NYC - Outside of E. Crowe High School

4:39 PM

Jeanne leapt into the air, and the snake demon opened its mouth, ready to swallow her whole. Jeanne deftly dodged and landed on top of its head. She stabbed Bloody Moon into the demon's scale-armored skin, and ran down the length of its body as it violently thrashed around, tearing a giant, fire-bleeding wound into its flesh. As the demon screeched in agony, Jeanne kicked off of the creature, her gun heels firing and sending her rocketing back towards the ground.

"Care to explain why on earth Paradiso would be sending its angels to collect an artifact guarded by a twat as weak as you?" She practically spat on the demon's pathetic form as she spoke. "Surely this book can't be that important."

"Foolish witch… You know not of that which you speak…" The demon seethed in anger. "I am the guardian of the Book of Destiny. Its word is unchangeable, the fate which it predicts is absolute."

"The fate which it predicts…?" Jeanne pondered its words. "You're fucking with me aren't you? You're just wasting my time." She aimed a gun-heel at its face and fired a few rounds, charged with a little extra magic, into its flesh.

The demon simply laughed. "You should give the book another read…" A twisted grin formed on the demon's already twisted face, showing rows and rows of uncanny, human-like teeth. "Your fate has already been sealed." It slithered closer to Jeanne, hissing quietly.

Jeanne scoffed and kicked the snake in the face, sending it crashing into a nearby tree. "It seems you are fucking with me." Then, she noticed hundreds of smaller snakes beginning to slither out of its open wound, leaving behind an empty, shrivelled husk.

The snake's laugh continued, this time multiplied by the number of smaller snakes, all of them giggling in perfect unison. They threw themselves at Jeanne at mach speeds, and she chopped them with Bloody Moon as best she could, although a few slipped through the cracks because of the sheer number of them. Her phone began ringing in her pocket. She picked up her phone, continuing to slash at the army of snakes flying at her with one hand. "Hello?"

A familiar voice answered back. "Jeanne, dear, I assume you're running late for a good reason." It was Cereza. Shit! They had reserved dinner for 5:00 on the dot, and she had totally forgotten.

"Ah yes, well… you know. I'm having a bit of a demon-worm hold up. I'll be there shortly, okay?"

If Cereza was surprised, there was no hint of it in her voice. "Will you be needing a hand?"

"Cereza, I have this under control." She noticed one of the snakes chewing on her hair, and she screamed in reaction, "Hey, you little dick-shaped shit!" She promptly brushed it off of her shoulder and stomped on it until it was a puddle of demon goo.

"Well alright dear, just be sure to be fashionably late, if you have to be late at all. Talk to you later." Beep. Sighing at the sound of the call being ended, she slipped the phone back into her pocket.

She skewered a couple of snakes on her blade and then jumped back, beginning a summoning dance. "Oxix Raclir!" A swirl of hair raced from her head and into a portal, and Gomorrah's distinctly draconic form appeared behind her. Gomorrah let out a roar before scooping most of the remaining snakes into its mouth. "Looks like this book will have to make do without its guardian for a while. I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut this short, as I have a 'hot date' to get to." She walked over to where the book was lying on the ground, near two injured, powerless snakes writhing in pain, using their last remaining energy to try and guard it. "Pathetic!" She yelled, smacking them away from it. She picked up the book, and then swung herself around to make sure Gomorrah finished the job.

The final snake let out a painful scream as it was ground between Gomorrah's hideous teeth. "You… What you've done… Will have… dire consequences…"

Jeanne rolled her eyes at the demon's final words, the last snake disappearing down her pet dragon's gullet. Gomorrah let out one final triumphant screech before it was unsummoned, disappearing back into the portal. Jeanne's hair lengthened again, and her umbran battle uniform disappeared from under her everyday wear.

"Now, where is the girl hiding?" Jeanne asked nobody in particular. She found Kara rather quickly, as once she saw it was safe the girl ran out from behind a bush and hugged her, sobbing.

"I was- I was so scared!" She yelled.

"Ugh- You're getting tears all over my pants!" Jeanne exclaimed, gently shaking the girl off of her.

"Cutie J is...- I mean.. You're Cutie J? All this time you were…" She struggled to finish that thought, a sob stopping her words.. "Th-thank you for saving me…" Kara managed to say between heavy, frightened breaths.

"Don't mention it. Really, don't. Not a word about this to anyone, understand?" Jeanne replied, bending down to look at Kara over her glasses while she kept the book secure under one arm. Kara nodded in response. "Good. Now then, let's get you home. Your parents must be worried sick."

Kara nodded, gathering up her school supplies and placing them in her backpack before following closely behind Jeanne and giving her directions to where she lived.

NYC- Corson Restaurant

5:05 PM

Using a combination of Witch Time and Lynx Within, Jeanne raced through town.. At one point she stopped at her condo to drop off her clothes, exchanging them for a red dress which shimmered as its fabric caught the light. Then, she quickly resumed her route.

When she reached her destination she flung herself into the air, spinning like a cannonball before landing in her human form in the restaurant's courtyard, near a table where Cereza was waiting for her.

A smile crossed Cereza's lips, but she did not look up from the menu in her hands. "I see that you still haven't forgotten how to make an entrance. Good."

Jeanne sat in the chair opposite Cereza, and made sure nobody was looking before she returned to the human world. "Well of course. You know me, I can't help but dazzle my fans at every given opportunity."

They enjoyed their fancy dinner together, treated to a violin accompaniment with their cuisine, and after a few hours headed back home to settle down for the night.

NYC - High Rise Condo

10:04 PM

Jeanne had situated herself at the dining table, grading the papers that had been handed in earlier in the day. She took a sip of the martini she had poured for herself and moved to grade the next paper. However, she glanced over at the demonic book she had placed on the table, and remembering the demon's words from earlier, she reached for the book and opened it, continuing to read past the point she had gotten to before.

The Umbra Witch shall defeat the guardian of this book.

A terrible fate shall befall those closest to the Umbra Witch.

Reading the last lines in the book caused her heart to nearly jump out of her chest. Had it always said that? Could the words have changed? She recalled that she didn't read all of them earlier.

She set the book down and wandered to the bedroom, feeling a little on edge. She opened the door a crack and saw Cereza curled up in bed. Her mind put somewhat at ease, she closed the papers in her grade book and put it in her bag before joining Cereza. She would discuss this with her in the morning, but for now she silently resolved to never allow that prophecy to come to pass.