(Four days later...)

I woke to the sounds of birds chirping, and I began to recount the events of the last four days as I continued to lay in bed. First off, Luna and I paid a visit to my mortal enemy, the Church, after I had recovered enough from my little stunt in Seris to actually walk. (Granted, Luna still had to help me out. She made it quite apparent she'd rather see me resting than shambling like a rotting corpse to the one place I'd rather not be, but I was hellbent on purifying my necklace-and more importantly, my mum's soul.)

It was great: I scared the shit out of half the priests in the church when I shambled in with Luna by my side. After I found a reasonable exorcist that wouldn't throw holy water at me, (Ahh! It burns! Heh, bullshit...) we fixed my mum's soul. The middle-aged man led me and Luna into a room that was away from the prying eyes of his colleagues so he could talk to us in private. The room was fairly simple: it comprised of a small desk with a chair behind it along with several others arranged along the wall. After the exorcism, -took two hours- I put my necklace on. (Considering exorcisms aren't really my forte, I can't really explain what happened during the two hours spent purifying my necklace. The one thing I can say is that I was able to sense the foul essence fade away from my cherished trinket as the exorcist worked his magic.)

"Ah, much better," My mother began-much to my relief.

"You feeling better, mum?" I inquired.

"Yes, much better. Thank you so much Helix." She replied.

I nodded. "No problem. So, uh, what now?"

Luna facepalmed, and I heard my mom chuckle, "Well, I suppose you go on with your day," she began, "Now that I'm of sound mind and-well, just mind really, I can help you on your missions if need be. I can teach you about the various spirits and demons and how to identify each by their auras."

I rose both my eyebrows in surprise, "Huh, thanks mom. Are you...a part of me now?"

"Not entirely. I'm contained in your necklace, but we can communicate because you're wearing it around your neck. I can't influence your thoughts, but I can talk to you."

"Oh. Why haven't you talked to me before the events in Erisiir?"

"I was in a kind of dormant state after your father killed me. Until you went back to Erisiir, I had been steadily regaining my reserves. Now that my soul's purified, I don't have to worry about unintentionally harming you anymore."

"Oh, that's a relief..." I breathed.

After I finished talking to my mom, I thanked the exorcist that helped me out. He bowed deeply and said that it was no problem. (Gee, he was such a kind person.) Luna and I then left the musty old church full of wrinkly, even-older men and went on with our day.

I still remember offering Luna her necklace back as we made our way over to the Skag, only for her to shake her head.

"Keep it." she told me.

I had balked at her in that moment. "L-Luna? This is yours, not mine. Considering your mother gave this to you, I don't feel comfortable keeping this..."

A small, warm smile appeared on Luna's face. "I don't mind if you keep it. If it helps you sleep soundly at night, then please wear it."

I didn't have an answer, so I nodded my head like an idiot.

The day after that, (three days ago) after talking her into it, I had the same exorcist take a look at Analise to see just what was residing in her soul. She had grumbled about being used as a test subject, but she still agreed to have the exorcist take a look at her. We went back to the church around midday, and my go-to exorcist led us to the same stone room he had purified my necklace in.

"Hmm..." The exorcist mused after he finished sensing the being inside my friend, "This is no ordinary spirit..."

"Give me specifics." I asked, "What are the qualities of the spirit's aura?"

After the priest gave me specifics, I recited them to my mother: "Dark, foreboding, malevolent aura and unstable wavelengths. What do you think?"

My necklace was silent for a few moments, then: "It's higher than any lower-class demon. It's possibly a mid to high class demon. If I were you, I'd be very careful Helix."

I told the exorcist what my mother had said, and he frowned.

"This is very concerning," He mused to himself, brow furrowed in deep thought, "It's risky trying to exorcise a mid to high class demon without potentially being injured, or worse..."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take if you're willing to take it, friend."

The exorcist shrugged, "I'm just as curious as you are, so let's do it."

I looked at Ana, "Do you mind if we exorcise you? It'll take more than one exorcism to get the infernal spirit out of you, but I at least want to know what it wants and why it's residing inside you."

Ana hesitated for a few moments before she shrugged, "Aright, go ahead."

Dorrian and Luna had also tagged along. Luna helped the exorcist while Dorrian stood off to the side like an idiot. When we finally brought the demon out, I shivered. It seemed fairly human-like. Well, except for the horns and spaded-tail. Silver hair, orange eyes, and cream-colored skin finished this guy's appearance.

"Hello, strange being," I began in a mild tone of voice.

The creature chuckled, "Greetings, strange mortal."

I rose an eyebrow, "What's your business inside my friend Analise?"

His smile made me squirm in my own skin: "Oh, Ana? She signed a contract with me so she could live a second time. It's a long, long story. I'm sure it'd bore you to death with all of its...Intricacies."

"Really Argus?" Analise snapped, blood red eyes flaring with barely-contained rage: "Shut your trap before I shut it for you."

"So you remember my name?" Argus inquired, ignoring my friend's outburst: "Good. How are you Ana?"

"Oh you know," Ana began as she backed away from the table, voice dripping with sarcasm: "I'm doing just fine. Every now and then, you take control of my mind and turn me into an emotionless killing machine that doesn't give two shits about my friends, so I'm just fucking peachy right now."

"Ah, that's good to hear," He mused, voice smooth as silk.

Analise bristled with fury: "You asshole..."

To be perfectly honest with you, I have never seen Analise like this. She always carried herself with confidence, but it seemed as if Argus was the one thing that scared her. She couldn't stop shuddering as she glared at the impassive demon, and a few tears streaked down her cheeks. I had realized in that moment there was more to Analise than meets the eye, and I mentally berated myself for not picking up on this little fact sooner.

The exorcist looked at me in confusion, "What do we do?" He whispered urgently.

I shrugged, "I dunno...wing it?"

I decided to do just that: "Hey Argus."

He looked at me, orange eyes glimmering, "Yes?"

"Can I ask you to stay out of Ana's head due to how much pain you've already caused her? She's a valued member of my team, and I don't appreciate you fucking around with the inner workings of her head. She's screwed up enough, so I don't need you causing her to tap-dance into insanity."

Ana looked at me with a mixture of surprise and irritation in her expression while Argus snorted.

"Hmm....You're asking for quite a lot on my end."

I growled, "Do it, or I'll kick your demon-y ass into the next century."

Argus looked at me with an incredulous smile on his face: "Really? You're going to try to intimidate me? You can do much better than that."

I groaned, "Please?"

The asshole of a demon laughed, "Now you're going to plead with me? Oh, this is rich."

I groaned, "What do you want from me, you asshole?"

"I'm perfectly content with what I have right now, so I want nothing. Considering I want nothing and you want something, this is not a fair deal. Now, I'm an understanding individual, so I will loosen my hold somewhat on Ana's mind. However, everything has a price, so don't be surprised if Analise pays for this at a later date. At any rate, I must be going. Ta-ta."

And with that, Argus disappeared.

Dorrian had a hopeful look on his face, "Does that mean you'll be less homicidal?"

Analise laughed, "Sorry Dorrian, but that's a natural trait of mine that sticks around regardless of irritating demons breathing down my neck."

He sighed, "Shit."

I looked at Analise, "Um...I improvised my way through that conversation, so I'm more than a little confused right now. Why exactly is a demon residing within you?"

Her features darkened, "I'm not in the mood to explain the nitty gritty of it-and don't even think about trying to sense the demon inside me, Luna," she snapped as she rounded on the petrified kaitrit.

"O-Okay," she stammered, inching away from the hostile blood elf with her hands raised in surrender: "I'm sorry..."

Ana sighed, and I caught sight of a great weariness in her eyes: "Sorry Luna..."

So I guess that went as planned? Maybe? Argus didn't seem very evil, but his aura told a completely different story. (It made me want to grab a cross and shank him in the face with it. That's how much I hated that smug-ass fucker.)

Anyway, after the exorcism, I told Ana: "For now, please keep an eye on Argus."

She nodded, looking at me with a strange expression on her face, "Tell me why you're doing this again?"

"We're a team-no, a family. We look out for each other, and we sure as hell don't let one of our own get harassed by some demon. Right Dorrian?"

"Aye sir!" He chimed in cheerfully.

Analise laughed. It was strange: I've seldom heard a genuine laugh from Analise before. Most of her laughter is pointed toward me and Dorrian for acting like idiots.

"Thanks guys," She continued, "I may act like an ass, but I truly do appreciate this."

In all honesty, I consider Analise to be my sister in arms. After Dorrian and I helped her deal with the cult that had tried to burn her at the stake, she helped us complete several missions for the next five years. She's an original member of my team, and she's as dear to me as Dorrian has been.

After all of the freaky demon-exorcism stuff was taken care of, Luna remained true to her word and spent the last two days with her mother. In all honesty, I have never seen someone glow with happiness as much as she has. I could tell that being separated from her mother was more than a little rough for Luna, but I'm glad they're able to be together again.