The clock on the classroom wall ticked as the seconds arduously dragged on. Save that, the room was more or less completely silent as Cobalt's Science class worked steadily on their tests. Not one person dared to make a sound, and in all honesty, that was beginning to disturb the Incubus. In recent days his students had stopped acting out almost entirely, and he didn't quite know how to take it. On the one hand, it was nice to finally not have to constantly tell them off for disrupting. On the other... it felt off, like they weren't behaving themselves exclusively for his sake.

Glancing up, Cobalt scanned through the faces of his students. Most were focusing on completing their Science tests, but he could see another kind of tension in their expressions; the very tension that had permeated the entire town. He sighed. Things weren't going back to normal, not since Beta arrived on scene. People were stuck wondering whether he and Diate were just flukes or if another Devil was bound to show up at some point. The police and even the military were running around chasing their own tails, and the divide between those who fear the Devils and those who hate them had only grown.

The worst part was that Cobalt knew that there were more to come, but could not say anything. He already had an unwanted reputation as a Devil slayer; he didn't want one as a psychic as well.

He glanced up at the clock. It was time.

"Alright, put your pens down. Time's up," the Incubus called, rising from his desk.

Sighs of relief and frustration sounded throughout the classroom as he stood up to collect the tests. As he picked up Karazelle's, she gave him a little smile, one he found difficult to return.

One look at her answers told him what he needed to know. Her ability in the fields of biology and physics were a little below average, but chemistry was another subject entirely. The Succubus' answers were messily scrawled and bleeding outside the margins; she was a little more than enthusiastic.

There was little doubt in his mind that she had somehow tampered with the water she gave him.

The question was why?

"How did you all find it?" the Incubus asked, returning to his seat with the stack of test papers.

His students responded with noncommittal murmurs.

"... I see. Well, if you have any-"

The school bell abruptly rang before he could finish what he wanted to say. Frowning, Cobalt just waved them away, allowing them to gather up their belongings and bolt out of the room for lunch. Karazelle was the last to go. She lingered in the door and gave him a concerned look, but he just urged her to run along before the canteen filled up.

Alone in the Science classroom, Cobalt took a deep breath and sat down at his desk, feeling utterly drained.

Izzbelle remembered almost nothing from what happened at the gym, and given her reputation for flying off the handle, nobody who bore witness to her intoxicated rampage was in any hurry to remind her. Her words still weighed heavily on Cobalt's mind, and he hadn't gotten much sleep because of them.

Well, that and the general anxious feeling that had taken over his body as of late. The Incubus felt as though his veins were tingling, and the fire in his stomach had gotten more intense, like bad heartburn.

On second thoughts, it might actually be heartburn. Cobalt's meals had resembled bad charcuterie boards lately, and his body simply wasn't used to it.

"Ugh..." he grumbled aloud, leaning back in his seat.

"Do you think that ham was out of date? Tasted a little sour," asked Lilith.

"You might be right. It was all I had," the Incubus murmured in reply.

"Trip to the shops this evening, then?"

"Yeah..."

He glanced down at his knuckles. A few new scars had been added alongside the old, and the skin was dark and raw, worn red in some places. They ached badly when he looked at them. He had been practicing some of what Izzbelle had taught him on an old tree in a secluded corner of the campus. It was a good, sturdy practice target, but the damn thing was splintery.

"... after practice."

As he stood up to go to lunch - thankfully something better than cheese and slightly-expired ham - Cobalt's phone vibrated in his pocket. Flipping it open, he glanced at the new text he received from Alison.

BREAKTHROUGH ON THE JOURNAL. MEET ME. SOON.

"Groceries will have to wait, then," he said quietly, slipping the phone back into his pocket.

"You know when you starve, I starve as well, right?"

"I'm fully aware, yes."

"Ugh..."

Amused by Lilith's irritation, Cobalt gathered up his things and set a course for the staff room.

As he passed by students in the hallways, a few of them gave him waves or called out to him, excitement sparking in their eyes. Those who would usually take pleasure in getting in his way made sure that his path was clear, and even some of the school's more infamous delinquents stopped acting out when the Incubus passed.

Killing Diate seemed to have earned their respect. Killing Beta, their admiration. Cobalt worried for the priorities of these students, and kept his head down on his way to the teacher's lounge.

He bid his colleagues polite greetings as he retrieved his lunch and sat in an armchair in the corner of the room. On the other hand, the staff of B.I.D. seemed a little disturbed by the Incubus' Devilish body count. He tried to assure them that he took no pleasure in knowing what he had done, but that didn't stop them from staring at him out of the corner of their eyes. It reminded him of how people first stared at him simply because he was an Incubus. It wasn't pleasant, either way.

"Sitting alone?" asked a voice as Cobalt opened up his lunchbox.

"Oh, um, if you need the other chair, you're more than welcome to-"

"Good."

Someone abruptly sat down in the chair opposite him. Eyes widening, he looked up to see Mistress Viola sitting across from him, gently swirling a glass of brandy, despite the relatively early hour. Her piercing gaze burned into him, but despite feeling the urge to, Cobalt didn't look away.

"Hm. You're growing bolder, boy," the Headmistress remarked, sipping her drink.

"H- How so?" he asked in response.

"You're looking directly at me."

"Sorry," Cobalt quickly said, turning away.

But the Succubus quickly reached forward and grabbed the side of his face, forcing him to continue looking at her. She frowned.

"You're changing," she remarked, letting go.

"What do you mean?" Cobalt asked, rubbing the side of his face.

Mistress Viola nodded to his lunch.

"I'm not blind to my staff's problems. It's not like a creature of habit such as yourself to change your lunches so frivolously."

"A- Ah, well... it's a medical thing-"

"I know. The same thing happened to Brass."

Cobalt's heart lurched at the mention of his father's name, as it always did.

"It... did...?"

"Mm. In his last few weeks, he grew almost entirely carnivorous. Not that that was much of a change from the norm; your father insisted that a man could live off nothing but beef jerky alone."

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A wistful glint appeared in Mistress Viola's eye as she gazed into her swirling brandy.

"He ate like the West Country ruffian he was, unless it was something cooked by your mother. She only recognised the signs of his oncoming Incupsychosis when he was no longer able to stomach her risotto, but kept trying to finish it anyway. Brass was a blind fool like that."

Eyes wide, Cobalt looked down at his paltry lunch.

"What are you trying to tell me, miss?" he asked quietly.

"I'm asking you to reconsider what you told me. I'm asking you to step down."

The Incubus balled his fists. Noticing this, his employer sighed.

"You're getting worse, boy. Your Everlast is holding it back, yes, but only as well as a plastic bag taped over a window holds out a howling storm. And with this sudden appearance of more Devils... well, I hold little doubt in my mind that they're here because of you."

"What the Hell is that supposed to mean?!" Cobalt snapped, his temper briefly flaring.

Mistress Viola glared at him.

"To Diate, Brass was an unexpected stumbling block. But when he returned, he returned specifically for you. I can only draw the same conclusion for this most recent Devil," she said in an icy tone of voice.

"I'm not-!"

"A lot of people were injured in the wake of the attack, most of all Magnus Rost. You may have the good fortune to walk off a spinal fracture, but he'll be spending the rest of his life in a chair."

Cobalt sunk deeper in his seat.

"I don't want that kind of violence being visited upon the school."

He furrowed his brow. He could feel the fire flaring.

"Hellfire knows it's seen enough bloodshed already."

Narrowing his eyes, the Incubus glared up at her.

"Is this about the student riots?" he asked in a quiet voice, outraged by her accusation.

"Watch your tone, boy."

"No, I've done that enough. In fact, I think you're still bitter."

"Enough."

"The student riots happened because you were the Student Council president. People got sick of your draconian rules, and my dad had enough. Any violence that ensued was directly because of you," Cobalt pressed, growing more irritated by the second.

He didn't know what he was doing this. He just knew that he was tired of feeling so scared of his employer.

"You tried to force him into the Council alongside you, but he just burned the Council House down because he couldn't bear the thought of being with you, right?"

"Boy, that is enough...!"

"And when he chose my mother over you-!"

As quick as a flash, Mistress Viola lashed out with her right hand, fixing to slap Cobalt across the face. But he was quicker, and he managed to raise his arm just in time, blocking her strike, just as Izzbelle had taught him.

"You employed me out of pity; you said it yourself. And now you're regretting your decision, because I'm a reminder of how much Brass hated you," he hissed, feeling as though his throat was filled with acid.

He had never seen Viola look so furious. Her face was as stony as ever, but her eyes... they hid a storm of rage.

"... don't think to speak for your father, boy. If he could see you now, know that he would be incredibly disappointed," she spat, withdrawing her hand.

Cobalt lowered his own arm in kind.

"I'm not leaving. This school is my home, and I'm not quitting just because you feel guilty," he told her in a low and insidious tone.

Downing the rest of her drink, Mistress Viola abruptly stood up and marched out of the staff room, much to the surprise and shock of the rest of the staff. Burning with unfounded resentment, Cobalt glared at his lunch with his fists balled and shaking. He wasn't hungry anymore. If anything, he wanted to go out to that old tree and let off some steam.

"... what the fuck was that, kid?" Lilith asked, sounding shocked.

"I... don't know. Just some feelings I'd been sitting on for a while," the Incubus, feeling the tension knot up inside his body.

"Doesn't seem smart, mouthing off to your boss like that."

"Well it's a good thing I don't care what you think, then, isn't it?!"

Grabbing his lunch, he tipped it into the bin and stormed out of the teacher's lounge.

He didn't feel like eating.

He'd get some combat practice in before lunch ended.

-----

Alison had beefed up her security since Cobalt had last visited her. The front door to her laboratory had been reinforced with corrugated steel panels and painted dark grey to blend in with the surrounding rock, and when he jabbed in the door code, he could hear the hissing of countless hydraulic pistons moving within.

"Hmph. Can't believe a human could put together defenses like these," Lilith grumbled, sounding incredibly indignant.

Cobalt pressed on down the entrance tunnel, rubbing his hands. He had been a little overenthusiastic in his sparring practice, and had busted his knuckles open a couple of times. They still ached, and he had been forced to bandage them.

"If there's one thing Alison's good at, it's defying expectations..." Cobalt murmured quietly, stepping into the main chamber of Alison's lab.

The infernal machine that had briefly turned him into a first stage demon had thankfully been disassembled, and was lying in pieces all over the cavern floor. It appeared as though the scientist had begun work on a new device, but he couldn't even begin to theorise what it was supposed to be.

"Alison?! I'm here!" the Incubus called, carefully picking his way around the broken bits of machinery.

"I'll be there in a second!" he heard her respond from deep within.

Nodding, Cobalt slowly circled the lab, observing the aftermath of the scientist's various experiments. Many of her workbenches were covered in old documents and books, many of which were written in Tongues. There were also plenty of empty alcohol bottles and takeaway boxes littering the floor. It seemed she had spent many a sleepless night trying to decode Cordelia Fesser's journal.

Noticing something glinting out of the corner of his eye, the Incubus stepped over to a worktable cut into the cavern wall. It looked like a soldering workstation, complete with tiny wiring tools and a set of magnifying lenses. However, rather than something electronic in nature, he could see a Cloaking Charm clasped in the workstation's arms. The black pendent looked to be taken apart. What was Alison doing with it, and - more importantly - how did she get it?

"Good news, bluebell!" he heard her cry from behind him, startling the Incubus.

Turning around, he saw the human vault over the pool table in the centre of her lab, scattering papers everywhere. She looked like she hadn't slept in days, and she was waving the old journal around excitedly.

"Alison, are you alright?" Cobalt asked, concerned for her health.

"Never better! I finally cracked it!" Alison answered with a grin.

For the first time that day, the general sense of irritation that had been weighing on him relented.

Finally, after all these weeks, he could finally be free of Lilith?!

"You... You did? Does it say how to break demonic contracts?!"

"No!"

And just like that, as quickly as it came, that brief sense of elation left him.

"... what?"

"Cordelia had a huge thing for fucked up contract experiments, yeah, but something happened that made her cease all experimentation, so she started to move on to other things," Alison explained, flipping rapidly through the leather bound journal.

Cobalt was barely listening, feeling numb at his last spark of hope getting extinguished before his very eyes.

So he was stuck like this. Stuck doing the bidding of a Devil taking refuge in his mind. Stuck as a target for her old Devilish squad mates. Stuck as a magnet for violence and destruction.

He didn't know whether he wanted to fall to his knees or punch the human in the face.

"- the recipe is right here!" Alison concluded, practically hopping up and down.

Balling up his fist, Cobalt marched up to her.

"What are you talking about?" he asked through his teeth, feeling the fire burn hotter by the second.

"Incupsychosis!"

His ears pricked up.

"Cordelia found a cure!"

The fire died. His fist relaxed. Cobalt's entire body nearly toppled over as those words hit him. Staggering back against the soldering bench, he gawked at the human scientist.

"... you're joking," he said simply, unable to comprehend her words.

"Nope!" she replied ecstatically.

"Th- Then if you're not joking, you're lying."

"Not that either!"

"Alison, this isn't funny!"

"Take a look for yourself, bluebell!"

Snatching the journal from her hands, Cobalt scanned through it. Alison had filled the pages with sticky notes, each bearing translated notes and code ciphers.

Surely enough, the last few pages were filled Cordelia Fesser's musings on Incubi, specifically Incupsychosis. And the very last page had some sort of chemical formula.

He almost dropped the book. Feeling weak, the Incubus staggered over to a nearby chair and collapsed into it.

"This... This can't be real," he murmured, more to himself than anyone else.

"Looks real enough to me," Alison responded, retrieving the journal.

"There is no cure. So many have tried to find one, and no-one has succeeded."

"Every single one of Cordelia's hypotheses worked, bluebell. She knows her shit."

She tapped the book with a gloved finger.

"This'll work. I can feel it."

Feeling a lump form in his throat, Cobalt went quiet as he thought. A cure for Incupsychosis... He had never even thought of such a thing being possible. Taking a deep breath, he looked up at Alison.

"... is it possible?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Alison squinted at the formula on the last page.

"Well, it won't be quick or easy. Components are pretty difficult to come by, and without the Sulfur Bloods to get me stuff, then I'll have to look into other avenues. As for the synthesis process... It would take a long time. Days, at the least. I'd also have to run a few test batches, in case it winds up being hazardous. Can't forget that some of these methods are outdated."

Glancing over at him, she noticed the look in Cobalt's eyes. The scientist's face softened.

"But don't even have to ask, bluebell. I'll make it for you. After everything you've done for me, it's the least I owe you."

Swallowing hard, Cobalt clasped his hands.

"... Thank you, Alison."

He bit his lip, feeling an odd, hopeful sensation bubbling up deep down.

"Thank you..."