[You two go to a side hallway, away from the others, though they're still all within view.] * Herman enters the hallway and lets out a long breath. "Jesus Christ." He stops, composing himself and rubbing a hand over his eyes. What's going on here, Sarah? [She frowns. "How much have they told you?"] * Herman lets out a little, crooked smile. "Depends on who." Claire and Jackie - you know them, right? I hear you worked with them - showed up once, and Claire started demanding we tell her where you guys were. She said something about you summoning Lucifer. I thought it was pretty batshit insane, and you'd never do it. Everybody else thought so, too, and figured that if we tried to lead them to you or something, Claire'd do something stupid like attack you before finding out what's what. * Herman shrugs. "Some shit happened after that, and eventually... well, it really came down to me figuring that I'd better go find out if anything's happening before Claire did." [Sarah bites her lip. "I'm sorry. But it's just like it sounds."] * Herman frowns. "Sarah..." Please don't tell me you really think this is a good idea. [She shakes her head. "Of course it's not. But.... But even if there's a small chance of saving Hiyoko... a small chance of getting Mitsuji back to the way he was before this happened... I have to try, right?"] I... don't know about that, Sarah. What's it worth, to put off death for another few years? If you guys bring her back, how long's it going to be before she dies and Mitsuji gets even *worse*? Not only did she die twice, you'd have made a deal with Lucifer - and I don't care how nice that deal looks on paper, he's fucking Lucifer. ["She'll be returned to the state she was before the battle with Asmodeus. We were careful about it. Dante himself made the terms." She glances back at him.] Dante doesn't want in. He knows better than to make a deal with Lucifer. I think you do, too. You screw up, and everybody's dead or twisted. You don't, and it'll be almost as bad. Is she worth risking innocent people? ["She was the heart of our team."] Is she worth risking innocent people? * Herman takes a step towards Sarah, putting a hand on her shoulder and making sure she looks him in the eye. "Would *she* think it's worth the risk? Would she let you do something like this?" ["Of course she wouldn't. Hiyoko would never think something like that. But..." She glances to one side.] * Herman sighs. "I'm not good at this. But look, Sarah. If she really is the heart, and you ignore it, what's that mean you're doing?" ["But at least we'd have a heart."] [Sarah sighs. "I know it sounds insane. I know it's wrong. But still... I just can't bring myself to let it go."] You do have a bloody heart. You're just ignoring it. You know what she'd want. [Sarah bites her lip again. "Do you really think it's so wrong? We've tried to find so many other methods, but for someone like Hiyoko, who already had demon blood, this was the only way."] The price will be damning everyone else. People who did nothing wrong, and people who had nothing to do with her death. How's that right? [Sarah clenches her staff. "But there's no other way." She starts crying. "Oh God, Hiyoko's gone forever."] * Herman watches Sarah cry for a brief moment, then sets his pipe down. He moves in, giving her a somewhat awkward hug due to the staff. "It hurts. I know, it fucking hurts." [Sarah cries! Herman hugs her. Hawt.] * Herman looks up suddenly, towards the altar, and presses one hand against Sarah's ear as he yells as loud as he can: "THE ALTAR!" Sarah, there's magic by the altar. You've got to get a grip. [Sarah turns just in time to see that, and her eyes go wide.] * Herman 's eyes widen as he sees what's next and curses. "Fuck!" He lets go of Sarah - she can stand on her own - scoops up his pipe, and runs for them.