Sometime later, as the sun was beginning to come up only to be suppressed by a violet sky, Ash, Kaori, and the rest of that group were walking into the Grey Chamber. The rookies had been fairly silent after those... revelations that were made. Ash was still holding back her laughter from that. However, as she walked into the palace, she turned slightly more serious upon seeing the citizens here though, sprawled across the floor. It was a reminder that the city had lost most of the fights that had happened over the course of the night.
A reminder that Kaori and Ash had been baited into that portal.
Still, Ash couldn't do anything about that now.
"Uh, Saviors," Rick said. He scratched the back of his head, coughing twice. "Thank you for helping us. We'll... We'll find our own way now."
"Good luck," Kaori said. Ash remained silent and the three rookies walked away.
With them gone, Ash looked down at Luvine. The half-demon girl was looking away. As Ash crouched in front of her she looked back at her and seemed almost hopeful. Ash sighed.
"Kid, do you have anyone we can, like, look for around here?"
"... No..." Luvine replied, shaking her head. Ash narrowed her eyes at her.
"So, what were you doing before the fighting started? Who were you with?" She asked as a few civilians and guards looked over at them.
"... I was alone."
"I get that but, what do you mean? Like, were you out on the streets?"
At that, the girl nodded.
Ash looked away briefly. Seeing this girl was starting to become too much like looking into a mirror, except, whereas Ash had grown resentful of everything around her, she was just scared.
"We'll find a place for you then," Ash told her. "Just... Stay still for a bit, we need to talk to someone."
Hearing that, the girl nodded and Ash did the same over to Kaori, as the two separated from Luvine and went deeper into the palace.
She and Kaori walked past everyone, ignoring the eyes of those who were waking up and those who never went to sleep. Among the latter was probably the woman sitting on the throne, who looked up at the two of them as they approached.
Eliza looked like someone who was incredibly stressed but trying to hold it together. Ash figured that once she told her what was out there, she might actually snap.
"Saviors, my scouts tell me the portal was closed. Good," Eliza stated with a low voice.
"... And the city?" Ash asked.
At that, Eliza smirked.
"It seems we needed you more than we thought. We lost half of the city in one night."
"Oh no," Kaori gasped. Ash had expected that to be the case.
"Are the demons retreating?"
"Yes, they stopped almost instantly when they reached the center. It would seem they have designated portions of the cities that they are trying to take. In that case, tomorrow, I'd guess we could expect them to attempt to take the next quarter, and then finally the city as a whole sometime after. My question regards one particular demon though," Eliza said. "Apparently, one of them was far stronger than the rest. This one wiped out over a hundred of my soldiers by itself. I ask, did you see it?"
At that, Ash took a deep breath.
"Yeah, pretty sure we did."
"Very well. What can you tell me about it?"
"..." Ash breathed in again. "It's level 90."
Eliza paused. For a few seconds, she simply stared at Ash, her clear eyes looking deep into Ash's own, searching for any lies.
"... Truly?"
"Yeah," Ash replied. "It's level 90. I saw it," she told her again.
Eliza hung her head and paused, staying quiet for a few seconds.
"Now, how exactly are we supposed to fight that?" She muttered though it sounded like she was talking to herself.
"That might not be an option," Kaori stepped in. "Um, I... I think it might be time to start considering an escape."
When she heard that, Eliza lifted her eyes to look at Kaori, again, expressionless. Eventually, she looked away.
"Your friends are in the nearby bedrooms," Eliza suddenly said. "They arrived earlier tonight. You should check in on them."
Ash got the message. This was basically a kind way of telling them, "I'm done talking to you."
"About that," Ash added, "we picked someone else off the streets while we were coming here, can they use one of those?"
"Sure," Eliza shrugged. Ash nodded.
"Gotcha," and with that, she turned around, walking back to where Luvine was. As she did, she could hear a few of the civilians near her talking to each other.
"I'm telling you," one of them whispered loudly, "isn't it strange how she survived and so many others didn't? How do we know she isn't some spy for their side?"
As Ash walked up, she made sure to toss a glare at that person before she knelt down in front of Luvine.
"Hey," Ash said, "I've got you a place to stay, come."
"What?" She asked, looking up.
"Yeah," Ash nodded. "Or do you want to go to sleep on the floor here?" Ash asked. The girl shook her head fervently. "Then get moving."
"O-Okay," the girl replied and the two of them began to head for those rooms by the back of the Grey Chamber. Ash hadn't known just how eager she'd been to make sure everyone was alright until she was walking in their direction, her every step was determined and hurried. Luvine had a bit of trouble keeping up but Ash figured that, in and of itself, was a lesson. As a half-demon in this world, she needed to be self-reliant.
Eventually, Ash arrived at a set of doors that held yawning soldiers exiting them as she walked through the halls. One of them was open and Ash looked into the room. Here, she found her group, and her heart melted with relief.
Keiko and Opah were occupying one of the beds, with Keiko's arms protectively wrapped around the girl, while Satsuhiro and Metsumi occupied the other. As Ash walked in, she almost felt a smile appear on her face as she saw Keiko resting. She walked over to her bed, sat down by the edge, and took a deep breath as Kaori did the same. Luvine remained standing nearby, watching with confusion in her eyes.
The movement of the bed as the two of them sat down must have been significant, because Keiko's eyes slowly blinked open. Ash looked over at her as Keiko yawned.
"Ash? Kaori?" Keiko asked with a gravelly voice.
"Yeah. Sorry for waking you," Ash replied. At that moment it was like all of Ash's tiredness hit her at once. She gave a yawn of her own and her body felt so much heavier than it had before. "We'll find another place to sleep in, I just... I just wanted to see you."
Keiko nodded, and, as Ash placed a hand on her head, she closed her eyes again, clearly still very tired. Kaori was standing nearby, giving a little smile of her own. Ash stood up and walked out, towards Luvine.
"Alright, come on. Should be an empty room or two nearby," Ash said and Luvine nodded, following sheepishly behind her.
Indeed, as the three of them searched for just a little bit, it didn't take too long before they found a suitable enough room. There were two small beds, but Ash felt like she and Kaori fit just fine by themselves. Ash took off her armor, Kaori did the same and the three of them walked over to it. Ash stopped before she got in though and crouched down in front of Luvine.
"Listen, I'd like to say that you're out of this shit already but the fact is you might not be. The fighting is still going and... Yeah, even this place might not be safe soon. So, stay alert. Don't get too comfortable because we might be leaving soon anyway, okay? I... I'll try to get you to safety no matter what, but you need to keep your guard up. Alright?"
"Mhm," Luvine replied. "T-Thank you..." She mumbled and Ash sighed.
"You're welcome, kid."
With that, the three of them laid down and called it a day. Ash pulled her sheet up as she and Kaori got in bed together, but the blonde didn't immediately close her eyes. Instead, she asked something.
"So... You seem kinda invested in that girl," Kaori whispered. Ash raised a brow.
"Is that a problem?"
"No, just wondering why is all."
"..." Ash looked up at the ceiling for a second. "I... I don't know. I went through so much time where no one was around to help... I guess I just don't want the same to happen to her." Ash replied, looking over at Kaori and the blonde nodded.
"I can understand that," Kaori said.
Ash's eyes were begging for her to close them by now so, Ash leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on Kaori's lips.
"Goodnight," Ash said.
"Goodnight," Kaori replied and with that, the day was finally over.
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