Thirty minutes earlier...

Katie lounged in bed, waiting with feigned patience. Even the comfort of the fluffy green robe she'd found in the closet wasn't enough to get her mind off of him. He sure is taking a while... These vending machines must be a real pain. Maybe I should keep him company, she thought. She was also worried about leaving for him to find their room empty, and then the sirens happen all over again. Her mind wandered. Is this what they call a one night stand? ...No, Leon would never do that. But he wouldn't leave me to worry either. ...Surely I'm being overdramatic.

Part of her wanted to put her clothes back on. Part of her was comfortable keeping them off. She thought about laying on the bed, enticing him for another roll in the hay. Then she died of embarrassment at the thought of mimicking those pin up girls in Cynthia's stolen magazines. It was already hard not to think of him after a night like this.

She turned on the TV. A drama romance unfolded on the screen, initially calming her with its budding relationship. However, the plot took a dramatic turn. The man received a phone call, started packing his bags, and declared he would never see his girlfriend again. To Katie's horror, the man was caught kissing another woman at the train station.

In tears, Katie cursed the malevolent TV for its evil influence and channeled her frustration by hurling the remote through the screen. As the TV shattered into pieces, she muttered, "Oops... He'll probably be upset that I did that. I'll just tell him it was cursed. It was for his protection." She silently nodded to herself, satisfied with her naive, yet flawed logic.

Her eyes turned to the clock. 12:32 am. Katie groaned. He couldn't have gotten lost, could he? Leon? Leon, can you hear me? The lack of response was alarming. There's no way he'd leave her worrying like this on purpose. Katie began putting on her sweater. A flash of light from her window made her turn to it. A fire from the docks... It was the cruise ship. The aft end had flames swerving and dancing, coming and fading in sparks. Her heart dropped. She knew where he was.

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A sharp crack echoed as Leon collided with the wall, the oldest sister's fist connecting with his nose. Blood trickled down his upper lip, but he grinned defiantly. Wiping it off with his sleeve, he said, "Good one-" He was abruptly cut off as Cynthia's blade threatened his face, narrowly avoiding a potentially disastrous encounter.

"I can see why Katie likes you," Cynthia remarked, licking his blood off her blade as she continued her assault. Leon ducked, weaved, and parried, fending off the relentless onslaught. Cuts marred his arms and legs as the sisters closed in, a relentless wave of carnage.

Embers danced from Leon's palms, swatting away the shadows Lilith sent after him. Controlling his newfound powers became easier by the second, but they wouldn't stop the sisters' blades from cutting through him. The book in Lilith's hand seemed to be the source of the shadows.

Every attempt to reach Lilith was thwarted by Isabella or Cynthia, their ferocious fighting style showcasing their harsh training. Leon barely survived their relentless strikes, evading and countering with every ounce of strength. The ship's expanse offered some respite, preventing him from being cornered.

Bounding over railings, climbing walls, and diving over heads, Leon engaged in a relentless physical exchange. The intensity surpassed any training he'd experienced. Despite his efforts, the sisters pursued him relentlessly, refusing to stay down for long.

Strangely unfazed by the chase, Leon's heart raced as he struggled to keep up with the nimble sisters. The loud scuffle seemed impossible to keep secret, yet no one intervened. He momentarily caught both sisters' arms, throwing them across the ship, only for them to swiftly recover. "This is more fun than I thought it'd be," he said, wiping away the sweat on his forehead.

Isabella gave a cold grin. "The feeling is mutual."

A giant hand caught him. His embers burst out, but were snuffed out as he felt himself being crushed. This shadow was too big to burn through. He didn't know how but it felt a lot stronger. Resistant. Leon yelped, watching as Lilith walked out from the shadows of the corridor ahead of him. "Is it fun now, boy?" she asked, giving him a cruel smile.

He gave a weak smirk. "Maybe a little." The hand clutching him tightened its grip, threatening to break his bones. Leon grit his teeth, struggling. He could feel his arms and legs straining from the weight. What- what is this thing? His mind was spiraling for an answer. The flames weren't coming back out. Too much pain to feel angry.

"Can I at least ask a question before I die?" Leon croaked, making the hand pause.

Lilith rolled her eyes. "I suppose I can indulge you. What is it?"

"If you were always this strong, why did you wait so long to hunt me down? Why did you even need children?" he asked, panting.

"I suppose the idea of caution would be a mystery to you. You did willingly come to be destroyed... The Diablos of legend is said to be a demon of unparalleled strength, save for Jalaiya the angel. Had I known who you were and how weak you'd be, I'd have not wasted so much time. Satisfied?"

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"So before this you had no way of knowing who I'd be?"

"Clearly." She snapped her fingers.

Cynthia and Isabella closed in, their blades poised to strike. Desperation set in as Leon felt the impending threat. Closing his eyes, he braced for the inevitable, but to his surprise, feathery walls appeared, protecting him. Katie's wings. Leon sighed a breath of relief. "Took you long enough," he muttered, struggling to his feet.

Standing beside him, her wings swatted back her sisters. She was trembling. "I didn't think the vending machine would be this far away," she whispered, barely maintaining her composure. Sparks crackled around her, the clouds above swirling over the ship.

Leon chuckled. "They were out of chocolate bars-"

"Stop it!" she cried, and he froze to see the tears falling down her cheeks. "What would you have done if I hadn't shown up? Were you- ...were you just going to die?"

He stopped to think of an answer. Lilith's sword responded faster than he could. Leon pushed Katie aside, crying out as it stabbed through his left hand. His blood stained her face as he struggled to hold her mother back. "Of course not! You refuse to fight for yourself! So I'll do it for you!" he yelled, smacking the book out of Lilith's hand. It burst into cinders on the ground.

The blade dug deeper as Lilith pressed it towards his chest. Before the pain could send him reeling, a flash of light blinded him. Leon fell to his knees. Everything was spinning. Katie's palm was raised, smoke fizzing.

A few feet away from them, Lilith was on the floor clutching her chest. She was heaving. Shocked. Her furious gaze locked onto her youngest. "You... you filthy little traitor!" she hissed, trying to rise to her feet.

With a sigh, Katie did her best to ignore the heartbreak those words gave. "You couldn't let me make that choice for myself?" she asked, turning to face Leon.

Her sisters watched them frozen. Too shocked to make a move. They'd never seen her retaliate to all of the torture she'd endured for years. Not until tonight.

Leon grabbed the hilt of the sword lodged in his palm and ripped it out. Her eyes widened in horror at the pained scream that erupted from him. Holding the sword tightly in his right hand, his own tears fell. "Not if it means I have to watch you suffer for one more second. I'd rather die than leave you to face that again! I won't! Even if I have to fight them alone."

"No..." Katie took a deep breath, and she stopped trembling. He felt her back pressed against his own. She raised her fists. "Not alone. Not anymore."

"Are you..." Leon stopped himself from asking if she was sure. He'd never known her to have this kind of resolve before. It gave him a breath of air like he never would've believed. "Got it."

"Kill them!" Lilith snapped, shaking the sisters from their trance.

What happened in those next few moments was hard for any of them to process. The sisters surrounded them, blades held high. It was like the previous night on the dance floor. At first, Leon and Katie moved awkwardly. They struggled to get into a rhythm, bumping into each other. Next, everything shifted.

He stepped left. Katie kicked aside Isabella. Cynthia swung down. Leon rolled off of Katie's back to deflect it. Together, it went from a tangled mess of just trying to avoid getting hit and transformed into a moving fortress. Bodies shifted, sparks flew, and flames ignited on every impact.

Their agility surged, outpacing the sisters. Attempts to re-enter the circle met brutal retaliation, spiraling them to the deck.

Isabella collided with Cynthia, frustration evident. "You're in the way!" she snapped as Leon pointed his sword at them.

"Please stop this! We don't want to fight you," Leon begged, making Katie look at him.

It was something she hadn't ever considered even in all of her suffering. She had been so afraid of losing control, she never even attempted to find ways to restrain her abilities. To find a way to fight for herself without killing her family by accident. She felt like such a fool, but yet she loved him all the more for being the one to show this path as an option.

The sisters hesitated. Every second of this was against what they truly wanted, and even now they looked defeated. "Screw this..." Cynthia muttered, letting go of her sword.

"What are you doing? We can't give up!" Isabella urged, rising to her feet.

Katie twisted and smashed her blade with her palm. "It's over. Just give in."

Isabella gave a harsh laugh. "Oh, how convenient for you to reveal your powers just when we need it most! Was all of that suffering just an act?"

Those words caused her to flinch. "W-what? No!"

"You'll fight to the death for some boy you've never met until a week ago, but you'll let us suffer every day of our lives just to be some tragic pacifist? Is there no limit to how disgraceful you are?" Isabella hissed, when Leon stepped between them. "Get out of the damn way!"

Leon caught her wrist, his gaze burning. "Shut your mouth! Maybe if any of you had a shred of mercy, she'd have a reason to fight. You were so busy creating a monster, you never realized that every single one of you is nothing more than a mindless beast! A cog in a machine!"

"What the hell do you know-" she snapped, when he raised her arm painfully high, forcing her to meet his gaze.

"Would you prefer I took a page from your book and ripped you to pieces for being born? I didn't ask to have this fucking demon in my body! Do you think if I had any choice in how you lived that it would have mattered?" He threw her back to the floor, grimacing. When she drew the pistol from her coat, he sliced through the barrel faster than she could pull the trigger.

Isabella looked at her broken pistol, her face scrunching up in frustration. "...If only you didn't exist."

"It wouldn't have changed anything," Katie said, making her eyes widen. "We were created to kill the host of Diablos. If it wasn't Leon, it would just be someone else. Isn't that right, mother?"

Their eyes turned to Lilith. Her hair was disheveled, leaning against the wall. "That's right." She was panting, her eyes stricken. "What baffles me is your logic. You spend years disobeying me, taking mindless torment spouting nonsense about wanting to be a family. The answer to what you've always wanted is standing right next to you. What should be simple is just-"

"There's nothing simple about it!" Katie yelled, taking Leon's hand. "The book you ripped to shreds told me about a family that was happy. A family that supported itself and always protected each other. They weren't just a tool to be used and thrown aside. He IS my family!"

At that, Lilith's eyes narrowed. There was a long uncomfortable pause. "Then you will die with him. All of you."

The air around them grew colder. They all watched with wide eyes as particles gathered from floors and walls around them. Mist came from their breaths. Blades of ice began to take shape in Lilith's hands, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath. "Are you sure we can't kill her?" Leon asked, glancing at Katie.

"As much as she would deserve it... no, please," she responded, watching her mother with wide eyes.

He groaned, shaking his head. "Can never keep things simple, can we?"