Kiro stared blankly at the bunk above her, worrying. She glanced around the room to see that only she was awake. They were safe, at least for now. She wondered for how long. There were some well placed talismans plastered around the room as a precaution, but Kirono still worried. She had a reason to. Lately, it seemed as though the charms were ineffective. Either the monsters were becoming immune, or her powers were waning. Either way, it was a bad sign. Just the night before, a mandragora had found its way in and nearly strangled Shinjii in his sleep. She took a deep breath and sighed.
If I lost him, then what would I do?
She reached under her pillow and pulled out a picture. It was dark, and thus she squinted, trying her best to see. It had probably been a year since she last saw them. Aian was most likely a high ranking knight by now, and Kiro was almost certain that Aqua was struggling as a mage, even with Casper there to help her. After all, he never was good at teaching, and Aqua was quite hard headed at times. Add Cutie to that mix and you have a very lethal combination, even if they always disagree. It almost made her wonder if it was a normal Geffenese trait, or if it was just those three. Her gaze wandered to Dual, their resident shadow. The thief had always been a good friend to her, and had never once let them down.
We were so young then...so naïve and trusting...
She knew those days were over. Her fate had taken away her innocence, and most of her youth, and had also taken away her friends. She had abandoned them. The only one she had left was Shinjii. It always struck her as strange that he refused to leave her side, but she was grateful nonetheless.
After a yawn, she turned her head to the side. Even in the pitch black obscurity of the night, she could still make out his sleeping form, sprawled out on the nearby bunk. Fate was rather kind to him in comparison, and time had not changed him much. He still had a youthful, energetic aura about him, unlike Kiro. Time and events had changed her. In only one year, she had matured well beyond her years. Countless deaths had nearly turned her bitter, but Shinjii had kept her from falling apart.
She looked at the picture again, and noticed that there was one unfamiliar face. There, in the middle of the group, was a friendly, young acolyte, smiling like the sun. Was that really her? Had she really changed that much?
She replaced the photograph under her pillow and lay her head down. She needed rest. Tomorrow was another day, if not to live for herself, then for Shinjii and the rest of the Forgotten Angels. She closed her eyes and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.