Returning to the girls' bedroom, Essairyn flung open the door, ardently wishing for the fox to be waiting for her. What welcomed her was a startlingly cold space devoid of life. Unblinking, she quietly walked inside and inspected every nook and cranny as if looking for a lost item. When she turned around to walk back out, she spotted the blood splotched ground beneath the doorway. It was from the first man she had killed when escaping the inn earlier. With hardening eyes, she slowly walked and carefully stepped over the blood before scraping her soles on the hallway floor. But the blood would never truly disappear.

Drifting like a specter, she stonily made her way downstairs and past her friends gathered in the lobby. Her feet were on autopilot, taking her anywhere as long as it was away from there. Not hearing a thing, she didn't even realize Darren had followed silently behind her. They aimlessly tromped forward into the nearby woods. For some reason unknown to her, being in the forest mildly soothed Essairyn. Perhaps it was the effect of nature. Perhaps it was because her journey had started in a similar surrounding. And it was where she had first met Akari.

She stopped by a random, tall tree and looked up beyond the branches to the pale blue-gray sky above. She looked for a long time. When she tilted her head back down, fat drops edged their way down her cheeks. Without any care for her appearance, she let them fall quietly to the ground until her vision blurred, and she saw nothing but gray. It was only then, without her sight, did she feel the warmth on her back. Essairyn spun around and grabbed the large body before her, sinking her head into a hard but soft chest. The sandy-haired boy just held her tighter, leaning his head down to hover over her head.

His warm voice rumbled from the closeness of his chest. "It's okay, you'll find her soon."

"Darren.... I killed a man."

He stiffened for a slight pause before relaxing and placing his palm across the back of her head. "I... killed a man too."

"More than just one, I—" A sob choked back Essairyn's words. Gathering her strained voice, she rasped out, "Just what are we getting ourselves into in this world? A mission." She scoffed at her words. "This isn't some stupid video game but reality. Why do I keep treating it like this all isn't real? We had to defend ourselves today, but what for? Why did I have to lose Akari? Why am I—? ...so deep into this." She took a step back and pushed herself away to face Darren. "I can't stop now, it's too late now to live a peaceful life or some fun adventure. Am I kidding myself? I should've listened to you, and—"

"Stop." Darren gently shook Essairyn who was still within arms length. "We're...in this together. It's true that this isn't what we expected. And up to now, even though I thought I had accepted this reality, I only realized today that we're never going back. We have to fight for ourselves, whether that's against H.T., the demons, or this whole world. We'll make it. I know you can do it. You're awesome, remember?"

Essairyn's lavender eyes were wide open upon Darren's remembrance of her teasing words to him back at the Welforts' farmhouse when they were fixing the fence. "Yeah." She laughed lightly and wiped away the remnants of her tears. "Thanks for listening to my senseless rambling. I'm still feeling mixed up about a lot of things, but..." She looked up at him with sincere, grateful eyes. "I'm glad you're here with me."

Letting out a deep breath, she inwardly shook off her depressive aura. Essairyn had always hated this feeling of hopelessness. In this new world and life, she didn't want to feel this again. Now that she had the power to control her fate, she wouldn't let anyone stop her from enjoying it with those she cared about. Although she would never be able to erase the faces of those she killed, Essairyn wasn't able to ignore the innocents for the sake of her morals either. It was time that she fought for herself and her vision.

The sound of nearby footsteps made the two turn toward an approaching man. Seeing that it was Aispin, Essairyn reactively obscured herself behind Darren's shoulder and discreetly checked the puffiness of her eyes.

"Ah, sorry, am I interrupting something?" Aispin asked while eyeing the two of them close together.

"Hm?! No! That is, Darren was just cheering me up. I'm feeling better now."

"That's good then." The black-haired man smiled gently. "Izlende and the others were really worried about you when you blew by them and wandered into the forest."

"Sorry! I didn't mean to worry them!" Essairyn furrowed her brows. Now that she thought about it, Izra truly had looked upset at that time. But Ennrion had held her back as if knowing that Essairyn needed some time for herself. Thankfully, it was Darren and not anyone else who had tailed her. She didn't feel like she could show this side to anyone else but him yet. At that thought, she glanced at him subtly. Although Essairyn hadn't known him for much longer than the others, she strangely didn't mind him seeing her weak side. Was it because they both arrived here from Earth around the same time? Or because they had argued and made up back at the Byar'non Academy, so that somehow made them closer? A small smile inched its way on her face. It was a relief, his presence.

"Right now, they're actually searching for Akari."

"Ah?!" Essairyn's mouth opened in a small circle before closing into a touched smile. "That's nice of them." She inhaled resolutely. "I'll have to thank them later. Can you help me search, Aispin?"

"Of course." He smiled. "That's what I'm here for."

The trio searched for close to an hour inside the forest and town outskirts where the previous night's intruders had appeared and left. They didn't have any leads on Akari, so they could only guess that as a spirit animal, Hyd' Tyml might've taken her for her powers or as an offering to the demon force. More than demonic powers, spiritual power was more appealing to demons, and vice versa. This notion alone concerned Essairyn the most. They knew nothing about how or why humanoid demons were helping the organization.

Upon returning to the inn to regather with the others searching, a sharp shout made Essairyn jump. Recognizing Izlende's shocked cry, the trio raced back quickly. At the front of the inn, the rest of the group was huddled around the door.

"What's wrong?!" At the sound of Essairyn's voice, the others swiftly moved away to reveal what was on the doorstep. A blackened bundle of biscuit colored fur laid motionlessly on the wood. The sight made Essairyn stop dead in her tracks before bursting forward and lightly embracing the injured fox.

"Akari—!"

"Shh, I'm not dead...yet."

The fox's familiar, sarcastic undertone put a smile on Essairyn's shaking lips. "How did you get back here? We've been looking for you. Are you okay, what happened?"

"Too...many questions." Akari blew out an exasperated sigh. "Some man brought me here when I was unconscious. That brat...couldn't he have placed me somewhere more comfy?"

"What man? Who was it?"

Akari only replied with a grumble. Essairyn instantly realized her message and apologized. "Let's get you somewhere nice and comfy, and you can tell all about it later. I'm just glad that you're okay. You really had me worried." When Essairyn had seen Akari lying on the doorstep, both joy and pain stung her at the sight. It had reminded her of when her dog had made her way back home after being lost for a week. While she had mostly composed herself after earlier in the forest, Essairyn still struggled and couldn't help the shining emotion leak from her eyes.

The fox peered up at the girl through narrowed vision. This girl, really... Akari couldn't help feeling relief and happiness upon seeing Essairyn. But guilt pricked at her. What had started out as a lie had turned into a half truth. Akari didn't know whether she ought to be forgiven for her past deeds, but somehow, she knew that Essairyn would forgive her; even though, she wasn't in a position to forgive what had happened thousands of years ago. She'd probably tell me to live the life I want or some optimistic shit... Perhaps that girl would say the same thing if she was still here today.

Scooping the fox gingerly in her arms, Essairyn carried Akari to her bed and tucked a spare blanket around her in a cocoon. Seeing the faint demonic aura puff up from her in wisps, Essairyn frowned. Izlende, who had followed alongside her, similarly had a grave expression.

"Looks like the demons affected her. But that's strange, I've never heard of demons being able to corrupt a spirit animal like this. Essairyn... I'm not sure if I can purify it from her body."

"It's okay, do what you can. I'll see if maybe I can do something."

"You think you can—?" Izlende breathed in suspended disbelief.

"I can only try. Before, it seemed like demons didn't like my magic, so I might be able to expel it somehow."

Izra nodded seriously at the other girl before setting her hands upon Akari's small frame. White specks floating in waves of light that undulated from beneath Izra's hands slowly dispersed across the fox. The magic settled into the wounds which visibly began repairing themselves. Pained, Akari grunted and gritted her teeth.

"Essairyn, can you..? I think the demonic energy is hurting her even while I'm healing."

The black-haired girl immediately concentrated and sent a web of magic that covered and spliced the dark magic sprawled across Akari's body. Indeed, it was like Essairyn's magic was the natural enemy of demonic power.

"Strange... how strange." Izlende muttered. "No magic should be able to do that... except light magic... but that's disappeared from history and your magic is...purplish, not white."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

Izlende shook her head and grinned hesitantly. "It's nothing. Since you're a traveler from Earth, I doubt that a connection to an ancient kingdom exists. Your magic is just really weird."

Essairyn silently mulled over Izra's words. She didn't feel suspicious of the silver-haired girl, but it did put her on guard even more against showing anyone else her magic. It looks like developing a battle style that uses more of my magic is going to be more difficult than I thought. She sighed to herself. Although she was relatively skilled with physical weapons, it wasn't her forte compared to magical attacks. But to continue hiding for sake of keeping it a secret to be safe didn't feel right either.

So she decided that it would be a working progress over time. Eventually, she might be able to perfect it if she studied at the Neu'arth Academy. From what Izlende had shared about the main campus, Essairyn was intrigued and excited to experience it first hand. In fact, after today's events, she was seriously considering heading back there with Izra's group and put her adventure on hold until she understood more about this world and its conflicts as well as to improve her abilities.

"Kaff!"

"Eh? Did you just cough? Why did it sound so cute?" Essairyn peered at Akari who looked back at her through slitted eyes.

"Don't make fun of my cough, I'm dying here."

"It was a compliment, silly! And I personally helped heal you, so stop being so dramatic. Dying? Hmph, you were fine from the start being as you could be your usual sarcastic self!" Essairyn crossed her arms in a show of mock upset.

"Fuuu~" Akari let out a heavy exhale. "Go away, you're ruining my rest."

"Pft, what a tsun," teased Essairyn under her breath.

"Um, are you guys usually like this?" Izra awkwardly asked.

"Yes." Both of them answered at once. Having said it at the same time, they looked at once another blankly before bursting out laughing.

"Oh f—" Akari hacked, causing her tiny body to convulse. "I shouldn't have laughed. That really hurt." She whined pathetically, evoking sympathy from Essairyn. Without words, she gently stroked Akari's head and ears. The comforting sensation soon calmed the fox down, and out of exhaustion, she instantly fell asleep.

"She really does need to rest since the healing magic forces the body to exert itself to mend the injuries. I can only provide so much of my magic to lighten the burden." Izra mumbled regretfully.

"Since not all magic is compatible, right?"

"Exactly. White magic, or healing magic, is one of the few kinds that's pretty universal. But it's still inefficient. A lot of magic gets lost in transferral."

Essairyn paused, deep in thought. "...Maybe that's why Hyd' Tyml is so vicious. All of the power literally lies in the hands of those with magical power. It can't even be really transferred..." As she trailed off, a sudden spark of realization dawned on her as she connected the possessed wolves and humanoid demons. "Wait! That's it! Izlende, tell me, if demonic power can't influence spirits, then what about ordinary animals and humans?!"