It was odd how often Esperia found herself wandering along the outskirts of the forest surrounding Orchidia, and yet it seemed that today had been a day she had better spend elsewhere. She had been enjoying a casual stroll along the forest when all of a sudden a scream alerted her, and as most good-natured people would do, Esperia decided to investigate, yet she didn't exactly expect to stumble onto a battlefield in the midst of turning into a crime-scene. A most peculiar one at that also, for four men clad in the armor of a Rune Knight were collapsed onto the ground, bloodied and unmoving while two more were standing over their corpses, wicked glints in their eyes as a survivor, a lone young woman was trembling against a tree as the two warriors approached them. Of course, Esperia reacted almost immediately, a whisper causing her body to transform into the form of the Demon Lord of Lust, while she hummed softly.

"Now~ Now~ Don't mind me, just a poor damsel in search of a knight, although it seems I stumbled onto something quite fascinating..."

Esperia hummed softly as she watched the two knights nod at each other, their bloodied weapons raised toward her as Esperia sighed playfully.

"Really? Is there no knight to defend me in my time of need?"

Raising her fingers to her lips she brushed a fingertip along them before blowing a tender kiss into the direction of one of the knights, the one at the front suddenly freezing in place, when without any warning he lashed with his blade toward his partner, forcing the man into a lockdown as the two clashed violently!

"Ara... Ara... This is going to be problematic, and Alisa isn't here yet..."

the lass mused softly.

One more time.

Ha!

One more slash.

two more pieces of hair dropping in her eyes, a few more falling on her shoulder from the bad bun she had made with one hair tie. Even if it was shorter now she was always aware that the thickness of her hair wasn't supported by one hair tie.

Okay, two more steps.

She twirled and slashed and stood still to catch her breath. She looked up from to the shadows of the trees, as they were getting longer, she knew she should head back to the daycare to pick up the two rebellious beings and make sure to get some food on the table and get them cleaned up and ready to bed. But it felt so good to move and do something in the form of training. Surely she had done that before but she had to keep up more if she wanted to get better and she needed more training if she wanted to continue her form and to get better.

Her golden armour was at home. Well, they did not have a home here, they rented an apartment in a hotel. It did not matter because it worked but maybe to save costs they would have to go back to Crocus soon. She should discuss that with the higher-ups. She had to consider what was the best for the little ones and no one to stop her to make decisions. She sighed and wiped her forehead with her upper arm. She grabbed her blue jacket and strapped it on and held the shield on the carrier that was made of straps on the jacket. Easy to take and not having to carry it on her front arm the whole time.

She had to move a bit to get out of this forest and reminded herself of her adventure with Evangeline. She could not remember the direction to the anklebiters but that was okay, as long as they learned from their encounter and would not show up again. She was carefully walking, trying to keep a steady pace as the next sort of training and to hurry with her time to get to the daycare. They were already slightly annoyed with the twin because they did not listen to anyone and thus it would be bad to stay away longer than possible. She heard a scream and stopped in her run. Shit. She could not run away and not go look there and hurried to her right, more to the other side of the forest than where she had to go.

She skittered to a halt when she looked at the scenery. A woman, back against a tree. Two knights fighting and a few on the ground and one person standing. "The hell is going on here?" She said recognizing the uniform that they were wearing, except the standing woman.

How curious, it seemed that the man she had charmed had well and truly lost himself to the power of her charm spell, in a way it pleased her to know that she was growing stronger, but at the other hand she felt somewhat apprehensive toward a power like this. She also realized all too well that there was a certain problem she was encountering right now. If the charmed thrall was killed, she would be left by herself, and if he slain his ally, she would still have to deal with him herself. It was a problematic situation to say the least, and yet it seemed aid would arrive in a most peculiar manner. The voice that called out made Esperia tilt her head lightly to the side in confusion.

"Alice?" Of course, there was no way she would mistake the one Holy Knight who she was somewhat fond of, even if her hair color was different from what she remembered. "It's me Esperia~ don't worry, I'm in control right now. Although we're in a bit of a pinch..."

The girl gestured lightly toward the fighting knights as she continued. "The one facing us with his back was nice enough to protect me... after I turned him into a thrall with my magic, but unfortunately his less pleasant companion still wants to butcher us all..."

The poor maiden at the tree rushed over to Alice and sobbed softly. "I stumbled upon them during my trip through the forest! The ones fighting suddenly started to kill those poor souls on the ground, muttering something about sacrificing them for 'her', the mysterious lady arrived shortly afterward and kept them from killing me..."

Only the uniform, was she that long gone that she did not remember faces? She used to be bad with names but faces were not that bad. They must be new or... not belonging in the Rune Knights, no that was ridiculous, that only happened once. She looked up at Esperia, not recognizing her friend after two years was kind of embarrassing. "Well good to see you, but what's the pinch?" as no one was attacking them, the pinch did not seem to be that big.

She only wondered what happened and why the other two were killed. She followed where Esperia pointed, at the two fighting knights. Okay, maybe a pinch as they were attacking each other, which was definitely not a good way of teamwork. Which reminded her of another team she had formed together which might not have been a good combination at the beginning and she wondered, after two years, if it had worked out. So much for being a good mentor and keeping up with the gossip press.

"Impressive magic." She pulled out the sword with her right hand, held it up with it and grabbed the Gorgon's shield from her back with her left hand and held it on her left forearm. The woman stepped toward her to tell her more of the story. She felt the blood drain out of her face, it was not smart of the poor woman to tell Alice. If there had been a mild interest in her eyes, they now spit fire.

1. Cornelia.

Cornelia.

Cornelia!

HER...

That woman.

"So you are telling me that they stabbed the other two in the back." she said through gritted teeth. This only meant that they were as nasty and as horrible as she remembered. She only needed a few minutes. She needed to calm down but she could not. She felt the blood boil. It was that damn cult. She still had the ability to use magic in a way, but she needed other things to let it support her, that's why she sent out knights to find this shield. She moved closer to the fighting duo. She stood behind the one in control of Esperia. "I will take them on." They needed to be arrested. They needed to be taken. "I need you to take a step back." she said to the lady who was clearly panicky even though Alice would protect her. Now that she got the attention of the guy not under Esperia's control, she got her magic channelled into the shield and let it turn the guy in a statue. "How long can you control this guy?" She asked Esperia quickly as the person turned around to look at what happened. She wanted to check the knights on the ground but she eyed the guy under control of her friend. Heaving her sword to show him she was armed in case it did not work.

In return to Alice's inquiry about how long she could keep the guy entranced made Esperia raise a hand to her cheek, pondering for a moment on the answer. "Mhmm, it's disgusting that they would do such a underhanded tactic." Esperia commented quietly while continuing her explanation shortly afterwards. "I can safely maintain this spell for a fair amount of time, maybe a few hours or a day or two at best with my mana reserves?" Still, she was not oblivious to the sign of hostility in Alice's eyes when the 'her' was mentioned.

She still didn't know anything about the Midnight Cult aside from rumors, so it was obvious and understandable why she was confused. Nonetheless, she also had to take into consideration the fact that the corrupt knights were acting quite bloodthirsty even without her influence, something which troubled her greatly. "Sure~ I'll give you back-up support if you need it~" Esperia hummed softly as Alice took to the frontline, blade unsheathed and ready to join the battle. It was during this clash that the guy fighting his ally got distracted by the approaching Alice, pushing the thrall away from him and turning toward the warrior lady, clearly a mistake as her shield effectively made him get frozen into a large statue made of stone!

The little dent that it did in her magic reserves, something she lost, something that returned and lost again made her gasp for a breath, there were heavier things but it almost immediately drained one third of her magic power and that always felt as if your soul left you and had a hard time recovering or finding its way back to return. "Stupid cultist." She muttered as she froze the first guy. But now one was made of stone and the other one was supposed to be under control by Esperia. She simply heaved her shield in case defence was needed but if nothing happened she lowered it. "They need to get to the other Holy Knights." She muttered, she wasn't in for a fight with her friend, maybe Blue Pegasus, if Esperia still belonged to that guild, would want information to. She had never spoken to Belladonna or whoever and thus it was kind of difficult. Then again, she did not trust the Holy Knights to actually do something with the information. She eyed the person that would not attack her thanks to Esperia. What an idea, she wanted to... she tilted her head and stared at the guy, unable to act, unable to think for himself. He killed them. Rune knights because they faked it, their uniforms were stolen, so perhaps another two dead at the very least. If she tilted her head more to the left he looked like Caleb and she felt this fire in the pit of her stomach. The guy who had been the guy at her own prison cell within the cult.

She lifted up her sword, ready to strike, stab him, she dropped her shield, nothing would happen, only Medusa might let out a scream if she would fall on her face but the thing tilted backwards and the head simply stared up with the serpents. "You." There was no one else, just her and this Caleb. Already forgetting that if she turned her head back, he did no longer become Caleb, it was just the hair colour, the same look in his eyes even now enchanted. It was just a cult member, not her prison guard. But blinded and enraged, she heaved up her sword to stab him through his heart if no one stopped her or took the guy away she would manage.

But in this battle in her head, there was no one else but her and 'Caleb'. Third on her list. Right before Augusto. Soon, that list would be no more.

It came to her as a surprise, the sudden change in Alice's mannerisms. After the first cultist had been dealt with she had approached behind the Holy Knight, wanting to figure out if she would apprehend the man but to her surprise the look in Alice's eyes as she peered at her from the side was clearly a murderous one, and when she heaved her sword to try to stab the man Esperia swiftly raised a hand, a magical circle rapidly forming in front of her raised hand as she tried to conjure a small gust of air that would surely be enough to knock Alice a few steps to the side to make her lose her balance, while Esperia rapidly tried to tackle the woman into an embrace.

"Don't lower yourself to their standards Alice. You're a proud example of how the Holy Knights should be, a just and honorable woman who knows when something is right and wrong, the type that my sister would had been proud to call a companion. Don't tarnish yourself by killing this man, not 'like this'."

She looked at the enthralled man, pondering for a moment. "I don't know who this cultist is, and what ties he has with you, but take him in for questioning first, obtain all the knowledge you can from him and then decide what to do with him. It is at times like this the people of Earthland need to know that the Holy Knights have people like you, lest the Demonic Incursions will lead to an era of chaos and despair..."

While wanting to take the few steps towards Caleb and slam her sword through his body, into his heart, out again to kill him, she had to keep her balance and take a step with her right foot in front of her left to not topple over and fall, but the moment of spur, of that specific hit had already been gone. No! NO! He, but she looked at him again, noticing now that she held her head normal he did not look like Caleb and she lowered her sword albeit shaking. She felt arms wrapped around her and her golden eyes stared into the nothing.

She was not in shock or anything, albeit she was kind of shocked by her own behaviour. Her prison guard didn't deserve to be captured and interrogated, he deserved to instantly die by her hands but that made her nothing better than they were. She was never like this before, being captured by the cultist had changed her but it changed more that she was unable to return to the side of her husband. She finally turned her eyes to look at Esperia, remembering how she lost her sister. She had heard the story and she bit her lip to not cry, she wanted to stay that honourable and just. "Thank you." she said in a hoarse whisper because she did not want to know what happened if Esperia had not stopped her.

"I don't know this man. For a second he looked like my prison guard, but it's not him." She remained on the ground, not trusting her legs to make her stand upright now that she had collapsed. She nodded, she needed to be the example, especially if her assumptions were true but only time would tell how radical the Holy Knights could be.

"You're welcome~" Esperia answered with a gentle smile as she looked toward the cultist that had still been enthralled, and after a moment of consideration she heaved her staff high into the air and whacked the man's head with it, the blunt force enough to render him unconscious while Esperia turned back toward Alice, a hint of confusion in her eyes. "A prison guard? That's quite a change of venue when the last time we saw you was at your wedding~"

Yet after allowing her body to return to its normal form her expression softened into a more serious look as she took a seat from across Alice onto the grass. "Miss, can you please go and call the Rune Knights for us?" The villager nodded her head sheepishly and ran off into the direction of Orchidia, leaving the two of them to talk with some privacy.

"I guess something serious must have happened during the last two years." It seemed like those last two years had been filled with tragedies for everyone. First Fia disappeared, reported to had been killed alongside her family at the hands of the vile demons that opposed Asmodeus and now this... Why did people always needed to suffer so much? It was truly an unfair and cruel world, and for one rumored to be watched over by Illumin, she had to admit that right now Illumin sounded like a cruel and heartless deity...

Adelaide stared at the body of the guy that just fell down after the wack on the head, that would work as well. She wanted to strangle him still but she was enough capable of stopping herself and telling her that those thoughts were irrational and that it was not Caleb and that neither he needed to be strangled for that would not give answers but only more trouble. She wanted to say things to Esperia when indeed the last time they saw each other was different. She was entirely happy and nervous for good reasons because of her wedding but now, now everything was different. There was no even the slightest hint of being married at all. Words were difficult to find and she was glad that the girl who witnessed the fight was sent away, even if she knew how to speak at this moment, she did not need to hear the words. She followed the civilian with her eyes but was not deaf for the words that Esperia spoke.

She took a deep breath and nodded before she finally looked at her friend. "First we went on a holiday to Bosco, which was fine, when we returned the church asked us both to find more information about the Cultists and the Cult itself, I don't know if it was a trap but at least they saw us coming and we..." Words felt short and it was a feeling as if someone was pushing her throat shut, the more she repeated it, the more pain it brought her. It became too real and too devastating. "Kon and I got captured for months. It took very long for the Holy Knights came to help us, free us. I was relatively okay, just wounds and scars from torture but Konstantin... They tormented him for as far as I know and he does not remember me, nor his kids."

She fiddled with the locks of her blonde hair. The capturing was a reason she dyed it blonde, there were multiple but it was one of the main reasons. She felt like she needed to puke only by the torture of telling this. The memories of the torture, the scar or the symbol on her back, she still understood so little. "That's about a year ago."

Indeed, the wedding for Alice had been quite an eventful time, one which was filled with a period of happiness and hope, for a moment it made Esperia think back, think back about the warmth she had lost because she had been too weak. Fia was gone, and she doubted there would be any way for her to turn back time to save her. The knowledge of how powerless she was, had been truly infuriating for her.

"I assume you're talking about that mysterious cult that surfaced during the last two years... I heard hushed whispers about them, but unfortunately, I don't know much beyond that. However, it makes me wonder... For them to infiltrate the church would be tough... However if... no nevermind, just grasping at theories gets us nowhere."

"From what I heard Kon seems like someone who wouldn't break easily, do you think magic is involved? Asmodeus says its quite possible his memories are sealed or suppressed, although in some cases they might be... fragmented or erased."

Still... She gently raised a hand and rested it on Alice's shoulder. "Know that you're not alone Alice, you got your friends like me and Alisa to help you out~ I'll ask Asmodeus if she can recall any similar stories from the past, and maybe Alisa might have an idea considering she is much more experienced than me~"

She closed her eyes for a moment and thought about how cruel life could be at times, to think a Holy Knight, a follower of Illumin and a protector would experience such evil, it really made her wonder sometimes if there was a reason Illumin allowed such things to happen...

So many things, she wished she could go back to her wedding and never have to leave that time or the perimeter there, never leave that side of Orchidia and time would just stand still. All her loved ones, happily together and around her. Dancing in that beautiful dress that Arisa had made for her, the look on his face when he looked at her. Odin's speech and Alisa's reassurance for her wedding and the kids. Jupiter and Hecate around to help her with that. Everyone that was not here now or that she had not seen for years.

"I feel so bad for dropping everyone, I felt so alone but I also felt so betrayed, not by my friends but by the Holy Knights." Her eyes scanned the trees to make sure she was safe talking like this. "It took them months to find us even when they knew where we were. It took them so long and I believe the magic that is involved literally erased his memories. Augusto told me it could not be salvaged and now he keeps me away from my own husband. I don't know why." Which was a white lie that she told herself and thus believed, she kept herself away from Konstantin as well to avoid the pain.  

She looked at Esperia when she felt the hand on her shoulder and smiled wry at her, "Thank you, I hope you both forgive me for not keeping up with contacting you two." Glad that Esperia still spoke to Alice's own best friend, she missed Alisa a lot and Esperia and the others as well. She did just not know where to go and explain and did not dare her emotions to run loose. Maybe Alisa knew something, the Crystal mage would never surprise her with the knowledge her friend had. But that could be said about Esperia and Asmodeus as well, "Would you mind letting Asmodeus look at a scar I got from the cultist, maybe she knows what it means?" She avoided looking at it mostly, which was easy when it was on your back but it was still there.

If the two would agree, she would open up the breastplate she was wearing with her armour and pull the black t-shirt under it up to show her pale back which was damaged by the red scar that looked like it was of some kind of ritual.

Scar

The desire to turn back time was childish and naive, but it was understandable. She herself wanted to turn back time, to return to those warmer days, but she realized all too well that there was no turning back time. There was no redoing things like that.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure everyone understands~" Esperia reassured her with a gentle smile, although the news about what had happened to Kon was troubling to say the least. A magic that didn't seal, but erase memories was incredibly powerful and just as dangerous as it sounded.


However, the question that followed made Esperia blink in confusion as she was requested to take a look at a scar which seemingly had been inflicted by the cultists. "I guess I could?" Yet it seemed she was a bit unprepared, for when Alice started to open up her breastplate and pulled up her t-shirt Esperia's cheeks flushed up lightly. "Asmodeus, please take over for a bit~" The girl whispered softly and after a moment her eyes gave a light crimson glow as she looked at the scar on Alice's back, that gentle smile still present.

"Well~ Since you asked so nicely I guess I can take a look~" Asmodeus replied with the usual sweetness in her voice as she leaned a bit closer to inspect Alice's back.

"Hmm, the method of carving and the symbol are quite old." The Demon Lord began as she raised a hand to her cheek and continued to muse softly. "I recall a particular cult used a similar method in the past, they are quite elusive and people have given them plenty of names over the past decades. However, the symbol is a bit different."

A hand raised lightly to her chin as she pondered for a bit. "I can likely say with almost certainty that the one who inflicted your scar belongs to the Midnight Cult, but the nature of the symbol... It seems to hold some purpose or meaning since I can feel faint traces of mana coming from it. In better days I could ask Shalltear to look into it, considering her expertise is close to cultism but unfortunately the Demonic Incursions have forced my servants into hiding."

A soft sigh escaped her lips as she leaned back slightly. "Although, the nature of the carving troubles me somewhat. You likely didn't notice it, but the edges here? Those are done by a type of steel that burns rather than cuts... steel that back in the day only belonged to the Church, or better said the Holy Knights..."

Embarrassment was nothing to the blonde anymore, she dyed her hair to stay hidden and to not look too much like herself anymore, only her real friends would recognize the structure of her face and her golden strange coloured eyes. She had been mutilated and hurt, tortured and pained but that did not matter now anymore, it were just demons in the past but demons that left things in a matter of speech for both words. She just wanted to know what it meant and what she could learn from it and do with it.

She looked over her shoulder when she heard something but could not catch the words, but the vibe that Esperia gave now was obviously different, not being a stranger to the concept anymore, she thought it would be the Demon Lord. She looked over her shoulder again from time to time, the pose wasn't comfortable and the cold wind of the winter made her create goosebumps on her arms but luckily you could not see that sometimes she shivered but she tried to refrain from that.

"It took my own magic away, I have no idea how they did it, but I can still use magic, just not my own instantly, I need to channel it through items." Except for her Nephilim powers but how that worked was beyond her either. She listened carefully to Asmodeus and froze when she said the words of the faction that Alice herself belonged to. She pulled her shirt back and took on the breastplates but did not secure it yet. She turned to look at her friend, "So they might have been in the whole plan? They took him because they work together? They knew?" It were all assumptions and even Alice knew vaguely that Asmodeus nor Esperia could know at this point, because the Holy Knights would never admit. She stared at the Demon Lord and panic was all over her face.

She had not much else to add when the Rune Knights showed up and she quickly made her face strict and neutral again, they should not see her panic. "I have to go along, the Holy, they need to know." She could not form the word knights at this point because they were not in her mind. But that did not really matter, she had to do her job if she wanted to continue to play the game one step ahead, only that way she would get Kon back. The statue was carried by the two of the knights that came and Alice carried the man that Esperia knocked out. She said a silent thank you to the two of them when the knights weren't watching and left. She had a lot to think about.