It was a beautiful spring day. The sun shined through the branches and leaves that made up the canopy of the forest, casting long shadows across the ground. Birds sang, a fox's tail perked up, and two pairs of eyes scanned their surroundings for any possible clue as to where they were.

"Well," Corrin began, fighting against the gradually increasing distress eating away at his insides, "at least the weather's lovely."

He winced as he saw a flash of concern pass over Azura's face. "Corrin, do you recognize any of this?" She gestured to the surrounding forest with her right hand even while her left hand began to fidget with her hair nervously.

"Trees, sunlight, and a complete lack of death and despair? Well as embarrassing as it is to say, I doubt we're in Nohr." Corrin joked, noting Azura's apparent unease as they looked around. "Can't say I know any more than that for certain though. House arrest and all that garbage. But if you held a sword to my neck, I'd probably say that this is way too verdant for even a border territory."

"So you think we're behind Hoshidan lines?"

Corrin nodded. "That's my guess, ya. But wouldn't you know better than I? You lived in Hoshido for far longer than I did."

"I- I just wanted to hear your opinion to be certain." Azura bit her lip and looked away, refusing to meet Corrin's eyes. For a moment, Corrin considered asking her what was wrong. Then he remembered how Azura had been kidnapped by her own people, how she had been rejected and taken away for execution and the question died in his throat. There really was nothing for him to say, nothing he could say.

Perhaps that's what saved him though. After all, if he had been talking, it was doubtful he would have heard the sound of marching feet before it was too late.

Looking up in alarm, he was relieved to see that Azura had taken notice of the threat as well. Thankfully, any uneasiness she had was eliminated in the face of palpable danger. Her golden eyes were cold and focused as she pointed towards a nearby tree. Corrin shook his head at the princess. Though the tree was reasonably dense, there was no way it would provide enough cover for them, especially for someone with such a vibrant hair color as Azura. Besides, that was one small tree, almost a bush really! Corrin doubted it could fit both of them.

Azura pointed again, getting visibly frustrated as the footsteps got a little bit louder. Eventually she gave up any semblance of subtlety and grabbed Corrin by the front of his armor and dragged him into the dense foliage, the former prince sputtering all the way. "Hey let go!" Corrin whispered as Azura finally relented. "There's no way this is gonna work, let's just make a run for it. Or better yet, I can just fly us out. We'll be halfway home by the time they realize what's happening."

"Silence!" She hissed. "They're going to hear you."

Usually he probably would have been more than a little confused by the vehemence of Azura's response, but Corrin was a bit preoccupied. Instead he decided to simply respond. "Hello Azura, that's kind of my point!"

"Tell me Corrin, can you outfly a Pegasus knight?"

"Probably." Corrin scoffed. "Haven't had the opportunity yet."

"Well how about fifty? That not enough? Maybe a hundred? No, a thousand? I can go higher."

"Uhh… I don't think Pegasi fly faster in groups."

She ignored that. Instead, Azura leaned in close, her golden eyes only a few inches from his own. Corrin couldn't help but notice how cold and emotionless they were. It was like staring into golden pit, and for a moment Corrin felt a sense of dread at the thought of sinking into them. "Corrin. If even a single Hoshidan Onmyoji sees you in your dragon form, you can rest assured that Ryoma will know you're here in less than an hour. And as soon as he knows you're here, I guarantee you everything from Falcon knights to Mechanists to Ninjas will be sent after you. Every single soldier that is not currently engaged." She leaned even closer and whispered the last part directly into his ear. "Tell me, how does it feel to be so loved?"

"That's… that can't be. I'm not that important." Corrin sputtered out helplessly.

Azura laughed softly though there was no humor in the noise. "Oh do you think so? Corrin, tell me, were you at the Hoshidan encampment the night you left? Did you see how Ryoma and the rest reacted? I've never seen him so unhinged."

"No. That's…" Corrin tried to keep his mouth shut. A swirling mass of emotions were rising inside of him. Regret, fear, guilt… irritation? Where was that last one coming from?

"You were the son of the queen, yet you betrayed your country to an enemy power." She whistled softly. "My, my you really have no clue what you did."

Corrin's eye twitched as he gave up on holding back the odd flashes of anger. Why should he be guilty for following his ideals? "Oh, did I step on a few toes? Heaven forbid I piss off the people I'm at war with."

"Family, lineage, honor," She interrupted, ignoring his comment except for a slight raise of her eyebrow, "Hoshidans value these above all else. Your choice to leave them for Nohr not only delegitimized them, but also the entire royal family."

"And what is your point?"

"Corrin?" Azura asked, momentarily taken aback by the newfound edge to his voice.

"What do you want me to do, say I'm sorry? Well, I hate to break it to you, but no, I'm not going to apologize." Corrin spat, all thought of the regiment enclosing upon them forgotten, "I've been doing that ever since I got back. God, ever since I left the Northern Fortress! 'Oh, I'm sorry King Garon, I didn't mean to show mercy.' 'My apologies Kasai, I should have stayed to fight Arete to my last dying breath.' Ryoma, I'm sorry for following my heart rather than betraying the family I grew up with for a bunch of strangers.' Well to Amala with that! Why should I apologize for following my heart?!"

Azura looked at him for a long while as his glare dared her to respond, to argue, to just try and prove him wrong. In the end she just sighed and smiled sadly. "I wondered if you had any doubts about your choice. I envy your strength."

"Azura?" Corrin asked, the anger beginning to fade as it was replaced with confusion. The melancholy of her smile had thrown him off balance.

She shook her head. "Never mind. You are right, no good will come of speaking of the past now. We need to escape. As you mentioned before, this tree is far too small for the both of us."

Corrin nodded slowly, accepting that he probably wasn't going to get any more information from Azura. He hadn't known the princess for long, but he did know that if she wasn't in the mood to talk about it, there was nothing that could be done. He'd met wyverns less stubborn.

As the pair snuck as silently as they could through the underbrush, Corrin couldn't help but feel a little at ease. There was something familiar about this. Sneaking through enemy territory with only a single ally, no sword at his waste, only magic and his wits; this was his way to fight. In addition, that outburst, as weird and out of place as it was, had felt right. And for some reason or another, his head felt clearer than it had in months.

After fleeing for what felt like the better part of their day, the nigh omnipresent forest opened up into a picturesque glade, complete with a small Hoshidan cottage at the edge, the first rays of sunset shining onto the roof.

Azura glanced at him as if to ask whether they should risk confrontation for the possibility of a place to sleep. Holding up a hand to motion for her to stay hidden, Corrin was about to leave the forest when Azura grabbed his armor. Looking down, he kicked himself when he saw Azura pointing to the Nohrian insignia imprinted onto the ebon armor. Huh, forgot about that.

With a roll of her eyes, Azura gently pushed him back down. Exiting the forest, the princess strolled to the cottage with the presence expected of her position. As she moved, Corrin did as well, hugging the edge of the forest so that he could get as close to house as possible. As he got into position he drew his dragonstone.

Azura knocked on the door. "Hello? Is anyone there?" Another two knocks. "Please, I need help. Is there anyone there?"

Her acting wasn't terrible, on the contrary it was quite good. For a moment Corrin mused on whether or not he would actually be able to tell if she was lying to him. Probably not. He could tell she had been on a stage performing since a very young age.

He watched as she waited in front of the door, noting how she had added a slight tremble to her shoulders even as she made a show of running her hair through her hands. She was the picture of need and worry, and hopefully, that's what the kindly old woman who answered the door saw her as.

After a few minutes of what looked like light conversation, the woman motioned for Azura to come in. And without so much as a sideways glance towards him, she entered.

What the actual hell?

"Azura!" he cried out as he dashed into the house after her, dragonstone in hand and ready to attack at any time. He had just kicked open the door and rounded the corner- when he found Azura and the old woman waiting for him, both of them laughing softly at some unheard joke. It took him about half a second to realize that he was the joke. To his credit, he didn't put the dragonstone away though. Someone had to keep a semblance of caution alive.

"Dear me, you weren't joking when you said he would come running." The old woman said happily as she wiped a tear from a milky white eye, "My that takes me back to my youth. I used to be able to get all the boys in the village to do whatever I wanted with nary a wink. Oh the things I used to make my Junpei do when he was younger…" She chuckled guiltily. "You two make yourselves at home while I go get us some tea."

After he was sure the woman was out of earshot, he turned on Azura, a less than amused expression firmly affixed on his face. "Azura. You have something you'd like to say?" As much as he tried, he could hardly keep the edge out of his voice.

"Hmm? I don't believe so. Why, are you not in the mood for tea?"

"I'm in the mood for some damn caution." Corrin hissed. "How could you possibly just follow her into her house?! She could be a spy, or a demon, or a demon spy!"

"A demon spy?" Azura deadpanned.

"No, no, no. You do not get to turn this on me. My inability to talk right now does not mean you get to win this argument."

She sighed. "Corrin look. I may be a princess, but I think I'm more than capable of defending myself from a little old lady."

Corrin was going to argue that, but then remembered just what Azura had done to the Hoshidan regiment at Fort Dragonfall. Note to self- ask what had pushed Azura to use that Dragon Vein. "Maybe, but what if it had been a demon then? Ose may have been a freaky man leopard, but how can we be sure that there aren't any evil old-lady demons? For all we know there could a second mouth underneath that skirt filled with dozens of gigantic teeth."

"Now you're just being ridiculous." She shook her head. "It's fine Corrin. If she does turn out to be some evil abomination I'm sure we could manage." She graced him with a warm smile. "Besides, even if she was a demon or some other monster, I was sure you'd protect me."

Damn, how could he argue with a response like that? In the end he just decided to move on to the next order of business and hope he wasn't blushing nearly as much as he thought he was. "Okay then. Tea, I guess?"

"Tea." Azura agreed.

"So you two are on your honeymoon then?" The old woman, Akane, asked.

He snorted. "What of course no-" Corrin began before he was stopped by a sharp kick to his ankle. "Yes," he said through clenched teeth, "We got married a few weeks back in Izumo. It was a wonderful ceremony. Doves, rose petals, the whole package. Ah, and that night…" He whistled evilly at Azura. "Do I have some stories to tell you-" This time the princess stamped down on his shoeless feet. Ow… That was harsh. Still worth it though.

"What my husband meant, was that after a long day of celebrations, we decided that we couldn't let it all just end." She giggled, in a way so uncharacteristic of how she normally was that Corrin couldn't help but double take. "Sooooo, we decided to take little bitty loan from daddy and go on a tour of the two major kingdoms. Just the two of us."

"Oh how romantic." Akane sighed wistfully.

"Yes. But unfortunately the war put a swift end to that plan. It turns out the nobility doesn't quite care for foreigners. We aren't even Nohrian and our entire escort was put to the sword." Azura faked a sniffle. "Zeke and I were barely able to escape with our lives."

"You poor dears. Don't worry, you two are free to stay the night."

"A-are you sure?"

"Of course darling, don't worry. My late husband was quite the hard worker. He managed to build an entire extra bedroom onto our cottage back when we were thinking of having children. You two are of course free to it."

"I can't thank you enough." Corrin said. "Please, what can I do to help out. There must be some way to repay you."

Akane laughed. "Oh please, the day I need help from some stuffy Izumo noble is the day I curl up and die."

"But you're…"

"Blind? What's your point? I can still clean this house better than you with a hand behind my back." She winked at him. "Though, if you insist on making yourself useful, there's some wood out back you could split as well as some laundry you can take in. Tatiana, dear, would you mind setting the table for dinner?"

"Of course, Akane."

"Excellent," She winked in Corrin's direction, "then we'll meet back here in an hour and I'll show you just how well this blind old woman can cook."

One enormous meal, several stories, and more than a couple kicks to the shin later, and the two 'newlyweds' were alone in the room Akane had provided. After such a full evening, the small room seemed unnaturally quiet.

"Wow. That woman has the endurance of a wyvern."

"Indeed. And you have the poker face of child." Azura teased.

"Well excuse me for not being as good a liar as you. Speaking of, how in the hell did you manage to come up with all that on the spot? The backstory, the aliases, that was amazing! If I didn't know better, I'd have thought you'd have done this before."

"That was nothing. When you've been in as many plays and performances as I have, that kind of thing comes naturally." She motioned for Corrin to turn around as she began to change into the sleep wear Akane had provided. "Besides, someone had to do something to prevent you from blowing our cover. I know you grew up in a tower, but come now, you were a half second away from telling her everything."

"Says the one who just waltzed right into her home."

"Hmph, are you still up about that? That decision of mine is why we have such a nice place to sleep tonight. If anything you should be thanking me." A tap on the shoulder told him she was done changing. "Speaking of sleeping though, I'll take the bed. Unless you'd like to share of course?"

"Completely unnecessary as we're gonna sleep in shifts anyways. I trusted the food because you helped make it, but I'll be damned if we leave ourselves… so brazenly… defenseless?" Corrin nearly tripped over a nearby chair as his brain finally made sense of what she had said. "W-what? Why would we- What are you-"

"Hmm, so resolute in some matters, yet so easily flustered in others. How curious." Azura said softly. "Well we have quite a long day of travel ahead of us tomorrow, it would be in our best interests to get some sleep." She smiled at him. "Good night Corrin."

Corrin shook his head in a vain attempt to calm the unfamiliar emotions fluttering around in his chest. "Good night Azura. Sleep well."

"You too. Oh and remember…" She winked. "Newlyweds."

"Ya, ya, I've got it. Damn, are you ever gonna stop teasing?"

"Only when it stops being fun."

Corrin groaned as Azura blew out the candle. "Well then, I guess I'm doomed, aren't I?"

"Thank you. Though I must ask, why?"

The village girl looked down at her feet, her cheeks blazon. "Oh, you know… I just thought… you looked like you could really use the help…" Her voice trailed off as she continued to inspect the ground. And though Kaze would have probably deemed it impossible a moment ago, her cheeks grew even redder.

Not being able to identify a reason for the embarrassment, the ninja judged it better to simply ignore it rather than make matters worse. "Well, thank you again for the apples. They really will help make tonight's dinner much more enjoyable."

"R-really?" The girl looked up, her eyes alight with hope. "You really think they'll help?"

"Of course. My traveling companion and I were only planning on having some bread tonight. Maybe some fish as well if we got lucky. A couple apples will really bring the meal to life."

"Oh, you're traveling with someone." The girl said as her complexion changed almost instantly, there was still some of her former light, but it had almost completely set, leaving her voice a hollow reflection of what it had been an instant before. "Is this person a… girl?"

"Hmm? Yes, my coworker." What an odd question. Maybe she was worried about how capable she was? Understandable, he had had the same worries after all. Hmm, it would probably be best to but those concerns to rest. "Don't worry though, though I've never seen her hunt, she seemed quite confident in her ability. I'm sure she'll get more than enough for the two of us tonight."

"Ah. Just the two of you. That's… perfect." And with that, the girl's face finally finished its plummet into despair. Kaze felt like he must have said something wrong, but for the life of him he still couldn't quite place it. "Well if you're ever by the mill on the main road about a mile outside town…" Her face turned crimson again and she bowed abruptly before running back down the road.

Kaze watched perplexed as she faded out of view. "Odd. I never would have thought this would have happened in Nohr as well." He mumbled to no one in particular.

"Wow, you might just have the best poker face I've ever seen."

"Koga?" Kaze asked, jerking his arm up to where he could see it better. He still wasn't used to the disembodied voice coming from his gauntlet. It was just so unnatural. "Thank you? I appreciate the compliment, but I have to say I have no idea what you're talking about."

"…"

"Koga?" First the girl now the demon? Just what was going on here?

"You are joking, aren't you? Master?" Koga's voice didn't sound amused anymore, though, nor was it irritated either. It took Kaze a couple seconds to realize that the demon was shocked, almost at a complete lost for words.

"No, of course not." Kaze answered the disembodied voice coming from the gauntlet on his wrist. "It's been like this ever since I was twelve. It was very distressing, so many training exercises blown for no reason. For the longest time I though my father was paying the local village girls off to try and make the training more difficult. But when I finally confronted him about it, he just chuckled and denied it. Saizo acted similarly, minus the chuckle of course. Eventually, I even asked my brothers partner about it, but she only shook her head and walked away."

"I can't imagine why." The demon droned. Kaze noted that for some reason he seemed amused again. Weird.

"I don't suppose you know what's going on?" Kaze inquired.

"Oh master, I wouldn't want to spoil a mystery you've been working to solve for so long." Even through the gauntlet Koga's voice carried a hint of mirth, giving Kaze a sneaking suspicion that he was being made fun of. "Besides, a ninja should be more than capable of figuring out a girl's emotions. What would you do if this woman was a target? Would you just give up?"

"An excellent point." Kaze conceded, turning and beginning to walk back towards their campsite. "Hmm, in an actual mission I'd want to depend on my allies. Then… perhaps I ought to talk to Lilith about it. Yes, it could save me some pain in the long run if she can just solve this puzzle for me now."

"That- sounds like a truly terrible idea."

"Why?" He was surprised by the urgency in Koga's voice. "But you just said that I needed to figure this out."

"Perhaps, but-"

"And Lilith might be able to solve this puzzle. She is a girl after all. You know, Kagero seemed to know what was going on too. I bet it's something men just can't figure out. I mean, you're a demon so you're obviously an exception to that."

"I sincerely doubt that." Koga deadpanned. "Master, I might have made a mistake here. I think it'd be best if you just forgot about this."

"Huh? But what about all your teasing? You can't just say all those things and expect me to back off so easily."

"Master, please, trust me on this. There are some things in this world that are far scarier than any demons."

Noting that Koga sounded near the end of his patience, Kaze got the sense that prodding any further wouldn't yield results. Well no matter, they'd finally made their way back to the campsite and there was more than enough work for him to do.

Chuckling as he put the apples next to the tent, he replied, "I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, but I suppose I'll have to take your word for it." He sat down and began to fiddle with some sticks in a vain attempt to start a fire. However, it had rained the night before and he was having some trouble with the damp wood. He was just about to cave and use some black powder from one of his smoke bombs when a light on his gauntlet blinked twice, signaling his ally's return. It seemed Lilith had finally managed to get back to camp. "Any luck with the fish?" Kaze called out.

"Yes," her voice radiated out from the other side of the tent, "Vouivre's actually pretty good at fishing. Apparently when she lived among humans, she operated out of a cave of some sorts. In between guarding her treasure from knights, she would fish at the local stream. Anyways, she knew exactly where they would be. She even gave me great advice on how to use my claws."

Kaze smiled as Lilith walked back into camp, taking a spot on the other side of the nonexistent fire. "Claws?"

"Well you don't think I caught them with my bare hands, do you?" Lilith answered as she took out a fish to flay.

"No, I'm just surprised. I've never seen you in your dragon form after all." Kaze responded thoughtfully. "Is it like Corrin's?"

Lilith shook her head sharply. "Not at all, well I mean not anymore rather… I guess a little?" Lilith seemed to get visibly agitated the more she stumbled over her words. "I guess the best way to put it would be-"

"Lilith is a fish!"

Lilith smacked her phone in irritation at Vouivre's outburst. It had become a kind of ritual between them over the past few nights, with Vouivre 'helping' Lilith in conversation and then being 'hit' in return. Not that smacking the phone did anything of course, hell, it affected Tico more than anything else and the digital butler had already offered to turn off Vouivre's ability to speak several times. But the manakete had refused. Not that she didn't constantly threaten Vouivre with it of course.

Kaze grimaced. "So… a fish. Is that why you never use it in combat?"

"Yes, a fish." She sighed as her face set into an irritated scowl. "It used to look like Corrin's form, but before I started working for him I sort of took some time off to eh, straighten things out."

"With the Astral dragons." Kaze guessed, remembering their previous conversation all those weeks ago.

Lilith nodded. "Yep. Eventually, they allowed me to transfer my energy from my Silent stone into an Astral one."

"Any reason for that?"

"Memories mostly." She admitted. "There was a lot of what happened while I was in… eh… 'you know where' that I'm not too keen on thinking about." She looked him in the eye and smiled sadly, like the way Kaze had seen Mikoto smile when she had spoken at his father's funeral. "So, even though I liked the feel of my other form a lot more, I gave it up. It wasn't the smoothest transition, but I genuinely think it was for the best."

"I never knew. You really have been through a lot haven't you?"

"I suppose." Lilith admitted. "But you're not exactly in the best potion either. I mean, what about your family? How do you reconcile betraying your country for, uhh, well, us?" Her eyes widened and she started to wave her hands frantically as she realized just how her statement could be potentially construed. "N-not that I blame you for it! Heck I'm actually glad you decided too. Well not too glad it's just convenient to have you around is all." She stopped, took a deep breath and waited for her emotions to stop simmering. "I'm just a little confused is all."

Several months ago, he would have commented on her being flustered. Then again, several months ago they wouldn't have been having this conversation. Lilith would have just shrugged and eaten her meal in silence, talking to Corrin a bit if anything. But now? Not only were they speaking, but they were talking about times in their lives they weren't that fond of; memories that hurt quite a bit. So he wasn't going to make fun of her for this. Oh no, they had come much too far for that.

"Oh, don't worry about that, I'm sure they'll get by." Kaze said, waving her off with a confidence that he definitely did not feel. "Saizo is Saizo after all. And though my mother can be a bit of a hassle, she knows how to take care of herself. Trust me, they'll be fine as long as no demons come calling."

Lilith didn't seem to buy that but decided to go along with it anyway. "Alright, if you say so. But speaking of which-

"Let me just cut right in." Vouivre interrupted, "As fascinating as ever Lily, but did you really need to censor yourself? I mean it interrupted the flow of the whole thing. L. A. M. E. LAME!"

"What are you even talking about?" Lilith asked sharply. "How did I censor myself? I was just asking him a question? You're not one of those kids who has to swear every time they open their mouth, are you?"

"Hmph, rude! I was just saying that you should just say 'Valla'. Instead of, I don't know, 'you know where' was it?"

They both stiffened. The demon had said the word. The cursed one. This was… That was…

Nothing. Nothing happened.

"W-what?" Lilith asked softly, her gold eyes wide with shock. "How did you?"

"Well, I couldn't say it outside the COMP, but dark and light spells can't reach me unless I'm summoned." Vouivre explained smugly. "A problem, might I remind you, that you don't have to deal with. Or have you two forgotten the rings that Pixie included with your gear upgrades?"

If only he could. Looking down at the strange black and pink ring adorning his finger, like with most things demonic, he got a very unsettling feeling just by looking at it. Almost like it, or something inside of it was staring back at him. It was creepy to say the least, mildly threatening to say the most. At times it even seemed to pulse. "What do they do?"

"They nullify dark and mind spells of all kinds and power levels." Koga answered from Kaze's own COMP. "Incredibly potent magic honestly. You'll never have to worry about a Mudo or a Marin Karen for as long as you're wearing those. No curse or mental attack has a prayer of sticking, no exceptions."

"And since the Bubble curse is well, a curse, I think ya can guess what else it cancels out." Vouivre finished smugly.

"So you're telling us we can talk about… about…" Lilith stopped, unable to finish.

"Valla." Kaze said finally, throwing weeks of caution to the wind and causing Lilith to squeal in surprise. But that was all that happened. No curse, no bubbles, not death. He was just considering what possibilities this might mean when he was interrupted by an angry dragon.

"Don't do that!" Lilith yelled, reaching over the fire pit to smack him. What if the ring hadn't worked!"

"That's ridiculous the ring has a 100% effectiveness rating." Vouivre pointed out. "Something that cannot be said about your combat prowess."

"Shut up Vouivre." Lilith spat. "I haven't seen you do anything recently."

"UGH tell me about it! I'm soooo bored." Vouivre complained in a voice that somehow encapsulated every spoiled teenager Kaze had ever met. Even Lilith, who had been angry a moment earlier couldn't help but crack a smile at the ridiculousness of her comment.

"So, wait a minute." Kaze began, "If the curse no longer affects us… then we can finally discuss Valla without worrying about it." He looked at Lilith. "You can finally tell us everything we didn't have time to talk about while we were there."

Lilith bit her lip. "Ya… I guess I can, huh?" She shuffled nervously around on her log, clearly uncomfortable. "I'm just not sure if… Perhaps we should wait for-" She shook her head. "I'm sorry Kaze. This is just so sudden; I- Would you mind if we held off for a couple days? I need time to put my story together."

"Kaze waved her worry away, trying not to feel too disappointed. "Of course Lilith, I'm sorry I dropped this on you all at once."

"WIMP!"

[Miss Vouivre!] Tico chastised. [He is no such thing! Sir Kaze just happens to have class. Something you undeniably lack. Speaking of which, would you mind refraining from such nonsense? You are clearly embarrassing our mistress.]

"Hey! I'm just trying to help! Kaze's obviously a bit laid back. And heavens know Lily's not gonna make a move, so we need him to strap a pair on and-"

"VOUIVRE!" Lilith roared before throwing the phone into the fire pit. Luckily, the thing was quite durable, and when she picked up the COMP, there wasn't even a scratch. "How many times do I need to tell you. It is not like that." Her blush deepened when the only answer she received was her demon cackling with laughter.

Wondering what that was about, but deciding it would be best not to intervene in such a weird argument, the ninja finally returned to his fire dilemma. Dinner wasn't about to cook itself, after all. "Lilith, if you have a moment, would you mind getting this?"

"Stupid Vouivre, I don't feel that way. And even if I did, I'd never…" Kaze could hear Lilith mumbling something under her breath before looking up at him like she'd forgotten he'd been there. "Huh? Oh sure, no problem." A short blast of astral breath later, several flayed fish, and the pair was ready to dig in.

"Yum! Where did you get the apples? These are delicious!" Lilith asked happily as she continued to absolutely destroy her meal. It was kind of scary actually. Not for the first time, did Kaze remember that Lilith wasn't entirely human. And if there was one constant in myths about dragons between Nohr and Hoshido, it was their appetites.

"Some local girl gave them to me on my way home." Kaze replied as he took a bite of fish. "Koga and I were actually talking about it right before you got back.

Lilith raised an eyebrow and Kaze remembered Koga's earlier warning. "Wow, what a coincidence. What'd you pay her with."

"Nothing." He shrugged. "She kind of just gave them to me."

"Gave them to you?'

"Yep."

"For free?"

"Uh-huh. Weird don't you think?"

Lilith groaned and went back to her meal. "Koga, tell me you told him."

"Eh, I wanted to avoid that particular discussion."

Lilith scoffed. "So you left it for me? Wow. What a gentleman. I guess I shouldn't expect different from a demon."

"Well, I had actually hoped to avoid this conversation all together." Koga's voice sounded mildly embarrassed and Kaze had to wonder for what felt like the hundredth time, what he was missing here.

"I bet you had." Lilith rolled her eyes. "Well, no use in leaving the bandage on any longer than it needs to." She breathed in the rest of her food and got up to her feet. "Come on Kaze. Time to go apologize."

"W-what? Why? Now?" A swirling vortex of questions was spiraling though his mind like a tornado. "How is an apology in order? And why do we need to leave this very instant?"

"Because if we stay any longer I'm liable to hit you." She winced. "Also it will be much worse if you arrive after dark. A man like you arriving after dark to apologize for being… Gods that would be awkward. Let's just pray her parents aren't around."

"A man like me? What am I exactly?" Kaze practically yelled as Vouivre started wailing with laughter from the COMP.

"In short an idiot." Lilith muttered. "Now come on! She told you where she lived, didn't she?"

"How could you possibly know that?"

"GODS!"

"Here, this is should be it." Kaze pronounced as the pair left the path and began to walk towards the wooden door that served as the gate to the small farm house. "Down the main road from town. Matches the description she gave as well."

"Wonderful." Lilith muttered dryly. "Now let's get those over with, shall we?"

"Of course. But I still don't quite know what I'm apologizing for."

Lilith took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It'll be fine. Just make it quick, and say how you're stupid, and that you're sorry you hurt her feelings, and that you're stupid, and that you really enjoyed the apples. Also apologize for being stupid."

"Anything else?" Kaze demanded. "Or should I apologize for being stupid a fourth time?"

"Hey, do what you want, but remember I want to be on the road to Port Dia as soon as possible. So just, get it over with so we can get to bed and start traveling bright and early. We don't know what Corrin and Azura are going through right now and I'll be damned if we stay here any longer than we have to."

"I'm pretty sure Pixie would have called if there was any trouble." Vouivre's voice came out of the COMP. Though there was an electronic tinge to it, Kaze swore he detected a trace of humor. "There's really no reason we need to hurry that much. After all, the big boss is more than capable of taking care of himself."

"If he were capable, Pixie wouldn't have needed us in the first place." Lilith huffed. "And if by some miracle that is the case, by the first dragons tell me! This armor is way too formfitting for my tastes and I will not wear it any longer than I have to."

"Awww, don't be like that. You look great!" Vouivre said sweetly. And though it was probably a bad idea to say it out loud, Kaze couldn't help but agree. The deep, navy blue of the armor shined like polished lapis lazuli and matched her hair beautifully. In addition, the cloak that had come with it had small crimson embroidery that matched the tiny but tasteful ornamentation on the armor. Color wise, it was similar to what she had worn before, but now there was really no way of mistaking Lilith for a servant. She looked as fine as any of the Hoshidan nobles Kaze had seen at court, better than most if he was telling the truth. And of course, the fact that the armor did help to accentuate a few 'assets' that her dress had kept hidden made more than a bit of a difference as well. Pixie truly had outdone herself with the outfit. Maybe if she ever wanted to quite being a world ending demon she could take up a career as a fashion designer. He should really introduce her to Oboro once this war was over.

"Kaze?"

The ninja quickly chastised himself for getting lost in his own thoughts before turning back to Lilith. "Yes Lilith, did you say something?"

"Just asking if you wanted to go into the house." Lilith claimed, looking at him curiously. "Are you alright? You seem distant."

"Ah, yes. I was just- uh." Kaze felt his face get a little hot, before regaining his composure. "Never mind. Let's just get this over with, shall we?"

"No complaints here. It'll be good to get back on the road… again?" Lilith's eyes widened as Kaze's narrowed. As he had reached out to knock on the old wooden door, the slight brush of his hand had been enough to make the door swing open, revealing a gaping darkness beyond.

Glancing at Lilith in surprise, Kaze turned back to the dark gateway looming in front of him. "I don't suppose its normal to keep your front door unlocked in Nohr?"

"No. Not at all." Lilith said softly as she drew her COMP. "Even this far out from the cities, pretty much everyone locks up tight after sunset for fear of bandits."

"Thought so." Kaze drew one of the daggers Pixie had given him, the one with the fire enchantment, before slowly entered the farm house.

The house was dark, but surprisingly enough, quite clean. As Kaze and Lilith moved through the structure, Lilith's COMP functioned as a torch, shedding some light on their surroundings, even while Kaze stuck to the shadows. If there was anyone there, they would be distracted by Lilith's light, giving the ninja an ample opportunity to strike. Unfortunately, it soon became rapidly apparent that there wasn't anyone there to ambush. In fact, it was clear there hadn't been a struggle of any kind at all. It looked like any other farm house. There were toys on the floor, tools leaning up against a fireplace, and bowels of stew resting on what must've been their kitchen table.

Kaze frowned and approached the latter. Why was there still food here? He wasn't an expert on economics by any stretch of the imagination, but wouldn't these Nohrians hesitate to waste so much food? Everything he had heard was that Nohr was perpetually on the edge of famine. Even for a family that could afford to give away a couple apples, this was a bit much. He reached out and touched the side of one of the bowels. "Still warm." He muttered softly. That was weird. Had they just missed them?

"Kaze over here." Lilith's voice came from the entrance. Backtracking to where she was, Kaze saw that she had holstered her COMP. "I had Tico do a sweep of the upper floor, we're all alone." She explained. Pointing down to five pairs of shoes near the entrance she continued. "It's odd though. Were they in such a hurry that they didn't have time to put their shoes on?"

"Couldn't they have spares?"

Lilith shook her head. "It would be super unusual that a family of farmers would have bothered to get spare shoes made for kids. They'll just grow out of them by the end of the year." Kaze looked down at the shoes, noting that the smaller two pairs were indeed child sized.

"So they left in a hurry. Well that would explain what I found in the kitchen. There's food still on the table, and it's warm."

"This is getting creepy." Vouivre complained from the phone-COMP. "Why would a whole family just up and leave?"

"Can't be bandits, they'd have stripped the place before torching it." Kaze answered grimly.

"Can't be wild animals either." Lilith added. "There'd be blood, lots of it."

"So what do we do?" Kaze asked. "We can't just leave. They could be in serious trouble."

"Master, if the food is still warm, it can't have been too long since they left, right? How about we chase after them then?" Koga's voice cut through their discussion like a well-sharpened knife. "If we move now, the trail will still be hot."

[Not a bad idea master.] Burroughs said from his gauntlet. [This is increasing unusual. Shall I set it as a new mission?]

"Hold up, not yet." Kaze said quickly, "Koga, we've come across weird situations before. Why the sudden interest in this one?"

"Isn't it obvious master? This is highly unusual. People don't just vanish, let only instantaneously. And besides that, can't you feel it? There's something off about the air here. Almost like there's a rhythm to it that I can't place. There's a good chance that this could be something supernatural." He huffed. "And even if it isn't, any human forces capable of moving with this level of subtlety will only cause us trouble on our journey. It would be better to eliminate them now and be done with it."

"OR!" Vouivre interrupted sharply, summoning herself out of the COMP and leaning against Lilith such that she could have been her shadow. "Instead we pack our bags, face south, and run, fly, or hop to Dia as quickly as demonically possible." She tossed her blonde hair to the side with one of her claws. "Really now. Why should we care about some lost villagers? We don't even know them."

"I agree that caring about the villagers might be silly." Koga conceded. "But what of the cause? You haven't forgotten that the Assembly is in this world in force, have you?"

"Please, like the Assembly of Nihlo would give two damns about a family of farmers." Vouivre rolled her eyes in a way that was entirely her own. "They're too busy sitting in some stuffy corner thinking of ways to make life boring."

"Maybe," Lilith said slowly, "but Corrin would insist that we help them. Even if they aren't that important. And that's to say nothing of what he'd do if he thought there were demons in the area." The former stable girl sighed and brushed Vouivre off her shoulder before exiting the house. "Kaze, can you track them?"

Noting the faint trail of footprints meandering towards the nearby village, Kaze raised his gauntlet in front of his mouth. "Burroughs, would you mind setting that mission after all?"

[Of course not master. I have set the mission- Investigate the Missing Farmers.]

It didn't take long to follow the footsteps back to the village. It was like the one they had been in a few days prior but slightly different. The buildings were smaller, more compact, and seemed to be made of cheaper materials. All in all, it was obviously a poorer area, and like the cabin they had recently left, it was completely and utterly devoid of life. One thing remained constant, however, from every house a trail of footprints, sometimes one, sometimes many, trailed off into the night.

Not that they could afford simply assume no one was left. As such, they spent the next several hours searching the various houses that lined what must have been main street. Eventually their search ended in futility and they decided to follow the mysterious trail. It eventually brought them to the town hall where it trailed off into a decrepit wall of granite. It was almost as if whomever had left the prints had simply turned ethereal and walked through the barrier like a ghost.

"So… what now?" Lilith asked, keeping her voice to a whisper in case there were any enemies nearby.

"I don't know." Kaze admitted. "Burroughs, anything?"

[The wall appears to consist of a unique blend of conventional matter indigenous to the area mixed with demonic magic. The latter's presence renders most conventional forms of breaching highly unlikely to succeed.]

A hollow laugh reverberated out from Kaze's COMP, droning Burroughs out. "That might be the funniest joke I've heard this century. Master, mind if I 'test' that theory?"

"Be my guest Koga. But please, try and remember…" A pushed button, a flash of light, and a demonic titan came forth from the ether. "We are trying to be stealthy here."

"Stealthy? Of course Master." Koga Saburo brought back his left hand, sword clenched, as a whirlwind of emerald energy began to gather around his fist. "I promise Master, there won't be a single flash of light…"

"Light isn't really the prob-" Lilith and Kaze barely had enough time to cover their ears before the resulting explosion of force magic turned the wall, the passageway behind it, and the building it was attached to dust in the wind.

"Highly unlikely to succeed huh? Riiiight." Koga said smugly as he twirled one of his blades. "You're losing your touch AI."

[When I said conventional methods were unlikely to succeed, I was referring to things ordinary humans could do. There was never a doubt that a Zandyne from a high level demon would break it down. Perhaps I ought to schedule a mission that would help your listening skills?]

"That's enough you two." Kaze said as he made his way through the rubble. Looking over the broken shards of rock, the ninja noticed an area where the rocks appeared to be lower than the surrounding earth, almost as if they had fallen further. "Koga, can you vaporize the stones around where I'm standing?"

"Is that even a question?" The demon asked as he fired a Ziodyne where Kaze was pointing. The brilliant yellow bolt collided with the rocks in a ball of plasma, leaving only the deep inky blackness of a tunnel behind.

"Well it's about time we struck pay dirt!" Vouivre piped in as Lilith summoned her from the phone COMP. "Seriously, I was startin to get worried it'd be forever until we got some action."

"Tico, can you get any readings of demonic activity down there?"

"My apologies milady. The magic from the recently diseased door is scrambling my ability to scan for the enemy. I'm afraid you'll be going in blind."

"Figures." Lilith muttered. "Alright then, we're not gonna get anything done by waiting here. Kaze?"

The ninja nodded and as silently as shadows, the pair of humans and their demonic counterparts slipped into the gaping maw of the tunnel.

It wasn't long before the pair came across their next obstacle. What had begun as a fairly straightforward path had culminated into the tunnel splitting into four separate paths. Rolling his eyes at this development, Kaze suggested they split up, with Lilith taking the left most tunnel while he took the right. A week ago he would have been worried about navigating underground alone, but with Burroughs and Tico actively mapping their progress as they went, there was really nothing to worry about. Nothing but potential demons anyways.

Speaking of which, where were they? It was obvious at this point that the tunnel wasn't Nohrian in origin. The walls looked as though they had been dug out of the earth via some type of claws, and that was without even mentioning the hovering orbs of ethereal flame that served as a light source. They hung every ten feet or so, casting an eerie and unnatural emerald light down the length of the passage. Despite Koga's reassuring presence, Kaze could barely hold back the shiver climbing up his spine.

The flickering of the flame started to play tricks on him. Each and every shadow at the edge of his vision held an enemy; every rock a monster. He had just about thrown one of his knives at a pebble, one of the enchanted ones no less, when Koga finally stepped in.

"Master, please calm yourself. There's nothing here. Not yet anyways."

"W-what? How did you?"

The demon chuckled. "Master please. You're hardly the first human I've seen terrified."

"Terrified? Not just scared?"

"Oh yes. You're practically trembling, and look at those knuckles of yours. There as white as bone. If you hold that knife any tighter I'm sure it'll break, enchantment or not. I'm also fairly certain that pebble means you no harm."

The ninja immediately slackened his grip and backed away from the offending rock. "Thanks. What's wrong with me? I've trained in the shadows my entire life. I've fought demons in the day and night. I'm not afraid to die, let alone fight. So why do I feel like this now?"

"Well for one, while it's true you've used the darkness your entire life, you're not of it. Not like some demons are at any rate. Instinctively, you know this, and it terrifies you to your core. That fear lives in the deepest crucible of what it means to be human. It's part of who you are as a species. Do you really think a decade or so of training would be enough to upend that?"

Kaze grimaced. "No, I don't suppose it would. But that's awful. This nervousness will give us away nine times out of ten. We'll be dead in seconds."

"On the contrary, that nervousness has kept humanity alive for a good eternity." Koga said dryly. "But I'm getting off track. The darkness is a part of it, yes, but that's not the main issue. Yes, you've fought demons. Yes, you've fought in the dark. But this is the first time you've ever gone hunting demons, isn't it?"

"Well, I suppose so."

"There. That's the real issue." If Koga had a mouth, Kaze would have bet more money than he had it would have been set in a feral sneer. "Hunting demons is not so easy as fighting them. You are actively seeking out every type of creature your kind has whispered horrors of around a campfire. Every time you've looked at a shadow or jumped at a noise, it's been demons you've thought of. We are in your head. We are primal. We are intrinsic fear. And now, not only are you exploring their territory, but you're looking for those creatures whose very existence is to prey upon your kind, to devour your souls and leave your corpses to wallow away in filth. To move against us, to search us out, goes against everything that you are. It will take more than a week for your soul to overcome the weakness of your flesh." It rested a hand on his shoulder. "But don't worry master. That day will come. I can see the steel already in your eyes. Soon it will be like the knife you hold; sharp, unbreakable, eternal. Trust me, in time you will not break so easily."

"Thank you, I guess." Kaze shook his head. That speech, though encouraging, had not done much to raise his spirits in the short term. "So, there's nothing I can do about it now?"

"Remember that you are the hunter. Not them. The time for running ended the moment you put on that COMP." Koga said solemnly. "And also remember, you have me here. Backing you every step of your journey. My sword is yours to command, Master."

"Thank you Koga. Hmm, wait what is this?" As Kaze had been attempting to dispel the nervousness from his mind, his eyes had picked up on a slight discoloration in the soil beneath his feet. Though the emerald light of the fire distorted its visage, he could tell it wasn't any normal type of powder. "Some kind of ore perhaps?"

"So you think this might be a mine?"

"It would explain the need for tunnels."

"Perhaps. But Master, demons don't need ore. Our weapons are forged from our legends. No self-respecting demon would ever stoop to forging a-" The demon reached down to touch the powder only to recoil from it if burned. Koga let out a hiss as he backed away. "Magnetite. Well that answers one question. Too bad I now I have a million more to replace it."

"Magnetite?" Kaze asked confused.

[A biologically based substance originating from humans. Its primary use is in the facilitation of corporeal bodies for naturally incorporeal beings.]

"It's what demons are made out of." Koga translated. "That COMP of yours has a link to an external reservoir of the stuff."

"Ah. So you can't take physical form without it." Kaze said, understanding dawning.

Koga nodded. "Right. Demons are made of this stuff. With enough of it, you could give form to some of the most powerful demons in existence. Without it, you won't summon anything at all. But…" Kaze could tell from his posture that Koga was in a truly dangerous mood. "Why is it here?!"

"Is it really so surprising?" Kaze asked, taken aback by his demon's vehemence. "We're hunting an organization of demons after all. Why wouldn't they mine a substance that can swell their ranks?"

"Why they would want it makes sense. But…"

[Magnetite is usually only found inside of live humans or recently defeated demons. It's not something you should be able to mine.] burroughsexplained. [Harvest yes, but it's not a mineral that can be found in the earth.]

"What the AI said. The fact that it's here now is disturbing to say the least. If the Assembly found a way to mine Magnetite directly from the earth…"

"They'll summon an army." Kaze finished grimly. "Boroughs, is it safe to take a sample?"

[Yes Master.]

"Then we'll analyze it later." Kaze said as he scooped up the substance. "For now we rendezvous with Lilith and get out before we're noticed."

"Master, I must object…"

"Koga, I understand you wish to fight. But if we can get out without being noticed we'll have critical intel and the element of surprise." Kaze sighed. "Besides, if we overextend now and die, there'll be no one left to warn Corrin-" Three pings from his COMP interrupted him.

[Actually, it appears the choice has been taken away from us. There are three demonic signals closing fast.]

"Looks like we'll be fighting after all." Koga said, sounding annoyingly satisfied. "Any idea what they are?"

[Demons unknown. My analysis feature is still down. My apologies Master.]

"Wonderful." Koga muttered. "Master, your orders?"

"I-" It took him a moment. All his fears from before came back in a rush. And then like a recently doused flame, they disappeared in the face of all the anger, all the resentment, all the powerlessness that had haunted him since Ose had first killed his Queen.

It was time to fight back.

"The ceiling, prepare for an ambush." Kaze commanded, already moving. Using his daggers as a climbing aid Kaze climbed the tunnel wall in an instant, fading into the shadows of the low dark ceiling. The fiery torches served only to help him as it painted everything the same green as his armor.

For a moment, the ninja wondered how long it would take for the enemy to appear. But as it was, fate did not keep him waiting for long. Three monstrous, star shaped beings, each about five feet in diameter with a demented, pale face centered on their black and purple bodies floated just above the ground, rapidly rushing down the passage towards their position.

"What the hell is Berith thinking? Fighting some girl right outside of the harvester… Sounded like he was getting his ass kicked too."

"Quiet!" The second star swore. "He'll be punished later. For now, just worry about the demon she had with her. If the harvester goes down, Vanderheim'll have our hides!"

So, Lilith had been found. Damn. Though it sounded like she was doing fine at least. But still, there was no time to wait. As the star shaped demons passed below him, Kaze pushed off from the ceiling.

Pixie had given Kaze four gifts. The first was his COMP, pretty self-explanatory. The second was a set of pristine black and emerald armor, nicer than anything he had ever seen in either Nohr or Hoshido. The third was the ring that negated mental and darkness based attacks, and the last was a set of twin daggers, one with a fire enchantment and the other an ice infusion. And though they may have looked like simple blades when not in use, they were a sight to behold in combat. It was the last gift that he used now, rushing down onto his victim, his two knives flaring to life with pale blue and crimson light.

The poor demon didn't even see it coming. Kaze tried not to enjoy its scream too much, instead focusing on turning his dive into roll, redirecting the force and using it to propel himself to the wall. There he promptly flipped again before pushing off and striking the demon a second, a third, a fourth time, opening up that hideous face just a little more with each run, the daggers turning the tunnel into a sea of blue and red light.

"W-what?" The demon behind him stuttered in shock as its ally finally had the decency to crumble to dust. "What the hell?!" As Kaze crouched back into a ready position, Koga finally dropped down as well, his twin swords piercing its hide in single flash of silver.

"Hello Kaiwan." Koga gloated, turning to the one remaining Assembly demon. "Wonderful night, ain't it?"

"Koga Saburo? What are you doing here?! Oh. Oh no. Oh nonononono- Don't tell me Ose was-"

"Telling the truth? Fraid so." The golden titan began to stalk towards the final Kaiwan as it cowered before it.

"Koga, stand down."

"Master?" Koga asked in surprise.

Kaze watched as Kaiwan turned and began to fly as fast as possible, probably thinking it could escape while they were talking. That was cute. "This one's mine."

With that Kaze broke out into a run, sprinting after the demon. Though he hadn't given the order, he could hear Koga's footsteps in close pursuit. That was good. Who knew if Kaiwan had anything up its, ehm, nonexistent sleeve. In hindsight, taking this approach hadn't been the smartest thing to do. But he couldn't help himself. This was vengeance, plain and simple. And he was not about to be denied, even by his own subordinate.

Seeing that its pursuers were getting steadily closer, Kaiwan gave up on escape and turned on the ninja, moving startlingly quick for something so large and unseemly. Letting out a spine chilling screech, a blast of black energy crackled beneath Kaze's feet before exploding like a geyser of tar., clinging to his armor and skin like glue. He heard Koga cry out in what might have been alarm as the star shaped demon howled with laughter. "What's wrong human? Never seen a Mudo before? Fool. I get Koga'll still kill me, but at least you're gonna die too!"

Mudo… through the encroaching blackness he realized he had heard that word before. Wait, now he remembered; it was a type of dark magic. Koga had mentioned it when explaining about- The instant he realized what it was he knew what was going to happen a moment before it did. Lowering his stance, Kaze pushed off the ground the moment his ring dispelled the death spell, leaving Koga laughing and Kaiwan sputtering in horror.

But there was no time to bask in his enemy's despair. Instead Kaze moved like lightning at the demon, jumping at the last moment and digging his right knife into one of Kaiwan's spikes. Ignoring the ring of sparks, Kaze swung upwards pulling his knife out from the demon and soaring towards the ceiling where he pushed off again, this time brandishing both of his knives. Fire and ice circled around him in cyclone of magical wrath as he cut his way through the demon on his way back down to earth.

Unlike his first kill, this one didn't need a second pass.

Koga nodded his approval as the final Kaiwan crumbled to dust. "Feeling better now?"

"Yes, much." Kaze answered. "That fear from earlier. It's not all gone. But I can barely sense it. Gods, I feel as though a weight has been lifted. It's like-"

"Like your eyes opened?"

"Kind of. But it's more like I'm completed focused. Like I know what I need to do and how to do it." He shook his head. "But enough of that for now. You heard what they said, Lilith is in trouble."

"Maybe. She's been discovered sure. But they were all going to help fight her. Sounds to me like she's handling herself pretty well." Koga glanced around at where the Kaiwans had been minutes earlier. "Much like yourself."

Kaze nodded. "Nevertheless, we've been discovered. Let's find Lilith and get out before they send someone powerful. Burroughs, can you set a course to Lilith?"

[Of course Master. By the way, you're ready to initiate my Demonic Whisper ability when you have the time.]

"Demonic Whisper?" Kaze asked as a worrying boom resonated from down the hallway. "What was that?"

"Heh, heh. Sounds like we're gonna have some fun." Koga chuckled. "But let's try and keep our heads in the game, shall we? I'll explain the whole Demonic Whisper thing when we're out of this mess." Koga paused for a moment. "By the way… there are probably more demons between us and Lilith. You sure you can handle this?"

"Handle this?" Kaze smiled as the pair broke out into a sprint towards Lilith's beacon. "I'll do my best to make sure you don't get too bored Koga, but if I'm being honest, there might not be too much for you to do."

"Oh ho. It almost sounds like you think you're gonna kill them all before me." Koga laughed. "Damn Master. You know, I could get used to this partnership of ours."

-10 Minutes Earlier-

Lilith was unnerved. Not because of the lights, though they were indeed creepy. Neither was it because of the demon hovering at her shoulder. Oh no, Vouivre might have looked a little weird but she was much nicer than Lilith would ever admit out loud.

What she found unnerving were the fifty or so villagers all seated in some metal thing that was- oh gods above, she wanted to barf just thinking about it. They were… no. The moment she admitted that what she was seeing was true was the moment she would scream and that would mean certain death.

"Lily…" Vouivre whispered. "They're coming out the other side."

One glance told Lilith that she was right. The villagers, heads shaved after their 'surgery' walked out of the back of the machine. But it wasn't a normal stride. It was mechanical, almost as though they were puppets. Every step was uniform, in sync with everyone else's. They- they weren't people anymore. They couldn't be.

"What is this- this thing?" Lilith whispered, barely trusting herself to speak. "Why are they all just letting this machine do this to them?!"

"They aren't thinking straight. Something must be controlling them. Normally it wouldn't be forever but… Whelp, by the time the process is over there's no going back. There's no free will left in em."

For the second time that day, Lilith silently thanked Pixie for the ring on her left hand that blacked all forms of mental attack. "But why? I can see them picking up pickaxes, but there must be a better reason to do this to them than just permanent mind control. There has to be another thing they want."

"You're probably right." Vouivre agreed. "Maybe there's something on the other side of the machine?"

Lilith really didn't want to go anywhere closer to that thing. Strike that; she really, REALLY didn't want to. But if meant getting information they could use to stop this thing from ever happening ever again… well she would just have to deal with it.

Moving as silently as she could, Lilith edged herself around the chamber, careful to stay out of sight from any of the drone-like people who now toiled at the edges, harvesting some type of ore from the tunnel walls.

Eventually she made her way around completely and immediately wished she hadn't. There was a demon standing there. It looked almost human, but there was no mistaking that presence. Wearing teal armor and astride a blood red horse it held a long, wicked spear in its right hand, ready to pierce anything that dared reveal itself. Lilith slipped back behind an ore cart before the demon could find her and signaled for Vouivre to do the same.

"Oh crap!" Vouivre squealed. "Well, that's a problem."

"Bit of an understatement, don't you think?"

"Ya. I guess. But still, how're we gonna deal with this?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?!" Vouivre asked in exasperation. "Lily, if we sit here, he's gonna find us eventually! So let's either beat him up or get out of here!"

"Then shut up and let me think!" Lilith hissed and turned back to the demon on the horse. This time she noticed he wasn't just overseeing the humans in the machine. He was also inspecting a crate connected to it. From where she was crouched she couldn't quite make out what was inside, but it seemed to be giving off some type of red glow. "Vouivre, the machine is making something."

"Making something? Are you sure?"

"I- I think. I'd have to get closer to be certain."

"Hmm… In that case, you get ready, I'll give you a distraction."

"Vouivre, be careful!" Lilith said quickly, but it was too late, the demon had already left.

A moment later there was a sudden crack followed by a torrent of rocks and dirt over where the former-townspeople had been mining the ore. Lilith guessed Vouivre must have used her lightning to trigger a minor cave in. Sensing the disturbance, the knight galloped at full speed to investigate, leaving his prize completed unguarded. Not wanting to waste this chance, Lilith stole over to the crate.

Inside were hundreds of tiny red spheres. They almost looked like the small candies she had seen in the shop windows of the Hoshidan capitol. Unlike normal candies though, these glowed with a faint ruby light. It almost seemed like it was pulsating, like it was alive somehow.

Forcing herself to look away, Lilith snapped a photo with her COMP. "Tico, do you have any idea what these things are?"

[Not currently, milady. I'm ashamed to say Lady Burroughs is far more effective at analyzing such things. I suggest you take a sample for her to examine and then make haste back to Sir Kaze.]

"Are you sure it's safe?"

[Not entirely. But given your gear, it is highly unlikely it would be able to leave any lasting harm.]

"If you say so." Lilith said, pocketing one of the spheres. "Okay then, lets rendezvous with Vouivre and then get back to Kaze."

"Sounds good to me." Vouivre said, appearing at her mistress's side. "That probably won't keep that loser occupied for long. I don't think he really cared about those people."

"Then they're dead?" Lilith asked quietly, already knowing the answer.

Vouivre disappeared into a shower of green light as she returned to the COMP. "I'm sorry Lily, but they were dead the moment they walked out of that machine. At this point I was putting them out of their misery."

"Ya… You're probably right." Lilith said softly as she began to sneak back to the entrance. They had made it about fifty feet when she heard the telltale sound of galloping. Trusting her instincts, she dove to the side even as the lance skewered the space she had been a moment prior.

"So a rat darest intrude upon mine master's domain." The demonic knight said in a cold aristocratic voice. Now that she had a closer look, Lilith could see two flaming orbs in place of eyes hovering on the other side of his visor, each of them alight with fury. "And to think, one of these serfs was able to resist mine lady's song. Such arrogance! To put thine needs above the world's… I will see you punished for-" The demon's glare focused on the COMP at Lilith side. "Well, what do we have here… a young demon tamer is it? I suppose that explains how thou art able to resist our song. How pleased my lord will be when I bring you to him."

"Like hell you will!" Lilith declared, triggering the COMP and unleashing Vouivre on the beast.

The demon's horse reared up on its hind legs as Vouivre shot forth like an arrow, diving underneath his spear and peppering him with lightning. As the knight furiously tried to impale her on his spear, Vouivre dove yet again, her body twisting like a snake around the weapon as she swept at him with her claws. Unfortunately, the demon's armor was thicker than she had anticipated and the blow didn't leave any lasting damage.

Lilith started towards the fight, only for Tico's voice to pierce its way into her skull. [Milady, I am booting up the Skill Crack application now, please make your selection.]

"Tico, we're in the middle of- Skill Crack, what are you-" Lilith was cut off by lines of text flashed across the COMP's screen. "Heat Wave, Maragi, Hellfire, what are these?"

[Milady, just pick one and I'll explain later. Vouivre needs your help!]

"One glance up told Lilith he was right, Vouivre was still fighting but in the seconds since she's last looked, the enemy had managed to land two glancing blows to her right arm and sternum and as a result was significantly slower than before. Her movements were less crisp, her attacks less precise. She wouldn't last like this; it was only a matter of time before the knight got lucky.

Tapping the first option on the screen, Lilith called out to Vouivre. "Get back into the tunnel! It'll limit his movement!" As the demon turned towards the voice, Lilith force fed it a burst of Astral breath, the almighty energy singing his armor black and knocking him away from her friend.

Flapping her wings a little slower than usual, Vouivre returned to Lilith's side as the two sprinted towards the narrow part of the tunnel network. "Thanks… almost… ate it there."

"Don't worry about it." Lilith answered, swiftly using her powers to heal some of Vouivre's wounds as they ran away from the demon. "But why isn't he following us? He almost had us."

"Who said I wasn't following you?" A voice called out from behind them. Not wasting a moment, Vouivre grabbed Lilith and flew the two of them at the ceiling, barely getting out of the way in time but knocking the wind out of the young manakete. As Lilith struggled to catch her breath, Vouivre fired another Zionga at the knight.

As he took the lightning to the back, the demon let out a sharp and satisfying scream. Turning his steed around, the demon glowered at them. "A narrow passage is a double edged blade my dear. True you managed to get that hit in. It's true; I have less room to maneuver. But you too have less room to dodge as well. Tell me, who do you think will be more limited by this arrangement?"

Lilith didn't answer, instead choosing to glare at the demon in defiance.

"There is a fire in you, I will give you that. Thou could very well cause us trouble in future should I allow it." The knight began to charge. "But it will not come to that. SO SAYETH BERITH, KNIGHT OF THE ASSEMBLY OF NIHLO!"

This time the demon did not merely charge though. This time, it launched a barrage of fire, melting the ceiling to slag before swinging his spear. The weapon flared with an orange light, before emitting a shockwave that caught the newly formed magma in the air, turning it into a torrent of molten shrapnel.

Instinctually, Lilith fired another breath attack to intercept, but it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. The lava she missed hit her right leg, causing her to scream as it the heat, failing to melt her armor, resolved merely to burn her through it. Vouivre, hearing her cry tried to get to her, only for Berith to pierce her with his spear. By some miracle she had managed to twist herself at the last millisecond to avoid a fatal blow, but the attack had still crippled her. Realizing the battle was one, Berith tossed her aside like a piece of trash.

"No…" Vouivre whispered. "Lily… run."

Lilith surveyed the scene in horror. This was familiar. She was going to lose, again. Again and again and again, she always seemed to end up losing. At first it had been to Anankos's spirit and those four interlopers from Ylisse. Then it had been Arete and her Vallite guard. Then Ose, then Fort Dragonfall, then Ose again, there was no end to it. Why was her entire life just losing! She would have been ready to give up on it all if it hadn't been for those around her. Corrin, Kaze, Vouivre, Pixie, they were all depending on her now. She wasn't in this alone, not anymore. They had put their faith in her and she couldn't let that mean nothing! There had to be some way to win. There just had to be!

"There's no way you can win. You're just another pest. An insect who lives merely to serve my eminence. My majesty. So be a good little girl and kneel before your god."

The memory of her father's voice was what finally broke her free of her trance. Growling with all the anguish that she had felt ever since that sick, twisted creature brought her into this world, Lilith focused everything she had into her Astral Breath. Focusing all of her power, all of her rage and hurt into a single attack. She probably wouldn't be able to move afterwards, but at this point she didn't care.

It was like a star had decided to go nova inside of the cave, the light was so bright. It was a brilliant, deep blue, the kind of which the Hoshidan summer sky could only wish it was. At first she was surprised, even at her best she had never been capable of something like this. Then she saw Vouivre grasping her ankle, feeding her power even while Tico was doing his best to modify her spiritual wavelength to maximize damage. She had been right. She wasn't alone anymore. And this team was doing everything they could to help her.

Then she saw it.

In the midst of the light, Lilith saw an orange pinprick begin to expand, growing larger and larger until it was as big as her, then it grew larger still. Then, with cataclysmic roar, the blast of Hellfire crumpled Lilith's breath attack like a paper doll, slamming her into the wall behind her with a sickening thud. Vouivre barely had enough time to get between Lilith and the flame, ignoring her own pain so she could activate her Null Fire ability the instant before Berith's attack would have scorched her to ashes.

As she slumped off the wall, Lilith tried not to focus on the sharp throbbing pain that had consumed her body. Instead she grabbed the nearest portion of the wall, now smooth from all of the energy attacks, and forced herself to her feet. This wasn't over yet. Not while she could still stand!

She had just finished telling that to her knife like pain when she heard something entirely unexpected.

"N… eed. Help." Lilith was surprised to hear the words coming from her enemy. "Th-is is Berith. At… Harvester. Girl. Demon tamer. Send… aid. Hurry."

It was then she realized; the fire attack hadn't been his triumphant victory, quite the opposite. It had been a last desperate attempt to vanquish his enemy before he had been overwhelmed. Even now, his once shining armor, was a mosaic of cracks, dents, and holes. Parts of it were melted to slag. His horse was simply gone, erased by Lilith, Vouivre, and Tico's combined wrath. He was simply no longer the demon he had been, just a barely functioning pile of metal scraps.

[Lady Lilith, hurry! Finish him off!] Tico urged. [We have to activate Skill Crack before more enemies come!]

"Tico's right, quick while you have the chance." Vouivre agreed, limping over and patting Lilith on the back. "Normally I'd be a little irritated that I don't get land the final blow, but for you Lily, I'll make an exception if you heal me. Now come on, do it. Quickly."

Lilith held up a hand towards Berith. She felt almost empty. That last attack had used up most of her strength, she was as tired as she would have been after marching all day, and that was with saying nothing about her battle damage. But they were right, this needed to end. Now.

What remained of Berith's body disintegrated in the face of the blue light, leaving Lilith, Vouivre, and Tico alone once more. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Lilith head a voice softly mutter the words 'Skill Cracked.'

[Well done milady! Truly excellent work.] Tico chirped happily. [Superb, simply superb! Now shall I equip the Heat Wave attack for you? I see no reason why not as you have no other skills currently equipped, but it is a butler's place to ask all the same. We can't have me being presumptions, now can we?]

"Heat Wave? This again?" Lilith asked between gasping for air. Damn her head really hurt. "You never did explain that."

"Yes, equip it." Vouivre interrupted, giving Lilith a glance that clearly said, 'Talk later, escape now.' "We'll go over all the intricacies of how to use the Skill Crack feature after we get back to the surface. Even though that should have been the first thing we spoke about." The last part was mumbled as Vouivre glared at the COMP.

[It's not my fault! Miss Pixie told me not to overwhelm her!]

"Just cause Pixie told you to baby Shin's sister does not mean you hold out on me!"

[Don't you mean Lady Lilith?]

"Did I stutter?"

"Both of you, quiet." Lilith commanded. She could hear what sounded like footsteps coming from down the tunnel in the direction they'd been running away from. Reinforcements were coming. "Tico equip it as we run."

[Understood. Three, two, one, and equipped.]

Lilith wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but it sure as heck wasn't the influx of knowledge from the COMP into her head that she experienced. Training and experiences she had never participated in flooded her consciousness, merging with her sense of being without her permission. And though it felt like an eternity, it was over in an instant. Before she could think twice, a crimson blade of energy sprung to life in her hand, and in a moment of panic, she slammed it against the wall, causing the blade to send out a shockwave of orange light and concussive force.

As the shockwave cascaded into the already unstable tunnel, Vouivre wolf whistled. "In hindsight, we probably shoulda remembered Lily is also a Manakete." Vouivre observed. "If her brother, who was an arch demon with 3000 years' combat experience can't control the two types of magic at once, they probably don't play all that nicely together. Tico unequip the skill before she hurts her-"

"No."

"Huh?"

"No," Lilith repeated, breathing heavily, "I can do this." With a nigh herculean effort Lilith forced the blade back down, back into her mind where it had come, all the while focusing on keeping the screaming manakete part of her brain from going haywire. It was like hauling a cart through mud in the dead of winter, but somehow she was able to do it, sheathing the blade in her subconscious. In the moment before it was completely gone, it throbbed a single time. In that moment, somehow she knew that it would come back to her if she called it. It was hers now. A part of her whether she liked it or not. With her job complete, she flashed Vouivre a small, yet satisfied smile. "See, I told you."

Vouivre was flabbergasted. "I- I- just wow. I mean… I never doubted you Lily. Okay, maybe I did a little… Okay a lot. But I am SUPER happy you were able to do it! And though, you might need some practice in the future. Wouldn't want to accidentally bring the house down. Speaking of which…" It was just now that Lilith noticed the crackling noise hadn't stopped when she had put the sword away. "Can we finally leave this terrible place?"

The first piece of the tunnel had just fallen when they broke out into a run for the exit. The second came soon after. The third and fourth and fifth blended together as the cave in turned from problematic to deadly. Not wasting any time, Lilith and Vouivre moved as fast as they while injured, Lilith sparing what little power she had left to heal the more egregious wounds. For a moment, Lilith wondered how they would be able to warn Kaze about the collapse in time, but almost immediately after the thought had crossed her mind, they practically ran right into the emerald ninja and his demon.

"Lilith, are you alright? We heard that you fought a demon and-" Kaze began only for Lilith cut him off midsentence, grab him by the arm and forcefully drag him back the way he had come.

"Tunnel collapsing, no time to talk!" Vouivre piped in as she blasted a rock that had been about to fall on them.

Taking them at their word, Kaze and Koga refrained from any more talking as the group made their way to the exit as fast as possible. Even with their demons help, they only barely made it in time, throwing themselves out of the gateway as it crumbled down around them.

For a moment there was silence. Then a titanic roar as the ground in the town seemed to shift downward two feet seemingly all at once, taking most, if not all, the town buildings with it. Then, all was silent again.

"Is… is it over?" Lilith asked to no particular.

"That depends." Kaze answered. "Koga, can we be sure that the entire tunnel is buried?"

"No Master, I don't think we can."

"Change that."

"With pleasure." Koga replied, blasting the remnants of the gate with a Zandyne leagues stronger than the one he had used before. There was nothing stealthy or restrained about this attack. There was a colossal roar several magnitudes worse than the one moments earlier as the rippling force collapsed the ground all throughout the town another ten feet. When the smoke finally cleared, what had once been a town had been reduced to a quarry of rubble, with two humans sitting on a singular island of safety. "There. Now it's finished."

"Subtle." Vouivre remarked dryly.

"Well at least I chose to destroy it. I didn't bring the tunnel down by accident."

"Hey! Not fair! Lily still isn't used to Skill Crack!"

"Quiet, both of you!" Lilith cut in sharply. Turning to Kaze her tone softened considerably. "Are you alright?"

He nodded. "Yea. We faced off with a couple demons, but it was nothing we couldn't handle. Besides," Kaze held up a pouch of what Lilith recognized as the ore the villagers had been mining. "We found some interesting stuff. Koga says it's called Magnetite. It's used to summon demons and give them physical form."

Lilith took the bag and looked at it carefully. After a moment, she felt her stomach lurch. "And they can make demons with this?! Kaze, I saw them actually mining it. They had cart loads of this stuff! And that was just in the room I saw. If they can use it to summon more demons…"

"I know." Kaze said. "Trust me I know." He glanced around at the rubble. "Though, it looks like we won't have to worry about that for a while." His expression darkened. I don't suppose you ever did find the villagers, huh? They were the reason we originally set off on this little escapade of ours."

Lilith looking away in shame told Kaze all he needed to know. Sighing, he rested a hand on her shoulder. "I know this must hurt, trust me I feel the same way but-"

"NO! I mean no, it's not that its… It's just that… I…" Lilith struggled to find the words to explain the horror that machine had inflicted onto those poor people. Eventually she decided to just take out the small red orb she had taken from Berith.

Surprisingly, it wasn't Kaze who reacted first. Koga gasped as the ruby orb came into view. "That sphere… You saw the machine then, didn't you?"

Surprised, Lilith could only nod. Then, even more surprisingly, the demon rested a hand on Lilith's shoulder. "I am so sorry you had to endure that. No one should have to see what that hellish contraption does."

"What happened?" Kaze asked, his vice filled with worry.

Koga shook his head. "Later. I'll tell you when we're alone. I won't force the girl to relive what she saw, not now at any rate." His voice hardened as he motioned towards the orb. "Be that as it may, we do have a serious problem on our hands. That thing is a type of food for demons, formed from human neurotransmitters, or brain parts if that makes more sense."

"Food." Lilith's voice was as hollow as the pit that had grown in her stomach. "Then that means-"

"Yes." Koga said grimly. "Magnetite to summon demons. Red Spheres to feed them. Whomever we're dealing with has gathering everything they needed to build an army."

Author's Note-

Ya, so clearly the 3 to 4 weeks thing didn't happen. Sorry, that one's completely on me. I hope the longer chapter at least partially makes up for it though.

As long as it took, this one was a blast to write. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did!

In case anyone was wondering, here are the current stats for Kaze and Lilith:

Kaze: Level 31

COMP- Gauntlet

Guide- Burroughs (Demonic Whisper)

Resist- Wind

Null- Dark, Mind

Skills- None

Demon(s)- Koga Saburo

Lilith: Level 28

COMP- Phone

Guide- Male Tico (Skill Crack)

Resist- None

Null- Dark, Mind

Skills- Astral Breath, Astral Blessing, Heat Wave

Demon(s)- Vouivre

See you guys next time!

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

Next Time- Corrin and Azura attend a tea party, Kaze and Lilith make a difficult decision, and Iago throws a hissy fit. So... basically business as usual.