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~The Amagi Inn~

Perhaps the most famous location in all of the rural town of Inaba, visitors flock from around the country in order to visit the renowned Hot Springs of the Amagi Inn. Kept and maintained for generations by the Amagi Family [currently managed by the mother of Yasogami High student Yukiko Amagi], it is said that you almost have to reserve your room a month in advance in order to get one during the busy season!

A little known fact, however, is that one of the rooms is almost always kept vacant, as it was said to be the site of a grisly murder. The details around the incident are not spoken of around the Inn, however protective charms are always placed inside the room and over its door in order to ward away any untoward spirits.

Al Azif and Ennea

"Aaaaah!" Ennea let out a relaxed sound as she spread out in the Hot Spring. Truly, there was nothing quite like a Japanese Hot Spring to remind her of the places she'd left behind... and nothing better for relaxing anywhere in the country. A small towel rested on her head, expertly balanced, as she enjoyed the luxurious experience. Her companion, the Heroine of Justice, was rather more methodical about the whole thing. She carefully and thoroughly cleaned every bit of her body before ever getting into the hot spring, under the belief that cleanliness was of vital importance for a hero. It was all right to get dirty in the line of duty, but you washed up as soon as it was reasonable to do so. In fact, the girl was even singing... albiet quietly, to herself, so as to not bother others too much.

"Tresspassing the boundaries of mortality~ In the city where chaos is the only known rule~ We shall inherit the key, ancient and immortal~ Man, god, machine, all for one~ A clamor for light slaying the evil inside~ Clamor for life's light igniting the skies~ For only in that light shall we see darkness' downfall~"

Yup. Justice was her thing. As if anyone could possibly have had any doubts.

Al Azif and Ennea

Ennea had just started relaxing again when she felt two slender hands get a good grip. "Gyah!" "For the sake of great justice, I demand that you tell me the secret to looking like this!" Ennea pushed forward, sending both of the girls plunging into the hot spring and, unfortunately, getting certain towels rather wet. Oops. She broke the surface a moment later, laughing in spite of herself, before grabbing Al's face with one hand and trying to shove her away. The petite heroine was a lot stronger than she looked, though, and her grip was firm enough that there was no way Ennea could get rid of her so easily. "I don't know, genetics!?" The two girls spent a little more time wrestling before Ennea finally managed to disengage and drag herself to the edge of the hot spring. She was too amused to be angry. "I will get the truth from you yet!" Al was smiling too, though.

But, more than anything else, this sort of thing helped Ennea remember who her friend truly was. Al wouldn't dislike her just because she was a demon, and that was a lot more than she could say about other people she'd met over the years. Maybe humanity had a few bright spots left after all.

Al Azif and Ennea

A faint burst of light glinted off the end of a very special, very popular device... and that was all justice needed in order to notice it. One hand grabbed a bucket, and without even getting up out of the water, Al hurled the item with enough force to completely smash the camera and slam into the face of the one holding it (which, incidentally, probably meant bits of the camera were shoved into his skin...). This was a girl who was much, much better than a lot of people gave her credit for... though, underneath the water, Ennea quietly allowed Ithaqua to vanish. This was one of the key differences between the two; Al was justice incarnate, more or less, while Ennea... well, Ennea was an ancient and powerful demon who was tired of tormenting humanity and just wanted to relax a little and enjoy her existence for once. At the same time, though, her own instinctive reactions to threats were far more violent and likely to result in someone being hurt or killed. She did try to keep that under control, though, if only so she wouldn't disappoint her friend.

Titus, Kimiko, Al Azif, and Ennea

One of the doors of the Amagi Inn clattered as it was rolled open and a petite girl walked out of the changing room, the faint aroma of shampoo clinging to her hair and white dress clinging tantalizingly to her body. The girl turned and met Titus' gaze, while many other things happened in short order. Titus' eyes widened in shock as he reached towards the girl with one hand. Maybe it was instinct, maybe it was something else, but a strange man suddenly reaching out to grab a girl who'd just come from a long bath was... well... a situation that could be easily misunderstood. It was probably his fault, to be honest, but Al grabbed his arm and twisted to throw him into the floor. Had he been alone, this might have been the end of it, and a situation where he could have quickly tried to correct the misunderstanding in a fashion appropriate for some harem eroge or whatever.

Unfortunately, he wasn't alone... and if Kimiko didn't really care about him, per se, she did care about the overall family and was perfectly willing and able to consider an attack on him as an attack on the Lin Kuei. It was a good thing the hallway was otherwise empty, since the girl whipped out several knives and darted towards Al, swinging to incapacitate the girl. Of course, Al wasn't alone either... by her side was a demon of ancient knowledge and experience, but who kept up on the times as well. Cthugha and Ithaqua formed in Ennea's hands as Kimiko's weapons came in and repelled them.

"Kimiko! Stop!" Titus finally managed to gasp out, having gotten a little air back into his lungs after being pounded into the ground by the girl currently sitting on top of him. It was a little too late for that, though, because her weapons were out and a fight had begun. Kimiko darted forward again, exchanging blows with the gun-using girl for a few moments before she pulled back her weapon and focused, activating one of her special techniques to enhance her powers and allow her weapon to be driven home.

Before the could complete the movement, though, the girl with the guns just looked at her. For just a moment, she was surrounded by an aura of absolutely terrifying power and Kimiko reeled back, eyes widening in shock. In a way, Titus was even more frightened than her; Kimiko's special talents included an immunity to such effects, but this monster had punched straight through that like it wasn't even worth her time. "You don't want to make me mad, little girl. Put the knives away and listen to your friend." Almost involuntarily, Kimiko's hands moved her knives towards their hidden sheaths, and the Tyrant's aura faded.

Kimiko's hands immediately twisted, sending a knife plunging into Ennea's leg as soon as the supernatural intimidation wore off. It was important to remember that Kimiko was very much a sociopath and had no qualms at all about hurting others. Titus sighed heavily as the terrifying whatever-she-was reeled back, raising her weapons, and the girl on top of him began to gather power. This was all going to go nuts in about two seconds, and it'd probably involve the whole building getting blasted to pieces. A fine way to start his vacation that would be. He whipped himself over, bringing the distracted girl with the purple-ish hair down towards the ground while his hand flicked up and the air in the hallway began to whirl. Preventing the scary girl and the scarier girl from getting at each other was a monster made of wind, a God-Beast of his creation. "All of you, calm down! Kimiko, we're not here to fight! Whoever you are, she was just trying to protect me! As for you..."

He looked over to see where his hand had landed.

Munyu.

SLAP!

Titus, Kimiko, Al Azif, and Ennea

The pile of plates grew steadily as the four sitting down at the table had the equivalent of several meals. Well, some of them did. Titus and Al seemed to have stomachs that were all but bottomless; Kimiko simply drank more cartons of juice and Ennea was too busy keeping an eye on all three of them in case things turned violent again. The two nutjobs had hit it off remarkably well, Ennea noted, though she had a sneaking suspicion that there was rather more going on here than a chance meeting between two people. No, she didn't believe it was some kind of fated reuniting, either, even if humans did reincarnate. Eventually. The man seemed to be telling the truth about his wife, at least, judging from the way he'd looked when he first saw Al. Part of her wanted to stir up some violence anyway, just so she could fight and stretch a little, but... not around here. That just wasn't worth it.

...

Though, her current mindset might partially be due to having momentarily called forth her true level of power. She didn't sustain it these days, not anymore, but boy had she gone all-out way back in the past. Even old memories of all that were enough to excite her into a frenzy; she could still barely believe all of this had ended without someone dying or things getting blown up.

"-so I went on a journey to better myself and find out the truths of life."

"I know, right!? A training journey is a must for those who want to better themselves!" Sparkle sparkle.

Al Azif and Ennea

Even a Heroine of Justice couldn't stay on one topic forever, and enough time had passed for the girl to truly start to calm down. Al quietly sat down on the bed and crossed her legs, then focused her thoughts and energies. Part of her odd weapon appeared in front of her, summoned from wherever the heck it was kept when it wasn't being used. A holy realm, maybe. Ennea had never been entirely sure about that, nor did she recognize the magical powers that Al used. Then, of course, there was the name for her tool... but 'Demonbane' was probably appropriate, considering her personality. Ennea had seen Al's Super Serious 100% Nothing Held Back Final Attack exactly once and holy crap was it overpowered. Rather like her own magic, in fact, except for the fact that Al had weaponized love.

That's right. The most powerful force in the universe had literally been turned into a magical sphere of destruction to be used at the whims of a girl who actually believed that the world worked the way Sentai television shows said it did. And who was very open to the idea of befriending people by beating the crap out of them. The very few people who knew that fact tended to have a very reasonable concern over the possible consequences of putting so much energy into the hands of a girl who... well... might not have been entirely sane. She wasn't randomly crazy, not the way some people were, but there had to be something wrong with her head. She'd swallowed that entire ridiculous tale from the inn's other visitor, even!

"Urgh... I need a drink."

Kisa

Connections were... useful. Perhaps more importantly, inns were well-versed in the ideas of privacy, and Kisa had taken advantage of that when handing over some funds to use the hot springs. Unlike renting a room, these were cash transactions not recorded as anything other than a person entering to use the facilities, with no notations on when they left. It also meant that if anyone came to the inn asking for her by name (which she'd never given to any of the staff; only Yukiko would know, and she was at school... probably...), they wouldn't recognize it. To further cement the disguise, she'd applied a massive amount of makeup over her visible tattoos and worn a jacket that could disguise the spike coming out of her neck.

The reason for all of this secrecy, of course, was the massive crackdown the Embryon was doing. She'd already been given a message that heading to school would be unwise, and indeed, there had been something of a checkpoint in the area. She refused to completely duck out of the town, though, running like a scared little girl just because somebody frowned at her. Hence carefully maneuvering into this area, in the zone outside the baths, where she was wearing a bathrobe and looking like nothing other than a person relaxing on one of the seat cushions. She even had some books to read, which appeared to be popular novels on the outside but were actually school textbooks (as opposed to the more common way of doing things, which was the other way around). She wasn't going to school, but the least she could do was study. She was so far behind in some areas that, honestly, it really didn't even matter if she was there or not. A mild consequence of spending years out on the streets, fighting for her life against a variety of demons and monsters...