~At a Small Restaurant in the Glory Sector of District 3~

Khara walked into the restaurant, observing every corner of it, looking for the man in the black hoodie.

“Welcome in! What can I get for you today?” A brunette woman wearing a black and white waitress outfit welcomed Khara in.

“Umm.” Khara glanced over at the menu on the counter the woman stood behind.

“Fred rice and a cola.”

“Will you be eating in or taking out?”

“Eating in.”

“Please follow me to a table then.”

Khara followed the woman to a table and sat down. The table was directly across from the entrance.

“Your order will be right out.”

“Thank you.” Khara continued looking around but saw no signs of the man yet.

I must’ve gotten here earlier than him. It’s already 6:10 though… He should be here by now. Oh, speak of the devil.

The door to the restaurant opened and the man in the black hoodie walked in with his head down. The hoodie covered his hair and most of his face but under it, Khara caught a glimpse of his grime-covered face. He spoke quietly to the woman and took a seat in a corner of the room.

Now to watch him.

Moments and minutes passed but the man just sat there, doing nothing. 

Any moment now.

More time passed by as he sat there, head down, again doing nothing.

“Your food.” The woman set down a plate of fried rice on the table in front of Khara.

“Thank you.”

“Enjoy.”

Khara began eating her food while still watching the man in the hoodie.

Will this guy do something, at least? He looks like he doesn’t even know why he’s here.

The woman approached the man and whispered into his ear. He then got up and followed her to the back of the restaurant and through a door.

Finally.

Khara scarfed down the rest of her food and got up to follow the two. She slowly approached the door and cracked it just enough so that she could see through.

What are they doing?

The woman pulled out a small piece of white paper with various symbols on it and placed it on the floor. Suddenly, a red circle appeared under the man in the hoodie.

That circle! That’s—

The man vanished and any trace of him was gone. The woman began walking back.

Shoot!

Khara rushed back to her seat as she watched the woman return to the front of the restaurant.

That’s the same circle I saw that night! Does that mean there’s devils involved in this gambling scheme?! I have to get in there. But how?

~Meanwhile at a Small Cellphone Repair Shop in Downtown Glory~

“So, how’s it looking? I don’t need a new phone, do I?” Lucen asked the man standing behind the counter with his broken phone on it.

“Good news is, this can be repaired but it’s going to cost you a bit.”

“Uhh, that’s fine. I can pay for it.”

“Really? Well, I can take it in right now for you. Here, you can pay with the kiosk.”

“You take Virso bills? I usually pay with my phone but… well.”

“Yeah, of course.”

Lucen handed the man two 100 and one 50 Virso bills.

“250 right?”

“Yup, thank you. Just return after about four hours and your phone should be good as new.”

“Alright sweet.”

Ugh, I’m such a dumbass. Why did I bring my phone with me to District 8? Well, maybe I didn’t expect to get into a fight. Luckily those sisters are filthy rich. Anyways, I’ll go eat something while I wait.

As Lucen turned around, the front door opened with a short jingle and he spotted a familiar redhead.

“Is that… Oh shit!“

Through the door walked Amelia with a smile on her face. Lucen immediately turned around trying not to show his face.

That’s that Amelia woman, isn’t it?? What’s she doing here??

“Welcome! I’ll be with you in just a second!” The man shouted from across the room.

As Amelia moved further inside, Lucen tried moving around her with his back turned to her.

Just gotta make it to the entrance.

“Hmmm, I never noticed this earring you have on... I like it!”

Lucen, startled, turned around and jumped back.

“I didn’t expect to see you here, Lucen. Ah! It must be fate for us to meet here again...” Amelia said, slowly inching towards Lucen. Each step she took towards him, he backed up further.

“No need to be so wary—“

“Who are you? What do you want from me? Why the hell do you know my name when I never gave it to you?” Lucen said, on guard.

“But you did... Do you not remember the night you saved me?”

“What are you talking about? Saved you? Before that one time in the park, we’ve never met.”

“But you were so cool, the way you stood up to those three men for me.”

“Huh?” Lucen stood for a moment, thinking, until it hit him. “Wait, you’re not about to tell me…”

“What was it again… ‘Professional Ladies Man’?” Amelia giggled.

“That was you?!”

“Mhm! Mhm!” Amelia nodded her head enthusiastically.

“But your hair! Everything about you!”

“Did you like my human look? I can change back into it for you if you want.”

“No no, you don’t need to. What are you even doing here? You aren’t stalking me, are you? Yeah, that’s it. You’re totally a stalker, aren’t you?”

“Maybe. Someone as amazing as you, I’d watch all day…”

“Uh.”

This has to be a new level of strange. What is her deal? It’s not like I had put the moves on her. Well, I was going to but that’s besides the point. Lia and Vonica warned me about her and Sana seems to hate her guts. What happened between them?

Amelia, like last time, stared at Lucen intensely, not breaking eye contact at all. Lucen for the first time, studied her appearance fully. Her pale skin. Her red hair and red lipstick. Her black leather suit and her neck tattoo. Her exotic appearance certainly matched her personality.

“But you kind of stand out looking like that. If that was a human appearance to disguise yourself, why aren’t you wearing it now?” 

"Well… it’s because I am here on business.” Amelia sighed. 

"Business?” 

"Oran wants to acquire multiple small tech shops so here I am, showing up to be very… convincing and just who would have the nerve turn away such a lady like me, right?” 

"Right… Wait he wants to acquire shops? You guys are running some kind of company?”

“Kumore Tech. Surely you’ve heard of it.”

“You guys run Kumore Tech?? Ah, I never pieced together the name, “Kumore”, the first time I heard it back in the park.”

“We’ve had some relative success here in Velstrea although Oran isn’t satisfied yet… Especially with Sentinel still beating us in sales and productivity.”

“He wants to beat Sentinel? Ha, good luck with that.”

On the other hand, is it not crazy that there are devils running a company this huge in Velstrea without anyone knowing that they are, in fact, not human?

“Anyways, I should get going now.”

“Why don’t you stay, Lucen? We can spend more time together after I’m done here.” Amelia asked.

“Uhhh sorry, I think I’ll have to decline your offer. I have to get home and feed my… socks.”

Lucen grabbed Amelia’s hand, shook it, tapped her on the shoulder, and awkwardly walked past her. Just as he opened the door, he heard Amelia speak.

“Before you go, Lucen. I am aware that the Azaroth’s do not trust me but I am not your enemy, neither is Oran.”

Amelia’s smile, for the first time since meeting her, faded. “There’s a lot more to this than they know…” And suddenly, the smile was back. “Anyway!” She clapped her hands together. “Bye bye, my savior! I hope we see each other again very soon!”

“Uhh yeah...” Lucen exited the shop and exhaled.

What the hell was that about? Disregarding that, she wasn’t that bad. Creepy, but not that bad. Still, I should stay on guard around her. Not until I find out what exactly is the deal between her and the sisters.

~Earlier That Morning in the Azaroth Estate~

Vonica walked into the lounge room, bandages wrapped around her shoulder. In the room, Lia sat at her desk, examining the capsule that was filled with demonic energy pills.

“What is that?” Vonica asked.

“A capsule for demonic energy pills. The stray Sana fought and used them.”

“Demonic energy pills? How could such a thing be made?”

“Not sure. I sent a message to Weld so he should be here soon. Maybe he can find out about these.”

“Something is up with these stray devils we have been fighting lately. The stray devil I fought was a Song user.”

“What? What’s a stray doing with a Song? They shouldn’t have the capabilities to wield one.”

“Even stranger, after I had killed him, men in crow masks appeared and took him away. Do you know anything about that?”

Lia suddenly got up and walked over to the shelves on the other side of the room filled with books. She ran her fingers across them before stopping on a red-colored notebook. She pulled it out and flipped through a number of pages.

“Here. Look.” She walked back over to her desk, placed the open book on it, and pointed to a specific line in the page. Vonica studied it closely.

“Just before the light of night where there’s no moon in sight, the one-eyed crows will begin to take flight. Be wary and remain calm, for they never show themselves til’ dawn.”

“Is this mothers old notebook? What does this mean?” Vonica asked.

“Those people in the crow masks, we’ve seen them before. Remember all those years ago? The day the Diabolos Family attacked us?”

Vonica stood for a while, trying to recall anything she could about them. “Ah! Father was speaking to one of them right before we made it into Velstrea!”

“They were the ones who told him of a way in. We most likely wouldn’t be here had they not.”

“They helped us? I highly doubt they are our allies though...”

“Judging by the situation and their involvement with these stray devils, they aren’t. I don’t know what their goal is but we should remain on guard should they ever show up again.”