"Here, the three of you can use this room." Sakura said as she showed her newly minted 'comrades in arms' to their quarters. It was a 'humble' room with basic living quarters. To the Ninja, it was basic and lacking in the many amenities they'd come to enjoy on Earth but to Burning Light, the three-bedroom one-bath, and kitchenette living space they'd been given was a veritable luxury.

"Lady Akagi is away at the moment, and once she gets back, I presume she will have directions for you." Sakura said she ushered the three adventurers into the room. Most of the Ninja were shocked and even a bit disgruntled by Akagi's decision to fold them into the Clan, and while they wouldn't openly express their dissent, there was little to be done about their clear dislike for the newcomers.

{What use are these three? They're weak and more importantly untrustworthy! They fought against us and will probably use this chance to flee, as futile as that may be. There are some times where I start to think Lady Akagi just does things on a whim or because it somehow amuses her!} (Sakura)

"Y-Yeah..." Nier said as he looked around, taken aback by the size and strangeness of their quarters.

"And don't go trying anything. You may have been granted mercy by Lady Akagi, but we'll be watching you." Sakura said as the automatic door closed in front of her leaving the three adventurers alone to collect their thoughts.

"Oh, I do not doubt that even for a second." Katlyn laughed nervously. "These guys are on a whole nother level, Nier."

"You don't have to tell me the obvious. I'd bet any one of those soldiers could take us out in an instant." Nier said as he sat down on a chair, noting that their equipment was placed on a cloth on the kitchen table. "They really even gave us back our gear?"

{What the hell...} (Nier)

"They must really not be worried about us being a threat." Katlyn said as she checked out her gauntlets, which were in perfect shape. "They even cleaned it up... I don't know whether to be annoyed or grateful." She said as she slipped her gauntlet over her hand. "Ack... It's too clean now..." She said as she flexed her hand. “Gonna have to break it back in.”

"I wonder if this is what Lady Esquire wanted you to do?" Nier said as he side-eyed a visibly distraught Miz'ri who'd taken a seat in a chair at the kitchen table.

"I-I..." Miz'ri found it hard to talk, her body shaking from nerves. She'd been forgiven by her friends, but she had yet to forgive herself for what happened.

"It's alright, Mizzy." Katlyn said as she pat her on the head. "We'll pull through this. Its okay."

"But... We agreed to work for the Demon Lord..." Miz'ri replied, tears forming in her eyes. “And she's...”

"In fairness, we've worked for all kinds of unsavory people over the years." Katlyn retorted with a cheeky grin as she wiped the tears from the corners of Miz'ri's eyes. "Demon Lord, Demon Princess, and Nobles with far too much money and suspiciously disappearing villagers are really all the same when you get down to it. We work for whoever gives us the best deal. That's how it has always been."

{That last one... Maybe not that last one though...} (Nier)

"But this means we've betrayed the world." Miz'ri said, straining her voice from stress. “A Demon Lord is a whole lot worse than some corrupt Noble!”

"If... And mind you, this is a big If... If what the Demon Lord told us is true, the Gods are the ones who betrayed the people of Enoris, Miz'ri." Nier said as Katlyn tossed him his blade, which he unsheated to inspect.

"Hell of a fucking turn of events." Katlyn said as she plopped next to him. "We got paid to fight Demons in a war, and we come to find out that an entire race may have been exterminated for no reason and that the Gods are actually trying to destroy us all to save their own asses..." She balled her fist in frustration as her anger bubbled up and boiled over. "Then... Just what the fuck did all our..."

{What did our friends die for?!?} (Katlyn)

"Nemidia, Koolen, Zentaria, Feldo... And Lathe..." Katlyn said the names of fallen friends in a quiet voice that belied just how furious she was. "They all died in that stupid war... And Lathe... He..."

"He died protecting his people, Katlyn. He asked us not to mourn him or regret what happened." Nier said as he put his hand over hers. "That bastard even trusted us despite everything."He laughed.

"He should've let us help!" Katlyn yelled as she gripped his hand. “We should've done something!”

{Anything would've been better than watching him march off to his death like that!} (Katlyn)

"We would've been branded traitors and condemned to death like the Spirits." Nier said as he shook his head. "That's exactly why he ran off on his own rather than ask for our help. He didn't want to drag us down with him."

"Who cares?!? We should've helped him anyway! Even if that meant being on the run for the rest of our lives, we should've helped Lathe!" Katlyn exclaimed.

"Kat, remember that he trusted those kids to us, and we got them out alive... We did exactly what he wanted. Had we gone with him, they may not have survived." Nier was referring to a group of Spirit children that they'd been told to evacuate to a refuge. Lathe had used it as an excuse to get the two of them away from him while he charged into a hopeless battle to buy time for others to make their escape.

"It's fucking bullshit." Katlyn grit her teeth in frustration. "We lost all those friends... All those people died... For what?!? Just so the Gods could live? They allowed all that to happen to save their own assess?!?"

"Kat..." Nier said as he squeezed her hand again. "Calm down. There's no benefit in getting worked up. What we need to do now is figure out what the hell we're going to do going forward."

"Does it even matter?" Katlyn asked him, defeat evident in her voice. "Everything's fucked anyway. Either the Gods or the Demon Lord is going to destroy this world. At this point..."

"Maybe... Maybe this really is what Lady Esquire wanted?" Miz'ri said, finally speaking up. "She wanted me to survive... So maybe... Maybe she was against the Gods' plans? Maybe she wanted to ensure we were in a position to do something?"

"To do what?" Katlyn retorted, her words coming off a bit more dismissive and rude than she'd intended. "What can we possibly do in this situation? We're little more than glorified captives. We can't resist the Demon Lord. We can't rescue people. There's nothing we can do in this situation. Unless you mean to tell me that living where the rest of the world dies is a good outcome? Because I don't think it is. The very thought makes my stomach churn." She hated the idea of sitting on the sidelines while the rest of the world was forced to burn as a result of either camp's plans. Katlyn couldn't stand the idea of being helpless while others suffered, and this was, in an ironic twist, the worst punishment Akagi could give the warrior.

"W-Well..." Miz'ri stuttered and fumbled as she tried to retort.

"Just getting to live is quite the reward. Many would gladly trade places with you." Akagi said as she appeared at the center of the living room, startling the three of them as she appeared from a swirling black shadow. "One should focus on doing what they can and not fixate on things outside of their control. Tis an exercise in futility and ultimately brings you nothing but anger and frustration."

{A feeling I know all to well.} (Akagi)

"So we should sit here and do nothing and be content with that?" Katlyn retorted with a snarky attitude. "You can't be so disconnected from reality that you don't understand that just living isn't good enough!"

"Kat." Nier glared at her, wary of angering their new Demon master.

"I'm not." Akagi said, ignoring her attitude. "And besides, why do you think I'm just going to park you in this room and let you sit around? I've got things I need doing and I didn't just invite you into the Clan to waste your abilities. If I needed more useless wastes of space, I'd go get a certain group of idiots

from back home and clone them." She sighed as she thought about the Misfits.

"Are you planning on having us kill the people of this world?" Nier asked. "Because I can assure you that we'd all rather die than do something like that."

"Nah, I don't need more people to take lives for me. I've got plenty of people who'll do that already. Hell, one just snapped a bunny girl's neck for me on command like the trained little kitty she is." Akagi smirked, her words causing Katlyn, Miz'ri, and Nier to grimace. "No, for you three I think taking advantage of your profession is going to net me the best bang for my buck."

"I don't suppose you've got need for monster exterminators?" Nier asked sarcastically. “Maybe escorts?”

"No, I'd much rather you three put your names to use spreading the not-so-good word." Akagi chuckled. "You see, adventurers are a free-spirited little bunch, and the Guild itself is rather autonomous and independent. It's not exactly easy to pin down its leadership and buckle the organization to my will, at least without applying so much force that it shatters."

{The whole damn thing is basically just a bunch of independent branches that give lip service to the overarching structure. Sure its technically all one legal entity but per Halifax they only collaborate when it comes time to punish people or launch a large scale operation.} (Akagi)

"You want us to help disseminate the fact that the Gods have betrayed this world through the Guild." Nier correctly guessed her plan. "But I think you underestimate our pull. Sure, we're a high-ranked party and one that's relatively well-known, but if we go spouting rhetoric like that we'll be ostracized and, most likely, eliminated. Even adventurers have to toe the political line sometimes, and sympathizing with Spirits, or especially you, is not going to fly."

"True, true." Akagi nodded in agreement. "Having you three poke your noses into this mess alone will likely prove about as effective at tossing a bucket of water into a volcano She grinned. "But what if you had the backing of a Hero?"

______________________________________________________________________________

Kanato POV

“Achoo!” Kanato sneezed while cleaning out a few dusty glasses. After finding his way to this out of the way town he'd grown to like the couple who ran it and their hospitality had left an impact on him. He had no idea what he wanted to do, and seeing is internal struggles they kindly offered to let him stay for a while if he helped out, which he gladly did.

“Ya getting sick, kid?” Debra asked as she cleaned off a table. “I've got some whiskey you can sip to knock yerself out!” She laughed.

“No, I just think it was some dust.” Kanato laughed. “And besides, didn't the three idiots drink all your booze?”

“They better not have!” Debra yelled as she heard a burp come from the other side of the inn.

“Soup?” The two male fairies burped and giggled as they tipped over a large empty mug.

“No soup... Alcohol...” The female fairy said as she tumbled forward on the table, drunk.

“You little rats!” Debra yelled at them. “I thought I told you not to...” She sighed. “Its no use to yell at them...”

“No... No it isn't...” Kanato sighed, understanding her pain all too well.