The Devil is a Part-Timer

It took every ounce of self-control Azriel had--and several quick glares from Alciel--to stop her from leaving the corner she was supposed to sit in. Every instinct in her body told her to be as close to her general as possible, even if she knew that's not where she should be.

Once they reached the hospital, Azriel was forced to wait outside the room for a while, pacing back and forth until she was finally called in. Alciel already seemed a lot better, and the nurse confirmed (again, probably) that everything was covered by their insurance before she left.
"You're a damn idiot." Her voice was reminiscent of a growl even now, but far less threatening than the last couple of days.
Alciel just gave her a weak smile. "I apologize; I shouldn't make my subordinates worry."
Azriel scoffed. "Great job you did at that." She stepped as close to the bed as possible. It wasn't quite big enough for two, but she probably could squeeze in there...
"No." Alciel's command made Azriel give out another growl. "Go to Maou; I'll be fine here."
"So? He'll be fine, too. It's just work." Between MgRonald's and the hospital, it seemed kind of obvious where Azriel was needed more. Her dogs would be fine without her for the night, too.
"Azriel, focus." Even though he was still weak, Alciel's voice and gaze was firm. "You should be able to sense it, too."
Cocking her head to the side, Azriel closed her eyes. True, there was... Something. Magic. Still rather far away, but definitely there.
"I'm not sure, but I have a hunch Maou will be wherever that comes from soon enough. Go and stand by him."
That was probably logical, but Azriel really didn't want to leave his side. "But--"
"No buts." It wasn't a request. It was an order. "Go."
Azriel growled. She wanted to stay by his side, but she didn't want to disobey him, either; not to mention that she wanted to protect Maou, too. The two demons stared at each other for a moment before Azriel slowly nodded.
She turned halfway to the door before she stopped again and turned back. Quickly, she grabbed the back of Alciel's hair and pulled him up a little, just far enough so she could bend down and press her lips against his. It was rough, far from what most humans would call romantic, or even a kiss in general.
Then, she let him go and, without another word, sprinted to the window. If there was magic, she didn't need to be too careful for now, and she should get there as quickly as possible, anyway. That was what she'd saved up for.

The window was open anyway--not that Azriel would've taken the time to open it--and as she jumped at it, her form transformed into that of a large wolf. Two black wings sprouted from her back to help her glide down to the ground where they disappeared; no use burning her reserves before she got to her king.
Once her paws touched the ground, Azriel broke into a sprint. She let out a loud howl, informing her dogs where to find her if they heard it, then she focused on running. At least magic wasn't much of a problem for now, the humans around were utterly terrified at her sight. Every now and then, she jumped at one or another, throwing them down; they didn't get hurt, except maybe some scrapes and bruises, but it scared them even more, allowing Azriel to restock a little more magic.

When Auriel awoke it took a while to take her surroundings in and recall what happened. She seemed to be on a pretty high building and felt some kind of magic tying up her hands and legs. Her first reflex was to try and break free, without much success, when a scream of her sister caught her attention. "Emi!", she called out, catching the attention of the guy who had attacked them earlier, but he just took a short look before turning to the hero again. "Just give it up already...", Emi said huffing, apparently the strange guy had hurt her somehow.
Auriel already had a guess of who the small figure was and she was proved right when he revealed his face. "My true name is Sariel. Sariel the archangel." Great, Chiho seemed to be still unconscious, Auriel and Emi were trapped by Sariels magic and their enemy apparently was an archangel. The night couldn't have turned out any better.

Azriel followed the sense of magic as fast as she could, which was very fast. Humans jumped out of her way screaming, and if they didn't, they just got run over. So much for subtlety.
Once she got close enough, she could smell them. Maou, in his human form; a bunch of angelic stench, some of it probably from Auriel and Emilia; and some other scents she wasn't as used to. They led to a skyscraper. Maou's scent came from inside, while the others were coming from above. That was probably where her king was headed, too.

Azriel leaped upwards, changing forms to her battle form, the humanoid werewolf. Her claws dug into the building's walls as she climbed up, much faster than the stairs or, hell forbid, the elevator would have allowed her to.
She reached the top barely any later than a certain, rather out of breath Demon King. Her muzzle twisted into a grin, tail softly swinging from side to side. This looked like a promising fight.
"Azriel?! Why do you have so much magic left?!" Maou got interrupted in the middle of a sentence, but Azriel just scoffed, her eyes focused on the blue-haired angel hovering in the air. It felt a lot like a predator fixed on its prey.
Maou grinned and shook his head. "All right, all right. Sic him."
He'd barely finished speaking when Azriel's paws left the ground as she leaped towards the angel, fangs parting, claws stretched out. Of course, being an angel, he wouldn't be quite this easily defeated, and managed to throw block her attack, throwing her down again.
But Azriel wasn't too bad, either, and easily found her balance again, instantly striking again.

Auriel had used her own magic to free herself which had consumed some time since her magic definetely wasn't as strong as the one the archangel possessed. Once she was free though she was pretty tempted to try and attack Sariel again, but that didn't seem like a good idea. After all, the whole problem with this archangel was that he could repel holy magic which was the only one she possessed.
Thankfully the demon king himself showed up, followed by what seemed to be Azriel.

Once Sariel was taken care of Maou grabbed Suzuno to clean up the mess she made after he ordered Emi to bring Chiho home safely. Auriel decided to stay with the girls and accomapny them even though she wasn't exactly in the best mood right now. After all, she'd been defenseless against Sariel. Against any other angel she would've been able to at least put up a fight, but someone who could neutralize any holy power...it was rather frustrating.

Once Sariel was taken care of, Azriel raised her head and let out a long, dark howl. Victory.
When Maou left, she shook her fur and transformed back to human form. It felt confining after her battle form, but she knew she should save as much magic as she could.

Even so, she felt better than she has in weeks, the angry, growling mess she'd been only a few hours ago barely a memory. A big grin was on her face as she accompanied the other girls; after all, Maou's last order before he'd left had been "Azriel, go with them". All that was missing now was her pack, but they'd find her soon enough.
"So, little one, think it'd make sense to tell me a bit more about your feathery friends next time one of them shows up?" Azriel looked down at Auriel. Her voice was much calmer than before, somewhat playful, even; she could understand the tiny angel not wanting to expose anyone else, and from Azriel's point of view, everything had worked out perfectly.

"You probably forget that I still don't really trust you, so no", Auriel replied crossing her arms. Sure, she knew it was only thanks to the demons that they were able to defeat Sariel, but this didn't make them friends. And it definetely wouldn't make her spill everything she knew.

Once they brought Chiho home Emi started to walk to MgRonalds. The angel was a bit confused at first, but followed her sister anyway. Arriving there they found Maou and Suzuno trying to find an explanation why he just suddenly left. When Emi joined the conversation though they were able to convince Maous boss that it had been an emergency and that he only had been trying to help them.
Kisaki seemed quite understanding and invited them in, when one of the workers suddenly showed up and brought them to the refrigerator where they were greeted by the sight of an all too familiar archangel.
"Oh shit...", Auriel mumbled barely audible and the concern was clear on the Devil Kings face. After all, Sariel still had his holy power and it probably would be easy for him to defeat them now that Satan didn't have any power left. To their surprise the archangel didn't react quite the way they expected though.

Azriel shrugged. "Guess then you'll just have to hope I get there fast enough to save your winged ass." Not like she cared much about the angel's safety, but a fight was a fight. And having Auriel even more indebted to her might be useful, too.

Azriel stood back a little during the discussion. Her expertise was killing things, not talking.
Sariel showing up, though? Now, that was interesting. Theoretically bad news, but still.
Maou shot her a quick look. "Stand down, Asuka," he whispered. She obliged, albeit a bit grudgingly.
But Sariel didn't seem much of a thread for now. Once he woke up, he just started hitting on Maou's boss.
Azriel looked over at Auriel. "Has he always been... Like that?"

"I....honestly don't know. It's like I said, I've seen him before, but that's it...", the angel replied a bit confused before shaking her head and sighing. "Male angels can be such idiots...", she mumbled barely audible, still watching the rather ridiculous scene in front of her. "Well then, I'll head home", she added a bit louder after a while and turned around to leave.

Azriel had her head tilted to the side. Part of her was just waiting--hoping--for an attack signal from her king, but he was too busy watching, too. And, well, his boss seemed to have the situation under control.
"Pretty sure all angels are," she replied, still grinning. When Auriel left, Azriel shot a look to Maou. He nodded, barely noticeable. "Guess I'll go, too." Maybe she'd drop by Alciel again before going home.

At least her dogs were already waiting in fron of MgRonald's when she exited; that took care of that.

On the next day Auriel was wandering around the city when she met Chiho who was probably on her way to the Devil's castle. The young girl invited the angel to come along and since the white haired didn't have any other plans for now, she agreed.
Arriving at the apartment they were greeted by the sight of Suzuno feeding Maou which Chiho-chan definetely didn't like. "Suzuno-san! What are you doing in here!?"
"Ah, welcome, Sasaki-san! Just who I needed. I made some pound cake with the rice cooker. Would you like to try some?"
"Oohh, thanks Ashiya-san! I'd love to have a bit....WAIT! NO! Why are you just taking that from her, Maou-san?! Aren't you two supposed to be enemies?! Where do you get off....? Trying to feed Maou like that? It makes me so...jealous..."
"Chiho, you might wanna filter yourself a little...."
"You stay out of this, Urushihara-san!"
Auriel just watched the scene in front of her before she sighed and just set down next to the desk. "Glad to see nothing's changed here...", she mumbled smiling a little while the others continued their discussion.
"Thanks to Lucifers unplanned shopping spree...our budget in the next month will be firmly in the red. It is a travesty for me to witness...", Ashiya explained to Chiho, showing her the expenses the demons had made.
"40.000 Yen? What on earth did you buy, Dumbassyhara-san?"
"Quit calling me that, dude! If I hadn't bought that, you might've been in Ente Isla with Sariel right now! You should be thanking me!"
"...But it was Maou's money, right?", Chiho replied, looking at the expenses again.
"You know, he's right though. There's nothing Emi or I could've done to prevent Sariel from kidnapping you. It's no use trying to fight him with holy power and that's all we possess...", Auriel suddenly interjected, sighing again. She still was a bit upset that she had been so defenseless.

Azriel had planned to stop by for just a quick visit, but she could already hear the voices from inside before she reached the Devil's Castle. She didn't even bother knocking; her dogs pretty quickly jumped in, Aya and Sayu sitting down next to the wall, while Lux tried to snuggle with Lucifer.
"Hey, I'll be happy to kick someone's ass anytime, even if it's for a tiny angel like you." She shrugged and kicked off her shoes before entering as well. Then she looked at Maou and Alciel. "But seriously, do you have to accept food from her?" Azriel bared her fangs, the last words punctuated with a deep growl.
"She does have a point. After all, I am, at the core, an enemy of the demon king. However, he did perform a great service to me." Suzuno lowered her head. "Thus, I am doing my best to prepare my consecrated ingredients in the most taste-tempting ways possible and pretend to repay his efforts with food while secretly filling the demons' bellies with damaging holy force..."
In an instant, the air in the room got so thick you could have cut it with a knife. For an endlessly long heartbeat, the demons were frozen in place.
Then Azriel leaped forward, changing into her werewolf form faster than ever, and threw Suzuno on the ground; whether it was a roar or a growl that escaped her throat was hard to tell.
She would have probably torn the girl apart if Alciel and Maou hadn't reacted just as quickly--albeit still in human form--and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck.
"Hey, Asuka, stop it!"
"Azriel, stand down!"
At least their voices and scents--Damn, if she had only used her wolf senses earlier, she could've smelled the holy power--served to snap Azriel out of her rage. Now she could feel the transformation quickly sapping her magical energy; Alciel's and Maou's pull had thrown her off balance enough so she hadn't managed to dig her claws deep into Suzuno's chest, too, so the girl would survive.
Still growling, Azriel took a very slow step back and turned back to her human form. The clothes were a little torn, since they weren't made for their wearer suddenly growing to twice her size, but it's not as if she cared. Her fists clenched, Azriel turned back towards Alciel and Maou. "You knew?" Her words were barely understandable, more growl than language.
The two higher-ranking demons shared a look. It was Alciel who answered. "We were aware, but as our finances have always been dire, we decided to accept the consequences. Especially thanks to a certain--"
He was probably going to mention Lucifer, but that wasn't what Azriel cared about. She moved her hand as if to slap Alciel, but for just a second, she let her claws reappear; so instead of a handprint, she left several long, bloody gashes on her general's face.
Without a word, she grabbed Suzuno's food and simply threw it out of the window before facing the other demons again. "If you're that fucking broke, accept help from me. Fucking idiots." Another growl before she took Alciel's hand, lending him enough of her own magic so he could heal his wounds until nothing was left but slightly pink streaks.
Then she looked back at Suzuno, who'd gotten back up to her feet now. "And if you try to do that even one more time..." She crossed the short distance and grabbed the girl's throat, raising her up in the air. Not much, but even in human form, Azriel was far from weak. "...I'll make sure they won't be there to stop me." With that, she let go, letting Suzuno fall back to her feet.

The dogs were standing in the middle of the room, their fur bristled. They'd probably jumped up the moment Azriel had attacked. Now, she just gave her pack a sign to settle down again, causing all three of them to sit, still more than a little bit confused.

Auriel stood up when Azriel changed into her demon form, didn't take much action though when she noticed the Devil King and Alciel trying to calm down the demon girl. Part of her undertood how she felt, but then again Suzuno just was an enemy of the demons, why wouldn't she try to harm them? However, as soon as Azriel calmed down a bit Auriel attempted to sit back down when someone kicked the door open.
"LUUUUCIIIIIFEEEER..."
A very angry Emi appeared (! xD), holding the tracker in her hand that the fallen angel hid inside her back. "What the hell were you thinking!? Hiding this inside my bag!?"
"That, uh...you know.."
"Why did you put this in...? To stalk me, you stupid shut-in fallen angel!? You're gonna pay for being such a goddamn creep all the time!!"
"Hey Ashiya! Stop Emilia for me!" - "It is not my business to."
"Whoa, Emilia, calm down!", Auriel suddenly said, stepping in between the Hero and the fallen angel when the red-haired conjured her sword. "I can explain all of it!", Lucifer added, but Emi seemed dead set on making him pay now. "No more excuses! Kill yourself now before I do it for you!" - "This is insane!!!"
"Emi, stop it! He kind of saved your life with that, remember?", Auriel attempted to calm her sister down again while Lucifer hid more or less effectively (after all he was taller than the female) behind her.

Alciel rubbed his cheek. He could use magic to heal the last bits, but it was probably not worth it to him - They weren't harmful, while magic was way too hard to replenish here. At least the blood spatter had only hit the table, not the ridiculously expensive tatami mats.
And of course, the next nuisance was right around the corner. Azriel growled when that damn hero barged in. Her dogs jumped right back up, too; after all, their alpha was still far from calm. And even less in the mood to deal with the hero than normal.
Ignoring the sword, Azriel grabbed Emilia by the back of her collar and threw her down; at least she didn't shapeshift this time. "Look, I don't give a fuck what you do to that tiny brat," Azriel said, ignoring the offended look she got from Lucifer. "But you don't get to threaten anyone in here, especially not with that sword." She didn't even notice that she'd positioned herself so she stood between the hero and her general. Not like Azriel could do much right now, not in this world, but her instincts still told her to protect Alciel and Maou.
Her dogs were lined up next to her, fur bristled and growling. Even a goofball like Lux could manage to look threatening if he wanted to.

It wasn't that Auriel didn't like the fact Azriel was kinda on her side here, but Emilia was still her sister and she definetely didn't like the fact that a demon threatened a member of her family. Moving a bit closer towards the hero the angel moved up one hand as if to calm down the demon girl before she spoke up again. "Alright, I think we should all calm down a bit now. Emilia, put that sword away."
The red haired girl hesitated for a moment before she accepted the logic behind those words and let her sword disappear.
Auriel sighed deeply and relaxed a bit, kept her eyes on Azriel though, just in case.

Azriel scoffed. "And who do you thing gave you any authority here, pipsqueak?" Her voice still sounded a lot like a growl, but she didn't move closer towards Emilia, who was getting back to her feet. Instead, Azriel just remained in her position until Alciel stepped forward and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"I think she got the message." Then he looked at the hero. "While I agree that Urushihara's behavior is unacceptable, Asuka is correct in the point that this is our home."
"Yeah," Maou chimed in. "I thought a hero'd have better manners than to just barge into someone else's home. And to think we're supposed to be the rude ones..." He shook his head.
Azriel simply crossed her arms. Her dogs relaxed a little bit, but were still on high alert, ready to jump at their alpha's command.

"It's not like I gave you an order, I simply said that I think you should calm down. Although you are better off if you listen to me, before anyone here gets hurt", Auriel replied less friendly, trying to keep her anger down. For a moment it seemed like she wanted to add something before she stopped herself. This probably wasn't the best situation to reveal the fact Emi was her sister. So instead she let out some kind of frustrated sound and crossed her arm as well, not willing to leave her spot just yet. Not so shortly after a demon attacked a human right before her eyes. Not before she was completely sure the situation had completely calmed down.

"Calm down?" Azriel barked. Alciel's hand on her shoulder was probably the only thing that stopped her from shaking with anger - And perhaps even the only thing stopping her from jumping the angel. "If you want me to 'calm down', and not tear out your fucking throat, how about you leave our home?"
Alciel gripped a little bit tighter, not so much scared as just slightly worried Azriel would end up angry enough to even go against direct orders. He looked past her to the guests. "While I wouldn't phrase it like this, perhaps it would be best if you three took your leave before things escalate even more."
Maou stepped up so he was right by Azriel's side, ready to grab her and physically hold her back if need be. "Yeah, better go now before we call the police over for a trespassing hero."

Auriel glared at Azriel for a short moment, but then nodded. No use starting a fight here and now. "See ya", she shortly bid goodbye before putting on her shoes and leaving without saying anything else. Outside she didn't even wait for the others, she had to start moving to release her anger. Dealing with demons could be so frustrating. The angel headed back to her apartment, thinking about what she should do with the rest of the day. She didn't have any work today and she didn't feel like spending it with her sister, who probably had to work anyway. Well, somehow she would manage to find something to pass the time.

Azriel was still fuming with Rage even after all those damn intruders left.
Alciel were slowly removed his hand. If this had been her own home, Azriel would've probably punched the nearest wall. But this being the Devil's Castle, there was a chance she'd punch right through it, and Maou couldn't pay the damages.
"Well, now that they're gone--" Alciel started, but Azriel whipped around so quickly he stopped talking mid-sentence
"Yeah, don't pretend I'm not mad at you two, too!" She took a step towards Alciel, who actually backed off. Sure, she'd never seriously hurt him, and in a worst-case scenario, he could change into his demon form - which was far stronger than Azriel's could hope to be. But this much rage condensed into one being was still rather unsettling. "How fucking often have I offered to help you out? And every time it was, no, you didn't want to inconvenience me, whatever. And instead you're willing to eat holy food?!" She took her focus off Alciel to glare at Maou instead. "And you! Isn't it your duty as damn king to care for your subjects? You knew Alciel was getting sick! You knew why! And you didn't move one finger to stop it!"
Azriel didn't even realize that she'd almost backed Maou against the wall, nor that she'd grabbed his lapels. Once again, Alciel's hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her rage just enough to notice and let go. She turned her back to them and stiffly got a few steps of distance between herself and the other demons. "Anyway," she said. "Next time, ask me. Not... her." The last word was barely understandable, once more a growl more than an actual word.

A few days later Auriel was out and about to do some shopping, when she spotted a familiar looking girl. "Hey Chiho!", she greeted the human who smiled back at her. "Hello Aurora!"
"What are you doing here? Are you on the way to Maou?", the angel asked and Chiho nodded. "Yes, I got some ice cream and was wondering if the others would like some too!"
"Oh? You're always so kind, Chiho", Auriel said, but the girls attention seemed to be elsewhere. In fact, she had spotted Maou and Suzuno which caused the angel to smile and drag her along to those two.
Maou was just explaining something about calenders to Suzuno, when they reached them. "Maou-san, you know so much despite being a demon king!", Chiho said smiling which caused the male to tun around surprised.
"UWA! Chii-chan, when did you get here?! And you're here too, Aurora?!"
"Just before you corrected Suzuno-san", Chiho explained while Auriel just smiled and shortly waved her hand.
"Chiho-dono, why are you here?"
"I got some ice cream from my relatives. Since we had so much, I wondered if the guys wanted some."
"ICE CREAM? SERIOUSLY? IS IT OKAY?!", Maou screamed excitedly, causing the angel to just shake her hand and slightly sigh.
"Getting so excited about some ice cream...", she murmured barely audible while the group started moving towards the Devils Castle.