~Third Person PoV~
Lady Bish follows her small spirit companion down a trail of dirt and stone. The woods were silent and dark as the two traveled to the home of the last soul-bearing human and the only source of magic on Daemos. Zex stops in his tracks, turns around to face Bish, and meows at Bish. Bish, able to understand spirit-speak, replies, "For this outing, I refuse to allow anyone to escort me. This secret is entrusted only to the royal family. It would be foolish of me to lose trust over this, especially with the old hag who already has her judgements about me..." She huffs, the mere thought of Lady Grandma becoming an annoyance.
Zex turns away from her and continues to lead her down the path. Their walk continued until they reached a small cottage with stone walls and a dark, wooden roof. There were purple stone pillars placed strategically in a ring around the building, all of which connected by a band of purple magic. It was a shield to keep Daemos away from the human.
Bish stops in front of the barrier and smells the air. "Something is wrong here..." She notes, before picking up a stick and prodding at the magic with a quizzical expression. "A... fake seal?" Her teal eyes widen and she turns back towards her companion. "That can't be... the magic seal is broken... Wh-Which means..."
The Daemos woman doesn't wait another moment before she runs through the faux shield, Zex trailing behind her.
Inside of the home, there were signs of a struggle, furniture and appliances strewn about the main room. There were burn marks all over the walls, floor, and even some furniture. "No..." Bish mutters in terror. "No no no no no! Someone came here which means the last soul is gone!"
Zex meows at her again, standing beside a ring of ashes and burn marks on the floor and wall. Bish looks over, rage in her eyes. "What?!" She steps closer and takes a knee to better examine the charred marks and carnage. "An excessive amount of fire magic was used here..." Her brow furrows and a low growl escapes her lips. "Asch..." She stands up again. "No wonder that old hag has been dismissive; She's covering for whatever happened here." She turns away from the ruined home and exits the barrier. Zex follows, as per usual. "This is asinine, it's obvious Asch is trying to outrun his duty to his kingdom... but this makes no sense." She holds her hand over her mouth as she thinks. "Why would Asch take the last soul and go into hiding? Why would Lady Grandma cover this up? She's the former queen. She'd have to have gone mad to allow the magic of Daemos to run dry."
Zex meows once again and she looks down to him. "No. Telling the council will only place suspicion on me. I need undeniable evidence before I bring this to anyone... and in order to do that, I need to find out where Asch is." Her tone becomes more authoritative and she begins to walk back down the trail, her elegant gown fluttering behind her. "Come. We're getting to the bottom of this."
~~~
Meanwhile, in the apartment, the small spirit cat was sleeping peacefully on the kitchen counter after Ava, (Y/n), Pierce, and Noi had left, when she was awoken by magic, loud footsteps, and Rhys' voice in the palace. "Hold on a moment, Asch!"
The remaining three Daemos boys ran out of the palace, still dressed in their human clothes, and with their horns visible. "What?!" Asch argues, irritable as ever.
"We should trust Noi to court Ava!" Rhys states.
Asch huffs at his suggestion. "Why are we trusting Noi with such a task? This isn't something we can play around with here!"
Rhys frowns. "Wh-While I do admit, it would be better if it were someone would could trust more with Ava-"
"And the best person to trust would be myself." Asch claims, confidently.
"No, me!" Leif objects. "Noi hesitates to kill, and Asch, you haven't killed enough!" He says. "And Pierce couldn't court (Y/n) if he tried, he barely even speaks! You should've just left it to me..."
Asch glares back at the former assassin with a look that could kill. "Do not challenge me, Leif, I-"
"Silence!" Rhys demands, quieting the others. He lets out a sigh before speaking again, "I understand Noi is probably the lesser option of Daemos, and Pierce may be less capable upon further thought, but here on Earth, they seem to have an advantage." He explains. "Humans seem less suspicious of them-"
Asch is quick to cut him off. "It doesn't matter! We're going to ensure Noi and Pierce don't fail, or if they do we take their place."
Rhys was growing more aggravated by the second. "How?!"
The Daemos prince, still glaring at his two knights, hides his horns and turns himself invisible with his magic. Rhys doesn't fight, but his glare is more than enough to express his distaste for Asch's confrontational nature. Asch, of course, ignore him and in a smug tone asks, "Anymore questions?" He turns away and rushes to the door without listening for an answer.
"Your majesty," Rhys calls after him. "Do not use magic so recklessly, we can't-"
"Ha!" Leif chuckles, interrupting the advisor. "I'm for this!" He hides his horns and himself as well and runs after the prince.
Rhys steps forward and reaches out, as if it would stop them. "Leif, no! We can't run out of- Ugh!" The dark haired male hides his horns as well, turns invisible, and follows the other two away.
Andrew, Devon, and their two new favorite couples arrive at the pizza place and the familiar scent of pizza wafts through the air. Ava, Noi, Pierce, and (Y/n) wait outside of the restaurant while Andrew and Devon get a table. "Table for six, please." Andrew requests, happily.
"Table for three, haha!" The host, Marco, says with his heavy accent. "I've got the same place as usual for y- w-wait, six?"
Devon grins at him. "That's right!"
Marco goes wide-eyed. "Is... this for business? Because you two only come here with Ava, and (Y/n) up until they went off to college."
"No business!" Andrew says with a laugh. "Our baby's got a boyfriend!"
The host nods, still seemingly surprised. "O-Oh, that's good... W-Wait! A-Ava's got a... boyfriend?! W-Wait, what? Since when?!"
Devon smiles. "We had the same reaction!"
"She's been hiding him from us! This is our first time meeting him and taking them both out to get to know him! And (Y/n), they have one too, can you believe it?"
Marco steps out from behind the check-in stand and looks out the window, excitedly. "Where are they?" He looks outside and gasps, his eyes lighting up.
Devon shakes his head. "Don't stare! We don't want to scare them off!"
Marco quickly looked away, covering his eyes with his hands.
Andrew gives Devon an odd look. "They aren't wild animals, sweetheart."
"No, but I understand what he means." Marco states. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you have the finest everything tonight! Leave it to me!" He happily goes off to set up a table for the group.
Andrew looks to his husband. "We just..." He sighs. "We just need to keep our cool and everything will be fine."
"Oh-ho, look at them." Devon beams, looking outside. "I bet they're whispering sweet nothings to each other!" He chirps.
~Second Person PoV~
"This is terrible!" Ava whines. "I have no idea how to be on a date, I've never been on one!"
You roll your eyes at her, knowing that your face was already tinted pink. "M-Maybe you should've thought about that b-before you agreed to this; You really have no r-right to complain!"
The dark-haired girl pouts and turns away from you, only to look towards Noi. "What?" She asks in annoyance, clearly noticing his reddened cheeks.
Noi smiles slightly at her. "Heh... thanks for choosing me..."
"Huh?" Ava asks.
"It's just..." Noi begins, shyly. "I didn't think I would be trusted with something this important..."
Ava looks away from him, semi-awkwardly. "I mean, I didn't really choose you, you were just kind of there."
The ginger only smiles back to her. "Just tell me what to do!" He chirps.
"Just follow along with what I say and do." Ava states. "Now, look, my pop, Devon, is very into movies and fiction and stuff while my dad, Andrew, is very much like a politics kind of business... guy, just very boring and I don't understand what he says when he gets into his tangents about politics and stuff."
Noi looks off to the side to avoid eye contact. "Uhhh..."
"Ah ffff-" The human girl starts, but corrects herself before she can swear. "How can I explain this to you when you don't even know what any of that means?" She shakes her head dismissively and holds a hand out to him. "J-Just... h-hold my hand."
The Daemos boy's tangerine eyes widen. "Wh-What?!"
Ava blushes more. "Hold my hand. It'll convince my dads we're together and in love and stuff..."
Noi gasps. "L-L-Love...?"
Pierce glances away from the other two and looks to you. "Are you still nervous?"
You jump at the sudden sound of his baritone voice but nod regardless. "Y-Yeah, but it's not t-too bad..." You stutter out.
The taller Daemos lifts his hand and gently pats your head. "I'm here."
You can't help the hum that escapes your lips at the contact, but you reach upwards and take his hand, holding it in yours. "Th-Thank you, Pierce..."
"Yes." He replies with a small nod.
You giggle. "Now... we sh-should at least try to b-be a convincing couple..."
Pierce glances back to Ava and Noi, who are still connected by their hands. "By doing that?"
"Ah, n-no... Maybe if w-we were in middle school, b-but we're adults..." You explain. "W-Would you trust me to t-try something different?"
"Y-Yes." Pierce says and you can't help but grin at the small stutter.
You inhale as a way to brace yourself, before stepping closer and wrapping your arms around him. "I-Is this too weird...?"
Pierce's face reddens, but his arms slowly find their way around your waist and he rests his chin on your head. "No..."
Behind your group, a man who was taking a walk bumped into the invisible Leif, who was standing with the others, and fell to the ground. He thought nothing of it, stood back up, and continued on with his walk.
"What are they doing?" Rhys inquires.
Asch gasps. "Is sorcerer Ava offering her power to Noi?!" He asks, enraged. "Is (Y/n) doing the same? Do they even have magic that they didn't tell us about?!"
Rhys shakes his head. "Nonsense! Noi is far from winning her approval. And... as for Pierce, I can't explain that... But still, I'm interested to see how this goes... Courting Ava and (Y/n) was not an idea that had come to mind as an option."
Noi hadn't yet taken Ava's hand, still skeptical and weary of her. "You aren't going to kill me, are you...?"
"Why would I do that, I- Just-" She groans. "Trust me."
Without any more hesitation, Noi holds her hand, going completely red in the face. Ava had him completely flustered in mere seconds, but he couldn't help but sneak a look at the other human and wonder if he'd even retain consciousness if it was them touching him...
You, on the other hand, kept your cheek pressed against Pierce's chest, feeling for the first time how muscular he was. Damn, these guys must work out 24/7... Th-That's...
"Your face is red." Pierce remarks, gently lifting your chin.
A small giggle escapes you as you look up at him. "Y-Yours is too..."
Leif scrunches up his nose at the sight, feeling something not entirely unfamiliar to him. "What are they doing...?"
"Noi and Pierce have turned completely red!" Rhys gapes. "Are they trying to kill them?"
The assassin glares over at them. "Finally!"
Asch furrows his brow. "No, they're still alive!"
Ava's body went stiff as she stares at Noi. "Wh-Why are you blushing?!"
The ginger's eyes were dazed as he responds, "Uh... is that what this is...?" He makes eye contact with the short girl again. "Because... you're doing it to..."
"Just- tone it down before my dad's see us, they'll think we've never done this before and we're hand-holding virgins- I mean, I mean noobs!" Ava stutters out.
Noi sighs, dreamily. "This is the first time I've ever touched someone like this..."
Ava's face gets somehow redder. "R-Really?" She questions. "M-Me too."
You tiredly snuggle into your companion's chest. "Y-You're kind of comfy..." You whisper. "M-Maybe this won't be s-so bad..."
But just as soon as you spoke, Devon's voice chimes in to make you tense up again. "Oh, d-d-did we interrupt something, I-" He seems to notice Ava and Noi holding hands, as well as you and Pierce holding each other, and gasps. He turns to his husband. "Should I ask for a picture because this moment is too precious!" He whisper-yells.
"No!" Andrew whispers back. "We have to be calm and cool so he thinks we're hip."
Devon scoffs. "No one says hip anymore, Andrew! You're gonna make us seem desperate and weird!"
You and Ava both pull away from your partners. "Y'know, it's weird that you're standing right in front of us and whispering loudly." Ava mentions.
"I feel like I'm in high school again..." You remark with a giggle. "What we're you whispering about back then?"
Both men tense up and look back towards their children. "Ah!"
"N-Nothing, nothing!" Devon said, not wanting to tell you that he used to ship you with his daughter, especially not with your supposed boyfriend present.
Andrew smiles. "Ha! Our apologies, we're just curious about... a lot of things!"
Marco walks back over to the group and, with a formal flourish of his arm, gestures inside. "You're table is ready. I've gotten only the best for my best and most beautiful family of customers!"