. "But what the hell, sometimes you just got to jump in the pool, am I right?" She looked back and forth between Kaze and Lilith's petrified faces. "Damn, maybe I did go a little too far. Vouivre, you drop off Felicia and farm girl, I'll get started on the debriefing."

"Kay." The demon and the unconscious Felicia and Mozu vanished in a flash of light as Pixie looked back at the Lilith and Kaze, her eyes gleaming like a cat about to pounce.

Koga returned and passed Lilith and Kaze each a glass of water. "Do try and calm down. It'll only be worse if you're stressed." He leaned in closer to Kaze and whispered. "She can sense fear."

"Ha ha Koga you're hilarious."

They waited a few minutes for the two to stop trembling. By the time Vouivre returned they had finally managed to settle down.

"You guys ready?" Pixie asked expectantly.

Lilith nodded. "Ya, but can you try to put it a little more lightly? I'm not sure my heart can take another bomb like that."

"Only for you, Lily. Hmm, now how to put it," Pixie murmured to herself. "Usually I'd try to use the physics explanation but, you know, dark ages. It'd probably just confuse you more." Pixie smirked and Lilith felt a chill shoot down her spine. "Well what the hell. Could be fun so, let's try it anyway."

"Try what exactly?" Kaze asked warily.

"And it looks like we have a volunteer!" Pixie's smile was like a crocodile's. "Say Kaze, mind if I ask you a quick little question?"

"I don't suppose I have a choice, do I?" he replied with a sigh.

"Not if we want to get anywhere by morning," Pixie admitted. "So let's get to the point, shall we? Now, if I were to ask you to destroy say… that wall over there, could you do it? Now think carefully."

The ninja pondered the question for a moment before responding, "I suppose I'd burn it to the ground. Either that or smash it to bits." He shrugged. "It's not a very sturdy wall."

"You'd think, but sorry, the answer is nooooope," Pixie cut in with glee. "Let's start with the later first; even if you were to break it into pieces, those pieces would still exist, right? There'd be more of them, yes, but the wall would still be around in some shape or form. I could put it back together, given enough time. And as far as burning it… Kaze, just where do you think ash or smoke comes from? I know we live in a world of magic, but come on."

Understanding dawned in Lilith. Not in what she was saying, no, it was all gibberish. It was the understanding that if left to her own devices, Pixie would probably just keep playing with Kaze, and that was unacceptable. "Just what are you saying? That no matter what we do that wall is indestructible?" Lilith asked incredulously, trying to get the conversation moving.

"In worlds far further in the tracts of civilization than yours, there is a little rule called the Law of Conservation of Mass. To sum up a lot of complex science mumbo-jumbo it basically says that matter and energy can neither be created nor destroyed." Pixie looked at them expectantly. "So… what I'm saying is…" She motioned for them to continue her train of thought.

"So no matter what we do…" Kaze trailed off.

"We could never completely erase the wall." Lilith finished.

The petite fairy floating in front of them gave a thumbs up. "Bingo! Even most demons cannot directly violate that law. It takes some pretty powerful magic to warp reality to that degree. Like, SUPER powerful. I'd say there's only a handful in all existence that could manage it. But that's not really my point."

"Then what's your-"

"Lily, do you know where Corrin's demon powers actually come from?" Pixie interrupted, cutting her off.

"I- no, but-"

"Didn't you say he was a reincarnated demon?" Kaze asked. "I'd suspect they came from that."

"Not a bad answer but it doesn't explain where they actually originated. And by the sound of it, he hasn't told you." Pixie nodded sadly. "Uh huh, thought as much. Shin's always had trust issues." She sighed in what might have been annoyance. "Honestly, I'm not sure I should really be the one to tell you both this, but…"

For the first time since meeting the fairy, Lilith noticed that she seemed unsure of herself. Was it shame? No, rather it seemed Pixie really felt guilty about what she was about to tell them. What were they about to hear?

"Approximately 3,000 years ago, there was a boy by the name of Shin Managi," Pixie said, her face cold and hard as stone. "His life was no different than any other, he went to school, ate food that was terrible, and had girl troubles. Completely normal, or at least he was, until the world ended."

Pixie stopped, and it took Lilith a reason to figure out why. Is… Is she pausing for dramatic effect?! We don't have that kind of time!

"Ended?" Kaze asked, coming to her rescue and indulging the fairy. "How?"

"Oh, Kaze, I'm so glad you asked." Pixie responded, "A man whom we shall refer to simply as 'The Dick' called down an unearthly light and destroyed the world. "

"That's it?" Lilith interrupted. "Some guy just up and blows up the planet? How?"

"I was getting to that Lily! Geese, let me tell the story." Pixie muttered, annoyed. "See, each world has a cycle of death and rebirth. The Dick performed a ritual that accelerated that process. It's kind of like jumping off a bridge. All humans die eventually, but jumping would expedite the process quite a bit. The Dick pushed Shin's world off the bridge so to speak, and in doing so transformed it into a shadow of what it was, a place between life and death, a place of demons known as the Vortex World. The Dick, Shin, two of his friends, and his teacher were the only survivors. Five humans out of seven billion." Pixie paused for a moment. "Eh, well there was also Aleph, but he wasn't really alive, so I don't think he counts…"

This was getting a little surreal, even for a story from a tiny, floating demon. "Uhh…" Lilith began slowly.

"BUT," Pixie cut in again, trying to compose herself, "unlike the other four, Shin wasn't allowed to endure the apocalypse as he was. No, for better or worse he attracted the attention of a monster." Pixie's eyes narrowed and she met both of their gazes. "I will not say its true name here. It would be meaningless anyway as your religions are not based around it and the Great Will. I also would rather not attract its attention. Suffice to say it is known by many names, the first traitor, the light bringer, and the fallen angel are a couple of the more well-known ones."

"Anyways, it got hold of him and inserted a Magatama into his eye." Pixie pointed at her left, brown eye and her voice trailed off slowly. She shook her head. "Sorry, a little context would probably help. See a Magatama is a special demonic parasite."

"A what?!" Kaze stuttered. Lilith didn't blame him. She felt sick. A parasite, in his eye?!

"A parasite. Or was it a curse? I don't know, Shin was the one who studied them in depth and even he was a little fuzzy on the distinction. The bottom line is that they embody demonic power, and because of that, they have the ability to turn a human into a demon."

Pixie must have noticed the looks of horror on the two retainers' faces because she stopped and desperately tried to reassure them. "Waitwaitwaitwaitwait, WAIT. Trust me, it's not as bad as it sounds. For one, unlike some methods, this one didn't affect his mind or soul. He was, ehm, is still himself."

For some reason Lilith had the image of a monstrous, bloated insect squirming and writhing in slime as it munched on her brother's skull. Shivering in spite of herself, she forced herself to think of something else. "So this, eh, 'bug' was it?"

"Actually, they kind of look like these super long slugs with really big pinchers on their heads for digging through your-"

"AS I WAS SAYING!" Lilith said, stopping the description before Pixie could give her anymore nightmares. "If what you said was true, then Corrin was turned into a demon. So why is he human now?"

"Is he?"

When her question was only answered by silence, Pixie continued carefully. "The Magatama are a perversion of the natural order, a blasphemy of the highest degree. They were a curse created in time immemorial with the express purpose of bringing about the end of all things, the apocalypse. The final battle between Law and Chaos."

"Are those the two sides in this conflict?" Kaze asked. "Did Ose and Mot belong to one of them?"

Pixie nodded. "They belonged to an organization called the Assembly of Nihilo. It's a group of humans and demons that traditionally serve the Law forces. Only thing is that they're kind of zealots and don't really obey Heaven's orders. We've fought them a few times in the past. It's odd though, I thought we'd wiped them out… Hmm…"

Once again Pixie seemed to stare off into space, seemingly preoccupied with her memories. Raising her hand ever so slightly, Lilith asked, "You said 'they' before. Does that mean that there are more than one Magatama?"

"W-what? Oh, good question Lily. You're right. There are actually twenty-five of them. But we're getting off track. Eh, where was I again?"

"Shin had a bug put in his eye by what you've described as the ultimate evil." Kaze deadpanned. "After the end of the world." By the way he said it, Lilith suspected his patience was about as drained as her own.

"Riiiiiight," Pixie said, oblivious to their annoyance. "So with the Magatama bonded to his being, Shin transformed into the prophesized Demifiend, a demon with the heart and soul of a human. After his metamorphosis, Shin began to wander the Vortex World, where he almost immediately ran into yours truly." Pixie smiled. "From there we struck out on our own, cracking skulls and taking names." Her expression turned sour. "That was until, among other things, we found out the purpose behind the Magatama."

"And?" Lilith asked, her voice no louder than a whisper.

"Whatever created the Magatama did not have a friendly relationship with Kagutsuchi." Pixie replied.

"Oh for the love of- get on with it. This is important," Koga Saburo growled.

"Fine!" Pixie glared at the other demon. "The Magatama give the Demifiend the exclusive ability to destroy every Kagutsuchi that has or ever will exist by killing one of them. Chain reaction, boom ba da boom, all gone. Finished. Deceased."

"And Kagutsuchi is…"

"The god that presides over the infinite worlds in the main Amala multiverse. With its death, all of the worlds under its charge would cease."

"Cease?" Lilith paled.

"Shin was created as the final key to the apocalypse." Pixie, said her voice that of a bitter and betrayed warrior. "It was the fallen angel's wish that Shin destroy all of existence. He was to kill time itself, that was the destiny the devil chose for him."

Kaze looked back and forth between Pixie, Lilith, Koga, and even Vouivre, waiting for one of them to break out into laughter at the joke. "You can't be serious. How can someone destroy all of existence?"

"It's what the Magatama were designed to do." Vouivre said with a shrug. "Duh! Why do you think we're going through so much crap to keep your boss safe?"

"That's not to say its automatic." Pixie added hastily. "There are couple formalities he'd have to do. Like first Shin would have to willingly embrace the Magatama and become a true demon. He didn't, so right now we're relatively safe. It's why we could beat Kagutsuchi the first time without blowing everything to kingdom come."

But something about what Vouivre had said rubbed her the wrong way, and Lilith felt the cold claw of panic take hold of her. "You can't be serious! Corrin doesn't still have those things inside of him does he?!"

"Afraid so, Lily," Pixie consoled gently. "Though it's not by choice. Remember our conversation about the wall?" She waited for the two humans to nod in assent. "Well the Magatama are infinitely worse."

Koga nodded. "It's said that even the Great Will itself would be hard pressed to destroy them outright."

"But as long as they exist, they're a threat to everything, be it human or demon, " Pixie added. "So Shin, being the overall amazing and bestest buddy ever, decided to take them off the board. But to do that, he had two options, forgo his humanity and become the eternal guardian of the Magatama or do the single thing that might destroy them."

"And that would be…" Lilith asked, dreading the answer.

"Inheritance… From parent to child." Pixie stopped. "Basically? Have sex."

"…What?"

Pixie looked like she was trying very much not to laugh. "Hey, I hate the idea as much as… no I think I'm on the top of the list. But, well, as it turns out, whenever someone with Magatama has children, the Magatama are evenly divided between them. Don't ask us how we know that, it's a long story that involves some very peculiar people. One of which was in a wheelchair."

Pixie continued, flying up a little bit and taking a seat on a counter, her legs swinging gaily as she spoke. "So say, Shin were to have two kids. I know, pretty unlikely he'd find a woman willing to have them-"

"Because you'd sabotage the relationship." Vouivre muttered.

"An irrelevant detail. But setting aside the ludicrousness of the scenario, since there are twenty-five Magatama, each kid would get twelve, with the types being split randomly."

"And the last one?" Kaze asked expectantly.

"Eliminated. Purged from existence."

"So over the course of several generations, assuming all of his kids had kids and so on and so forth, eventually all of the Magatama would be erased." Pixie clarified. "Or at least that was the plan."

"Wait, wouldn't the first kid get all of them?" Lilith asked, confused. "If he had twins-"

"AHH BAD THOUGHT!"

"If his wife had twins," she all but snarled through clenched teeth, "I could understand. But how would the Magatama know how to split? They can't know the future."

Silence. "Uhh, Lily," Pixie said gently, "you're speaking to three demons about magic parasites that can cause the end of all existence. Is foresight really the deal breaker here?"

"But- but-"

"So Shin had a game plan to destroy the parasites. It would take several generations, and would ultimately involve sacrificing his life, but he felt it was the only way."

"That said, it wouldn't be easy. Even if he did manage to have kids, they wouldn't be able to use their powers until sexual maturity. Or was it puberty? Let's just say sixteen years old," Pixie considered thoughtfully. "So in the interim period, there would be a danger. After all, not everyone wants the Magatama destroyed, and if the kids, or Shin for that matter, were killed, the Magatama could be extracted from their corpses."

"And a new, more destructive Demifiend created. One that wouldn't be opposed to destroying all the universes connected to Kagutsuchi."

"That's why he was reincarnated," Kaze said, understanding finally dawning. "Not only would it hide him from all his enemies, but he also wouldn't have to worry about keeping his powers in check; he'd be a mortal with no memories of being a demon."

"Give that man a pair of socks, he's finally done it!" The fairy flew from her perch to land daintily on Kaze's shoulder, patting him on the head affectionately. "You're right. That was the plan, reincarnate Shin so he and his kids would grow up never knowing who they were. By the time our enemies realized he was missing, a couple generations would have passed and we would've already won. Magatama destroyed, apocalypse averted. That is why we picked this world- average number of kids is pretty high at four per generation."

She sighed. "So we made a deal with Mets, he blocks any demons from kidnapping Shin and in return we get a guarantee that he and the main Law forces won't attack. Of course we also couldn't intervene, but at the time Shin thought it was a pretty good deal."

A snap of her fingers and a metal box appeared in the center of the room. "And thus, here we are. Koga, what's our status?"

Koga's head jerked skywards. "We're almost out of time."

"How long?" Pixie asked, all business.

"Five, ten minutes tops."

"Cool. All right, then let's wrap it up boys and girls." Pixie held up two fingers. "The way I see it you've got two options. One! You ignore everything you heard today. You pretend it was a dream, or maybe you bash your head into a wall until you forget. But that won't make it go away. Hell, it will only make it worse. Or two…" Another snap and the box opened. Slowly forcing herself to her feet, Lilith warily looked into the container. "Or two, you take these and use them to fight back."

At first glance, she wasn't quite sure what she was looking at. However, the more she looked, the more she made sense of the shapes. There were two sets of armor, one black and emerald, one cobalt and red. Alongside them was a small metal rectangle, about ten centimeters long, two knives, and a set of three rings, all the same dull red color.

"I hope you guys appreciate just how hard it was for me to get these," Pixie continued. "Seriously, you would not imagine the crap I had to go through. Apparently giving mortals COMPs without a permit is frowned upon. Go figure."

"This armor… these weapons… can they-"

"Can they beat the demons? Can they destroy the Assembly? Can they save Corrin and the rest of your world?" Pixie asked, and though her eyebrow was raised, something told Lilith she was dead serious. "Well that depends on just what you want to do, now doesn't it? As I said, you have a choice. Even you Kaze. You may have already turned on the COMP, but you owe us no loyalty. If you want, you could even escape to another world."

Three sets of demonic eyes stared them down. "So what are you going to do?"

Kaze and Lilith looked at each other. There really was only one answer. Lilith nodded and Kaze gave word to her feelings, "We're in."

"Remember that to walk this path is to shed any semblance of a normal life. The COMPs will change you in ways you can't imagine. Magic and fighting prowess that are considered supernatural will be yours, but in return, you will never know peace. Even if you win, you'll be hunted by demons for the rest of your lives. If you should have children, they too will be beset by horrors. They will curse you for the life you forced upon them. Are you prepared for such a fate?"

Kaze nodded. Lilith's head made a jerking motion that was probably a nod.

Pixie smiled. "Super! Now, as I see it, you've got three objectives." She held up a finger. "One, find Shin, keep him safe, and more importantly, prevent him from regaining his memories." She grimaced. "Really can't stress that enough. If he gets his memories back, everything goes to hell. Metatron's barrier breaks down; so I can come back. Our treaty with him burns so it'll probably start a war as well. Basically, rest assured there'll be an avalanche of enemy demons everywhere. If Corrin gets his memories back, this world burns."

"Okay, end of the world bad. Got it." Lilith said. "Next?"

A second finger. "Two, crush the Assembly and any other demons preying on this world. Preferably with extreme prejudice. They may be law aligned, but their actions give you full clearance to attack without breaking the treaty. Oh, needless to say, this includes killing any Assembly allied humans as well. Pretty simple. Pretty straight forward."

She groaned. "And three, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but help Shin get laid. If the plan is gonna work, then after this whole fiasco is all said and done we're going to need him to start a family. A nice, old fashioned happily ever after. Think you can manage?"

"So you're asking us to save the world, keep our boss safe, and help him live happily ever after?" Kaze shook his head in exasperation. "Honestly? We were already planning on doing that."

"Exactly." I will keep Corrin safe, no matter what, Lilith thought.

"Well then I guess I have nothing to worry about," Pixie said. "Last thing, Lily, the cellphone in there is yours and should act as your COMP. It's also how we'll stay in contact. Speaking of which, there's a preprogrammed assistant on there that'll help you get situated but I'll teach you how to use it real quick." Pixie showed Lilith how to open up the cellphone and make a test call. Normally that would be enough to spiral her into shock, but after two consecutive demon attacks, Lilith was beyond something as trivial as culture shock. "Vouivre can help as well. Speaking of which, she's now your demon. Sorry for the quality issue, I had to grab what was laying around."

"Oh come off it, you searched me out for this. Something about two dra-" Vouivre was cut off by a fierce glare from Pixie.

"That's what I thought," Pixie muttered.

"Umm, Pixie," Lilith began, "do you think we can do it? Save Corrin and Nohr?"

She was quiet for a moment, uncharacteristically so. When she finally spoke, she was quite quiet, "I think you'll try your very best. Whether or not that's enough, I honestly don't know." She trailed off, before returning with a sad smile. "Fate can be funny or cruel or both. Even we demons don't know what it may hold. Be that as it may, remember, I'm only ever a phone call away."

"Thank you," Lilith said, smiling in spite of herself. There was something infectious about the fairy's smile and Lilith found herself feeling a tinge of sadness at the prospect of her leaving. She may have been a bit frustrating, but besides Corrin, it was a new experience to have someone care this much about her. Lilith thought she kind of liked it.

Pixie flew over and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll always be there Lily, even if it may not be in person. I'm going to have to say goodbye for now, it wouldn't be good if Mets caught me and Shin in the same world. Broken treaty and what not. But we'll meet again, just you wait!" Pixie leaned in close and whispered, "So keep your little bro safe, kay?"

The fairy began to float skyward as a rip in the sky began to form around her. "Good luck everyone, we're all counting on you! Shin should reappear about thirty seconds after I go. I'll call if there're any changes."

A flash of light, a sharp crack, and Pixie was gone, leaving Kaze, Lilith and the two remaining demons alone in the shattered cottage.

Ten seconds passed.

Then twenty.

Then a minute.

Then five.

Finally, the phone rang. Lilith answered, spoke for a moment, and then turned to Kaze, her expression dark. "Corrin and Azura are back in this world, but…" she grimaced, "they're in Hoshido."

Author's Note-

Thank you very much for reading! If you have questions, critiques, or predictions, please leave a review and I'll do my best to get back to you!

And here we are, Lilith and Kaze both with COMPs, albeit different models, setting out on a quest to reunite with Corrin and save the world. Oh, they grow up so fast... That said, just because they're demon tamers now does not mean they're on Flynn or Aleph levels of power. Hell, they've still got a long ways to go. Expect a couple growing pains.

Disclaimer- This is a nonprofit, fan-based work. All characters and settings belong to their respective owners.

Gus- Lilith had a great back story in the Fates DLC, I really wish they had touched on it a bit more or even made her a playable character. Anyways, thanks for reading! As for Corrin and Azura... expect their story next time, along with a couple people you might recognize.

Guest1- Right now Kaze and Lilith are the only ones with COMPs. Whether or not that will change in the future is anyone's guess.

ApexUtopia- Thank you so much, that means more than I can say! Honestly Pixie has been my favorite character to write so far. She's an unholy mixture of caffeine, C4, and cuteness. She's going to take a backseat for a little bit to let the FE group have a chance to shine, but rest assured she WILL be back! (with a bang)

Next Time- We go back a day or so and follow Corrin and Azura through the portal. (2/25/16)