"W-wait!" Gwen stammered as Jason bolted out of the room. She reached forward out of habit, only to realize that her sister was unusually not at her side. "Ah..." she mumbled in fear. She quickly turned to Lea and grabbed onto the girl's arm. "Don't leave me! I... Please, I..." She lowered her voice to a near-whisper. "I don't want to be alone..."


Mars narrowly dodged the angel's slash. It was thanks to the blade's shimmer, like a ray of starlight against the dark, that she could react in time. "Stop!" she shouted, but it was but a drop of diplomacy in a sea of rage. He swung and she dodged again, their dance of death completely unaware of the rest of the world.

The blue-green glow around the scythe's blade brought Silas back to his senses. When he came to, there was a stranger blocking the way to his opponent. The memories of his friend seemed a thousand miles away, drifting further still. When he realized this, he lowered his katana and it gradually de-materialized.

Mars breathlessly huffed in relief when Rei stepped in. She accepted her scythe and nodded. "Okay." Then she stepped ahead of Rei toward Silas and extended the scythe sideways with one hand. The two of them stared in silence as they caught their breath. At last she spoke up. "Hold onto this for me."

"I'm sorry," Silas said. With palms toward the sky he accepted the weapon. Mars shook her head.

"I should be saying that," she insisted. She watched curiously as Silas touched his palm to the flat part of the cutting edge. A current of kyanite blue joined the electric blue-green in helix aura that surged around the blade. One strand of cyan and one strand of kyanite. Just like their eyes, she thought to herself as she watched the unspoken greeting illuminate the vicinity. Briefly she wondered if he would do something rash, but a moment later the aura dimmed to its usual glow, albeit slightly calmer, and he removed his hand from the blade. Doesn't that hurt? she wondered as she turned to walk toward Arael. His eyes followed her like a hawk but he said no more.

"Let's go," she said to the youngster on the ground as she extended her arm toward him. "We need to get out of here."

Seamus blinked as she listened, thinking about how to navigate the situation without casualties. She needed Solias to leave now so she could shoo Mars & co. toward the shrine and get the little ones inside to safety, but she was careful not to make haste lest he catch on. "Is the little one really the only reason for your visit?" she asked.