Despite everyone's worry and Kanan and Mari's insistence that Nozomi should stay resting until they were sure nothing adverse was going to happen to her, Nozomi found herself restless. One would think that after their body undergoing such a ritual, she would be fatigued, broken and aching, but that didn't seem to be the case. She already wanted to make plans, her mind going a thousand miles a minute. She was aware of her higher capabilities and she was almost itching to prove it.

But she also knew that she had to be subdued. Due to the fact that Kanan didn't have any available information in the form of writing or books, they couldn't be too sure of side effects or what additional capabilities had been added, what skills had been enhanced, or how much things affected her mind. But that, to her, was partially all the more reason to actually push onwards. She needed to figure out what she could do that she couldn't do before and what she could do better, so Kanan decided it was best to cut Nozomi a deal.

She would offer Nozomi a week's training, to get a handle on just that. Nozomi didn't want to agree on any time frames, due to the nature of what was happening in her kingdom and now knowing how quickly it would spread, but deep down, she knew that Kanan was right. Nozomi had first enquired about weapons, to which Dia had spoken up.

"Somewhere down the line, before the Kurosawas were merchants, we did have heritage in demon slaying and exorcising. I can't quite remember how old they are, but," Dia shrugged, leading Kanan, Mari and Nozomi into a store room of sorts, "They'll probably be of more use to you then they are in here."

It took her a few moments, but Dia retrieved a neat looking piece of cloth, bound and covering up something. Dia took it to a nearby desk and placed the candle down on the surface, trying her best to wipe away some of the dust before she stood aside, "Nozomi-san," She said, bowing her head for just a second, "You should be the one to do this, I think."

No one seemed to have any doubts and Nozomi stepped in front of the desk, carefully undoing the bow and unfolding the cloth to reveal two daggers in sheaths, the leather aged but intact and stitched with care, golden embossing making up identical crests of a fox on both. Nozomi was inclined to go further, but she looked to Dia, "I can touch them?"

"Yes, of course," She said with a nod.

She picked one of them up, surprisingly lightweight in her hand before pulling the weapon out of its sheath, the blade slightly curved with a sharp point. The metal handle appeared to have had gold leaf on it at some point, but it had all rubbed off with age. It would need sharpening, but that was to be expected. Other than that, to Nozomi, it felt perfect, the weight, the length and the elegance it carried itself with.

"I can't tell if it's to your liking or not, but I hope it's enough. Or at least something."

"They're perfect," Nozomi said, placing the one in her hand back in the sheath and checking the other one, finding it was just about identical to the first, "I cannot thank you enough."

"It's nothing, really…"

Nozomi took both of the weapons in their sheaths and then put them in place, patting them to make sure they were secure. She noted how they would be concealed when she was wearing her robe and when enough due thanks were given (even then, Nozomi felt like it wasn't enough), Kanan took her out towards the spacious back garden.

"So… First question and I know how stupid it might sound, but do you know how to fight?"

Nozomi only chuckled, "It's not stupid. But yes, I do."

"Oh, really?" Kanan said, sounding almost surprised, "Ah- Well… I didn't meant to sound so surprised, it's just that-"

"No, I understand. No one really expects me to know how to fight. It's better for me that way to be honest, people end up underestimating me. Royalty and former royalty alike fall into the trap of relying on others for protection."

"So can you show me?" Kanan said, getting into a ready position, both arms raised.

"Well, you're probably better than me," Nozomi said following suit.

"I'm not going to strike back, just evaluate your form to start off with."

Nozomi nodded at that in fairness, advancing and delivering a few punches which Kanan deflected and blocked with little effort, not that she was unimpressed with her. Kanan had trained and kept her skills polished from a young age, but Nozomi still had to shake her rust off.

But Nozomi felt a sudden need to push Kanan and perhaps surprise her for a second, so she gave two swift hits in succession and managed to take Kanan off guard and strike her in the chest, to which Kanan jumped.

"Oh, I didn't realise we were playing it like that," She said, a smirk growing on her face.

"Well, I have to throw in a few surprises here and there, eh? Besides, I'm not an old hag yet." She chuckled, sending a wink Kanan's way.

"We can take it a bit further, can't we in that case?" Kanan said, jabbing at Nozomi, which brushed by her as she barely managed to dodge it in time, "Done enough dancing in the royal ballroom?"

Nozomi chuckled and rolled her eyes, "Sure I have."

What had started was a mere test of Nozomi's skills had soon turned into a sparring match, with the both of them deflecting and dodging blows, but also not able to prevent themselves from being hit occasionally. Even though they both made sure to pull their punches, there was definitely a degree of healthy competition.

Then, Nozomi aimed a strike that, if hit, she would just allow her hand to brush past Kanan's head, just to prove that she could do it, more to herself, than to Kanan. And when Kanan failed to deflect the strike, there was a sudden flash in both their minds.

Nozomi saw Kanan, undoubtedly younger, feeling as though she wasn't there and was merely watching a disembodied vision. She couldn't pin how much younger Kanan was, perhaps early teens or even before, sniffling and stood before the corpse of a demon, her blade dripping a black ooze, with a younger Mari stood behind her, equally as shaken.

It was only a brief flash, but Nozomi was soon returned to her own body and Kanan stood stunned in front of her. Subconsciously, Nozomi brought her hand to the inverted pentagram and glanced away, "I'm sorry. I don't know what I really did, but I'm sorry."

"Ah, it's…" Kanan dropped her arms to her sides, "I suppose it's fine. It's not your fault." She said, briefly rubbing where Nozomi had touched her.

"Maybe I'll have to get some gloves…"

"Well, we should probably move on," Kanan said, wanting to move away from the topic, frowning to herself, "You know how to handle those daggers?"

"I'll need to work on it a little bit, but I can get a handle on it easily enough, I'm sure."

Nozomi had trained with disarming and using the weapon against the assailant, but it was never the main focus. Of course, Nozomi would only be practicing on dummies, simple stabs to start off with and over the course of the week, evolving into slashes and dodges.

Kanan put her worryingly fast learning and skills down to the ritual. Nozomi had since taken off the bandage on the second day of training, the symbol being fully healed and quite clean looking mark, all things considered. Mari was diligently noting any kinds of effects, both positive and negative whenever she could and whenever Nozomi would permit her. But Nozomi was willing to tell her whenever she felt things were changing and so on.

As the end of the week approached, Nozomi did experience a few difficulties with her body adjusting to the shock of the ritual, such as dizziness, nausea, headaches and a few hallucinations. Nothing too major, even if Mari did look worried at the mention of hallucinations. But they had been minor, just things out of the corner of her eye and things that weren't really there that were inanimate. Riko had also been doing checkups to make sure there was nothing outwardly wrong with her.

By the end of the week, Kanan seemed especially impressed at her prowess, but whilst that was true, things had spread and gotten worse. Influence was now spreading across oceans and kingdoms and there was little to nothing that could be done thus far and it wasn't a huge problem.

That was, until Ruby had come back home in a panic from the market, immediately running to Dia. The palace had finally fallen and the city would be next. Upon being told this, Nozomi immediately ran out towards the markets before anyone could stop her, throwing on her robe and keeping her blades hidden.

She'd found that the guard at the gate had fled and so Nozomi felt there was little else she could do except leave it partially open. She was hoping that the panic wouldn't spread to the upper districts that far.

The weather was turning bad and Nozomi couldn't help but feel it wasn't natural, soon coming to the market, which held swathes full of bodies. She shook her head and carefully stepped over them, before soon spotting three figures and Nozomi put in special efforts to catch up and figure out who they were.

She hit behind the crier's stage and peeked out from behind the wood. Three of them, as she had thought and now that she focused, she could see they had horns. It clicked immediately who they were, but she couldn't go in when she barely knew what they were capable of. Then, one of them suddenly halted, Nozomi immediately noticing her dark blue hair. She'd have to put characteristics to appearances to start figuring things out about them, even if she harboured a white hot rage towards them.

The devil gestured the two of them to carry on, one with red hair and another with brown, and they both did as they were told without questioning her. She turned on her heel and began to walk back the way they came and towards the stage. Nozomi could sense that she was coming closer and daren't look.

Then, an arrow shot through the wood beside her head and she knew her cover was blown. With a sigh, she stepped out from behind the stage, only a few meters away from someone with such a piercing stare, she wouldn't be surprised if she dropped dead then and there.

Nozomi shrugged, "Well, you have me where you want me."

"Mm," She grunted, raising her hand and making a vague flicking motion and Nozomi's hood fell down, "I knew it was you."

"You know me?"

"Of course I do. And you know who and what I am."

"I know for a fact who's responsible for this," Nozomi said, gesturing to a body face down beside her.

"That wasn't all me, but," She shrugged and sighed, "Sometimes people get in your way. So tell me. What brings a disgraced queen here?"

Nozomi raised an eyebrow at the last part, but she didn't let it get under her skin, "Well, I couldn't very well stay in the castle, no?"

"I suppose not. But that's a roundabout way of answering the question." She said, folding her arms.

"Can I at least know who I'm talking to first?" Nozomi said, trying to start learning and putting a face to what information the demon had told them before.

"That's fair," She said, scrutinising her for a brief second, "Sonoda Umi."

Nozomi tried not to let it show on her face that she was surprised she was speaking to the leader, the one who brought them all together. In fact, she wasn't particularly enthused. It would've been nice to deal with one of the lesser devils first instead, like Koizumi or Hoshizora.

But Umi had caught on immediately, "I know what you're trying to do. And for the sake of your health, that you've probably already jeopardised, I'd recommend you cease."

"What if I don't? What if I've already taken an undoable step down the path?"

A look on Umi's face told Nozomi that she already knew she had, "Then there'll be a fate worse than death or torture awaiting you."

"Threats, is it? Are you actually going to fight me or just spew words at me?" Nozomi said, letting some of her resentment bleed into her voice.

"If I were to fight you, you'd be dead before you hit the ground. And I have my pride. Crushing a gnat isn't satisfying to me."

"So I'll prove myself," Nozomi said, daring to take a step forward, "And you'll regret ever having travelling to this realm."

Umi let out an amused huff, glancing over her shoulder, "What you're going to do doesn't concern me. I have business to attend to. Places to go, kingdoms to destroy, you see? You're going to suffer through this as much as the rest of humanity will. Killing you would only cut that short."

Nozomi only grunted, watching as Umi turned her back and went in the direction of the other two who had long since disappeared, feeling nothing but anger and powerlessness as she simply let her leave. But deep down, she knew Umi was correct. Their fight would be unbalanced and she would die when she'd barely even begun. Umi had been instrumental in the death of her wife and felt nothing for it.

Nozomi had promptly returned, as much heartache as it caused her. She took a bit of paper, a quill and some ink and wrote up the names of the seven targets she had to get through.

"Koizumi"

"Hoshizora"

"Nishikino"

"Minami"

"Kousaka"

"Yazawa"

"Sonoda"

She let it rest on the desk, staring daggers at the names before shaking her head. She couldn't get ahead of herself. She had to think, to plan, to rationalise and to be patient.

From what the demon had told them, Koizumi sounded like the easiest target. She would need to check a few things though beforehand. She didn't even know the location of any of them too precisely. She knew that Maki was within the kingdom, as was Sonoda, but she didn't know who the brunette was.

"Nozomi-san?"

Her attention snapped away from the list and she straightened herself up, "Ah, Dia-san. Is everything alright?"

"I was just wondering if you needed anything. And if you were okay after seeing the marketplace…"

Nozomi's expression turned into a genuine smile, "I'm fine, thank you. But there is something you could do for me," She said, approaching her, "I need to speak with your demon."

Dia made an uneasy expression, "I… Don't really know how to call upon it. It just sort of pops up sometimes. It might be able to hear you, but I'm not sure."

Nozomi glanced at her hand for a second, "If this doesn't work it's going to seem very strange, but hear me out," She said and before Dia could speak, she pressed a thumb against her forehead and the next moment Dia closed her eyes, they were open again, dark blue flooding through.

"Ah-! Bloody hell!" The demon snapped, "What's all this about? I was just taking a nap…"

"My apologies, but I need information. Do you know of a brown haired devil?"

"Yes. That one. It's Koizumi," The demon said indignantly, "Was that it? You couldn't have waited?"

"No. Things have spread to this kingdom too. I needed to identify one of the devils before they had a chance to move on or anything like that."

The demon fell silent for a few seconds at that revelation, "Well… Is there anything else you want to know? Or can I go back?"

"Yes, yes, you can go back," Nozomi sighed, turning her back on Dia for a second as she walked her way back to her desk, Dia slumping against the doorframe for a moment.

"Did you just…?"

"Yep. Sorry if that was wrong of me."

"It's okay. I understand." Dia said, pausing briefly, "Erm… Can I ask you something? What was she like?"

Nozomi turned back to her, her expression now more pained, "About Elichi?"

Dia nodded silently and Nozomi pulled the seat at her desk back, "What can I really say about my wife that hasn't been repeated over a thousand cliches before? You were a fan of hers I take it?"

"I was a 'fan' I suppose, of the both of you," Dia said with a shrug, "It never really crossed my mind that anything like this would happen."

"I don't really think anyone could've foreseen this, aside from a very talented fortune teller. But now," Nozomi stood, "We have to make the most of the situation we're in. Or at the very least, find a way to fight back."

"Mm. Sorry if I brought back bad memories," Dia said, looking apologetic.

"It's alright, Dia-san. It's good to talk about these kinds of things anyway. And I'd rather be open than closed to people who are trying to help me. Right now though, I need to talk to Kanan-san."

Dia nodded and stood aside so that Nozomi could leave down the corridor, "She was just in the kitchen with Mari."

Nozomi nodded and headed there, opening up the door slowly, "Kanan-san? Sorry to disturb."

"Oh, it's fine, you're not disturbing us," Kanan said, turning to lean against the counter, "Something you want to talk about?"

"Ah, yeah," Nozomi said, shutting the door behind herself, "You've heard about the marketplace I take it?"

Kanan frowned, "Yeah… Dia told us about it, from Ruby-chan."

"I'm going to investigate the castle tonight. Something tells me they'll be using that as a base of operations, or at the very least one of them assigned to a kingdom."

"Do you want us to come along?" Kanan asked, glancing to Mari, but Nozomi shook her head.

"I don't see that as the best idea. These are beyond demons. Besides, this is something that's becoming more and more personal to me."

"We understand… But if you ever need any help, then don't hesitate to ask. It is our fight too." Mari said, glancing to Kanan for quick affirmation.

"I'll gladly take the help if I ever need it. I'll see you both tomorrow."

Nozomi had warned Riko of her plan, just in case when she came back she was in an awful state, but that was the least of her worries. If she did intend to face a devil head on, fighting who was perceived to be the weakest seemed like the best idea. With luck, Nishikino and Sonoda would move on and leave Koizumi to this kingdom. With not so much luck, Sonoda would stay, or even worse, all three of them. But it would only be a scout if that were the case, even if it seemed that Sonoda could tell where she was.

Nozomi headed out that night, under the cover of darkness. There was an awful stench in the air, permeating from the bodies left to rot in the streets now that no one dared to clean them up and there was no government to fix things. She held her sleeve to her nose and pushed on, skirting around the marketplace and looking up at the castle. Larger than which one she would formerly call her own, but smaller was humbler and cosier and she honestly preferred it to what now gave off a cold aura. But the situation with this castle was very different to her former home, especially now.

She braved the steps of the castle, then pushed the wooden door open with ease, having momentarily forgotten her own strength, boots hitting the tiled floor and echoing in an uncomfortable silence. She could tell the interior had become twisted, statues with once proud faces and poses having become portraits of misery instead. The paintings looked singed and some even reduced to ashes below their golden frames and the ground below her had become slightly uneven, with tiles and stone raised and lowered beyond any kind of reasonable craftsmanship or amount of time they had been there.

There was a strange aura in the castle, reverberating through the walls, but Nozomi couldn't feel Sonoda's presence. Maybe that was just a trick of the energy here though, so she couldn't let her guard down. But there was something amidst the slight trickery, something that grew with each step closer. Strangely enough, it didn't feel very hostile, as she had felt from Nishikino prior and it wasn't as downright malicious as Sonoda. It was… Timid.

'Ah,' Nozomi thought, recalling the demon's descriptions, 'Koizumi perhaps?'

She was now beginning to approach the throne room, but she noticed that the layout of the castle was still twisted, so she couldn't have been too sure. She had been here once or twice on a few royal occasions and balls, namely with Eli of course.

For a brief second, out of the corner of her eye, she could swear that she could see the ballroom again, but it was just her and Eli. No one else, no band, just the two of them facing each other, fingers intertwined, Eli's hand on Nozomi's back, with Nozomi's hand on Eli's shoulder.

But now wasn't the time to reminisce. Irritably, she thumbed beneath her eye to make sure there wasn't even the hint of a tear threatening to spill over as she made her way to a set of double doors once again. The journey from the front door had been elongated, she knew that much. No main hall was as spacious as that and even from the outside, it didn't look like much had changed.

Upon opening the next door, Nozomi only found an identical corridor to the one she had traversed before. She paused for just a moment, just to gather her bearings and then rubbed the symbol above her chest in slight irritation. Attempts at slowing her down would only make things worse for whoever intended to face her at the end of all this.

She figured that the corridor was looping and began to investigate other doors around the room, her muscles growing tenser, but thankfully the presence she felt somewhere within the castle didn't seem as though it was getting closer. She had no intention of giving up and thus, made her way to the nearest door, from what she remembered, it was only to a storeroom, but with the castle the way it was, anything could happen and she was sure of it.

Besides, there was a little feeling in her head that told her this was the right way and she confidently threw the door open. Well, at least it wasn't another identical corridor, she thought, as she headed through, now just a smaller room with a lit chandelier. As her back was turned, the door slammed shut and she looked out of instinct, only to find that there was no door, or at least, the door had just disappeared. No visible exits.

But it still wasn't that she intended to give up or rot away here. She felt along the walls until coming across a strange set of stones in the wall, with little to nothing joining them together. Cautiously, she worked a finger through the gaps between them. There was nothing to hold them up, so what could it have been? There was a strange force and Nozomi stepped back, scrutinizing before her pentagram held a slight burning sensation, then it spread to her shoulder and down her arm to her fingertips.

Her initial reaction was a small panic, something that she felt was beyond her control, but she realised it was a part of her now and she was the one in control, not whatever she had let into her body at all. She raised her hand and held them up to the stones and they began to move apart, quite slowly and heavily but this was something she would probably need to practice with. Soon enough, another area was open to her.

She spotted the throne, somewhat shrouded amongst the dim candlelight. She couldn't see any figures around, but this was certainly where the presence lay. She walked to the bottom of the steps and glanced around, taking off her robe and throwing it to the side, "One of you is here, I know that for a fact."

"Can you promise me something?" A voice came from somewhere that she couldn't quite pinpoint, even as she looked around the room; the entirety of it.

"Depends on the promise," She responded cautiously, drawing her blades, but keeping them by her sides.

"When I show myself, don't attack."

"What games are you playing?" Nozomi said, managing a humourless laugh, "Only if you promise not to attack me either, but I don't know how good your word is."

"L-look…" In a puff of dark green smoke, the brunette she recognised from earlier appeared, "I just want to talk."

Nozomi faced her with her full body, her facial expression wearing somewhat tired now that she was blades reach within a culprit of this whole situation. But Nozomi was a person of her word. Sadly.

"And what's there to talk about? How you drove my lover to near madness and have ripped the mortal world to shreds?"

"I-it isn't what you think... " She flinched, realising that wasn't the proper choice of words, "I mean… I'm not what you think."

Nozomi raised the blade to point at her, "You better be a fast talker."

"Right…" She nodded, her expression faltering, "I never intended to be a part of this… O-or even a part of their group…"

"You're telling me you were dropped in such a group at such a status by mistake?"

"No… No mistakes. Only force," She said, shaking her head.

"And you want me to be sympathetic, because…?"

"I'm… I'm not asking you to be sympathetic, but I want to help…"

"To help?" Nozomi raised an eyebrow, "And why would I trust your help in any way, shape or form?"

"I can prove to you that I'm not wholly bad. I didn't start off as a devil," She said, shaking her head, "I-I'm an angel… Technically fallen, I suppose…" She fiddled with her hands, as though highly embarrassed at what she had become.

Nozomi blinked in her direction, not being able to stop herself from lowering her blade with a frown, "I need proof. Forgive me if it's hard to imagine you as one of the harbingers of salvation. Even then, fallen angels are no longer those."

She paused for a second and a pair of wings unfolded from her back, grey feathers instead of white, but definitely proof. Nozomi reached out to touch them to make sure it wasn't a simple illusion and whilst the devil flinched, she allowed Nozomi to perform her test, before she grunted out a begrudging approval.

"Let's say I trust you. What will you do to help me? And possibly most importantly, why?"

"I'll feed you information… About whereabouts and abilities and so on, b-but I might ask for a few favours… Nothing too big though! As for why," She looked away for a second, "This is all wrong… Both Heaven and Hell right now. In-In my eyes, Umi-chan's gone too far and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want a little bit of revenge."

"Koizumi, correct?" When Hanayo nodded, she continued, "Your favours. Tell me about them."

"They're nothing specific… Just little things I might want you to do, but you don't have to. My first one, is erm… Don't hurt Rin-chan."

"Why not?" Nozomi asked, folding her arms, only one blade unsheathed now.

"She doesn't… Doesn't mean to be bad, I suppose. It's more like the world's a bit of a playground to her… I was her and Maki-chan's friend, before they, well… They didn't know what I was until after they'd made their deals." Hanayo said, seeming sad to recall the story.

As much as it was difficult to swallow and a massive risk to be trusting one of the enemy, her instincts were telling her that Hanayo wasn't inherently evil. Regardless of the details causing her to fall into this mess, the little voice and her manifested instincts after the ritual were believing that she was telling the truth.

"One final test," Nozomi said, looking at her hand before raising it to Hanayo, slightly surprised to see that she wasn't cowering back or anything like that. She touched her head, like she had done with Kanan and a flash came to her, a bombardment of memories, but it was no accident the ones she were being shown.

All within a second, she received the memories of Hanayo being talked to sternly by Umi, spending a night somewhat unwillingly with Kotori and with one recurring name being told to her over and over again.

"The mediator."

Nozomi shook her head and let her arm return to her side, not allowing her expression to falter amidst the barrage of memories, if not a little bit of emotional bleed as well, "Fine. I'll take some pity on you. I need your name."

"Koizumi Hanayo," She said meekly and Nozomi grunted an approval.

"Right. Toujou Nozomi, as you probably know. And the deal will go on my terms."

"Fair enough…" She nodded.

"So, you said you'd give me information? You cannot inform the rest of them what you're telling me, directly or indirectly. If you do, deal's over and I'll hunt you down like I want intending to do before. Your favours are at my discretion and when I'm done with your group, you'll go peacefully with them."

As much as Hanayo knew she was getting the bad deal, in order for her to redeem herself and seemingly only to herself and to ensure balance of the realms, she knew she had to accept the deal in front of her. Besides, she didn't mind too much, as long as Nozomi accepted and she wasn't being unpleasantly forced back into Hell.

"I accept," Hanayo said, "Can I borrow your knife?"

Nozomi eyed her cautiously and handed one of them over and watching Hanayo raise it to the palm of her right hand and slash it, then handing the blade back.

"You do the same," She said, holding her palm open and watching with a slightly pained expression the black blood flow from her. Nozomi copied the action and then Hanayo offered her hand to her, "Blood oath… Difficult to break." She said with a small shrug, a little bashfully.

Nozomi hummed and took it and whilst the feeling was minimal, she felt the aura shift around the two of them and Hanayo soon removed her hand, the wound on it quickly healing, as Nozomi looked to her own. It was worrying to see the black ooze mixing with with her own (thankfully still), red blood. She felt the symbol on her chest pulse and a small, dark and purple energy flashed over the wound and gave off a small, but noticeable puff of smoke of the same colour, swiftly healing up. But right now wasn't a time to think about what was happening to her own body. After all, if she saw it as merely a vessel and the soul was what mattered, then her body could be torn apart for all she cared. So long as she exacted what she wanted to do.

"Right…" Nozomi mumbled, facing Hanayo full on and sheathing her weapon properly, "Tell me where Hoshizora is."

Hanayo looked a little bit sad for a moment, before she nodded in agreement. She had made a deal after all, "In the next kingdom over. I don't know where each of us are going to reside just yet, but… She's not in the castle, I don't think. She'll be in the Sovereign Houses."

"Is political debate and diplomacy something she enjoys?" Nozomi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No… The opposite really. Rin-chan was never really interested, I think she's just there because she's being told that she should go. That's all there is to it really."

"So you knew her? Before her deal?" When Hanayo nodded, Nozomi hummed, "Tell me about her."

"Well… I-I suppose all you need to know is, that I failed to protect both her and Maki-chan… Rin-chan was innocent and my best friend… It all gets a little too personal for me sometimes."

Hanayo shrugged, but she seemed to be holding back quite a large degree of information and Nozomi couldn't really detect any lies. If anything, she felt nothing but sadness coming from her. She would have to accept that entire thing as truth really, but trust was not something she wanted to get used to when she dealt with each and every one of them. And she would make sure that she got through them, most likely through violence. They'd gone to a lot of effort to ensure that they had come to the mortal world essentially unrivalled and unchallenged.

"Um… Pardon me for prying a bit, but you've done something to yourself, haven't you?" She said, looking a bit uneasy as she spoke, "I-I can feel it… Demonic presence that is."

"Yes… But I haven't been this way for too long."

"Right," Hanayo nodded thoughtfully, "Well, I think you're virtually connected to Hell in some way now," She shrugged, "Can I try something?"

"I suppose," Nozomi said, watching warily as Hanayo made her way behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder and using her other hand to guide her arm to be outstretched, fingers open and her palm facing the floor. But when nothing happened for a few seconds, Nozomi glanced over her shoulder, quirking an eyebrow, "Is something supposed to happen?"

"Ah… Hold on a second," She said, her brow furrowing in concentration, adjusting her hand grip and the moment her hand made contact with the symbol on Nozomi's collarbone, the sensation from before spread to the tips of her fingers and where her palm was pointed, the cobbled stone split and cracked, shifting aside as hellish sounds erupted from it. Nozomi couldn't help but startled and suddenly draw her hand back, looking to Hanayo for an immediate explanation.

"You can open up small portals to Hell. If-if you weaken us enough and manage to banish us through the portal, we'll be unable to return," Hanayo stepped back and put space between the two of them again.

"Can I not deal enough damage to kill?"

"Not really. You won't be able to damage any of our souls and that's what keeps us anchored here. If you destroy the body, the soul will leave and gather a physical form again. If you were to have killed me, I would've come back and I wouldn't stop coming back unless you agreed to me helping."

Nozomi opened her mouth to say something, but then realised that without Hanayo, she would likely have been able to affect nothing. Evil would keep reforming and she would have been able to do nothing about it. She shook her head, "Right… I'll trust you for now."

"I wouldn't have shown you the portal if I was planning anything… Please keep that in mind."

"Mm," Nozomi grunted, "Can I leave now? This place is giving me a headache."

"Yeah, I think in life Umi-chan was an interior decorator."

Hanayo's tone was sarcastic and it managed to get a snort out of Nozomi, even if she clearly wasn't in the mood for any jokes.

But soon, Hanayo waved her hand and a section of the wall and it rather peacefully split apart to reveal the outside, "You sound like you know about the Sovereign Houses… Everyone else are going to be holding specific political locations across kingdoms. Mostly the castles, with the exception of Rin-chan, Kotori-chan and… Maki-chan I think."

"In last name terms?"

"O-oh, right, I forget sometimes… Hoshizora, Minami and Nishikino. Everyone will probably be able to feel your presence when you enter the buildings they're in, so they will probably have the element of surprise no matter what you do."

"Right…" Nozomi said, facing the doorway back towards the outside, "I'll see you soon I take it."

Hanayo nodded solemnly, before watching Nozomi slip out, the wall shutting back as if nothing had ever happened. There was a brief moment of clarity for Nozomi, where she felt as though that had all been simply a very surreal yet realistic dream. She even wondered whether she had actually been inside at all, knowing what a penchant the group had for elaborate illusions, but it felt real. The slight sting below her collarbone, the knowledge she needed to go to what would probably be her first real fight.

It didn't fill her with an awful lot of confidence. She remembered most of, if not all of the attacking and defending techniques she had learnt over the years, but it had all been in a controlled environment with a largely predictable opponent. The devils were volatile, dangerous and wholly as bad an opponent as she could possibly face. Nozomi thought to herself that she had gotten into quite a large mess now that she thought about it. Demons, devils, angels, and fallen ones at that.

Starting on the trek back to the Kurosawa household, Nozomi wondered if it could possibly get any worse.