Two days after the nightmare, Jon Talbain visited them once again.  He sat with Felicia on the hotel bed, while James sat on his own opposite them.  The werewolf could tell, even without Felicia's telling of that nightmarish awakening, that the raptor was suffering already from its effects.  James was looking more paranoid than usual for starters, always holding himself firmly with one arm at his chest.
	"How are you faring with your demon?" asked Talbain politely.
	"Terrible," replied James.  "Nightmares are getting worse, the pain is like five heart attacks at once, and I feel sick all over like, deep inside of me...almost like-"
	"-like your soul is suffering a disease?"
	"...yes.  That's exactly it."
	"Many forget that I am originally human...I can sympathise with such a curse, however mine was hereditary."
	"Wait, you inherited the werewolf thing?  I didn't know that happened."
	"My mother was a human, she fell in love with a werewolf lord whom I have no desire of meeting.  My curse is my own, but I must utilise it for the purpose of defeating far worse creatures than me."
	"Awww yer not bad Johnny!" piped up Felicia.  "Yanno yer not, come on, lemme see that frown upside down!"
She pushed her fingers at Jon's snout, trying to make him smile.  It only ended up showing his vicious lupine teeth in a very awkward scary grin, which fell instantly the moment her fingers pulled away.  Instead, he moved the topic to the nature of his arrival.
	"I have managed to uncover something concerning the Red Arremer.  I remembered where they last spoke of him, within the region of northern France, so I investigated the area.  His description tends to be most frequent within the city of Rouen.  I advise searching for him there."
	"Thassa good start!  Wheresat?"
	"It is just to the northwest of Paris, within the Haute-Normandie province."
	"Awesome, thanks Johnny!  But...um...arentcha coming with us?"
	"Unfortunately I cannot join you.  I have my own matters to attend to."
	"Awwww..."
Felicia pouted softly, trying to pull out her wide sweet kitty eyes at the werewolf.  Even the stone-faced beast could not help but smirk very slightly at her attempt.
	"Wolves are not wooed by kittens."
	"Don' be silly, yer not a wolfie!  Yer my best man!"

She hugged him happily, and he hugged her sternly in turn.  James had to wonder again about their friendship.  He was struggling now to imagine the two together in any romantic aspect, and he dared not ask them of it in the presence of Talbain.  He knew that underneath that calm cool exterior lied a ferocious beast's heart.  A beast who did however feel something for Felicia as he offered:
	"I am making my way to Germany soon, would you like to accompany me to France until we must part ways?"
	"Can we?!  That'd be awesome Johnny thank you!"
	"We are travelling the same way after all, it would be a shame to not meet more as far as our journey will keep us along the same path.  When can you leave?"
	"Tomorrow we can!  We can get up early an' head down to the Channel Tunnel."
	"Do you have a time arranged?"
	"Ahhhh...nope."
	"I will find a suitable time for us.  You just wake up early and arrange your things."
	"Thanks for helping us through all this," said James.  "You've been a big help to us."
	"Do not worry James.  You will find Firebrand soon.  At the very least you will be able to find the dilemma before the solution."
	"It's better than nothing definitely, but yeah, thanks again."
Tomorrow soon came early for both the raptor and the catgirl, and soon they found themselves waiting in line with many other creatures and men ready to board the TGV.  Talbain had managed to obtain some tickets for them, planning ahead which James was thankful for, even insisting that he pay Jon some of the money back with some of his dollars from Vegas.  He was surprised by how much help he was getting from Felicia and her friends, making him wonder on whether he would be able to have such a group himself or not one day.
Maybe if I actually stayed in one world, thought FG, instead of leaving them all the time...not like I want to, I just have...have to...
He couldn't even finish the sentence in his own head.  His faith was already shaken by the darkness inside of him, and all he could do now was sit with his companions aboard the train, passing through the English Channel.  Trains in this world were hardly any different to that of his own world, with some infernal additions to boot that is.  The train itself on the outside was a horrifying steam engine, dotted with eyes and tongues all across its iron carriage.  Its whistles were the screams of the damned, and the raptor almost imagined it ran purely on the suffering of the afterlife.
Regardless, he still boarded it with Jon and Felicia, the two talking to each other like old friends despite the werewolf's reserved emotions.  James also took it upon himself to ask more about him.

	"So...how old ARE you Jon?"
	"I was born in 1940."
	"An' still lookin' gooooood!" said Felicia who patted his thick abs.
	"Wow, seriously?" asked FG.  "Damn you DO look good I gotta say."
	"I train myself every day.  You seem to have had some training yourself."
	"Yeah I did three years learning about swords."
	"Hmmm...you should have done more, three years is good enough to become an amateur but anything better requires at least up to ten."
	"I know I know but I didn't really have a choice, and I done pretty well so far!  I killed a lotta monsters since then!"
	"And how long have you been away from your home?"
	"Uh...must be like four or five years now?"
	"Hmm...the fact you are still alive is impressive, you surely must have had Lady Fortune smile upon you more than once."
	"Hahaha, I guess...I mean, as good as I can get there were a lotta places where it could have turned out real bad, yanno?"
	"Indeed.  I am even more surprised you have not even lost a limb at least from such a long and dangerous road."
	"Well it's not like I been through all this without some scars but yeah."
The werewolf further inquired FG about his travels and the strange other worlds he had been to, all of which were alien to both him and Felicia.  But they weren't as impressed as others had been of his tales, which was understandable considering their world.  Nevertheless, Talbain was intrigued by the stories, more surprised at the fact that such a lesser-skilled warrior had survived for so long.  Upon reflection, James was surprised too at how how long he had lasted with his body mostly intact.
Soon they were upon the European mainland and departing from Calais.  France was somehow a darker land than James had expected it to be, a perpetual cloud of devilry hanging above the very continent as they made their way towards Reims, a prosperous city with vital religious origins dating back to the 5th century.  For Talbain, it was to be the point they would split up from, with James and Felicia heading west, and Jon heading east towards Germany.
It was the first time James had ever seen the European mainland.  They walked alongside old country roads, winding between cottages and skirting village squares.  Most of the folk looked away from them, either from fear or being in their own little world.  James managed to reply back to any who spoke to them with perfect automatic French after the first few snatches of it was absorbed by his translator.  Jon and Felicia spoke varying levels of it, Jon moreso to the point of near-fluency.

Crossing over hills within sunset, gazing down upon small French villages, was the sort of thing James thought only happened in old novels.  Yet there he stood, the dying orange light sweeping across wheat fields as they swayed in the evening breeze.  Felicia stood beside him, her fur glistening like a beacon with the rays of the dying light.  Even the werewolf was affected by the old world's splendour, his fur shining like a lion's mane.
The sounds of churchbells rang across the countryside, where cows and dogs called to the neighbouring fields before sleep would come to them.  Crows and jackdaws had the last word in the dwindling sounds of the evensong.
	"Nice place," said the raptor.
	"Sure is!" said the kitty.  "...you ever imagine settlin' down somewhere like this?"
	"Nope."
	"Why not?"
	"Mmmm I dunno...I've always been raised in the city, I don't think I could get used to a small quiet town."
	"We must find an inn or hotel soon," said Jon.  "we will find one at Arras a few miles ahead."
They journeyed onwards with the werewolf taking the lead, keeping away from the humans of the old world, their superstitious mumblings and crossing of selves keeping them at bay.  Felicia did her best to smile at them, but they turned haughtily away.  James didn't care.  He just hoped the inn at the town was more accommodating.  The town of Arras was in itself a little more modern than the villages nearby, which gave them some hope with its touristic appeal of quaint sights to see, including a private botanical garden which specialized in alpine plants.
Unfortunately, they knew one problem the hotel would have.  A problem that would emerge very soon.  The sun had just disappeared over the horizon by the time they reached the hotel, a bed and breakfast known as the Maison d'Hotes La Corne d'Or.  They settled in for the night, as best as they could within the small but comfortable rooms.  For the while, they slept peacefully, until sometime in the early morning when Felicia heard a nearby crash.
She woke with a start, her keen feline senses easily detecting something amiss.  Jon woke up in turn, noticing their room's window had been broken.  James had disappeared.
	"Where is he?" asked the wolf.
	"I-i-i dunno...I think...oh no, that demon might've-"
	"Can you smell that?"
	"...huh?"
He got up and walked over towards the window.  He noticed an odd dark spot glistening from the broken glass, gently sniffing it.
	"It's James."
	"No!  Where'd he go?!"
	"We must find him quickly."
They took the same path out, scrambling through the window with expert agility before racing through the silent streets.  A thin misty cold hung low to the ground, the sky a dark imperial blue.  Talbain sniffed out the bloody route that the raptor had left behind, the blood somehow coagulating at an absurdly fast rate that nearly put him off.  He almost thought the trail had gone too cold at one point.  Until a woman's scream alerted them from the southwest.
Wordlessly they headed off towards the Faubourg-Damens Cemetery, fearful of what they would find.  What they saw was sadly just as they expected.

In the last hours of the moonless night, standing within the many rows of humble tombstones, was James.  His feet gently touched upon the mutilated corpse of a middle-aged woman, his mannerisms strangely stiff as they came closer to hear his words.  The voice that came from him was definitely demonic.
	"Poor li-ttle hhhheart...so frrrrrail...and TIGHT with soh-or-row...all the-all the more delicious to sa-AMPLE."
	"James?!"
	"Hmm?"
The raptor turned round, his appearance certainly far different.  Blackened pupils, a slightly taller presence, claws somewhat longer with vicious streaks of blood upon his chest, as well as a bloody handprint.  Jon's fur went up, the scent coming from James setting him off.
	"Be careful," he warned.
	"Such...c-c-care...for what, hhhha-a-a-a-a-a-h...friends of...my host?  Pitiful...I'm a j-j-..j-...jealous sort you see andipreferrrr...to have him alone...if you would kindly leave."
	"If you desire us to leave then you must fight us demon."
	"H-hah...a MUTT challenge me?  F-f-fool...HGHK!"
The raptor suddenly spit up a thick blackening ooze, vomiting dryly with shaky breaths as he cleared his throat.
	"Stupid creature...s-such an odd body to wield, voice s-sSTILL not right."
	"How well can you control your host?" said Talbain as he readied himself to fight.
	"You want to...to die?  Hhha ha ha...I have been...waiting for a baaaAAAAaattle for so long...I accept."
	"Felicia, stand back."
	"B-but Johnny-"
	"If one of us is going to fight this thing I would prefer you remain unharmed."
He barred her way with a strong arm across the front of her.  She didn't dare argue and backed away, letting him deal with this.  As good a fighter as she was, Talbain was far more experienced, and a martial artist to boot.  The werewolf strided forwards before readying himself into a fighting pose.  The possessed raptor cracked his neck and brought out his scissors.  The moment it began to wield its blade however, something strange happened.
Firstly, the stiffness of the creature went away, now as fluid as James himself was in his normal state.  Secondly, the scissors began to glow with a dark primordial aura, a thickening blackness that almost glowed purple.  Jon's ears stiffened at the sudden surge of power coming from his opponent, the cemetery keeping its foggy mist close to the ground, wrapped around their ankles, slithering over the remains of the recent victim.
The raptor readily charged with an unnatural speed, one that James could never have achieved.  Were Talbain a less skilled fighter, he would not have anticipated the flash-step charge of the creature blinking barely out of existence, before his huge furred claws swung straight for the scaled snout.  The claws raked across FG's face, but the demon was far more resistant and headbutted Talbain before slashing violently with the scissors.

Jon let the momentum of the headbutt push him back and away from the reach of the scissors, before springing forwards with a brutal shouldercharge.  His thick-furred shoulder slammed brutally into the raptor's stomach, before he spun and slammed his clawed fist through the jaw with a blazing uppercut.  The werewolf's strength was inconceiveable to the demon, who went up in the air and would have fallen onto his back were it not for the dark aura cushioning his fall.
Swiftly floating briefly to delay his fall, the raptor's body quickly uprighted itself before the scissors struck out from his hand to strike viciously at Talbain's chest.  The werewolf managed to deflect some of the blows with his claws, but a few managed to hit his upper arms and pectorals, bloody cuts hidden beneath darkening hairs.  He was unfazed however and simply sidestepped to leap on top of a gravestone, delivering a vicious karate kick to FG's head.  The creature was not amused as it fell awkwardly, an arm slamming against another grave.
	"Insolent WHELP!"
The raptor spoke with a bloody snarl before the scissors slowly levitated of their own will away from the body, hurriedly charging towards the werewolf to try and fight him.  Jon tried to grab at them, thick claws around the bladed tips to twist and throw them away, but the dark aura was powerful enough to force him into a tug of war.  He wasn't letting it last for long however when he made a fiery somersault kick into the air, flipping the scissors away to send them spinning upwards.
	"Do not TOY with me, DEMON!"
The werewolf roared as he leapt into the air, suddenly surrounding himself within a burning aura, almost like a huge fireball as he shot towards the scissors.  The weapon neatly dodged in mid-float, but it did not expect Jon Talbain to suddenly change his directional charge, slamming hard into them truly before grabbing and throwing them down back to the earth, straight towards the raptor's chest.
The raptor screeched with violent pain as the scissors pierced straight through his unbeating heart, blood no longer flowing through any wound that had been made.  But then he chuckled, a scraping cackle reminiscent of glass dragged through prison halls.
	"Hhhha ha ha HA haaaaaa...you a-are...a good START foranewbody to kill..."
	"You underestimate me at your own peril, demon."
	"Enough!"
The scissors quickly turned into a dark smothering cloud, which soon consumed all of the raptor's body swiftly.  He soon reappeared, scissors in hand behind Felicia, a malicious grin coming across him as he grabbed the girl, scissors floating to open up around her waist.  Jon turned with the slightest hesitation in his eyes, with Felicia yelping in panic.
	"Now...let us make a deal-"
But the demon had little time to make his offer when Felicia suddenly spun with absurd speed to kick him in the face, smacking the scissors away to send them flying into the air as she punched him down.  She quickly backed up and stood beside Jon, the two of them looking at the possessed raptor with concern.  The scissors soon fell, straight on top of another grave to split it in two crumbling pieces.

	"YOU...WORTHLESS WHORE!"
	"That's watcha get fer touchin' me without askin'!" said Felicia stiffly.  "You can look but ya don't TOUCH!"
	"Then I-kill-k-kill-shall kill you wi-with a stare ALONE!"
His skipping speech gave rise to his anger before charging once more, teleporting with the essence of darkness and picking up the scissors along with him to kill both cat and dog.  Felicia readily swung low into a spin kick to take out the legs, while Jon readily made a furiously fast haymaker to the head.  The demon was a little too fast however, and managed to dodge Talbain's punch, but not Felicia's kick, phasing through the air to behind them in order to not fall.
Jon however expected such the moment his punch did not connect, and he swiftly utilised an enormous roundhouse kick, strong enough to destroy two tombstones in the process along with one of FG's limbs, which surely snapped in half from the violent KRAKK that came with it.  The creature shrieked, holding the scissors in his remaining good arm, chuckling hoarsely.
	"Such...good...pain.  Hhhhh...let me...r-readjust."
The possessed raptor made his broken arm glow with a stronger darkness, the bones snapping back into their proper position with a violently awkward force, testing his clawed hand to make sure it all worked again.  Jon made a small sign to Felicia unseen as she quickly headed off elsewhere while the werewolf kept him distracted.
	"Puppets are...easy to fix...easier to break."
	"Aren't you a little too confident to be fighting in a cemetery?" asked Jon Talbain.  "Do you not fear the presence of holy men nearby?"
	"Hhhhah...this la-and, old and STEEPED in...in...blood, so many oftheirinferiors...dead...beneath paaaaapal robessss-"
	"You should practice your diction more before you start boring me with your trite lectures.  Do you really believe you are the only one to have ever noted the hypocrisy of the Church?"
	"So many...blind, like sheep.  Lamb of God is...a fitting...term.  Demons have honest...motivations."
	"Which you obtain through trickery and deceit, you are no better than the holy men who oppose you.  Both of you are different sides of the same coin, you lie and murder to get what you want, whether it be in the name of God or the Devil himself."
	"Devil!?  HHHHAH!  I am NOT a ssssserVANT...I...am free.  Free to feast...f-free to...live."
	"So you have no master, that does not make you any better.  Your host is a vagrant just like you, was that what attracted you to him?"
	"He is inSOlent...to believe he ha-as the right to decide who lives-dies...mortals have no right.  I...do."
	"Not now ya don't!"
The sudden call of the kitty from behind him wasn't enough to alert the demonised raptor from the sudden spray of water all over him.  As soon as the water touched the darkened blood-streaked scales, the demon roared with a violent anguish.

The liquid burned his body unseen, the pain far worse than mere flesh-eating acid.  This was a pain that delved deep into his very centre, the blessed presence of such simple ambrosia seeping inside of his senses.
The creature tried to swing and strike at them, but its mind was driven insane by the burning pain, and it had no choice but to recede back inside of James to escape the agony.  The dark violet glow soon faded from both body and weapon, the raptor collapsing onto the gravedirt with his scissors beside him.  Jon and Felicia sighed with relief.
	"Phew," she said, "real glad holy water works on him.  Demons'll be demons after all!"
	"Indeed," said Talbain.  "Even if he is not from our world, there are some laws that remain universal."
	"Is FG gonna be okay?"
He knelt down to check on the raptor's pulse.  His heart began beating once more, the wounds that remained unhealed now starting to bleed more clearly.
	"He will live.  The demon has hidden himself away back inside of him.  Seems that his dark powers have also healed some of James' wounds, but not all.  Nothing harmful."
	"Thank goodness fer that!  I was real worried about him."
	"Let us return to the hotel, leave our payment and leave.  A broken window and a murder is bad enough without a witch hunt after us."
	"Right."
Felicia hastily ran back to the hotel to leave an acceptable amount of money for the broken window, as well as a sincere written apology for what happened, why the sudden departure and a healthy review of their stay.  Jon quickly carried James out of Arras and further to the south, starting their travel earlier than anticipated within the wee hours of the dawn.