(This chapter doesn't have anything particularly memorable, but we're about to get pretty damned action-packed, so it should serve it's purpose pretty well, lol.

Anywayzzz, enjoyyy~~)

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We whisked into an alleyway, flitting past cheering demons, young and old, some massive, absolutely terrifying and grotesque, some in smaller, less-terrifying more-humanoid forms, as they paraded throughout the streets in celebration. "Do you think Oliver's group is okay?" Emma asked in worry as she peeked around the corner of a building, ensuring that there wasn't anyone following us.

I smiled. "They'll be okay. They have Yuugo and Lucas with them as well." I reassured, thinking of the two adult males who could likely beat my *ss. And likely would, in Yuugo's case.

Ray nodded in agreement."Yeah. All we can do is believe in them." The ravenhead turned to me as he spoke, his face unable to be seen as it was obscured by his demon's disguise. "Norman is most likely at the Tifiri assembly hall-" He turned towards the large palace that loomed in the distance. "Inside of that castle?" He phrased it as a statement but his voice had a inquisitive tone to it.

I nodded in response. "Yeah." I looked about anxiously at the bustling demon citizens. "Anyhow, we need to move out-" There was a sudden explosion rang out to our left, followed immediately by a shriek from the other direction and another explosion, catching Emma, Ray, and I in the blast. We were sent flying, and I landed sprawling on the ground, my head being sent flying out of my line of vision.

"Sh*t!" I cussed as the demon onlookers began to look in our direction as they ran past. I swallowed dryly, covering my face with one of my sleeve sleeves as demons filtered around me, running away from the explosion. I waited until the footsteps around me ceased before pulling up my hood and glancing around for my mask.

"Here." Ray hummed, bumping the mask against the side of my face. I exhaled in relief and grabbed it from him, securing the pale mask back to my head properly.

"That was a close one." I sighed, brushing my knees off as I stood up, the demons disappearing from the explosion site.

Ray scowled, his eyebrows scrunching together in worry as he surveyed the damage. "Norman's already started his attack!"

I gritted my teeth 'Even after everything I said to him, of course...'. "We need to hurry."

"Y/N? Emma, Ray?!" A familiar voice called out from behind us. I spun around to meet the surprised faces of Gilda and Don behind us, their faces partially obscured by scarves and hoods pulled down over their forehead.

"Don! Gilda!" Emma exclaimed as Gilda engulfed Emma in a hug, Ray letting out a grunt as Don engulfed him in a similar squeeze.

'Wait, if they're here, then that means-'

"SONJUUU!! MUJIKA!!" I exclaimed, whipping around to face the two demons while pulling my demon mask off as they approached from behind the two other Gracefield children. Mujika smiled sweetly and patted my head before I turned to the tall redhead demon, my ecstatic expression quickly turning sad. "Sorry, Sonju!" I exclaimed, clapping my hands together in apology. "I lost the knives you made me!"

Sonju grinned, patting me gently, his hand engulfing the entirety of my head. "No worries, Y/N. I bet you got good use out of them for the time being."

I harrumphed happily. "Of course!" Just then, Mujika wrapped her arms around Emma and I in a kind embrace, her gentle hands placed warmly against my back.

"It's okay." She reassured. "Thanks a lot, you two, for the sake of all us demons." She smiled, tucking her chin into our shoulders.

Emma teared up a little. "I'm glad you're okay!" She hugged the demon girl back tightly and I nodded my head in agreement.

"And I'm glad you two are too." The demon girl sighed happily as she pulled away from the hug.

"Don't worry." I grinned, blowing my bangs out of my face. "We'll definitely smack some sense into that self-sacrificial idiot!" I pumped my fist into the air while Emma raised an eyebrow.

"You need to start adding something extra to differentiate between people. As far as I know, that could mean Norman, you yourself, and Ray-"

"If you're going to go that far you better add yourself in there too." I grumbled, puffing my cheeks out.

"Oh, where's Oliver and the others?" Gilda asked, quickly changing the subject. "They said they were going to escort you on horseback. Did something happen?"

I smiled. "Oh, no biggie." I then briefly explained what we encountered along the way, and our likely current situation with a shrug.

"nO BIGGIE??!" Gilda yelled, gripping onto my arms. "There's a demon army heading in the direction of the base and you used the words 'nO BIGGIE???!!'" She exclaimed, her face wearing a dangerous expression. I swallowed dryly, a bead of sweat rolling down my face and dripping off of my chin. "Y/N..." She scolded, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You've got to stop nonchalantly announcing things that could have a great effect on our future and lives, okay?"

I blinked. "Uhmmmm..." I cringed humorously. "I'dsayokaybutI'dbelying-'"

Gilda sighed, raising an eyebrow. "I suppose I don't need you making empty promises, then."

Emma frowned, still lost in thought. "But because of what happened we only arrived a bit ago..."

"But this works out just fine. Since we were able to meet up with you..." Ray pulled a paper out of his things and flashed it to Don and Gilda, holding it up for them to read. "But there's one more cause of concern."

"What is this letter..." Gila hummed as she scanned over the paper, her eyebrows creasing.

"Norman's handwriting...?" Don inquired before his eyebrows rose in sudden understanding as he read the contents. "Ah-!"

"It's a forbidden cocktail recipe-" I began before Ray cut me off with a sigh.

"Poison." The ravenhead interpreted, Don and Gilda nodding in sudden understanding. "Norman is most likely planning to use it on those in the castle, and even on the masses outside of it. So the first thing he's planning on is wiping out the demons in the royal capital." He sighed as we began walking down the alleyways, sneaking throughout the capital city. "Nothing has happened yet, but with Norman, he's definitely already set up his plan. If something happens before we make it back, I want to minimize the damages." The ravenhead glanced behind him to the two demons who followed behind us. "And now that Mujika and Sonju are here, that becomes even more possible-" His eyes flicked to me for a moment, his eyebrow twitching. "-probably."

Emma nodded, mainly addressing Don and Gilda with her next words. "All our lives should be top priority. If things start to look even a little dangerous, escape right away."

"Y/N, hold out your hand." Sonju hummed as he leaned down over me from up above. I shrugged and held out my hand, the demon placed a small device in the palm of my callused and scratched up hands, faded scars from the Goldy Pond incident. 'It's fascinating... just how roughed up they look... I never would've hands like this. It makes me wonder what Ray's look like up close-" I blinked, snapping out of my thoughts.

"A transmitter?" I asked, still slightly lost in my thoughts, turning to Sonju as he placed a hand on Hayato's shoulder, who jumped in fear, his face paling.

"I took it from this little one and his comrades." Sonju's hand fell from the spiky haired boy, to Hayato's relief, albeit his shoulders still tense. "Once you get inside the castle, if you need help, call us with that." He explained. "We'll come running right away."

I looked to where Don was trading gadgets with Ray. "If you press it it'll make a sound and we'll know your location." He was explaining.

Ray nodded, taking the gadget from him. "Then we'll use morse code to notify you if anything happens"

"Leave the outside of the castle to us." Mujika smiled with a nod.

"But if you guys are in trouble," Sonju spoke as he turned away. "Say something."

"Ok!" I exclaimed, raising my fist for a fist-bump but receiving no response from the demon except an inquisitive tilt of his head. I then blinked in surprise, realizing I'd never taught the demon about the fist-bump. "Here." I grabbed Sonju's hand and pulled his long bony fingers- if you can call them that, into a fist, then bopping my own fist into his. "Now you make an explosion noise." I hummed, glancing back up to the demon's face." Balalalalala." I imitated, pulling my fist away and wiggling my fingers.

"Ba...lalalalala?" Sonju murmured in fascination, wiggling his fingers in copy of mine.

I nodded like a proud teacher. "And now you say a bad*ss catchphrase before turning to the sunset and dramatically walking away; like 'see you later bro' or 'don't die'. Or 'Reiss for life-'"

Sonju nodded in understanding. "Again." He commanded, closing his hand into a tight fist, and I nodded, sharing a first fist-bump with the demon. "Balalalala." Sonju murmured before turning away, and I pursed my lips in an attempt not to laugh. "See you later, br-kid." He nodded cooly.

I snorted with a grin. "See you, Sonju!" I waved and turned around, before turning to the demon-raised girl nearby. I smiled and she tilted her head slightly. "Nice to meet you, Ayshe. And... about what Norman did... try not to hold it against him, okay?" Ayshe's eyes widened in shock, but before she could speak I turned on my heel and ran after the ginger girl and Ray, who were already well on their way.

"What exactly was that?" Ray asked as we ran away from our companions, raising a cutious and concerned eyebrow.

"OO jelly~~" Emma fufu'd, raising her eyebrows as she turned to me.

Ray sighed, shaking his head. "Y/N, you've got to stop teaching Emma terms that aren't actual words."

I frowned. "Not actual words my *ss. You just don't like being left out." I stuck my tongue out.

Ray irked, his nose crinkling. "Words that were generated solely for your own purpose can't be real words!" He fell back into the same excuse. "Are they in a dictionary somewhere?!"

I squinted before smiling, a snobbish expression befalling my face. "Yes, actually."

Ray raised an eyebrow. "Prove it."

I shrugged. "It's called Urban dictionary, and it counts."

"Never heard of it. You guys must've had some real interesting books in your plant." He muttered sarcastically before an amused expression came onto his face. "Although If those books are what the tests in your plant were based off of, it's no wonder a nonsensical idiot like you managed to get full scores."

"Excuse me-?!!" I yelled in shock before a quiet whisper from Emma stopped me in the middle of my words.

"I ship it~~~" The ginger giggled quietly, her eyebrows raised as she watched Ray and I.

"YOU WHAT-?!"I whipped around to her, eyes wide as I panicked internally. "WHEN DID YOU LEARN THAT ONE?!?!"

Emma laughed. "You say it under your breath all the time! Like when you look at Yuugo and Lucas, or Reina and Poppy, or Ray and-" I cut her off, slamming my hand over her mouth as we continued runing.

"AHAHAHAHAH that's enough." I growled, my eyes wide. 'Any more and Ray will figure out what it means! Lord almighty, we don't need that!!'

Emma read the words in my expression and nodded, running back up ahead, a satisfied expression on her face which quickly reverted back to determination to find and save her other albino friend.

"Ship?" Minutes later I heard Ray murmur as we still ran, looking deep in thought. "A vessel larger than a boat for transporting goods by sea? So... put them on a boat??" I snorted as he mumbled. 'Far off the mark, Ray.' I snorted before he spoke again. "No, it's Y/N we're talking about. If I don't know already, it's probably either something someone with more than two braincells isn't capable of comprehending, or it's something that she doesn't want me finding out about..."

I irked, an dry smile finding it's way to my face. 'I'd like to say the former is rude -although the latter was right on the mark, but in the end, both of them are true.'

(Hehe. Now, to write another chapter because then I won't have to write one tomorrow 😃😃. Anyhoww this was just under 2000 words, so compared to recent chapters,,, pretty short.

WAIT I JUST REMEMBERED... FOR 50K READS I DREW RAY AND Y/N AGAIN-

Uhhhh yeah! As usual, thanks for reading!

Anyhow,,,, byeeeeee,,,, c y'all tomorrow!!)