"Let him go," Aquamarine ordered, and nearly shouting at, the vrock currently gripping Alistair's head. "Or are you too scared to face me, coward?"

  This was a ploy, of course, to get the bigger demon away from Alistair while he recovered. The boy could hardly hear it happening, though; the demon's massive claw blinded him to the world around him, and the screech from earlier gave him a bad case of tinnitus he could not immediately recover from. He didn't have the strength or mental faculties to free himself from the monster, though his constant squirming didn't leave him entirely helpless.

  Unfortunately for Al, the vrock was not falling for Aquamarine's taunt. "Nice try, little girl. But every demon amongst the elite knows that the paladin is typically the bigger threat."

  "Let me- ah!" Any attempt Alistair made to break free ended in failure.

  "To think my army was beaten by a bunch of snot-nosed brats! They say books make people angry, but I say that meddling in the affairs of others can make anyone angry!!!"

  An orb of water bounced off the vrock's head. Irritated even while taunting, the vrock snarled and eyed Aquamarine with a predatory glare.

  "I said let him go," Aquamarine ordered again.

  His head feathers soaked with water, the birdlike demon used a filthy claw to dry them off. "As I said, you're nothing more than a droplet in the ocean. You're the weakest in your little organization, are you not?"

  Aquamarine kept her stance, but the demon's words had hit a sore spot. She had no words to counter his. "That attack is usually enough to stop thieving crooks! W-what's going on?"

  "All you've managed to do was give me a bath. If that's the best you can do, then you're as useless as the boy!"

  There was more fight in Alistair than before, but despite the constant squirming, the demon was able to keep a hold of the boy. His sharp, talon-like hand holding on to the boy's head like a bird of prey, the vrock began to squeeze until blood dripped out of the boy. As brave as he usually was, the pain was too much for Alistair to hold it in, and could not hold his screaming in.

  "Alistair," Aquamarine shouted.

  The paladin stopped his squirming. Blood trailed down his cheeks, yet his seething face signaled the vrock the fight wasn't over yet.

  "Brave heart, Aquamarine! Pain is part of the life of a crusader. This pain is meaningless to me; your well-being, and that of my comrades, is all that...matters!"

  A pillar of hallowed light rained down on the vrock from above. An invisible weight brought down the creature's head by a few centimeters before he showed resistance. "What's going on? No one makes the mighty Grif submit!"

  And right between the creature's eyes, Aquamarine spotted the Hammer's symbol between the vrock's eyes.

  "Today, I bring honor to the Hammer! And he has given me the means to defeat the enemy; even unarmed, I can still fight! Let this be a lesson for you, Miss Aquamarine!" Winding up his fists, the boy threw a couple of punches. Feeble in execution, but the vrock's sneering quickly turned to a toothy, seething expression.

  "Insolent little-"

  "My strength isn't mine alone, vile fiend," Alistair valiantly boasted. "Do your worst!"

  Worried Alistair was tempting fate, Aquamarine looked around the general area for anything she could use. "My water isn't hurting this guy at all! Mr. Horsey, is there anything we can do?"

  "Remember what you've learned at the Guardians' Association," the girl's familiar commanded. He had taken the form of a small seahorse inside a floating bubble. "There's more to being a magical girl than just stylish poses and flashy attacks; you stand for love and justice, and when either is threatened by the hand of evil, you must bring down the gavel and be its judge!"

  "You're right." As cryptic as his message was, Aquamarine knew Mr. Horsey was right. She couldn't give up just yet; the enemy was in front of her and Al needed her help. If he went down, she would be next. She had to be ready. "Bring down the gavel..." Her eyes lit up with an idea in her mind. "That's it!"

  Grif's sharp claw brought Alistair down to the ground. With a swift movement, he removed the claw from the boy and slammed one of his talons on his sternum, instead. Alistair's banded mail prevented considerable damage, but the full brunt of the vrock's weight had been brought down on the paladin. Alistair lied on the ground, prone and immobile, unable to move either his arms or legs to attack.

  "You had me scared for a moment, boy! How dare you lay your hands on me?!" The demonic bird stomped on Alistair's chest. The boy coughed out in pain. "Where's your god, now?!"

  Valiant as he was, Alistair knew when he was on the losing side of a fight. Grif's angered state, despite having dominated for most of the fight, reminded him of those drunken nights his father had. Those awful, dreadful nights where his father would demand beer money from his working son. The boy was never strong enough to fight back, so he would take beating after beating until Janus was too drunk and tired and passed out on the floor. His current predicament was no different; the vrock had him pinned down, and as hard as he tried, he could not even budge the talon keeping him in place.

  "You're nothing but phlegm rotting on the side of the road! Little runt! You'll die screaming!"

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  "Off of him!" A blunt object struck the vrock's kneecap after Aquamarine's command. First came the crushing pain, forcing Grif to take a knee. Then came the burning sensation; it started off as a tiny pinch, but it quickly warmed up Grif's entire knee until he felt a burst of energy explode inside his leg. Facing Aquamarine, he was shocked to see her wielding a heavy mace. "You dropped this, Al!"

  "Much obliged, Miss Aquamarine!" Alistair grinned. His determination remained steadfast, grounding itself even more now that Aquamarine dealt a heavy blow.

  "You bastards!" Moving away from Aquamarine, Grif abandoned his quarry and raised his arms to block any further attempts on his life. His wings unfurled, he was ready to commence his counterattack. "YOU'RE CARRYING DEMON-SLAYING WEAPONS?! YOU'RE REALLY TRYING MY PATIENCE!"

  Aquamarine held the mace with both hands while Alistair took a moment to stand and gasp for air. Making elaborate hand movements, levitating some loose pebbles in the process, Grif called upon a red glyph with his demonic voice. Alistair and Aquamarine braced themselves but nearly jumped when they heard an unfamiliar voice.

  "Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Leave them alive. This operation of yours is a failure and I won't risk losing a high-ranking soldier such as yourself. The return of the First can wait another thousand years, but soldiers like you are hard to come by. Leave the Blue Jays to fend for themselves and return to base, NOW."

  The vrock snarled, but like a scolded animal, he sank his head and canceled his incantation, switching to a blue glyph immediately, instead. "Yes, ma'am."

  "Oh, no, you don't!" Drawing his hammer, Alistair then heaved his mighty weapon to punish the demon that gave him such a hard time.

  But then...he started coughing. "What...is this?" He heard coughing from Aquamarine, too. "Her, too? This could only mean-"

  "AHAHAHA." The vrock flapped his large wings, kicking up sparkly dust around them. Despite inhaling a lot of it, Alistair powered through just fine. Aquamarine, however, convulsed with a seizure for a moment before bloody vines erupted from her calves and biceps, tearing through her thigh high socks and the sleeves of her uniform. "We'll meet again soon, boy!"

  "Spores!" Alistair angrily continued with his charge, but by the time he reached the vrock, the demon had already departed with a spell, leaving no trace of himself behind besides his maniacal laughter. "Come back here!!"

  "Alistair!" One firm mention of his name from Mr. Horsey was enough for the paladin to redirect his attention on the more crucial matter. Aquamarine was in pain; horrid, wilted vines had grown out of her body like long, deformed fingernails. "Do you know how to cure this...ailment?"

  "Do you have a blessing spell, or some holy water? They should remove the vines just fine." The bloody vines continued to grow out of Aquamarine as she blew air through her teeth. Alistair used what remained of his healing reserves to mitigate the damage, but it didn't stop the growth.

  Mr. Horsey nodded. "Aquamarine, your staff!"

  "R-right!" Dropping the mace, Aquamarine reached for her staff, which she had dropped earlier to exchange for the mace. By tapping the blunt end on the ground, the staff's magic released a thin blue ring, which expanded across the room like a gentle shockwave. Alistair suddenly felt himself a little stronger, flexing his muscles briefly during this moment of invigoration. As he did this, the vines on Aquamarine dried up and turned to ashes, creating a small mound on the cave floor. "Sweet relief..."

  "Thank the divines." Alistair plopped down on the hard ground. He leaned his head on his hand with a pensive expression, only to wince when he remembered the head trauma he just experienced. "Are you okay, Miss Aquamarine?"

  "I'm fine. It's just...it's just..." Aquamarine collapsed on the ground, knees first, before she feebly pounded the floor with her fist. "It's just not fair! I couldn't do anything! My powers didn't help at all!"

  Alistair didn't have an answer to her statement. He traveled with Lenoria and Clara long enough to learn not only about their quirks, but also what they needed in times of crisis. Lenoria was easy to console when she was feeling down, while Clara was usually emotionally distant and just wanted some alone time when stressed. Aside from their relatively easier encounter with the Laester matriarch, he had spent little time with Aquamarine; too little to learn about her emotional needs, if any. Did she prefer words of encouragement, keep her distance, brutal honesty, or all of the above?

  "I'm sorry. I'm sorry... I'm sorry!" Placing her hands on Alistair, Aquamarine called upon a twirling pillar of water around him. Slowly but surely, Alistair's wounds began to disappear. But just as his wounds disappeared, Aquamarine's elbows and knees were gradually coated with ice. "Please forgive me, Alistair..."

  "Whoa." Alistair closed and reopened one of his fists repeatedly. "No need to apologize, Aquamarine. W-we survived," the boy said feebly. "That's more than what most crusaders can say after battling demons. More importantly, who knows what would have happened if you hadn't stepped in with that weapon-"

  "Your weapon," Aquamarine clarified. "If you hadn't dropped it, you could have handled things alone."

  With no retort, Alistair could only watch as tears fell from Aquamarine. With restrained sobbing, she had more to say.

  "If I was alone, that would have been the end for me. Civilians are always happy to see me because they know I'll save the day whenever I show up. I'm their heroine of justice, after all. But what happens if those demons decided to invade a city? Who's going to save the people?"

  "That's..." Alistair sighed. "I'm not good at this," he mumbled to himself. "What would Lenoria say?"

  Lenoria?

  Lenoria.

  Lenoria!

  The paladin's eyes widened with terror. "I forgot about Lenoria!" Quickly checking his hammer was in place, he collected his mace and shield and knelt before Aquamarine. He waited impatiently - mainly from helplessness - while the girl sobbed away. "Miss Aquamarine, I won't pretend to know the answers to everything. But the burden to save others need not fall on just your shoulders. When the enemy is too powerful, it's okay to run away and call for help." He placed his mace and shield in front of the weeping girl. "The weapon may be mine, but it's yours to borrow if you so wish. Evil does not give up, and neither should you."

  Alistair stood back up. With his hammer placed on his back, he did some stretching exercises for his legs while Aquamarine calmed down.

  "Right now, I've entrusted the safety of the woman I love to the monster we've originally came here to slay. I cannot fly, and the enemy has taken a head start. I may never catch them, maybe I will. But I'll never know unless I try." After one last stretch, the boy prepared to run. "Miss Aquamarine, it is pointless to attack an enemy immune to your powers. Lord Beau once told me that if you can't do something, then stop doing it. Just work on what you can do."

  Aquamarine wiped her tears away. It seemed his words resonated with her somewhat, though to what extent was unknown to the boy. "Al..."

  "Mr. Horsey, can I entrust you with Aquamarine's safety? Should demons come upon you, please run away. Fight only if you're cornered."

  The floating seahorse nodded. "You need not worry about us, Alistair. Despite this outcome, I have faith Aquamarine will expunge any danger that gets in her way. But if common sense dictates for us to flee, then flee we shall."

  "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have someone to save." Alistair exited the room with haste. Victory may have been bittersweet, but he and Aquamarine had prevented the vrock from giving chase as well. If the voice was to be believed, the demons may be giving up on the forest, leaving the Blue Jays to fend for themselves. Slightly relieved, hoping this would be the case, Alistair mentally prepared himself for some pest control.