Moonlight Demon

In the end, she decided to spend some time learning a couple of spells before she headed out again. She returned to the library where she asked Alys for those books from before, and she exited the room carrying three books in total, all of which she would return the next day. 

The spells she chose to learn were:  Burst Heal, for obvious reasons, as it was the upgraded version of her usual healing spell,  Beacon of Healing, as it made sense due to the fact that Ash tended to fight alongside soldiers on active battlefields, and finally, one dark spell called  Energy Siphon. 

Spell: Energy Siphon

With a touch, drain an opponent's stamina. 

Int Required: 20

Mana Cost: 30

Incantation: Let your pain act as my fuel.

Taking these three spells with her, back to her room, Ash carried them in her arms. She reached her door and opened it, seeing Kaori alone in the darkness, her eyes closed and her body covered by a sheet. 

Ash sat down by the bed, sparing the blonde a short glance before she figured she should get to work. 

She started with the  Burst Heal spell, opening up the book for it and making a bar appear over her head. She wanted to get through this one tonight, and hopefully finish the other two tomorrow. Then, she would start working toward further increasing her levels and creating her own spells. 

A few minutes passed though, and soon, the door opened. Ash looked up and saw Keiko walking in, alone. 

"Hey," Ash called out to her, stopping for a moment as Keiko walked over to the bed. She kicked off her shoes and sat down next to Ash. "How did it go out there? Did Sinneah give you too much trouble?" 

"No," Keiko said, stretching and yawning. "It was a little tiring though." 

"Well, that's not too bad," Ash muttered. "I think the last thing we want is for anything exciting to happen right now." 

"That's a weird way to view it, but I think I understand," Keiko replied as she put her head on Ash's left shoulder, leaning fully on her. The half-demon took a deep breath as the two of them were in silence for a moment. 

"... There's so much to do," Ash muttered. "I wonder if I have time for it all." 

"I'm sure you do. You've been making the best out of every day so far." 

"Even then, though, there's still been stuff I've forgotten. And, if Niven starts trying something here, then..." 

Keiko chuckled then, wrapping her arms around Ash. 

"Calm down, it's all going to be fine. Amber's been nicer than Satsuhiro made it out to be, the monsters nearby aren't too hard for you to beat, and... Well, when you have the time, we can hopefully get to work on those ingredients. Everything is going to be okay, I can feel it!" 

... Right, I forgot about that too.  Ash thought. 

"Yeah, I'll try to believe that," Ash said. 

---

Kaori

A Few Weeks Ago

"KAORI, USE YOUR ABILITY!" 

As the Nightmare held Kaori by her head, squeezing down on it as it pushed something into her body that Kaori felt corrupting her very being, Ash's voice just barely managed to pierce through the chaos unfolding. 

Hearing what she said, Kaori activated her  Champion of Lumina  ability with a thought. 

She heard Ash yell out for her, as she waited to feel the peace that had come before when she'd used this ability, but it didn't. Instead, that serenity clashed with a deep fear, and a deep hatred that was being instilled into her by the Nightmare. 

And, she could feel herself losing. She could feel her body weakening, as the Light struggled to fight back against the Dark. All, until a voice entered her mind. One she knew well by this point. 

Kaori, rely on me, Lumina said. Push back against it with all of your strength, and I will assist you. 

She couldn't even tell if Lumina was actually there, or if she'd gone crazy. Regardless, she tried. She tried so hard, her soul nearly broke as her body became warmer and hotter until finally, something caused the Nightmare to drop her. She fell on the ground and her vision flashed both white and violet, alternating between those colors. 

"H-Hey, get back here!" Kaori heard Ash yell as she remained on the floor. 

Her head ached as she felt her body changing. Something grew out of her forehead and one of her hands was morphing into something different. 

Then, when she saw Ash, all she felt was a deep rage. She attacked her instinctively, thinking of nothing else but murdering the half-demon right here, and right now. She could hear herself hissing and snarling at her as she tried to slash at the other woman's face, and not once did she think about why she was doing this. It was just natural, at that moment. 

"Kaori, stop!" 

Ash cried out before she pushed Kaori off of her and mounted the blonde. All the while, Kaori continued to behave like some sort of animal. 

It was only when she saw the half-demon, usually the most firm and strong one out of everyone in Kaori's group, tearing up that Kaori paused. That sight stirred something inside of Kaori, and she felt herself regaining control of her body, if only for a moment. 

"... Ash?" She asked. 

When the half-demon looked back at her, Kaori felt herself about to break down. Her soul was still being torn in half, and she was the most scared she'd ever been. She wanted some promise of safety, some consolation that this would pass. 

"W-What's happening to me?" She asked, her throat tight and shaking. "I-I'm scared... Ash... Please... Help me." 

Ash just looked down at her, not knowing what to do as the intensity of the struggle inside of Kaori's body continued to escalate. 

"I can feel something... I... I don't know what... What's HAPPENING TO ME!?" She screamed out as she could see lights coming out from her body, reflecting on Ash's sweat and blood-covered skin. 

It continued and that conflict rose until suddenly, it stopped. 

And Kaori's world went black. 

---

The next time Kaori's eyes opened, she was in a black room. She could see herself. Her body was exactly as it had been in those last moments, only she was naked and there was no blood on her from the enemies she and Ash had been fighting. Instead, it was just her, with those horns on her forehead, and her one demonic hand. 

Where...?  Kaori asked herself, and then she remembered what had been happening just before this. 

"A-Ash!?" She asked, looking around. There was nothing. No one around her, nothing to see. 

"Did... Did I die?" She asked herself, collapsing to her knees. 

It was the only thing that made sense. In her last moments, she could feel herself slipping as a result of the demonic force the Nightmare had given her, and now, she was here. 

She accepted it almost instantly. She'd failed.

I... I died...  She thought as she felt like crying, but no tears would come out. Kaori accepted, then and there, that she'd tried to live the life of a Savior, of a hero, and had failed.

Because she was too much of a coward. 

Some time passed, and Kaori was in that position for a while. She would look around on occasion, waiting for something to happen, some afterlife, heaven, or hell, to be sent to her. If she'd listened closely enough to her religious lessons back at Jade, what was supposed to happen now was that her soul would be assigned to one of the afterlives belonging to the gods, depending on how she lived her life. 

And, to her, that meant that she was hell-bound, as Lumina surely wouldn't want to let a failure like her anywhere near her heaven. 

Eventually, though, a white dot appeared in front of Kaori, and she stopped. She felt some apprehension, thinking that this was it. That now, she would be thrown into some field of chaos and death where war never stopped and all she could do was die in battle repeatedly. 

However, a message appeared along with it. 

Initializing...

Please, hold... 

Kaori read it out, confused as the dot began to change. It stretched, pulling itself in multiple different directions, and soon, a body was formed. This body resembled that of a young man, with a thin frame and a friendly smile. 

"Hello, Kaori Okada." 

The man spoke with a polite tone. He had his legs crossed and looked back at Kaori, waiting for her to respond. 

Of course, Kaori asked the first thing that came to her mind. 

"Am I dead?" 

"Not at all," he replied. "You are very much alive, in fact. If you had died, the problem that is currently being solved would not exist, actually."

Kaori was shocked to hear that. 

"... Then, what happened? Why am I here?" 

"Well, let us see here..." He said, as he made a gesture with his wrist and a screen appeared in front of him. "Ah, yes, yes. Ownership Dispute Number 3. In your last moments, Operators Niven and Lumina both tried to take possession of your soul. You are being held here until that matter is settled between them."

"What, I... What?" Kaori asked, raising a brow. 

"I, of course, have been assigned as an assistant of sorts to you, until that happens."

"W-Who are you?" 

At that, he smiled. 

"My name is Yx. I am a representative of the Higher Powers. It is a pleasure to meet you, human."