Rainy mood for a rainy day

Black clouds started to form over Znena, threatening it with heavy rain. The first droplets started to fall, their coldness hitting a black and white demon lying in a pool of its own blood. The beast was breathing heavily, gasping for air with all of its might. It didn't even have enough energy to move and get shelter from the rain. The people that came for it made the grave mistake of not checking if he was dead, though he was close to being so. It had failed them all, that much it knew. It could barely keep its eyes open as the demon heard the sound of hooves approaching. A silver knight on an equally silver horse, who almost seemed to be his bottom as the beast couldn't see the rider's legs, stopped before the black and white demon.

"Tell me, good friend, do you wish to live further?" The beast could only grunt for an answer. Of course it wanted to, but why should he care?

"Very well then; pledge loyalty to me, and I'll give you everything you desire. So what is it that you want?"

"...kill...them...kill them...all"

"A flame of wrath still burns within you. Good. You will make a fine soldier."The silver knight raised his hand. A silver crest showcasing two crossed spears with a sword right in the middle of them appeared before him: "I, Berith, the grand duke of Hell, by all of the power that was given to me, declare you worthy of becoming one with my legion. Take the seal and wear it with pride. Serve me with your life and hereby swear loyalty to me, as I am the one who has given you new life."

"I swear." The silver seal appeared on the white and black demon's body, shining brightly before vanishing.

"Now go, kill those who wronged you, and return to me." By saying that the silver knight vanished as mysteriously as he first appeared.

The black clouds have long overtaken the sky over Znena. What was supposed to be just a heavy rain has turned into a downpour, slightly flooding the streets. Barely anyone was brave enough to get outside. Only one woman was running through the flooded streets, caring only to run away from the beast that had chosen her as its target. As she was about to turn right and escape into the tight alleyway right in between two buildings, she felt the beast tackle her. She fell into the puddle, ripples distorting the reflection of the lizard-like beast.

"No! Stay away! Go!" She screamed while kicking the beast in the mouth in the hopes of fending it away. The demon caught her leg between its sharp teeth, and the woman now screamed in pain, her blood mixing in with the rain.

"All guilty." The beast breathed out before devouring the woman, leaving only a puddle of blood.

Lilim couldn't sleep well tonight. The rain that was constantly hitting the window was slowly driving her insane. Who would have thought that being a light sleeper wouldn't be so good? She looked at the clock. 4 a.m. There was no reason to go to sleep anyway. Even if she and Alice had a momentary break. As it turned out, the demon that attacked her three days ago did quite a number on the half-angel. Even with her armor, his sword left her rather bruised, especially her back. So now they stayed home until she healed up. That was her ‘punishment’, as Ezekiel called it. Thankfully, she managed to defend herself and not get thrown out immediately, though that was the first and last time the bishop would let it slip by.

Beatrice wasn't home; she was pulling another all-night shift in the Extermination Force. Lilim wondered if she had ever been home for more than an hour. Passing by Alice's doors, she heard something. Stopping right next to the doors, she put her ear right to them. Crying? It was muffled, but it was definitely there. There was no way that she was hearing things and wanting to make sure that she knocked on her door.

"Everything's fine there?" No response. Perhaps she was only imagining things. The sound of crying has also stopped, if it ever was there. Stepping away from the doors, she heard rustling inside, and soon enough, the doorknob moved and the doors opened, revealing a still-sleepy half-angel.

"Lilim, what is it?" Alice asked while rubbing her eyes. Though succubus wasn't sure, they looked slightly puffier than usual. It was almost as if the angel was crying. The black-haired demon's curiosity got the better of her. Now she had to know what was going on, and besides, she was supposed to take care of her.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Huh? Of course, though my back is still sore." Alice said while forcing the best smile she could muster. Truth be told, the back has been killing her for the entire night, but it wasn't anything she wouldn't endure. She felt bad for lying to the succubus, but she did not want to burden her more than she already did. After all, if she had been more careful, it wouldn't have come to this.

"Give me a sec. I'm going to get the ointment." Before Lilim could go to the kitchen, she felt Alice grab her by the hand.

"You don't have to, really." The half-angel wanted to reassure the demon, but the wince of pain that came out of her only encouraged the demon to go get the ointment. And to think that not so long ago, Alice told her not to hide anything that bothers her. She liked the angel, but sometimes she tried too hard not to be a burden. Lilim didn't know if she was supposed to be worried about that, though she kept a closer eye on her. The succubus wasn't the only one who was hiding something.

Without further protest, Alice laid down on her stomach and rolled up her shirt a little, revealing a quite big and dark red bruise right in the middle of her back. Yet that wasn't what shocked Lilim the most. The scars on her back did. And they weren't small, like those on her arms or face. They seemed to be from rather serious wounds. Though the demon decided not to ask about them, it was a topic Alice ignored the most.

The half-angel stiffened as she felt the cold ointment on her bruise. She could tell that while trying her best to be delicate, Lilim didn't have much idea how to properly rub it in. Though she couldn't blame her. She was a demon; any wound she would get would heal itself. Not like hers. As Lilim was carefully rubbing it in, she took a quick glance at Alice's pillow. There it was—a barely visible wet stain on it.

"If it hurt you so bad that it brought you to the brink of crying, then you should have woken me up sooner."

"It didn't hurt that bad, I swear. Besides, it wasn't really it."

"So, what was it?" Lilim decided to go on with it. If they were supposed to live together, then keeping silent about stuff like that wasn't good. Private stuff was private, but if you were crying because of it in the middle of the night, then it was a bigger matter.

"I don't want them. I really don't want them. They don't bother me, but I don't want them." Alice tugged harder on the sheet as she kept on going. It didn't take Lilim long to figure out what the half-angel was talking about. Obviously, those damned scars. Hell, she hated them, so the succubus could barely imagine what the angel was going through with them. Of course, Alice never showed it to anyone, maybe save for Beatrice, always keeping her smile in front of others.

"If I only knew how to help you with that. Though you are a half-angel, right? Shouldn't your regeneration be able to heal them completely?"

"About that... You see, I'm not really a half-angel, per se. More so than a quarter of one. "The black-haired demon raised her brow at that. A quarter of one? If she was being honest, it was the first time she had ever heard about that. For most of the time, she met with half-demons and some angels, but never a quarter. "My mom was already a half-angel, so that's why. And that's why, while I can survive what would be a mortal wound for most people, I end up with scars."

"Ah, I see. But you know what? I think they give you some charm points, at least in my opinion." Even though the half, or rather the quarter, angel didn't have her face turned towards the succubus, the demon was still able to tell that she blushed slightly.

"You are only saying that to make me feel better."

"No, that's what I think. Don't tell me someone has been making fun of you."

"No! Of course not. But I can feel that people are looking at them, even if they don't mean anything bad by that. While in Force, it isn't so bad, but it's totally different in town. I might be just imagining things, but every time I can swear that people gaze at them, intentionally or not."

"Well, from my experience, I can tell you that people fear what is different from them. My best advice is to ignore them. It works wonders for me."

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Lilim, but I don't think that I'll use this advice. And seriously, don't worry. I've been living with them for a few years; I think I'll manage another few." Alice turned around with a bright smile on her face. While Lilim tried to believe in the genuineness of that smile, she could tell that something was off about it. She wasn't exactly able to tell the difference between the actual genuine smile of hers and this one just yet, but it was clear to her that it was the one used to fend her off without making her worry. Another thing that worried her about the angel.

"So at the very least, have some rest. It also works wonders for me. And seriously, if anything is bothering you, then tell me or Beatrice immediately." Before Alice could answer her, the beeping noise coming from Beatrice's room once again broke the silence. A demon at this hour? For most of the time, they were active mostly at night, or in the evenings at the very least. Not so early, though of course there were exceptions.

Lilim ran to see where the fiend was. Looking at the screen, she couldn't see the dot, which was supposed to indicate the position of the demon. And yet, the alarm was blaring. Just then, she spotted it. A red dot right in the center of the town. Though she couldn’t see exactly on which street it vanished, succubus hoped that maybe Beatrice or someone else had taken care of it as it vanished soon after, but then it appeared again. Then disappeared and appeared again. And so on and on. Lilim really didn't know what to think of this. Was the radar failing? It might have been possible. It surely couldn't be multiple demons appearing and dying at once. Though she wondered if that had to do with this whole Tetra that she kept hearing about.

"Where is it this time?" The concerned voice of Alice brought her back to earth.

"Somewhere in the center, I think." Lilim went to give her a shoulder. The angel still had some trouble walking, all due to the bruised back. That's what she wanted to avoid. Check it quickly, kill the demon even quicker, and return home to not worry Alice. But now that she was here, there was no talking her out of getting into the action.

"You think?"

"Have a look yourself." Alice went closer to the monitor. There was nothing on it, yet the alarm was still going. Then it appeared and disappeared, just like it had before. Alice was absolutely confused by that. Never in her life had she seen such a peculiar aura. Quickly switching the screen to aura charts made her even more confused than before. The chart was breaking. That's all she could say to describe it. She had no idea what could be the cause of it. If the demon had been dead, it would have faded away. But it was rapidly jumping, almost like the demon wanted to hide its presence but wasn't able to for some reason. Nevertheless, they had to check it out.

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Nodding at Lilim, the succubus held her tight, spread out her black wings, and took off from the balcony window, quickly going under the roof for some shelter against the heavy rain. Alice, in the meantime, summoned her armor but was still slightly shivering from the cold. Lilim had to get this done quickly. Wasting no more time, she flew right in the direction of the demon, this time being low under any roof she could find. Getting into the heart of the city, the demon took off high into the air, slightly above the bunch of skyscrapers that cast a shadow over the remaining parts of town. The aura was gone again. This time, for good. Alice tugged on her black wing, which was giving her some shelter from the rain, indicating that she had found some clues. From one of the alleyways, the water gained a red tint, which later vanished on the main street. Both girls hoped that it would be what they thought, but as Lilim landed right before the alleyway, Alice had to turn her gaze away.

A nearly eaten, mutilated corpse. It was hard to say what part of the human body they were looking at. Smaller or bigger chunks of meat lay nearby, still not washed away by the heavy rain. Whatever demon they were dealing with was surely a wild one, maybe without even an ounce of intelligence inside. Nothing more than a feral beast. But it was fine for Lilim. If a beast didn't want to assimilate or hide somewhere deep in a forest, then it was a perfect hunting practice.

"Lilim, can we go now? I've had enough." Alice asked meekly, tugging harder on her wing. The succubus did as she was asked and returned to the main street, far from the alleyway. Before they got to think about their next steps, a bloodcurdling scream accompanied by the sounds of something heavy and metallic being smashed against concrete and the ripping of flesh startled them. Lilim went in the direction from which the sound came and stopped, mortified.

A beast the size of a truck was standing right in the middle of the road. Right next to it was a completely mauled car, stuck in a hole. All around it were signs of the demon's massive claws, which effortlessly cut through the metal as if it were paper. In its crocodile-like mouth, it had a dead man, already bitten off in half, the second one right to its front legs. The body of a beast was sickly white, with black fur covering mostly its back. For its imposing size, it was horribly thin, its ribs almost tearing through its flesh. Its tail, whatever it was, has been gone, replaced with a still-gaping wound. In fact, the beast was fully covered in wounds, with some silver peeking out from them.

"You...demon...help me" As it spoke with a raspy and tired voice, the remains of the man fell to the ground. Lilim let Alice go and summoned Prince. The very idea that such thought of her as an equal sickened her whole being. Such a lowly beast shouldn't speak to her like that.

"Why? Why are you doing this? What is wrong with you?" Alice asked, her voice getting more and more shaky as she spoke. The demon turned his attention to her, much to the dismay of Lilim. Such a thing wasn't a beast one could try to talk to and reason with. Especially after seeing what it was capable of. And it's not like the succubus could kill it with one strike without hurting Alice, who still used her shoulder as a support.

"They deserved it. All of them." The beast then spat out sickly yellow blood, the same that was constantly leaking out from its wounds.

"Deserved it? They've done nothing to you! You're a heartless beast that enjoys all of this, aren't you?" Alice summoned the Rosary. She hated it. She hated all of it. Because of her, who knows how many innocent people have died from that beast? All because of her. It was her fault for getting hurt, and now people are suffering because of it. The beast didn't answer her, as he heard an upcoming tram coming in further on the west side of the center. It turned into a shapeless mist and ran off in that direction.

The white and black beasts had already gotten to the station, waiting for the tram. It saw the yellow shape approaching, but before it could lunge at it, a fiery arrow struck its head, followed by a strike from the black blade, which the demon barely dodged. The beast jumped away from the station, eyeing the two girls. Lilim stood right next to it, with Prince still pointed at the beast's head, while Alice, using her spear as a support, stood in the back.

"You demon, why not help me? "The demon asked while taking a more defensive stance.

"Are you genuinely dumb? I'd never help a beast like you." Lilim made yet another swing with her sword. Though the wounded demon was much more agile than she would ever give it credit for. Not only that, but without her blue flame, her range of attacks was vastly diminished. Despite that, Alice's arrows did manage to hit every time, almost as if the demon couldn't even see them coming.

"You too were hurt by humans, weren't you?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Lilim could barely hold back her anger. Her eyes shone blue momentarily once again, but as soon as they glowed, they stopped. No, she couldn't lose her temper here. Not with so many people around. The tram finally stopped, and Alice went to evacuate the people. She couldn't let there be any more casualties.

"Don't say that you don't remember, Lilim." The succubus froze in place. How did that beast know her? Could it be one that she didn't finish earlier in the forest? No, she would have remembered something like that. Instead of answering, she took one more swing, taking off a bit of the white and black beast's fur.

"You've forgotten an old pal like me? Shame, but I should have expected that." The voice of the demon was no longer raspy and tired, becoming livelier with each passing second. Its wounds were no longer bleeding, and the smaller ones had already closed. Dammit, it was just stalling for time, and she fell for such a simple trick. Before she could do anything, the demon opened its mouth wide, and red energy started to gather. In the last second, Lilim managed to dodge an upcoming red beam, which tore through the street like it was nothing. Luckily for her, no bystanders were nearby; Alice took care of them. Yet the spell itself worried her. She knew it all too well. And a simple demon like it wouldn't be able to use it unless it was taught by someone else.

"Who gave you that spell?"

"I'll tell you if you'll help me."

"As if I'd help you kill people."

"And why not? They kill us; it's fair that we kill them." The beast once again started charging its beam, this time aiming for the more populated area, but stopped as something pierced its jaw. Rosary was stuck deep inside its bone, with Alice trying to drill the spear deeper.

"No! It never was fair and never will be!" The half-angel finally pulled out her weapon and let the yellow blood spill on the ground. The white and black demons backed off, trying to think through the best course of action to take. Fighting two at the same time wouldn't end well, but if it could take care of the demon first, then the angel wouldn't be a threat.

"Of course an angel would justify the slaughter of my people. So much of your good will." The spite with which the demon talked didn't phase the angel. That much she was used to.

"I'm saying no to both cases! But it's demons like you who can never understand this. Because of you, demons are seen as mindless, killing beasts. Why do you hate humans so much? What did they do to you?"

"Was the slaughter of my sons not warranted enough for me to take revenge? All of them, one by one, were killed by you people. You remember that, Lilim, don't you? The purge that has taken everything from us"

"I'm truly sorry for your sons. It shouldn't have happened in the first place. I understand that you are angry, but you cannot take revenge on innocent people. Don't you see how pointless it is?"

"I, too, was innocent, and so were they. And no one took that into consideration." The demon then lunged at Alice and pinned her down. She could feel its horrible breath on her neck as the beast started gathering the red energy. Before it could fire, Lilim stabbed it in the side with Prince and shook the beast off the angel. The beast was breathing heavily once again, taking a more defensive stance. It took the form of a shapeless mist and went behind the succubus. Momentarily, the demon materialized and smacked the demon with its hand into a nearby wall. It raised its clawed hands with an intent to end the black-haired demon in one strike. The claws were blocked by the pole of the spear. Alice was holding the rosary with both hands and still had trouble keeping it away from Lilim.

"Those wounds had silver bullets in them, right? Did you get into a fight with the Extermination Force?"

"So what if I did? They attacked me first and left me to die. Unfortunately for them, a silver knight helped me." A silver knight? Alice feared who it might be, and if that truly was the case, then the situation was worse than she at first imagined it to be. If the beast was telling the truth, then it would mean that Berith somehow managed to get into Znena and was unnoticed by any radar. The very thought of Tetra being able to come in and out while being unnoticed filled her with dread.

The demon raised its right hand and was ready to strike the angel down, but its hand never made contact with the spear. Lilim, just in time, managed to cut off the right hand, and the white and black demon backed off, having a harder time keeping his balance. It was clear that the beast had poor regeneration, as it didn't even try to grow back its hand. As one last attempt, it tried to charge the red beam, but the succubus sliced his jaw in half, and the beam fired off into the sky. Defeated, the best fell to the ground, still keeping more of a defensive stance. It was still eyeing the two girls, though it knew that its chances of getting away alive were slim.

"Lilim, why are you doing this? Why help them?"

"Shut up, will you? I don't even know who you are. A better question is, who told you my name?"

"You truly do not remember me? You truly do not remember any of us?" Despite asking the same question as before, the demon seemed much more shocked and hurt by her answer. "What about Alicia? Have you forgotten her too?" Lilim froze, eyes wide open, and stared at the demon. Alice was also curious about who the demon was talking about. Yet another mention of that mysterious "Alicia".

"How do you know about her? Answer me!" The succubus pointed Prince at the black and white demon. She wanted answers; no, she demanded them. The beast seemed to know her. Or perhaps it knew ‘her’. Nevertheless, she had to know what was going on.

"How? You two helped me. Lilim, it's me, Schwarz."

"I don't know you. I don't remember you." The black-haired demon's hand was shaking. Just what was he talking about? She knew no demon called like that. She didn't have any memory loss, so she couldn't just forget him. But it knew Alicia, or at least seemed to.

"So that is how it is, then. Fine, maybe this will make you remember." The demon opened its wounded mouth, and black and white flames danced in it, creating a ball of energy. Lilim got low to the ground, taking Alice with her, and just barely dodged the upcoming black and white beam of fire that went over their heads. The sound of arrows raining down dwindled the noise of the beam. Both girls looked up to see Beatrice in the air with her bow, ready to rain down more arrows. The white and black demon had its head, body, and limbs pinned down to the ground with the blue, almost spectral arrows. It tried to fire off a red beam for the last time, but an arrow greater than the previous ones struck it in the neck, cutting the head off. The carcass of the white and black demon set itself ablaze in black and white fire. Beatrice landed right next to both girls. All of them were completely soaking wet, whether from the rain or puddles, but it would be a miracle if neither of them would get sick by the end of the day.

"Beatrice, this is bad! Tetra! They've been here, and-" She didn't finish, as she left her to be embraced by the angel.

"You'll tell me everything at home. Now we need you to get out of this rain." Beatrice took both girls, spread out her wings, and, in a flash, landed on the balcony of their flat. Having dried themselves, Alice told the blonde angel everything that had happened. If it were in fact true, then it was a truly worrisome matter.

"Alice, are you sure that the demon wasn't simply lying?" Beatrice asked, trying to calm down the half-angel. She was still shaking, whether from the nerves, the cold, or the fight against the beast. Lilim was in no better state herself, visibly shaken by something. And that's what worried her the most. For as long as she was with them, she never saw her shaken by anything.

"Well, no, but what other silver knight could he mean? Why even mention him in the first place?"

"This does seem a bit weird, but there was no way that Berith could just slip past our radar."

"I know, yet the demon was appearing on and off on the monitor. This doesn't normally happen, does it?"

"Now that you mention this, it wasn't until Lilim's aura got noticed by the Force's radar that we thought that something was wrong. I need to immediately report this back to Ezekiel. Alice, if anything suspicious shows up on the monitor, then call me and wait. As for you." She turned to face the succubus, who still seemed rather absent from everything that was going on. "Please make sure that she won't do anything reckless." Saying that, Beatrice made her way back to the Extermination Force.

"I don't get this." Lilim finally said, jolting up from the couch. "How the hell did he know about Alicia?" Even if it was a pure coincidence and he was lying, it sure was a weird one.

"So, Lilim, about Alicia. Who is she exactly?"

"Sorry, Al, but I'm slightly tired. Can we leave this for later?"

"Al?" The half-angel felt her cheeks gain a slight pinkish tint to them. Giving her a nickname all of a sudden. Probably to quickly change the subject.

"What? It sounds cute. I promised to tell you later, so give me some more time, ‘kay?" Here she was giving Alice a slight smile, which the angel just couldn't say no to. Now she knew how Beatrice felt whenever she gave her puppy-dog eyes. The best she could do was let the demon rest. Besides, she herself was feeling tired. Especially after seeing the corpses. But she couldn't bother Lilim; she had to endure it for a little longer. There was no need to bother anyone. They didn't have to worry about her at all. Sitting next to the succubus, she felt herself dozing off, listening to the rain hitting the windows.