No Need for (The) Conception

by Nena Camadera

Tenchi's life was pretty good. He spent his summers with his grandpa, he was entering his final year in highschool, and freed an 700 year demon from her prison. He even almost got a girlfriend, which was the real cherry on top. Then the world ended. "Life's a bitch, then you die." But sometimes you come back.

22. Part 3- Reason The Assembly of Nihilo

Minatogawa Stateside Town, Okinawa, Territory of the Assembly of Nihilo

Prior New Kagatuchi Cycle

"The Terminal activated." The demon said, slipping into the bar and letting the cowl slip off her head, revealing a mess of golden curls.

"So I heard. Was it our girl?" The Silver-Haired Demon asked, leaning against the countertop to direct her entire focus on her companion.

The blond shook her head, a frown on her face. "It wasn't. Newcomers. Strangers."

"Oh?"

"A Hitoshura." The blond continued. "Didn't recognize the one with him; the spyglass labeled her as a 'Godslayer'.

"A 'Godslayer'?" A silver brow rose in interest. "Sounds dangerous."

"Maybe for some of us." The blond replied. "I feel quite comfortable with it—she's labeled as a Godslayer, not a Demonslayer."

Her companion snorted. "You would, Demon."

"You know you could always…" The blond suggested.

"No." The Silver-Haired Demon replied. "Not here, not now, not before, not in the future."

The blond sighed."Spoilsport."

"Still…" The Silver-Haired Demon rubbed her chin in thought. "We haven't heard from any of the ones we've sent out in a while…A Hitoshura and a Godslayer. I know Hitoshura are strong. And Godslayers just sound powerful." She looked at the blond. "We might be able to use them if we play our cards right."

"Or end up with two very powerful enemies against us." The blond muttered dourly.

"Stop being a pessimist." The Silver-Haired Demon said. Dark fingers drummed against her elbow. "…Grab some of the regulars." She said. "See what they can find out about the two. Have them drop some lines to come and visit the home station." She smiled, and it was savage. "We'll find what drives them and offer it to them. They'll be eating out of our hands in no time."

The blond rolled red eyes. "Whatever you say, Boss." She said dubiously.

---

Vortex World,

Minatogawa Stateside Town Amala Terminal, Assembly of Nihilo

Full Kagatsuchi

Mirrors.

He was in a room filled with mirrors.

The youth looked around, seeing the door behind him-the entrance to how he'd gotten here-and breathed a sigh of relief when it didn't disappear. Turning back to the mirrors, he stepped forward, and watched as three of himself stepped into his view with him. "Are you…me?" He asked the reflections, observing the intricate details and finding they differed ever so slightly from each other.

The one on his left looked pale—too pale for an islander like himself, his skin a shade of white so bright that he seemed to glow like snow reflecting the light of the sun. The one on his right held his skin tone, but looked stronger, with evident muscled tone across his arms and chest which was not present when he looked down at his own body. The mirror before him was slim and wiry, holding a runners profile which seemed to be unable to stand still as his own body was.

Scowling, he reached into his pocket, withdrawing the paper which had been given to him. It still rested with his physical body, yet with some practice and tutelage from the Demon Lord, he'd been able to draw it-or at least his subconscious interpretation of it-with him into this world. He looked at the questions, and felt a brief moment of panic when the scrawl on the paper looked like a toddler's finger paint. He scowled, and concentrated, and watched as slowly, the black smudges moved into decipherable words which he understood.

He turned to the reflection on his left, "State your name." He instructed.

"Wadatsumi." His reflection replied.

"What is your nature?" He asked. It should be ice. I remember it from before.

"I am of holder of the sea, and its icy depths." Wadatsumi replied.

"And what can you provide me?" He asked

"I can provide you ice magic and related skills. My affinity is in ice and magic. Should you call upon me, I shall shield you from any such related magical attacks, however I shall fall to electricity and lightning." Wadatsumi narrowed his eyes. "Do not use me with the tenchi-ken; should there be any error on your part, it will lead to our combined demise."

"Is there anything you can teach me now?" He asked.

Wadatsumi shook his head. "I have already taught you what can be learned. You must grow in strength before I can teach you anything else." He held his hand out. "You see how I glow? When the glow begins to pulse, return to me, and I shall teach you how to extend your magical aptitude that it may stretch farther for longer."

"Will you curse me during these times?"

"No." Wadatsumi replied. "I am neither of the light nor of the dark. I care not how I am used or for what purpose, only that I am used."

"I see." He said, and bowed to the reflection. "Thank you for your time, Wadatsumi."

Wadatsumi bowed as well, then stepped backwards, vanishing from the mirror.

He turned to his center reflection, and repeated the questions. "State your name."

"Kamudo." His reflection replied.

"What is your nature?"

"I will teach you techniques that will grant you greater power and endurance against foes great and small. I shall fill you with Might and grant you great Focus. Should physical prowess not suit your needs, I will also awaken your Mind's Eye for greater magical lethality, however I prefer the strength of the body. There is art and grace within it."

"Is there anything you can teach me now?" He asked.

Kamudo nodded. "There is."

"What can you teach me now?"

"How to attack all foes which surround you at once." Kamudo replied. "Though the damage is spread across all targets, it can be directly tied back to your vitality. Keep yourself in prime health, and you shall bring them to their knees without the need for tenchi-ken or the ice breath which scares your Demon Lord so much. While wielding me, you shall find that physical attacks harm you less than they used to, however I am prone to attacks on the mind, such as what the Lilim did with Marogareh. At least with Marogareh, it is a flip of the coin. However my own nature deems me incapable of offering you any protection."

"I understand. This skill you mentioned. Will you teach it to me?"

"I will." His reflection offered a hand through the mirror, and he stared at it.

"Will this curse me?" He asked.

"No." Kamudo replied, his hand still held out. "I am neither of the light nor of the dark. I care not how I am used or for what purpose, only that I am used."

"I understand." He reached his own hand out to grip his reflections, and felt warm, feverish skin touch his own. There was a jolt as power flowed through Kamudo and into his own arm, and with it came knowledge of a new technique. For a moment the mirrors vanished, and in its place, he found himself surrounded by pretas. He was back in the school again, yet he was unafraid. The pretas were no longer a threat to him; he had survived the Lilim and had slain angels, had destroyed Forneus and had lived through Full Kagatsuchi. These monsters were now little more than pests now.

Power gathered in his hands; his own essence, his own vitality, and concentrating he combined his hands, condensing the energy which flowed into them—the ki of his own life—into one ball of power. With a snarl, he flattened it between his palms, and watched the energy extend in a red wave of ki in a horizontal beam, slicing through the preta and slaying them all at once.

The image vanished, and he found himself in the room of mirrors once more, still holding Kamudo's hand. Releasing it, he bowed to the image. "Thank you for the lesson."

Kamudo bowed and departed similar to Wadatsumi, and he turned to his final image.

"State your name."

"Marogareh."

"What is your nature?"

"To solidify into a sphere from Primordial Chaos and into the Earth. I am what arose from Conception, granted to you that you may be guided through the Vortex World. I am the rudimentary skills you need. I am the final technique to master. I have no strengths, no weaknesses, and simply am.

He frowned. This one was more cryptic than the others. "Is there anything you can teach me now?" He asked.

"I can teach you how to counter your opponents attacks." Marogareh said. "Mind you…it is only a physical ability, and it can do nothing against those who cannot be touched by such might." The reflection offered its hand to him.

"In learning this technique, will I become cursed?" He asked.

"I am of the Darkness. The Primordial Chaos. The Ancient Depths of what was and now is no longer. I promise nothing. It is a risk you must take for yourself."

He hesitated. "I require a yes or no answer."

His reflection's lips peeled up in a snarl for a brief moment, then returned to a neutral expression once more. "…No." It said.

"Do you speak fallacies?"

"I do not." Marogareh replied. "I was first of you. I shall not curse you though my nature would state otherwise."

"I understand." He said, and reached out to grip the hand. "Thank you."

The world around him dissolved, and he found himself once more facing an angel. The entity charged at him, and though it collided with him, he saw an opening and reached for it, gripping the being by the arm with one hand and smashing its face into the ground with the other. He felt the violence swell inside him, and sought another attack, only for the image to vanish once more as Marogareh released him.

"I have only one skill left to teach you." Marogareh said, "You must earn it."

"And what is that?" He asked.

"A skill of great power. To use it, you must venture into the Labyrinth and complete its five floors." Marogareh smiled. "Should you manage the impossible, I shall grant it to you."

"And where's this Labyrinth?" He asked.

"Speak with your Demon Lord." His reflection said, and began to step away from his view of the mirror. "As you seek the Labyrinth, so too does the Labyrinth seek her." It smiled broadly, revealing a mouth not human like his own, but one lined with fangs. "Complete the Kalpas of the Amala Network. Conquer those who would guard them. Become a True Fiend and we will speak again."

Marogareh vanished, and Tenchi found himself alone in his mind once more.

The demi-fiend sighed. "Great." He grumbled, and turned and to the entrance of the room, opening it and exiting his mind.

Tenchi roused from his meditation to the sound of shuffling papers and the soft sound of pencil writing across them. Carefully, he wiggled first his toes, then his fingers, reawakening his body from the state of deep relaxation it had fallen into before slowly opening his eyes. He flexed the muscles in his arms, his legs, and Ryoko paused from where she'd been writing in one of the journals he'd taken from the Masaki household. She looked at him, eyes sharp and alert, and Tenchi smiled at her.

"Any luck?" She asked.

"None." He said, and sighed dramatically. "That paper we went over together? It turned into smudges in my mind and I panicked. Then one of the Magatama tried to strangle me and…I almost didn't make it out on my own."

Ryoko stared at him, then looked back at the journal. "If your jokes were half as good as you thought they were, you'd have gotten laid before the world ended."

Tenchi flinched. "Oh, my heart!" He exclaimed, clutching his chest. "Truly, you are every bit the demon you claim you are!" He caught the pencil that Ryoko tossed at him, then rose to his feet. "I had some luck, actually." Walking to her, he offered the pencil back to her, which the woman took with a small smile. "The notes really did help. Especially towards the end. One of them-the magatama I woke up with?-was a cryptic little shit."

Ryoko released a bark of laughter, then scooted to one side in a silent request to join her. Tenchi accepted, and sat crosslegged beside her. "I learned some skills from it though. It and Kamudo, who's currently active in me. It should help us a little more if we're outnumbered in a fight later on."

"Good to hear." Ryoko nodded her approval. "And they all spoke truthfully?"

"From what I could tell, yeah." Tenchi said. "All of them spoke their names and their natures correctly, and even Marogareh-the little shit-ended up speaking truthfully with a bit of pressure." He ran his hands through his hair. "I'm still struggling to believe it actually worked."

"Told you." Ryoko said. "You can learn a lot from spirits when you simply take the time to speak with them."

Tenchi nodded. "One of them-Marogareh-said something weird."

The space pirate raised a single cyan brow. "Oh?"

"Yeah." The teen frowned. "Do you know…have you ever heard of the 'Kalpas'?" He asked.

Ryoko shook her head. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"Damn." Tenchi muttered. "Was it really telling the truth then?" It said you knew something about the Kalpas of the Amala Network."

"Not Kalpas." Ryoko shook her head with a pensive frown. "…but I…have heard of the Amala Network."

The youth looked at her with a start. "You have?" He asked. "Where? When?"

The space pirate nodded, but looked uncomfortable. "In my…dreams." She said.

"Wait, seriously?"

The pirate rubbed an arm, looking away. "Yes." She said. "There's someone I need to meet—the violet-eyed demon with the silver hair." The woman scowled. "She…comes to me sometimes. When I'm sick. When…Kagatsuchi blinks. She's…somewhere in the Amala Network and…I guess I'm supposed to meet her."

"What happens when you meet her?" Tenchi asked.

The woman shrugged. "I…can't quite recall. But…she wants me for something. A 'cure', I think, to some kind of disease."

Tenchi frowned. "Do you want to meet her?" He asked.

Here Ryoko hesitated, her mouth parting as if to respond only to fall silent as her gaze grew distant. After a moment, she closed her mouth and nodded. "I do." She said. "I don't know…I honestly don't know why, but I do want to meet her." She glanced back at Tenchi. "And you?"

Tenchi scratched the back of his head, his fingers grazing the horn protruding from the base of his neck. "Who knows?" He said. "Maybe I unlock Cheat Mode."

"Cheat Mode?" Ryoko looked at him with a start, and Tenchi laughed.

"Sorry. Marogareh said it can teach me something if I can get through the Kalpas." He shrugged. "I'm not in any serious rush to find out what."

Ryoko snorted. "Guess we'll have to keep an eye out for these 'Kalpas'." She stated. "Not like I have any idea where they are or how to find them."

Tenchi nodded. "Speaking of which…how are things coming for you?"

The space pirate placed the journal in her lap, leaning back against both hands with a sigh. "It comes and goes." She said. "I've made some progress deciphering the Amala Drum but…it's a lot harder than I originally thought. The language isn't hard to learn-I can figure out the patterns in the characters easily enough and figure out their meaning by running them through an internal data log of similar languages I encountered in my time as a space pirate. It's the meaning that's tripping me up now."

Tenchi grabbed the book resting in Ryoko's lap and thumbed through it, looking through the various symbols and their meaning and their connection to the small computer terminal which they'd found hidden in a false wall. "…How many pages did you write while I was 'gone'?" He asked, stopping on the latest page and squinting at the scrawl. The writing was tiny and almost unreadable to his eyes. It's like trying to read a computer code. He thought. I can't make heads or tails or anything I'm reading.

He handed back the journal, and Ryoko shrugged uncomfortably. "Maybe fourteen…fifteen…"

She'll say lines. Tenchi thought. This stuff is way too complicated to get through quickly. You'd need an degree in quantum physics for some of the shit we're hitting on.

"Pages."

Tenchi looked at her with startled wide eyes. "…pages?" He repeated. "Fourteen to fifteen pages?" A bubble of panic crested in his chest. "How-how long was I out?"

Another uncomfortable shrug from Ryoko. "You were only meditating for like…an hour. We've only just entered Full Kagatsuchi, and you started on the tail end of Phase Seven."

"You mean to tell me," Tenchi began, "That you wrote fifteen pages of like…quantum physics dealing with—what did you call it?"

"The dispersement and instantaneous transposition of atoms across two separate planes of existence."

"In an hour." Tenchi continued.

Ryoko frowned, then picked the journal up again, flipping to a page in the book and then counting the pages. "Seventeen, actually." She said. "Or do the back sides not count?"

"The back sides count." Tenchi whispered, and stared at the pirate in awe. "Seventeen pages…in an hour….and this after you translated it from fucking Sanskrit. Are you like…a closet genius or something?"

Ryoko grimaced. "Don't call me that." She grumbled. "I'm not a genius or a scientist or an engineer. I'm just an artificial human who's creator was a scientist who couldn't abide by having his creation be too dumb to access high-security locations."

"And we agreed you weren't going to call yourself dumb or stupid or anything else demeaning, right?" Tenchi raised an eyebrow. "Just because you were 'allegedly' created in some lab by a criminal scientist doesn't mean you aren't a person deserving of respect and happiness." He glanced back at the book. "Besides…that is beyond what like…anyone except for maybe a couple of people pre-Conception could ever do."

"I had a hard tutor." Ryoko muttered dourly, then closed the book. "Anyways, enough of that, you'll make me blush with all the damn praise coming out of your mouth. I'm close to something. A break in the code, I think, but I could use a break." She stretched her arms over her head. "I've been going at it hard in the paint since you started meditated and I could use a distraction." The woman smirked. "But next time…I'm certain that next time we use the Terminal, we'll get to where we want to go. Nothing is going to interrupt us like that last time."

Tenchi shuddered. "That last time was scary." He muttered. "I though I saw people."

Ryoko nodded. "I thought I heard voices. Kind of glad the teleport did fail on us—but I'm more relieved that it failed and we didn't come out of it fused or something."

"The Fly." Tenchi muttered, and shuddered.

"The what?" Ryoko looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh nothing." The demi-fiend replied. "Just an old eighties American movie. It's about a scientist who makes a teleporter for the first time, but when he uses it, there's a fly that get stuck inside with him. The whole thing is about him slowly mutating into a giant housefly throughout the whole movie, affecting him to the point where even his children come out like mutated maggots." He put his hands behind his head. "You know, good ol' fashioned eighties horror."

Ryoko stared at him in horror. "That-that actually happened?"

Tenchi glanced over at her. "Oh no! No, no it didn't! It's a work of fiction!"

"So someone, somewhere, actually dreamed that up?!" Ryoko exclaimed. "What is wrong with your people?!"

"And got a budget to make a movie over it." The teen rubbed the back of his head. "That's not even the worst one out there. The Thing is pretty brutal too." He leaned in close, a dark smile on his face. "You want to know what that one is about?" He asked.

Ryoko leaned away from him, them swatted him lightly with the journal. "No." She said. "And I am not afraid of blasting you if you try and tell me."

Tenchi laughed and leaned back. "You know what, that's fair." He said. "I'd probably deserve it, too."

"Don't you start." Ryoko growled. "Or instead of blasting you I'll just tickle the ever living shit out of you-we agreed on that as well."

The youth held his hands up with wide eyes, a look of alarm on his face. "I surrender!" He exclaimed.

Scowling, the woman sent him one more half-hearted glare before rising to her feet. "It's Full Kagatsuchi." She said, and glanced at the door leading outside the terminal. Their two rucks rested beside it with a pair of sleeping bags rolled out next to each. "It's hard to believe we've been here for half a cycle already…"

"It's because we've been waiting. And we…honestly needed the break." Tenchi rose to stand beside her, looking at the door with a frown. "Are you having second thoughts?" He asked, "Because we—we don't have to do it if you don't want to. We can always just wait for Full Kagatsuchi to pass and then start fresh from there. We'll probably get pretty far between then, New Kagatsuchi, and the pass back to Full again."

The space pirate was silent, staring at the door with a pensive frown. At length she shook her head. "No…" She murmured. "The entire point of coming here was because of that lead you got from your girl."

"Kumashiro's not 'my girl', Ryoko." Tenchi sighed.

Ryoko ignored him. "And her claims that this place could block out Kagatsuchi's influence." She glanced over her shoulder, "We've literally been waiting for this moment. If I chicken out now…what would have been the point?"

"All those notes and translations you made on how to operate the Amala Drums, for a start." Tenchi supplied, "Me learning how to interact with the magatama for another."

Ryoko rolled her eyes. "Stop trying to talk me out of it."

"Okay." Tenchi said. "Then we do it together, how's that sound? We open the door and step outside, you first and me immediately after, so that if Frenzy hits you, I can pull you inside and shut the door?"

The cyan haired woman scowled, but nodded with a resigned sigh. "I hate that Kagatsuchi affects me so." She growled. "I'd give an arm and a leg to walk free of its influence."

"You may not have to, if there's any truth in what Sakuya said." Tenchi advised, and reached out, grabbing her hand. "We've got this." He said. "No matter what comes to pass, we'll get through it, right?"

"Right…" Ryoko looked at the door with apprehension, then moved towards it, Tenchi a step behind her. They stopped before the door, and the pirate grabbed the handle, staring at it with a pale face. "It's fine." She told herself. "Nothing is going to affect me on the other side and I'll walk around like a free woman. There's no Frenzy because of Full Kagatsuchi because the Assembly of Nihilo has found a way to cancel it out. It's fine."

Her hand didn't move.

Ryoko stared at it.

Then Tenchi took a step forward, placing his own hand on top of hers as he looked up at the Devil Caller. "We got this." He said.

Ryoko licked her lips. "We got this." She said with a nod.

"Count of three?"

Grimacing, Ryoko nodded.

"One" The duo began, "…Two…" Ryoko placed her hand atop Tenchi's. "Three!" Together they pressed down on the handle and shoved the door open. The two looked away as brightness—Full Kagatsuchi—overwhelmed them, violet-white light streaming into artificially illuminated room which had been their safe haven for the past half-cycle. Their eyes began to adjust, and squinting against the brightness, Tenchi peered outside, finding the small alleyway the Amala Terminal was located on quiet and deserted. Grimacing, the couple released the door handle, and Ryoko experimentally took one step outside.

"Well?" Tenchi asked, "How do you feel?"

The woman tensed and surveyed the area, looking more like an apprehensive cat who'd spied a dog rather than the fierce Demon Lord she modeled herself as. The cyan-haired woman took another step outside, followed by another. Tenchi slipped out next to her, and looked around. Minatogawa Stateside Town was an old US Military installation which had once been reclaimed by the Japanese government and converted into a shopping district and tourist destination. Still, some of the old relics of the US remained, including a sign which rested at the far end of the street they were on labeled 'TEXAS' in large, romanized letters. At some point the 'X' had fallen away, leaving the ghostly imprint of its missing character behind against the bright dunes which half-buried many of the remaining buildings.

"Ryoko?" The woman looked at Tenchi with a start, yet despite the tension, he could see no signs of Frenzy, fear, or madness within her bright eyes. "You…you good?"

Slowly, Ryoko nodded. "I think…part of me is still waiting for it to hit." She whispered.

"And when it doesn't?"

Ryoko shook her head. "I think it's—I think it's actually working, Tenchi."

Tenchi felt a smile rise on his face, and bit it back. "Well, let's test it." He said, moving to stand beside her. "Do you…feel like you're about to go nuts with fear?"

"No."

"How about…killing and maiming anything and everything around you?"

"Nope." A smile of her own slowly spread across Ryoko's face.

"No desire to suddenly go through a teleporter with a fly and give birth to mutant maggot babies?"

Ryoko stared at him, and her smile grew evil. "I know where you're ticklish." She said, "And I suddenly have a desire grab you and tickle the ever-loving shit out of you."

Tenchi broke out into a large smile. "Uh oh, that sounds to me a whole lot like Frenzy sneaking up on you. You know what? You should go inside and rest until this whole thing blows over."

"How about no." Ryoko replied, and slipped behind Tenchi, grabbing the youth before he could make a run for the Terminal Room and slipping her fingers against his neck. Tenchi yelped and drew his shoulders up, and the space pirate switched to his ribs, causing the teen to shriek with laughter.

"Alright alright alright!" Tenchi screamed. "You win! I give! No more teasing!"

He found himself released, and looked up, meeting Ryoko's mischievous eyes with his own. Then he smiled gleefully, and threw himself at the pirate. "It fucking worked!"

Ryoko caught him with a laugh of her own. "It did! I can't believe it actually worked! You did it Tenchi!" The two embraced in celebration, laughing with joy as above their head, Full Kagatsuchi pressed on, ignorant and uncaring of the two beneath its rays. "This is amazing! Finally, I can walk outside again without-without feeling the eyes on me!"

Tenchi beamed at the woman as the youth held her at arm's length. "This is wonderful Ryoko. You don't have to worry about Kagatsuhi's effects on you. Maybe…maybe we really can find peace here…and maybe others can too."

The pirate nodded, glowing with joy, then without warning embraced Tenchi once more. "Thank you Tenchi." She murmured, "I know the past cycle has been rough—Sparna, the Lilim, even our own individual struggles—but thank you. We'd have never discovered this place if it wasn't for you, and I'd be either Frenzied or locked inside the Amala Terminal Room instead." Her smile was soft, gentle, and in Tenchi's eyes, even a little gracious. "You know how I feel about prisons, no matter how temporary they are…and the Frenzy is…just another type of prison. Like being under Kagato's thumb; a prison of the mind while the body rampages."

"Oh?" The sound of approaching hoof steps against cobble which had been laid down across the sand caught their attention, and the two looked down thee street, finding a demon dressed in vibrant red armor approaching on a white maned black horse. The stranger was armed with a lance, a vermilion cloak hanging from his shoulder. "I come hearing a strange commotion and what do I find?" He demanded, and the voice which rose from deep within the helmet was laced with static and noise, a nest of hornets who had sensed a threat. "You know that public displays of affection are not allowed in the Assembly of Niholo's territory, do you not?"

The Hitoshura and the Demon Lord stared at the demon, blinking owlishly.

Tenchi flushed.

Ryoko stared.

"Release each other!" The demon exclaimed. "This is a place of Silence and Perfection, not a den of Debauchery and Whoring!"

Ryoko continued to stare, but feeling his face heat up to the point where his ears were growing warm, Tenchi released Ryoko, placing a small amount of distance between the two. Ryoko glanced at him.

"Um…sorry." Tenchi bowed apologetically. "We're…new here. We don't know the rules yet."

"That much is evident." The demon sighed. "You are fortunate I have caught you right outside the Terminal Network. Had you been in town, such words would have fallen on deaf ears."

The duo shared a look. "What…are the rules?" Tenchi asked, "So-so we don't cause you or anyone else any trouble." He held his hands up when the demon's glowing white eyes narrowed.

"Hmm….you seem decent enough, if ignorant. Allow me to illuminate you." The demon said. "You stand on the outskirts of the Assembly of Nihilo, Followers of the Reason of Shijima, as passed on to us by our leader."

"What's 'Shijima'?" Ryoko asked.

"A Reason of silence and introspection. It is the absence of the Ego, and those boorish desires tied to it. A desire for stillness, where emotion is abandoned in place of logic and intellectualism." The horse he rode stamped a foot, shaking its mane restlessly. "We have no place for emotions or desires here, so ensure you abandon them at the terminal before entering the city. You are free to come and go as long as necessary so long as you control yourself."

"I see." Tenchi said, and bowed. "Thank you for the guidance—and we will ensure we pay close attention to the rules of this place."

"See that you do." The demon replied, and pulled on the reigns of his steed, wheeling it around. "I welcome you to the Assembly of Nihilo. May you find stillness and illumination within its territory." As suddenly as he appeared, so too did he vanish, disappearing once more down the street and around a corner and leaving nothing to mark the strange demon's passing.

"Well.." Tenchi said, "That was…unexpected."

Ryoko grunted. "Kagato would have a field day in this place." She grumbled, and scowled. "If what Big Red had to say is true, then this place would be right up his alley…he's spent most of my memory trying to discard emotions, and using me as his testing board."

"You know he's a psychopath, right?" Tenchi asked. "Only a psychopath does shit like that."

"You're telling that to the one who was stuck under him for two thousand years raiding and pillaging planets and vaults for archaic knowledge and the cash to fund his own ventures." Ryoko muttered. "Trust me, I know." She sighed, scratching the back of her head. "I guess that explains why Frenzy doesn't affect anyone here though." She said, looking up at Kagatsuchi. "Frenzy would go against their…code."

"You think so?" Tenchi asked.

"I know so." Ryoko narrowed her eyes and the bright globe, then looked away with a sigh. "We'll have to watch ourselves when we get closer to town, Tenchi-if what that demon meant what he said, than it isn't just 'public displays of affection'," Her voice dropped mockingly. "It's also our own temperament and how we react to what's around us. We'll…need to keep our emotions in line or we could get booted."

"You think it'll be that bad?" Tenchi asked.

Ryoko nodded, then shrugged. "We'll let Nihilo show us themselves." She said.

Minatogawa Stateside Town was surprisingly built up given how desolate the surrounding area was. The town encompassed not just Minatogawa, but the ground level train station people a life passed once used for commute. Behind it, a strange obelisk rested, and as the two demonic entities neared the Station, they stopped to stare at it.

A demon passing the duo paused. "You see it, right?" It asked. Its form was mostly humanoid, save for its smaller stature, the tiny horns, the wings, and…what looked like another horn coming out of its midsection. Ryoko tried not to stare at it and ponder what kind of 'horn' it was. Or why it looked…diseased.

"See what?" Tenchi asked.

The demon, an incubus, pointed. "The red light going to the top of the Obelisk." He said. "That's all Magatsuhi."

Ryoko frowned. "Is it gathering it?"

"Yep." The demon nodded. "You need a lot of Magatsuhi—a lot of power—if you want to pursue your Reason. That Obelisk is where the leaders of the Assembly of Nihilo sit. Supposedly it's also what prevents Kagatsuchi's eyes from affecting us; all that Magatsuhi creates a lot of static noise, and the effects can't penetrate down here to where we are."

"Wow…." Tenchi murmured.

Ryoko pursed her lips. "So the fact no one is affected by Kagatsuchi is an aftereffect of The Assembly's acquisition of Magatsuhi?" She asked. "Not one of their forefront efforts?"

"No." The creature shook its head. "The Assembly's leadership is only concerned with obtaining Magatsuhi. Their lesser followers spread out though and began reinstating new rules after they realized demons like us were flocking to the region, and now we're stuck abiding by their laws or being thrown out into the Badlands again."

Tenchi glanced at the demon. "Is that why you're here?"

"Hell yes, Brother!" The demon crowed. "I don't buy into any of their bullshit of 'silence' or 'empty desires'. You take away desire and emotion, what are you left with? Just an empty vessel existing. No thanks."

"Are most of the demons here like you?" Ryoko asked.

The demon shrugged. "'Bout fifty-fifty, Toots. But you can always tell the sticklers. They'd report their neighbors if they caught so much as a whiff of emotion off of em. You're here escaping the Bright Fucker too, ain't ya?" He pointed up towards Kagatsuchi, and despite herself, Ryoko smirked.

"Sure are." She said, and glanced over at Tenchi. "Vote for calling Kagatsuchi the 'Bright Fucker' from now on?"

Tenchi raised his hand. "Approved."

The incubus laughed. "You two'll do just fine out here-just make sure the Horse Fuckers ain't around; they're Nihilo's big, beefy bears, and won't hesitate to sodomize you."

Tenchi looked at the demon with a start. "Sorry, what?"

"You know," The demon said, "Get rough with you. Fuck you up. Fuck you down. Fuck you all around."

"Is that what 'sodomize' means?" Ryoko asked.

The demon looked up at her, and his eyes grew bright and eager. "Oh no, it means—"

"Thanks for the advice, would you look at the time, Ryoko, we gotta go." Tenchi grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the demon, who watched the two of them go, chuckling quietly.

As they were about to round a corner, the incubus called out to them once more, "If you need a place to relax, check out Urd's Well!" He shouted, "It's run by a demon so powerful no one in the Assembly goes near it! You'll recognize her by her silver hair!"

And then he was gone.

A silver-haired demon…Ryoko though, before stopping abruptly. Tenchi stopped with a jolt, still clutching her hand, and turned to look up at her. "He mentioned something about a silver-haired demon." She said. "Urd's Well…Tenchi…I need to see this for myself."

"Are you sure?" He asked. "That guy wasn't…the most trustworthy-looking sort."

"Are any of us?" Ryoko asked. "The only way we knew to come here was from second-hand information passed on by the same demon who almost got us both killed. That guy was a damned saint by comparison."

Tenchi pursed his lips. "I guess…I mean, if you say so…but…do we know where this place is?"

"We'll just need to keep our eyes open." Ryoko said, then smirked, sending a sidelong glance towards Tenchi. "Or…we could go back and ask for directions…"

"Nope!" Tenchi exclaimed. "We'll stumble into it like you said! I'm fine with that!"

The pirate laughed. "Does that mean you're going to tell me what—"

"Nuh-uh."

The pirate raised an eyebrow. "Tenchi, I'm a grown woman who's done worse things in the span of a hour than you have in your whole life. Japanese is just one of many languages I've had to learn in the past thousand some-odd years, and if you don't tell me, I'll figure it out from someone else."

"It's gonna be someone else then." Tenchi said stubbornly.

Ryoko threw her hands up. "Fine." She said, exasperated. "Maybe I'll ask this 'silver-haired demon' when I see her."

"If we find her." Tenchi replied. "This place seems to be a lot bigger than we thought."

"We'll find her." Ryoko nodded. "I know it."

The two ventured further into the small town, and with it began to see more signs of a renewed civilization similar to what had been seen in Miebashi Station. A localized vendor ran by a Manikin promised them a discount if Tenchi specifically returned to buy from his store. A shifty looking demon dressed in worker's overalls eyed them greedily, promising them both elementals and creatures called 'mitamas' in exchange for gems. "Use them the next time you stop by the Cathedral of Shadows." The tiny demon-man said, rubbing his hands greedily. "Whatever demon you fuse it to will come out special. That's Rags' promise to you."

The found another Cathedral of Shadows, which both Tenchi and Ryoko eyed with trepidation; while neither of them had yet to visit the place, the more they heard of it, the less they wanted anything to do with it.

"Who would want to be fused to another person?" Tenchi wondered aloud. "I mean…you aren't even you anymore, right?" He looked at Ryoko, who shrugged helplessly.

"I wish I could tell you." She said. "I know that under specific circumstances Ryo-oh-ki and myself can be fused with other creatures, but our cores—our egos—would remain unchanged." She looked down at herself. "Our body might change, might warp, and our personality might take on attributes of whatever we were fused with, however the both of us remain fundamentally us."

Tenchi looked at her with a frown. "You almost sound like you're speaking from experience."

The pirate looked at him. "I am." Ryoko replied, hesitating for a moment before saying, "You remember that tiny little bobtail kitten you found in the forest as a child?"

"Well, yeah," Tenchi said. "The poor thing was so scrawny and weak that it passed away before Mom and I could even get it off the mountain and to a vet." His voice dropped at the memory. "It was the first time I'd ever had any up-close experience with death. Woke up one day and she was just…gone." He scowled before muttering, "I bawled my eyes out over the little thing. I didn't even get to name her. She was just 'Kitty' until Mom got her checked out." He frowned. "I guess she suspected the kitten wouldn't live long and didn't want me getting too attached. Lot of good that did me." He scoffed.

Ryoko nodded. "Achika brought the kitten to me after it died." She said quietly.

Tenchi looked up sharply. "She did?"

The pirate nodded. "She was accompanied by a nekomata—I think it was the old stray that's been living with Yosho for the past couple of decades."

"You mean Ol' Koneko?"

Ryoko nodded. "They both came asking if there was anything I could do for the kitten, given how heartbroken you were." She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "I guess…the kitten was one of the nekomata's brood." She said. "They thought that since…well, to them I seemed functionally immortal—you know, dead body, living soul bound to a cave, that kind of thing—that I might be able to do something for the kitten."

"And…could you?" Tenchi asked.

"Not…in any way that I think they were hoping." Ryoko replied. "The most I could do was fuse the kitten with Ryo-oh-ki. It would…change Ryo-oh-ki, allowing her to acquire the kitten's body and characteristics, but the kitten itself—it's spirit—had already departed."

"Mom said she'd left later in the evening to bury the kitten." Tenchi murmured. "She was…taking it to you instead?"

Ryoko nodded.

"And….did you?"

The pirate nodded once more. "There was another pet too. A…rabbit, I think?"

"She-you-both of you did it twice!?" Tenchi exclaimed. "Goodness Ryoko, I forgot about the rabbit!"

"The one that dive-bombed into the lake to escape a hawk?" Ryoko replied, and when Tenchi nodded so too did she. "Yep." She sighed. "Both of them have been fused with Ryo-oh-ki."

"But…she's…your sister, right?"

"And my ship, yes."

"So then…what does this mean for her?" Tenchi asked. "Did you fuse her into like…some sort of spaceship cabbit?"

The pirate shrugged. "I honestly have no idea." She said. "Ryo-oh-ki's been dormant under the lake for so long that I honestly have no idea what those fusions did to her."

"And you just…did this. Without her input?" Tenchi stared at her in horror.

The pirate scowled. "Give me some credit, would you?" She snapped, "Ryo-oh-ki is my sister, the one being in all of creation I trust with utmost certainty. I wouldn't do anything so life-altering without her express permission first."

"But I thought you said she's dormant under the lake."

"She is." Ryoko replied. "But the two of us are linked, and that link spans both the conscious and subconscious. While she still remains dormant, so long as she's within range our subconsciouses can commune. That is what gave me permission."

Tenchi stared at her. "Her…subconscious." He stated. "But…why?"

Ryoko stared at him with an unreadable expression. "She wanted a body that was not designed for destruction, one that was not hard from combat." She said. "She's a crystal. One which had been used for combat and death. She wanted to know what it was like to be soft. To experience emotions like I was discovering—she had been programed without them, like me, but where I had the opportunity to learn them, Ryo-oh-ki was not granted that same luxury." The woman's eyes softened. "She wanted to know kindness, like what I was learning from Achika." The pirate looked away, her eyes drifting up to Kagatsuchi and the land above it. It almost…almost looked like she could see the lake Ryo-oh-ki languished in, though it remained far off, and the pirate had yet to devise a path on how to navigate back to it. "I merely granted your mother's wish…and my sister's."

She glanced back at the door to the Cathedral of Shadows. "So…I think I do understand why such a thing exists. To evolve. To move past the limitations you were born with, or to acquire something which you would have no way of experiencing any other way. What I have difficulty believing is why demons or spirits like…well, like I guess you or me—would want to go through the process without a very specific reason. 'Fusion' indicates more than one demon…something-someone-must be sacrificed in the process." She pursed her lips, and for a second considered entering the facility, just to see for herself what rested within before thinking better of it. Some things are best left hidden. She thought.

Tenchi was still staring at her.

The woman bristled. "What?" She asked. "What is it?"

"You're…a lot kinder than you realize." Tenchi said slowly. "Doing that for Mom…and for your sister…that's…actually really sweet."

Ryoko stared at the youth with wide eyes.

"You're uh…you're blushing, Ryoko." Tenchi said, continuing to stare in shock.

If anything, Ryoko blushed harder, and now she could feel the heat traveling up her cheeks and down her neck.

Tenchi smiled savagely. "Aww…are you—are you actually embarrassed?" He teased, and a large smile spread across his face. "Is the Big Bad Demon Lord incapable of taking such praise?"

"Tenchi, I swear to whatever gods exists in this hellscape that I will blow you up." Ryoko threatened.

The smile fell from his face, and Tenchi stared at her solemnly. He approached her, and placed both hands on the woman's shoulders.

Ryoko's eyes widened. "Tenchi-what are you-"

"…Don't let your emotions get the better of you." He said seriously. Then, to her disbelief, the demi-fiend turned and took off running.

Ryoko stared at his retreating form for a solid five seconds before chasing after him. "Motherfucking little shit!" She hissed, and struggled to hide the smile on her face.

Above their heads Kagatsuchi shown its full Bright Might down upon the denizens of the Vortex World. But in a small Stateside Town, a pair of beings-not divine, not fully human, but perhaps just a small bit demonic-chased after each other, for the first time since Conception free of worry, free of concern, free of fear, their resilience renewed, smiles on their faces in a land that frowned at their freedom of expression.

---

Vortex World,

Minatogawa Stateside Town, Assembly of Nihilo

Kagatsuchi 7/8 Waning

Urd's Well was harder to find than either of them were expecting. In that time, the two became more intimately familiar with the many demons who'd come to reside in peace in the area. They found a variety of different angels—some which resembled the angels from Miebashi—but other, armored Archangels too. They ran into more demons which were dressed in the same armor as the demon who had greeted them outside the Amala Terminal-demons of under the legion of the fifteenth Goetia, Eligor, and other, similar demons dressed in blue-steel armor bearing tridents and who sat astride red steeds; demons who fell into the legions of the twenty-eighth Goetia, Berith. Strange, pale women adorned in cloaks, armor, and tattoos called Dis, and large, massive behemoth goatmen—Formorians, who watched them with stoic, calculating eyes.

Yet there were other demons too. Demons who didn't quite…fit with Shijima's Reason. They saw more incubi, oftentimes paired with succubi who sent them both flirtatious smiles, jack frost and pyro jacks who, when they saw the two and when no angels or Goetia legions were around, would giggle and laugh with childlike glee. Strange Nozuchi, with elephant trunks attached to a round mound of brown hair with bulky grey legs who would trumpet occasionally to each other or at them. A massive troll, twice the size of either of them, with a hairy brown torso which contrasted with its blue heads and limbs.

"Guess its easy to tell the Followers from the Refugees." Ryoko muttered, the two stopping to watch a pair of Nozuchi roll past them, their trunks wrapped securely around their torsos as they used their massive legs to propel themselves forward.

One of them trumpeted at them as they rolled past, and Tenchi waved at them. "Your welcome." He said, and looked back at Ryoko. "That's true, but you have to admit…with the Assembly's…cops?" He glanced at a pair of armored demons-one of Elegior's legion, another of Berith's, who sat posted at either end of the street. "Yeah…with the Assembly's I guess…law enforcement around, you gotta admit, this place is pretty chill considering some of the other areas we've been to." With the two demons passing, the duo continued to walk. "I can…kind of understand why Sakuya wanted to see this place for herself."

Ryoko hummed in thought. "Yet even this place has its issues. No society is without its issues." She glanced at the mounted demons as well with a soft frown. "Security at the cost of freedom. Is it worth it?"

"Freedom from Frenzy?" Tenchi asked, "And the security of knowing you won't be attacked? I'd say so."

Ryoko was silent.

The two continued exploring, finding back alleys that had been cleaned up and converted into makeshift restaurants, demons who had gathered the wares of previous, human merchants, and had cleaned them up and were reselling them for macca, and, as they continued, even demons who were offering themselves up for fusion.

"They want payment before giving themselves over to be fused?" Tenchi mumbled. "What's the point?"

"Could be for whatever comes out of the fusion." Ryoko muttered.

"What, like a dowry?" Tenchi looked at the pirate skeptically.

Ryoko shrugged. "Or they want to use it for something else before fusing. Maybe to get gems for that Rags dude, or maybe its for another spirit." She shrugged. "Hell, if they were human, maybe its just so they can get wasted prior to giving themselves away."

"None of those options sound pleasant." Tenchi grumbled.

"Life is not pleasant." Ryoko replied. "Sometimes its too unpleasant for some beings to handle." She snorted. "The Vortex World and our own survival in it is proof enough of that."

The demi-fiend raised a dark eyebrow. "Wow, didn't realize I was such bad company."

Ryoko tousled his hair. "You know what I mean, Asshole." The woman looked around, a pensive frown on her face. "There aren't as many guards patrolling this area." She noted, "And a lot of the Shijima followers are absent as well." A broad smile spread across her face. "Ah…this is more like it." She said. "Wherever there's an authoritarian society, there's a seedy underbelly hiding the real people."

Tenchi glanced around. "This place doesn't seem very seedy to me." He noted.

"You really missed the vendor we passed selling literal angels wings, didn't you." Ryoko sent him a flat look.

The youth stared at her in mounting awareness. "You mean…those were—those were real?"

"Where and why would they have fake ones?" Ryoko asked. "Come on, lets keep going. I feel eyes on us." She glanced around as they started moving, and caught sight of a demon dressed in a red leather jacket, black jeans, and fingerless black gloves watching them with matching red eyes. Odd. She thought as they started moving. He's different from the others. If not for the eyes and the aura, he'd look like a normal human.

Yet there was something overwhelming about the demon's presence. Something which caused the creatures around him to make a wide berth, staying well out of his way as though fearful of drawing near. Its his aura. Ryoko thought. It's like…like a nest of serpents, each one lashing out at whoever comes near. Red and sinister, like it-like he-wants nothing more than to destroy this entire marketplace for the sake of destruction. She recognized it even, and a part of her even reveled at the sensation, sensing the savage kindred and wanting nothing but to invite the chaos held in such close and careful check into the order and structure of the Assembly.

The demon smirked at them as they passed, revealing incisors more at home in a tiger, but did nothing else, watching their passing with an undue interest that made Ryoko's hackles rise. Scout. She thought, and wary suspicion rose in her chest as she began to examine the demons around them. A trap? Yet though her instincts were on high alert, she could sense no hostility from any of the other creatures around them. No…not a trap than—not unless he's planning on something right here in the market square. Is he that bold? Is it something else? Or am I just being paranoid?

She caught the demon moving towards her from her peripherals, and stopped, snagging Tenchi by the sleeve of his haori and dragging him back to inspect a vendor's stall. The Demon Lord ignored the youth's eyeroll, staring down at a series of gemstones which seemed to have some kind of elemental properties as she focused on both her peripherals and sixth sense.

The pirate felt more than saw the demon approach, coming to stand beside her as if finding interest in the stones as well. Ryoko tensed, certain he was going to attack and making a subtle shift in her footing to respond to any motion. Yet instead the demon merely caught her eye and smiled once more, before slowly sauntering away.

This time Ryoko looked up, following the demon's retreating form with suspicious eyes.

Frowning, she trailed after him.

"Ryoko," Tenchi sounded exasperated. "What are we doing? This isn't the time to be window shopping."

The pirate ignored him, watching the demon round a corner down one of the more open main streets and slipping after him. Is he trying to keep himself exposed? If it was a fight, wouldn't he want to use an alley? Or am I going to find an empty street and him standing there ready to throw down? Narrowing her eyes, the pirate paused. "Be ready for anything, Tenchi."

The youth looked up at her. "What?"

"Something's off about this place…we may be walking into a trap."

The teen sobered, and looked around with a frown of his own. "If you think its a trap, than why continue down this way?" He asked. "Why not just go back to the-the 'less-seedy' side of town where all the law-enforcement is?"

The pirate grunted. "Because if we confront it here, while we're aware of it, then we don't run the risk of them catching us off guard later." She stated. "Just—keep your guard up."

"Right."

Ryoko rounded the corner, Tenchi close behind her, and the duo found themselves on a mostly deserted street. During its human occupancy, it looked to have been a Red Light District of some type, and they passed empty Pachinko parlors and izakayas whose windows and simple wooden doors had been blown out. The places they passed were under new occupancy, and as Ryoko glanced about she saw slimes and ghouls, preta and zombies, Will O'Wisps and Specters who eyed them from the shadows. Others held incubi and succubi who frequented what appeared to be an old love motel. The incubi winked and catcalled. The succubi blew kisses and promised them a good time.

And there was the demon.

Long, curly blond hair framed a face with strange sigils on his forehead and at the corner edge of each eye. Vermilion-red eyes with slit pupils, a matching red leather jacket and complimentary black jeans and gloves. He leaned against a storefront, where a neon image of a well hung over his head. Painted on the store in elegant cursive was 'URD'S WELL' in romaji. The demon glanced at them in uninterest, a cigarette in his mouth which he lit with a flame that rested on the tip on his right thumb. Taking a puff, he acknowledged them with a nod. "Place is open." The voice, while rough and grating, was surprisingly feminine, and with a start Ryoko realized she'd mistaken the demon for a man. "First drink's on the house for new patrons who keep their mouth shut. You cause problems, you deal with me. You cause me problems, you deal with the proprietor and me, then you disappear. We clear?"

"Crystal." Ryoko said.

Tenchi stood stiffly at the pirate's side. "Ryoko…are you sure we should be here?" He whispered. "This place doesn't look…safe."

The demon heard him and nodded to the bar. "This place is about the safest place you can find." She stated. "Though you'll have to make due with what's on the menu; we don't sell milk boxes here, Kid."

Tenchi bristled, and Ryoko placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't fight the bouncer." She murmured. "Save it."

"But—"

"Just trust me on this one, Tenchi." Ryoko murmured, and strode forward. "So this is a bar?"

"The only one still existing in the Vortex World to anyone's knowledge." The demon nodded. "Best kept secret in town, and so long as new customers like yourselves know to keep your mouth shut around the Assembly, it'll stay that way, if you get me."

"I get you." Ryoko said. "Mouth shut, no trouble. I get you. Heard a silver-haired demon is around here. That true?"

The demon's expression grew cool. "Who's asking?"

"A pirate." Ryoko replied.

The demon looked her up and down with a raised golden brow. "Kid like you?" She asked.

The question caught Ryoko off guard. "Did-did you just call me a kid?"

The demon grunted. "Head inside." She said, "Before you draw anymore attention." She narrowed her eyes at them both. "But I'm warning you again. No trouble."

Tenchi rubbed the back of his head. "You certainly act like we're going to cause trouble." He grumbled.

The demon grunted. "I've sealed stronger gods over less." She said cryptically. "You going in or you gonna chitchat all cycle with me out here?"

"We're going." Ryoko brushed past the demon and to the door, a western-style oak door which seemed to have been crafted from an entire piece of wood. "Let's go Tenchi. 'Kid' my ass." She pulled the door open and stepped inside.

The two looked around, finding not a seedy bar but something which ran closer to a large, western-style pub. A sign was posted on a wall showing what appeared to be a flying saucer, the words "I WANT TO BELIEVE" in big blocky white text. Someone had taken a red marker to it and had written "DON'T" over the 'I WANT'. Stained glass of various shades depicted a variety of characters-a woman drawing water from a well, another of a maiden surrounded by machines, one of a woman in the midst of song, birds and flowers surrounding her, and more; a beast with three heads-one blue, one black, one white, its center blue head's mouth pried open by a woman as the black and white heads moved in to strike her. An empirical figure with a golden arm and a black blade sitting atop a throne, a six-winged figure falling from a heavenly backdrop, a soldier surrounded by creatures of all types which rested in ease in his presence. A tower, struck by lightning from a figure in the sky reaching up to a bright blue sun. And one which gave Ryoko chills: A skeletal, fiendish figure, its face a skull, holding a menohra in one hand, a heart in the other, its frail figure decorated with elaborate tattoos.

Plush, leather booths lined the walls of the bar, with a line of elaborately designed barstools resting at the counter. The place was mostly empty outside of one other patron-a tall, lanky man with long hair whose color was somewhere between strawberry blond and fiery red. His back was turned to them, ignoring them both, and dimissing him, Ryoko continued her observations, finding more peculiar items of interest. Photos on the wall which depicted the moment of Conceptions occurrence, with the newly formed Kagatsuchi a negative imprint against Old Okinawa as the land began to curl upwards.

"Ah! So the newbies have arrived!" A voice, deep and sultry rose from the bar, and as Ryoko turned, the world around her seemed to slow. Long silver hair cascaded down the speakers back. Bright violet eyes examined her with an intensity both surreal and uncomfortable. Skin a deep tan, dressed in a revealing outfit that left little to the imagination. Strange sigils-like the demon out front, like the demon in her dreams, resting atop her forehead and the lower edges of her violet eyes.

"I see you made it here without too much issue." The Silver-Haired demon stated, her gaze centered on Ryoko. "About time. You had me waiting a hot minute there."

And Ryoko stared at the Norn of the Past, the Aesir Goddess Second-Class, Restricted, Urd, and said two words.

"It's you."

---

Comments of a Madwoman: What freedoms will one sacrifice for security in their home? When one's liberation is exchanged for safety, who wins?"

Cathedral of Shadows:

Eligor: The fifteenth of the Seventy-two Goetia. A Great Duke of Hell, he governs over 60 legions of spirits. He appears in the form of a goodly knight carrying a lance and has the power to see things to come. He also possesses great knowledge of many wars."

Berith: 28th of the Seventy-two Goetia; a great Duke of Hell, he has twenty-six legions of demons under his command and rides a gigantic red horse. He burns those without manners.

Dis: The general term for a low-ranking goddess in Norse mythology, a kind of spirit. The Disir are said to have given birth to Valkyries and Norns in response to the desires of humans for bountiful harvests and victory in battle.

Formorian: Race of Irish Giants which were the original inhabitants of Ireland. They are often depicted as goat- or horse-headed barbarians led by Balor of the Evil Eye. They quelled three invasions from westerners before being conquered by the Tuatha Dé Danann ."

Nozuchi: A Japanese earth spirit. It hides in the grass or in the shade. While not evil, they will attack humans by rolling if they see them. They are counted among the 35 children of the Japanese deities Izangi and Izanami.

Troll: A Scandinavian evil spirit said to be based off Norse Giants. The are active at night, where they hunt humans for food, and turn to stone during the day when they sleep. They are simple-minded, and stories perpetuate of humans outwitting them in encounters.