Fallen Angel: Calamity (Disgaea 2/La Pucelle crossover, R)

[Abrogate Nadir]

Adell was familiar with the twisted workings of the Dark Court. In his quest to fulfill what had been a promise of a lifetime—defeating the Overlord responsible for cursing his family and world—he'd been forced to appear here through necessity. Several motions gave him powerful allies or greater shop selection, while others removed seals on forbidden lands.

And that's why they were here today—he and Rozalin.

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It was business as usual in the senate.

The Wood Golems and Baciels sent hateful glares back and forth while the Ghosts slept, the Mothmen hummed and hawed, and the Holy Dragons turned down bribes with vehement disgust.

Honestly, there was little indication they were even paying attention when they entered.

A chandelier hung high in an otherwise dim room, giving faint luminescence. Monsters liked it dark, so dark that an assassin could be slinking around, ready to plant a knife in your back—which happened every other week.

As Rozalin commenced with the standard fare of enticement, she spoke about the bill, and all at once, she gained the room's attention. Hers was a commanding presence: formal stature coupled with strong, eloquent speaking. That and the gun she intentionally set on the stand for all to see. Though meager in appearance, the dainty silver pistol had enough stopping power to kill demon lords.

"—Therefore, I ask that we be given access to the Paprica and the 'Angel's Gate'," Rozalin finished smoothly. She held her chin high as the court servant scampered off with the final bribe.

Adell leaned forward from his slant against the wall and began instinctively cracking his knuckles. Experience both presenting bills as well as voting on them as a Senator taught him to read his cohorts. Support for the bill was low from the start, and in spite of Rozalin's performance, it was going to be tight.

As the servant reached the back row, Senator Boozehound lifted his head from the table, and in a drunken daze, he held the offered bar of gold appraisingly.

Adell took a deep breath and rapped his knuckles against the set of doors behind him. "Any minute now," he whispered.

The Baciel inspected the bar from different angles, at one point even licking it.

Then he threw it to the ground, unable to tell what it is or what he is supposed to do with it. He let out a lengthy bellow and pounded at the table with his mechanical canon-arm. When his tantrum ended, he did nothing but glare hateful daggers at Rozalin.

For all the show, she only folded her arms beneath her breasts and waited for the votes to come in.

It was a resounding nay.

Even with the Wood Golem's giving total support, it wasn't enough to pass majority rule.

This was the reason Adell didn't sit in as a Senator today: they're barred from supporting someone who would engage in political unrest. The Dark Court's rules were twisted and often defy his own human logic, but they are rules all the same, and Adell abides by them. That's just his style.

The whole room lied in wait, watching to see how Rozalin would proceed.

Her eyes slowly closed—face betrayed nothing. Her hand didn't even move for the gun.

"Very well," she said evenly.

At the back of the room, Adell gave the door a second rapping.

Rozalin reached under her dress, and all at once, the parts of her gattling gun assembled to rain hailfire on the band of Mothmen in the front row. Their bodies turned to black mist and she de-assembled the bulky weapon in favor of the pistol.

Adell moved with inhuman speed, leaving constant after images until he came into sight behind a Baciel. A single strike sent it across the room, but three more took its place.

The courtroom doors burst open and knives, bombs and waves of magic flew.

By now anyone who didn't vote 'no' cleared the way.

Rozalin leapt to the side as a Holy Dragon drove into the ground, sending stone tile in all directions. Placing herself at ground-zero, she glanced over her shoulder to ensure there was room for recoil before firing.

The Holy Dragon straitened and readied a blast of light as Rozalin channeled spiritual power to the tip of her gun. She fired. A massive arc of energy took the place of a bullet, leaving a long line of destruction.

Adell appeared in a blur, catching Rozalin before the Proximal Shot's kickback sent her colliding into a desk.

In that moment, face to face, he smiled weakly at her, and he was sure his face said what his words didn't.

I hate forcing bills.

She only smiled back.

The pair ducked near to the ground as a wave of fire rolled over them, setting desks ablaze. While Rozalin fires low shots that blow off legs and gentiles, Adell dodged and weaved around attacks.

A ball of violet radiance formed in his hands.

Lion's Roar. Here it comes!

A stray Prinny bomb suddenly rolled into his path, prompting Adell to leap back. With the power already gathered and no friendly units in his line of fire, he let loose. The massive aura strikes the ground and detonates, bringing the ceiling down along with the bodies of countless court workers from the next floor.

"Crap! Sorry!"

A set of knives flew past, downing the last of the day's opposition. The targeted Ghost quivered in its green robe, plucking a single knife out before succumbing to the damage the other twenty some-odd had done. His sickly body hit the floor with barely a sound before he faded into mist and departed for the after-afterlife.

Laughter filled the room—then the resonance of a dozen hands clapping in union. The Wood Golems were undeniably pleased. If nothing else, at least Adell and Rozalin had strengthened the party's support of them.

"That was quick," a black Prinny commented. He takes a moment to assess the damage. "This room was full just a few minutes ago."

"Hmph!" Rozalin scoffed haughtily.

The busty woman had nothing further to add on the matter. She went about setting her gun into its holster and straitening up loose hair until her eyes closed in on a tear in the fabric of her gown. She frowned.

"It seems I am bleeding. I did not expect those lowly political fat cats capable of such a thing…"

"Let me see," Adell said, drawing close. He eyed the thin red line and laughed. "That? That's nothing a band-aid won't solve."

"That is not the point!" Rozalin fumed. "That I sustained any injury, no matter how trivial, is unacceptable. When this entire affair is sorted out, we shall power level further. Level three thousand should suffice."

Adell pinched the bridge of his nose. A bit of an overreaction, he thought, but he dropped the issue and directed his attention to those who had fought with him today. The 'A-Team', if you will.

Two were students, called to him in the Dark Assembly months ago using his mana. The Kunoichi stood silently while the Prism Skull was content to spin his staff about. Behind them, Prism Red shifted between dramatic poses, each one lamer than the last.

"Thanks guys. You can go now. We'll be alright from here," Adell said.

And while his disciples quickly bid him farewell, Prism Red was slow to follow.

"Was there something you wanted?"

Prism Red hesitated.

"Uh…do you wanna come over to my house for a sleepover? We can rent some movies. My mom already said its okay."

"I'd rather not."

"Oh. Okay. Yeah, that's cool. That's alright," Red mumbled dejectedly.

When he made for the door, his movement was sluggish like a wounded animal. The self-proclaimed defender of justice stopped one final time to glance over his shoulder wistfully. Then he vanished into the darkened hallway.

Adell briefly wondered if a stream of tears were falling beneath that cheap plastic mask.

Then he decided he didn't really care.

The black Prinny stuffed the last of its bloodied knives into its pack. He subsequently cleared his throat and cast anxious looks between Adell and Rozalin.

"Sorry, but can we get going?" he asked. "I have to see. I've waited so long."

"Right, sorry," Adell said. "Culotte was it? Let's go see what we can find out about this 'Dark Prince'."

 

[Abrogate Nadir]

Chapter 2

One final attack downed the remainder of the floor's opposition. With nothing left to hinder him, Adell leapt upwards between crags of rock until he reached the summit of a stony spire. From such a height, the abstract realm that is 'the Item World' was plain to see. Wisps of swirling red energy in the distance marked salvation—there were only two ways to be free from this world barring death, and that gate was one of them.

The next floor was InnocentTown.

Adell remembered the first time he came here. The space was small and his party of ten coupled with whatever drifters had come along made it horribly cramped. Any more people and someone would have fallen off the edge and plummeted into that endless sky-like space. He always assumed there was no end if you fell.

But what he stood on now was only a small segment of InnocentTown. In actuality, it was so large that it could be considered an entire world of its own. Often times, people exploring the properties of different items will reach the same segment, or so he'd heard from a rather long-winded scholar he'd once met.

Today it was practically desolate. There were no medics or attendants, and aside from himself and Rozalin, there was only one other.

The Bahamut raised its head from the floor. A single eye cracked open. He looked to the pair appraisingly, but in the end he merely snorted, apparently uninterested, and he resumed his slumber.

Near by, the air began to distort. The silhouette of a Ghost appeared, gradually coloring until its presence was solid. The Dimensional Guide lifted its robed arms, and another appeared before it just the same.

The black Prinny stumbled across the floor and landed on its face. He quickly lifted onto his flippers and knees and began glancing all over, noticeably panicked.

"Where is this? Have I reached InnocentTown? Is there another guide that can help me?!"

Adell turned to face his own guide at that. The ghost floated impassively and said nothing.

"What are you so flustered about?" Rozalin said with a note of curiosity.

The Prinny scrambled to its feet, having seen the second guide.

"Y-Your guide…where are you from? I need to go to some kind of Dark Courtroom. Paprica…it's…"

Adell lifted his hands.

"Whoa, slow down. The Dark Court—Assembly—whatever you wanna call it, we can get you there. Do you have any mana? You need it to pass a bill you know."

"Mana?"

"Yeah, mana. Don't you know how it works?"

"Um…well…"

"Paprica?" Rozalin cut in. "I recall reading stories of a world named Paprica. In them, there was an epic conflict between the forces of good and evil—the Maiden of Light and the Dark Prince, the Goddess Poitrine and the Fallen Angel Calamity. It never specified how the battle ended. I always assumed evil won."

The Prinny said nothing.

Adell knew foreshadowing when he saw it and he couldn't help but groan.

Rule of thumb: if you suddenly start hearing old legends about good versus evil, it means you're about to be pulled into just such a struggle.

"Just out of curiosity, why do you need to see a bunch of corrupt senators about something like this…?"

"Culotte," the Prinny said. "And that whole world is under some kind of seal. I need their approval before a guide can take me there."

The floor began to rumble as the once sleeping Bahamut stood to its full height, spreading its black wings and bearing its foot-long claws.

"Calamity?" its voice thundered.

By now, Adell had already dropped into a fighting stance—behind him, Rozalin had her gun drawn and fully loaded.

"And what would you do, little one? Would you try to kill the Dark Prince? Stop the Fallen Angel's descent? I won't let you! You'll all—"

Its words came to an abrupt end as countless streaks of pink flasedh around its body, each one leaving a long gash on its hulking form. In seconds, there were over a dozen. The Bahamut staggered back before one final strike pierced its chest dead center.

As the dragon hit the floor with a lifeless thud, Culotte lowered his oddly shaped tulip spear and sighed.

"Sorry. If you don't mind, can you help me get to this courtroom? I'll tell you more on the way."

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Adell had mixed impressions of what the Angel Gate might look like. The word angel led him to picture a place floating in the clouds, or at the very least, a whole hell of a lot of statues of angels. This was also the location of a Final Battle however many years ago, so it must have been pretty epic, chalk full of monsters designed for maximum sodomizing.

He was a little disappointed.

The Angel's Gate was vast—this he could not deny. But there was no diversity in its long, hollowed halls full of brick after golden brick and little else. It was dusty from years of desolation, with nothing particularly menacing left to be found.

The group entered into another room, and like those before it, there was no real purpose to it. Bookshelves of the most random literature Adell had seen were set against the walls and light from the day sky shined in on the wooden tables and chairs.

"The History and Development of Your Mom Jokes," Adell read off one book. Were it not for the title, the royal red book cover and golden embroidery could have made it pass for a respectable piece of writing. He tossed the book to the side. "I wonder whose job it was to decorate the place?"

Rozalin lifted her chin and glanced away irately; she wasn't one to go gallivanting around helping strangers. In her words, there were many worlds out there, and always some sinister force threatening to destroy half of them. It was a conversation they had when the six o'clock news reported of a quaint little planet meeting an untimely destruction—evidently the war between the religious right and the Mudkips had reached critical mass—and in the end, she said it was no one's business to interfere unless they themselves were directly affected.

Adell never liked leaving people out to dry. That was just his style.

"I don't think there's anything here anymore," Cullote said suddenly. The boy penguin turned from the door way, his eyes cast low onto the floor, his voice nearly a whisper. "But I know the Dark Prince is back. I'm sure of it."

"And where does this certainty come from?" Rozalin said pointedly.

"I saw!" Culotte said heatedly. "I used to come from this world. When I died, I became this. I spent so long trying to find my way back, but I could never do it. I realize now it's because it was sealed shut."

"And?"

"And I saw it on the news in another world. That show with the bunny and the blue-haired girl. They were doing a special on forgotten worlds, and I—I saw it! My world, but it was a wreck! They said a 'mysterious dark force' destroyed it. What else could it have been?"

Adell stroked his chin thoughtfully. As far as clues go, 'mysterious dark force' was vague and could have been a whole slew of things. Maybe the dark energies in that world had gotten too high and ripped open a few portals to the Dark World? If that happened, all it would take are a few suitably powered Overlords with nothing better to do, and you'd have yourself an Apocalypse.

It was disturbing how often mass genocide was committed for the lulz.

"Well, it's really hard to say." Adell said slowly, trying to mask his skepticism. Rozalin huffed in the corner; she was in one of those moods.

"There used to be an altar here for traveling to the other part of the Angel's Gate. I don't know if it was in the core or if it was some kind of pocket dimension, but we passed it earlier and there wasn't any power going to it…"

Culotte seemed to be talking to himself, set on finding an explanation for everything, but coming up short. Years of absence would do that, Adell figured. Which begged the question:

"Culotte, can I ask you something?" Adell said. The Prinny nodded distractedly, so he went on, choosing his words carefully. "I don't know if you know this, but when people die, they turn into a Prinny because they've sinned. By working as a Prinny, after so much time, the atonement cycle is supposed to end and you can be reincarnated. You've managed the title of 'Prinny God'. I guess what I'm wonder is, how long have you been living as a Prinny?"

Rozalin perked from the corner. "And what sin could have kept you in the cycle so long?" she added.

Culotte waddled to a fallen pillar and seated himself on the chunks of stone.

Adell knew what that meant: a long, tragic story. He glanced to Rozalin and found her sliding a piece of Hell out of her gown pockets.

"Did you kill the woman whom you loved?" she questioned.

Adell lifted an eyebrow. Was she honestly going to place a bet with him over something like this? Were he not searching his pockets for a comparable wager, he might have felt offended. I swear Rozalin is rubbing off on me, he mused begrudgingly.

"Did your best friend turn out to be the villain and you had to defeat him?"

Culotte ran a flipper over his face, oblivious to what either of them had been doing.

"It was just before our battle with Noir. We were in the Dark World, trying to get stronger so we'd be able to beat him. Everything was going great. My sister, she killed 6 Overlords in one run."

"Six?!" Rozalin gasped. "And your sister was a human? How is that even possible?"

"Hey, I'm human and I've taken an Overlord or two before." Adell countered.

The corners of Culotte's beak twitched into a second-long smile that quickly faltered.

"She really was a human, and she really did defeat six. We were about to leave when…when a Demon Lord appeared, and then another, and another, until we were surrounded by demons everywhere. I thought we were gonna die, but…"

At Culotte's break in the story, Rozalin suddenly nodded to herself knowingly.

"But they weren't there to hurt us. They were there to follow my sister. My sister, a woman, a maiden of the church, and they granted her the title of Overlord!"

"Yes, well, that is how it generally works. Killing so many demons that retain such a title of honor would attract a great deal of attention from the Dark World," Rozalin explained.

Adell scratched his head. Interesting as it were, none of that really answered his question. "So…what did you do?" he prompted.

"I abandoned my sister," Culotte said, devoid of emotion. "I said 'Good bye, Prier' and left her behind. I killed the man she loved—my friend—because he was the Dark Prince. Those are my sins. I can't reincarnate until I've redeemed myself. I won't."

A long silence followed, broken only by the clamor of coins landing at Adell's feet.

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When the Angel's Gate turned up nothing substantive, Culotte all but pleaded that they explore the church he had grown up in, after which they would check hillside where the Dark Prince had apparently been born. As it were, Rozalin had to be present whenever Friday took them from place to place—her mana was used to grant them access to this world, after all. Adell was almost certain she would protest, but the demon's sheltered upbringing allowed her to feel compassion and empathy. Even if she said this world was none of their business, Culotte's tale had swayed her.

The pair approached the remains of the Church of the Holy Maiden late into the afternoon. They'd first laid eyes on it from hilltop miles away from the city it had been built in. From that vantage point, the full extent of the damage was plain to see: piles of stone and rubble, downed trees and scorched earth. There was no doubt that the entire place was devoid of any human life.

As they drew closer, there was a foul mist lingering about, nearly invisible to the eyes, but every now and again, the air would darken for a second and a shiver would creep up Adell's spine. Yes, whatever happened here, it was most certainly dark in nature.

Culotte kept to the front of the group during their trek within the city. Among all the wreckage, the general shape of the roads remained unchanged, even if they had to mind cracks and other obstructions.

As Adell side stepped an upside-down oak tree that had somehow found itself engraved into the ground, he glanced ahead, where Culotte was walking faster and faster. No doubt he wanted to break into an all out run to wherever this church was. For all the damage, he was certainly taking it better than Adell would have thought. Perhaps because all of his time as a Prinny allowed him to prepare—at least somewhat—for the possibility that he'd never see his loved ones again.

The mist thickened again, this time lingering a few seconds longer. Rozalin quaked at Adell's side and wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing at the exposed sin on her arms to keep warm.

"I feel uneasy here," she said worriedly.

Adell shrugged. "I know what you mean, but it's really not that bad."

"Perhaps you do not feel it, being as resilient as you are," Rozalin said. "But this place is far more twisted than first appearances would suggest. We should be mindful of the dead."

As though to stress her point, Rozalin's hand suddenly hovered over the pistol set within her sash.

The trio rounded one last corner before they came to what one assumed had been the church. A single silver cross stood at the top of a concrete pile, like a flag set on an arch. Remarkably, the holy metal still shined clean, as though untouched by whatever chaos had befallen the city.

Culotte chuckled dryly, but there was no feeling in his eyes. "That cross is made of a special holy metal, you know. Father Salade said it was a relic blessed by the Goddess Poitrine."

Rozalin came to a halt at Culotte's side, staring up at what had once been a symbol of faith for this city.

"Now that you mention it, this place does feel…safer somehow. Since it is no longer of use here, perhaps we should take it for ourselves?"

"What, you mean like turn it into holy bullets and a pair of exorcising gloves or something?" Adell said, planting a hand on his hip.

Rozalin nodded. "Yes. That is always an option."

Adell searched Culotte for some sign of approval. After a second's delay, he merely shrugged—he was in his own little world.

"It doesn't matter anymore," he mumbled. "It's…well, Alouette. No. I mean…"

Adell stopped mid-stride to glance over his shoulder.

"You alright? I know this can't be easy."

Culotte kept mumbling to himself.

Adell turned and prepared to leap to the peak of the wreckage. Whatever inner turmoil Culotte was going through, it was best not to step in when he knew so little. As well, that Poitrine's cross had retained its divine properties over such a long period of time and in the midst of so much dark energy—it would surely be of use to the Prinny God. He could stuff it in that bottomless bag of his.

All at once, the air turned dank, fouler than it had ever been since their arrival.

Adell tried to hold his breath as he jerked the cross free, leaping back to ground level. He passed it off to Culotte with out a word, and in a second it was in his bag, replaced by a set of knives moments later.

Rozalin was slow to draw her gun. She let out a long shudder, her face pale as though ready to hurl, but she shakily lifted her weapon regardless.

It came from Adell's right—a ball of molten flame. With his own affinity for fire, Adell swiped his arm at the mass, causing the flames to be snuffed out of existence before he took off like a rocket through the remnants of smoke.

Already he could see the silhouette of some form of ghost simpering away. He leapt into the air, performing a summersault until the bottom of his heel dropped into the lifeform's head. When it struck ground, the foot passed through, turning it to jelly and shattering the earth beneath it.

Adell could hear shots being fired nearby, but it was harder to see in the darkness, harder to hear amidst the echoing cries for blood, harder to live as—

I have to kill myself.

"Ugh!" Adell groaned, clutching his head in his hands. "We have to get out of here, now!"

Then he heard Rozalin's scream of desperation.

Adell leapt out from the crater he'd left in the ground to be met by three more ghosts, each of them a small, semi-transparent ball, tipped off as mages of a sort by their colored straw hats. Behind them, Rozalin was on her knees, shaken but unharmed as Culotte worked to fend everything back.

A green tinted ghost raised its hand, producing a blast of slashing wind. Adell spun back and threw a roundhouse at the air, surrounding his legs in fire. As the two forces met, the wind only fed the flame, and with more of Adell's spiritual power applied, it quickly turned into a blast that engulfed the ghosts' whole.

Adell couldn't wait to see if they'd been finished off. He ran through the growing shadows—his breath ragged from the thinning air—until he was at Rozalin's side on his knees. He cupped the woman's chin and tried to look her in the eyes, but her focus never held on him. The pistol slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground.

"Solitude…please," she begged. "Give me solitude. I want to be alone."

Culotte flew across the road after being struck by a blast of wind. He drove a dagger into the ground to slow himself until he had come to a stop. The Jester laughed manically, floating in from above with another spell at its whim.

"Let's make a run for it! I remember the way out by heart!" Culotte shouted. He stepped back, both hands buried into his pouch before he produced a kitchen sink to be thrown.

"Leave me!" Rozalin shouted frantically.

Adell gritted his teeth, wound back his hand, and slapped Rozalin hard enough to send her buckling to her side.

"Snap out of it!"

Rozalin rubbed at her cheek—still in a daze, but no longer muttering incoherently.

"I—I am sorry. We are going to run? I am able."

The undead suddenly came in droves, as though knowing of the party's impending retreat. Zombies came in their tattered garbs, sluggishly brandishing old swords while the ghosts hovered in the air, cackling and waving their hands or magically imbued staves.

"Damn it!' Adell cursed.

A zombie came in, swinging its sword downward. Adell weaved to the side and threw a kick that shattered its torso. He ducked low under another's vertical swipe before knocking its skull off with an uppercut. He didn't have to look to know more were behind. Charging his body with fire, he blitzed clear through a long line of a dozen, turning their bodies to ash.

Rozalin drew a second pistol and began firing shots in all directions. The bullets pierced bone with ease, but the undead were a different sort of enemy, unconcerned with dying like the living were. For everyone one she downed, two more took their place.

Progress was grueling, and only seldom could the party find time and room to run before they were again caught by a mob.

Two streets over from where they had begun, the magic weaving ghosts showed no signs of letting up, and the darkness became such that Adell could see only meters in any direction.

Was there a literal army amassed by now? They had no way of knowing.

After a Soaring Blaze technique, Adell landed near Rozalin and set his back against hers. Culotte joined in a space set between them. The trio began slowly backing down the street—all sides were covered and the enemies seemed to be granting them a momentary reprieve.

"We can't keep going on like this," Culotte said.

Adell could feel the remnants of heat coursing along his body. The enemies weren't particularly powerful, but the problem lied in their numbers and in the detrimental effects of this cursed fog. He was quickly approaching his limit, a point where even his own techniques were starting to hurt him.

He groaned despondingly. The voices were beginning to pierce his thoughts again.

"I know. I'm open to ideas."

"I could liberate," Rozalin supplied.

"No," Adell snapped.

"Hmph! It would only be a partial one. You know, the standard fare 'Rose Liberation'."

Adell bit his lip. He was at a crossroads.

"The wide spread damage could clear out everything eastward for a good ways. If I fired a Lion's Roar the other way, we might be able to make a break while they regroup."

"It does seem to take a while for more to spawn," Culotte added.

Shards of ice rained in from above, prompting the trio to break in separate directions.

"I'm doing it!"

Rozalin spanned her arms outward as four crystalline wings took shape. They carried her upward, together with her natural black wings. The four-mark clover of the Overlord Zenon swirled in her wake as her body glowed a vivid orange.

Adell lowered himself into the ground before propelling skyward. A purple mass gathered in his hands, growing in size as he reached into his reserves for more power.

A radiant sphere forced its way out of Rozalin's body. The sphere was quickly encompassed by a black hue and incased in ice—three separate layers, each lethal in their own right.

Adell's attack struck first, hitting the span between them and the city gate to the west. All at once, the laughter in that direction died.

Rozalin's attack soon followed.

"Run!" she shouted, and the moment she touched ground, she lifted her skirts and fled.

A flower of ice blossomed, covering the span of an entire road the whole way across. As the temperature plummeted to sub-zero, a dark surge broke through the icy prison, almost instantly overtaken by the pure energy resting in its core.

The black mist itself seemed to cry out in pain, shrinking back behind them until they could once again see the sky. Flashes of orange radiated from behind as secondary explosions rocked the earth.

But that didn't stop them from running like hell.

Adell glanced up at the sun setting in the distance.

"We were in there that long?!"

"I should have done that earlier," Rozalin said triumphantly.

"I think those monsters can only live inside that mist," Culotte said.

The air began to thicken again. Adell could feel the bile growing in his throat.

After rounding another corner, what had once been the city gates came into view.

They were home free.

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The group placed several miles of distance between themselves and the city before coming to a stop for rest. The walk was mostly spent in silence, save for when Culotte had offered his healing talents. Evidently he'd been quite the healer while he was living as a human, but the transmigration into a Prinny meant he had to essentially learn all over again. He was only mediocre now, but it was enough.

They were all bone-weary tired when they reached the middle of an open plain—so chosen because of the difficulty anything would have sneaking up on them.

Adell and Culotte found no problem in falling ass backwards into a patch of grass where as Rozalin glanced around awkwardly for something to sit on.

"Just sit on the grass, it's no big deal." Adell laughed.

"And stain my dress? I think not."

"Hey, it's gonna have to be washed either way, so what's it matter?"

"I suppose it doesn't," she relented.

With a weary sigh, Rozalin lowered herself to the ground at Adell's side, inching her hand closer to his until they locked.

"The whole atmosphere there, it went beyond any patch of the Dark World I've ever been to," Adell said following a long pause.

"Yes. I'm…ashamed of how I handled myself. I apologize." Rozalin replied.

"You sure you're alright?"

"I am."

"What you were saying before, it sounded familiar," Adell commented subtly.

"I know what you are driving at," Rozalin scowled. "As I have said, I have it under control."

"Culotte, you seemed to be fine."

"I think it was the Goddess' protection," Culotte answered.

"Oh, the cross? Yeah, you'll wanna hang on to that."

Rozalin shifted on to her side, placing Culotte within her view. He stared back at her for a moment before averting his eyes, a blush painted on his otherwise dark cheeks.

"Culotte. I would like to bring something to your attention. Namely, that there is no indication that this world gave rise to the Dark Prince again as you have said, and that even if there were, there is nothing to say that this happened recently."

"What?"

Culotte's face reddened deeper, but for an entirely different reason.

Adell slipped his eyes shut. He didn't foresee this ending on a positive note.

"How long have you been a Prinny?" she went on.

"Why does that—"

"You said that after you died, you tried to return only to find that this world was inaccessible. Since your death, you've managed to attain the highest rank of Prinny without ever reincarnating. Am I correct in assuming that at least one hundred years have passed?"

"I…I don't know exactly. Maybe. Why?"

"There is nothing to say when this world was placed under a lock. Even if the 6 o'clock news reported from here, I've learned that they are often granted special privileges due to arrangements with some of the senators. They, like us, are exceptions."

Culotte furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you saying that whatever happened here could have happened a century ago and the news just took a long time to report?"

"I am saying that it is possible, yes. Worlds rise and fall on a weekly basis, so there is nothing strange in that. Regardless, there is little to be gained from lingering here further. I am sorry to say that it will not change things. What is more, any threats still present are contained."

"That Bahamut," Adell said suddenly.

Rozalin rolled onto the flat of her back and cocked her head to the side, humming curiously.

"When we first met Culotte, that Bahamut knew about Calamity. It was going to kill us because it thought we were going to interfere with it."

"True," Rozalin relented. "But I knew of Calamity as a child. I even admired the Fallen Angel for a time. Is it really a stretch to think that she has an insane cult dedicated to her around the universe?"

Adell grunted. It all seemed like too much of a coincidence that they just happened to find a cultist that went nuts over the mention of Calamities name, but he didn't have anything sensible left to say that would shed doubt on her doubt.

Near by, Culotte rose to his feet, dusting off bits of grass from his legs. Before Adell could read his expression, the boy turned his back to them.

"Thank you for everything. I'll take care of everything from here."

"Hold on," Rozalin said, sitting upright. "You may not like what I've said, but that is no reason to wander off foolishly. You would have no way of leaving this world without us."

Culotte shook his head. "That's fine. It doesn't matter what you say, I know there's more to this. I'm going to keep looking until I find something. Besides, maybe my sister came back here? I've spent so long looking for the 'Fallen Maiden Prier', but I was never able to look here," he said.

"Fallen Maiden Prier…?" Rozalin said inquiringly.

"She's become a bit of a legend in the Dark World. That's what they call her."

When the atmosphere turned silent, it seemed there was nothing left to be said.

Adell watched the boy wander off, probably not even knowing where he was headed. He wanted to follow him and lend a hand of support. The pain of seeing one's home twisted into something monstrosity was all too familiar to him. But there just wasn't enough to go on. He had a life of his own, and without Rozalin's support in the matter, he just couldn't do it.

Then realization hit.

"Culotte, wait!" he shouted.

Rising to his feet, Adell probed his memory, trying to force out more vivid details. Several months ago, there was a bill that passed allowing the A-Team to take on a 'fallen maiden'—a female Overlord.

Her level was at least two thousand if he remembered correctly. The woman's appearance made her look human, but Adell had dismissed that as being a guise. But maybe, just maybe…

"I may have met your sister."