In the morning Ace was the first one to wake up. As usual, he started to make breakfast. He looked into the spatial ring: They were out of eggs. It was to be expected since they calculated only provisions for two. 

“Harem God, can you get some eggs from the hens?” he shouted out of the window. He didn’t get an answer like usual, but Harem God’s coat wasn’t there, so he could only be outside. The shout waked Jiushi who came down with his slightly red eyes and bed hair. 

“Where is Harem?” he inquired.  

“Sorry, did I wake you? He’s still with Sin, I guess. Maybe they started to fight again,” Ace mumbled while washing the salad in the sink. The dirty plate from Harem God the day before was already clean and dry set to the side. 

“Mn,” Jiushi noted. “I’ll look after them. He sometimes gets absorbed with the chicks and forgets the time.”  

Jiushi went to the chicken coop but there was not a hair strand of Harem God traceable. After fifteen minutes of trying to get some eggs, Jiushi came back without success. “He wasn’t there and Sin was also gone. The hens didn’t let me take eggs either.” 

“Hmm, that’s weird, there’s nothing interesting to explore in these suburbs,” Ace assessed, “Then we’ll have no other choice but have our bacon without eggs today.”  

“It’s weird that he’s up so early.” Jiushi looked annoyed, “Switch to sandwiches. Bacon without eggs is just greasy.” 

“Pfft— Whatever you wish.” Ace neatly arranged bread on the three plates before him. “He already slept a lot yesterday and must have a surplus of vitality.” 

“Mn. Normally he never seems out of energy.” 

Ace and Jiushi sat down to have breakfast together. By the time they finished, Harem God still hadn’t shown up. Ace didn’t think too much of it and wrapped up his share for later. Yet, lunchtime was nearly over and there was still no trace of him. The two began to worry, not only because of the Scouters, but also because the weather slowly turned into an ominous storm.  

“It’s getting dangerous. He shouldn’t be outside.” Jiushi especially enunciated 'dangerous’ as he expressed his evaluation. 

“Even more than the elemental rain?” Ace was a physical combat type, his assessment was limited to experience and analysis through direct contact. 

“There is an element that is blocking my senses, which is worrying me. It’s definitely not the same as the elemental rain we encountered at our arrival.”  

“I understand.” Ace scratched his head while sighing helplessly, “How can he be such a troublesome kid? Doesn’t he know to come back before it rains? Anyway, let’s search for hints about his whereabouts. Maybe he left a note somewhere.” 

“Mn.” Jiushi walked into the living room that was separated from the kitchen and dining room. There he found Harem God’s stuff littered on the floor. “What did he...?” 

“Anything on your side?” Ace went upstairs to Harem God’s room, but the bed didn't even seem like it was used at all. 

“Yes and No.” Ace was puzzled by Jiushi’s answer and headed down to him. “Did he leave a note?” 

“Not exactly,” Jiushi showed him Harem God’s notepad with the latest entry.  

Harem God departed without a notice and left everything behind. 

A sense of loss overcame the two. 

“Sigh. It’s probably better that way,” Ace stated after a while. 

“Why?” Jiushi asked. 

“We had to part ways sooner or later. Don’t forget our main purpose. The gate can only handle only a certain amount of spiritual energy. If we can get our hands on his katana, no, if we can get ‘Memory of Athanasia’ I fear we have to leave him behind…” 

Jiushi clenched his fist. That’s right, he thought.  

The reason they approached Harem God was mainly to retrieve that mysterious weapon from him. It was the artifact they needed to heal his damaged magic core. There was, of course, also sympathy for Harem God. Living with him was fun and his personality was also somewhat interesting. He was full of contradictions, for example, the way he glared in vigilance yet still accepted the food from them like an obedient child, or how he cared for Sin and the hens while denying to like them. 

Nonetheless, they were no saints. 

They couldn’t take the weapon and Harem God with them. If they took Harem God with them, Jiushi would lose his ability and even suffer from the backlash. Humanity on the other side couldn’t afford to lose one of their strongest warriors. Especially not in the face of imminent war with the demon race. 

The situation wasn’t good. Demons took over one of humanity’s important transportation routes, and now they even followed the traces of Ace and Jiushi back to earth. 

“I understand. Let’s search for that artifact and leave as fast as possible…” 

At that moment, a feathered silhouette they hadn’t seen all this morning appeared before them and started a ruckus. Sin jumped high, flattered his wings to be on eye height with Jiushi, and pegged him hard on the forehead. After his successful sneak attack, he landed on the coffee table to leap up again with Ace as his next target.  

“Calm down, Sin!” Ace shouted while grabbing him by the feet. He didn’t manage to catch his wings, thus downs propelled through the air.  

“Are you okay, Jiu...” His words got drowned by Sin’s ear-deafening cry. 

“Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-dooooo!”  

—How dare you leave that poor child behind!! 

“Who said I want to leave him behind?!” Jiushi shouted while holding his forehead. Sin’s head flick left a throbbing pain and agitated Jiushi even more than he already was. 

“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”  

—You obviously! 

Sin was still flapping his wings wildly and crowing loudly, but now he switched back to target Jiushi. 

“You didn’t even let me finish my sentence!” With Sin obstructing his vision, additionally to making noise, Jiushi couldn’t tell who he was talking to. Thus, he retorted purely out of reflex. 

“Cock-a-doodle-doooo!”  

—Fine, I’ll hear you out.  

Sin suddenly calmed down and relaxed on Ace’s hands. “Finally, you’re quiet—” 

"Ace,” Jiushi looked at him, “When everything is over, let’s come back and take him with us.” 

Ace was stunned at first, but then the corners of his mouth hooked up. His hand reached for Jiushi’s head. He patted the messy hair while gently pecking his boyfriend’s swollen forehead.   

“That’s exactly what I had planned to do,” Ace replied. “He couldn’t have gotten too far by foot. We should be able to catch up with him.” 

“Mn.” 

Sin glucked. —Let's pick up the child. 

“Who are you calling child...” Jiushi quietly mumbled. 

“Did you say something?” Ace asked. 

“Hm? Didn’t you just...ok, never mind...”  

Was it my imagination...or is he teasing me again? 

They quickly clammed their breakfast in their mouth, packed their stuff in an orderly manner, and put Sin and the hens in a special space made for living beings. Jiushi then used «Omniscient Eyes» to scan the vicinity and found traces of Harem God’s tracks. However, he also spotted a suspicious cloud movement and paled instantly. 

The demons launched an attack on earth. 

*** 

tiaf

Not far and we're done with the rewrite!