I own nothing except for my avocado allergy!

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Day 6

Raphael's POV

I open my eyes as the sun starts to rise. Lilith must have switched spots with Taki since I find Taki sleeping in the wagon along with Edmund who is also still sleeping. Not wanting to acknowledge these new traveling companions, (If I ignore them maybe they'll disappear!) I decide to go check on Lilith.

I don't tend to care about people. I mean there's Amy but other than that I hate most of society. Then Lilith came along. For some reason I can't loathe her like I loathe the rest of them. I guess it's because I've invested so much time into helping her. But now that I know she's a nymph, I feel even more inclined to take care of her. Just the fact that she trusts me enough to tell me that…well she didn't have much of a choice. I just don't understand why she needs to keep it a secret. I thought nymphs were supposed to be special magical creatures. Wouldn't she be proud of that?

Slowly, I make my way to the front of the wagon where Lilith sits. She is silent and her stillness suggests she is deep in thought. I hear her soft voice whisper a name as she tilts her head upwards, "Jed."

I wonder who this is. Normally I wouldn't care but the way she said his name, with so much sorrow in her voice, makes me wonder.

"Who's Jed?" I ask.

Lilith jumps up, startled for a second before turning to give me a brief glance.

"He's no one! He's dead!" She snaps, looking back to the path.

I've never heard her so angry before. The way she just spoke to me doesn't sit well. I take a seat next to her as she scoots away from me. I can sense her irritation.

"Sorry for asking," I say, sarcasm dripping in each of my words.

Lilith says nothing, keeping her eyes on the road. We sit in silence for a few moments before she speaks up.

"He was a soldier in the army with me. He was like my older brother…Jed was the one who told me to live and run away. He killed himself…" Her voice is so soft like a light breeze.

"Oh…I'm sorry…" Maybe I shouldn't have pressed her to tell me.

No POV

The group soon reaches a small stream, the wagons coming to a stop due to the many protests of the females in the wagon Kain was driving. The girls want to clean up. Everyone gets out of the wagons and heads towards the stream, the girls chatting happily amongst themselves except for Lilith, who trails behind as the other three take the lead. Taki looks back at her for a moment before turning her attention to other, more talkative ones.

Meanwhile the guys, due to death threats by the women, have to go farther upstream. Edmund challenges Kain to a race, the two of them running as fast as they can. Mitsurugi and Raphael sigh as the younger men run off.

The warriors wash up, the girls remarkably chipper. Raphael is heading back towards the wagon when he is stopped by Taki. He raises an eyebrow in irritation, not wanting to acknowledge her.

"So you decided to stay with her?" Taki asks.

"Yes," he says. "It's part of my redemption."

"So helping her and killing Nightmare will redeem you?"

"I don't know…" Raphael says, hopping onto the wagon.

Lilith is sitting at the back of the wagon, her legs dangling out of the side, staring off into space like usual. Edmund is sitting at the front of the wagon, holding the reins to the horses. Once Taki gets on the wagon, they head to the nearest town.

They reach the town by mid-day, surprised to see that it has not been destroyed as it was in the direct path of Nightmare. But what surprises them even more is the eerie quietness of the town's citizens. Adele and Tsubaki look around and whisper things amongst themselves such as, "plague" and "massacre". Finally Mitsurugi decides to find out what is going on.

He jumps down from the wagon, approaching a few of the townspeople. They look at him and turn their backs to him. Mitsurugi stares at them indignantly and turns them around to face him, not being one to take the hint that they do not want to be bothered. The townspeople look up at him, fear in their eyes.

"Why are you cowering? It's not like I'm going to hurt you…Can you please tell what exactly is going on?" He asks warily.

"The…Azure Knight passed through! He went to our harbor and slaughtered an entire ship and took it for himself and his horde of monsters! He sails to a distant land overseas now but we're sure he'll be back!" One of the townspeople says, fear in their voice.

Mitsurugi walks back to the rest of the group, telling them what has happened. Everyone is silent for a moment before Kain speaks up, "So then we should pursue him and go overseas as well."

"Yes but one problem," Tsubaki says, "I don't think any ships will be sailing today."

The others nod in agreement but decide to check the port anyways. Sure enough no ships are going to be sailing today. However they were informed that a few ships would most likely be sailing into port in a few days. This would mean that the group will be even further behind the Azure Knight than ever. All they can do now is wait and hope that Nightmare doesn't take too many lives while they are held up.

They decide to stay at the hotel nearest the harbor while they wait. They all have quite a bit of money on them, with the exclusion of Edmund, so each member of the group rents a room for themselves (Lilith being kind enough to pay for Edmund's room). The girls have one side of the hallway while the guys have the rooms across the hall.

They decide it best to stay in the hotel for the day. Adele and Tsubaki decide to go down to the lobby while Edmund and Kain decide to have a spar in Kain's room. Taki and Mitsurugi remain in their rooms as well as Raphael and Lilith.

Raphael, sitting out on the balcony of his hotel room, he notices a familiar golden-haired maiden running out of the hotel. Concerned by the fact that she's running and the fact that she left without word to the group, he decides to follow her.

Raphael hurries out of the hotel towards the direction Lilith was running in. He sees her entering a library. Raphael enters after her but loses sight of her upon entering the library. He quietly walks through the library, careful not to disturb anyone. Making his way up a flight of stairs to another room, he finds Lilith leaning over a table, leafing through a book. He approaches her from behind.

"Lilith?"

She turns around, startled, quickly putting the book back on the shelf. Raphael manages to catch a glimpse of one of the words in the title, "sea-storms".

"I thought we agreed we'd all stay in the hotel," he says to her.

"Well there was just something I needed to research. And why are you following me?" She says, putting her hands on her hips.

"Because I saw you running out of the hotel and I didn't know what you were doing or where you were going."

"I was just going to the library…" She murmurs.

"Well I didn't know that. We should head back to the hotel. Maybe the others have found some more information on Nightmare," he says, nudging her towards the exit.

Lilith complies and the two of them leave the library, the sun beginning to set. Lilith stops in the middle of the street to stare at it, earning an odd look from Raphael.

"Lilith?"

Not responding, she continues to stare at the beautiful sunset. Raphael heaves an irritated sigh, waving his hand in front of her face. Lilith simply moves her head away from his hand so she can continue looking at the sunset.

"What are you staring at Lilith?"

Lilith doesn't take her eyes off of it and simply jerks him in the direction of the setting sun, causing the otherwise graceful man to stumble a bit.

"The sun sets everyday Lilith," he says in a flat voice, regaining his composure.

"I know," she replies. "You should take more time to appreciate the beauty of nature."

Raphael looks at her for a moment with a raised eyebrow, considering her quite the oddball. He then looks back to the setting sun. It was beautiful but they really need to be getting back to the hotel. He knows Lilith won't budge so he stays with her until the sun finally sets.

"Can we go now?" He asks in an irritated tone.

"You didn't have to stay you know," Lilith chides, eyebrows furrowing.

"I can't leave you alone in the middle of town," he says.

"Yes you can. I'm a big girl," she says sarcastically.

Raphael sighs, "Can we just go?"

"I don't care," Lilith says with a shrug.

Raphael sighs once again and walks her back to the hotel, making sure she enters her room before he enters his own.

Lilith immediately walks out to the balcony in her room and stares at the night sky, anxiety filling her heart because of what was to come in the next few days.

Lilith's POV

I look out at the night sky as my heart fills with dread, secretly hoping that the ship won't ever come. It's not that I'm afraid of sailing and it's not that I get seasick. I always have harbored a secret fear of being caught in a storm at sea. Not just any storm, mind you but a storm that produces tropical cyclones. Imagine a ship being surrounded by these spinning vortexes of despair. The situation would make anyone trapped in that situation helpless. I hate that, that feeling of helplessness.

It's about the only other thing I fear next to others finding out I am half-nymph. I keep my eyes on the sky, watching the stars shine. Taking in the beauty of nature is about the only thing that gives me comfort. Down the hallway I can hear the other girls chatting to each other, they must have went down to the bar inside the lobby. They probably think I'm weird since I didn't join them. Well they never invited me anyways. I'm use to it.

I never have been one to make friends anyway. I've always been the lone wolf type. That way I can't get hurt but it still happens. Naomi's dead now and Jed has been dead for years. The two people I allowed to get close to me, both perished. Not a day goes by when I don't think about them. It's common for me to still be thinking about Naomi, considering she just died a few days ago but I don't think I will ever truly be able to cope with her death. I know I haven't been able to cope with Jed's.

A wave of drowsiness begins to crash through my body as I let out a yawn, those sorrowful thoughts taking their toll on me. I decide to turn in for the night, taking one last look at the night sky before closing the curtains, curling up under the covers of my bed. I pray that I won't have any nightmares of sea storms…or worse.

Raphael's POV

Looking out the door to my room, I see Kain and Edmund sparring in the middle of the hallway with Mitsurugi as the referee. I thought Mitsurugi was more mature than this. I thought he and I had a mutual agreement that these men were acting too childish for their own age. I can't help but let out an annoyed sigh as other hotel guests walk by, trying to get around the two young men. They are going to get us kicked out of the hotel.

Kain dodges one of Edmund's attacks, nearly barreling into an unsuspecting guest. Edmund swings his sword high into the air, ignorant of a young girl behind him who is in the direct path of his blade. She moves just in time to avoid being hit as he brings his sword backwards, preparing to slash Kain across the chest. When he swings, Kain crouches down, swinging his leg out and tripping Edmund, who falls backwards, nearly landing on a small child running by.

Fed up with their ignorance, I walk over to Mitsurugi, whispering to him, "They shouldn't be doing this in the middle of the hallway!"

Mitsurugi just laughs and thumps me on the back. I hate it when people touch me, especially idiotic men. Where does he get the idea that he can just do that to me? I bite my tongue, restraining myself from lashing out at him.

"Well yeah but they trashed both their rooms so it's not like they have any other place to do it. Besides they're allowing me to be the referee," he says with a shrug.

I can't believe this! Both of their rooms are in total disarray. Hopefully the maids won't mind too much. I assume they're in there cleaning out the rooms now. At least I hope they are. I shake my head, not wanting to watch the whole fight scene unfold anymore than it has already. I walk back to my room, shutting my door and turning the lock. I decide to write in my journal. I hope Amy enjoys reading this someday, that is, if I can ever be a good father to her again.

As soon as I begin to write my thoughts are interrupted by the sounds of giggling girls. I look out through the spy hole in my door to see Adele and Tsubaki laughing loudly, a smug looking Taki leading the way back to their rooms. They must have been to the bar. I wonder why Lilith did not go with them. I have always assumed that girls stick together. I guess I'm wrong in this case. Then again Lilith does seem a bit out of place with everyone. Come to think of it she seems a bit out of place with the world. She's different but different isn't necessarily a bad thing I suppose.

Once everyone else is in their rooms for the night, I go back to writing in my journal, hoping not to be bothered. I write about five pages before deciding it's time to get some sleep. Right as I am about to close my eyes I hear a woman screaming. By the sounds of it, it has to be one of the girls.

End POV

Raphael runs out into the hallway and looks around at the girls' rooms until he hears the scream again followed by some sounds of thrashing around. It appears to be coming from Lilith's room. Raphael goes up to Lilith's room, knocking on the door. Upon hearing no answer, Raphael jiggles the doorknob. To his relief it is unlocked. Looking around the room frantically for any signs of an intruder, he finds Lilith thrashing around on her bed screaming.

She is even worse than he was when he had bad dreams. He walks over to her, taking her by the shoulders, beginning to shake her lightly while shouting her name. The only response he gets is the louder wails of Lilith and more thrashing. Raphael realizes that this isn't the way to get her awake. Perhaps he should try a more gentle approach.

Slowly wrapping his arms around the girl, Raphael pulls her to him while trying very hard not to get hit. He strokes her hair and whispers comforting things to her like, "It's ok," and "Everything's going to be alright." For a moment Raphael second guesses himself as to why he's doing this. Then he remembers how he silently pledged to help her. If he can help this girl it will put him on the path of redemption. Not only that but he feels something special about this girl, although he would never tell anyone that. It might be the way she stands out from the crowd. She's different and doesn't seem to fit in. Raphael can sympathize with her on that one.

After a few moments of this Lilith screams become less frequent and her thrashes become weaker and weaker until they stop completely. Raphael looks down at the now sleeping Lilith who seems to look quite peaceful resting in his arms. He brushes her cheek lightly with his thumb and cradles her for a few moments. With sudden realizations of his actions, Raphael quickly and gently lays her back down on her bed, pulling the covers up over. He looks at the sleeping angel for a moment before whispering softly, "Goodnight Lilith," as he walks back to his room to get some sleep for the night, making sure to shut and lock her door behind him.

Lilith's POV

Someone's grabbing me! I can't move! I can't move at all! Now they're choking me and I can barely manage to squeak let alone scream. I can't see them but I can feel them and I try to struggle free and scream as loud as I can! Why are they in my bedroom? Why are they doing this to me? Am I going to die? It's like my eyes are open yet I can't move the rest of me. I'm so frightened.

Then suddenly it all stops and I can hear someone speaking softly to me, whispering words of comfort in my ear. I feel myself being held tightly in the arms of someone. My eyes are closed. I think they have been here for a while. It was just a dream, a night terror. I sometimes suffer from along with sleep paralysis.

Suddenly I feel myself being placed back in my bed, covers being pulled up over me. I don't know who pulled me out of my horror but I don't want to let them know that I am awake. I open my eyes slowly as I hear the person make their way to the exit of my room. I open my eyes to see…Raphael. He whispers goodnight to me and shuts the door.

I should thank him but I'm too embarrassed. Why did he even bother checking on me anyways? He just doesn't strike me as the caring type. Too tired to ponder these thoughts any longer, I fall back asleep.

Happy Turkeyday to those celebrating Thanksgiving today! It's 5am here and I am just getting to bed, hoping to be able to wake up in a few hours so I can help my family prepare the meal. I hope you all eat loads of turkey as I won't be considering I'm a vegetarian. Vale!