Hello everybody and welcome to Act III!

Now I have a few warnings, so first things first: The first two chapters of this Act will change its view point to that of another well-known member of our group of heroes, a certain blond puppy whose mere presence can make the level of fluffiness in a fic raise significantly, if well used. If not, you might get diabetes. Yes, I'm talking about no one other than our favorite angel: Colette Brunel!

With her, many other members of the group will slowly appear, if not all of the ones that are left. I'll see that as I advance.

And another important warning: in this chapter we will have the appearance of the first member of the yuri couple of the fic. I think it's already pretty obvious who it is at this point, so I ask of you to kindly not try to flame me to death (yep. Try. Because I don't intend to die from that, so don't lose your time) and actually concentrate on how I handle this new trait I put on her personality. In other words, constructive criticism is very appreciated on this matter.

That's all for now. Let's start the reading!

Act III

Fractured Hearts

Chapter 17

The Smile of One

Iselia, one of biggest cities in all of Aselia, known as the Cruxis' Capital of Sylvarant and protected by the heavenly organization itself. However, it's also one of the strictest ones in regards of following the teachings of the Faith. Any outsider has to pass by inspection before trying to pass the walls of the city and has to attend the public sermons when they're made in the several plazas along the city.

The houses are well-cared and the ones belonging to the upper class living in the city are either two stories, or with a wider area than the others. This class of citizens is mainly composed by the priests' families and the one belonging to Cruxis' Representative (who automatically gained the post of mayor of the city). The overall living conditions of the denizens in the city could be considered far better than in most cities in Aselia, since they could live almost without having to worry about the problems that occurred outside city.

But it all came with a price…

For expanding the city, Cruxis demanded the people of the city to dedicate part of their lives to them, which meant they had to attend the church, public sermons and when the church asked for charity services and offerings they had to comply. Most people thought this was a just payment for the peace that they enjoyed. Even the nearby Desian Human Ranch, which stood in the forest near the village, didn't bother them thanks to Cruxis' protection. That just made the people double their devotion for Cruxis and work more to earn favors from the church whenever there was a chance.

The city had docks in the cliffs near the sea and expanded past the foot of the mountains nearby, also taking some of the plains to the south. It kept a good distance from the Iselia Forest, so as to not be forced to open their city to the Desians in case they decided to come down from the ranch. Walls ran around the borders of the capital as an extra security measure.

The day was like any other in the city. People went about on their jobs and the Mayor was having a reunion with the Cruxis Church's priests.

"… and the influx of travelers and merchants continues the same as always," the Mayor and Cruxis' Representative, Morton said. He was a man in his late forties, with graying hair and a mustache. Always keeping a stern expression and loyal to his duties and Cruxis almost to a fault. "We've examined them all and found some who seemed to have contact with demons. They were, of course, handed to the Purge Inquisitors."

"And how many of them were real demons?" an elderly woman that went by the name of Phaidra Brunel asked. She was one of the oldest residents in town and the High Priestess of the Church due to her charity work and the support from the people. She was often regarded as a little soft on the masses and defended the opening of the city to refugees from demonic attacks.

"What do you mean?" another priest asked.

"Have you checked them through before handing them to the Purge Inquisitors?"

The Purge Inquisitors, also known as the Martel Knights, were the military branch of the Cruxis Church, or its police (as the ones that didn't strictly follow the church put it). They were the ones that handed the sentences to the offenders and those accused of plotting with the demons after investigating them.

Some said they tortured their suspects to get false confessions out of them, others that the suspects had to pay off or even hand themselves to the church as servants to prove their innocence, however none of that was ever proven and people didn't really care about the matter. Cruxis protected them and the church was Cruxis' voice, that was all most people cared about.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Morton asked. "None of us have the abilities to truly dispel a demon's disguise like the angels."

"There are other people who could tell you with one hundred percent of certainty who is a demon and who is not," Phaidra said.

"High Priestess Phaidra, we already discussed that," another priest said. "And we already agreed letting in a half-elf would be too great of a risk. Nowadays, most of them are in league with the Desians."

"Not all of them," Phaidra tried to correct him.

"Still, the risk is too great," the Mayor said. Phaidra seemed like she would protest, but was cut off. "Now, let's proceed with next subject."

Phaidra sighed. If there was one thing she would like to change about the church was that thought that all half-elves were demons in disguise. Even so, the Faith stated that those with hatred in their hearts would be the first to seek the temptation of power to satiate their desires and everybody knew how the half-elves were treated in the days of the Kharlan War. Even Phaidra had to admit it made some sense, but she knew not all half-elves were bad, some actually were good people that would be willingly to help them.

Still, the church always evaded that subject when they could. For them, the only benefactors with magical powers they needed were the angels, as little appearances to public as they made. The angels handed them devices and methods to detect chaos energies on people's auras as a means to detect demons, but a friend of Phaidra's, who lived in Sybak, told her that these methods only had superficial results, because people who suffered the effects of chaos magic carried some of the energy on their auras for some time and they weren't demons or even chaos users. Phaidra thought about divulgating it to the heads of the church once, but then Sybak got attacked and destroyed, along with her friend's entire research data.

She thought on contacting a researcher from Asgard and talk to him on the matter, but Cruxis' Oracles came and divulged a new teaching of the Faith: Knowledge is as much of a blessing as it is a weapon. Investigate that which has been passed down by the agents of heavens is a sign of the human curiosity trying to reach the divine, when it does not possess that right. That meant no more research should be made about anything related to Cruxis, since it would be trying to reach the divine.

Sometimes, Phaidra questioned her own faith on them, but quickly disregarded that, knowing it was Cruxis that kept all the people of that city from being slaughtered by the Desians and the demons. So, for these people and her son, she would keep her doubts to herself…

- / - / - / - / -

Waist length, golden, blond hair glittered thanks to the sun rays as sky blue eyes looked around and greeted back people. A yellow, summer dress with hems that reached until the knees fluttered with the breeze.

Colette Brunel was a girl like any other. She went to school, hung out with her friends and did chores for her family, even though the Brunels weren't really her and her mother's family in blood, contrary to most people's beliefs. But they had taken care of her and helped her mother raise her since she was six, so she considered them her family.

She was known by some people for her selfless, radiant personality and warm smile, which some said that could make anybody's day brighter, no matter how moody it was. Her mother also faced such compliments and, like her, blushed when heard such things.

Colette arrived at a small, two-story house, surrounded by a steel fence, with a front garden, which she helped to keep, and a well. Opening the gate, she passed the garden and entered the house, saying:

"I'm home, mom! Dad!"

A man with blond hair walked in at hearing her entering:

"Hello Colette," he smiled at the girl while cleaning his hands from the saw dust that covered them. Frank Brunel worked on a boat office and often carved some accessories, taking part of his work to home, where he had set up a little office. "Phaidra is still at the meeting, but I'm sure they must have been done by now."

"Ok," Colette said, going for the stairs that lead to the second floor of the house, where the bedrooms stood.

She knocked on the second door in the corridor before entering. Inside there was a woman reading a book while sitting in a chair. A gentle breeze fluttered her long, golden-blond hair, which cascaded down her shoulders. The woman appeared to be in her late twenties, although Colette knew she was in her mid thirties.

Anybody who saw the woman and Colette together would have immediately guessed the two were mother and daughter, due to the incredible resemblance between them. The only difference was that instead of Colette's sky blue eyes, the woman's were forest-green. The woman, who stood by the name of Amelia, was wearing a white, standard dress with details in yellow. Amelia looked at her daughter and smiled at her, seeing she had come back from the grocery store.

"Hi mom. I've picked up food to prepare lunch," Colette said as she showed the bag with the goods while she approached her mother. Amelia smiled again and patted the golden hair on her daughter's head. She then got up and Colette handed her the bag with the groceries as her mother went to the kitchen to prepare the meal wordlessly.

One fact that stirred most people's curiosity was that Amelia didn't speak. She wouldn't make a single sound, even thought she wasn't diagnosed as mute. Colette would avoid the subject when she was asked, because she didn't like people worrying about her, a personality trait she shared with her mother. Frank and Phaidra were the only ones that knew the truth.

Colette and Amelia were found by Frank and Phaidra, who were on a pilgrimage for the church near the Altamira city, twelve years ago. Colette was in a state of shock, barely able to move or show any kind of reaction and Amelia had a grave wound on her throat. Colette didn't ask much about it, but she had heard Frank comment that he had been surprised Amelia had even survived a wound like that. According to him, the woman was losing a lot of blood.

After being treated and Colette finally coming out of her stupor, she couldn't remember much about what had happened to them. The doctors on Altamira described that as being post-trauma amnesia and Amelia's vocal cords had been greatly damaged, virtually rendering her unable to speak without stressing them, which would cause her great pain. After that, Frank and Phaidra offered for the two to stay in their house, seeing Colette and Amelia didn't have anywhere to go. Phaidra had to pull some strings and use her position as high priestess in the church to convince Morton to let Colette and Amelia stay in Iselia.

Colette enrolled in the local school and quickly befriended the kids there. For that, they had to sign her as Colette Brunel, since the girl apparently didn't recall what her last name was. It caused quite a ruckus at the time, in which people started to think Colette was indeed Frank's daughter and that Amelia was married to him. Phaidra had to step in to clear the subject.

Amelia took up to herself to take care of the Brunel's house as a form to repay their kindness. She was also a competent cook and started to prepare their meals. Like any other citizens, mother and daughter had to go to the church to listen to the sermons and give their offerings to Cruxis and the church (although Frank insisted that he would gladly cover that for them).

Both of the blondes were quite energetic and always eager to help those around them, which quickly gave them some kind of fame with the denizens of that part of the city. Some people even compared Colette and Amelia to angels, saying the two could bring happiness and hope to anybody. Both blushed whenever they heard that.

"Hello," Phaidra's voice came from the living room. Colette went there to greet her surrogate grandmother. "Oh, Colette. How were you today?"

"Fine," the girl said.

"Mother…" Frank said, coming from his office at the back of the house again and sitting on the dining table to talk with his mother and prepare for lunch. "how was the meeting today?"

"Ah, same as always…" Phaidra said, sighing and sitting down together with Colette. "Morton clinging to his ideas of racial segregation and those new priests sending outsiders to the Purge Inquisitors without even checking them through fully."

"Any concrete evidence in them being demons?" Frank asked. He knew how things worked behind the scenes in the church thanks to Phaidra.

"Not like we can actually detect any, but they still refuse to even hire a researcher versed on the subject. Sometimes I wonder who's more outdated, me or their ideas."

"C'mon, grandma. You're not that old," Colette said.

"Why, thank you Colette," the old priestess said to the girl. "But we have to be realistic here… I'm not as young as I used to be and I think they are starting to disregard my opinion more and more. I wonder how long it will take until they feel I should retire."

Even Colette stayed silent at that. She didn't approve of the way some people thought of half-elves either. What was so wrong with being friendly with them? It's not like all of them are bad or in league with the demons. Her thoughts were cut short when her mother came in with the food. Colette and the others waited until Amelia sat down to pray a thanks for Cruxis, like was the custom, and started the feast.

- / - / - / - / -

Colette decided to walk around the city after having eaten and enjoy the day. Her surrogate family said for her to take care and her mother merely threw her a meaningful look, transmitting her feelings. The blond girl walked around, seeing the shops around town and people pass and greet her like they always did.

Colette stopped near a house where an elderly man was trying to carry some heavy boxes outside. She approached the man and greeted him:

"Hi Terry!"

"Oh, hello Colette," the man said while trying to balance the box on his arms.

"Do you need some help?" she asked.

"Oh, no, I'm fine," Terry then started to sweat and his arms shake. "This… is… really… nothing…" seeing the box was about to fall, Colette reached for it and grabbed with her two hands, easily lifting it and taking the box from the weak man's arm. "But… if you really insist…" he said, panting.

"Sure," Colette said, giving off her usual radiant smile.

The girl helped the elderly citizen clean his store closet by putting all the boxes outside. Colette grabbed even two boxes full of tools in her arms like they weighted nothing at all. When they ended, the man swept his forehead while thanking her:

"Thanks Colette. I've been having trouble cleaning my closet lately. You sure are strong. You must be eating very well."

"That was nothing," Colette said, leaving Terry and walking in the sun once more.

The smiling girl was suddenly approached and hugged from behind. A teasing tone reached her ears as she showed a surprised expression:

"So, playing the good Samaritan again?"

"Hi Maki," Colette said as the girl behind her detached her arms from Colette's midsection.

"Seesh, I swear, you should probably gain a scout medal or something. Are you sure you're even supposed to be here, among us common mortals?" the girl said, teasing tone never dropping. Colette's cheeks assumed a pink tone at that as she tried to say something in her defense, but Maki didn't gave her the chance. "Anyway, I was just looking for you."

Maki was Colette's best friend from school. The two met on Colette's first school day and quickly befriended. Colette also seemed to be one of the few that could stand Maki's teasing and introverted personality while other girls labeled her as weird. She was a teenager one year younger than Colette and smaller by two inches, with red hair and green eyes. Her figure was normal for her age, with curves filling in the right places. The red head was wearing a simple, beige shirt with blue pants and brown shoes. Her hair framed around her face with one strand brushed to the side, covering her forehead.

"Do you need some help?" Colette asked.

"Yep. I need you help me to pick some flowers. My uncle demanded that I do something for the next Cruxis Festival and I thought about making some floral arrangements, but I don't have that much money."

Colette knew her friend was the niece of Cruxis' Representative and Mayor of Iselia and, as such, she was raised to be a faithful follower of the church and was expected to be on the lead of the festivals the city promoted in the name of the heavenly organization. However, Maki couldn't be any more detached from the religion. All that she wanted was to hang out with her friends and don't have to worry about rigid discipline or becoming a Cruxis' Representative.

Although Colette wasn't what you could call a faithful follower either, she did believe Cruxis protected them from the demons and that they needed to atone for the sins humanity committed during the Kharlan War. However, the blond girl knew better than to try and convince Maki to follow everything her family told her (since some of that included some racial segregation ideas).

"Sure I can help you," Colette said, happy to help her friend.

"By the way…" Maki said, approaching Colette and eying the girl from top to bottom. "Is it just me or have you grown up a little bit?" before Colette could ask her friend what she meant with that, Maki poked her chest, causing the cheeks of the taller girl to flare. "Hmm… nope. Nothing yet."

"M-Maki!"

After getting to know the red head better, Colette found out why Maki was avoided by the other girls from their class. Maki had these strange antics about her; like groping girls or blatantly commenting on their looks with suggestive motions. She said that in other cities, like Asgard, people wouldn't mind her behavior, but since the church controlled even the educational system in Iselia, girls were expected to learn how to "properly behave and handle themselves". Colette was sure Maki wasn't called by the principal just because her uncle was an important member of the church.

Though the blond girl was always caught with her guard down and her first natural instinct was to protest to her friend touching her, Colette found out she didn't get so bothered by Maki's antics. To her, that was just the way her friend was and how she complimented people, or showed appreciation.

"Oh, don't worry. You've still have that cute face of yours to count for," Maki said with a grin.

"Thanks…" Colette, said, sighing and walking together with her friend. "People always say I look so much like mom and… I haven't even…" she couldn't continue.

Colette didn't like to bother people with her problems or doubts. She believed she had to live her life to its fullest, since you never knew when you could meet a demon and have your life being stripped away from you. She also tried to live for her mother, who couldn't talk anymore.

However, like any other teenage girl, Colette had questions about life and herself, so she needed a confident outside of her family, who already had enough to deal with all things the church demanded from them. Maki was that confident and who lifted Colette's spirit when she was in a sour mood, as rarely as that was. The red head believed the same thing about life as her and claimed that was the motive she didn't leave her family's teaching get to her (although Colette suspected Maki actually liked to be rebellious).

Maki looked at her friend, who had her head lowered while her cheeks were still flustered. She sighed. She and Colette already had that talk and she thought even Colette's mother had talked to her about it, or wrote, or whatever way they used to communicate. While her mother had a fair sized chest, Colette still had developed none, labeling herself as an ironing board.

"You shouldn't mind it so much," Maki said with a neutral expression. "Not all people mind that and it's going to appear when it has to."

"That's what mom said," Colette thought aloud.

"So. Listen to your mom. And honestly, don't pay so much attention to it. If the boys don't like you, then I do," Maki said with a grin.

"T-thanks," Colette said.

Each time Maki spoke things like that, complimented her figure, or eyed her like who analyze a particularly tasty sweet, Colette felt her heart skip a beat. She never understood why, but she felt that as long as Maki liked her and thought she was pretty she didn't need to worry. It has been like that ever since Colette turned twelve.

They passed near another of their friends from school, a girl with blue hair and blue eyes. Maki grinned a mischievous grin as she approached and spoke:

"Hey there Lilla. I heard something very interesting."

"Really? What is it?" Lilla asked. Colette was also curious as she approached.

"Seems Kevin is claiming that he knows your measurements and that you have a double D cup," Maki said, using the name of the most popular and perverted boy in their school, a common tactic to her, though what she said often proved to be true.

"W-what? That jerk!" she lived in the next house to the boy, so it was possible he had peeped her from the window.

"In my opinion, he's exaggerating. Though…" without any further warning, Maki grabbed her friend's breast, who yelped. "Hmm, just as I thought."

"Ack! Stop that!" Lilla protested and Maki let go of her.

Colette watched what was a common occurrence in her friend interacting with their other friends. However, every time Maki did that, Colette couldn't help, but feel a little annoyed for no reason. It was like she was feeling jealous. But jealous of what?

"Maki, let her be," Colette said, not wanting her best friend be scolded for sexually harassing other girls in public.

"Ok, ok. I was just curious."

"Yeah, I know what kind of curiosity you have," Lilla said. "By the way, why are the two of you going in the direction of the west gate?"

It was then Colette finally noticed they were close to the exit of the town that led to the path of the Iselia Forest, where the Human Ranch was located. The forest, obviously, was considered off-limits to any resident in town. She looked to Maki, who gave off a nervous smile as she said:

"Oh, it's nothing of too much. Colette here is just going to help me pick up some flowers for my floral arrangement for the Cruxis Festival next week."

"Oh. Okay then, see you two later," Lilla said, waving goodbye to them and leaving the two alone.

"Let's go before somebody else comes," Maki said after Lilla was out of hearing range, grabbing Colette's arm and pulling her.

"We're not really going to the forest, are we?" Colette asked, starting to get fearful of the answer of her best friend.

"'Curse we will," Maki said, now smiling as they sneaked out of the gate. The guard on duty was snoozing off as they passed.

"But it's forbidden to go into the forest and…"

"Colette, where do you think we can get some good flowers, huh? I don't know about you, but I'm not in the mood to get a scolding for picking flowers from other peoples' houses or the parks."

Now that Colette thought about it, Maki was right. Picking flowers from the parks was against the city's law and they couldn't go around stealing some from people either. She should have thought that through before agreeing with Maki.

"Don't worry. I've been sneaking around the ranch ever since last week and they didn't catch me yet," Maki said, winking to Colette.

"The ranch?" Colette exclaimed as they were already on the border of the forest. She freed her arm from the red head's grip and stood her ground as she said. "Maki, I don't think we should be doing it. We would be going against even the Faith's teachings, remember? Do not meddle with the demon's affairs and its followers, for they will try and tempt you into straying off the path of redemption and…"

"Details, details," Maki said, making a dismissive gesture with her hand. "Besides, what the priests don't know, don't hurt them," she smiled her typical grin at that. "But if you want to stay here and wait for me, then it's ok."

Maki then turned and started walking again. Colette took a moment to think about her options and decided she couldn't in her right mind leave Maki wandering around the forest so close to the Human Ranch. What kind of best friend would she be if she wasn't there to protect her? Finally making up her mind, Colette ran after her red headed friend, who stopped in the road that went up the cliffs, like she knew the entire time Colette would follow her.

If anything, I can help her fight our way out of trouble. And if they didn't catch her yet, that means they might not even notice us there. Colette thought, trying to reassure herself.

Ever since she was ten, Colette noticed she was the strongest girl in her class. Actually, the strongest in the school. She could even pick up two desks in her hands without any problem. Even so, Colette never liked fights or violence, she always tried to talk things over. However, she knew if the Desians spotted them, there would be no talk. She had heard enough stories about the half-demons to know that they would rather attack first and ask questions later.

Colette and Maki finally arrived at a crossroads, which one road was a path along the cliff and the other one connected where they were to another section of the forest. In that path was a great sign with the sayings: "No unauthorized personnel allowed". The sign itself didn't inspire any threat, but what was at the end of the path certainly did.

"I've heard that there are some flowers near the bushes of the ranch. So we're going to sneak there and stay hidden. They will never know we were there," Maki said in a confident tone. Colette was about to voice another protest against this, but it fell on deaf ears as Maki ran ahead. Colette sighed and followed her friend.

Finally, the blonde could sight the great, metal structure of the Iselia Human Ranch. To her relief, she saw Maki over in the bushes, well hidden within them. Colette quickly rushed to where the red head was and it was then she heard what sounded like a whip cracking and gulped.

From the few things people told them about the human ranches, the one thing constant was that humans were treated like slaves there, forced to work day and night without rest or food. If you were caught, you were done for, because almost nobody escaped the ranches and if they did, they generally died days later because of all injuries suffered during the attempt.

"Maki, are you done yet?" Colette asked, her voice laced with fear and worry.

"Calm down, I'm choosing here," her friend said, looking between the several flowers that grew there, however, most of them appeared to be withered.

Meanwhile, inside a small cubiculum near the gates, a Desian guard was inspecting the cameras with a bored look on his face. He pressed a button and the image of the cameras changed, but things remained the same: calm. He sighed.

It was then another Desian entered the cubiculum to check on his co-worker.

"How are things out there?" the new Desian asked.

"Same as always. Frickin' boring," the other Desian answered. "This has to be the most tedious job around here. Nobody ever comes here and those folks in the city are just too fanatic about Cruxis to ever think of being near here."

"Well, that's true… but you heard who came to visit Lord Forcystus right? If they find you away from your post, we won't hear the end of it. Lord Forcystus always liked to pass the impression of efficiency whenever somebody of high position comes."

"I know, I know…"

The Desian then pressed the button again and this time something happened. The bushes near the cliff in front of the main gate rustled. The first Desian wasn't impressed by that, but the second found it suspicious.

"Did you see that?"

"You mean that bush? Probably some animal."

"The animals don't approach this part of the forest. Let's go check it," the Desian said, already going to the gate and taking out his identification card.

"Whatever. Anything to get away from this tedious and boring job," the other Desian said, getting up too.

- / - / - / - / -

"Maki I think you shouldn't be messing with this bush so much," Colette said in a worried tone as she saw the bush moving as her friend tried to reach for what seemed to be a flower inside it.

"Why are you so scared, Colette? It's not like they'll pay any mind to something like a bush rustling. They probably will think it's just the wind or..."

"Hey? Did you hear that?" another voice said, one that made the girls freeze on spot.

Maki tried to pull her arm out, but the sleeve of her shirt got tangled on the branches. She muttered an "oh no" and tried to pull it out. Colette went to help her, but at that moment the two were spotted and one Desian grabbed Colette while the other grabbed Maki and pulled her up by the collar, making she rip the sleeve of her shirt.

"Now, now. Just look what we found here," the Desian holding Colette said as he and his companion eyed the two girls. "Two inferior beings hiking around our base," he then threw Colette to the ground while his companion remained holding Maki off the ground, who now seemed truly scared.

"Hmm, that one there seems a little to petite for my tastes, but this one here…" the half-demon holding Maki said in a lecherous tone, licking his lips.

"You kidding? They're just children, man. Put them together with the other host bodies."

Maki seemed terrorized now and Colette was frantically looking around for anything that could help her and her friend to fight off the Desians. Luckily, the other half-demon was looking at his companion, so he didn't notice that. Colette then saw something almost buried under the bushes, which looked like some short of metal disk. Seeing the Desians were still distracted, she quickly reached for the disk.

"Oh, c'mon. I bet she tastes good," the Desian holding Maki then showed fanged teeth and the girl was now struggling, but since her feet didn't reach the floor, it was useless.

"Alright. Just this one. The other we…" the Desian never managed to end the phrase, for in that moment a metal disk hit his helmet-clad head with surprising strength, denting the visor and braking his nose.

The other half-demon was so surprised he didn't notice in time a yellow blur coming and shoving him with great strength, making him fly across the ground and letting his hold on Maki go. The red head looked to Colette, who asked if she was alright. Nodding, Maki stood and they looked at the Desians, who were getting up.

"Maki, go back to the village, I'll hold them off," Colette said, taking the metal disk again.

"No way! I'm not letting you off to deal with these guys."

Before the two could argue further, Colette grabbed Maki and shielded her from a whip blow from the Desian Colette had hit with the disk. The blow left a red bruise on her back, together with a cut on her dress.

"You little bitch!" the Whip Master said, preparing to attack again.

Colette quickly turned and threw the metal disk once more, using all of her strength. The Whip Master tried to put his weapon up in defense, however, he underestimated Colette's strength and the thin disk cut through his whip and embedded itself on his arm, making him scream in pain as blood came out of his nearly severed limb.

The blonde girl and the red head decided to take this chance and made their escape, as the other Desian chased after them. The two passed the cliff that divided the ranch area from the forest and sprinted to the opposite direction of the town. After taking some distance from their pursuer, Colette and Maki made a sharp turn to the right and dived into the bushes behind a tree.

The two held their breath as the Desian passed nearby. After he left, Colette and Maki ran back to the road to Iselia using the woods as a cover. They ended up on the edge of a cliff and below it was the road back to Iselia. The girls heard the sounds of footsteps behind; the Desian was still looking for them.

Colette made a decision and asked for Maki to hold on her as she passed her arms around her friend's shoulder and jumped off the cliff. Maki wanted to scream, but knew it would attract their pursuers, so she settled at widening her eyes as the ground approached and shut them off before they hit the ground. However, instead of bashing on the dirt, Maki was surprised that Colette landed on her feet, even though there was a light "thud". Seeing her friend was still paralyzed by the shock, Colette dragged her to the trees nearby and hid just as the Desian peered over the edge of the cliff, looking for them. Upon not finding the girls, the half-demon cursed and left.

"He went away," Colette said to her friend, who seemed to finally recover and was breathing deeply.

"Y-you saved my life... Colette. Thank you so much!" the red head said.

"It was no…" Colette started to say, putting up her typical smile, but didn't achieved to end, because in that moment Maki's lips covered hers in a kiss.

Colette widened her eyes in confusion and surprise. This was something Maki had never done before, it was completely different from her normal behavior. The red head finally ended the kiss and separated her lips from Colette's, who stayed still with a dumbstruck look on her face. Maki grinned and said:

"You're very cute with that look on your face."

"M… Maki… what you… what was that?" Colette finally managed to utter, bringing her fingers to her lips. She could still fell Maki's lips on her. The sensation was foreign and kind of pleasant at the same time. But why was she feeling like that?

"It was my thanks for saving me and this…" she stroked Colette's face and planted a quick kiss on her again. "Is something that I've wanted to do for a long time," her grin turned into an attractive smile that made Colette's heart flutter and her cheeks blush.

"M-Maki…" was all the blonde managed to say.

Colette looked to the ground, feeling confused. What was that she was feeling? She sometimes felt pangs of jealously when Maki glomped their other friends at school, but this… was there something wrong with her, or was that all just an effect of almost being captured by the Desians?

Maki saw the confused look on her friend's face and asked her if there was something wrong. Colette could only mumble some incoherent sounds as she tried to form words and explain the strange turmoil of feelings inside of her. Maki sighed and said:

"I get it. You're wondering what is this that you're feeling, right?" Colette looked at her, surprised that Maki had read through her like that. "That's normal. It was just the same with me."

"With you? What does that mean?" Colette asked, tilting her head to the side.

"You didn't realize yet? Colette, I like women."

The blonde kept looking at her best friend in confusion. Maki saw she hadn't understood what she meant and decided she would need to give an example:

"Well, it's like… do you know when a man and a woman meet each other and fall in love?" Colette nodded to her. "To me it's almost the same thing, but instead of a man it's another woman."

Those words made something inside Colette jump as she widened her eyes. Could it really be possible? She never heard of this before. Whenever the teachers or people in class talked about love it was always described as a feeling between a man and woman.

Wh… what does this mean? Does that mean I'm different? But Maki feels it too. the blond girl thought. I'm so confused…

Maki saw her friend was still trying to take in everything and felt a little guilty for making Colette feel like that. She decided her best friend needed some time to think about it. Maybe she could talk about it with her mother. With the way the two understood with each other, she was sure Colette's mother would at least take it better than if she told her mother.

"Look, Colette. Maybe we should just go home and think about it. Talk with your mother. I know these things take time to accept. I took quite some time until I came into terms with it myself," she admitted.

Colette merely nodded and the two trekked back to Iselia. Finding the silence that followed unbearable, Colette asked Maki in an embarrassed voice:

"Did you… does somebody else know?"

"In school? No, I never told anybody. Granted, the priests would probably think I'm possessed or something, considering how old-fashioned they are."

"And your family?"

"Are you kidding me? My father would probably kick me out if he ever caught a wiff about it and my mother would never be able to look at me in the face again," she saw Colette seemed to worry at hearing that and quickly added. "But that's just because they take everything the church says to the letter. I bet your mother won't mind it. Who knows, she probably even met somebody like this."

"You mean there are more people that feel this way about others of the same gender?" Colette asked in an innocent and curious manner.

"Of course there are. What? You think I'm some kind of otherworldly freak or something?"

"N-no! Of course not! It's just…" Colette said, her cheeks flaring at hearing how her friend had taken her words. Maki giggled.

"I'm kidding, silly. I know you've probably never heard of it before. It's not something people that live a sheltered life in a city like ours know about."

Colette calmed down a little and the two resumed their travel back to Iselia. Maki started to instruct her on what to say in case people asked what happened with their clothes and where they got those bruises, but then remembered and spoke:

"Wait, forget it. You're horrible at lying. Just leave it to me and smile at everything I say."

"Oh. Ok," Colette said, her typical radiant, cute smile making its way to her face.

"Oh, stop that. Do you know how hard it is not to jump at you when you look so cute like that?"

"Oh, sorry," Colette said.

"That was a compliment."

"Oh, right. Sorry."

Maki sighed and decided to leave it be.

- / - / - / - / -

Forcystus approached his surveillance team, dragging his stare longer at two men, one who had a dried patch of blood on his face and a bandage on his arm and other with a dirty uniform. The green haired Cardinal liked to think of himself as the more patient and understanding out of all the Grand Cardinals, but there were times that his patience ran out. This was one of these times.

"Can one of you please explain to me how in the hell you managed to get wounded…" he pointed to the bandaged Desian with his good hand. "And you lost to a pair of inferior beings?" he pointed to the other guard who had chased Colette and Maki not long ago before he was called back by orders from Forcystus.

Nobody answered, with fear of receiving some kind of punishment in the form of Forcystus bashing his arm-cannon in their skull if they got lucky and the Grand Cardinal was in a good mood, but considering he was receiving a visit from another member of the demonic invasion troops (a high up to top it), they felt that the less harmful thing Forcystus would do to them was shot them in the head.

The Desian Grand Cardinal sighed and proceeded to ask somebody to bring him the record data from the gates' surveillance cameras. One of the Desians happily applied and left for the ranch, if just to get away from a possible punishment. Forcystus then proceeded to scold his troops, until a voice sounded in the clearing:

"What is this? Are you having problems with your soldiers, Forcystus?"

The green haired man cursed before putting up an expression of neutrality in his face and turning to face his honor guest, who he had been talking to before one of his Commands informed him there had been a problem in the front gate. Thankfully, the Command had been discrete enough to not say it out loud in the visitor's presence, merely whispering in the Grand Cardinal's ear.

However, it seemed none of that mattered now, for his visitor certainly had picked up something strange was happening and got enough of waiting for him to return. Forcystus decided to try and salvage what little pride he still had left in the eyes of his guest:

"It's nothing. Just a minor occurrence."

"Is that so?" his guest asked with a smirk. "Strange, considering you always prided yourself for having a fully functional ranch that didn't have to deal with any form of resistance from the locals and operated at maximum capacity."

Forcystus grumbled some incoherent words. Meanwhile, his assembled subordinates could just look at the person who was outright mocking their leader. They had seen he enter the base and be given a tour while talking with Forcystus. None of them believed at first that this person was someone of a rank equivalent to that of a Desian Cardinal, but the moment they felt his aura, they knew they had better save their ideas to themselves.

The visitor's aura was unlike anything any of the half-demons had seen before. Power radiated from it, threatening to engulf their own auras. That, in demon standards, meant the being in question far outranked any of them. It was possible that Forcystus' guest was easily somebody of higher ranking than even the Grand Cardinals themselves.

However, they were certain they had never seen that person before. Forcystus did imply their guest worked on a different division of the demonic troops. Which one, he had hadn't specified and everybody knew better than to insist.

"Sir!" the Desian who went to check on the records of the cameras came back, holding a printed image of the intruders. "Here's the data on the two girls who sneaked around the front gate."

Forcystus widened his eyes at that. His visitor's smirk widened while the Desian soldier realized too late who was there and that he had said the wrong thing. He tried to apologize for it, but Forcystus snatched the picture from his hand and said in a grumble for him to return to his place.

The half-demon hesitantly did so. He didn't take three steps before Forcystus raised his arm-cannon, opened it and shot his subordinate in the back. The shot was charged with enough power to open a hole in the back of the Desian soldier, who went to the ground with a pained scream and remained there with his back smoking.

"Now I feel better," Forcystus said. He then looked at the picture taken by the surveillance system, which showed two girls, a blonde and a red head. Forcystus' lips twisted into a scowl. His guards had really been thwarted by two small girls. Well, at least they look pretty. Forcystus observed.

"May I have a look?" his guest asked.

Forcystus handed his guest the picture, before turning to his whole security team, his face contorting into an angry growl as he said:

"Give me one… one damn good reason why I shouldn't blast you sorry lot from here to Niflheim?" his arm-cannon opened little enough for them to see the green glow emanating from inside.

It was of common knowledge the green haired Desian Grand Cardinal lost his left arm when trying to defend a group of fugitive half-elves during the Kharlan War by killing every last one of their pursuers. After becoming a half-demon, Forcystus volunteered to be a test subject in a program installed by Nebilim that sought to implant prosthesis that could easily transform together with their host, raising his fighting capabilities to a new level. Forcystus immediately took interest in an arm-canon prosthesis.

The cannon was light for normal standards, being made of a special alloy that was lighter than most metals known in Aselia. Inside it was a special type of runic crystal which converted the energy of the environment and of its user into energy blasts. The crystal was incased in an extra protective layer of metal in case Forcystus needed to use his arm-cannon as a club. Combining that with the blood of demon birds that was injected on him, the Desian turned into a deadly marksman and gained the title Hawk Shooter.

The Desian guards immediately remembered that upon seeing the anger in the face of their superior, however, they were saved when the one visiting their base suddenly said:

"It's her!" Forcystus let out an "uh?" and closed his arm-cannon, turning to his visitor, who looked back to him. "Here, besides the red head," the guest of the Grand Cardinal said, pointing to the photo.

Forcystus took it and looked at who his guest was pointing to. It was the blond girl wielding a metal disk and fighting off his guards. She seemed pretty harmless for someone who disarmed one of his soldiers. Forcystus eyed his visitor and said:

"Well, I have to admit she looks nice, but I'm not into young human girls."

"Remember about that list of the travelers that passed by this region and of the citizens in the city I was asking you for?" Forcystus' honor guest asked, dismissing the Desian Grand Cardinal's last remark. "I wanted to know if she had passed by here. But if she really came here today and according to the other information I collected, she must have decided to stay in the city."

"Yeah, what so? It's not like I can simply storm Iselia and take her."

"Really? I heard that Rodyle rejected your request for him to develop some new weapons for your troops and have been demanding you to lend over some host bodies."

Forcystus started to show some interest after that. The first part really did bother him and having Rodyle at your hair, demanding host bodies for his experiments, could really turn into a torture, considering the frequency which the Desian scientist contact him for an answer. Sometimes Forcystus thought that shooting the violet haired Cardinal would definitely make wonders for his mood, even if there was the risk he ended up executed for attacking a comrade (mainly the one that coordinated their little project).

"If that's the case, how about we discuss this inside?" Forcystus said with a grin, which was returned by his guest as the two made their way back to the complex.

The guard staff let out a sigh of relief, seeing Forcystus had let them live for now…