The man looked at the others. His long and unkempt blonde hair alongside his buttoned shirt in a calming green. And his brown suited trousers. It all looked like something Bartholomew would wear.

"Is this Halford?" Ulrich asked, stepping behind the demon girl. Or Zeb? That's her name?

"Yes, child, I would be Halford." The man chuckled. "And you would be?"

"Can I say that?" Ulrich asked Zeb. He didn't know if giving that away would put a curse on him or something. She nodded.

"My names Ulrich."

"Hm. I like it. And you would be responsible for Komo's death?"

"Would that be me?" Dominic asked Ayana, who shrugged.

"Very good, young one." Halford smiled. Dominic didn't trust it.

"So, you're god, right?" Dominic asked.

"Yep." Sapphire piped in.

Lainey slowly approached him. "Nice to meet you, sir." She said, losing her breath halfway through the sentence.

Halford slowly shook her hand, and she retracted it slowly after. His hand was pretty cold. She backed off, slowly rubbing her hand.

"Now then." Halford started while outstretching his arms. "Time to discuss why I'm here. The gemstones. Where would they be?"

"I got the thunder gem back." Zeb snapped. "And why were you looking for them in the first place?"

"Excuse me, looking for them? Why would that be a problem?"

"Because the agreement said that we wouldn't use them until the war was over!"

"I see, the agreement. The agreement that also said that no more mortals could be harmed, correct?"

Zeb stopped for a second. "That…was my subordinate."

"Well, I couldn't exactly know that." Halford clutched his chest. "I had to take action as soon as possible."

"Okay, agreement?" Ulrich asked. "What the fuck are you talking about, exactly?"

"Child, do you think this was the first time we fought?" Halford replied. "After what happened last time, we decided to set a few ground rules."

"And the first rule!?" Zeb yelled out. "No mortals!"

"Oh, right." Halford replied, looking away at Vivian.

"Fought?" Ulrich asked. "Over the world?"

"Precisely, child. And after the, how should I put them, actions? Actions, of our dear Zebthany over there, I just had to start the recruitment process."

"So what, we gotta kill her?" Lainey asked.

"Highly recommended." Halford replied with a soft smile.

"Hold on a sec."

Flannel girl stepped in front of Lainey before she could react. "Lainey, babe. You trusting this guy?"

"Uh…" Lainey stopped in front of her.

"Seriously, this dude…isn't there. Look, demon lady. Can you give the exact reason as to why you kidnapped us, exactly?"

"Well…as you heard from him, we fought before. And the events were so catastrophic that I decided to leave the mortals in my own space, to avoid anyone getting killed again."

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"See?" Flannel girl replied. "She's cool. She got us food, water, a couple magazines, the whole deal. Minus showers, she couldn't do that."

Lainey silently looked at Halford. Then at Zeb.

"So, do we…pick sides now?" She asked.

"I…guess?" Ulrich replied, also looking at both Halford and Zeb.

"Well, I myself feel the choice is obvious." Halford smiled. That goddamn smile again. The really creepy one.

“And does the prophecy say anything about this?” Ulrich asked.

“Prophecy?” Zeb asked. “What prophecy?”

“Wait, it’s all fake?” Lainey yelled out.

"Well in that case, I choose her." Ulrich exclaimed, pointing towards Zeb.

"Excuse me?" Halford asked politely, his voice faltering slightly. The edges of his smile slowly positioning downwards.

"I'm…going with her." Ulrich said without much conviction, scratching his back. "Every part of this prophecy business sounded bullshit from the start.”

"Excuse me?" Vivian asked. Her face twitching, fighting hard to maintain the resting bitch face.

"Same here." Lainey yelled, with much more conviction, causing her friends to give a standing ovation. "I don't know what your deal is, but…it's probably bad!"

"Well, who am I to abandon my friends?" Dominic said, sauntering over to the others. He acted calm, but the sweat Ulrich felt on his shoulder when he brushed past him shown that to be a lie.

Ayana silently followed Dominic, giving Ulrich a thumbs up on her way.

"Ulrich…is this right?" Gene asked. He lay his sword down next to Bartholomew, approaching him calmly. "Are you sure this is what you need to do?"

"If it isn't" Ulrich sighed. "feel free to kill me."

"Well, I guess this is where we part ways, then." Gene replied, backing away to Bartholomew's side.

"I'll also align with Halford." Bartholomew started once Gene returned. "He played a part in my goals, and I'll play a part in his."

"So, it's a five against three?" Ayana finally spoke up.

"Sounds like it." Lainey responded. "Right, Sapphire?"

Sapphire didn't say anything during the conversation. She stood dead still, and when flannel girl cautiously poked her, she just moaned something incomprehensible out.

"Hey, tall lady. You're with us, right?" Ayana asked.

After another few seconds, Sapphire finally moved.

Towards Halford.

"What the hell?" Dominic screamed, looking at Lainey. Lainey ran towards her.

"What…what are you doing?"

Sapphire turned around, dropping down to Lainey's level, embracing her.

"Look, Lainey, I…want to be with you. You know that. But if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't even be here."

Lainey couldn't even think of anything. "But…the coffee."

"Look, no matter what side comes out on top, we're getting that coffee, okay? I just…have debts to pay." She kissed Lainey on the forehead, and then pried her off. Lainey stood there for a few seconds, silent. She felt the weight of the world fall from under her, being caught by her black friend.

"M-Maya?" Lainey asked in a near drunken state.

"Yep." She sighed, helping her on her feet.

Vivian opened up a crack in reality, another portal, which Gene entered, giving a sad look to Ulrich. Bartholomew followed, gesturing at Sapphire, who also entered without looking at anyone else.

"We'll make our way to Kenya for the final gem. Once you find my gem, be sure to join us." Halford said calmly.

"Wait a minute…the black gem!" Ulrich yelled. "Shit, where is it?"

Vivian took the black gem out of her jeans pockets, with a smug smile escaping from her lips.

"Shit." Was all Ulrich could muster.

Halford and Vivian left, and the portal closed after a short while.

Lainey fell to her knees, looking like she was about to throw up, but not even having the energy for it. Her two friends helping her up again.

"Thanks, guys." Was all she could muster.

"It's nothin'" Flannel girl sighed.

"So…what now?" The black girl asked.

"Actually, yeah. You came here to find your friends, and here they are." Ulrich mentioned. "So…you sticking with us?"

Slowly, Lainey got up. She put her hand on Ulrich's shoulder.

"Yep. Considering what just happened to those four, I need to see this through."

"Are you sure?" The black girl asked.

"Relax, Maya. I'm not gonna die."

"But…how can you be sure?"

"Because I said I wouldn't."

"I mean, what about us? I'm ready to take on the forces of God, or whatever that was." The flannel girl, Daisy, asked.

"No, you two just got kidnapped and woke up in a completely fucked world. You two are gonna head back to New York, meet your folks, and let us handle this."

"And how are we going to, exactly?" Daisy asked.

"Kenya is a small country, right?" Zeb asked.

"I mean, I don't know." Ulrich replied. "I think it's kind of a desert, so I don't think anybody would get hurt."

Zeb nodded to herself. "Got it. I take it that one of the gemstones is here?"

"Yeah." Ayana replied, holding the child. "I have a pretty good idea of where it is, too."

"So I take it that I can return all the people I took, and you four can find the white gem?"

"We're already on it!" Dominic yelled back. "Oh, and can you take Yuna?"

"Yuna?" Zeb asked.

"The kid, Yuna Momota. Her parents died, so I'm wondering if you could find her a home, or something?"

"I'll do my best." Zeb replied, taking the child, alongside Daisy and Maya. She opened up a purple portal, which the eight stepped into. Ulrich, Lainey, Dominic and Ayana stepped out outside the ruined building.

"So, what was that about the gem?" Ulrich asked Ayana. "You said you had it?"

"It's a white gem, right?" She asked.

"I…don't know." Ulrich replied.

"Well, I think I had to retrieve it. And provided Shin didn't do anything, it should be at my house."