Syl's breath hitched.

Rita's hand waited in mid-air, fingers steady, nails black and sharp. Her tail swayed lazily behind her.

While her tone made it seem like it was a mere casual suggestion, her eyes said differently.

"Become a Demon, Syl."

A breeze passed and the sound of leaves being pushed and pulled filled the silence that followed.

As Akane watched from a distance, she could see it in Rita's eyes.

This was no mere suggestion.

The Succubus's eyes felt like those of a predator.

Syl remained unmoving.

She did not take the hand, but she didn't pull away either.

"Are you…" she finally muttered. "Serious?"

"I am." Rita's smile didn't falter. "You asked how to grow stronger. This seems to be the only answer."

'Becoming… A demon…' Syl repeated the words internally numerous times, as if acclimating to the idea, as if her brain was still refusing that it was a possibility despite Rita suggesting it. 'No, I can't…'

Syl's words trailed off as Akane stepped between them.

Flames flickered around her legs as she threw Rita a dangerous look.

"Is that…" Akane's eyes were those of a predator as well. "Your solution?"

Rita stared for a moment. "Yes."

"She says she wants to get stronger," The Kitsune snapped. "And your solution is to turn her into a Demon?!"

"Do you have a better suggestion?" Rita shrugged.

Akane clenched her teeth and turned towards Syl.

"You can't do that." She said. "You can't become like her just to gain strength."

"Like her?" Rita sighed. "For all the sympathy you showed, I guess you still see me as a Monster."

"You're a Demon."

"I am, which is why I can tell you, Syl," The Succubus smiled, looking beyond Akane. "Being a Demon isn't as bad as others make it seem."

"You're insane." Akane hissed.

"She needs the strength to take care of herself, to choose her own path." Rita's eyes narrowed, and her tone grew colder. "Just earlier, you were prepared to separate yourself from us."

"Because my village needs help."

"Because you have the strength to survive on your own." A tinge of anger and jealousy seeped into Rita's voice. "What do you know about being weak and unable to live as you wish?"

"What…" Akane's eyes slowly widened. "Do I know about being weak?" The air around her pulsated with the heat emitted by her body. "I watched powerlessly as my parents were murdered, as my village was turned to ash, I was thrown in a cage and held captive for days, I AM powerless!"

"All of that changed," Rita said after a short pause, her eyes dismissively staring at Akane's flames. "Didn't it?"

"I think you're better off staying quiet." Akane muttered, before turning towards Syl.

But as she turned,

"I don't think so." Rita's hand grabbed Akane by the collar. "I've been trying to be nice, but you're seriously pissing me off now." She growled, a bulging vein on her forehead.

"Sucks to be you then." Akane had a defiant smile on her face. "A Demon urging others to become Demons is just in their nature, isn't it?"

"What's so bad about being a Demon, huh? Do you know how many babies and children I've watched die? I wasn't three days old when I was thrown on the streets of the human slums. What do you think kept me alive, huh? If it weren't for the Demon blood flowing through my veins, I would have died like all the other abandoned children, I would have died like a dog in the streets, and no one would have batted an eye! I am only alive because I AM a Demon!"

Rita's grip tightened around Akane's collar, while the latter looked down on her with a dismissive gaze. "It's because you're a Demon that you were thrown on the streets."

"So you're taking the Humans' side, huh? You're even worse than I thought. I was a baby, yet you're saying that it's my fault?!" Rita was almost shouting.

Akane clenched her fists.

"Ha! You're seriously the fucking worst. Humans killed your parents and all the people you used to know, yet you're taking their side now?!"

The Kitsune's flames rose violently, betraying her calm expression.

"This and that…" The Fox's voice was cold as ice. "Are different things."

"Are they?" Rita mused, slowly letting go of Akane's collar. "When I told you about my past, I could tell you wanted to hear that I had killed the noblewoman who made me what I am. Did you want her dead because she was Human? Or did you want her dead because she made me a Demon?"

"This is… Irrelevant to the issue at hand."

Akane started turning towards Syl, but Rita grabbed her wrist, keeping her from doing so again.

"Let go of me." Akane said coldly.

"It's thanks to the strength she gave me that I survived on those streets." Rita ignored her. "Why should I have killed her for making me stronger? Why should I have killed her for giving me the strength to survive on my own?"

"Let go of me." The Fox repeated.

"Why shouldn't Syl gain the same strength? Are you scared that she'll leave you if she gains the strength to cut it on her own?"

"What would she be giving up for that strength, huh? Why should she throw away what she is for strength?"

"Because strength is the only thing that matters." Rita said coldly. "Strength is what keeps you alive, and nothing matters once you're dead. It all starts with you being and remaining alive."

"I'm not so sure." Akane pulled her arm back at once, freeing herself from Rita's grip. "I would much rather die than become a Demon, or a Human."

"I'm sure you'll come to regret those words one day. For everything that you've been through, it seems the world has still been too kind to you."

"You can't do it, Syl." Akane's tone was that of total prohibition.

The two turned in Syl's direction.

"I was against it…" She muttered after a moment. "But hearing you talk against it, I…"

Akane frowned while Rita's lips curled up.

"When I left the Goblin village, when I left you and Amon fighting that thing… I cursed myself and my cowardice. When I saw you using Magic, when I saw you, the weak prisoner that I held captive for so long, grow so strong so suddenly… I thought that maybe I could do it too. I wondered… What if I had stayed, what if I had fought alongside them, would I, too, have gone through some kind of awakening?"

Syl found her voice suddenly start to shake.

While Akane's frown remained, Rita's smile slowly disappeared, and her eyes started to narrow.

"But there's… No such a thing for me. An awakening of the kind is impossible for me."

"You don't know tha-"

"I DO!" Syl shouted, immediately interrupting Akane. "I am a Hobgoblin, and that's all I'm ever fated to be. Awakenings don't happen to random beings! Only the chosen, only those that are truly special! That's the ultimate truth. You can only awaken strength if it's already lying dormant in your blood, and there's none in mine! What Rita said is exactly right, I trained my body twice as hard to keep up with the other Hobgoblins, I deepened and sharpened my mind just to justify my existence amongst the warriors! But those do not mean anything in the face of strength! My whole life I've been fed the idea that the best thing I could do was give strong children to the tribe, and I've finally rejected that! I'm already… Going against my nature, against my fate."

Akane's lips parted, but all she could muster was a gulp.

"Why shouldn't I become a Demon? Why shouldn't I become something that I'm not? What good… Has being a Hobgoblin ever done to me?"

Akane's ears flattened.

"You can't know… What's inside your veins."

"Ha!" Syl chuckled. "You said it yourself, didn't you? Your strength didn't just appear from nowhere. Your parents and ancestors could use magic. What about me? I've never heard of a Hobgoblin using magic, have you?"

Rita remained silent.

"Are you saying…" Akane exhaled shakily. "That you've made up your mind?"

Syl looked up at Akane, finally tearing her gaze away from the ground.

"What if I did it?" The female Hobgoblin asked with wet eyes. "Would you… Look at me differently?"

The question shook Akane.

There was nothing more unnatural than to change races, to enter a completely different Species, to become a Demon.

"I…" The Fox clenched her teeth. "I don't know."

Rita crossed her arms. 'I thought that I was gaining Akane's sympathy while Syl was more suspicious of me, but it turned out to be Syl who's truly…'

Syl remained on the ground. She turned her palms up and stared at them, at her skin, her nails, and her muscles.

'Becoming a Demon…' Syl clenched her teeth. 'I've always… Hated being a Hobgoblin.'

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