It was three in the morning, and the Crux held a debriefing. In a meeting room of 30 to 40 people, it was a collection of Metropolitan Police, City of London Police, British Army, and Interpol. Even the representatives of other agencies outside of the United Kingdom were present. And they all had the attention of a tanuki girl wearing a magical girl outfit. It was hard for any of these veterans to take her seriously, but they all had to swallow their pride if they wanted results.

Undeterred, Beta Crucis gave her debriefing, "The Holy Mother, as we now identified as Maria Boutonnière, a former Crucis Sentinel of ours, has made good on her promise. She has built her army. Through seamless contacts from other military outfits throughout Europe, she is gaining support and manpower. Even worse, guns and bombs.

"The Holy Mother uses the same tactics of many cult leaders and dictators in the past while gaining more knowledge on persuading an audience. The fear is already there with anyone who would listen while using that fear and manipulate their emotions, such as sadness and anger—"

"So, what should we do? We are wasting time!" One person spoke out of turn, as this irritated everyone in attendance.

Being impatient is one thing, but there was no place for that.

Beta Crucis took a moment for everyone to calm down, "The fear is already there with anyone who would listen while using that fear and manipulating their emotions, such as sadness and anger, to motivate others. She has already figured out who to take in and who to sacrifice. To her, she is playing a game of chess with an individual that she despairingly sees as her equal. It's about dominance, and she does not care how she gets it."

The Alpha Crucis says, "Because of this, she is not afraid to experiment with her supporters and those she ends up hurting or even killing. According to our data, the attack on London was her first time using any military force. But she was sloppy, overcompensated, miscalculated, and most importantly, poorly executed.

"Even with the tools and manpower at her disposal, she failed to take the city. Also, her stubbornness and her unwillingness to change tactics have led her to be predictable and wasteful. She will try this again and fail to show people she is right. Fortunately, we have few things that her men left behind—"

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Foley was at least kind and considerate enough to raise his hand to get Alpha Crucis' attention.

Alas, Alpha Crucis wasn’t too happy about this, “I swear if you interrupt us one more time...”

"I have a question," Foley said as everyone paid attention. "One of the men spoke about a creature with big wings attacking them. An evil creature of some sort..."

Hearing that made everyone laugh.

The cop’s ignorance vexed Alpha Crucis, “do you even know what the word means or the origin?”

“And it begins...” Ross mumbled as he was in the audience.

Alpha Crucis then started her lecture, "The word 'demon,' the butchered middle English version, was derived from the Latin term 'daemon.' And yes, daemons do exist. Despite your beliefs, they are not naturally born evil, as many of you have been told all your lives. They are nothing more than a divinity or supernatural beings of a nature between gods and mortals who rightfully rejected numerous man-made religions like Christianity. The Catholic church didn't like that, so what did they do? Oh yes, spread rumors about them being evil creatures and have them killed. They were forced to evolve and live among us, learning the same society that has cursed them."

It was like a chill filled the room after Alpha Crucis spoke...

Lycka felt they lost the audience as she reeled them back in, "in other words, this civilian went above and beyond taking down trained military personnel. We should not take this person lightly since we don't know this man's allegiance. Our technicians will be in touch. Any more questions?"

Foley stood awkwardly, but Ross yanked down on his arm, making him sit.

Lycka smiled, “that concludes our debriefing.”

She didn’t have to tell the men twice as they quickly left the room.

A minute later, the ladies huddled.

“You have a future of being a teacher!” Lycka praises.

“Well, he asked for it...” Alpha Crucis commented. “I wonder if they listened to a word we had to say?”

“One person did...” Lycka teased with a smile.

Alpha Crucis scowled, “I would probably make him cry.”

“Yes, the Marco Pierre White of Demonology and Occultism," Beta Crucis chimes in. "At least more people are showing up!"

“Yes, and high-ranked officials this time!” Alpha Crucis is being relieved.

Lycka was a bit upset, "Not everyone was here..." She dug inside her phone for her purse, "I think it's time we get the twins involved. They will work in the shadows while we work with the bureaucrats."

The sentinels nodded in agreement.