"You think there's an easier way to spot 'em?" Lilith asked as she flew over Tokyo in her original form. Of course, at least she put in the effort to turn invisible, unlike that angel by her side.
"What do you mean, easier?" Gabrielle turned the question around.
Her halo was so bright that it must have looked like a star in the night sky.
Good thing they got overcast weather.
And well, Tokyo already had plenty of lights to distract.
"I don't know," Lilith said, shrugging between two lazy flaps of her enormous wings. "Like, follow those threads Meow Midori showed us? Home in on Lucifer's smell like a missile?"
The angel laughed her off.
"That'd be nice, wouldn't it?" But that sounded like a no. "Before Lu told me of this tether, and him cutting off those poor bastards from the Cycle, I had no idea it was even a thing."
"And you spent a lot of time together knowing he was kidnapping souls?"
"Yeah. Meaning they flew completely under my radar. I had to catch him in the act," she explained. "And I'm not even sure if what Maou showed us was real."
Well, he taught Zoltan all those illusions after all.
It could have been a fake thread to illustrate his situation. But then—
"How're we gonna find anyone?!" Lilith demanded. "This city's pretty big, y'know."
"At the very least, we know how one of them looks," the angel shrugged. "And if you want to home in on something, follow the traces of mana. This world doesn't have much otherwise."
"Unless you're an idol or a rock star," the demoness pointed out.
Prayers and bard magic worked here all the same. It was only that people had no idea.
Or if they did, they kept it a secret—
"It should be easy enough to filter out those," Gabrielle noted. "Besides, you found Konrad, too, didn't you? So big city or not, it can't be that hard, then."
Hah.
"That was future sight," she said. "Or, I could say, love found a way to get us back together."
The angel gave her an annoyed look.
"What about the Demon Lord? You also found him immediately."
"Future sight again," Lilith giggled, doing a barrel roll. "But yeah, definitely no love there."
"Ugh. Then use that, idiot," Gabby yelled at her, pulling away.
Right. As if it were that easy.
"I must've told ya before. But that's not how my sight works," the dragoness scoffed, flying a lazy circle around the Tokyo Tower. "If the future calls for me, I see things, but can't force it."
The angel groaned, getting frustrated.
"Then how is that different from a deja vu from your previous timeline?"
"Um, dunno?" she admitted. "But hey, I never claimed I know everything, or that I'm perfect, either. Unlike, you know, someone I know—"
Her attempt to spite her earned Gabrielle's glare.
But, too bad, the angel ended up swallowing her reply.
A shame. It was difficult to read her mind, and this aimless flying was becoming boring.
They've been doing it for a while now. And apart from a stadium leaking music and cheering, they detected no magical essence so far. Did those bastards already leave the city?
Sure, for her, it had been thousands of years. But it was last week for Tokyo.
All those minions gathered on Lucifer's command, and now—
"There," the angel exclaimed, pointing at an unassuming building. "I can feel some faint traces."
Lilith blinked.
"T-that's the music store," she realized, circling it overhead. "Could be residual—"
But it wasn't. She'd recognize either of their mana. This was new.
Faint. She even missed it at first. But now that Gabby pointed out?
"Shit, I forgot." She slapped her enormous forehead. "Yuki-chan asked us to deliver a message. I bet her old man's down there playin' something heartbreaking right now."
"And generates this much essence by himself?" the angel asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Shit, shit, shit. I'm not ready for that conversation," Lilith panicked.
Her wings caused a small tornado as she hesitated. Should she land? Leave?
"Didn't that red-eyed guy attack Konrad here? If we could track him—"
"Yes, track him," the dragoness agreed, squeezing her eyes shut. "We're not going in yet. We're only looking for his traces. I bet those steel balls had enough mana in them to leak out."
The street below wasn't even that busy.
Well, that was the whole issue with this music store from the start.
"Try not to trample anyone," Gabrielle warned her anyway.
Ugh. At least she'd finally hide her halo and wings before dropping straight down.
Of course, Lilith was a tiny ginger by the time she landed, too. Then, she dispelled her cloak at a convenient moment and was ready to go. The tracks they were looking for were there, but—
She caught herself staring into the store through the glassy front.
Sorakumo-san was, in fact, playing his guitar inside, alone.
"Hey, come on," the angel urged, not sparing the scene a single moment. "You were so scared of going in a moment ago, and now you're rooted in place. What's up with that, anyway?"
What indeed.
"I don't know," Lilith mumbled. "But isn't it kinda sad?"
A lonely father.
His daughter committed suicide. She was in a coma, only to wake up as a different person.
As a mere copy of her.
And then, she disappeared.
"I've no idea how I'm going to break the news to him," she whispered, watching him play.
"Oh? Now you're acting like you have a heart?" Gabby teased. "I'm going to tell Konrad you got all emotional about a 'mere copy of you'. And it's not like she's dead and won't ever return."
True. And she didn't ruin her life for good, either. Unlike—
Well, not even Gabrielle was heartless enough to spell that out, but the message was clear.
"Can't help but wonder which one of us is the actual angel or demoness," Lilith scoffed. "But there's no shame in being emotional. I like it when Konny gets a little corny with me, too."
And thinking about him made her realize what this was about.
They've only reunited after thousands of years.
It was only a moment for him, but she had to live through her entire life all over again.
On a brand new timeline he didn't know he had created.
But had he not, she wouldn't even be alive anymore.
Lucifer did his best to erase her after all.
Lilith had to make some heavy choices to make sure she'd end up in the same place, too.
And not every one of those was easy or fun.
"You go on ahead," she shoved the angel forward. "It's not like I'm your dog to sniff those traces out. Find 'em yourself. And, um, in the meantime, I'll have a hard conversation here."
The angel's eyes narrowed.
"You sure?" she asked, hands on her hips. "And what if I needed backup?"
Hah, as if. These petty minions would be no match for either of them.
"I'm the one needing emotional support," the demoness snapped back. "But you're terrible at that. So, uh, let me sort this out by myself. I'll catch you later."
Gabrielle shrugged.
"Fine. But then don't come crying on my shoulder later," she smirked. "Weirdo."