That smell.

Sickly sweet, the smell of darkness and light, clay, earth, fire, water all at once. A demon. Close, a demon was close but she couldn't see it. Oh... No wonder, she was asleep... But the smell was real. Very real. Wake up, wake up. Ase had eventually conked out it seemed, and as her eyes flashed open with sudden confusion she growled at her own laziness. Her body felt light, her head heavy and inclined, and there was someone petting her head. She glanced upwards, sighing and sneering at the familiar blue hair. No, no time for complaining, there was danger nearby. She slowly sat up, groaning as the petting continued despite her movement, and before she could move to get up from the couch her partner froze, the petting stopped completely.

"Ixion...?" She whispered, red eyes scanning his face. He looked grave, breathless. Had he been injured in the battle after all? She rose without hesitation and stood in front of him, putting gentle hands on his shoulders. He was shaking, sweat was forming, she could see it all with only a glance. A panic attack. Her sharpened teeth gnawed at her bottom lip, and as she began digging into her pockets his voice penetrated her mind as a mere whisper. He knew there was a demon, how? Was that the reason for the panic attack? Did this idiot have some sort of demon radar in the form of body-breaking shivers? Ase took a step back, then shrugged and pulled a stone from her pocket. It was purple and raw, a small amount of lepidolite which was normally used to calm panic attacks and sooth pain. She brought it up to her forehead, whispered a mantra, and then placed it to Ixion's forehead, where the third eye lay. The rock glowed momentarily, warming between her fingertips, and then dulled back to it's original lack-luster self. Ase placed the stone on her partner's lap,

"Hang onto that and calm down, you're even more worthless if you can't breath. I'll go see what's going on."

The words were quiet and harsh but Ase's face was soft, and she glanced up to the group around her. The sniper was already scoping out the area, and she listened to his gained info before addressing the crowd with a shaking voice,

"I'm going to go out and ask a few questions. I-If..." She took a sharp breath. Talking to crowds was not really her thing, "if he looks ready to jump, open fire." The last phrase was addressed specifically to Hunter, the sniper. She finally nodded and crouched down to the wooden floor, ripping open her index finger again. She drew a magic circle and summoned Patron, then quickly wiped away the drawing and turned towards the door, drifting out of the room without a second word. Outside, she stared in the general direction of the gate, and blinked at the sight of another figure, the huge back of a student. He had a rich sound name, if she remembered correctly. Ase smirked, feeling just a bit safer with a meat shield around, and with silent and quick steps she made her way to the gate.

Once behind Max she tugged on his shirt, trying to stop him from pouncing, red eyes focused solely on the masked demon behind the bars. She bowed lightly, a polite greeting gained from home, and moved a bit in front of the tall hunter beside her,

"Hello." She greeted the demon, red eyes wide and emotionless. There was something... Familiar about this guy. His mannerisms and speech gave her a feeling of anger, yet she couldn't pin point why. Other then that, Ase realized he was strong. This one was on a different level from the little ones before; it was very possible that she wouldn't be able to exorcise him in one go if things got ugly. And even from behind the bars she felt his presence, he could possibly be the reason for the attack on the academy. Curiosity gave her courage, and with a short nod she started,

"I'm sorry, but could you please no break that gate. My sniper friend in the building back there wouldn't like it very much, and we don't want you getting hurt now, do we." There was a hint of intimidation behind her still gaze, and the shadow of a smirk on her lips. Demons were much easier to talk to, "anyway, if you don't mind, sir, I have a few questions for you." She rose her free hand, a slender finger raising to indicate the number one,

"First question, what do you want with a bunch of punks like us. There's probably a thousand, much more delectable souls down in the town." Her second finger rose, eyes narrowing slightly, "second, are you the reason for... This?" Her hand which held Patron rose, waving to the destroyed school building, "did you call on that army from earlier?" Her third and final finger rose, red eyes gleaming,

"Third, do... I know you?"

The last question was more for herself. This demon was giving her an awful sense of deja vu, and she didn't have a clue why. Maybe it was because... No. No. She awaited the answers with a cold stare, lowering her hands lazily.