Artemis was busy gulping down the last of her food when she overheard a commotion. At the city gates, a human woman was harassing the guards. They turned her away, and she headed into the city.

Stephen glanced at Artemis and saw the concerned look in her eyes. "We can't afford to help everyone, Artemis... we'd be here all day if so," he muttered.

"It's just one person!" Artemis chirped, "We can at least hear her out... please? It'll be good training for me!"

Ursula took the initiative and approached the woman before Stephen could voice another objection. "Excuse me! We couldn't help but to notice that you seem to be in distress... anything we can help with?"

The woman saw Artemis' weapon and nodded. "Yes, please... you have to help me! It's my boy... he's ran off to Daedrew Woods! None of the guards are willing to help me - they say he's a good as dead already... but that can't be true!"

"Daedrew Woods..." Stephen repeated, frowning to himself. "It's south from here. There's a reason as to why this is the closest settlement to it - Eidolon haunt the area. No one dares to go near it."

"Eid... olon?" Artemis stared at him. "I've never heard of them before. What are they?"

"Spirits that take on the form of a dead person," Ursula helpfully told her, "Travellers get caught up when they see their dead relative, only to wind up dying... it's awful! It's why Daedrew Woods remains untouched to this day."

Azrael woke up from his endless sleep and poked his head out of Artemis' pocket. "I've heard of those. They're basically copying us, really. You're saying that you mortals can't get rid of a few spirits? How weak."

"Now's not the time," Artemis hissed at him, shoving him back into her pocket. "We'll find your boy, ma'am! What does he look like?"

The group were given a rough sketch of the boy - he was five years old, with rough brown hair and hazel eyes. If they were lucky, they might be able to catch up to him before anything bad happened. With that in mind, they set off south, towards Daedrew Woods.

They passed under the gates, but something made Stephen stop. He studied the crowds. Was he just imagining things? He shook his head and continued on.

That nagging feeling continued until they got to the edge of Daedrew Woods. Stephen had warned the group to be on their guard, so when he heard a twig snap, he had every right to react. He spun around, shoving Artemis out of the way. "Who's there?!"

A human woman emerged from the trees. She had a warm smile on her face. Her brown hair was braided, and fell over her shoulder. She held on tightly to the shawl that was wrapped around her arms.

Artemis couldn't stop staring at her. She relaxed. Whilst Stephen was alert, she felt that she could trust the woman. "Who... are you...?" She asked her, walking closer to her.

"Me?" The woman tilted her head. "I'm your mother, dear. Don't you recognise me?" She held out her hand towards Artemis. "Come and give your mother a hug..."

Her mother was dead. She knew that. She had never met the woman in her life. Yet Artemis felt compelled to trust the woman. She stretched out her hand, about to touch her.

Stephen grabbed Artemis' shoulder and pulled her back. "Stop," he growled, "This isn't your mother. This is an Eidolon! Ursula, quick, before-"

All this commotion caused Azrael to emerge from his hiding place. He saw the woman, and his face lit up. "Oh, come on! Surely you recognise when something is demonic? This isn't an Eidolon... it's Lilith!"

Ursula was about to cast a spell when Azrael interrupted her. "Um, what? What's a Lilith?" She frowned.

When the group turned back to the woman, her appearance had changed. She had blonde hair tied into impossible twin drills, and small white horns on her head. She appeared to not be wearing any actual clothes - instead, a large red ribbon was wrapped around her torso. Her skin had changed colour to a mixture of white and black patterns.

'Lilith' scooped Azrael out of Artemis' pocket and held him close to her chest. "Oh, Azzy! I knew it was you! You're finally free after all of these years! I've missed you sooooo much!"

Azrael cuddled Lilith for a moment more before turning his head back to the group. "Lilith is a succubus," he explained, "And my girlfriend! Beat that!"

"A succubus?!" Artemis exclaimed, hiding behind Stephen. "I've... I've heard about those! Doctor Cosmas, stay away! She's gonna seduce and then kill you!"

Stephen looked at Lilith, then back to Artemis. "The day I let myself be seduced by a woman who looks half my age is the day I decide I need to die," he said in a monotone voice.

"I really don't kill people, you know," Lilith said with a frown. "There's so much misinformation about succubi here! I don't go after just men, you know! I go after everyone! And I only seduce the bad people, so I can rip their hearts out - metaphorically - with betrayal! Tell them, Azzy...!"

Azrael nodded along. "You people are disgusting. All you do is sexualise Lilith's people! She used to be a human, once! And this is how you treat her!"

"I'm... a little overwhelmed," Ursula mumbled, "I did read somewhere that succubi can change their appearance to suit their target. But I never heard about succubi once being like us...!"

Lilith planted a kiss on Azrael's cheek before continuing. "I'm sorry for trying to trick you. I just didn't want you to attack me. I felt Azzy's presence after all of these years... I knew he'd been freed! I had to meet him!"

"You can't have him back yet," Artemis replied, "We're, uh, kinda stuck together at the moment..."

"It's okay!" She chirped, "I'll just follow you until Azzy is free. You might find my skills useful! I can fight, too! Where you're going... it looks like you'll need that."

"You should see her weapon," Azrael chuckled. "It's a snake bracelet wrapped around her arm, and when activated, it turns into a dagger. She got it because she's so good at her job. That's also why she looks, uh, more humanoid compared to me..."

"Aww. So you're just lazy, huh?" Ursula couldn't help but to giggle. "We're quickly doing a task for this nice lady. Her boy ran into these woods, you see..."

Stephen pulled Artemis aside and whispered to her. "Be careful. We don't know if we can trust her, yet. She could be a spy."

Artemis shook her head. "No... I trust her. Azrael seems a lot nicer with her around. She said she would fight with us, so that must be good, right?"

He didn't say anything. Instead, Stephen walked further into the woods, eager to get this over with. It was concerning that they hadn't encountered an Eidolon yet. They usually littered the place.

Five minutes later, they heard a child's laughter. Stephen ran forwards, Ursula following close behind him. They still had time. They could still save the boy.

Artemis gasped as she saw a semi-transparent figure conversing the the exact boy they were looking for. She assumed this was an Eidolon. It had the appearance of an older man with brown hair, and the boy seemed happy to talk to him.

Stephen let out a blast of cold towards the Eidolon as a warning. "Let the boy go!" He exclaimed, "Give him to us, and no one has to get hurt!"

The Eidolon turned to Stephen with a blank stare. They produced a blunt weapon and raised it towards the group. Behind them, two more Eidolon emerged from the trees.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Lilith mumbled, her bracelet turning into a dagger. "Eidolon resist all elemental attacks. You're better off attacking them with weapons, not spells. You, uh... do have weapons, right?"

Stephen and Ursula stared at each other. The two of them relied on spells to fight, not weapons. All of their spells were element-based, too. They would have to rely on Artemis and Lilith, since they would both only do half damage.

Before the battle started, Stephen quickly cast a protection spell on the party. It would allow them to dodge attacks more easily. If the battle was going to last a while, it was just what they needed.

Lilith threw her dagger towards an Eidolon with a club. The attack hit, and she was able to hold out her hand to summon the dagger back to her. Azrael clung desperately onto her shoulder, eager to not fall off.

An Eidolon with a club ran up to Lilith with the intention of hitting her. She sidestepped, easily able to dodge as she saw the attack coming.

The original Eidolon carried a longsword and charged at Stephen. It caught him off guard, swiping at his arm. Stephen hissed in pain, but no serious damage was done.

"Fire Storm!" Ursula cried, unleashing a tower of flames towards two of the Eidolon. One of them managed to sidestep the attack, coming out relatively unscathed.

Stephen caught wind of what she was doing. He poured out a droplet of water from his canteen. "Ice Storm," he growled, sending a torrent of hail towards the same two Eidolon. It hit them square on the chest, yet still only did half damage.

Artemis' arrows would be of little use. She changed her weapon and charged at an Eidolon, missing it entirely. Azrael laughed at her in the background.

The third Eidolon had a fire rod. They sent a fireball hurling towards Ursula, but missed her, thanks to Stephen's projection spell.

Lilith threw her dagger again, smiling with joy as she managed to score another hit. "I'm really good at this!" She chirped, eager to show off to Azrael.

The Eidolon with the longsword attempted to attack Stephen again, but he saw it coming. He dodged just in time, the sword disturbing the dirt below it.

Next, the Eidolon with the club moved to attack Ursula. They managed to hit her in the shoulder, causing her to let out a curse.

Ursula lit a match and threw it towards two of the Eidolon. "Flame Strike!" She cried, still angry about getting hit. A bolt of flame attacked the two Eidolon, hitting them directly.

"Cone of Cold," Stephen mumbled, blasting hail from his hands towards an Eidolon. It barely scraped them, much to his annoyance.

Luckily, Artemis managed to hit the Eidolon this time. Her sword swiped at the spirit, surprised that she actually managed to hit something. "Weird," she mumbled.

The Eidolon with the fire rod attempted to hit Artemis, but missed thanks to Stephen's protection spell. Artemis raised her shield, just in case.

Lilith threw her dagger again, hitting another Eidolon. The Eidolon with the longsword seemed to notice and charged at her, but she sidestepped it easily. She seemed more alert compared to the others.

Ursula threw out another match, now that all three of the Eidolon were grouped together. "Wall of Fire!" She exclaimed, fire bursting from the ground. The Eidolon with the club collapsed, fading away into nothingness.

Stephen cast Ice Storm again, doing another damage to kill another Eidolon. They had the upper hand, now. His protection spell had helped them out greatly.

Artemis swung her sword at the last Eidolon, but it wasn't enough to finish it off. She muttered a made-up curse under her breath, glancing at Stephen to make sure he hadn't heard her. He hadn't.

Lilith skipped up to the final Eidolon and slashed her dagger at their throat. Azrael cheered as the final spirit was taken down, fading away just like the others. "Job done!" Lilith grinned. "That's what happens when you threaten my Azzy's friends!"

"They're not my friends," Azrael hissed, "Right, Artemis?"

Artemis put her sword away and focused on the boy. He hadn't watched the fight - he was hidden behind a tree the entire time. She took a deep breath and walked up to him. This was going to be difficult to explain...