Jake returned the kiss, and smiled at her when she headed off.

"Man, I am one lucky man." he said to himself with a contented sigh.

As Anya walked, she saw Azazel and Zeke coming from different areas as well, and she knew that they were all headed to the same place.

"Guess this is pretty serious." Zeke commented. "Think there's trouble from either realm?" he asked.

"That or the situation is entirely unknown, and celestials and infernals can handle damn near anything." Azazel responded.

"We're pretty much the strongest mana Sharp has at his disposal."

They both looked back at her, and Zeke sighed.

"We're clueless about this." he said.

"For all we know, it's a rogue demon or something." he told her.

"Possible, but not probable." Azazel chimed in, as they neared Hal's office.

"How've you been, Anya?" he then asked.

"Long time no chat."

"I've been all right." Azazel responded.

"And Cain and Aeden haven't blown up the house yet, so that's always a positive." he added with a smirk.

"And if you ever need help quelling more boisterous insurgences, let me know." he then said. "Cerby can certainly use some exercise and chew toys." he reasoned with a laugh.

"...I keep forgetting you're their caretaker." Zeke admitted.

"It's never usually relevant to anything." Azazel replied with a shrug.

Azazel just sighed.

"Not as flattering as 'I'm the only one she trusts to do it', but far more honest." he mumbled.

Zeke just laughed as they heard that, and when they reached Hal's office, they saw that Roxie was already there.

"Welcome." Hal said.

"Oh, I didn't know you were here, Anya." he then admitted, seeing Anya with them.

"Excellent." he commented. "The more the better." he reasoned.

"I need you all to go on a serious rescue mission."

"Firstly, look at this." Hal said, turning his screen towards them, and showing them the feed.

They all heard some threats and such, mentions about a 'collection', and they all saw flashes of the greyish stone-like skin that the one they were watching had. Not much was happening that was bombastic or too violent, but they all knew this didn't sound good.

Hal then turned the monitor back towards him, and sighed.

"Lunet did some digging, found some posts on that weird conspiracy board, followed up on it, and managed the setup you see here." he told them.

"It's the manor just at the outskirts of town." he then said.

"...the one where the dude is suspected in over 20 disappearances, but nothing's even come close to being proven, or even warranted a search?" Zeke asked.

"Precisely." Hal responded.

"I think we have our smoking gun, along with someone that needs saving. And we need to do it NOW."

"See, that's the thing." Hal said.

"His place triggers NO alarms or anything for mana pings and such." he told them.

"But it's clear that SOMETHING is going on. That woman is undergoing some sort of gradual petrification process, and it's NOT like those that the gorgons use." he said further.

"I don't know if we have the time for an infiltration mission." he then admitted. "I don't want her to die when we have the chance to save her, and prevent her from becoming just another statistic in this sick creep's quest." he growled.

Azazel paused, and thought for a moment.

"...so there's a chance he's made some deal with a demon, is what you're saying?" he asked.

"We can't rule it out." Hal responded.

"As for how to get in, I get the feeling he has some serious barriers up, but your combined strength may be enough to bust through and take him down." he finished.

Hal was silent, before looking at Roxie.

"All right, if you think you can get in there for an interview in the next 30 minutes, then do so." he told her.

"As for mana tethering, if it's YOU going in, then the demons are going to be hurting because of it." he warned.

"I can try and deal with it." Azazel responded.

"...granted, pretty sure her mana FAR outclasses mine, considering what is known to a very select few now. And only then, because we're not a part of this realm." he went on.

Zeke just crossed his arms over his chest, and thought about it.

"If he's made a deal with a demon, then yes... this is a situation that either calls for nuanced planning, or sheer brute force."

Hal crossed his arms over his chest when she said this.

"30 minutes." he told her.

"That's a HARD limit." he said.

"Unless you are in there and have an in for the other three, we're brute forcing it." he warned her. "But if you CAN do this, then go." he said further.

Azazel was just silent for a moment, and got out of the way so she could leave.

"I know better than to argue with a goddess. Especially a Greek one." he mumbled.

Azazel had been shaken for a moment or two as Roxie shot him that look she did, but then shook himself back to being lucid once more, and exhaled slowly, making sure she was gone before he spoke.

"...geez, she's acquired more of an attitude since then." he muttered.

"Can you blame her, given what happened?" Zeke asked.

"Ok, fine, but I didn't do anything." Azazel responded. "The hell she shootin' those pointed looks at ME for??" he asked incredulously.

"A-HEM!" Hal cleared his throat loudly. "Back to the subject at hand!" he said.

"Ah, right." Azazel remembered.

"Well, I can recall two demons down there that are high-tier enough to make contracts with humans without needing to bond themselves to them, that have petrification-like abilities." he told them. "One is Ebraxis, and he loves messing with people... and the other is Meleena, who makes deals with men to claim their souls for her ever-growing harem down there."

"Then it's probably Ebraxis." Azazel said.

"How do you know that?" Zeke asked. "Like, Anya didn't have an idea, and she has WAY more dealings with the infernal realm than you." he reasoned.

"A fair argument." Azazel admitted.

"But I have my ear open for things like gossip and information." he told him. "If nothing else, I am an amazing informant for demonic dealings." he said further.

"It's true." Hal chimed in.

"Anya is wonderful for the business side of things in the underworld, but Azazel has his ear to the street, so to speak."