Lena makes it all but two steps before her exhaustion—or the sudden departure of the adrenaline from battle—gets to her, and she collapses, hitting the ground knees first.

Her heart is beating loudly as she stares into the space where the demon had been, and where ashes remain. On the surface, it looks as if this is but a quiet space with no civilians around. But when one takes a closer look, it's noticeable that this part has seen battle. The corners of the deserted buildings look worn from damage, broken glass litters the ground, the pavement streaked with blood—both red from humans and black from the demon. Shuddering, Lena wonders if that lone demon had did all these, if the reason for the lack of civilians in this area is due to the presence of that one demon—and if they are now gone, and that the blood stains she begins to notice everywhere are not just from the guards who were escorting her.

Lena doesn't let her guard down. What if there are more of them?

But even as she thinks that, she suspects that there was only one demon in the area. Because if there had been more of them, she would have already been attacked, perhaps even during her fight with that creature that she'd just ended. Demon Knowledge is suddenly the most useful subject in Arcane Academy by far as she recalls her lesson about how demons are generally attracted to the use of abilities—they feed on pure energy and the essence of abilities of the population in this city. With no one around—and even if there were, civilians or latent ability users aren't worth a single Catalyst or in this case Lena herself—Lena is the sole attractor of demons, bearing the highest ability worth in at least a few miles' radius.

As she begins to let the energy return to her in slow, even breaths, she lifts herself from the ground and unsteadily makes her way toward where the demon had dispersed. What's left is a pile of scattering ashes, her scattered mess of glass shards, and the foreign dagger that she'd killed the demon with. Gingerly, she lifts it up and runs a finger over the blade.

Caelus had given the bag of glass with her, and with the medium for her abilities, this particular dagger that's meant to end demons. Whether it's precaution or premonition on his part, Lena had never been more grateful for his unfathomable luck and reason.

A breath of relief escapes her lips. She can't believe her luck. Celeste had explicitly told her to be careful; Lena hadn't exactly expected an encounter with a demon with her escorts. It turns out that she's been underestimating this demonic threat, and the reports of higher demon activity across the city are now dawning on her.

What other things, exactly, have been going on in the City of Leatia since she's been out?

Her mind is now elsewhere as she begins picking up the blades across the battlefield and then attempting to gather as many shards of glass as she can take, wedging it between her dagger sheaths and among the spaces in her dagger belt, since her precious pouch of glass has been ripped apart. Besides, she isn't even sure what she might encounter now that reality is as it is, and with her two dead guards, she may still encounter a demon yet.

Lena fires up her virtual assistant and pushes the alert button. Her location can easily be tracked for aid to arrive, and they can deal with whatever's left of everything here. Soon enough, she can hear the faint sound of hovercrafts up above her. Fast, but apparently not efficient enough to have detected the trouble this area had been in.

She waits impatiently for the Catalysts to descend and, in that moment, feels a bit of rage at their incompetency. Shouldn't patrols be on the alert now that the demon are threatening the safety of not just civilians, but the professionals too?

The next few seconds Lena barely processes. Her mind is already calculating her next moves; she debates just returning to the Aveyards, where it's safer—and is nearer from where she is. She hadn't at all expected an attack like this, and if she were to come across another one without help... she's already fatigued. Completely inexperienced, this isn't something she can do twice without the right set of weapons, and now by chance she's only got one. She doesn't even know the situation across the rest of Eridanus—is it even safe for her to travel the rest of the way now that her guards are gone?

Calling for the Catalysts had been her idea of handing this entire business to them. In a way, she'd have to explain for the loss of her escorts, too.

When the pair of Catalysts eventually descends, they seem wary of the surroundings as they approach her, a holographic screen already before them, no doubt already displaying her civilian information and whatever that was signaled when she'd sent the distress call.

"You're from Arcane Academy," the woman states, stopping in front of Lena.

Even without the database they have so readily accessible to them, it would be obvious from Lena's uniform. "Yes" is her simple reply.

"What are you doing battling a demon alone? Direct combat beyond academy grounds, even for students who are classified as high ranking ability users, are strictly disallowed—"

"—even for an Arcane Academy student, however powerful you proud and arrogant lot are," the man forcefully inserts his own jab.

"Then get your patrols on higher alert," Lena snaps in return.

She'd meant to at least try and say it nicely, but she can't be bothered. They are professional Catalysts, protectors of the city. It's their job to deal with the demons so civilians do not suffer casualties, students in training—even if they are strong and are enrolled in the most prestigious of ability academies—included. She knows she's being unfair as she recalls certain Catalysts killed on the job recently, but that ultimately falls on poor governance. The lack of urgency in the rise of demon activity level has caused this city's assets greatly; if rumors are true about how demons are evolving, then the bureau should be taking more precautions. In the end, the students are now part of this demon-human war, whether they are ready or not. The professionals before her should ought to know that.

"Miss, that's no way to speak to an official—" the man beside the woman begins to say.

"Sorry," Lena half apologizes, shrugging. "But as you can see, I've done my part—reported this anomaly, killed the demon that had attacked me first, and called in the professionals."

The man looks as if he's about to retort, but the woman calmly responds, "We are sorry for this situation. What if your escorts? I understand that every student has a patrol taking them home."

Lena almost feels bad. This woman is completely under control, and she's a professional through and through. Maybe she shouldn't have lashed out like that; perhaps they are truly understaffed, and this situation isn't necessary the fault of the Catalysts, but the ruling government who's failed to see the danger this city is in.

"They're gone," Lena says in a whisper. "So is... everyone else in the vicinity."

The woman nods. "We'll be doing another perimeter sweep for good measure before cleaning things up here. Backup is on their way to escort you home."

Lena hesitates. She can't remember the fever need to return to her own place where no one waits for her in that empty apartment. Perhaps she'd just been away for too long, and wanted to feel somewhat at home again—but didn't the Aveyards make her feel as welcomed as she's ever felt before, considering that just before this, she's had no memories?

Perhaps she'd just felt afraid, and mostly like a bother. After all, how long can she keep relying on them? She can't possibly stay with them indefinitely; after what she's gone through, the last few days have been a bliss. But it's time to face reality.

She's a traveller of dimensions. She is alone.

So when the woman asks once more, Lena accepts her new escorts. She is barely bothered by their presence behind her at all as they leave the what's left of the battlefield behind, trailing her out of the compound. It's as if something has lifted—a veil or some sort, if Lena is asked to describe it. Somehow, the place where she'd faced the demon had been so dense and void of life that it feels as if they are now stepping into a different dimension entirely.

Lena breathes fresh air, and the sudden noise hits her—not at all the bustling sound of the Static, but the calm activities of a residential area. She looks back. If she doesn't know better, that area she'd just fought the demon in really did seem cursed. Her new guards seem to notice the change in environment as well, looking back and forth, but still they carry on their annoying duty of making sure she doesn't side track.

Demons come through the rifts in their world. Even with minimal knowledge and her lack of experience with these otherworldly entities, she can guess that there had been a pocket where she'd faced the demon. They'd been separated from the reality of their world, trapped inside its domain. It's perhaps why no one on the outside had caught on to the fact that the entire area had effectively turned into a wasteland—or a den of that one demon alone as it feed off every single living human being in there, and those who'd stepped into the vicinity.

Shuddering, Lena is grateful that the demon she'd fought was a lone one working on its own. Then again, demons that move in a group are also generally weaker, and she wouldn't have struggled the way she did.

Well, it doesn't matter now. What's matter is that she came out of it alive. And she knows this is just the beginning.

It's good to see life around them, Lena thinks in relief, as they pass buildings with lights and signs of activity behind those windows, pass under a vehicle or two weaving through the sky's lesser traffic in the area, and pass teenagers just hanging around or families returning to each other.

Things are definitely normal now, compared to earlier when Lena's sixth sense had kicked in even before she'd realized the danger she was in. Still, she finds her hands shaking slightly by her sides as she walks on, unable to quite leave the battle experience. She keeps looking back to make sure her guards are no longer completely devoured, keeps making sure that the signs of life around them are not a mere illusion.

Eventually they'd reach the building of her residence; a familiar yet out of touch place. The guards make sure she's at the lobby of her building before they leave, and Lena faintly catches on that they are to return to where the demon had attacked. They also reassure her that a new set of patrol guards will replace the ones she'd lost, and will come for her the next morning. She is advised to stay indoors as soon as the sun sets, as is everyone else in the city—curfews are strictly in place, the ones that Roen and Caelus have already informed her of.

Lena finds that she doesn't even mind. Every residence is built with a natural barrier that prevents demons from recognizing it at all, hence the curfews. The most the creatures can do is to attempt to break the buildings' exterior as they sense the concentrated abilities from those who reside within. But with that technology that drives them away and even weakens them, they can't ever get through the nano-reinforced walls. It's a proper safety measure, as demons can prowl the streets all they want but are unable to attack them beyond certain conditions.

She leaves a message to Celeste, reporting that she's fine but that it might be difficult for her to return to the Aveyards—and that she really did consider going back, not just once but more than that. Her heart feels something as she makes her way down the corridor alone, about to return to no one waiting for her.

Even with all her memories recently returned, there are no timelines in which she recalls a family of her own. As if it isn't already lonely knowing the weight of this ability, she truly doesn't have anyone else.

All this reminds her of her much needed talk with Arcana, and some things that she still needs to get to the bottom of. She knows that she's been trying to create a world—or at least change certain fates to lead to one such world—that ability users can freely exist in without being hunted or similar sort of oppression. But now that they are in a world where abilities are praised, there are many other things to worry about, such as the emergence of demons, and a group of violent ability users out to destroy their peace.

Just how long before this timeline comes to a similar dead end, and she'll have to leave? That will mean once again severing every connection she's ever had here, and rebuilding again in another dimension. She knows she's done this before, but was it always this hard?

And to think that in other timelines, strangers can become friends—such as Azalea—while close ones may very well equally turn to foes.

Lena reaches her door with pure muscle memory alone. In a way, she's relived to finally be back in a safe space after the events of today.

Or so she thinks. As she unlocks the door panel with facial recognition, something isn't quite right. She steps on something in the floor and clearly in the way.

The motion sensor lights come on, and she is greeted by a mess of a sight.

It's been a while since she's returned, but this isn't how she left it at all: with broken floorboards, shattered pieces of glass from her bathroom door, fragments of what she can only believe is from the advanced wardrobe she has in the corner, and her bed entirely overturned, the sheets even ripped.

It definitely looks bad enough that it's almost as if a storm—or something else entirely—has swept through the space.

But there's the logic that prevails. If demons can't possibly be the culprit, being unable to pass through any buildings at all—and why would they attack something without a living being residing in it, anyway—her mind comes immediately to a conclusion. She has one other enemy that may do something like this. An enemy of the entire city, but one that is recently too close to her after that particular incident in Arcane Academy that has led to her absence here in the first place.

Someone's obviously been through her things, and been here—perhaps even looking for Lena. What she needs to know is why.