"Demon Ascend. It's when we build enough power during the battle that we get a burst after a set amount gained. There are two ways to go about this. One, you go berserk and slaughter everything in your quake, or two, cancel it out and instead use all that energy to instantly heal yourself by basically overcharging your metabolism. It's the only possible way to heal a demon in battle or otherwise in a way resembling Obsulyte."

"I know you're not compatible with it, but it sounds pretty damn similar to Obsulyte if you ask me."

"It is, yes, but unlike most, we don't get the luxury of Obsulyte usage. Such the curse that narrows down history."

"Many more people don't get the luxury, Tiki. Don't narrow it down to demons. Obsulyte is a minority in the grand scheme of things. And besides, why is your hand broken then? Shouldn't you have healed yourself after cancelling out that Ascend thing?"

"Yes, I did. The first time...she landed a lethal strike extremely early in the battle, and I barely mustered my strength to escape going to hell. After that, her outburst continued, and even though I thought I had her...well, this happened."

"So you were just cocky enough to get your ass kicked when you turned away, huh?", Anya folded her arms.

"Listen here you little shit, gnn!", Tiki tried to clench her fist. "[REDACTED] arm, god dammit..."

"Ok, I'll stop, I'll stop. For now, try to relax. Let's get you outta here...wait, where's Terna? Wasn't she with you? I recall seeing her post a picture and tagging you on her Semori! page with this flower field while driving here..."

"Of course, she would do that...", Tiki facepalmed with her other hand. "I may...have snapped on her. No reason of beating around the bush, I basically told her she was utterly useless when it came to the field."

"Tiki! Are you serious?! That's actually such a low blow!", Anya yelled.

"Look, I realized it immediately and tried to tell her sorry but she ran away! And besides...she screwed over our chances of interrogating this.", she pointed at the girl. "Now we're back to square one!"

"Oh, were you really planning on apologizing though? You do realize she played a massive role in saving your 'home' right?!"

"My ass, it was already destroyed. And what did she do anyway, just caved in the enemy to one direction so that we could finish them off, not like they were targeting her anyway since they were coming for me and Shorty!"

"She helped nonetheless!"

Tiki scoffed. "I did snap, but it was justified. What does she think life is? Some sort of anime where she gets to play 'Magical Pop Star Idol' and sing her way to victory?! It was either me telling her bluntly that she [REDACTED] up, or her getting a bullet between her eyes at some point. Admit it, her powers might have a 'wow' factor by being an Elementalist, but what has she been using by now huh? Just measly earth. Hence why she can't fight for shit! What is she gonna do when it gets real, huh?!"

"T-That's...you could at least encourage her to assist you further! Her powers have a boosting effect, much like Risa has healed, so-"

"Look at me!", Tiki showed her hand, "That's the absolute definition of the best-case scenario! Moments ago I was about to fade away for good...it isn't a cookie-cutter, bullshit, story of legends, furry. The battlefield will scar you with victory or defeat...and for the ultimatum to happen, it only takes a single slash or a single bullet. Sure, we are built differently, and we can take hits, but when that runs it's the course...what do you think will happen? She's fragile, best admit it while there's time. Otherwise...", Tiki paused.

Anya paused herself. "Y'know, Tiki. You just joined the group, and you have your fair share of points to lend across. But in all honesty...start shutting that foul mouth of yours a little more."

"Is that supposed to be a threat or an insult?"

"I'm not insulting you, I'm describing you."

"Describing what exactly?"

"An asshole.", Anya turned away and started walking in the other direction.

Tiki, pausing again, could only stare in awe at Anya's words as she walked away, further engraving regret in her memory for her actions.

"I gave the big guy our location via MultiMaps. He and Yuno will be arriving at the front of that building there. I'm going to get them...and don't worry, I won't say a word about this...mess. I'm not like that.", Anya kept walking away.

Almost starting to tear up unexpectedly, Tiki yelled out loud back at Anya.

"I was only trying to help her!"

Anya paused and looked at Tiki over the shoulder, before speaking her final words for the argument.

"So was she."

With that, she left to get back to Lass and Yuno, leaving Tiki alone with her thoughts.

A small time window passed where Tiki was just blankly staring at the horizon of the flowery meadow. Despite the scarring received from their battle, it still managed to captivate the eyes of anyone lucky enough to come across it. Grabbing both the girl's scythe from the ground and her axe, Tiki snapped out of the daze.

"Aaargh! Every goddamn time is the exact same shit! Why does it always boil down to this!", Tiki screamed.

Stomping her way onto the car, she sat on the hood and looked back at the girl. She then softly turned her around to where her face looked up at the sky.

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"Here! Here's your precious goddamn scythe. Kill me with it if you want. Don't even care...", Tiki muffled her words.

Surprisingly to the world, but not Tiki, the girl answered back.

"You...knew I was still alive?"

"I smacked you full force with several blows on all your body, and you didn't die. I doubt a half-drunk furry and a fancy electric car would do.", Tiki folded her legs as she pinned her axe in front of the car's hood.

"So I guess...you're not one of them?"

"'By one of them,' I suppose you're referring to the 'bad guys'. No, I'm just trying to get hold of a very goody-two-shoes shorty that, apparently, always gets herself into more trouble than she can handle. Also, we may or may not need her to...you know. Save the world I suppose."

"Ah...so you're the friends Hikari was talking about?"

Tiki wondered. "Hikari who?"

"Hikari. Your...friend?"

"Are you sure we're talking about the same person here?"

The girl slowly got up and shook the dust off her body. "About this tall, brunette, kind smile, clumsy movement and healing abilities?", the girl described her.

"Uh...yeah?"

"She's back in the orphanage with my little sister. We were bombed from the side of a building with some sort of projectile, and I came outside, looking at you only made me think you were the culprits. My apologies for the unseeded assault.”

"Hmph. My apologies as well for...you know. Trying to kill you...and to an extent my friend ramming you with her car.", Tiki rubbed her head as she whispered. "God bless I tell her the projectile was that goddamn water bottle..."

"In any case, I doubt that your lack of guts to kill me could make you a Phantom Assassin."

"Wait, you're wanted by the Phantom Assassins? What the hell?"

"It is a lot to go over, so let's first get the formals out of the way before proceeding. My name is Luna. Luna Falana."

Tiki nodded. “Tiki Dremona. And…you said something about Risa being in the…orphanage? Is that what that building is-err, was?”

“Yes. We should fall back to meet up with her. I do not wish to disturb their silence any longer.”

“You mean…”

“Yes.”, Luna gazed at the graves around the fields.

“I can understand when it comes to a grieving person. That much I have first-hand experience of…”

The two of them got up and started moving towards the collapsed orphanage. Throughout it all, Luna’s expression stayed the same, without much of any emotion being shown, despite the circumstances. Tiki, now irritated by the fact, began to feel uncomfortable beside her.

“You know…for someone grieving, you sure as hell don’t show much of…well, anything.”

“It is…unfortunate. However, I should return to a form of resembling normality after maintenance.”

“Maintenance? What are you, a robot?”, Tiki folded her arms.

“God Chaser, serial number 007, model E, Luna Falana. That’s who I am.”

“I did not understand a single thing besides your name.”

Luna kept moving. “I will elaborate later.”

Tiki, not feeling any hostility anymore, agreed to keep following Luna until they both ended up back inside the main hall of the orphanage. Both corridors to the left and the right are broken now, only the top floor remained. Not before long, small taps could be heard running across the floor, as a small figure jumped behind Luna.

“Big sis!”, the little girl hugged Luna.

“Hello, Lina. I hope you were good with Hikari?”

“Hikari is the best big sis! Even after so long she still remembers the games we played! You should look at her too, she’s so incredibly pretty!”

“Don’t worry Lina, I already have.”, Luna looked at Tiki. “This is Lina, my little sister.”

“Hello, are you big sis’s friend as well?”

“I, uh. Yeah, sure. Happy to meet you, kid.”, Tiki waved back.

Behind Lina followed Ikarisa, calmly stepping down the stairs step by step.

“Hey, Tiki. You got introduced to everyone yet?”, Ikarisa softly said.

“Oh, believe me, I have. ‘Hikari’.”, Tiki said bluntly.

Ikarisa sighed. “‘No matter how long, all shadows come to light.’. I will explain everything tonight. I don’t feel like procrastinating things anymore anyway. But…please, before Gardel. Call me Ikarisa. I know I can’t ask much of you, but I just need this…for Senpai’s sake.”

“Don’t worry, I will. Besides…I owe you two. This will be one of them.”

Hikari looked down as she smiled. “You figured that out too?”

“Yeah, but the question is: Do I owe one and one, or two at once?”

“Easy to answer…one and one.”, Hikari frowned.

“Big sis, what are they talking about?”

“It’s grown-up stuff, Lina. You will know when you get older.”

“But I never do!”, Lina frowned.

“Then I’ll tell you later, alright? Now go check the supplies I gathered. You might find a…surprise.”

“Wait, really! Thank you, big sis!”

The little girl hurried up the stairs again, passing them two by two as she ran back up one of the rooms.

“For how long have you even been here for Luna?”, Hikari asked.

“Ever since the Burnout. After Dosil left…I will explain later, alongside you. For now, it is imperative that I go maintain myself.”

“Please, do wait a moment. I have to introduce you to some of my other…friends. They will arrive shortly. Is Terna doing alright up in Lina’s room?”

“They will be fine. Lina told me that Terna has a beautiful voice, so they will probably be stuck with some verses for a while.”

“Ah, so that’s where the diva went. I suppose you learned about the fight as well?”

“Yeah, Anya told me when she passed by here to get Senpai and Yuno. You really shouldn’t have-“, Hikari was interrupted by Tiki.

“Don’t. I said I’ll fix this. So I will…eventually. For now, focus on telling me exactly what you didn’t before…to all of us.”

“I can’t…say it to all of you. So far, it’d only make sense to enlighten you and Luna on the matter…rest won’t be in the dark for long, I’ve already talked with Magi and she set things up in Gardel.”

“Oh you’re gonna wanna tell that to the furry as well.”, Tiki folded her arms.

“Hmm? Anya? What does she…”

“Yeah, besides what I know about this now, we are a bought to find out about Dante’s identity in the records of the Corosta royal library.”

“W-What?! You…you know?!”, Hikari said in surprise. “Please, don’t tell me you said anything about this to him…”

“I know I haven’t, but I’m sure Anya hasn’t either. I mean, if she did, it wouldn’t take Lass another moment before he had a breakdown. I mean, an assassination hit by the then leading force of Riza on a child, that’s gotta do some damage. Not to mention, there’s also the fact that he is, in fact, from Dirunon. Presumably, unless I missed something when reading the files…though it does make some sense that many would want the son of Cecilia dead on birth, given the circumstances at the time.”

Hikari could only blankly stare at both Luna and Tiki as she realized the amount of information that had been discovered about a part of her dark past. The fear getting into her heart, it was only a silent “keep going” that her heart pounded back, edging her to complete the puzzle she left for others to discover.

Hikari recollected herself. “I admit to the lies told. All of it…and whether or not you consider me an ally after my saying…I’ll keep being one for you.”, she turned to the front door. “Ah…I guess they’re here.”

A faint conversation could be heard coming from the other side of the door.

“So you’re telling me it was pre-planned to go by that mall?”, Dante’s voice was heard.

“Yes, what wasn’t pre-planned, were we getting poised.”, Anya said.

“I can live with this, it looks like a good phone.”, Yuno tinkered with the device.

“Watch not to press self-destruct on it, they’re tailor-made after all.”

“It’s rigged with explosives?!”

“You’re should’ve been.”, Anya folded her arms.

Hikari looked at Tiki and Luna, nodding at them.

“Let’s get everyone up to speed…and tell Anya to meet me upstairs at the main office when everyone is asleep. I’ll do my best to remain silent since…I can’t hold most of what I have to say inside me anymore…”, Hikari said.

“Alright then. I’ll see it worth…”, Tiki said.

“I will be with you as soon as I’m done.”, Luna started heading upstairs.

The night was soon to fall, as did the curtains of confusion around the mist that engulfed them to this point. At last, a long, well-earned fragment of truth was about to debut itself to the puzzle that quickly became their adventure...