“Hello! My name is Peal 004-19/R27-05332,” said the angel. “But you can just call me Peal~. I’ve come all the way down from the Satellite to ask you humans if you’ve seen a-”

She stopped, and stared at Knell with amusement. “…Well, it appears that one of you is not a human! You wouldn’t be part of the research team, would you, brother?”

Knell just stared back in surprise.

“Look at your wings, they’re all…deformed! And you’re actually walking on the ground! It’s a miracle that you’re still alive…!” Peal continued. “Don’t worry; after my business here is all wrapped up, I’ll get you straight to a doctor. In fact, I think the research team might also be interested in you…”

“What exactly is your business here?” I interrupted.

“Oh, sorry! My business here- it could take quite a while, actually- see, I’m looking for a very powerful, very unusual demon.”

“You mean like the one in the Font?” asked Knell.

“Perhaps, little brother. That’s just our guess. We’ve been tracking it for a while from our cameras, catching glimpses of it here and there as it moved across this general area. And then this Font erupted and we were like, ‘coincidence? I think not’ and so they sent me to track down this Font demon and see if it is the one we’ve been looking for. In conclusion, I’ll be joining you hunters on your little quest!”

Knell gave her a sour look. I didn’t really care. This angel was definitely a normal angel, straight from the Satellite. Which meant she would probably spend what remained of the trip “maintaining altitude”, talking down to me, and generally being useless.

As we continued to walk, Knell kept his distance from Peal by hiding behind me. He stuck close, lightly holding onto my sleeve and glaring at her. More strange behavior that I never would have expected from him…But then, I had never really seen him interact with anyone besides me. Perhaps I would learn more about him today.

Peal, seemingly unable to take a hint, kept trying to chat with the boy. “So, where are you from?” she asked. “Are you a Satellite native, or did you move here from Home? What are you doing on Earth when you’re still so young? Did your supervisor really allow you to come here? Your wings are green, you know. That should mean they don’t have enough power to keep your biofilm barrier up. Seriously, how are you still alive??”

Knell refused to say a word. Peal either didn’t notice that her questions weren’t being answered, or didn’t care. “You are such a weird brother…I’ll definitely have to tell Saint Toll about you.”

The last thing I wanted to do was talk to Peal, but I figured Knell might feel better if I got her off his back. “Could you tell us more about this demon you’re interested in?” I asked her.

“Well, like I said, it’s very unusual,” Peal began. “First off, it displays colors on its outer skin. Normal demons are just black on the outside; this one not only has colors but chooses its colors deliberately. We’ve seen it use them for camouflage, and even in conjunction with its shapeshifting to transform into people and animals. It’s unheard of, and delightfully ingenious.

“Secondly…well, it exhibits counter-intuitive behaviors. Which is really a troubling thing to see anywhere in what you call the animal kingdom-”

“What do you mean, ‘counter-intuitive’?”

“That is to say, we’ve observed it consuming other demons.”

Peal brushed her hair out of her eyes. “And that simply isn’t their tendency. A demon is born as one form that splits off multiple “daughter” forms in order to cover more territory. It’s how they reproduce; they want to split as many times as they can before they die. They never combine unless it’s absolutely necessary to fight off a threat, and they certainly don’t use each other for food…So, you see, it’s very odd. We’d like to tag this demon for further study, if possible.”

I had a strange, fleeting thought…but brushed it aside. “You’ll have to tag what’s left of it after I destroy it,” I said.

“Oh, of course; that’s your occupation! Well, then, we’ll have a team come by to pick up its remains. I’ll put that request through right now.” Her wings began to flash rhythmically.

Suddenly, Knell stopped walking. “Clarion…something’s coming,” he said.

This close to the Font, there was only one thing that something could be.

“Oh, yikes! I’ll be maintaining altitude, then!” said Peal, already flapping upward. “You should keep your distance, too, brother!”

“No way! I’m staying right here!” Knell snapped.

The ground began to shake. Whatever demon was approaching was gigantic. I couldn’t even tell where it was going to emerge; it just felt like an earthquake.

All of a sudden, there was an explosion inches from my face. Then everything went black.