~Akimitsu Temple~

Devin looked like he might protest, then amused, let it drop. "All right. I guess I'll let it slide. Good night Vanessa; nice meeting you." He turned to find Sorana, hands in pockets. "So where are the guest rooms I'll be staying? If not, I could use the couch. I'm not picky and I am a guest here after all."

"Sure thing, Mr. Devin! Come right this way..." Sorana led him to one of the many spare rooms reserved for guests, spiritual trainees and monks. It was a rather comfortable setup, considering there were so many. "I'll come get you bright and early for breakfast. Feel free to bug myself or one of my girls if you get lonely!" With that she padded away down the hall.

Devin watched the vampire walk off before looking around the room. Not bad. And I've been a hell lot worse. The setup was pretty comfortable so he wasn't really going to complain too much about it. He closed the door and then proceeded to make himself comfortable for the night.

It wouldn't be too long before sleep claimed him.

The door to Devin's room slid open just after dawn. "Oh, Mr. De~vin!" Sorana's singsong voice broke the room's silence. "Wakey, wakey! Breakfast is waiting for you if you decide to join us in the dining room." She closed the door before disappearing to join her daughters and get herself some food.

Devin woke up with a groan to that. No point in just sitting around then. He got himself up, doing his personal hygiene first before coming down the stairs. It didn't take him long to get fully ready, but once done he was more or less completely relaxed and ready.

"Morning." He greeted.

The three women sat at the same spots as the night before; a place was set for Devin as well. They had already begun eating when he entered the room. Each of them greeted Devin in kind.

"Good morning..."

"Hey."

"Morning, Tiger. Did you sleep okay?"

"Like a rock. Thanks for the guest room." Devin moved his way over to have a seat where he could be comfortable at. "And again, thanks for letting me stay over like this I appreciate it."

Sorana smiled gleefully. "Oh, you~! This was a show of gratitude for helping my Vivi! No need to thank us. We're glad to have you." She continued eating breakfast, making light conversation with their new guest. She had almost finished her breakfast by the time he entered.

Vanessa was the first to stand from the table. "I'm gonna get a head start on those tags. Thanks, Mom." She made her way out to the courtyard. Vetis stood not too long afterward. It was her turn to clean up after eating, so she started tidying the kitchen.

Devin nodded to that and began eating. So far, he had been enjoying his time here. The company was pleasant, the overall atmosphere was laid back and the scenery of the place overall was nice. Honestly, he could think of a lot worse things to do with his time then spend time with three good mannered beautiful women of different stripes.

Besides, he really had shit else to do at the moment.

He stopped eating a bit mid way to address Sorana. "So before we head out, is there any other information I need to know?"

"Hm~? I wonder..." Sorana stopped eating and brought a finger to her cheek, thinking to herself. "Not much is known about the spirit, other than she is female. There haven't been clear signs of struggle or battle, so illusions and forms of will dominance may be at play." She leaned forward and smiled. "But you won't have to worry about either of those so long as you're with me." Sorana then looked as if she realized something, and gazed down at her clothing. "I really shouldn't wear this tonight. It would be far too obvious..."

Devin wondered a bit about that. "What do you mean? Like the spirit might know who you are or something to that effect?" He was honestly just curious more then anything else really.

Sorana looked up at him. "Not exactly. But these robes are spiritually enhanced; I'm sure you can feel it. If we wind up having to bait the spirit out of hiding, it stands to reason she will stay hidden if her prey appears formidable. Am I wrong?" She then smiled teasingly. "...Or maybe I'm just trying to look my best for you, Tiger!"

Devin chuckled at that. "I can't say I'd be opposed to that."

Nope. Not at all.

"Just curious. Were you born in the Earth Realm or somewhere else?" He asked her, starting to eat again but not making a mess.

"No... not here." Sorana was looking down at her food, though her eyes seemed to be staring off at nothing. "I was born in a realm far from this one, in both development and culture. Vivi-dear was born there as well. Although that world certainly held its charms, it was in terrible form. We left soon after her father perished." She smiled at him. "This world is far more peaceful. Tell me, Mr. Devin, were you born from another world as well?"

Devin wondered what world it was. The Demon Realm? He had been there before, sure there was problem areas but the other places weren't any worse then this one really nor was it behind that far techology wise. So that made him think Sorana was born of somewhere else, but he didn't press the issue.

"We'll.." The young Elohim said after a moment. "I was born in a place called Noreal, its another realm too. You can get to it in various places, but the most common is its connected more closely to Alus."

He pulled out a picture to show her. "Here. This is one of the cities."

Sorana handled the picture with care. "Oh, my~! What a beautiful place. I would simply love to pay a visit..." Images like this were lost to her home world. Yet another reason she was so happy to leave, and one of the many reasons she enjoys her job. It allows for travel and exploration in her time of leisure. "Was there any particular reason you came to this world?"

Devin took the picture back after a moment. "We'll, my mom fell in love with my dad who was on earth. And like most things go, ended up moving, then bam, here I am. I wanna have kids of myself one day, if I find the right person that is."

Sorana smiled at that. "Children are a delight, believe you me. I do hope you find that 'special someone', Mr. Devin." She then covered her mouth and gave Devin a playful look. "Oh, my~! Unless you were insinuating you've already found her...?" She was having fun conversing with Devin. Breakfast continued in this fashion until they were finished.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Preparation time for the mission came quickly. Sorana awaited Devin's arrival in front of the temple. "Hey there, Tiger. I hope you're ready to get started~!" She had changed her clothes as planned. These didn't seem to be spiritually enhanced, but normal clothing.

Devin was dressed down in casual clothes, jean and a black t-shirt. It was very simple but seemed to compliment his general look and build. Sorana's clothes were..distracting. In the good way. He was a man so he was hardly going to complain about this turn of events; spending time with a vampire milf was perfectly fine in his book.

"Definitely." Devin said as he came over. "I got everything I needed to do out the way. You look really nice in those clothes, not that you didn't before but casual just works y'know?"

Sorana started to beam at that. "Oh, my~! What a nice thing to say. Why thank you!" She pulled a spell tag from her sleeve, humming happily to herself. The compliment seemed to please her. She ran energy through the tag and pressed it forward in midair. Just as the night before, a portal opened before them. On the other end sat a small building just before a large, heavily wooded area. "Let's be off, shall we?" She stepped through the portal first.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Once on the other side, the portal would close behind the two. An older man was standing before them, apparently awaiting their arrival. "Ah, just in time! Are you two the spirit hunters contacted from Akimitsu?" There was no one else around and the path leading into the woods was blocked off. The man didn't seem too comfortable standing so close to the woods, but he had to wait for the hunters to arrive at least.

Devin was dressed in his usual. For one, he didn't look like any kind of spirit hunter so it wouldn't arise suspicion anyway. And second, he really liked these clothes and didn't like to be without them if he was going for a scrap. He'd still have to bring less obvious things.

He went over the older man. "Yeah, its us. My name is Devin and this is my partner Sorana. So could you tell us a bit more about this spirit?"

The man gave Devin an inquisitive look for a moment before answering him. "Oh... Yes, of course." He shuffled over to the blocked path. Ropes were tied off on either end of the opening; they were covered with spell tags and emitting a small amount of energy, they had been erected not too long ago. "This path is one of our special attractions, a nature walk for couples to stroll down together. About a week ago, we started getting complaints that this trail was breaking up couples. Apparently, the men would have a sudden change of heart and leave their partner during the walk." He turned back to Devin and Sorana. "Days later, these spurned women would report their man missing! A couple nights ago, I caught a glimpse of a beautiful woman on the trail. She looked right at me, but said nothing. While she was quite the sight, simply looking at her felt... dangerous. Before I could call out to her, she was gone."

Sorana interlaced her fingers in front of her chest. "A female spirit suspected of tempting the hearts of men on a couple's attraction? Sounds rather cut and dry to me." The man nodded. His questioning expression returned.

"Which is why I saw fit to ask for Akimitsu's aid specifically. I'd heard most of the shrine keepers were female..." It seemed he was worried about sending in a male exorcist. Sorana waved him off happily.

"He's perfectly capable and willing to help! Isn't that right, Tiger?" It was pretty obvious Sorana knew about the information the keeper had just told them. Why didn't she tell Devin about this earlier?

Yeah..but questions after..

Devin nodded. "Yeah. I know I might not look it but I got a good record and training with things like this." That was only partly true. While he was particularly good with supernatural things, he only dealt with spirits when he had too. He knew of them, fought them and had knowledge of them but he was far from a expert like Sorana and her daughters.

The man nodded at this, believing in Devin's words. "If you're both confident, I won't argue. Your help is greatly appreciated, sir and madam." He turned back to the roped off area to remove the tags.

"Oh! Wait, please~!" Sorana walked forward and stepped over the ropes. It took a bit of doing, as she had to hold her skirt down to do so. Were Devin paying attention, he'd be treated to a glimpse of fancy undergarment fabric beneath her stockings. Sorana patted her skirt down on the other side of the entrance. "Those tags look relatively fresh, so there's no point in letting them go to waste. They're barrier seals, I can tell. Assuming there are more in place, the spirit should be confined here just in case she possesses free roam. Please do not remove them until our job is finished."

The man quickly nodded in understanding. "Y-yes, of course! Forgive me!" Sorana smiled and waved him off.

"Oh, don't worry about it, sweetie~! Just make sure to leave them in place for now." She turned to Devin. "Alright, Tiger. Let's get started!" She extended her hand for him to join her on the other side of the barrier.

Devin went with it, taking Sorana's hand when she offered it to him. This trip was gonna be interesting, he could say that for sure at least. When they got a bit of distance, he decided to speak up about something that had been on his mind earlier.

"Just wondering, you seemed to know the info the keep told me, why didn't you bring it up earlier? Not that its a big deal, just curious."